Ganjifa

Persian card game

Ganjifa, Ganjapa or Gânjaphâ, is a card game and type of playing cards that are most associated with Persia and India. After Ganjifa cards fell out of use in Iran before the twentieth century, India became the last country to produce them. The form prevalent in Odisha is Ganjapa.

Ganjifa cards are circular or rectangular, and traditionally hand painted by artisans. The game became popular at the Mughal court, and lavish sets were made, from materials such as precious stone inlaid ivory or tortoise shell (darbar kalam). The game later spread to the general public, whereupon cheaper sets (bazâr kalam) would be made from materials such as wood, palm leaf, stiffened cloth or pasteboard. Typically Ganjifa cards have coloured backgrounds, with each suit having a different colour. Different types exist, and the designs, number of suits, and physical size of the cards can vary considerably. With the exception of Mamluk Kanjifa and the Chads of Mysore, each suit contains ten pip cards and two court cards, the king and the vizier or minister. The backs of the cards are typically a uniform colour, without patterning.

The earliest origins of the cards remain uncertain, but Ganjifa cards as they are known today are believed to have originated in Persia. The first syllable is attributed to the Persian word ganj meaning "treasure." Gen. Houtum Schindler suggested to Stewart Culin that the last two syllables in the word ganjifa may be derived from the Chinese chi p'ai (= 紙牌 zhǐpái) meaning "playing cards" In a related passage, William Chatto explains that an early Chinese term was ya pae (= 牙牌 yápái “dominoes”) meaning "bone ticket", and that the term che pae came later, meaning literally "paper ticket" (1848: 58). These different terms could account for the different spellings and pronunciations of 'Ganjifa'. These remain unproven theories, but the 18th century, traveler Carsten Niebuhr claimed to have seen Arabian merchants in Bombay playing with Chinese cards. In the 19th century Jean Louis Burckhardt visited Mecca and wrote that "cards are played in almost every Arab coffee house (they use small Chinese cards)". Ganjifa became popular in India under the Mughal emperors in the 16th century. The term has been used at times in many countries throughout the Middle East and western Asia. In Kuwait, the word janjifah has become a general term and so is applied to the internationally known French deck.

The earliest playing cards used in India were known as Patrakrida; they predated Ganjifa by several centuries, though no manuals exist today as to how they were used. A key reference comes from an early 16th century biography of Bâbur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty. In his work the Baburnama, Babur notes in the year 933H (1527) that he had a pack of Ganjifa cards sent to Shah Hassan. This took place in the month of Ramzan, on the night he left Agra to travel to nearby Fatehpur Sikri (Uttar Pradesh, India). The earliest surviving rules date to around 1600 in India. When Edward Terry visited India in the first quarter of the seventeenth century, he saw ganjifa cards often. Modern ganjifa is usually round but rectangular cards were more common during the 18th century and from records Persian ganjifeh was always rectangular. Its circular shape must have been an Indian innovation. While Mughal ganjifa had the same suits and ranks as Safavid ganjifeh, a 10 suited deck, the Dashavatara Ganjifa, was created to appeal to Hindus in the seventeenth century. In the period around 1900 the French manufacturer Camoin exported cards to North Africa, and the Middle East as far as the Persian Gulf. The Indian market was so significant for the Belgian manufacturer 'Biermans' that a factory was established in Calcutta in 1934. In 1938 playing card exports from the US to India totalled some 888,603 packs, and 60,344 packs were exported to Iraq. For the Ottoman Empire some European manufacturers produced cards with specific designs, known as 'cartes turques' and 'cartes orientales'. These were essentially 4 suited European style designs, but the aces featured scenic prints adapted to the target market. Ganjifa cards were less suited to Western card games. The invention of games such as Euchre, Bridge, Poker, and Rummy can be seen as significant events and Western style playing cards are best suited to these games. In Iran, the game of As Nas largely fell out of fashion by around 1945. In some countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, a version of the French game Belote became popular, under the name Baloot ( بلوت ). With regards to India, European style cards were introduced during the colonial period, with demand coming from the wealthier classes. Some cards were imported, some were made by hand using traditional techniques, and others were made by Indian industrialists. The Cary Collection of Playing Cards (Yale University) has a deck of Indian made bridge cards dated to around 1935, for example. Taxes on playing cards. States used taxes on playing cards to generate revenue, and required specific stamps or wrappers on packs of cards. Such arrangements can create barriers for smaller manufacturers producing cards by hand. The Ottoman Empire introduced taxes on playing cards in 1904. Playing cards monopolies. In many countries state monopolies were established to control imports and production. Such monopolies tend to standardise card designs, or create conditions that better suit larger manufacturers that can win government contracts or meet the necessary conditions. In Iran, the monopoly was set up following the Foreign Trade Monopoly Act of 1931. The British playing card manufacturer De La Rue was commissioned to provide cards during the 1930s. The cards featured indexing in Persian and court card images that evoked Persian history. Nonetheless the cards used Western style suits, and so the commissioning of the cards reinforced the position of Western style 4 suited printed cards. By the 21st century, the only place with a significant community of ganjifa makers and players is Odisha in the east of India. They use ganjapa, the local variation known for abstract and highly stylized suit symbols and extra suits.

Moghul Ganjifa is played in some parts of Odisha with 96 cards in 8 suits of 12 cards each; each suit is distinctively coloured and comprises ten pip cards from 1 to 10 and two court cards, a vizier and a king. This is the type of pack described by Ahli Shirazi. The suits featured are: slaves (ḡolām, غلام ); crowns (tāj, تاج ) swords (šamšīr, شمشير ); 'red' gold coins (zar e sorḵ, زر سرخ ); harps (čang, چنگ ); bills of exchange (barāt, برات ); white gold coins (zar e safīd, زر سفيد ); and cloth (qomāš قماش ). When referring to the king of a suit, he uses the term 'emir', shortened to 'mir' ( میر ) in the titles, but the term 'padishah' ( پادشاه ) in the text of the verses. He describes a card with one suit symbol simply as a 'one', that is to say he does not the term 'ace'. Dashavatara Ganjifa is played by three persons with 120 cards, mainly in Sawantwadi in Maharashtra, India, although it is played by five persons in Bishnupur, West Bengal. There are 10 suits of 12 cards each; the suits correspond to the ten avatars of Vishnu. The order of the suits (from lowest to highest) is: Matsya (fish), Kuchha (turtle), Varaha (boar), Narsingha (lion, or half man, half lion), Vamana (Vishnu as a dwarf, round vessel symbols on cards), Parashurama (axes), Rama (bows and arrows), Krishna (round plates shown), Buddha (conch shells), Kalanki (swords). Ramayan Ganjifa, a type with imagery from the Hindu epic, the Ramayan. It is closely associated with the Ganjapa tradition of Odisha and usually has eight, ten, or twelve suits. Rashi Ganjifa is a 12 suited Indian deck, with suit symbols derived from the 12 signs of the zodiac. It appears to be limited to the 18th and 19th centuries. Ashta Malla Ganjifa, meaning 'Eight Wrestlers'. Depicts Krishna wrestling various demons. Naqsh Ganjifa For playing Naqsh, shorter Indian decks exist, with 48 cards. There is only one suit which is quadruplicated. The suit symbols used for the run of 12 cards vary from one pack to the next. These decks are associated with gambling or play during the festival season in India. Mysore Chad Ganjifa. Mysore was a centre for Ganjifa card making, encouraged by the ruler Krishnaraja Wadiyar III in the mid 19th century. He devised a series of complex Ganjifa games, some requiring as many as 18 different suits, permanent trumps, and wild cards. A typical Chad suit had twelve numeral and six court cards, and packs had as many as 360 cards. They never achieved mass appeal and are quite obscure, possibly played only within his royal palace if at all. The games are described in the work called the Sritattvanidhi, in the section 'Kautuka nidhi', and colour illustrations show designs for the cards. Akbar's Ganjifa. The 16th century Mughal emperor Akbar played using a 12 suited deck, which is described in detail in the Ain i Akbari. The suits were horses, elephants, foot soldiers, forts, treasures, warriors in armour, boats, women, divinities, genii, wild beasts, and snakes. No specimens are known to have survived. Mamluk Kanjifa. Very few such cards are known or exist. The examples found by Leo Aryeh Mayer are understood to have four suits: cups, coins, swords, and polo sticks. Each suit has three court cards, the king (malik), the first vizir (na'ib malik), and the second vizir (na'ib thani). The court cards have no figurative imagery, but they feature calligraphed inscriptions and richly decorated backgrounds. The term 'Kanjifa' appears in Arabic on the king of swords. They directly inspired the Latin suited playing cards of Italy and Spain. French suited Ganjifa. Hybrids exist that combine Indian or Persian imagery with the hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs symbols of the French suit system.

This is a trick taking game, played individually. This is the game most commonly associated with ganjifa cards, each player playing for themself. The objective is to win the most cards by taking tricks. At least three players are required. In some games 4 players play individually, and it is also possible to play in pairs. The rules vary, but generally the following apply:

In the simplest form of the game there is no concept of a 'trump suit' that beats cards in other suits. A trick can only be won by a card of the same suit. When a player is not in position to win a trick there is no obligation to follow the suit led. In all cases the King ('mir' or 'shah') is always the strongest card in each suit, followed by the Vizier. However, in half the suits the numerical cards rank in logical order from 10 strongest (just below the Vizier), down to 1 (weakest), and the other suits the order of the numerical cards is reversed, with the ace strongest (just below the Vizier), and the 10 weakest, thus giving the order K,V,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. If playing with a Moghul type pack, the suits with the 'reverse order' numerical cards are , , , and (bills, red gold coins, cloth, and harps) in India; in Iran, zar e safīd (white coins) were inverted instead of the red coins. In Dashavtar packs the suits with reversed cards are the first avatars, Matsya, Kutchha, Varaha, Nrusinha and Waman (fish, turtle, boar, lion and round vessel symbols). Before the start of play stakes are agreed if the game is being played for money. At the end of the round the losing player pays this stake value, multiplied by the difference in number of tricks taken between the winner and the loser.

Players draw cards at the beginning to determine who will deal. Traditionally players would sit on a sheet or large cloth on the floor, and the cards are mixed face down in the middle of the cloth, rather than shuffled in the manner of Western cards. The deal and the order of the play follows an anti clockwise direction. The dealer deals out all the cards. According to custom cards may be dealt in batches of four, rather than individually. Some accounts stipulate that the first batch and last batch dealt to each player are dealt face up. Players should sort their cards into suits and put them in order. For convenience, due to the large number of cards, players often separate any low value pip cards and keep them to the side, keeping only the more valuable cards in hand. When discarding during play these low value cards are used indifferently.

During the game players must try to keep track of the cards that have been played. The highest outstanding cards left in play in each suit are called '', corresponding to the Persian word " حکم ". The player to lead is the one holding the King in a certain suit. This 'lead suit' varies according to the type of pack, and also according to whether the game is played during the day (between sunrise and sunset) or during the night. With a Moghul pack the lead suits are (red gold coins, or figuratively 'suns') by day, and (white gold coins or figuratively 'moons') by night. If playing with Dashavtar cards the lead suits are Rama by day, and Krishna by night. The player holding the King in this lead suit begins by playing two cards at once the King and another low card. The other players cannot win, and so they each discard two low cards which are won by the player who led the game. This player then leads again. At this point accounts of the game rules differ. The rules below are based on the description by John McLeod. Rules govern which leads are possible. Players must lead as follows, in order of priority: 1) If the lead player has a continuous series of winning cards in a suit, then this sequence must be led, with the exception of the last card in the sequence which is kept for later. 2) The next possibility is a move called 'deni'. This is possible when a player lacks the in a given suit, but has the second highest outstanding card. In this case the player may lead a low card in that suit, and call for the The opponent with the then wins the trick but the player that made the 'deni' move retains the lead, which is the advantage of making this move. If the player with the also holds the third highest card in the suit, he may play this card as well, and it is said that the deni is doubled. In this case everyone plays a second card and the player with the wins two tricks. However the lead still returns to the player who made the deni move. 3) When a leader cannot make either of the two leads described above, he then leads out any remaining cards, all at once, a move called 'utari'. In McLeod's account this is the only option available to a player at this stage, so a player would need to lead any they might have, and then pass the lead as described next in step 4. However in the rules given by Wilkins there is a second option, whereby the player can instead simply lead a low card or non winning card of his choosing to pass the lead. 4) If a player has no further valid options for leading cards, he gives up the lead by shuffling his hand, and placing the cards face down. The player to his right then selects the card that he must lead, for example by saying 'fourth from the top' or pointing to a card if they are spread out. The lead then passes to the player who wins the trick, who then follows the same sequence of possible leads as described above. In some accounts there is an end phase or secondary phase to the game, in which the leading rules are simplified or changed. According to McLeod, when the players get down to the last 12 cards, steps 1 and 2 described above are skipped, and a player starts by leading out all his directly. After doing so, the player must try to lead a card from a suit named by his right hand neighbour. If he cannot lead this suit the lead is passed as described in step 4 above, with the player's cards shuffled and placed face down. In Wilkins' account, there is also a second phase to the game, which applies when all the players have held and lost the lead once. From this point onwards cards are played individually instead of in batches. Furthermore, in this second phase, if a player leads a low card, it is played face down and the player can freely choose the suit which must be followed.

In some accounts losing players are disadvantaged when starting the next round. One possibility is that players are required to use the cards won in tricks for playing with in the following round. Players who are short on cards have to buy cards from other players to make up the difference. Alternatively, cards can be shuffled and distributed equally, but losing players are required to exchange cards with winning players. The losing player must give cards at random, without looking at them, and the winning player is allowed to return low value cards, sorted from his hand. The number of cards exchanged is the difference in the number of tricks won in the last round. This last lead card is called the 'akheri', from a word for 'last' (which exists in persian and Arabic ( آخر ). In Wilkin's account, this event has a different significance. Wilkins writes that if a player beats the akheri card, he is exempted from paying any forfeit money going into the next round.

Played in partnerships (two against two). Some call this game 'Dugi'. In this game the order of the suits and the cards is the same as for the individual ganjifa trick taking game described above, however the aim of the game is for one partnership to win all the tricks. The partnership dealt the King in the lead suit has to take on this challenge. It is possible to determine the lead suit by the day or night rule as above, or by cutting cards. The following game rules are taken from an account by John McLeod

The partners taking on the challenge to win all the tricks can decide between themselves who will take on the lead. Before starting, the lead king can be passed from one partner to another in exchange for another card of the same suit. When leading, a player must lead all the '' that they have in hand (these are the highest cards remaining in a given suit, that are sure to win). Players must follow suit if they are able to do so. If this is not possible, the leading player names another suit, and they must discard their highest card in that suit. If they do not have any cards in the suit named, then they may discard any other card. When a player who has the lead has no , he may ask his partner which suit he should lead. Thus the partner can indicate a suit in which he has a , so that the partnership can keep the lead. If the partner names a suit that the leader does not have in hand, the leader must decide himself which card to lead, without asking for more guidance. If the opponents succeed in winning a single trick then they win the game.

This game can be played with any pack of cards, including the Mughal types, and the shorter 48 card decks. European style packs can be used by removing the jacks. Each suit therefore has two court cards, and ten numeral cards. The game has some similarities with Blackjack. In Naqsh the 'Mir' (or King) is given a value of 12 points, and the second court card, the 'Ghodi' (or Vizir, Cavalier or Queen) is worth 11. The other cards are worth their pip values, including the ace which has a value of 1. Several players can play the game. Mr. Gordhandas suggests 5 7 players, with 6 being the ideal number. The aim is to achieve a total value of 17 with the first two cards dealt, or the nearest number below this total. Players with low value cards can continue to draw further cards to try to improve their total. Variations can be played where 21 is a target total (but only if made with a King and a 9, or a Vizier and a ten), or where different winning combinations are accepted such as pairs, triples and so on. The game is suited to gambling.