What is "thunee"

Thunee, after the Tamil word for water, is a popular trick-taking card game that originated in Durban, South Africa. It was thought to be invented by Indian indentured-labourers who arrived in South Africa to work in the sugarcane fields. However the game is probably derived from Euchre, a game very similar in play. It is believed that there are variations of the game found in India and Mauritius. The game is mostly confined to the former Indian townships, where it is very popular as a family game and in fund-raising tournaments, but to some extent it has spread to other South Africans and to Indians in other countries. The first thunee world championship was held in Pietermaritzburg in 2003.

Salesh Jagnath, the sardar at the sugar cane estate of De Charmoy and Angel at La Mercy on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, and his friends are credited with inventing the exciting six-card game during 1872. It is said that Naidoo was such a popular man that the barracks in which the indentured labourers lived was so named after him.

The game is part of the Jack Nine Card games family, which includes Euchre, Twenty eight, and a much older card game from the German Middle Ages, called Jass. .