2017-05-11 Thu

The great illustration of Indian Philosophy sings the praise of Lord Brahma, one of the main deities of the supreme Hindu triad. But you will be interested to know that this indigenous god was depicted on stamps by the French Government during the British Raj.

We all know that British ruled India. But do you know in the 18th century the influence of French rule was quite strong but their repeated defeat at the hands of Dutch and than English power confined their influence to cities of Pondichéry ( Puducherry), Karikal and Yanaon (Yanam) on the Coromandel Coast, Mahé on the Malar Coast, and Chandernagor in Bengal.

This stamp depicts Lord Brahma seating on its Vahana (vehicle) Swan; this was the first design intended specifically for French India post to feature Brahma. These designs and series were found on 15 stamps from 1914 to 1922.

Later in 1932 there was a change in currency. Due to this the old Brahma series stamps were overprinted with surcharge. In 1929 a non surcharge series was issued with new monetary denominations featuring the same lord Brahma theme.

Some interesting facts:

*The British India postal office regulated the inlands mail through their postal office abroad in all French settlement of India.
*The French Indian stamps were only used for sending mail to France and its possessions.

To know more about the Hindu triad Click here.