Chamba State Stamps

by Dr. Kewal K. Mahajan

Chamba is a district in present Himachal Pradesh, India. From the 6th century AD to 1947, it was ruled by a single Rajput dynasty, and it was a princely hill state in the Punjab Hill States.

First stamp of 1852, courtesy of Sandafayre.com

The Indian Post Office was established in 1837. The first British Indian stamps were issued in 1852 for the Sind province. They are famous as Scinde Dawk issues. The first Chamba stamps were issued in 1886. The Chamba state signed a convention with British India in which the British India stamps with overprint of Chamba State were printed. These stamps were legal all over British India. Certain other states had their own stamps, but they were valid only in their own states. The first groups was called Convention States and the 2nd groups was called Feudatory States.

These Chamba State overprinted stamps were issued from 1886-1942. They are hotly pursued by the Philatelists all over the world

Bhuri Singh Museum in Chamba and the Postal Museum in Canada have nice collections of these stamps.

To learn more about the history of Postal Services in British India, go to Sandafayre-Stampatlas-India, Indian States Stamps, or India Stamps.

Lot of Chamba Stamps from Sandafayre.com Auctions