THE POSTAL HISTORY OF INDIA

INDIAN STAMPS USED ABROAD


The Indian Postal Administration in the 19th. and 20th. centuries (up to India's attainment of Independence in 1947) extended far beyond the geographical limits of the sub-continent itself and included such distant points as East Africa and the Straits Settlements of Malaya.
In a number of British-controlled areas scattered around the Indian Ocean, Indian stamps were used to prepay postage until the establishment of local postal systems (still under the general control of British India) permitted these areas to issue their own stamps (and thereby garner the revenues therefrom).
In the Persian Gulf area also, the I.P.A operated a number of Agencies to serve the British- and Indian-controlled trading houses who controlled all of the Gulf trade at that time.
Indian stamps used in these places can only be identified by their postmarks and while this is relatively easy for the more recent CDS-type cancel,, it is rather more difficult with the older, numbered, postmarks.

Selections of these 'Used Abroads' lend added spice, not only to collections of India itself, but also to those of those countries that used Indian stanps before issuing their own.
So, the next time you're sorting through a dealer's stock of old Indian cheapies (and who has not whiled away many a sunny Saturday afternoon doing just that?), keep an eye out for these; you could do your collection quite a bit of good!

Where Abroad Indian Stamps were used?

This is not a complete list; places for which examples are rare have been omitted, as has most mail from military campaigns.

INDIAN CANCELLATIONS

The cancellations of India is a moderately huge topic, to which entire books have been devoted. I'll therefore cover only the essentials.
Up until 1861, the Indian Postal Service was divided into several areas or 'circles', each centered on a major city or state, each having it's own distinctive cancellation types.
Agencies outside India were attached to one or another circle, depending on their geographical location.
In deference to the India Study Circle I'll use the standard numbering for the cancellation types. There are numerous sub-types especially amongst the All-India cancellations.

AREA (CIRCLE) TYPES



Type 7--Bengal
Concentric
Octagons

Type 6--Madras
Diamond of Dots

Type 4 --Bombay
Diamond of Lines

Type 4 Duplex
Bombay
Chandernagore(B86)
Nepal(B137)
Malacca(B109)
Penang(B147)
Singapore(B172)
Burma(see below)
Mahe(C89)
Pondicherry(BR)
  • Karikal
  • Aden(124) Damaun(13)
    Aden(124)
    Nepal(137)
    Bushire(308)
    Muscat(309)
    Baghdad(356)
    Basra(357)

    ALL-INDIA TYPES



    Type 9 Duplex
    1861-73
    • Damaun(13)
    • Linga(21)
    • Bandar-Abbas(22)
    • Muscat(23)
    • Guadur(24)
    • Bushire (26)
    • Chandernagore(86)
    • Pondicherry(111)
    • Aden(124)

    Type 17 Duplex
    1873-84
    • Aden(B-22)
    • Muscat(K-4)
    • Guadur(K-4/1)
    • Bushire(K-5)
    • Bandar-Abbas(K-5/1)
    • Linga (K-5/2)
    • Damaun(B-5/3)
    • Pondicherry(M-19)
    • Zanzibar(I/B-20/8)


    ----------Squared Circle cancels 1884-1922----------


    ----------Various CDS types 1922-47----------






    CANCELLATIONS USED IN ADEN


    India/Aden

    The British Crown Colony of Aden, now part of Yemen, lay on the coast of Arabia, about 160 km east of the southern entrance to the Red Sea. It had been a major stop-over point on the East-West trade route for centuries and was a place of great strategic and commercial importance in the hey-day of the British Empire.
    From 1854 until its own stamps were issued in 1937, Aden was part of the Indian Postal Administration and Indian stamps were used here.
    The earliest postmarks comprised a diamond of diagonal lines containing the numerical code '124'. Later came various duplex, squared-circle and CDS types. 'ADEN', 'ADEN CAMP', 'ADEN CANTONMENT' are fairly common while 'ADEN.STEAMER POINT' are quite rare.
    (Mind you, this is all quite relative; Indian stamps used in Aden are, of course, very much less common than those used in India itself.)

    For more information and a complete set of illustrations of cancellations, please visit:
    ADEN CANCELLATIONS ILLUSTRATED


    INDIA used in THE PERSIAN GULF AREA

    (1)

    (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)


    Great Britain, based in India, was the major force in the opening up the Persian Gulf and the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates to navigation in the Nineteenth Century. As a result, ownership of the main business houses was either British or Indian; Indian Postal Agencies, established to serve trading interests, operated throughout the region.

    (1) & (2):Mesopotamia (later, Iraq) Indian Postal Agencies operated in both Baghdad and Basra between 1868 and 1914.

    (3) & (4): Persia (Iran): Indian Postal Agencies operated in several ports on the Persian coast. Illustrated are Indian stamps used in Bushire(1864-1923) and Mahommera(1892-1923). The Persians took over postal operations in 1923 and all the foreign agencies were then closed.

    (5) & (6): The Persian Gulf: Indian-administered post offices operated in several sheikdoms/ sultanates on the Arabian side of the Gulf but they were turned over to British Administration when India became independent in 1948. Overprinted stamps were eventually issued for all of them, but, prior to this, Indian stamps were used. Illustrated are stamps used in Dubai and Muscat.


    INDIAN POST OFFICES in the FRENCH SETTLEMENTS in INDIA


    (Type 6
    C/111-Pondicherry)

    (Type 17 partial
    Pondicherry)

    (CDS type
    Pondicherry)

    (CDS type
    Chandernagore)

    (CDS type
    Karikal)

    The French were early rivals of the Briish for empire in India. For many reasons, probably centering around British control of the seas, the French lost out and were permitted, by various treaties, to retain only tiny settlements.
    The Indian postal service maintained offices in these possessions independently of the French post offices.
    Pondicherry was the capital of the French possessions and occupied an area of 113 square miles. It had been lost by the French during the Napoleonic wars but was handed back to them in 1816 and stayed French until it was returned to India after independence.
    Chandernagore was a really tiny (3 sq.miles) enclave some 20 miles north of Calcutta. It was owned by the French between 1816 and 1950 when a referendum returned it to India.
    Karikal was a small French settlement on the S.E. coast in the Tanjore district.

    Other Settlements included Mahe and Yenam, of which I yet have no examples.


    INDIA used in BURMA


    (Type 7
    B/127-Moulmein)

    Click to see whole cover

    (Rangoon)

    Burma used Indian stamps up until its seperation from India in 1937.
    Initially, Burma was part of the Bengal Circle Postal administration, but it formed its own Circle in 1871 and used the R-number coding in the Type 17 cancellations that came into use in 1873.
    This table lists the numbers for Burmese town offices for the coded cancellation types: (7(1856-63), 9(1863-73), and 17(1873-81)).

    POST OFFICETYPE 7TYPE 9TYPE 17
    AkyabB/55R-2
    BasseinB/2121R-3
    Bassein TownB/2222---
    Khyouk PhyooB/108108R-5
    Mandalay-------R-6
    MeeadayB/111111---
    MerguiB/128128---
    MoulmeinB/127127R-8
    Namayan(Prome)B/135135---
    Naya DoomkaB/183------
    PeguB/146146R-9?
    Port Blair-------R-10
    PromeB/136
    & B/150
    150R-11
    RangoonB/156156R-1
    SandowayB/159159R-12
    Sarawah(Henzada)B/165165---
    Shoay Gyen(Shwegyin)B/171171R-13
    Sittang(Shwedaung)B/173>173R-14?
    Tavoy(Moulmein)B/129129---
    ThyetmyoB/179179R-15
    ToungnooB/181181R-16


    There was also a full range of later squared-circle and CDS-type cancellations.
    As far as it is known, all the Indian stamps issued before 1937 can be found used in Burma. An interesting challenge for the persistent collector - especially if he/she avoids Rangoon!



    INDIA used ELSEWHERE


    (1)

    (2)

    (3)

    (4)

    (5)

    (6)

    (7)


    (1) Zanzibar: A Post Office opened briefly in 1868-9, and more permanently in 1875, both times under Indian administration. Indian stamps were used until the P.O. was turned over to British East African administration in 1895 when overprinted stamps were issued.

    (2) British East Africa: A postal service was opened in Mombasa in 1890, administered by the British East Africa Company. The town was owned by the Sultan of Zanzibar and Indian stamps were used until the area became a British Protectorate in 1895.

    (3) Straits Settlements: Indian stamps were used in the three Straits Settlements: Singapore, Penang and Malacca between 1854 and 1867. They can be identified by the cancellations: Type 7 (B/172, B/147 and B/109 respectively) and the illustrated duplex type, (with the date in the centre) used mainly in Penang.

    (4) Nepal: A post office at the British Legation (superceded in 1948 by the Indian legation) in Katmandu used Indian postage stamps for overseas mail, as, up until 1959, Nepalese stamps were valid only in Nepal and India.

    (5) Nepal: Stamps of British India on a cover from the Indian Embassy, Nepal. Notice the date: 24 Jan.,1950! Just two days before the proclamation of the Republic.

    (6) Tibet: From a postcard from the Mount Everest Expedition of 1924. A special stamp was used, in addition to the normal Indian postage, to raise funds for the expedition. Click on this image to see both sides of the whole card.

    (7) Tibet: Indian postal agencies operated in several Tibetan centres (Gartok, Gyantse, Pharijong and Yatung) from 1904 until the Chinese occupation. Illustrated is a 1931 cover From Gyantse to Katmandu, Nepal. Click on the image to see the full cover.

    VARIOUS ODDS AND ENDS THAT HAVE TURNED UP SINCE.

    (1) HOW THE KING OF ABYSSINIA (NOW ETHIOPIA), WHO WAS NO TEDDY-BEAR, RECEIVED A SHARP REBUKE FOR HIS INTERNATIONAL NAUGHTINESS!

    FF

    In 1867 King Theodore of Abyssinia imprisoned the British Consul and his staff at Magdala and refused demands to release them in accordance with international laws concerning diplomatic immunity.
    The British launched a punitive expedition which landed at Annesley Bay in November, 1867. By the following April they had stormed and captured Magdala. The City was burnt, the King shot his brains out and the British retired in triumph with the rescued men, having suffered casualties of only 19 wounded.
    The Army Postal Corps operated an office between January and June 1868. The illustrated cancellation ("FF" in a barred diamond) is the only type known on mail coming from the expedition (More detailed information is available on request.)

    (2) THE WARTIME PRIVATIONS OF KUWAIT

    Kuw

    Kuwait had been using Indian stamps overprinted "Kuwait" since 1923, but during WWII, the supplies of overprinted issues ran out and unoverprinted issues of India were provided. There was no announcement made and most passed without anybody taking any notice. Only a few knowledgeable collectors saw them and said "ooooh, gimme!" As a result KGVI stamps of India so cancelled are rare, particularly covers. This piece is dated '2 MAY 43".







    This is a very limited and incomplete survey of the topic; my collection is still very sparse. For fuller information try to find a copy of "The Encyclopedia of British Empire Postage Stamps; Vol. III The Empire in Asia" Published by Robson Lowe Ltd. in 1951. Individual volumes of this 5-member set turn up in auctions occasionally but they usually sell for several hundreds of dollars. Also, "India Used Abroad" by Late Mr Jal Cooper (1972) reprinted from India's Stamp Journal 1972 and Col. D.R.Martin's "Numbers in Early Indian Cancellations 1855-1884". (Robson Lowe Ltd. London. 1970)
    These are major sources of information and I am extremely grateful for their existence.

    If you have any comments, suggestions or advice (I will NOT consider any offers to buy)
    you can send them right NOW or later to:

    rjbw@shaw.ca


    Our other philatelic pages (which includes "Just for Stamp Collectors", "Paquebot" and "Hong Kong Treaty Ports") as well as all external links can now be reached from our new page:

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