The earliest known diagram of Marabaraba was found in an Egyptian temple in Kurna, Egypt, dating back to around 1440 BC.

While some believed that morabaraba was introduced to Southern Africa by British settlers, morris variants exist in many parts of the world, e.g., India (char bhar), Ghana (achi), Kenya (shisimia), Somalia (shax), Zimbabwe (tsoro yemutwelve), Iran(dooz), the Philippines (tapatan) and Mongolia (gurgaldaj).

Morabaraba is today most popular amongst rural African youth in Southern Africa, but can be seen daily at any non-city bus stop being played by adult passing time.

MSSA has developed amateur leagues, using different regional versions of the game, throughout the country, and has adopted a notation scoring system similar to that for nine men's morris.

Since 1997, Morabaraba World Championships have been held, in three divisions: senior (i.e. adult males), women, and junior (boys and girls).

The online version of the Morabaraba Sesotho variation developed by Botho University Maseru Campus Student; Moeketsi Faso may be accessed on http://morabaraba.online