Stamps offer window into a bygone era

THE WORLD’S first postage stamp, the British Penny Black of 1840, and a collection of more than 150 rare postal stamps are on view in New Delhi for the first time.

Exhibited at the Bikaner House, the stamps, postcards, letters and other ephemera from Hyderabad of the Nizams offers an insight into the postal system of the erstwhile princely state.

Titled Property of A Gentleman: Stamps from the Nizam of Hyderabad’s Dominions, the exhibition presents rarities from the Ewari Family Collection.

The collection, comprising three million stamps, dating from the Postmaster General Nawab Iqbal Hussain Khan under Hyderabad’s seventh and last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali.

Carried forward by his grandson, the collection is represented by about 160 stamps in its first display.

Hyderabad, one of the earliest princely states to adopt stamps, printed its own stamps from 1869 until it became a part of the Indian Union in 1949.

It, however, could not use the human figure on its stamps as it was a traditional Muslim state.

“Unlike other countries that use the monograms of the rulers – and even Penny Black which has the queen’s face on it – Hyderabad could not do it,” said show curator Pramod Kumar KG.

Endowed with rich architecture, landscapes and cultural heritage sites including Ajanta Ellora caves, architecture was the next natural choice.

“An early stamp depicts Ajanta caves, and one has the Kakatiya gateway. This is a Muslim ruler who had no qualms about using the image of a Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim site. (The last Nizam) Osman Ali built a series of important institutions like the high court, general hospital, and universities – all featured on stamps,” said Kumar.

“The architectural take-off point of the stamp collection is unique.”

The stamps used four languages – Marathi, English, Persian (replaced by Urdu in 1930) and Telugu, all with their own scripts – to allow greater access for the diverse public.

Where were the stamps made? “Very stylised monograms and Arabic calligraphy, which is a great art form in Deccan, was revived and calligraphers worked on beautiful stamps. Many designs happened locally, artworks were sent to England where plate engravings and printing format was created, sent back and printed here,” the curator said.

Apart from their fiscal usage, stamps celebrated the material heritage and culture of the Nizams. For Hyderabad, use of exquisite calligraphy, multifarious languages and architectural tropes exemplify the princely dominion’s influences and outlook.

In addition to the princely state’s first and last stamps, the collection also includes stamps issued in Hyderabad to mark World War II.

“The World War stamps are the only stamps with human images,depicting a soldier returning to his wife and child. They decided to show the compassionate arrival of a soldier. This tells you how evolved the state was,” Kumar said.

Stamps with the monogram “Sarkar-e-asafiya” (the Nizams belonged to the Asaf Jahi dynasty) are exhibited as well.

With an aim to draw in the art community and communication enthusiasts, the show of postal material allows stamps to become a window to a bygone Hyderabad, when messages were not exchanged at the click of a button.

The show, presented by The Gujral Foundation, is on view until March 24.

Another show at the National Museum will showcase rare royal jewellery of the Nizams until May 5. | IANS