Tale Of Ganjifa
A tale of play, games and complex interconnected cultures - collection from the 19th century.
Tradition of Playing Games
Games are an integral part of culture and one of the oldest ways of human social interaction. They facilitate learning and introduction of complex terminologies in the simplest and creative ways. They also instigates artistic freedom and welcomes wild imagination and fantasy.
What is Ganjifa?
Ganjifa is a Persian card game that has been played throughout the Indian subcontinent since the 15th century. It’s trick-taking card game, played individually with at least three or six players. ‘Ganj’ is a Persian word meaning ‘treasure, treasury or hoard’.
Ganjifa in India
In India, this game flourished in 16th century and developed in various forms. Ganjifa subjects became common subjects among painters of Indian miniatures but on much smaller scale.
Cotton Kerchief with Indian playing card 'Ganjifa' motifs.Crafts Museum
History of Ganjifa
History of card games lies in tracing the routes of complex network of cultural imports and exports. Earliest reference of Ganjifa cards is mentioned in a poem by Persian poet, Ahli Shirazi called ‘Rubaiyat-i Ganjifa’, dated 1514-15.
History of Ganjifa in India
In India, ‘Humayun-nama’, 16th century text on second Mughal emperor, Humayun, written by his sister Gulbadan Begum mentions a description of an early version of Ganjifa. ‘Ain-i-Akbari’, 16th century document mentions ‘twelve suited pack’ along with ‘eight suited' pack of cards.
Mughal Ganjifa
The game of Ganjifa arrived in India through Sufi saints during the Mughal period and became popular amongst kings and kingdoms. A standard Mughal Ganjifa set consists of 96 packs cards with 8 suits having 12 cards each.
Ten Playing Cards (Ganjifa) (19th century) by UnknownLos Angeles County Museum of Art
Dashavatar Ganjifa
Dashavatar Ganjifa is inspired by 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu; Matsya, Kurma, Varaha,Narasimha,Vamana, Parshurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. It became one of the most played form. Sawantwadi in Maharashtra, Orissa; Bishnpur in West Bengal emerged as centres of production.
Palace of the Royal family of Sawantwadi (2015/2015)Salar Jung Museum
Sawantwadi Ganjifa
Sawantwadi is in the state of Maharashtra. Art and culture held a high place in the eyes of royalty and many Sawantwadi heirs such as Shivram Sawant and his wife Rani Satwashila devi are said to have devoted their time for renewal of art and culture and spread of Ganjifa.
How to play Ganjifa
A standard set of Dashavatar Ganjifa cards will have 120 cards; 12 card each for 10 suits. Equal number of cards is distributed among the players and the trick taking starts. Each player aims to win maximum number of cards from the opponent.
How to play Ganjifa
The avatar is the main ‘Raja’ (king) card accompanied with a ‘Mantri’ (minister) card and ten numerical cards (1 to10) featuring an element of the avatar of Vishnu. For the first five suits, 1 is the highest card after the raja card and warrior and 10 is the lowest.
How to play Ganjifa
A trump suit is declared before starting the game which triumphs over every high card of other suit. Everyone plays their chance and the player with high card number takes the entire card set. The game gets played till all the cards are played.
Collection at the Salar Jung Museum
The museum has Ganjifa playing cards mostly from Sawantwadi in Maharashtra and few ascribed to 'Deccan' dated to the 19th century.
Let us see some representative cards from the collection!
Matsya suit (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Matsya suit
Matsya is the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu, in form of giant fish. While the avatar card is usually shown as a four-armed blue god emerging from open mouth of a fish, its suit sign is always a fish. This card painted to represent five fishes belongs to the Matsya suit.
Kurma suit (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Kurma suit
Kurma is the second incarnation of Lord Vishnu in form of a tortoise. It’s avatara is depicted in the water, holding up the mount Mandara, which was chosen as the rod during the churning of the ocean. The suit sign is always a tortoise.
This ganjifa card painted to represent seven tortoises belongs to the Kurma suit representing the number seven. The suit color is usually crimson or yellow.
Varaha suit (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Varaha suit
Varaha is the boar incarnation of Lord Vishnu in which he raises Goddess Bhudevi from netherworld. This ganjifa card is painted to represent Lord Varaha as a human figure with boar head and four arms, seated in Padmasana. The suit sign is a boar or conch.
Narasimha suit (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Narasimha suit
Narasimha is the man-lion incarnation of Lord Vishnu. In this Ganjifa card, Lord Narasimha is seated on a pedestal disembowelling King Hiranya-Kashipu, demon king on his lap. King’s wife and son Prahlada are standing to the right and left of the lord. The suit sign is a lion .
Vamana suit (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Vamana suit
Vamana is the dwarf Brahmin avatar of Lord Vishnu who protects the devas from King Bali as he regained his powers and disrupted the three worlds. In this Ganjifa card, he is shown as blue figured Brahmin with umbrella, standing before Bali and his wife. The suit sign is umbrella
Parashurama suit (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Parashurama suit
Parashurama is the sixth avatara of Lord Vishnu who is both a warrior and a Brahmin. In his incarnation, he fights the evil Chakravarti Samratr Karthaveerya Arjuna who was blinded by ego and under his reign all the Kshatriya clan members became evil.
This Ganjifa card depicts Lord Parashurama fighting with thousand armed Karthaveerya with his axe. The suit sign is always an axe.
Ganjifa card of Ramavatara (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Rama suit
The most iconic and famous avatar of Lord Vishnu is Rama, an ideal king who fights with the King of Lanka, Ravana who abducted his wife Sita. In this Ganjifa card, Lord Rama is shown in a fight with ten-headed Ravana. The suit signs are usually Rama’s weapons; bow and arrow.
Krishna suit (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Krishna suit
Krishna is the supreme incarnation of Lord Vishnu who played an important role in many mythological stories but is well remembered for killing his uncle Kamsa. In this Ganjifa card, Balakrishna (child-krishna) is painted on a beetle leaf. The suit sign is lotus, cow or chakra.
Kalkin suit (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Kalkin suit
Kalkin is the final avatar of Lord Vishnu, which is said to appear on a white horse and destroy the present sinful age. In this Ganjifa card, Lord Kalkin is accompanied by a winged white horse. The suit sign is sword or horse.
Minister card (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Mantri (Minister) card
Every suit has one Mantri (minister) card which is valued just below the avatar card and higher than the numeric cards. This mantri Ganjifa card has an arrow on top, above the warriors which symbolizes that this card belongs to the Rama suit.
Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi (1800/1899)Salar Jung Museum
Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi
Dashavatar Ganjifa cards became very popular and widespread which inspired artisans to devise cards based on other Hindu mythological themes. This Ganjifa card represents Lord Vishnu and his consort Goddess Lakshmi.
Ganjifa box (1800/1899) by Coolbreeze9182Salar Jung Museum
Ganjifa box
A cube shaped ganjifa box which serves as container for ganjifa cards. The box on the outside is pasted with miniature paintings showing identical figures of Devi on all four sides and a similar figure of Devi on top of the square cover.
Text and Curation: Pallavi Baheti
Photography: M. Krishnamurthy and Bahadur Ali
Research Assistance: Dinesh Singh and E. Rajesh
Special thanks: Shri Ashish Goyal, IIS, Director, Salar Jung Museum,
Dr. G. Kusum, Curator, Salar Jung Museum,
Soma Ghosh, Librarian, Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, India,
References:
1) Hopewell, Jeff (Dec 2006), The Art of Play: Board & Card Games of India, Mumbai: Marg Publications.
2) Khawakar, Kunal (2023), How to play Ganjifa, Youtube
3) Leyden, Von, Rudolf (1981), Ganjifa: The Playing Cards of India, London: A Catalogue of the Victoria & Albert Museum collection.
4) Dashavatar Ganjifa (2022), Bengaluru: Museum of Art and Photography.
5) https://www.dsource.in/resource/ganjifa-cards-sawantwadi/introduction
