Postal Service

The British Postal Museum & Archive have produce this very informative information sheet on The Postal History of India

Related Articles

• India Postal Establishments 1868 - 1900 indicating where employee records might be found.
• Lists of Civil Engineers and European and East Indian Uncovenanted Servants employed in the Public Works, Military and Postal Departments 1884 -1900
• Post and Telegraphs Department

Gallery

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  Post Office Tirimulgherry
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  Post Office Simla
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  General Post Office Calcutta
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  The General Post Office Bombay
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  Her Majesty's Mail Boat on the Magna

Military Campaigns histories

The following books are available at the British Library

• History of the Indian Army Postal Service by Edward B. Proud. Volume 1, 1854-1913. Volume 2, 1914-1931. Volume 3 1931-14 August 1947. British Library references UIN: BLL01006683737, UIN: BLL01005695395, UIN: BLL01006683720

A description of Volume 1 states "exceptional compilation of places, postmarks and illustrations for this highly complicated subject".

History of British Army Postal Service by Edward B. Proud. Vol.1, 1882-1902. Vol.2, 1903-1927, (a sample page). Vol.3 1927-1963. British Library references UIN: BLL01006808275, UIN: BLL01006682693, UIN: BLL01011181806

• Postal History of Indian Military Campaigns: Sikkim-Tibet, 1903-1908 by D. S. Virk. Available online, refer below.
• Postal History of Indian Military Campaigns: C.E.F. : the China Expeditionary Force, 1900-1923 by Gerald Sattin and D. S. Virk. UIN: BLL01013430218
• The Postal History of the Army of the Black Sea : 1918 - 1923 by John Slingsby. British Library reference UIN: BLL01013055463. Includes the British and Indian occupation forces in the Balkans, Turkey, South Russia and Transcaucasia. Also covered are the Army's brief connections with Transcaspia and the North Persia Force
• Indian Army Post Offices in the Second World War by D.S. Virk. UIN: BLL01011835154
• The postal history of the British Army in World War I - before and after, 1903 to 1929 : an illustrated reference book of British Army postmarks and their location at home and abroad during the campaigns of the war and also on manoeuvres, operations and post war occupations, with relevant historical and postal information by Alistair Kennedy and George Crabb. Published 1977. British Library reference UIN: BLL01008814550. Limited edition of 600 numbered copies.
• A priced checklist of British army & field post offices, 1914-1919 edited by Charles R. Entwistle, published 1997. British Library reference UIN: BLL01008158685

Stephen H Smith 1891-1951

Stephen Hector Taylor-Smith, usually abbreviated to Stephen H Smith founded, during the 1920s, the Calcutta Philatelic Club and the Aero Philatelic Club of India (which changed its name to the Indian Airmail Society on 19th January 1930). Smith wrote Indian Airways, a work in three volumes detailing the first and special flights within and through India up to March 1930. In 1927, he authored a small book, The World Flyer’s Danger Zone covering the hazards of mail flights south east from Calcutta across the Bay of Bengal to Burma and Thailand.

He was a man of vision and also conducted numerous practical experiments to understand and promulgate the potential of rocket power as a mechanism for transport. Smith launched almost 300 rockets between 1934 and 1945 working mostly unfunded and primarily alone.

Smith's publications are available at the British Library: Indian Airways UIN: BLL01003423426 and The World Flyer’s Danger Zone 2nd edition 1927 UIN: BLL01003423427 .

External links

• The British Postal Museum & Archive
• Postage stamps and postal history of India - Wikipedia
• The Postal History of India
• History of Postal Communications in India by Sangeeta Deogawanka stampsofindia.com, now archived. Ancient and Medieval India.
• "Stephen H Smith – India’s forgotten rocketeer" by Gurbir Singh. astrotalkuk.org
• Robert S. Cragg’s World Postmarks
  • India and States Pre-Independence India and Princely States. Sourced from English Names for Indian Places; a Coded Index of Indian Post Offices by Marcus F C Martin, published 1966. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01002401051
  • Pakistan, Burma
• Sinai & Gaza - Part 3: World War I, British Empire and Allies by Edmund Hall (ESC 239) QC (Quarterly Circular) September Quarter 2012, p156-165. This is a journal/publication of the Egyptian Study Circle, UK (Egyptian Philately)
• Forces Postal History Society: Books in the Library forcespostalhistorysociety.org.uk. Scroll down to India.

Historical books online

• Stamps Of India: Digital Bookshelf, now an archived webpage. Indian Postal Guide 1869-1875, Indian Postal Manual 1855, 1859, 1873 and Indian Post Office Annual Report 1854-1856. Note, at least some of the archived pdf links still are accessible, but may be slow to load.
• The Adhesive Stamps of British India Surcharged for Native States by Charles Stewart-Wilson Part I - Chamba Faridkot Gwalior 1897 Part II - Jhind Nabha Patiala 1898. Archive.org. A publication of the Philatetic Society of India
• Indian Postal Guide 1907. Archive.org.
• The Post Office of India in the Great War edited by H.A. Sams 1922 Archive.org Contents
• Postal History of Indian Military Campaigns: Sikkim-Tibet, 1903-1908 by D. S. Virk 1989. Pdf to download. (If the catalogue entry does not display a download, look under 'Books/Indian Subcontinent). Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.