Page 45 - Delcampe Collections classiques EN-004

Stamps

A few letters from the period
Note that before the end of the 18th
century, mail was primarily trans-
ported by couriers and notably via
the Danish-Halle mission. There
were approximately 6,000 letters
sent via Tranquebar-Halle, com-
pared to only 700 from Tranquebar
to Copenhagen and 600 from
Tranquebar to Ziegenblad. Note
also that an official Danish pos-
tal service was never set up in
Tranquebar.
Letters were sent by courier un-
til the end of the 18th century. It
was only at this time that the first
official British post office was ope-
ned and the first “Tranquebar Post
Office” postal stamps appeared.
There were three postal marks for
the office: i.e., “post paid”, “postage
due” and “cancelled”. However, this
statement must be handled with Front and back of a second known letter from Fort St George posted as a “service” letter
care, because only the “post paid” with franking privileges as indicated on the back by the Madras mark in 1802 (with the
mark has been found on letters to kind authorisation of Raj Rajan)
date.
That’s just the beginning. Doubt-
less these letters and many others
will be included in the India col-
lection that will be presented at
MonacoPhil 2022. It should be
noted that the subject is signifi-
cantly broader than the short des-
criptions here. And, an excellent
book on the subject has just been
published Fans of Indian philately
will find it engrossing.

Delcampe Magazine 45