Stamps of the Princely States

This sheet runs the full range of Cochin's own postal issues — "COCHIN ANCHAL" in English above Malayalam script, with the Maharaja's turbaned portrait at centre. Denominations climb from ½ Pie through 10 Pies to 2¼ Annas, printed in a distinct colour for nearly every value, from pale orange 1 Pie to deep blue 10 Pies.

Several stamps carry the black "ON C G S" overprint (On Cochin Government Service) for official mail, and one bears a bold "THREE PIES" surcharge over an existing value. The small green stamp at bottom right, inscribed "HALF PUTTAN", reflects Cochin's older currency unit before the state moved fully to the Anna/Pie system.

Two classic "SIRMOOR STATE POSTAGE" stamps, each showing the Raja in profile within an ornate floral oval — a locally engraved design rather than an overprint on Indian stock. The orange stamp is the 3 Pies value; the blue-green companion is the 6 Pies.

Both are postally used, with part-legible circular datestamps crossing the portrait. Sirmoor (in present-day Himachal Pradesh) was one of the few small hill states to issue its own distinctively-designed adhesives rather than simply overprinting British India stock.

A teal India Postage stamp overprinted "SERVICE / NABHA STATE" in two lines for official correspondence, and a carmine 1 Anna King George V definitive overprinted simply "NABHA STATE" for ordinary mail. Both are struck with clear circular cancels.

Nabha, a Sikh-ruled Punjab state, was a "convention state" — it never printed its own stamp designs, instead having standard British Indian stamps overprinted with its name, a much cheaper arrangement than Cochin or Travancore's independent issues.

The bulk of this sheet is Queen Victoria and Edward VII India Postage stamps overprinted "On H. S. M." — a general-purpose official overprint used on correspondence to and from Indian princes' households, not tied to any single state. Values run from a few pies to several annas, in a wide spread of colours as the base stamps changed over the decades.

Interleaved are Cochin stamps overprinted "ON C G S" and pink/teal Travancore Anchal issues overprinted "On S" — Travancore's own conch-shell-emblem design, distinct from Cochin's portrait stamps, run its official mail on a parallel track.

The longest run in the collection: eight rows of "STRAITS SETTLEMENTS" definitives spanning three reigns. Early Queen Victoria keyplates in mauve, blue and green give way to Edward VII and George V portrait issues in cents values (1c to 10c and beyond), several with black surcharges reading "ONE CENT" or "FOUR CENTS" over obsolete face values.

Later rows include the 1927 Malaya–Borneo Exhibition overprint on a duo-tone stamp, and a bright orange 1937 Coronation commemorative showing King George VI and Queen Elizabeth flanking the royal arms. The colony's stamps were also used, unoverprinted, across the wider Straits postal network including Penang and Malacca — visible in a few partial "PENANG" cancels.

Hyderabad, the largest and richest princely state, printed entirely its own stamps rather than overprinting British India stock. Rows of small Urdu-script "sarkari" (official/government) issues in red, green and grey carry the state's heraldic Kalinga emblem, while the brown stamps depict the Charminar monument under the bilingual inscription "POST & RECEIPT".

A striking blue Victory Commemoration stamp (marking the WWI Allied victory) shows two soldiers shaking hands, and a maroon King George VI "SERVICE" stamp represents Hyderabad's later use of standard Indian official stamps alongside its own currency-denominated issues.

Seven rows of India Postage and Service stamps overprinted "GWALIOR" — sometimes in English only, sometimes in Devanagari script (ग्वालियर), and on official stamps paired with सर्विस ("Service"). Portraits move from Queen Victoria through Edward VII, George V and finally George VI, in values from a few pies to several annas.

The mix of overprint styles across the sheet — bilingual, English-only, and Devanagari-only — reflects Gwalior's several successive overprint contracts over more than four decades, one of the longest-running convention-state series in the collection.

Eight India Postage stamps overprinted in two lines, "CHAMBA STATE", running from a grey 3 Pies George V definitive to a carmine 1 Anna Edward VII. Three carry the additional "SERVICE" overprint for official use, in teal, grey and slate.

Like Nabha and Jind, Chamba was a small Punjab Hill state that never printed original stamp art, relying entirely on overprinted British Indian stock supplied through the postal convention system.

Seven India Postage & Revenue stamps overprinted for Jind State, including two spelling variants — the later standard "JIND STATE" and the earlier "JHIND STATE" — reflecting a mid-run change in the overprint's romanisation. Two carmine 1 Anna George V stamps carry the added "SERVICE" overprint for official mail.

Values span ½ Anna to 1 Anna across Queen Victoria and George V portrait types, with the teal Victoria stamp showing a particularly heavy strike of the "SERVICE / JHIND STATE" handstamp.

The most extensive convention-state run in the collection: three rows of India Postage and Service stamps overprinted "PATIALA STATE", with the earliest examples instead reading the archaic "PUTTIALLA STATE" spelling used before the state's name was standardised. Portraits progress cleanly through Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V and George VI.

Denominations range from ½ Anna and 9 Pies up to 2 Annas, in both ordinary postage and black-overprinted "SERVICE" officials — a near-complete visual timeline of how one state's overprint style evolved across five decades and four monarchs.