Indore was the first state to ink postal treaty

Indore: Indore was the first Indian state to enter into a postal treaty with the Imperial Post in 1878 for exchange of mails. On March 1, 1908, the Indore state postal department merged with Imperial Post. Indore's postage stamps, however, continued to be used on official mail but without the overprint.

These interesting nuggets of history have been recalled on the occasion of World Post Day which was observed on October 9. Indore philatelic society has lamented the fact that Indian postal department has not released more stamps on the erstwhile princely state of Holkars except the one it had released in 2010 featuring Indore state with Bamra, Sirmor and Cochin. A day after the World Post Day, society's president Girish Sharma said , " Rich history of Indore state deserved more commemorative stamps and we are demanding the same".

The first Holkar stamps appeared in 1886 with ½ anna value and lithographed by Waterlow. In 1908, the British moved on Indore, and the states agreed to close their post offices. So, all subsequent stamps were for local government use only. In 1927, a new, long set from ¼ anna to Rs 5 stamps appeared for new ruler, Yeshwant Rao Holkar II.

In 1940, Indore had its last set if half-a-dozen useful low value and Rs 2 and Rs 5 stamps printed in British press for collectors. Indore stamps, however, quietly vanished in 1948. The first post offices were opened in 1829 in Indore and Mhow by Imperial Post.

Holkar rulers had a contract with Brahmni Dak to carry official and private mails. In 1873, Indore state postal department was established and in 1885, the first post stamps were released.

Source : http://daily.bhaskar.com