This is a survey of the

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 f ...

s and postal history of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

Foreign stamps

The first adhesive stamps issued for use in Tibet were typewritten overprints on Indian postage stamps through the 1903 period, during which the Tibetan Frontier Commission, led by Sir

Francis Younghusband Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, (31 May 1863 – 31 July 1942) was a British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer. He is remembered for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia; especially the 1904 British ...

, arrived in Kamba Dzong on July 7, 1903.Waterfall, Arnold C., ''The Postal History of Tibet,'' Robson Lowe (1981), p. 12, 20, 43, 45. Soon after, as no progress was made in diplomatically settling issues of the Tibetan border with

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

, this became a military expedition. One result of the treaty signed September 7, 1904 was the establishment of Indian Postal Agencies at Gartok, in Western Tibet, and Gyantse, Pharijong and Yatung, along the Indian trade route to Lhasa. Chinese forces occupied Tibet in 1909, when the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

fled into Sikkim and India. However, there were Chinese communities in Tibet well before this, as shown by a registered letter from Wen Tsung-yao at Lhasa, January 9, 1909. Thereafter, Chinese stamps and special Chinese date stamps were used at Chabdo,

Gyantse Gyantse, officially Gyangzê Town (also spelled Gyangtse; ; ), is a town located in Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was historically considered the third largest and most prominent town in the Tibet region ( ...

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

, Phari Dzong,

Shigatse Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê (; Nepali: ''सिगात्से''), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histor ...

and

Yatung Yatung or Yadong, also known as Shasima (, ), is the principal town in the Chumbi Valley or Yadong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is also its administrative headquarters. Name The village is known locally as Shasima (''Shar ...

. Postal communications of this period are scarce and eagerly sought after by both Chinese and Tibetan specialists.

First stamps of Tibet

Tibet began issuing postage stamps at the beginning of the 20th century. The first stamps were issued in

in 1912. Other series of stamps were issued in 1914, 1933, and through the end of the 1950s. Tibetan stamps had a figure of a snowlion, the national

emblem of Tibet The Emblem of Tibet is a symbol of the Central Tibetan Administration, Tibetan government in exile. It combines several elements of the flag of Tibet, with slightly different artistry, and contains many Buddhist symbolism, Buddhist symbols. Its pr ...

. The stamps were marked in Tibetan characters meaning "Tibet Government" and in English by "

".M. G. Chitkara, ''Buddhism, reincarnation, and Dalai Lamas of Tibet,'' APH Publishing, New Delhi (1998) Annexure VII, p. 179.

Fakes and forgeries

Collectors and philatelists encounter many fakes and forgeries of both Tibetan stamps and cancellations. Genuine postally used material also has been produced for collectors.

External links

The Nepal and Tibet Philatelic Study Circle
publishes handbooks and checklists, as well as the periodical, ''Postal Himal.''
Rainer's Tibet Pages"Turbulent Tibet: Viewed from a Philatelic Standpoint" by D.B. Armstrong in ''The Postage Stamp'', 20 August 1910. Reproduced at the Philatelic Database. "White Lion of the Mountains, a Letter from Tibet, the Mysterious Land" (ca. 1913). Reproduced at the Philatelic Database."Probable Issue of stamps for Tibet: A Chinese Foreign Post Office?" in ''The Postage Stamp'', 9 October 1909. Reproduced at the Philatelic Database.
{{PostalhistoryAsia Philately of Tibet

Foreign stamps

First stamps of Tibet

Fakes and forgeries

See also

External links