Reminded me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallanguzhi

And it is indeed mentioned under the Names and Variants section. Seems likely that there's a historical connection somewhere.

Also, another version I'm more familiar with from childhood is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalah

Here is the game I played with my grandma when I was younger:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asian_mancala

"The game was played by enslaved Africans to foster community and develop social skills."

..cringe...

I don’t get it, what makes you want to cringe?

"Bowling is a game played by American males to develop social skills."

Doesn't that sentence sound bizarre to you? Is that why people bowl? And isn't the implication that American males need help learning social skills?

They played the game for the same reasons that all humans have played games for millennia.

They’re humans and humans play games for fun.