Naqsh Card Game, Goddess Lakshmidevi and Diwali

The normal Indian Ganjifa game is a trick making game without trumps, in which the number of cards won and not their values count towards victory. The earliest literary evidence about the prevalence of Ganjifa Game indicates it to be a game of chance. There are verses on the cards of Ganjifa composed by Muhammed Ahli Shirazi. It is evident that the Ganjifa Cards were used for a game of gambling much patronized by Shah Ismail, the first ruler of Safavid Dynasty in Persia. In a valuable manuscript dated 1514 – 1515 A.D., the poet has written a Portion named Rubaiyat-e-Ganjifa, which contains 96 Rubai or four-liner for 96 cards which Ali Shirazi wrote in Manzuma-i-Ganjifa for each card of an eight-suited pack of Ganjifa. The suits' names in the poem are Ghulam/slave, Taj/crown, Shamsher/sword, Ashrafi/gold coin, Chang/harp, Barat/document; bill- of- exchange, Tanka/silver coin and Qomash/Cloth; bales of material.