Bul (game)
Encyclopedia
Bul, also called Buul, Boolik or Puluc, is a running-fight game originating in Mesoamerica
, and is known particularly among several of the Maya peoples
of the Guatemala
n highlands. It is uncertain whether this specific game dates back to the pre-Columbian
Maya civilization
, or whether instead it developed in the post-colonial era after the arrival of the Spanish
conquistador
es.
Both of these descriptions were based on the eyewitness accounts of others.
organised the games in his anthology into those he thought had an influence from Europe
in their creation. Bul is not listed among these, so in his opinion the game must have developed before Europeans traveled to Central America
. Following this reasoning, the game would therefore probably be Maya
in origin.
The playing area is divided up into equal spaces using rods, placed parallel to each other. The two players have control of a base at either end of the play area.
The players take an even number of stones or figurines (or any suitable playing piece) and place them in their respective bases.
The movement of the stones is determined by the roll of four dice
or 'bul' (corn kernels). These are painted black on one half so that they land showing either a yellow or black face. The number of faces showing determines how many spaces a stone can move:
Taking it in turns, players roll the bul and move any of their stones the corresponding number of spaces toward the enemy base. A stone cannot move to a space where there is already a friendly stone. If there is no other option but to do this, a player must pass.
When a stone lands on the same space as an enemy stone, the enemy stone is captured and is no longer controlled by the enemy player. The enemy stone is placed beneath the capturing stone to reflect its captured state. Every time the capuring stone moves, its prisoners are moved with it. If a stone lands on an enemy stone which already has prisoners, it captures that stone and its prisoners, and these are placed beneath it.
When a stone captures an enemy stone, it immediately reverses direction and begins heading back to the home base.
Once a stone and its prisoners reach home, any enemy stones are removed from the game, or killed. Friendly stones are liberated or returned back to the set of stones which can be played.
Once a player has killed every enemy stone, they win.
The game length can be changed by having less spaces between the two bases. Verbeeck mentioned twenty-five dividing rods being used, but a much shorter game would be played using only nine or ten rods.
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
, and is known particularly among several of the Maya peoples
Maya peoples
The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...
of the Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n highlands. It is uncertain whether this specific game dates back to the pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
, or whether instead it developed in the post-colonial era after the arrival of the Spanish
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
es.
Descriptions of the game
- Stewart CulinStewart CulinStewart Culin was an ethnographer and author interested in games, art and dress. He believed that similarity in gaming demonstrated similarity and contact among cultures across the world.-Early life:...
described the game in the 24th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology: Games of North American Indians published in 1907. - R. C. Bell referred to the game in his reference work Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations.
Both of these descriptions were based on the eyewitness accounts of others.
- Lieve Verbeeck, a linguistLinguisticsLinguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
studying Mayan language, witnessed the modern version of the game being played by Mopan and KekchiQ'eqchiThe Q'eqchi' language, also spelled Kekchi, is one of the Mayan languages, natively spoken within Q'eqchi' communities in Guatemala and Belize. In Guatemala, Q'eqchi' is spoken in the departments of Alta Verapaz, Petén, Izabal, Baja Verapaz, and El Quiché...
MayaMaya peoplesThe Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...
in BelizeBelizeBelize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
:
But neither can I give you hard evidence that the corn game, as it is now still played by the Mopan and K'ekchi' Mayans, (who are neighbours), was known in the ancient times. There is linguistic evidence that the ancient Mayans used to play games of chance. The name of BUL occurs in several Mayan languages and always means to play with dice. Sometimes, by extension, it means "to lose with gambling". There is archaeological evidence that the Mayans knew the square- and oval-shaped patolliPatolliPatolli or patole is one of the oldest games in America. It was very much a game of commoners and nobles alike and it was reported by the conquistadors that Montezuma often enjoyed watching his nobles play the game at court.-History:Patolli was played by a wide range of pre-Columbian...
boards. There are many sites throughout the Maya area where archaeologists found patterns of patolliPatolliPatolli or patole is one of the oldest games in America. It was very much a game of commoners and nobles alike and it was reported by the conquistadors that Montezuma often enjoyed watching his nobles play the game at court.-History:Patolli was played by a wide range of pre-Columbian...
boards carved in floors or benches. Unfortunately there are no BUL boards found (yet??) ... Anyway I don't have any thrilling stories for you about famous BUL contests in the ancient times. Only three Maya manuscripts were safeguarded from the Spanish conquerors. Up till now no reference to Maya board games was found. Of course there are a few pictures displaying priests throwing corn or seeds for divination ... Culin's version of BUL is quite accurate. I observed the game being played by 10 men. They placed 25 grains of corns in a row. The game lasted for 3 hours, because they played 5 variants.
History of the game
It is impossible to know when exactly the game was developed or what the original rules were as very few records survived the invasion by the conquistadors (between the 15th and 17th centuries). Stewart CulinStewart Culin
Stewart Culin was an ethnographer and author interested in games, art and dress. He believed that similarity in gaming demonstrated similarity and contact among cultures across the world.-Early life:...
organised the games in his anthology into those he thought had an influence from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in their creation. Bul is not listed among these, so in his opinion the game must have developed before Europeans traveled to Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. Following this reasoning, the game would therefore probably be Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
in origin.
Rules for two players
There are a variety of ways to play the game, as Verbeeck's account shows. The game could be played by two people, or by two equal-sized teams. The overall objective is to capture and subsequently kill the playing pieces of the opposition, so the game is in essence a war game.The playing area is divided up into equal spaces using rods, placed parallel to each other. The two players have control of a base at either end of the play area.
The players take an even number of stones or figurines (or any suitable playing piece) and place them in their respective bases.
The movement of the stones is determined by the roll of four dice
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
or 'bul' (corn kernels). These are painted black on one half so that they land showing either a yellow or black face. The number of faces showing determines how many spaces a stone can move:
- 1 yellow - 1 space
- 2 yellow - 2 spaces
- 3 yellow - 3 spaces
- 4 yellow - 4 spaces
- 0 yellow (all black) - 5 spaces
Taking it in turns, players roll the bul and move any of their stones the corresponding number of spaces toward the enemy base. A stone cannot move to a space where there is already a friendly stone. If there is no other option but to do this, a player must pass.
When a stone lands on the same space as an enemy stone, the enemy stone is captured and is no longer controlled by the enemy player. The enemy stone is placed beneath the capturing stone to reflect its captured state. Every time the capuring stone moves, its prisoners are moved with it. If a stone lands on an enemy stone which already has prisoners, it captures that stone and its prisoners, and these are placed beneath it.
When a stone captures an enemy stone, it immediately reverses direction and begins heading back to the home base.
Once a stone and its prisoners reach home, any enemy stones are removed from the game, or killed. Friendly stones are liberated or returned back to the set of stones which can be played.
Once a player has killed every enemy stone, they win.
Rules for teams
Only two teams can play, and these must be of equal size. Five or six players per team is a common team size. The game is played with one stone for each team member. Players on a team rotate who rolls the bul and moves a stone.Variants
The number of stones used by each player can be changed for a shorter or longer game as necessary. Players can also agree before the game that only a certain number of stones can leave the base and be in play at any one time (an example being that players can only have two stones in play outside of the base).The game length can be changed by having less spaces between the two bases. Verbeeck mentioned twenty-five dividing rods being used, but a much shorter game would be played using only nine or ten rods.
External links
- Game description - PachisiPachisiPachisi is a cross and circle board game that originated in ancient India which has been described as the "national game of India". It is played on a board shaped like a symmetrical cross...
and LudoLudo (board game)Ludo is a simple board game for two to four players, in which the players race their four tokens from start to finish according to dice rolls. Like other cross and circle games, it is similar to the Indian Pachisi, but simpler...
variants website - Another general description - MayaMaya civilizationThe Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
games page - Computer Bul - Shareware games