Rocky Mountain Stamp Show LETTRES DE PONDICHÉRY – Pre-Show Seminar THE HISTORY OF POSTAL SERVICES India Study Circle IN THE FRENCH SETTLEMENTS IN INDIA FROM THE BEGINNINGS UNTIL Denver, Colorado THE ISSUE OF THE FIRST FRENCH STAMPS IN 1859 Thursday, May 24, 2018 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

While most colonies are fairly well known among philatelists, the fact that the French had possessions on the Indian subcontinent is not common knowledge. The so called «French Settlements in India» (Etablisments Francaise dans l’Inde) have been French from the mid 17th century until the de-facto merger with the Republic of India in 1954. was one of France’s oldest and longest lasting colonies, being part of the 1st build up before the and remained a colony until the first major wave of decolonisation after World War II. Therefore the history of French India reflects all major phases of the French colonial history, particularly the struggle between Britain and France about colonial predominance during the 2nd global wave of colonisation until 1814 and the long period of coexistence and close cooperation during the 3rd wave thereafter. Still, it never grew beyond minor importance and was highly dependent on the infrastructure set up by the British on the Indian subcontinent. Postal History First British post offices were established long before a French postal system was set up, and remained a backbone for all local mail delivery and all international mail over all periods of development. The British used this position also to control the French ambitions in India. French postal services remained focused on the mail transport to France and all other French colonies. As a result, French Indian postal history is predominantly a history of two intertwined postal services from two nations, first competing for predominance, then relied on cooperation. Thus from a philatelic perspective, «French India» forms a most interesting field. The history of mail services is determined by a «double duality» of (1) British – and from 1947 Indian – and French post offices on the colony’s territory and (2) the French-British duopoly on the overseas route between Europe and India. GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

Pondichéry

Gulf of Kârîkal Gulf of 5 kilometre 2 kilometre Bengal

Hoogly River Mahé

Gulf of Oman Chandernagor

1 kilometre 1 kilometre

Yanaon French India was fragmented into five settlements, namely Pondichéry, Kârikâl, and Yanaon on the /Gulf of Bengal, Mahé at the Malabar coast/Gulf of Oman and Chandernagor in Bengal just north of Calcutta. While the straight line distance between Kârikâl in the South and Chandernagor in the North stretches of 1’600 kilometres, the settlements only covered an area of roughly 508 km² - to compare: the Principality of Godavari River

2kilometre Andorra covers 468 km² . The population was approx. 178’000 inhabitants in 1848, of which 1’227 were Europeans. The number of Europeans reached from 808 in Pondichéry down to just 17 in Mahé in the same census. EARLY FRENCH EXPANSION

Borderline of India today

CHANDERNAGOR CALCUTTA

BOMBAY

YANAON

MADRAS

PONDICHÉRY MAHÉ KÂRIKÂL

COLOMBO POINTE DE GALLE Maximum extension of direct French Folded letter, datelined Pondichéry 2ndMarch 1753, carried by messenger to a rule in India between 1741 and 1754. Monsieuer Bonmaire, writer on the ship «Vile Felix», «en rade» – «on anchor» in Until the mid 18th century the French the harbor of Pondichéry. continuously build up their rule in India. The letter is written by Jean Law de Lauriston, at this time advisor to the board of During the reign of Governor Dupleix the French government in Pondichéry and 1765-66 and 1767-77 Governor of (1731-54) the French territory gains its Pondichéry. greatest extension EARLY FRENCH EXPANSION: SHIP LETTERS

Folded shipetter, datelined Pondicherie 1st March 1770 to Folded shipletter, datelined Chandernagor 18th December Vannes (France) 1788 to Angers (France) with handstruck stamp «LORIENT» with handstruck stamp «COL PAR ORIENT» with porto with porto marking 10 Sous for French domestic delivery to marking 8 Sous for French domestic delivery to Vannes Angers THE ANGLO-FRENCH STRUGGLE FOR DOMINANCE IN THE 1700S UNTIL 1815 During the 18th century several nations, namely Britain, France, The Netherlands and Danmark, struggeled for dominance in India. In the mid 18th century the struggle resulted in the three «Carnatic Wars» (1746-48, 1749-54, and 1756-63) between the French and the British East India Company. These conflicts involved numerous nominally independent local rulers and their vassals, and switched between military struggles and diplomatic entanglement. In his letter dated 20th August 1755 he gives account of the presence of the British («Les Anglaises»), Dutch («Les Hollandaise») and Danish.

«I did arrive 15 days ago. This is the most I've seen: Bengal is much more charming, richer, more people and more abundant in everything than Pondichéry. The fortification and French city we call Chandenagor is the banks of the Ganges [to be exact: it is the Hoogly river, remark of the editor]. The English have their fortification 6 miles from here and they call it Calcutta. The Dutch also have their fortification and their city about ¼ of the way from here. The Danes also have a trading post and all nations make trade in the country. … THE ANGLO-FRENCH STRUGGLE FOR DOMINANCE IN THE 1700S UNTIL 1815

Letter datelined 15th February 1808 written on board of the warship “Sarah Christina” in the Bay of Bengal, off , giving account of the conflicts between the British, French and Danish. The letter is addressed to Banff and shows a mark dated 17. Oct. (?) 1808 reading «Shipletter London» «… We have taken a Danish merchant ship from the Isle of France [= Reunion] bound for Tranquebar and have been chased and have chased a French 44 gun frigate the Piedemontese. [...] We made Negapatam and were prepared to take Tranquebar, a Danish settlement about 9 miles from us THE 2ND AND THE FINAL ESTABLISHMENT OF FRENCH COLONIAL RULE 1816

After the end of the Napoleonic Wars the conflict was finally settled with the Treaty of Paris in 1816. The Conte Dupuy was appointed as governor and sent to Pondichéry to rebuild the French administration. This finally led to the permanent founding of the «Etablisments Francaise dans l’Inde» as a French colony. Still, the colony always was dependent on the benevolance of the British which catered most of the colonies infrastructure as well as their connections to the rest of India and the world. As a key function, the British had a monopoly on the postal service and remained responsible for all local deliveries of mail.

Letter datelined Madras, 20th Novem[=nine]ber 1816, written by the new governor of the French settlements, André Julien Conte du Dupuy, showing the new title a «Gouverneur des Etablisment».

It holds the handwritten annotation «Service» and the mark «Post free». This is the earliest known letter there the French authorities in India were allowed to use the British postal system for official matter free of charge. This agreement must have been informal since it was not settled before the 1839 Anglo-French convention in writing. EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRITISH POSTAL SYSTEM THE FRENCH SETTLEMENTS

First post offices on the territory of the French settlements in India were opened in Chandernagore in 1784 in the Calcutta postal district. Other post offices in the Madras district opened in Pondicherry (1787), Kârikâl (1794), and Mahe (1796).

Letter datelined Pondichery, 2nd February 1794, during the 2nd British occupation, adressed to Chandernagor, also under the 2nd British occupation at this time. The postage was prepaid 9 Fa[nons] to cover postage until Calcuta. The letter shows a despatch mark «Bearing» 6 Annas [?] from Calcutta dated 15th March to be collected at delivery at Chandernagor FIRST HANDSTRUCK STAMPS BY BRITISH PO END OF 18TH/START OF 19TH CENTURY

“Post Paid Pondicherry”, which is only documented in 1795

1835 «Pondicherry Post Paid» Chandernagore, 14th March 1827 LONDON

LORIENT

AFTER 1816: BOMBAY MADRAS FRENCH HOMELAND SHIPLETTERS PONDICHÉRY

MAURITIUS RÉUNION

Ships anchoring before Pondichéry received mail by Jolly boats. Copy of a print from an engraving (Original owned by the exhibitor) .

Folded shipletter written in Pondichéry, 2nd January 1831, delivered to Nantes via Bordeaux in 175 days. The letter shows a datestamp from 24th June 1831 on the front and from 26th June on the back – most likely from Bordeaux. The manuscript marking «10» indicates a fee of 1 Decimes for the ships captain and 9 Decimes for the French delivery fee to be collected from the recipient. HANDSTRUCK BOXED STAMPS AFTER THE INDIA POST OFFICE ACT 1837 HANDSTRUCK BOXED STAMPS AFTER THE INDIA POST OFFICE ACT 1837

Letter from Pondichery dated 8th March 1839 to Yanaon delivered via Injeram, 13th March 1839. Injeram lies a few miles west of Yanaon and was used to deliver mail until the first post office was openend. The letter is written by General de Saint Simon, Governor of the French Possession in India at that time, addressed to the «Prince d'Eckmühl», Pair de France 2eme Duc d'Auerstadt and son of Maréchal Davout», endorsed «Service». The letter shows two «free” stamps from Pondichery and Injeram, a “paid” stamp from Injeram applied by error and a faint marking from Madras, 09.03.1839. The letter is well recorded in literature and one of the key items of French Indian postal history. STEAMSHIP SERVICE, THE OVERLAND ROUTES AND MAIL ACCORDING THE ANGLO-FRENCH POSTAL CONVENTIONS 1836/39

The «Overland» route In 1835 Thomas Fletcher Waghorn opened the new «Overland» service to carry mail via Suez and Alexandria. Thereby the navy of the British East India Company carried mail between Bombay and Suez and the P&O shipping company undertook the landtransfer from Suez to the Nile and through Egypt. In Alexandria the letters were taken over by the French «paquebots de la mediteranne» which were responsible for the further transport.

The Anglo-French postal convention 1836 and 1839 1836 and 1839 saw two Anglo-French Convention allowing Britain and France to collect postage for each other. Although they each had different currencies and weight units, the major Steamship Service complexity was because the British system was based on the In the early 1800s first steamships number of sheets of paper whereas France’s system was weight- become available for commercial based. If a letter from overseas was addressed directly to France, and postal use. The first steamship on the British Post Office would write the accountancy amount due in experimental use in the Persian Gulf the upper right corner. Each letter had to be rated individually. was the «Hugh Lindsay», which had The Anglo-French postal convention was the prerequisite for mail several sailings carrying mail being send the overland route in large numbers, since it allowed between Bombay and Suez in 1836. one uniform postage for the overall route between India and Due to the success, further steamships Europe incorporating both, British and French packet services. were commissioned and went on scheduled service by 1837. STEAMSHIP SERVICE, THE OVERLAND ROUTES AND MAIL ACCORDING THE ANGLO-FRENCH POSTAL CONVENTIONS 1836/39 Dateline Pondichéry, 13th November 1838

Boxed paid marking (originally in red) from the British PO in Pondichery(French spelling) with manuscript marking 14th November 1838 and 1 Rupee and 3 Annas for postage to Alexandria

Arrival mark GPO Madras 16th November 1839

Ship letter stamp from Madras 16th November 1839

Oval stamp “INDIA” applied on packet letters in Bombay. The marking is in red colour, indicating postage is paid

Boxed stamp applied in Alexandria on outgoing letters for French packets

28 Decimes manuscript tax marking from Alexandria consisting of the packet rate of 10 Decimes and 18 for delivery in France (rate of 1st January 1828), to be paid by the recipient

Arrival marking from Bordeaux 6th January 1840.

Letter datelined Pondichéry, 13th November 1838, delivered to Bordeaux within 54 days OPENING OF THE FRENCH POST OFFICES 1853/54

In 1853/54 the first French post offices (French: «Bureaux») were opened. Until this time, mail was either handled through the British postal system or directly handed over to the ships anchoring in the respective harbours. Mail through the French offices were limited to destinations in the French homeland, other French colonies and mail carried to other destinations catered by French packets of the Messageries Imperiales. This often included mail to former French possessions, like the Île Maurice or respectively. Letters via the French post office were carried to Bombay in closed bags to be forwarded via Overland mail (see next chapter).

Letter datelined Pondichéry, 20th December 1854. The letter shows a red stamp «PD» = «Payee au Destination»2). This stamp is a typical French marking used in accordance with the valid Anglo-French postal regulations. At this time no other stamps existed to show the posting. OPENING OF THE FRENCH POST OFFICES 1853/54: INTRODUCTION OF HANDSTRUCK STAMPS BY 1857 THE FIRST POSTAGE STAMPS IN FRENCH INDIA – ISSUED BY THE BRITISH PO 1854

The first postal stamps in India were introduced in 1852 for use by the «Scinde Dawk» system of postal runners. The use of these stamps was limited to the Sindh district, nowadays in Pakistan. In October 1854 the first stamps were introduced for use in British India and simultaneously for use by the British post offices in the French settlements. All mail had to be prepaid by now and a simple rate system was introduced with a basic rate of ½ Anna on letters not more than ¼ tola in weight, with one tola equalling ca. 11.7 grams. In the beginning, numeral markings were used for cancellation, from the Madras circle «C111» in Pondicherry, and «C147» in Kârikâl, and from the Calcutta circle «B86” in Chandernagore. These numeral markings have no date.

Letter posted in Pondicherry in January 1859 to Madras franked with a 1854 deep red «1 Anna» stamp (Die I) for ½ tola in weight and with a manuscript «Stamped». The letter shows a light boxed Pondicherry datestamp and transit cancellations on the back. [expertised BPA 2014] FIRST POSTAGE STAMPS FOR THE FRENCH OFFICES IN FRENCH INDIA 1859

In 1851 the French post office started to introduce the use of stamps in the French colonies. In the beginning the regular “Ceres 1849” stamps from France were used. At this time no French post offices existed. But even after the opening of the French POs in 1853 and 54 no stamps were used since the colonial administration was afraid of missfavour by the British.

In 1859 issued the first stamps for exclusive use in all colonies at this time, namely , , Guyana, Le Reunion, and the French Settlements in India. The stamps were inscribed «COLONIES DE L’EMPIRE FRANCAISE – POSTES» and did show the French Imperial Eagle, thus dubbed «Aigle Impérial». These stamps stayed in use until the end of the Empire in 1871. In deviation of the British regulations it was still possible to send letters unpaid or «porto». Also due to lack of supply of stamps it was common for a certain time to send paid or «franco» mail without stamps just with manuscript or stamped markings. Letter with blue «BUREAU DE PONDICHERY» marking dated 8th March 1863. This stamp was used until 1864. Franked with one 40 centimes and two 10 centimes «Aigle» stamps. The 10 c-pair shows the plate error «timbre couche» with the image of the eagle turned against the clock.