Tag: India stamp

Part of the Indian independence movement was swadeshi. This was the idea that Indians could hasten the departure of the British by only doing business with Indians . V O Chidambaram brought swadeshi to steamships going between India and Columbo in Sri lanka. Involving politics in business can get rough, even deadly. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Swadeshi meant Indians were going to acquire the necessities for the country to get by on it’s own. I covered a Tata owned steel mill here, https://the-philatelist.com/2019/11/21/india-1958-independant-india-will-be-great-building-on-the-success-of-people-like-j-n-tata/   , built in the same spirit. When I saw the ship on this stamp and checked the dates involved. I figured there was no way this was an all India operation. Well the steamships were leased not owned, but indeed it was all Indian. Worth remembering and the honourific the Tamil Helmsman.

Todays stamp is issue A333, a 20 Paise stamp issued by India on September 5th, 1972. It was a single stamp issue honouring the birth century of V O Chidambaram Pillai. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 55 cents used.

Early in his life V O Chidambaram Pillai( V O) was a scholar of languages and the law. He was politically radicalized after law studies at Trichy and encounters with the Swami Vivikananda. V O was not a full barrister but a pleader, who writes pleadings to be submitted to a court. He was a member of the India National Congress, a nationalist movement.

At the time there were many fellow Tamils engaged as contract laborers in Ceylon. The steamship ride back and fourth was expensive and all British operated. V O had the idea to start a steamship company that was all Indian and could train ship crews and perhaps eventually shipbuilders. He traveled India raising money and even had Gandhi raising money for him on a trip visiting Indians in South Africa. He raised $40,000. This was not enough to buy ships but got an operation up and going with the steamship SS Gallia leased from the French. The British monopoly steamships were not happy and launched a price war against V O’s Swadeshi Steam Navigation. The British price eventually got to free rides and a free umbrella. The steamship company went broke and VO went on to help organize trade unions to strike British owned textile mills. A colonial minister called in VO and asked for assurances that another independence activists’ release from prison would be peaceful. The official was shocked when no assurances were given. After all, V O was an Officer of the Court. He was arrested for sedition. VO refused bail and did not participate in his trial. He was then shocked when he was convicted and sentenced to two life terms. He suddenly was  very involved  with appeals and ended serving three years of hard labour.

Activists were angered by how V O was treated. A British Resident Magistrate, Robert William Ashe, was especially blamed as he had presided over the liquidation of the steamship company. In 1911 Ashe was assassinated by an activist while passing through a train station. That station is now named for his assassin. The assassin left a note that this was a warning to “cow eater!” George V never to come to India. It said there were two thousand like him in Madras who had vowed to kill the King if he ever sets foot there. King George V did visit that year and was crowned Emperor of India. His visit passed without incident but he was the last British Monarch formally crowned in that way.

Interestingly the coworkers of Ashe raised money for a statue to him. The statue still stands somewhat derelict and Indians are still arguing over whether it should be taken down or fixed up for modern tourists.

After jail V O was less involved in politics. He had a falling out with Gandhi. over money that VO believed Gandhi had raised in his name, but not given to him. A Tamil slang term for an unpayable debt became by Gandhi’s accounting because of this incident. Gandhi later sent the money and the British later reinstated V O’s license to practice law.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another in memory of Robert William Ashe, for trying to serve in a far off place around those who hate you. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.

This stamp shows the biggest steel mill in the British Empire and the man that imagined it but did not live to see it. It belonged to independent India now and was sure to be a building block of a great future. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your family beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Here is a stamp that cries out for better printing. Perhaps the concern was a huge steel mill on a river will just come across as a gross polluter. Hence the strange orange tint at twilight. I think a better job could have been done. I do like that they included Mr. Tata, it helps to show the person as part of the inspiration that is trying to be imparted.

Todays stamp is issue A124, a 15 Naye Paise stamp issued by India on March 1st, 1958. It was a single stamp issue celebrating 50 years of the steel industry in India by showing the largest steel mill in the British Empire in Jamshedpur. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.

J.M. Tata was born into a Zoroastrian Parsee family in Navsari, India. The Parsees were Persians no longer welcome there because they weren’t Islamic. His father owned an import/export firm in Bombay and Tata attended the British founded Elphinstone College. After graduation Tata was sent to China to examine the prospects of getting involved in the opium trade. Lucky for the Tata family name, they don’t issue stamps to remember the exploits of those who soil themselves in the drug trade, Tata discovered a greater opportunity dealing in cotton. By leaving Bombay for cheaper rural land still served by the British trains, the first of many cotton mills was established. As with today, low wage rates and plentiful labour were fully utilized and soon Tata was exporting all over the world. Tata was an early part of the Swadeshi Movement, that believed that Indian goods should be supported and foreign goods boycotted. It may seem a strange stance for an exporter to take, but perhaps a useful reminder of how predatory it all was.

This Swadeshi attitude lead to the founding of the iron and steel division of Tata. This would have seemed so high tech at the dawn of the 20th century. It took a long while to get going and was under son Dorabji that steel output got underway in 1912 in Jamshedpur. This was another smaller city well served by British built infrastructure and offering low wages. Once it got going it really went, the largest steel mill in the British Empire by 1939 that at it’s height employed 40,000 people.

Tata is still one of the largest conglomerates in India and has taken to buying trophy assets including Jaguar/Land Rover and steel mills in Great Britain. No doubt they are having much fun replacing the British that built things with Indians willing to work for less, now even at home. In that predatory lust, they seem to be loosing their way. I mentioned Jamshedpur steel mill peaked at 40,000 employees. Now Tata Steel employs less than 33,000 people in it’s worldwide operations. In the 70s, there was a push to nationalize the steel mill. If that had succeeded employment if not productivity could have been protected.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast British citizens being laid off at Tata’s spoils. No good deed goes unpunished after British India did so much for Parsee refugee Tata. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

In the 20th century the population of India was rising fast. With it was the demand for education and the need to extend that opportunity to the half that were female. This stamp shows an Indian girl happily reading but it is easier to print a stamp than it is to educate a country. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

A stamp from a country in it’s first decade of independence shows a lot of optimism. There is really a belief that without the shackles of colonialism, problems can be quickly dealt with. What is not realized was that the former colonial masters were dealing with the same problems and if they had not solved it with their ample resources, it was going to be a big challenge for the country on it’s own. 60 years after this stamp and 70 years after independence, Indian female literacy is still less than two thirds of the population.

Todays stamp is issue A121, a 15 Naye Paise (no more Annas for India) stamp issued on November 14th 1957. It was a 3 stamp issue in various denominations celebrating children’s day. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used.

Traditional precolonial education in India was carried out by a community funded gurukul system. One imagines much of what was taught was spiritual but the system was ineffective at achieving literacy. in 1872 the literacy rate was barely 3 percent. In the last 75 years of British rule over 100,000 English language schools were opened and over 10 million students were enrolled. Literacy was up to 16 percent though the numbers were much lower than that for girls and those outside the big cities.

In 1944, the British proposed an educational reform based on a commission of British experts, the Sargent Report. It proposed mandatory English education for children of both sexes from age 6-11. After that there would be a division of the students between academic and vocational training. The stated goal was for India to achieve full literacy by 1984. The plan was labled a scheme and scoffed at by India’s independence movement as taking far too long to achieve full literacy. After independence however the plan was modified to include mandatory education out to age fourteen, but otherwise implemented.

100 percent literacy is an elusive goal. At the time of this stamp in 1957, female literacy was less than 15 percent. This seemingly slow progress does not mean the government wasn’t trying. Population was rising fast and that means a young population that puts a big burden on the educational system. The colonial authority was adept at putting out grand future plans. There often however was not the resources allocated. Indian literacy is far higher than in Pakistan another part of former British India, but far lower than China, a country that faced similar issues.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the participants of the 1944 Sargent Commission. For both providing a roadmap and showing to lazy critics that it is easier to take easy swipes than it is to do things better. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

Teddy Petter CBE. the man who designed the supersonic missile armed British Lightning fighter thought something simpler still had a place and his last design proved it’s worth in India. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The printing on this stamp is not the best but the subject matter is great. A  plane virtually synonymous with India rises in the sky. This was a bulk postage stamp, so young Indian philatelists and plane fans would have been excited to get a frequent letter decorated with this stamp.

Todays stamp is issue A203, a 20 Paise stamp issued by India in 1967. The stamp features the Folland Gnat aircraft that was manufactured in India. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. The mint version is up at $8 so most of this stamp must have been mailed.

The Folland Gnat was conceived as a simple to manufacture and maintain day fighter that would be useful to small countries and it was hoped by Britain in smaller wars. Britain in the 50s still operated large numbers of Vampire and Vemon fighters and there was also a NATO requirement for a light ground attack fighter. The RAF at the time was emphasizing quality over quantity and ended up buying the larger Hawker Hunter fighter. The NATO competition was won by an Italian development of the American F86 Sabre jet called the Fiat G91. The RAF did end up buying a 2 seat unarmed training version of the Gnat which most famously was used it in it’s “Red Arrow” acrobatic display team.

The simple design and ability to manufacture it locally appealed much to India. The Indian air force was dividing it’s purchases between Britain and the Soviet Union but aircraft from both sources required much foreign exchange and expertise. Over time India desired to be more self sufficient and the Gnat was a great way to build expertise.

In the 1965 and the 1971 wars with Pakistan, Indian Gnat fighters faced off against Pakistani F86 Sabres. The F86 had proved a formidable dogfighter over Korea in the 50s with a 10 to 1 kill ratio verses the Russian made Mig 15. The Pakistanis flew a later Canadian improved version of this aircraft. The Gnat however was smaller, more maneuverable, and better flown and achieved a better than 3 to 1 kill ratio against the Sabre, earning the nickname the Sabre slayer.

The program of the Gnat had such momentum after the combat success that a new locally developed version called the Ajeet, (invincible), was built. It was more aimed at ground attack and was less successful as the changes added weight. Without outside assistense, the government owned HAL was not able to give the Ajeet the stability it needed in low altitude combat. By now India was building the twin engine supersonic British Jaguar fighter/bomber and also importing/assembling the similar Soviet MIG 27 so the service life of both the Gnat and Ajeet were at an end. Pakistan had retired the Sabres in favor of French supersonic Mirage III and Chinese copies of the slightly supersonic Russian MIG 19.

The British Folland company was later absorbed by Hawker which made the Hawk trainer and light fighter that is used by both Britain, including the Red Arrow team, and India today. Teddy Petter was not able to help with the later Indian development of his Gnat design. In 1959 he retired from Folland. His wife had come down with Parkinson’s disease and hoping for a cure they moved to a commune in Switzerland run by a defrocked former French clergyman now going by the name Father Forget. Strange but true. His wife was not cured but ended up still outliving her husband who died of ulsers.

India tried to do an indigenous light fighter recently but the program failed due to delays and the constant pull to add complexity.

Well my drink is empty so I will pour another to toast Nimal Jit Singh Sekhon who took on 6 Pakistani F86 planes solo in his Gnat. He achieved 3 hits before being shot down. He was awarded the Piram Vir Chakra medal for gallantry posthumously. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

The East processes exotic spices quite valuable in the West and the West processes amazing technology much needed in the East. Sounds like a win-win until the inevitable mission creep sets in. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

A nice inspiring portrait of Queen Victoria from the 1850s. Look closely though and you realize it is not British. It is not even a colony nor dominion. The stamp is actually the product of a trading company. I don’t think a modern company of any size would be granted permission to issue what is after all essentially currency in so official a form. The British East India Company was no ordinary company. At it’s height, it controlled over half of the worlds trade. Edit, the pandemic reaction shows that big companies can do anything they want, so I stand corrected.

The stamp today is issue A7, a one half Anna stamp issued by the British East India Company in 1855. It was part of a 10 stamp issue in various denominations featuring a profile portrait of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $4.50 used. The green 4 Anna stamp is worth $1750 mint. There is also a version of the 8 Anna stamp  cut in half to be used on post covers for 4 Annas that is worth $60,000 used.

The British East India company received a charter from Queen Elizabeth I, and raised money to set up trading with the East. By then, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the French had there own trading companies doing the same thing. The values of spices being such that if a journey was survived a return of 1000% could be realized. A relationship was developed with the Mughal Empire in India that allowed virtually unlimited trading. The riches poured in to the investors of the Company.

This could not last. The rivalries with the other countries over trading posts had come to wars and the company expanded it security force into a full private army with British officers trained to British Army standards in Britain and enlisted men from India that were also trained to British standards. The army grew to more than twice the size of the British army and was the most capable force in Asia.

English pirates raided a Mughal naval vessel returning from the Haj in Mecca. Large amounts of gold and silver were looted and although the East India Company disclaimed responsibility, war broke out with the Mughal empire that resulted in a defeat for the Mughals. Just as spice revenues were falling, administration cost rose. There was a failed attempt to raise tea prices in the American colonies, remember the Boston Tea Party. The smuggling of opium to China increased. Stories in Britain of the frequent plagues and famines in India lead to calls to do more about it. All this lead to a rampant increase in administrative cost that ate up all the profits.

In retrospect the institutions set up to administer India were set up modeled on the British System. The whole education system basically still in use today was set up by a British administrator named Thomas Macaulay. The system  taught English and passed on Western ideals. It did nothing to promote local culture or history and therefore Macaulayism  is a controversial subject in India today. Two areas that were not interfered with by the company were imposing Christianity and there was British respect for the Indian caste system.

With the profits having turned to losses, the rebellion in the East India Company Army in 1857 was the last straw. The Company was nationalized by Britain, liquidated and the institutions established by the company were taken over by Britain. India would now be a Crown Colony, the beginning of the British Raj. The name and logos of the British East India company were recently acquired in Britain for a chain of clothing stores.

Well my drink is empty and I think I will have a few more while I consider the pros and cons. A point to start was what was the true condition and in what numbers were the the Indian people pre company under the Mughals, who remember were themselves Persian outsiders. At liquidation in 1858, the British bankruptcy judge stated that nothing like this company will ever happen again. Not sure I believe that. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

There are today fewer than 10 million Buddhists in India. Yet it once was the primary religion of the subcontinent. The Emperor Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism was chronicled in stone at Sanchi Stupa and also on stone pillars found throughout India. Building in stone proves very useful later as we have Ashoka’s view of his times in a way we don’t from those who left nothing permanent behind. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp comes soon after the site was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. India had also named it such. This is progress as India can be fairly critiqued for not working to preserve pre Hindu heritage.

Todays stamp is issue A981, a 5 Rupee stamp issued by India on April 4th, 1994. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 50 cents used.

In the second century BC, most of India, except the southern tip was ruled by the Maurya Empire from what is now the city of Patna. The Empire reached it’s height under Ashoka the Great, who ruled from 268 to 232 BC. During his time the state of Kalinga, now called Odisha, was conquered. Doing so was very costly with estimates of 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations, this was when there were fewer than 170 million people in the world. Ashoka was depressed about the loss of life and converted to Buddhism. With the missionary zeal of a new convert, he had the Sanchi Stupa complex built to host his marriages and to safekeep the relics of Buddhism. The site was expanded later under the Gupta Dynasty, Ashoka also sent out monks to act as missionaries as far as Siberia, Sri Lanka and the Eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Where ever they went were left stone pillars on which were inscribed Ashoka’s edicts. Over time the practice of Buddhism in India declined after the ruling dynasty converted to Hinduism and the practitioners were further attacked by invading Arabs and Persians.

The Sanchi Stupa was discovered in 1819 long abandoned but intact by a British Indian Army officer named Henry Taylor. For about 50 years after this British archeologists and treasure seekers took pieces away as trophies. Over time most ended up in the British Museum or the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 1869, Britain put a stop to the gradual looting and in the 1920s the site was reconstructed into it’s current status under Sir John Marshal.

From the period after independence the call went out to return the trophies taken from the Sanchi Stupa. Interestingly, the calls didn’t come from India but rather Ceylon and Burma, where Buddhism is still widely practiced. The return? to Ceylon of relics in 1947 was a major public event.

Well my drink is empty. Perhaps I should take inspiration from Ashoka the Great and have my stamp stories inscribed on stone pillars. That way later generations will learn about stamp collecting long after the stamps themselves are gone. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Patiala was a Sikh state in the Punjab. It was one of the  Phiulkian sardars that had made peace with the British and so were allowed to continue. What to do when the Prince notices his states best girls being kidnapped and his neighboring cousin Prince rapidly expanding his harem. Call in Sherlock Holmes. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp is for official use in Patiala. The low denomination, 1/2 Anna = .004 of an American penny in todays money, implies local mail. Wonder what the ratio of bills to commendations directed at his people from the Prince?

Todays stamp is issue O8 an official stamp issued by the Sikh feudal state of Patiala. It was a 14 stamp overprint of a British India issue featuring King George VI. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

What became Patiala started as a village formed by a Sikh family castout. He was cast out for following another Guru. Thus the states in the area were separate though the ruling family were branches of the same family. The town took the name Patiala while under Baba Ala Singh who expanded his territory and rejuvenated the ancient Mubarak Fort. He was having constant battles with Afghans and Marathas and made a self defense treaty with the British East India Company.

In the 1920s Patiala’s Prince was having a problem with his cousin ruling Nabha. His police officers were being harassed in Nabha and more importantly young women were disappearing only to reappear in the Nabha Prince’s harem.  Things were getting quite hostile between them and that was quite dangerous for their continued existence. The British had a rule regarding the feudal states called the Doctrine of Lapse. If an area lacked a direct heir or the ruler was deemed manifestly incompetent, the state would revert to British India. Gosh, that is a doctrine that needs to make a comeback.

Patiala petitioned to a Sikh council called the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak. They got no satisfaction there so it was referred to the British Indian courts. Their enquiry found that Patiala’s accusations were true. They forced the Prince of Nabha to abdicate and took over the states administration. There are some that thought that Patiala had more popularity with the British as a Patiala polo star was playing in Britain and winning championships.

In 1947 Patiala was the first feudal Prince to sign the Instrument of Accession to the new independent Union of India. In return, he was named the areas first governor.

Well my drink is empty. I checked and Patiala Prince Singh had 10 wives, numerous consorts and a a whopping 88 children. Wonder where he got his harem? Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

The Red Fort was to be the seat of power of the Mughal Empire after it’s move to Delhi. So of course there was a great deal of pride when the flag of independent India was raised and President Nehru spoke from it’s ramparts around the time of this stamp. He might have been disappointed to know that the historic site was part of India’s adopt a historic site program and sits unrestored while hosting laser light shows and shopping malls in private hands. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This was an issue of historical sites. When thought of in terms of the recent independence, the idea that the sites are finally in Indian hands is what is being celebrated.

Todays stamp is issue A97, a 2 Rupee stamp issued by independent India on August 15th, 1949. It was a 16 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 50 cents used. The mint value is way up at $27.50. It shows how few were being saved by collectors from the date of issue.

The Red Fort was constructed in 1639 in Delhi to house the seat of government of the Mughal Empire. The Empire’s capital was moving from it’s previous home in Angra. The Mughal Empire was perhaps at the height of it’s power under Shah Jahan and the elaborate complex took 10 years to built and reflected the best of Hundu, Persian, and Timurid styles. The walls of the fort were done in thick red sandstone. The architect in charge of the project was  Ahmad Lahori, who also designed the Taj Mahal.

The imposing stone pediments have survived from the times of Shah Jahan, but much of the interior grandeur has been lost. First in 1747 at the time of the Persian invasion under Shah Nadir. In 1783 the Misl states of the Sikh Confederacy  briefly held the complex. During the time of the British East India Company, the much reduced in power Mughal Shah was allowed to stay in the Red Fort. During the Sepoy rebellion of 1857, the British made the decision  not to defend the Red Fort as the uprising was promoting then Shah Bahadur II as a leader. The complex was again badly looted and the Shah decided to flee. He was captured and returned to the fort this time as a prisoner and banished to Burma.

During the more formal British Raj, Lord Curzon restored much of the complex including the gardens that now boasted a sprinkler system. 1911 saw the visit of King George V and Queen Mary on the occasion of the Delhi Dubar, where the British King was Coronated Emperor of India.

In the last days of the the British Raj, trials were held at the Red Fort on charges of treason  to British Indian Army officers who abandoned their posts during the Japanese invasions of Malaya, Singapore and Burma. Many of the accused offered their services to the Japanese puppet India National Army. The trials were met with much protests and even further mutiny in the British Indian Army and Navy. The sentences were never carried out and  the affair went a long way to convincing Labour Prime Minister Atlee that British continued presence in India was unsustainable.

Independence saw the elaborate raising of the flag of India at the fort and Prime Minister Nehru giving a speech from the ramparts. This has turned into an elaborate annual tradition by all the Prime Ministers since. The Sandstone facade as held up well as stone tends to. This century as seen much change within the walls. In 2003 the last Indian Army detachment left the fort. The complex attracts many tourists. This has been terrible for the gardens and much of the marble tiles from the Mughal era gradually disappear. The tourists are accommodated by restaurants and stores within the walls of the complex. There is a nightly laser light show. In 2016 the Red Fort was included in the government’s “Adopt a historical site program” that sells the right to operate historical sites for profit. Some in India thought this went too far, and the hashtag “India for sale” trended.

Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering what Shah Jahan would have thought. Would he be just amazed that the fort survived or just in a daze about the laser light show? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.