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. ʿA. A. Ḥekmat suggests that the great variety of local names is one indication of the game’s antiquity; these include čǰ-Dzٲ (Shiraz), -čǴڳٲ, pel o čofta (Isfahan), čڳٲ-ī (), ṛča-ḵoū (Ի岹), -čū (Borūǰerd and Hamadān), ū-čDzԲ (Mašhad), -čū (ī&Dz;ū), ī-ī (ī), -ī (īǰԻ), ū- (ԲԻ岹ǰ), ī-岹ٲ (ղī), ī-ī (), ūٲ (), -čDzԲ&Dz; (ϲī), -čūč (Kabul), -čDzԲ (Herat), čīī, č, and čī-ī (Tashkent, Bokhara, Samarkand). Rūmī refers to it in his ī as čī (Dehḵodā, s.v.). Other synonyms found in the classical dictionaries include 屹, 屹a, ū-čū, and, in Arabic, 粹ū and qola.
Bibliography:
ʿA. A. Ḥekmat, “Bāzī-e alak dolak,” Yād ḡar 4/9-10, 1327 Š./1948, pp. 71-80.
Cf. ibid., 5/1-2, 1328 Š./1949, pp. 121-33.
N. Jamšād, Bāzīhā-ye bāstānī-e bačahā-ye Eṣfahān, Isfahan, 1351 Š./1972, pp. 75-77 (pel o čofta), 147-48 (ūī-ī), 183-84 (kīlām mīlām).
(H. Javadi)
Originally Published: December 15, 1985
Last Updated: July 29, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 8, p. 785
H. Javadi, “ALAK-DOLAK,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/8, p. 785; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/alak-dolak-the-game-of-tipcat-played-for-centuries-in-iran-afghanistan-and-surrounding-countries (accessed on 17 May 2014).
