So Who's Afraid Of The Indian States?

Wot? Travancore-Cochin? Wadhwan? Tonk?

So, Young Rodney, you found Travancore 'majestic', eh? Well, well de gustibus non disputandum, as my cat has remarked to me on more than one occasion.

So, on to the much-heralded Maharaja's 27th Birthday issue of 1939. I have to apologise for not being able to show the whole thing mint - I've had to fall back mostly on the SERVICE overprinted equivalents - but you'll get the idea, anyway:




Most values exist perf, 11, 12, 12½ or compound. They were also overprinted for official use, as you can see, with both the loose type overprint (these are a bit scarce) and the plate overprint (these are quite common). The former exist perf 12, 12½ or compound, with anything other than perf 12½ being scarce; the latter exist in just about every conceivable permutation.

These stamps became the de facto definitive set, as those dull and tasteless Conch types were phased out.

In 1941, two more low values were added for the Maharaja's 29th Birthday:



Once again, you have a smorgasbord of perforation flavours to choose from: 11, 12, 12½ and compound. These two little stamps are surprisingly hard to find mint (bearing in mind that all these stamps were issued without gum). Gibbons rates the cheapest perf varieties at £6.50 and £8.50 respectively.

They were also overprinted SERVICE with the plate overprint. The 6 Cash stamp is a cheapie: 60p for the cheapest perf variety, and only £1.50 for most expensive, the compound. The ¾ Chuckram is still expensive, at £6.50 and up. Used of both the ordinary and official sets are common.

In 1943, Travancore got surcharging ... again. Well, I suppose it was Wartime. And it would have been hard to justify the cost of plates for a 2 Cash stamp, with a face value of less than a halfpenny.



SG 73-75

They were also overprinted SERVICE, and also exist in all the perf gauges of which Travancore was capable.

In 1946, Travancore celebrated the Maharaja's 34th Birthday with a single 8 Cash stamp:



By this time, standards at the Stamp Manufactory at the State capital, Trivandrum, were slipping further from their already rather relaxed levels. Maybe it was the approaching end of the State post offices; maybe it was plain frugality, or maybe it was because some people saw a chance to make a quid from printer's waste. And of course, these are to be found in all perf variations as well.

These were also overprinted SERVICE:



Travancore's last philatelic gasp was, characteristically, an overprint. A shortage of 6 Cash stamps led to the overprinting of the Official stamp SPECIAL in red, to denote ordinary use:



And that, to the relief, I'm sure, of all (but Rodney) is the end of Travancore. But wait, there's more

you forgot about me there.

but if your cat talks to you we have other things to worry about :)

i dont know Tony as soon as I know I will tell you. it sure will be fun if it turns out to be barwani :)

Travancore-Cochin was formed on the 1 July 1949, from the former States of Cochin and Travancore. (Initially, it was the United State of Travancore-Cochin; this was changed to State of Travancore-Cochin in 1950.)

Scott and Gibbons follow different lines on what to include under this heading. Scott - reasonably enough - includes all Cochin issues on and after 1 July 1949. Gibbons - more pragmatically - includes only those Cochin and Travancore stamps specifically overprinted for the new state. I shall be pragmatic.

With the formation of Travancore-Cochin, Travancore abandoned its old currency and adopted Indian currency. Reflecting this, Travancore surcharged all its existing ordinary and official stamps with equivalents, or nearest equivalents, in Indian currency, in English and the local language, Malayalam.

Here is a registered combination cover with a (Travancore-Cochin era) Cochin 3 Anna and a Travancore 4 Chuckrams overprinted 2 Annas



Quality control at the Travancore printers, which was never their strong point anyway, dropped away further:



SG 3ec

There are also spelling errors:



and perforation errors



SG O6db

and on top of all that, there were five different gauges of perforation used, including a very rare perf 14, which is only found on the ordinary ½ Anna on 1 Chuckram stamp.

Very many of the errors are quite affordable. Gibbons lists the inverted overprint above at £5 and the imperf between pair at £9, for instance.

Cochin had less need to overprint. In fact, it only issued a couple of overprints:



and these were on already obsolete Cochin-era stamps. Errors do exist on these stamps, too, but they're much less common.

The new state managed to issue two stamps of its own, in 1950:



The SERVICE overprints on Travancore are an even greater tangle. To begin with, two fonts were used for the SERVICE overprint, with and without seriffs. Here are examples of both used together:



Certain values were also printed on Cochin watermarked paper. They're easily distinguished: the paper is thicker and coarser than the Travancore watermarked paper.

The quality control over the Service stamps seems to have been worse, if anything, than for the the ordinary stamps:



SG O11bb

and similar stuff is common (and still inexpensive. One pair of SG O11bb is listed at £11.)

The end result is an almost endless range of variations. For the 4 Pies on 8 Cash Service stamp, for example, Gibbons lists 33 variations of overprint, paper and perforation, and errors of spelling and perforation. And even that's not the end of it. Gibbons has yet to catch up with this one, SG O10g (perf 13½) imperf between:



So there you have Travancore-Cochin. Still room for discoveries, if you're prepared to hold your nose while you're exploring

Thank you,
that was delightful. Splendid stamps,
no wonder they are held in such high regard.
I am pilfering away.

Pilfer to your heart's content, Rodney.

Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;

(As Iago said to Othello)

But I'm not sure about the 'high regard'. Ferrary swapped a Post Office Mauritius for a Poonch SG 1, not a Travancore.

Now to wind it all up: Wadhwan

There really isn't much to say about Wadhwan. If you're after single stamp countries, on a simplified basis anyway, Wadhwan is for you. If you like coats of arms on stamps, Wadhwan is for you. And if you like a mild challenge, Wadhwan will do, too.

It only ever issued one design:



between 1888 and 1895. However, these were printed from seven different, identifiable lithographic stones, with a couple of different perforation gauges, giving nine different varieties in Gibbons, and 15 varieties in the India Study Circle Wadhwan Handbook (The Stamps of Wadhwan, by R.J. Benns, if you want to chase it up).

So that completes this little romp through the Indian States. There are other States that issued stamps but that don't yet appear in any of the catalogues. Kotah and Tonk certainly did, and some day will be listed - very expensively. But those I've gone over here ought to be enough for any reasonable person for a lifetime.

If you have any of these sitting around troubling you, and you want a possible identification, do post them. I'll be happy to do what I can to identify them for you. If there are any of the States you think I've skated over too quickly, and you'd like to see some more (Travancore aside ), I'll be happy to do what I can.

And if you want to pursue the Indian States, or broader Indian region philately, any more intensively, do consider joining the India Study Circle.

fwiw there is no need to join any study circles ask Tony and you will get where you need to go joining circles will take you in circles

as for me I do it by myself and if any help is needed I ask Tony or other members of the forum

the indian state thread is dead long live the thread

now the action shifts to the beautiful indian states led by galactic emperor spock

watch for it

and a lot of thanks to Tony for this thread we know he wont be able to stand the other one :)

Glamorous Indian States?

Proper Indian States are never glamorous. Beautiful - yes; eye-catching - yes; ravishing, even - yes. But not glamorous - no.

I shall be watching closely, ready to pounce.

dont forget I am the emperor if you jump too high one hammer from the CIC and you will be back in place :)

I am not afraid. I am armoured in Ugliness, er, Righteousness. I will beat you back with one of Rodney's Travancore (and Cochin, don't forget, Rodney) conch shells.

we use light sabres. show him rod :)