GANJIFA CARDS – PERSONAL COLLECTION OF SHRI KISHOR N GORDHANDAS

Among the popular Pastimes of Ancient India, the game of Cards (Ganjifa) found as much favour with 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 oblivion. We do not know whether the card games were played for amusement or speculation, but the Indian Ganjifa Cards were and are extremely colourful and painted in such a wide variety that one tends to hold one’s breath.[read more=”Read More…” less=”Read Less”]

Many theories have been put forward about the origin of playing cards and claims have been made by many a country as their birthplace. In the literature of playing cards, several European Countries and Egypt, India, China and Korea have been given the honour of having devised this ingenious instrument for the exercise of the mental prowess of deduction and combination. It is possible that Chinese Playing Cards using money as suit signs, spread westward, during the thirteenth century and were modified en route. The cards were brought to India by Moghul Emperors early in the sixteenth century. Once established, the cards spread to most regions of India either in their original form known as Moghul Ganjifa, or in its slightly later Hindu form known as Dashavatara Ganjifa.

In June, 1527, Babar, the first Moghul ruler, sent Playing Cards (Ganjifa) to his friend in Singh. 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 of twelve-suited and eight-suited packs with all the details of cards and suit signs are provided by Abul Fazal, the Vazeer and biographer of King Akbar in his book Ain-e-Akbari.

King Akbar made some alternations in the cards and he is said to have invented a new game of 96 cards with eight suits of 12 cards each, which is now known as Moghul Ganjifa. The eight suits of Moghul Ganjifa packs are surprisingly constant from the beginning of the 16th Century to the present day.

The Hinduisation of Ganjifa themes must have contributed greatly to the spread and popularity of the games. DASHAVATARA Ganjifa with the Avataras as incarnates of Shri VISHNU was the most popular Card game in Rajasthan, Bengal, Nepal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

The structure and the rules of the play of both the games- Moghul and Dashavatara Ganjifa, are essentially the same. The Orissan Pack has been extended to twelve suits by the addition of Shree Ganesh and Shree Karthikeya suits and to sixteen and twenty suits by the addition of further divinities.

Today, the Ganjifa Cards are being made in Sawantwadi, Maharashtra; in Nirmal, Andhra Pradesh; Bishnupur in West Bengal; and in Puri, Bhubaneswar, Raghurajpur, Dindosahi, Parlakhenmundi, Chikiti, Sonepur and such other places in Orissa. Many Traditional Artists have died in recent years, and although much has been done in the past few years for encouraging this Art, without proper understanding and encouragement to the present generation of Artists, Ganjifa Art and Games might fade away sooner than later. Illustrated talks, workshops, Exhibitions, Articles and other publications on Ganjifa can give some kind of understanding, general knowledge from various catalogues also would help and bring awareness among Indians on Ganjifa Cards and games.[/read]

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