Hyderabad - 1896 Stamped Envelope

Yeah, I bought this one as a shot in the dark.

1/2 Anna which seems Indian to me. The "CDS" seems Indian as well. Would like to know where it is from and if possible a date.
The cancel was really want sold the cover to me.



Detail of Imprint and killer



Detail of Cancel



Thank you!

While we wait for tonymacg, I'll guess Hyderabad. (And not only because of the high production value...)

Postal Stationary. I do not have a catalog for this. It is from a Muslim state. Places that issued stationary did not necessarily issue stamps!

It seemed Hyderabad to mee too, and here`s what I could find: bw.1877-1890, 1/2 a yellow or chestnut, 1 a brown, 4 1/2 a grey.
Here are some nice unused covers:
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/4975...ription.html

Yes, this is from Hyderabad: the 1891 ½ Anna postal stationery envelope. Unfortunately, I can't make out the numerals inside the bars cancelling the indicium, but that nice crescent receiving cancellation is for Hyderabad City. It looks as if it's dated 5 Shawwal 1306F, which would make it 1896. (I'd rather not grapple with converting the Muslim Calendar in Fasli years into Western dates.)

Here's another example, sent from Jhansi in British India





Some unspeakable vandal has ripped the British Indian ½ Anna stamp off the back of the cover. The stamp is so common as to be worthless, but still on the cover, it would have been a very nice item.

Here is a roughly contemporary Hyderabad with the ½ Anna postage stamp:



Hyderabad only once put its name on one of its stamps, the 1946 Victory commemorative:



and it never did that again.

In fact, it wasn't until 1927 that it unbent sufficiently to put any sort of English indication of the State on one of its stamps



It used that formulation again occasionally later



So you're excused for being confused, Smauggie

Thank you, gentlemen.

And in case anyone cares for a small challenge, here are two more to identify:



and



Though if you can read the cancellation on the second, it rather gives the game away.

If `R` is for Radja Raghbir Singh, then first is from `Jhind` (1/4 anna ?? but I`m unsure about value....)
Second is readable, Jammu and Kashmir.
???

Very well done, Wadmalatz! Go to the top of the class. The first is a ¼ Anna card from Jind, in its pre-Convention days.

Now how about this one?

Jaipur?

Noooo! Jaipur always played fair, and put its name in English on its postal stationery.

This is from one of those mayfly States: go to sleep for a few minutes, and you miss its entire philatelic life. Actually, this State did include its name in English on its postal stationery, in every case except this ½ Anna envelope. (I have a used example, but that includes the name of the State in the postmark, so you can't see it - yet.)

Dhar (almost sure)...still...I don`t have any..., but catalogue mentions an oval black controll postmark. Is that one under?

Yes, I'd place a small wager next to your stack of chips, Wadmalatz. Dhar seems like a good guess.

My answer to this seems to have vanished into the ether, so I'll reconstruct it.

Yes, Wadmalatz and Cjd! Dhar it is. The design is the same as the contemporary ½ Anna stamp:



And here is a used specimen, which I couldn't show for obvious reasons:



And one final (I think) test:



Which Indian State is this one from?

They're getting easier. Rajpeepla.





[edit: forgot the "wink"]

[and one last edit...I should have said "intended for Rajpeepla" as I don't know that they were actually put in service...but I'll wait for the answer...perhaps you have a used one to show.]

Well done, Cjd! Incidentally, if you can show me a used copy of a Rajpipla lettersheet, you're definitely in the money.

I think that exhausts my supply of tricky States postal stationery - I'm still waiting to acquire an example from Rajkot - and covers would be too easy.