Add Or 3847

Playing cards for the game of Ramayana Ganjifa.

Orissa, Sonpur, early 20th century.

Presented 24 November 1922.

A set of 144 circular cards made of paper, painted and lacquered; divided into 12 suits; contained in a wooden box with sliding top, painted with simple decoration and the figure of an ascetic.

43 mm diameter; box 70 by 120 by 62 mm.

Note: ‘Ganjifa’ cards vary according to their date and place of origin. The present set is arranged in twelve suits which are divided into two groups representing Rama and Ravana. Each suit has two court cards representing King and Minister, and ten number cards, the digits represented by suitable symbols such as monkeys, quivers, swords, daggers or arrows. The background colour is different for each suit. In the case of the suits of Rama’s division the Ace ranks next to the Minister and ten is the lowest card; in the case of Ravana’s division the ten ranks next to the Minister and the Ace is the lowest card.

Although Indian tradition traces the game of ‘ganjifa’ back to the eighth century when Mallaraj, King of Visnupur in Bengal, invented it, literary evidence does not support this. The earliest reference to the game in India is found in the ‘Baburnama’ (AD1527), the memoirs of the first Mughal emperor. Later it is described in detail in the ‘A’in-i-Akbari’ (Abul Fazl (1873), I, 306-307).

Recent research, however, has proved the prevalence of the game in Safavid Persia, but no conclusions can be drawn at present about its origin. ‘Mughal Ganjifa’ and ‘Das’avatar’ Ganjifa’ were popular all over India, while ‘Ramayana Ganjifa’ was popular in Orissa. Krishna Raj Odeyar II developed the game of ‘ganjifa’ under the name of ‘Chhada-krida’ (cards-play) into thirteen varieties, and one of these was based on the characters of the’ Ramayana.’ For explanation and discussion of the types of ‘ganjifa, see’ Leyden (1977).