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.
Various Ganjifa cards from Dashavatara set
Images of ivory playing cards bought in a Cairo bazaar by French traveller Mr. Émile Prisse d'Avennes (1807-1879), during his visit to Egypt in the period 1827-1844. He identified them as Persian by the style and quality.
Images of cards from the collection of Francis Douce, shown by Samuel Weller Singer. The figure on horseback on the card in the top right corner appears to be holding an object marked " برات ", meaning 'bill' or 'cheque' in Persian.
Mughal Ganjifa Playing Cards, Early 19th century, courtesy of the Wovensouls collection
General Sir Albert Houtum-Schindler was a scholar of Persia and an employee of the Persian government.
Houtum-Schindler circa 1870