Hyderabad - Georgev/George VI Era

Having done something for the George VI lovers in Cochin, I thought I might do something similar but including the George V lovers this time, if a lot less ambitious, for Hyderabad.

The 1931-47 definitive set was recess printed at the Stamps Office in Hyderabad, from plates by De la Rue. A very handsome set it is, too, although perhaps a bit over-exposed. The low values must have been printed in the hundreds of millions: they are very common stamps.

But none the less interesting for that - rather the reverse, in fact.

The 4 Pies, SG 41



comes in a range of shades and plates. One of the tasks I've set myself for my retirement is to try to date the shades and plates

The 8 Pies, SG 42



offers the same sort of variation.

But the 1 Anna, SG 43, is the star:



Gibbons throws up its hands and lists this as 'brown (shades)'. None of them seem to be actually rare, although some are more common than others.

The 2 Annas, SG 44



and the 4 Annas, SG 45



can be found on paper of the same colour as the stamp. I'd guess these were from printings with damped paper, while printings on white paper were made with dry paper. You occasionally see some greying of the 4 Pies stamp paper as well.

The 8 Annas, SG 46



also occurs in a scarce yellow-orange shade, which I don't yet have.

The 12 Annas, SG 47



is the only one of the set more highly priced used (£12) than mint (£8.50)

Which just leaves the 1 Rupee, SG 48



Gibbons prices the set at £25 mint and £20 used.

These stamps were also overprinted in Urdu/Persian Service: I'll show some examples on cover, next.

In fact, I think I'll show the Service overprint on this plate block of the 1 Rupee, one of my star items from this set:



SG O53

And now to a few covers ...

The 4 Pies, SG 41, doesn't show up all that often alone



I like this registered cover with the 8 Pies, SG 42, and the 2 Annas, SG 44



for its nice clean cancellations of Lingsugur and the receiver from Raichur, and its sender's stamp.

This cover with the Service overprints on the 8 Pies is interesting





because it shows the unique arrangement between Hyderabad and British India that allowed Hyderabad government mail to be carried free of charge in British India. No other state (until Travancore-Cochin briefly, at the end of its life) had this privilege. Even more interesting, Hyderabad Service stamps could be used to post mail from British India to Hyderabad. I'm still looking for an example of that.

The 1 Anna, SG 43, is quite easy to find on cover, alone



and



and in combination



with SG O46

and



with the 1948 reissue of the ½ Anna, SG 58

The 2 Anna, SG 44/O49 is fairly common also, though usually in combination with other stamps, to make up higher rates



The 4 Anna, SG 45/O50 isn't all that common, though still only perhaps a $10 item for a good example



But the higher values are quite another matter. This 8 Anna, SG 46



is the only example I have, and I don't have any higher values. A cover with a 12 Anna went to several hundred dollars on ebay a few years ago - and I've yet to see a 1 Rupee cover. (These values would almost exclusively have been used for parcels.)

And to wind up, a favourite cover of mine, for the variety of cancellations etc





including even a Postage Due mark:



It always seems rather quaint to see the Government charging itself postage due. Still, I suppose it came out of the budget of one department, and into the Post Office's pocket, so the PO was happy at least

Thank-you, Tony!

David

My very great pleasure, David. There are a couple of other States I could tackle in the same way - do you have any particular preferences? Anyone else any preferences?

Yes, I do
your work is exceptional, and I enjoy it immensely,
I have just one niggle, you have a fairly comprehensive knowledge
of you subject, but I would very much appreciate the stamps
more if you could "flesh out" your issues with some background
history.
Hyderabad for example, I love these stamps, but they are kind of hollow because the genesis and interconnecting history between the issues are missing.
I found when studying Travancore, Dr Moos treatment of the
state at the time, the currency, the food, the transport condition,
all added flavour to the stamps and their usage.
A little bit of this, no matter how small, would be marvelous.

The 8 anna SG46, what a stunning stamp vignette, it would be nice
to read something perhaps of the subject.

Fair comment, Rodney. I'm always unsure how much to include, for fear of boring the pants (or other appropriate garments) off my readers before they get to the stamps themselves.

I'll see what I can add to this post, to place the issues in some context, at least.

Some background, then, to Hyderabad and the 1931 definitives:

Hyderabad was the by far the largest of the Indian States at Indian independence. It had a population of around 17 million, and an area sufficient to make it a moderate-sized nation in its own right. It was in south-central India, entirely surrounded by Indian territory.

The rulers of Hyderabad, known by the title of Nizam, were devout Muslims and very wealthy. The Nizam in 1931 was considered to be the richest man in the world. (His later history, and that of his family, is a sad story of decline and squabbling over a rapidly-diminishing family fortune.)

At Indian independence, the Nizam initially had wanted to go it alone as a separate nation, although the great majority of Hyderabad's population was Hindu, and probably preferred to join India. The matter was resolved when the new Indian government sent in troops in September 1948 to enforce union with India.

Now to the stamps. A notable feature of the stamps, which might not immediately strike the viewer, is that they adhere strictly to the Islamic (and of course Biblical ) prohibition on the representation of living things. There are no portraits of the Nizam.

The two lower values, the 4 Pies and 8 Pies,



show the Nizam's tughra, modelled (it is said) after that of the Ottoman Caliphs. The calligraphy is immensely complicated to unpick, and it's best simply admired from a distance. (I, for one, find too much explication of a work of art simply distracting. Better to simply admire it for what it is.)

The 1 Anna



shows the Char Minar, the 'Four Minarets'. To quote Murray's Handbook for Travellers in India ... (16th edition, 1949) 'At the junction of four roads, about ½ mile from the Afzalganj Gate, is a stately rectangular building with four minarets, hence called the Char Minar, 186 ft. high and 100 ft. wide on each side; it was built in 1591 and is a masterpiece of the Kutb Shahi period."

Departing from strict face value order, the 8 Anna, SG 45



shows the entrance to the Ajanta Caves. These are a group of Buddhist monuments of world importance consisting of 29 chapels, monasteries and meeting halls carved into the local rock. They range in age from about 200 BC to about 650 AD. They were visited in 640 AD by the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim to India, whose name is variously written Hiuen Tsang, Hsuan-tsang and Xuanzang. Murray notes 'The world-famous frescoes, which had suffered seriously from moisture and dirt and also from the injudicious application of varnish by copyists, are now in excellent condition. They were carefully cleaned at the instance of H.E.H. the Nizam's Government by two Italian experts ... in 1920-22, and their operations have been most successful. The caves are now electrically lighted, and will be illuminated at a fee of Rs. 5 a day.'

The 1 Rupee, SG 48



shows the Victory Tower at Daulatabad. The tower is inside a 13th century fort. Murray says '... the Chand Minar or Pillar of Victory, a minaret of Persian form, rises 100 ft.; it bears the date 1435 A.D.'

The other three values, the 2 Anna, SG 44



the 4 Anna, SG 45



and the 12 Anna, SG 47



show more modern features of the State, to make the point that the Nizams were also concerned with their subjects' welfare. The 2 Annas shows the High Court of Justice, the 4 Anna the Osman Sagar Reservoir ('protects the city (Hyderabad) from floods, such as occurred in 1908, and supplies water.' Murray) and the Bidar College.

As a small digression, here is the only Hyderabad stamp ever to show people, the 6 December 1945 Victory stamp,



SG 53 and SG 41

showing a returning soldier being greeted by his family. The Nizam was a strong supporter of the British War effort. I'm not sure what his feelings were two years later when the British left, and left him to his own devices.

i must say he got what he deserved. when the british were annexing mysore and the marathas they should have also absorbed the nizam. if he had helped out in the 1857 effort you would had a lot more princely state issues with good paper and quality printing.

oh well here is my contribution to this thread

Nice work Tony

Thanks Rodney. I'll bear your comments in mind if I do the same sort of thing again. Don't hold your breath for TravAncore, though. I'll be expecting you to tackle that one ...

I was chatting to a very respected philatelist this morning,
on the vagaries of thematic collecting,
his poison was tobacco, and edelweiss !

He maintains you first put together the story, then find
the stamps / ephemera to suit, not the other way around.

With what has already been produced for Travancore, how could I ever improve that?
Ya gotta know your limitations, "recreational collector" is about my lot Tony.

I reckon you have to look at it with another perspective,
we had a corny saying in real estate "sell the sizzle, not the steak"

Most people will like take a liking to the primitives, but a lot of people will not quite understand them, I remember I was a bit like that years ago.
I began the affection with India after reading the Duke of Wellingtons story, and the early passages of the Portuguese.

The little stories you paste with the images, capture and hold the attention, and tend to form a backdrop to their usage.

Alas you are still up against it, early India rarely comes up at
auction these days you will need a dedicated curiosity to
begin to search out the issues.

At least now, anyone remotely interested, has a fine work here
to consult if they want to take it further. Chapeau.

Come now, Rodney, come now

In Shakespeare's day, the hot theatre tickets weren't for that nice Mr Shakespeare's latest, they were for Ben Jonson's new rib-tickler. And who performs Jonson these days? Every 20 years, an amateur group might put on The Alchemist. And why? Because Jonson was such a smart-bottom Too clever by half.

I'll lend you any Travancore images I might have and that you think you could put to use, along with Moos. So, go to Sirrah