The Indian Postal Service was developed long before the arrival of the Europeans for efficient military and governmental communications. But the history of the Indian Postal Service begins during the Hindu Puranic times of Vedic Scriptures, which was long before the introduction of postage stamps.

Indian Postal Service in Ancient and Medieval India
In various forms of written documents there are mentions of the ancient Indian Postal Service. For example, in the 4th Veda, the Atharva Veda, there are records of messenger services in ancient India. In Chanakya"s ancient political treatise called the Arthashastra, there are mentions of systems for collecting information and revenue data from the provinces.

In ancient India, the kings or rulers of a particular region would use the intelligence services of specially trained police or military agencies and courier services to convey and obtain information or wartime news through runners. The lines of communication were maintained by the postmaster or daakpaal, who was the chief of this elite service.

These runners ran from one village or relay post to the next, carrying the letters on a pole with a sharp point. The relay of postal runners worked throughout the day and night, vulnerable to attacks by bandits and wild animals. Other than kings, the merchants also used the services of these runners for trade purposes and it were until much later that they came to be used for the carriage of private mail.

Soon after, in 712 AD, after the Arab influence of the Caliphate came about with the conquest of Sind by Muhammad bin Qasim, the Diwan-i- Barid or the Department of Posts was established. And eventually the foot tracks of the runners were replaced by the swiftness of the horse messengers. Before the Mughal colonised India, it was first Sultan of Delhi, Qutb- ud- din- Aibak, who created a messenger post system. In 1296, this was expanded by Alauddin Khilji into dak chowkis, a horse and foot runner service.

It was Sher Shah Suri, who replaced the runners with horses for a faster deliverance of messages. These horse riding postmen would use the north Indian high road, which is currently known as the Grand Trunk Road that Sher Shah constructed between Bengal and Sindh over an ancient trade route at the base of the Himalayas, the Uttarapatha. And Mughal Emperor, Akbar introduced camels in addition to the horses and runners. In 1672 South India, Raja Chuk Deo of Mysore began an efficient postal service which was further improved upon by Haider Ali. Medieval India witnessed the new and improved changes when it came to the Indian Postal Service.

Indian Post Service during the British Rule
After displacing the Marathas, the British East India Company gradually displaced other powers and brought into existence a British administrative system over most of India, with a need to establish and maintain both official and commercial mail systems. In 1688, the East India Company opened a post office in Bombay followed by similar ones in Calcutta and Madras. In 1766, Lord Clive expanded these services and Warren Hastings, the Governor General of British India, opened the posts to the public in March 1774.

The departments for these post offices were opened on 1774 at Calcutta, followed by 1778 at Madras and lastly in 1792 at Bombay. Prior to this the main purpose of the postal system had been to serve the commercial interests of the East India Company. Serving economic and political needs of the ruling authority remained a driving force in the development of the Indian Postal Service.

The Post Office Act of 1837 reserved the government the exclusive right to convey letters in the territories of the East India Company. The mails were available to certain officials without charge, which became a controversial privilege as the years passed. On this basis the Indian Post Office was established on 1st October 1837 and the Scinde Dawk, Asia"s first adhesive stamp was introduced in 1852 by Sir Bartle Frere, the British East India Company"s administrator of the province of Sind.

Postage Stamps of Indian Postal Service Valid postage stamps in India started from October 1854 which featured Queen Victoria and by 1902 new designs were made depicting king Edward VII. Stamps for India were initially produced in Britain, packed and shipped over. From 1st January, 1926 all printing and overprinting of India` postage stamps was conducted at India Security Press in Nasik. The post- independent stamps to be produced in India were a set of three, depicting the Ashokan pillar, the Indian National Flag and a Douglas DC- 4 plane. And on the first anniversary of the Indian independence, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi was issued in 1948.

Indian Postal Service of erstwhile Indian States
Under the British Empire, there were almost 652 Princely States and most of them did not issue postage stamps. The states that did issue stamps were of 2 kinds: Convention States and Feudatory States.

The Convention States used the British Indian stamps, which were overprinted with the name of the state written in Hindi or Urdu letters depending on the state and time period. The stamps of the Convention States all became invalid on 1st January 1951 when they were replaced with stamps of the Republic of India valid from 1st January 1950. There were about 6 Convention states and they were as follows:


•Chamba (1887-1948)
•Faridkot (Feudatory from 1879-1887; convention from 1887 to 1901).
•Gwalior (1885-1948)
•Jind (Feudatory 1874 - 1885; convention from 1885).
•Nabha (1885-1948)
•Patiala (1884-1947)

India had many Feudatory States but not all of them issued postal stamps or stationery. The main purpose of the Feudatory States was that they maintained their own postal services within their territories and issued stamps with their own designs. Namely some of these states are Alwar, Faridkot, Bamra, Kashmir, Jind, Rajasthan, Cochin, etc.