LAK﷓DOLAK, the game of tipcat, played for centuries in Iran, Afghanistan, and surrounding countries

ALAK-DOLAK, the game of tipcat, played for centuries in Iran, Afghanistan, and surrounding countries. Many variations are known; basically, a bat (dolak) is used to strike a wooden peg (alak), which fielders recover and then throw at the dolak placed on the ground. ¿A. A. H®ekmat suggests that the great variety of local names is one indication of the game's antiquity; these include ±alok-mosta (Shiraz), pel-±oftak, pel o ±ofta (Isfahan), ±afta-ba@z^ (Kerma@n), ar±a-kòolu@f (Ma@zandara@n), ala-±u@ (Boru@èerd and Hamada@n), lu@-±onba (MaÞhad), ga@l-±u@b (N^Þa@bu@r), pa@t^ma@r-ba@z^ (G^la@n), alak-ba@z^ (B^rèand), alu@-ka@n (Sanandaè), p^l-dasta (Tabr^z), am^-b^ (Behbaha@n), hala@ku@ta (Semna@n), ala@-±onbeÞ (Qazv^n), alka@n-±u@±aka@n (Kabul), ga@l-±onba (Herat), ±^l^, ±a@lak, and ±^la-ba@z^ (Tashkent, Bokhara, Samarkand). Ru@m^ refers to it in his d^va@n as ±a@l^k (Dehkòoda@, s.v.). Other synonyms found in the classical dictionaries include la@v, la@va, gu@k-±u@b, and, in Arabic, qalu@ and qola.

Bibliography : ¿A. A. H®ekmat, “Ba@z^-e alak dolak,” Ya@d --> g@ar[Author:AVP] 4/9-10, 1327 ˆ./1948, pp. 71-80. Cf. ibid., 5/1-2, 1328 ˆ./1949, pp. 121-33. N. ÔamÞa@d, Ba@z^ha@-ye ba@sta@n^-e ba±aha@-ye Esáfaha@n, Isfahan, 1351 ˆ./1972, pp. 75-77 (pel o ±ofta), 147-48 (su@r^-ba@z^), 183-84 (k^la@m m^la@m).