Early writers on the subject of playing cards held the opinion that
cards first originated in India. The current thinking, however,
is that playing cards actually originated in China. The word
ganjifa,
meaning “playing card,” appears in the fifteenth century,
and may be related to the Persian word
ganj, or “treasury.”
The term apparently first was used for the four-suited Mamluk playing
cards, and then for the eight-suited pack of Iran and India (which
likely developed from use of two four-suited packs for a particular
game). Both the four-suited Mamluk pack and the eight-suited
ganjifa
have suit signs based on emblems of court life; the former includes
one suit of coins whereas the latter has two such suits, strongly
suggesting the doubling of a four-suited pack.
Ganjifa is a trick-taking game, like whist or bridge,
but with strict rules governing what cards may be led. There are
usually three players (four when there are twelve or more suits
in the pack), and all of the cards are dealt in counter-clockwise
fashion. Ganjifa historically have been made from a variety
of materials ranging from ivory and tortoiseshell to papier-mâché,
paper, and stiffened cloth, all painted by hand. They are usually
round, measuring from two to twelve centimeters in diameter.