Tag: Nepal stamp

Nepal was greatly influenced by the Indian independence  movement despite having remained independent. The Gandhi inspired Socialist freaked out the Nepalese elite and the Panchayat system was devised by King Mahendra as a local alternative. Think of India if the British had turned it over to the Maharajahs. 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.

Todays stamp is a simple portrait of King Mahendra of Nepal. Look how out of date it appears for an early 60s stamp, the King with his ancient uniform and feathered crown. By the 60s, most remaining Kings were in suits for their portraits. Yet in a country that never fell to colonial status, isn’t the King more distinctly local, than any standard issue socialist, with his foreign education and ideas. These independence movements like to present themselves has home grown  and up from the people. Who was the real authentic. Some of the more successful colonial ministers came to the realization that it was better to deal with tribal chiefs for administration labor than sending promising young students abroad, only to come back to work against the system. Here, as with Emperor Salase in Ethiopia, Nepal found a real local system was no defense against an international movement.

Todays stamp is issue A35 a 1 Paisa stamp issued by the Kingdom of Nepal in 1962. It was part of a three stamp issue featuring King Mahendra in various denominations. The overprint means the stamp was meant for the official use of the government. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents. A larger overprint version is worth $1.50. Mine may be that, I can’t determine if my overprint is bigger then the example shown in the catalog or just centered more to the right. 10 years after the death  of the King in 1983, a large remainder of this stamp was sold to stamp dealers by the postal authority. They had the for official use overstamp and still fetched face value.

Nepal never succumbed to foreign domination, unless that is how you would describe the countries current situation. The Nepalese were and are fierce mountain warriors and after bloodying the British in India, both sides had a rare moment of brilliance decided to become friends and partners. Volunteer Gurkha soldiers fought bravely for Britain over many years and units of them still serve in the British, Indian, Singaporean, and Brunei armies. The veterans of this service play an important part in King Mahindra’s plans for a modernized traditional rule. His father had gotten rid of the powerful, hereditary prime ministers the Rama. This was done with the help of newly independent India and an Indian born, educated, and resident Socialist named B. P. Koirala was pushed by the Indians as the future potential leader of Nepal. His Socialist party did very well in the subsequent election and King Mahendra invited him to form a government.

The in place hierarchy was terrified by what was an effective Indian takeover of  Nepal. The King agreed and disbanded the elected government and jailed and then exiled Koirala. He banned all political parties and designed a system of Panchayat to replace it. The system was a three tiered system  of councils the bottom one at the village level that relied heavily on Gurkha veterans. The King had built a major east-west highway that better connected the nation and made some stabs at land reform. He still found too much influence by urban, Indian and socialist within Panchayat and started a back to the villages program to try to keep leaders tied to the people. This somewhat resembled what was going on in Mao’s China and over time China became an important ally of Nepalese Royals. This and a program making it more difficult for Indians to work in Nepal lead to India cutting off trade. The anniversary of B. P. Koira’s death was used as a starting point to overthrow the King and the Panchayat system in 1988. By then Mahindra had died and all royals were stripped of their titles.

One bone to the old system is that Mahendra’s now elderly wife (title stripped)Queen Mother Ratna  is allowed to live in a small house on the grounds of the now museum Narayanhity Palace. She is not the mother of the Royal line as Mahendra fathered his family with her older sister while still Crown Prince. After the death of older sister Princess Consort Indra in 1958, Mahendra married Ratna but had no further children. Her family is Rana, from the former family of hereditary prime ministers. Lots of tradition here, now cast aside.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Gurkhas. Tough enough to keep the British out, but perhaps less adept in defending traditions at home. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.