Chapter I: Preface

When I first decided to write a short account of the Post Office of India my intention was to close my story with the amalgamation of the Post Office and the Telegraph Department, which took place in 1913. Publication has been delayed for various reasons, chiefly owing to the outbreak of the war in 1914, and since then many strange things have happened. Consequently I have had to revise several chapters and felt compelled to write one upon the wonderful work done by the Indian Post Office in the Great War. I have also brought the statistical information up to the year 1918. Much of the matter referring to the early posts in India has already been given in Mr. Hamilton's book, _An Outline of Postal History and Practice_. This is only natural, as we have both drawn from the same sources--namely, the records of the Postal Directorate in Calcutta. I have tried to tell the story of the Post Office in such a way as to be interesting to the general reader as well as useful to the student. The ordinary routine of post office work is not exciting, but the effect of the work, the benefits it confers, the dependence of the public upon its proper execution, are themes to inspire the pen of a romantic writer. "The Romance of the Post Office" was the title of a delightful article in _Blackwood's Magazine_ by Sir Arthur Fanshawe, late Director-General of the Department, and to this article I must acknowledge my obligations for several passages in the book.

I am much indebted to Mr. R. W. Hanson and Mr. F. F. Shout, Assistant Directors-General of the Post Office of India, for their assistance in producing this work. Mr. Hanson is responsible for the chapter on "The Post Office in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf," and Mr. Shout for the chapter on "The Sea Post Office" and the paragraphs dealing with the District Post, as well as for the Index.

The chapter upon Indian stamps is based largely upon _The Postage and Telegraph Stamps of British India_, by Hausburg, Stewart-Wilson and Crofton, published by Messrs. Stanley Gibbons, and I am greatly indebted to Messrs. Stanley Gibbons for the loan of their blocks and for permission to use them in this book.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA 1
II. THE ORIGIN OF THE POST OFFICE 10
III. EARLY POSTAL REGULATIONS 26
IV. LATER POSTAL REGULATIONS 38
V. PARCEL POST 48
VI. THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE 58
VII. MONEY ORDERS 71
VIII. SAVINGS BANK 81
IX. THE PEOPLE AND THE POST OFFICE 88
X. THE INDIAN POSTMAN 97
XI. POST OFFICE BUILDINGS 106
XII. THE POST OFFICE IN INDIAN STATES 112
XIII. THE OVERLAND ROUTE 119
XIV. THE SEA POST OFFICE 127
XV. THE POST OFFICE IN MESOPOTAMIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF 137
XVI. THE POST OFFICE DURING THE INDIAN MUTINY 151
XVII. THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE 165
XVIII. THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE DURING THE GREAT WAR 171
XIX. INDIAN POSTAGE STAMPS 178

APPENDICES

PAGE
A. PERSONNEL OF THE POST OFFICE 189
B. EXTRACTS FROM THE EARLY REGULATIONS REGARDING
THE MAIL SERVICE 191
C. METHODS OF TRAVEL IN EARLY DAYS 195
D. STATEMENT SHOWING THE WORK OF THE POST
OFFICE SAVINGS BANK FROM 1882 TO 1918 197
E. STATEMENT OF INLAND MONEY ORDERS ISSUED
IN INDIA SINCE 1880 198
F. HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE CALCUTTA
GENERAL POST OFFICE 200
G. EXTRACT FROM THE NARRATIVE OF THE INTERRUPTION
IN THE MAIL ARRANGEMENTS IN THE
N.-W.P. AND PUNJAB SUBSEQUENT TO THE
MUTINY AT MEERUT AND DELHI ON THE 10TH
AND 11TH MAY, 1857, BY MR. G. PATON,
POSTMASTER-GENERAL, NORTH-WEST PROVINCES 204
H. THE WORK OF THE FIELD POST OFFICE BETWEEN
1867 AND 1912 210
J. THE POST OFFICE INSURANCE FUND 232
INDEX 241

ILLUSTRATIONS

Group of Senior Officers of the Post Office in 1884 _Frontispiece_
Sir Charles Stewart Wilson, K.C.I.E. _Facing page_ 24
Group of Senior Officers in 1898 " 46
Sir William Maxwell, K.C.I.E. " 56
Combined Passenger and Mail Motor Van " 98
General Post Office, Bombay " 110
General Post Office, Madras " 116
Post Office, Agra " 124
Group of Senior Officers in 1907 " 152
Early Stamps " 178
Sheet of Four-Anna Stamps, 1854 " 178
Block of Half-Anna (Blue) Stamps of 1854 " 180
Victorian Issues of Postage Stamps " 182
Edwardian and Georgian Issues of Postage Stamps " 184
General Post Office, Calcutta " 200
Site of Black Hole, Calcutta " 200

THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA

THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA AND ITS STORY