2017-05-26 Fri

It can be said that the European merchants came to Indian subcontinent looking for trade and found an empire. In 1600's Queen Elizabeth I of England granted a charter to London association of merchants to trade with East Indies. This permission gave birth to East Indian Company (EIC).

It’s hard to imagine that a trading company which came to trade with a rich and prosperous land of Indian peninsula ended up ruling an empire. The invasion of British crown after the Sepoy mutiny divided India into Presidency and Princely state. These state ruled by King under British dominion were called Prince because British knew only the authority of the Queen seating on English throne.

This authority of the British crown was reflected in the monetary system and postal stamps. But it was not easy to circulate these services to all the corners of this vast land. To overcome these obstacles many feudatory states issued postal stamps.

One such State was that of Bhor of Poona Agency which belonged to the Satara Jagirs. The rulers of this state took the title of Pant or Raj. This state was given to Shankarji Narayan as Jagir by Rajaram Chhatrapati. In 1820 it came under the control of EIC.

Bhor state also issued stamp like other Princely states, the above-shown image is the best example of the revenue stamp issued by the feudatory state. These stamps were printing to collect tax or fee.

PS: The Feudatory state term used above is only with reference to the permission granted by the British Raj to issue stamps.

To know more above Princely state click here.