Stamps of Pakistan (1947 - 1960)
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Scinde Dawk: When Sir Bartle Frere of the East India Company became the Chief Commissioner of Sind, also known as Scinde, in 1850, he improved upon the postal system of the state by introducing a cheap and uniform rate for postage, independent of distance traveled. In 1851, Sir Bartle Frere introduced the "Dawk" or the postal system in the British India and the first stamp of "Half Ana" was published from the Scinde (present day Sind province of Pakistan). These were the first stamps issued in Asia and also the world's first round stamps. The runners were replaced with an efficient system using horses and camels, following routes through Scinde province, generally along the valley of the Indus river. The mail was carried quickly and efficiently, connecting government offices and post offices from Karachi through Kotri and Hyderabad up to Shikkur in the north. The Scinde district is now a part of Pakistan. One of the rarest classics of philately, the red ½ anna Scinde Dawk was issued first, on July 1, 1852. However, the stamps were not an unbridled success. The red sealing wax wafer stamps, embossed with a backing of paper, were so fragile that they easily cracked and disintegrated. Since they were often used as a seal on a letter, many were destroyed when the letter was opened. The next attempt was a colourless embossing on whitish or bluish paper. Light blue lines were added between the stamps in the second printing. No one knows whether they were guidelines for separating the stamps or guidelines for the embossing. This version had its own problems. It was very difficult for the postal clerks to see at night by candlelight, especially when they were attached to white envelopes. Finally, the blue stamps, made by simultaneous printing and embossing, were tried. These stamps are found in several shades of blue and they too are found with blue dividing lines between the stamps. This last version was issued shortly before the Scinde Dawk were withdrawn from use on September 30, 1854, and replaced by the East India Company stamps. |
A rare envelope showing the Pakistan
overprinted British India stamps addressed to Muhammad Khan in Jamrud
First Postage Stamp of Pakistan:
A set of four stamps was issued as the first indigenous Pakistani stamps almost a year later in July 1948, printed for Pakistan. The 1 Re stamp above beautifully engraved with Urdu inscription reading "Long Live Pakistan" was thus one of the first stamps. The stamp was designed by none other than the legendary painter of Pakistan Abul Rehman Chughtai.
The three other stamps of the set as shown above included: (left to right) Karachi National Assembly building in ultramarine colour of 1 and half Ana, Karachi International Airport in green colour of 2 and half Ana and Lahore Royal Fort in purple-brown of 3 Ana.
Sardar Abdur-Rab Nishter and Musarrat Hussain Zuberi showing the set of first postage stamps to Liaquat Ali Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Other than the Re. 1 stamp, the remaining three stamps were designed by two artists: Rasheed-ud-Din and Muhammad Lati.
Chughtai continued to design stamps of Pakistan Post between 1948-1960. On the independence day of 1951, he produced a set of 9 stamps, internationally known as Chughtai Art set, was considered as the most beautiful stamps of the world at that time.
A set of stamps printed between
1949 -1954
Some of the important stamps published
between 1948-1960
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Amending mistake - changing crescent from right (1948) to left (1949) (from setting to rising sun) |
  100 years of War of Independence |
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Commemorating 100 Years of Postal Services in Asia
The British East India Company pioneered the establishment of a modern postal system in South Asia began in 1852 and issued the first stamp which is known as the "Scinde Dawk" (see caption above) when the East India Company issued postage stamps.
Scinde Dawk stamps are considered to be the oldest stamps in Asia and were used in Karachi City and remaining Sind regions. However, the regular postal services and the formal stamps were issued in 1854.
In 1952, Pakistan issued a set of two stamps to commemorate the 100 years of the postal services in Asia and were dubbed as Scinde Dak stamps.
Stamps of Bahawalpur State
Bahawalpur State issued its own stamps from 1945 to 1949 . The State later merged into Pakistan.
Year wise stamps from 1947 - 1960 (Shared from my blogs: |
Hobby Shobbys |
My Philatelic World
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| 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | *1950 | 1951 | ^1952 | *1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 |
Note:
* No stamps were issued in 1950 and 1952
^ In 1952, only two commemorative stamps were issued on the eve of 100
years of Postal Services in Asia (shown above)
30 March 2013