Naqsh
Ganjifa family’s mysterious cousin
Above: Bishnupur and Paralakhemundi Map
Naqsh refers to both a game and a deck of cards made specifically to play it. Its relationship to ganjifa in general is unclear – it definitely has the look and feel of ganjifa cards, but is more like a cousin than a core family member. Regular ganjifa decks are divided into twelve-card suits, with at least eight suits (96 cards in total) per deck, and used for trick-taking games. Naqsh decks have four or five identical sets of twelve cards (48 or 60 cards in total) and are used for a game somewhat akin to blackjack.
The most well-known version of naqsh decks comes from Bishnupur (West Bengal). They, like Bishnupur’s dashavatar decks (dashabatar tash), have been created by the Fouzdar family for generations.
Artist: Subal Fouzdar
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Above: Pip cards from Naqsh deck by Subal Fouzdar (2002).
Just like ganjifa, there are ten pip and two court cards: the lower court card of ghodi (mare) and the higher one of mir (king). The ghodi card shows a horseman and the mir card has elephant riders (with the elephant either choking or hugging a leopard). The ghodi card is worth eleven points and the mir card twelve.
The numeral cards each have a number of objects from one to ten. These include a girl under a tree (one point), two wrestlers, four conch shells, seven swords, and so on.
Artist: Sital Fouzdar
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Sital Fouzdar (2005).
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Sital Fouzdar (2005).
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Sital Fouzdar (2005).
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Sital Fouzdar (2005).
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Sital Fouzdar (2005).
Bishnupur’s naqsh cards come in large circular, small circular and rectangular formats.
Artist: Prakash Chandra Mahapatra
Ahove: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Prakash Chandra Mahapatra (1990).
Ahove: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Prakash Chandra Mahapatra (1990).
Ahove: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Prakash Chandra Mahapatra (1990).
Ahove: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Prakash Chandra Mahapatra (1990).
Above: Pip, ghodi, and mir cards from Naqsh deck by Prakash Chandra Mahapatra (1990).
There’s also a 60-card version that comes from Paralakhemundi in Odisha, the state next to West Bengal. It’s executed in the folksy style of the region and contains an elephant rider as ghodi, the same rider under a canopy as mir, and simple pips for the numeral cards. It’s unclear how widespread the 60-card version is or was.
Footnotes
- All card images courtesy of: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Digital Cultural Resources, IGNCA.
- The vast majority of the information in this article comes from “Naqsh Card Game, Goddess Lakhmidevi and Diwali” by eminent ganjifa scholar and collector Kishor N. Gordhandas in the Asia InCH Encyclopedia.
- IGNCA, Subal Fouzdar.
- IGNCA, Sital Fouzdar.
- IGNCA, Prakash Chandra Mahapatra.
By Lev Golinkin
United States • Member since May 26, 2026
I'm a US-based author and journalist. I've been collecting playing cards since I was about 8 years old, when I got mesmerized by the various decks that were used in Soviet Ukraine, where I'm from. I collect mainly European decks such as those by Dondorf, Grimaud, and Piatnik. I love courts above all else, and am drawn toward historical and artistic decks.
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