GANJIFA

Ganjifa, or Ganjapha, is a traditional playing card game which originated in Persia and became popular in India under the Mughal emperors in the 16th century.

DESCRIPTION

The name "Ganjifa" comes from the Persian word ganjifeh (گنجفه), meaning playing card. The first known reference is in an early-16th century biography of Bâbur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty. The game first became popular at court, in the form of lavish sets of precious stone-inlaid ivory or tortoise shell (darbar kalam). It later spread to the general public, whereupon cheaper sets (bazâr kalam) would be made from materials such as wood, palm leaf, or pasteboard.

Ganjifa cards are circular and traditionally hand-made by local artisans. The suits are composed of twelve subjects on coloured backgrounds, with pip cards running from 1 to 10, and two court cards, one of a minister or counselor, the other of a king. The precise style and arrangement of the decoration on any set is dependent on its artist. The designs of the cards of Dashavatara Ganjifa use motifs from the ten avatars of Vishnu.

Among the popular pastimes of Ancient India, the Game of Cards (Ganjifa) found as much favour with the Kings, Courtiers, and general masses as the Pachisi (Dice) and Chess. While the popularity of Chess continues unabated to this day, the Ganjifa Cards and their Games have passed into the oblivion.

We do not know whether the card games were played for amusements or speculation but the Indian Ganjifa Cards were, and are, extremely colourful and painted in such a wide variety as to take one’s breath away. Artists have preserved the traditional art in the cards and also the main Hindu religious symbolism. Ganjifas are very beautifully packed in the sliding boxes which too are very artistically crafted.


ORIGIN

Many theories have been put forward concerning the origin of Playing Cards, and many countries have claimed to be their birthplace. The general assumption is Moghul Emperors brought the cards to India early in the sixteenth century. Once established, the cards spread to most regions of India either in the original form known as Moghul Ganjifa, or in their slightly later Hindu form; ten suits of twelve cards each, known as Dashavatara Ganjifa.

It is not known when and where the ten-suited Dashavatara Ganjifa originated, but a very good guess would be the Deccan in the 17th Century. Dashavatara Ganjifa Cards with Avataras as incarnates of Shree Vishnu, comprising 120 cards, was the most popular card game in Rajasthan, Bengal, Nepal, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The ten incarnations of Vishnu as depicted in almost all Dashavatara Ganjifa Cards are shown in the following order.

In June 1527, Babar, the first Moghul Ruler, sent Ganjifa to his friend in Sindh. This was probably the Eight-Suited pack of 96 Cards. By the 16th Century, several different types of Ganjifa Games had already been developed in India. A neatly tabulated description for twelve-suited and an eight-suited packs with all details of the cards and suit signs are provided by Abul Faz’l, the Vizier and Biographer of King Akbar in the book, Ain-i-Akbari.

In Maharashtra and Orissa, Ganjifa was a widespread Brahmin pastime. Old people are still seen playing Dashavatara Ganjifa near Puri Temples, mainly with 16-suited 192 card decks. A later Brahmin rationalization of this pursuit was notion that the performance of the game is pleasing to the God.