LETTRES DE PONDICHÉRY –THE HISTORY OF POSTAL SERVICES

IN THE FRENCH SETTLEMENTS IN INDIA FROM THE BEGINNINGS UNTIL THE ISSUE OF THE FIRST FRENCH STAMPS IN 1859

Rocky Mountain Stamp ShowPre-Show SeminarIndia Study CircleDenver, ColoradoThursday, 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. French India was one of France’s oldest and longest lasting colonies, being part of the 1st French Colonial empire build up before the French Revolution 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

Godavari River

2 kilometre

Yanaon

1 kilometre

Gulf of Oman

Mahé

1 kilometre

Hoogly River

Chandernagor

5 kilometre Gulf of Bengal

Pondichéry

2 kilometre

Gulf of Bengal

Kârîkal

French India was fragmented into five settlements, namely Pondichéry, Kârikâl, and Yanaon on the Coromandel coast/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 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

MAHÉPONDICHÉRY

YANAON

KÂRIKÂL

CHANDERNAGOR

BOMBAY

MADRAS

CALCUTTA

COLOMBOPOINTE DE GALLE

Borderline of India today

Maximum extension of direct French rule in India between 1741 and 1754.Until the mid 18th century the French continuously build up their rule in India. During the reign of Governor Dupleix (1731-54) the French territory gains its greatest extension

Folded letter, datelined Pondichéry 2ndMarch 1753, carried by messenger to a Monsieuer Bonmaire, writer on the ship «Vile Felix», «en rade» – «on anchor» in the harbor of Pondichéry.The letter is written by Jean Law de Lauriston, at this time advisor to the board of the French government in Pondichéry and 1765-66 and 1767-77 Governor of Pondichéry.

EARLY FRENCH EXPANSION: SHIP LETTERS

Folded shipetter, datelined Pondicherie 1st March 1770 to Vannes (France)with handstruck stamp «COL PAR ORIENT» with portomarking 8 Sous for French domestic delivery to Vannes

Folded shipletter, datelined Chandernagor 18th December 1788 to Angers (France) with handstruck stamp «LORIENT»with porto marking 10 Sous for French domestic delivery to Angers

THE ANGLO-FRENCH STRUGGLE FOR DOMINANCE IN THE 1700S UNTIL 1815

«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. …

During the 18th century several nations, namelyBritain, France, The Netherlands and Danmark, struggeled for dominance in India. In the mid 18th century the struggle resulted in the three «CarnaticWars» (1746-48, 1749-54, and 1756-63) between the French East India Company 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.

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 Pondicherry, 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 TREATY OF PARIS AND THE FINAL ESTABLISHMENT OF FRENCH COLONIAL RULE 1816

After the end of the Napoleonic Wars the conflict was finally settled with theTreaty of Paris in 1816. The Conte Dupuy was appointed as governor and sent toPondichéry to rebuild the French administration. This finally led to the permanent founding of the «Etablisments Francaise dans l’Inde» as a French colony. Still, thecolony always was dependent on the benevolance of the British which catered mostof the colonies infrastructure as well as their connections to the rest of India and theworld. As a key function, the British had a monopoly on the postal service andremained 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 becollected 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

Chandernagore, 14th March 1827

1835 «Pondicherry Post Paid»

AFTER 1816:FRENCH HOMELAND SHIPLETTERS

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 theback – most likely from Bordeaux. The manuscript marking «10» indicates a fee of 1 Decimes forthe ships captain and 9 Decimes for the French delivery fee to be collected from the recipient.

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

PONDICHÉRYMADRASBOMBAY

MAURITIUS

RÉUNION

LORIENT

LONDON

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

Steamship ServiceIn the early 1800s first steamshipsbecome available for commercialand postal use. The first steamship on experimental use in the Persian Gulfwas the «Hugh Lindsay», which hadseveral sailings carrying mail between Bombay and Suez in 1836. Due to the success, further steamshipswere commissioned and went on scheduled service by 1837.

The Anglo-French postal convention 1836 and 18391836 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 complexity was because the British system was based on the number of sheets of paper whereas France’s system was weight-based. If a letter from overseas was addressed directly to France, the British Post Office would write the accountancy amount due in the upper right corner. Each letter had to be rated individually.The Anglo-French postal convention was the prerequisite for mail being send the overland route in large numbers, since it allowed one uniform postage for the overall route between India and Europe incorporating both, British and French packet services.

The «Overland» routeIn 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 betweenBombay and Suez and the P&O shipping company undertook the landtransfer from Suez to theNile and through Egypt. In Alexandria the letters were taken over by the French «paquebots de la mediteranne» which were responsible for the further transport.

STEAMSHIP SERVICE, THE OVERLAND ROUTES AND MAIL ACCORDING THE ANGLO-FRENCH POSTAL CONVENTIONS 1836/39

Letter datelined Pondichéry, 13th November 1838, delivered to Bordeaux within 54 days

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 Madras16th November 1839

Ship letter stamp from Madras16th November 1839

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 Bordeaux6th January 1840.

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

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 Mauritius 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 1854The 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 tolaequalling 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 lettershows a light boxed Pondicherry datestamp and transitcancellations on the back. [expertised BPA 2014]

FIRST POSTAGE STAMPS FOR THE FRENCH OFFICES IN FRENCH INDIA 1859In 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 Martinique, Guadeloupe, 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 andtwo 10 centimes «Aigle» stamps. The 10 c-pair shows the plate error«timbre couche» with the image of the eagle turned against the clock.