Scinde Dawk

Sir Bartle Frere of the East India Company, when became the Chief Commissioner of Scinde in 1850 introduced a cheap and uniform rate for postage, independent of distance travelled. In 1851, he introduced the “Dawk” or the postal system in British India and the first stamp of “Half Ana” was published from Scinde (Sind, Pakistan). These were the first stamps issued in Asia and also the world’s first round stamps. The runners were replaced by an efficient system using horses and camels.

The red A ½ Scinde Dawk was issued on 1st July 1852. They were often used as a Seal on a letter and destroyed when the letter opened. The next attempt was a colourless embossing on whitish and bluish papers. Finally, the blue stamps were made by simultaneous printing and embossing. The Scinde Dawk were withdrawn on 30th September, 1854 and replaced by East India Company Stamps.