More than 100 years ago some untrained and probably illiterate, operators were busy in the hot and humid climate of Calcutta, India, printing the first stamps ever made in Asia. These were the India 1854 Four anna lithographs, prepared by a rather complicated process in two colours, a brief description of which is necessary to understand how the error occurred.
The design consisted of a profile portrait of Queen Victoria in blue inside an octagonal red frame with the words INDIA above and FOUR ANNAS below.
Indiavictoria Head
Four Anna Frame
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Sometime between October 22, 1929 and November 1, 1929, the Security Printing Press of Nasik, India produced a series of airmail stamps to be used on letter mail to England. These were supposedly first postally used November 12, 1929, although letters to England, dated October 22, 1929 are extant.
The entire series of oblong stamps, designed by R. Grant, was typographed on watermarked single-star paper in sheets of 144, which 12 rows of 12 stamps in each row with perforation 14. A picture of a de Havilland Hercules biplane flying over a lake, with palm trees at the left bank, is the central design. The first five stamps were 3,4,6,8 and 12 Anna denominations. The 2 Anna value was added December 2, 1929, when the airline was extended to Delhi.
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Belgium as it is known today is a comparatively young country, having gained its independence from Holland in 1830, but its history as part of the Low Countries and earlier as part of the Spanish Netherlands has made it an important factor in the European power struggle.
When Belgium was a province of Austria a postal service was established to link Brussels to the parent state as early as 1 March 1500. This was operated by the Count of Thurn and Taxis (Tour et Tassis) and, later in the century, an internal service linking Malines, Ghent and Bruges was added to the Brussels link. In 1543 a second service was established from Liege through the Tyrol to Italy. These services had originally been intended for official mail but prepaid private mail was also allowed. All postal markings were handwritten on the reverse of the letters.
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Province in European Turkey, formerly part of ancient Epirus. Had been defeated by the Turks in the 14th century, but a national hero, Scanderberg, rose up about 1443 and liberated Albania from Turkish control for a few years. Turkish control was reestablished following the siege of Scutari in 1478.
During the period of Turkish control there were seven POs in Albania and each had its own special hand-stamp. Frequently the handstamps were only used as arrival marks, and stamps were applied at the office of delivery.
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Sultans from Muscat colonized Zanzibar c. 1730 and transferred their capital there in 1832. They introduced the clove and controlled the slave markets. Foreign consulates followed in the wake of traders from the USA and Germany and missionaries from Britain. In 1856 the dynasty became independent of Muscat. Pressure was brought to bear by a British naval presence from the East Indies station that resulted in the Sultan closing the slave markets in 1873. British interests grew and in 1890 a protectorate was proclaimed. More direct rule was assumed in 1906 and on 1 July 1913 control passed from the Foreign to the Colonial Office. Political offices in the early days were closely linked (sometimes shared) with those of British East Africa.
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German merchants set up trading posts in 1878 at Anecho (Klein-Popo). By 1884 a protectorate was declared as a base for the German West African mailboats.
Traders’ mail is known from 1885 carried by steamers of the Woermann Line and put into the German system at Hamburg.
Togo joined the UPU in 1886 with other German colonies. During German rule there were 17 POs and the last of these, Atakpam, was overrun by the Allies on 26 August 1914.
Allied Occupation of Togo:
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The Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Orange Free State and Transvaal together to form the Union of South Africa, with Dominion status, on 31 May 1910. The Union left the Commonwealth 31 May 1961 and became a republic (RSA).
From 1948 when the National Party came to power, South Africa’s social and political structure was based on ‘apartheid’ or racial segregation. Opposition reached a peak in 1960 with the Sharpeville massacres, but despite this clamp down by the Government, rioting continued and a State of Emergency was declared in July 1985 in 36 Districts and nationwide on 12 June 1986.
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British trading station was established here in 1672. The first settlement was at Freetown in 1787, for Africans rescued from slave ships. Colonized by the Sierra Leone Company in 1791, became a colony in 1808 and was extended inland by protectorate from 1892 to 1896. After becoming independent within the British Commonwealth on 27 April 1961, it underwent a series of military coups in 1967-8, and in 1971 was declared a republic.
Postal History:
Casual letters are known from 1794. A regular packet operated from Falmouth from 1852.
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On gaining independence from Belgium, Burundi became a kingdom from 1962-1966 when it became a republic. After a coup in 1987, the Military Committee of National Redemption came to power led by Major Buyoya, a Tutsi.
Although most of the population is Hutu, political and military power has always remained in the hands of the Tutsi minority. Since the 1960s, Hutu attempts to overthrow the ruling power has resulted in ethnic massacres. The Tutsi dominated army attempted a coup in 1993 in which the president was killed. The Government regained control in December, but the two months of civil war had resulted in 50,000 dead and 500,000 refugees.
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Had become a republic while still under trusteeship, and stayed thus until independence on 1 July 1962.
The majority Hutu population rebelled against the feudal Tutsi rule in 1959-62, leading to the massacre of thousands of Tutsis. Large numbers fled to Uganda. The first President of the republic was deposed in 1973 and was replaced by a military government under general Habyasima, who established a one-party state.
Armed Tutsi exiles repeatedly attempted to invade Rwanda in the 1960s and 70s but were always defeated by the Hutu army. Continued Hutu-Tutsi conflict left thousands dead over a period of 30 years.
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