Cochin: the Royal House, the Anchal and Its Stamps

The state behind the stamp

Cochin lay on India’s south-western coast, in what is now Kerala. Ernakulam was the headquarters of its Anchal; Thrippunithura was the royal seat. The census of 1901 names the Anchal Act as Act I of 1067 M.E. (1892) and records 32 Anchal offices and 245 miles of line beside the British post offices; the Imperial Gazetteer records 39 offices and 56 letter boxes and the State-owned Shoranur–Ernakulam railway. By 1945 there were 99 offices.^[20][2]

The Anchal carried official mail long before it carried the public’s. Private letters were admitted for cash in 1865 or 1866 (the sources differ), stamps and embossed envelopes came in 1067 M.E., and the service went on to hundis, value-payable articles and railway mail. Its stamps run from the state-seal design of 1892 through numerals and six portrait families to two pictorials of 1949, with ON C G S officials and many surcharges. Cochin joined Travancore on 1 July 1949; the Anchal was absorbed into the Indian post on 1 April 1951.^{[50][20][15][2]}

The rulers

The list below follows the sources the research used, which do not always agree. Kerala Tourism dates Rama Varma Sakthan Thampuran’s accession to 1790 and the family index to 1791. The first stamps of 1892 fall in the reign of Veera Kerala Varma, 1888–1895. Sir Rama Varma abdicated in 1914; the government memorandum records his successor’s accession on 7 December 1914, and the report for 1937–38 that successor’s death on 25 March 1932, when his cousin succeeded. Three Rama Varmas reigned in turn; the philatelists’ “first Raja” and so on are not their numbers.^[14][13][15]

After the death of Rama Varma on 13 April 1941, Kerala Varma was installed on 23 May 1941; the family account dates his death to 13 October 1943, and a British Library file (IOR/R/1/1/3702) concerns the succession of 1941. Ravi Varma was installed at the Durbar Hall, Ernakulam, on 14 November 1943 and died on 31 January 1946 according to the family history (Rulers.org gives 21 December 1943 and 1 February 1946). Kerala Varma was installed and proclaimed on 18 March 1946, recognised in file IOR/R/1/1/4385, and died on 8 July 1948. Rama Varma Pareekshit Thampuran signed the covenant that formed Travancore-Cochin, effective 1 July 1949.^[40][41]

Reign	Ruler	Note
1790 (or 1791)–1805	Rama Varma Sakthan Thampuran	The Anchal is placed around 1791
1805–1809	Rama Varma
1809–1828	Veera Kerala Varma
1828–1838	Rama Varma
1838–1844	Rama Varma
1844–1851	Rama Varma
1851–1853	Veera Kerala Varma	Kashiyil Theeppetta Thampuran
1853–1864	Ravi Varma	Before the review of the Anchal in 1864
1864–1888	Rama Varma	Paid private mail introduced in his reign
1888–1895	Veera Kerala Varma	The first stamps of 1892
1895–1914	Sir Rama Varma	Abdicated 1914
7 December 1914 – 25 March 1932	Sir Sri Rama Varma	A different Rama Varma from his predecessor
25 March 1932 – 13 April 1941	Sir Sri Rama Varma	His cousin
1941 – 13 October 1943	Kerala Varma	Installed 23 May 1941
1943 – 31 January 1946	Ravi Varma	Installed 14 November 1943
1946 – 8 July 1948	Kerala Varma	Installed and proclaimed 18 March 1946
8 July 1948 – 1 July 1949	Rama Varma Pareekshit Thampuran	Signed the Travancore-Cochin covenant

On 20 February 1947 Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to the Maharaja of Cochin, one of the documents of the state’s last years.^[16]

Chronology

Date	Event
About 1791	The Anchal created, according to the 1911 Manual
1864; 1865 or 1866	Review of the Anchal; paid private carriage begins (the sources differ)
1067 M.E. (1892)	Anchal Act; stamps and embossed envelopes; registration
1 April 1892 (or 13 April)	First stamps, as reported; not an inspected order
End of 1896(?) / January 1897	The enlarged one puttan
23 January 1897	An Anchal envelope handed to the Imperial post at Ernacolum
1073 M.E. (1897–98)	Three-pie stamps and two-pie cards; new designs and colours
October (?) 1898	The numeral issue
1902	Shoranur–Ernakulam railway opens: goods in June, passengers in July
1904–1905	Earliest railway marks reported: 1904 (Stephen), 12 August 1905 (Pai)
1908	Arrangement with John Dickinson & Co. for fiscal stamps
1909	Two pies on three pies surcharge
4 February – 10 July 1910	Reorganisation and new portrait stamps ordered
1911	Engraved portraits by Perkins Bacon; the Manual records 43 offices
1088 M.E.; 1089 M.E.	Anchal hundis begin; service stamps replace free official carriage
1924	Boyd studies the surcharge settings
1937–38	79 offices, 158 letter boxes; boats, runners and buses
1938	Printing moves from Perkins Bacon to the Associated Printers, Madras (as later studies place it)
1939	One-anna ANCHAL overprint separates postage from revenue
1949	Bilingual surcharges and the two pictorials
1 July 1949	Travancore-Cochin formed
1 April 1950; 1 April 1951	The Anchal becomes an agency of the Indian post; absorbed

The stamps

The issues and their values, from the research checklist; official stamps, and the shades, papers, perforations and settings of each issue, are not listed.

Period	Issue	Values
1892–1897	State-seal puttan issues	½ puttan, 1 puttan, 2 puttans
1898–1903	Numeral issues on thin and thick paper	3 pies, ½ puttan, 1 puttan, 2 puttans
1909	Numeral two-pies surcharge (postage surcharge)	2 pies on 3 pies
1911–1914	Rama Varma I, first portrait family	2 pies, 3 pies, 4 pies, 9 pies, 1 anna, 1½ annas, 2 annas, 3 annas
1918–1923	Rama Varma II, second portrait family	2 pies, 4 pies, 6 pies, 8 pies, 9 pies, 10 pies, 1 anna, 1½ annas, 2 annas, 2¼ annas, 3 annas
1922–1929	Rama Varma I, two-pies portrait surcharges (postage surcharge)	2 pies on 3 pies
1928–1934	Rama Varma II, ordinary surcharges (postage surcharge)	1 anna on 2¼ annas, 3 pies on 4 pies, 3 pies on 8 pies, 9 pies on 10 pies, 6 pies on 8 pies, 6 pies on 10 pies
1933–1938	Rama Varma III, engraved portrait family	2 pies, 4 pies, 6 pies, 1 anna, 1 anna 8 pies, 2 annas, 2¼ annas, 3 annas, 3 annas 4 pies, 6 annas 8 pies, 10 annas
1938–1941	Rama Varma III, lithographed portrait family	2 pies, 4 pies, 6 pies, 1 anna, 2¼ annas
1939; catalogue group extends to 1944	Rama Varma III, one-anna ANCHAL postal overprints (postage overprint)	1 anna
1939–1948	Rama Varma III, engraved ordinary surcharges (postage surcharge)	3 pies on 1 anna 8 pies, 1 anna 3 pies on 1 anna 8 pies, 6 pies on 1 anna 8 pies
1941–1944	Rama Varma III, lithographed ordinary surcharges (postage surcharge)	3 pies on 4 pies, 6 pies on 1 anna, 9 pies on 1 anna
1943 catalogue group	Kerala Varma I, fourth portrait family	2 pies, 4 pies, 6 pies, 9 pies, 1 anna, 2¼ annas
1943–1948	Kerala Varma I, ordinary surcharges (postage surcharge)	3 pies on 4 pies, 1 anna 3 pies on 1 anna, 9 pies on 1 anna, 2 pies on 6 pies, 3 pies on 6 pies, 4 pies on 6 pies
1944–1946	Ravi Varma early portrait	9 pies, 1 anna 3 pies, 1 anna 9 pies
From 1946	Ravi Varma revised portrait	2 pies, 3 pies, 4 pies, 6 pies, 9 pies, 1 anna, 2 annas, 3 annas
1948–1949	Kerala Varma II portrait	2 pies, 3 pies, 4 pies, 6 pies, 9 pies, 2 annas, 3 annas, 3 annas 4 pies
1949	Late ordinary surcharges	3 pies on 9 pies, 6 pies on 1 anna 3 pies, 6 pies on 9 pies, 9 pies on 1 anna, 1 anna on 1 anna 9 pies
1949	Scenic designs: Dutch Palace and Chinese fishing net	2 annas: Chinese fishing net, 2¼ annas: Dutch Palace

Sources

• [2] Frank M. Cowen and J. Devasya, “Travancore-Cochin: Its Postage Stamps and Postal History”, The Collectors Club Philatelist, vol. 32, no. 6, 1953, part I, pp. 287–302.
• [13] Kerala State Archives Department, Archives Manual, pp. 48–49, “Records of the Abdicated Maharaja of Cochin (1895–1914)”.
• [14] Government of India, Memoranda on the Indian States 1932, Calcutta: Central Publication Branch, 1933, Cochin, pp. 86 and 88.
• [15] Government of Cochin, Report on the Administration of Cochin for the year 1113 M.E. (17 August 1937 – 16 August 1938), Cochin Government Press, 1939, section 9, Anchal, pp. 60–63, with the stamps, Government Press and personnel sections.
• [16] Jawaharlal Nehru, “To the Maharaja of Cochin”, 20 February 1947, Selected Works, Second Series, vol.2, p.225.
• [20] M. Sankara Menon, Census of India, 1901, vol. XX, Cochin, part I, Report, Ernakulam: Cochin Government Press, 1903, pp. xliii–xliv.
• [40] British Library, IOR/R/1/1/3702, Cochin succession, 1941.
• [41] British Library, IOR/R/1/1/4385, recognition of the Cochin succession, 1946.
• [50] C. Achyuta Menon, The Cochin State Manual, Ernakulam: Cochin Government Press, 1911, pp. 347–349 and 362–364.
• J. and C. Walker, map of Travancore and Cochin, Atlas of Southern India, 1854, via Wikimedia Commons.
• Madras Presidency, Cochin, Part I. Historical succession from 1888 to 1895.
• Cochin Royal Family history. Kerala Varma’s 1946 installation and proclamation.
• Cochin Royal Family History, Kerala Varma (1941–1943), installation and death.
• Cochin Royal Family History, Ravi Varma (1943–1946), installation and death.
• Rulers.org, Indian states before 1947, Cochin. Comparative dates.
• Kerala Tourism, Rulers of Kochi, Rama Varma Sakthan Thampuran.