Bhavnagar State Historical Series Playing Cards
Kishor Gordhandas
13 September 2008, 05:03The former kingdom of Bhavnagar on the East Coat of Saurashtra Peninsula in North West India was a small Princely state but has been one of the most advanced since the end of the 19th century. It has many ‘Firsts’ in its long history. Thakur Takhtasinhji was the first Indian Prince to travel to England as a personal guest of Queen Victoria, Empress of India. Maharaja, Dr. Virbhadra Sinhji was the first Ruler to get the Doctorate form Bombay University. Bhavnagar State was the first and only Indian State to have its own Playing Cards printed: The Bhavnagar State Historical Series. The Cards were never sold or distributed openly in the market.
A set of colourful playing cards representing reproductions of wall paintings in Sihore, the old capital of the princely state of Bhavnagar, produced by its Royal family has become a valuable item for scholars, rich source of information for ethnologists and a collector’s pride. The pack consists of 38 numbered cards, plus two without numbers and one with the view of the old Darbar Gadh of Killeh Sihore. The set, totalling 41 cards, was printed around the year 1911 in England. The cards are glazed, with rounded corners, gilt edged and printed in four colour letterpress. There are seven different designs on the backs of the cards; a white back with a golden monogram and the initial “RBT” in the four corners and various floral designs with again, a large monogram in the centre. The pack of 41 cards additionally contains a colour map of the then Bhavnagar State, printed by W. & A. K. Johnston Limited, Edinburgh and London. That the cards have an uneven numbers (40 plus 1 cards in a pack, seven different back designs, three different series, L, M and N), is important and typical of Indian tradition and belief. There are also packs, but with only floral back designs, and having 38 cards, plus Sihore Town and Fort card for a total of 39, which do not contain the Bhavnagar State Map.
According to the late H. H. Dr. Virbhadra Sinhji, Bhav Sinhji II himself had ‘invented’ the cards. The cards with the white backs have the dimensions 89 mm X 63 mm and all the other sets have cards with 91 mm X 65 mm, inside a cardboard box with sliding inset, covered with pink paper with the text and illustrations of Sihore Capital and Fort, printed in red. Also enclosed are four games printed on a light bluish leaflet and a description of the three important battles; that of Chital 1793, Tana 1794, and of Patna 1796 printed separately by Hazell, Watson & Viney Ltd., London and Aylesbury.
The cards were produced on the occasion of the Wedding of Princess Manhar Kunaurba with the Maharaja, Yadaventrasinh Bahadur, of Panna State, on the 2nd December 1912. Printed in Britain, in 1911, the set of cards reproduces in colour the wall paintings of the Darbargadh (Palace) of Sihore. The Paintings illustrate King Wakhatsinhji’s (1772 -1818) victory in the battle of Chital (1793). Since the photography was technically far less advanced in those days, it was not possible to document the wall paintings directly, so the help of a traditional Kamangar painter from Kutch was sought to reproduce the paintings on paper, using water colour as a medium. This was done in a style faithful to the originals, each rectangular frame being finished with the red border at the top and bottom, with the floral patterns also like the originals. The battle scenes were therefore eye-witness illustrations, bearing the mark of true authenticity. An imaginative task hardly ever performed by any Royal Family. The types of costumes can clearly be distinguished: The Rajputs on M-4 and Kathis on L-6, N-5 etc., and nobody except the hero Wakhatsinhji had such an impressive turban.
The set of cards were distributed at the wedding among the relatives and guests from various princely states. Marriage ceremonies were, by custom, lengthy, sometimes lasting for a week or ten days, and these special card games would have kept guests amused and occupied during that time. The Cards with white golden backs were definitely meant for members of the Royal family and highest ranking Dignitaries like the British political agents and others. The reproductions of battle scenes give an insight into the Regional history of Saurashtra.
There are three “suits”. A suit is any of the four sets into which a pack of cards is divided. In modern French-suited playing cards, there are four suits; Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs. In the case of the Bhavnagar cards, there are only three suits: L, M and N. The L-suit is mainly connected with the Battle of Chital in 1793. It is the largest suit with 19 ‘L’ numbered cards.
M-suit, with 14 cards is the next second largest. This seems to be connected with the Battle of Tana, 1794, and to be regarded as the most important for Wakhatsinhji. He is depicted on his favourite mare SIHUN on M-1, the card with the highest value. An unnumbered M does not exist. It is possible that the card with the view of Sihore town and Fort takes this position. The unnumbered L and N cards are identical in design to M-1 and showing the hero Raja Wakhatsinhji on horseback with standard bearer and musicians.
N-suit is the smallest, with five numbered cards. It can be only connected with the battle of Patna, 1796, which was the shortest.
Bhav Sinhji II was the son of Raja Thakore Takhta Sinhji and he was presented with the Insignia of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India- on 4th March 1903 and received the title of ‘Maharaja’ as a personal distinction in 1909. The same custom of not changing his title had been practised before by Wakhatsinhji, the Hero of the Card-series. Since his ruling grand father Bhav Sinhji I died at 81 years and his father Akherajji I became King quite late, Ataji or Atabhai alias Wakhat Sinhji, was always addressed as Thakur by habit (Cards L-18, M-1, L, N) though he was functioning as the 20th Gohil King of Bhavnagar.
The land of Saurashtra was originally inhabited by the Kolis and the Kathis, a strong militant race from whom the name of the region of Kathiawar (Saurashtra) has been derived. The cause of the battle of Chital was the power struggle between a group of certain Kathi and Rajput Chiefs. The battle proved to be a decisive one at the level of regional history as it further reduced the territory governed by the supremacy of the Rajput race – hence the paintings commemorate this victory on the walls of the palace at Sihore. It is said that Wakhat Sinhji, who triumphed in this battle was a devotee of the ‘local deity’, the mother Goddess, ‘Khodiyar’. It is said that ‘Khodiyar’ always appeared as a black sparrow (Kali Devi), perched on his spear and blessed him whenever he proceeded to the battlefield. The first figure in the Wall paintings shows Wakhat Sinhji with long side whiskers and with an impressive big red head-gear decorated slightly with brocade work in gold. He is seated on a white mare ‘Sihun’ with a lance in his right hand on which the legendary black sparrow sits.
The Paintings are in long horizontal panels on the wall presenting Wakhat Sinhji the leader, Bha Devani, the commander-in-Chief of the Rajput army, Rupji Desai, the Dy. Commander-in-Chief and other important characters. On the Playing Cards, however, each character is separately composed in the rectangular frame of the card and thus every individual has been focused properly. For instance, an Arab foot soldier is always shown with a muzzle loader rifle, which he was known to use. The paintings and the reproductions on the cards also give us an idea as to how cannons were pulled and carried to the battlefield in those days. Since the cannon was not a native weapon, the presence of Western experts was required. A pair of European Officers have figured in these horizontal friezes and subsequently appeared on these cards. These European Officers could be either Portuguese, French or Britishers, but as the local and regional literature refers to them as ‘PHIRANGI’, they could be Portuguese since it was then a synonym of Portuguese in the Regional dialect of Saurashtra. According to the late H. H. Virbhadra Sinhji, however, these were French adventurers. The Army of Wakhat Sinhji consisted of varieties of races, ethnic groups and religions inclusive of the Portuguese/French.
These cards represented the main variety of races as well as the variety of the arms used by Wakhat Sinhji Alias Atabhai’s Army. As per the three local Kathiyawadi proverbial words to express them: ‘DHAR’ (The EDGE), ‘ANI’ (The POINT) and ‘DHABAKO’ (The Sound of Fire) are seen here together.
The Bhavnagar Historical Playing Cards are a rich source for ethnologists in connection with the clans and tribes of Saurashtra, equipment and arms for the Rajput army and their animals. Men of all classes and different profession joined battle with their leaders and heroes. (Cards: M-8, M-11, M-13, M-14).
The games that can be played with the pack are various collecting games and gambling games like Poker and Rummy and were probably compiled by someone in England. The four card games provided with the rules are: ‘Not At Home’, ‘Brag’, ‘Army Spoof’ and ‘Donkey’.
For the Wedding, some Cards were printed four times the size of the Playing Cards, and were used as Menu Cards. Unfortunately, not a single Menu card seems to have survived. However, the old servants who are still in the services of H. H. Rajmata Brijraj Nandini Devi of Bhavnagar remember having seen the paintings on the wall after her marriage in 1955. The son, H. H. Vijayraj Sinhji, now the Maharaja of Bhavnagar, is not yet well versed in the history of his family. He lives in Mumbai with his family.
The Bhavnagar State Historical Series cards are not easily available. Being a Collector of World Playing cards, I had a few of these, some of which were sent to a couple of collectors of Asian and Oriental Playing Cards, abroad, to The Netherlands, and Belgium. One pack of 41 cards with white colour Background was given to an Interior Designer for the Spacious Card Room of the exclusive Otter’s Club at Bandra, some time back. My personal Gilt-edged set of 41 cards was presented to me by the late Dr. Sivapriyananda of Mysore. He belonged to the Royal Family of Wadhwan, Saurashtra. He got this pack for me from his close friend, the late H. H. Maharaja Dr. Virbhadra Sinhji of Bhavnagar, a few months before the Maharaja died unexpectedly on 26th July 1994, at an early age of 61. Dr. Sivapriyananda, mentioned above, was a good friend of mine and helped me in giving some details with pictures about a few Ganjifa cards. Unfortunately, he also expired a few years later in Mysore.
Comment
A Great Photographer Came To India The Japanese Art Of Ukiyo-e
Is it possible to see the cards online somewhere?
— dinesh rao · Sep 14, 22:31 · #
Hello, Greetings. I am Chandrajitsinh Gohil from Bhavnagar. Your article above about the Ganjifa cards is very good. Thank you for the same. I am the 7th generation direct descendant of Bha Devani, Commander-in-chief depicted in the article above. I had recently been to Sihor and taken photographs of the original wall paintings. Please do respond for further interaction.
— CHANDRAJITSINH GOHIL · Nov 23, 22:39 · #
The entire set of cards is available for viewing on my website http://www.yponder.com. I am currently working on a documentary film based on the actual paintings.
— Vijay Raol · Dec 4, 06:41 · #