The postal history of Portuguese India goes back to the earlier days of the colony. The

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is att ...

begins with communication between the Viceroy and the Court at

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

soon after the conquest of

Old Goa Old Goa ( Konkani: ; pt, Velha Goa, translation='Old Goa') is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The ci ...

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

in 1510. Letters, written in triplicate, were carried by separate ships because of the hazards of the voyage. Mail was carried by an overland route, as well. The early communications of

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

had an official character and the correspondence is now to be found in museums and governmental and ecclesiastical archives.

Early mails

Regular

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

is known to have been exchanged with

from 1825 on. Portuguese Indian postmarks are known from 1854, when a post office opened in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and an extraterritorial

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

post office opened in Damaun. A Portuguese Indian post office opened at Diu, also, in 1880. The British East India Company post office in Damaun, selling British Indian stamps, was maintained between 1854 and November, 1883. The Damaun cancellation showed "13" within downward sloping diagonal bars, a "used abroad" Renouf "Type 4" cancellation. British India postage stamps were also available at the Portuguese post office at Goa from 1854 until 1877. Before the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to t ...

was established in 1874, a country had to conclude a separate postal treaty with each other country with which it transacted international mail. Portugal had a

postal convention Postal may refer to: Places * The Italian name for Burgstall, South Tyrol in northern Italy * Postal, Missouri * Postal Square * Postal Museum (Liechtenstein), a postal museum in Vaduz, Liechtenstein People * Fred Postal, former co-owner o ...

with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, so mail was routed through

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and carried on British packets.

First stamps

The first

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s of Portuguese India were issued 1 October 1871. These were issued for local use within the colony. Stamps of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

were required for overseas mail. The design of these first stamps simply consisted of a denomination in the center, with an oval band containing the inscriptions "SERVIÇO POSTAL" and "INDIA PORT.". The dies were recut several times and printed on several kinds of paper, resulting in an extremely complicated situation that has been intensively studied; about 55 types have been identified as appearing between 1871 and 1877, some of which are quite rare.

Regular issues

In 1877, Portugal included India in its standard "crown" issue, with nine values ranging from 5r to 300r. These stamps ran out in 1881 and the old local stamps were surcharged with various values, resulting in nearly 100 distinct types. Additional "crown" stamps arrived in 1882, but in the following year were supplemented by additional values of the original local design. From 1886 on, the pattern of regular stamp issues followed that of the other colonies closely, the main exception being a series of surcharges in 1912 produced by perforating existing stamps vertically through the middle and overprinting a new value on each side. In 1925, a commemorative stamp marked the 400th anniversary of the death of

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

and in December 1931 a set of six promoted the Exposition of St. Francis Xavier held at

. Sets of stamps in 1946 and 1948 commemorated notable historical figures related to the colony. Portuguese India's first stamp exhibition, in 1952, was commemorated with a pair of stamps; one reproducing the design of the first issue, the other depicting St. Francis Xavier. A 1956 series commemorated the 450th anniversary of Portuguese settlements in India, and included portraits and maps of old forts, while a 1959 series depicted various coins.

Last stamps

The last regular issue was on 25 June 1960, marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince

Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...

. Stamps of India were first used 29 December 1961, although the old stamps were accepted until 5 January 1962. Portugal continued to issue stamps for the lost colony, yet none of these were ever offered for sale in the colony's post offices and are thus not considered valid stamps. The territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli were liberated from Portuguese rule in 1954, and they enjoyed de facto independence until being formally incorporated into India after the Annexation of Goa in 1961. During these years, mail from Dadra and Nagar Haveli was routed through the Indian town of

Vapi Vapi ( IAST: vāpī,), is a city and municipality in Valsad district in the state of Gujarat, India.It is situated near the banks of the Daman Ganga River, around 28 km south of the district headquarters in the city of Valsad, and it is ...

close to the border. Initially, remaining stocks of stamps of Portuguese India were overprinted LIBERATED AREAS in two lines.

References and sources

;References ;Sources * Harrison, Gilbert & Lieut. F. H. Napier, R.N.
Portuguese India
'. London:

Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philat ...

, 1893. (Reprinted from articles in ''Stanley Gibbons' Monthly Journal''.)

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