Charkhari: the Bundela Maharajas, Their Stamps and the State Post

The state behind the stamp

Charkhari, often catalogued as Charkari, was a Bundelkhand state in north-central India ruled by Bundela Rajput Maharajas, with its capital at Charkhari. Philatelic writers of the time spelt its name several ways. Its post began as an official service in 1893 and opened to the public, with stamps, in 1894.^[2][31]

The rulers

A ruler’s reign and the dates a stamp was issued or valid are different kinds of evidence.^[8]

Reign	Ruler	Note
1880–1908; full powers 1894	Malkhan Singh	Adopted by Jai Singh’s widow, his natural father served as minister; the first stamps of 1894 belong to his reign
1908–1914	Jujhar Singh	Succeeded his son Malkhan Singh; the Imperial Durbar Album gives 16 June 1908, a list of rulers 6 July 1908; the crossed swords and the emergency handstamp belong to his reign
1914–1920	Ganga Singh	Succeeded Jujhar Singh; his rule is dated to 5 October 1920 in one list; the single-frame crossed swords of 1917 fall in his reign
1920–8 November 1941; came of age 1924	Arimardan Singh	The 1931 pictorials and the 1940 surcharges fall in his reign
8 November 1941–1948	Jayendra Singh	Spelt Jagendra in one list; ruler through the formation of Vindhya Pradesh in 1948

Stamps from a die, a stone and a state press

Charkhari’s first stamps were struck one by one from a steel die with movable value figures, kept by the Maharaja himself. From 1909 lithographed crossed-swords stamps came from an unnamed Calcutta firm, with a negative one-pice handstamp that stood in for missing stocks for some twenty years. The state’s own press printed from 1930, and the pictorial set of 1931 shows the state’s buildings. Shortages in 1939 led to surcharges on unwanted high values.^[31][7][22]

The chapters that follow take the inscription stamps, the working post and its covers, the crossed swords, the provisionals and surcharges, and the pictorials in turn.

Chronology

Date	Event
1893	Official correspondence service reported
1894	Private letters and stamps admitted; first stamps listed, in Malkhan Singh’s reign
January 1897	First journal report of five values, thought struck from a metal die
March 1897	Pigott’s notes: a steel die kept by the Maharaja, with movable figures and a removable S
July 1897	A rival guess of an india-rubber handstamp
31 January 1900	Evans quotes Pigott and reports stamps sold unused or cancelled to order
1904–1907 or 1905–1907	Later inscription printings (Benders; Douie)
28 February 1906	Altered value figures reported
24 April–29 May 1909	Crossed-swords stamps reported, illustrated and corrected
1912	Earliest date seen for the emergency one-pice handstamp; double-frame one pice listed
1917	Replacement handstamp die; single-frame one pice listed
1918–1919	Black second-die handstamps (Röver)
1922 and 1930	Years given for the two manuscript provisionals
1930	State press installed; typographed crossed swords
25 June 1931	Pictorial set (23 June also given)
11 February 1936	Inspector’s letter on the manuscript provisionals
December 1939	Shortage leading to the State Press surcharges
August 1941	Field’s purchases at the State Treasury
8 November 1941	Death of Arimardan Singh; succession of Jayendra Singh
13–18 March 1948	Charkhari joins the covenant forming Vindhya Pradesh
1 May 1950	State stamps replaced by Indian stamps (Smithsonian)

The stamps

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

Period	Issue	Values
1894 onwards	Inscription; CHARKARI STATE P.O. B.C. INDIA	¼ anna, ½ anna, 1 anna, 2 annas, 4 annas
1909 onwards	Crossed swords; lithographed	1 pice, ½ anna, 1 anna, 2 annas, 4 annas, 8 annas, 1 rupee
1912	Crossed swords; double frame	1 pice
1917	Crossed swords; single frame	1 pice
Catalogued 1922; literature dates differ	Large oblong crossed-swords handstamp	1 anna
1930	Larger crossed swords	1 pice, ½ anna, 1 anna, 2 annas, 4 annas
1931	Views and buildings	½ anna, 1 anna, 2 annas, 4 annas, 8 annas, 1 rupee, 2 rupees, 3 rupees, 5 rupees
1939–1940 in the sale description	1 ANNA on one-rupee crossed-swords stamp (postage surcharge)	1 anna on 1 rupee
1940–1945	Later crossed swords	1 pice, ½ anna, 1 anna, 2 annas
Catalogued 1940	½-anna surcharge on eight-annas crossed swords (postage surcharge)	½ anna on 8 annas
Catalogued 1940	Numeral one-anna surcharge on one-rupee crossed swords (postage surcharge)	1 anna on 1 rupee
Reported 1922 or 1930; individual allocation unresolved	Manuscript half-anna on one-pice crossed swords (postage surcharge)	½ anna on 1 pice
Reported 1922 or 1930; individual allocation unresolved	Manuscript one-anna on half-anna crossed swords (postage surcharge)	1 anna on ½ anna

Sources

• [2] Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition (1911), “Charkari”.
• [7] Peter Röver, “Charkhari: A Provisional Definitive Stamp”, Stamp Monthly, July 1975, p. 30.
• [8] The Imperial Durbar Album of the Indian Princes, Chiefs and Zamindars, Charkhari entry, digitized leaf 129: Malkhan Singh and Jujhar Singh succession.
• [22] R. F. Stoney, “Charkhari, 1930–44”, The Philatelic Journal of India XLVIII, no. 9, September 1944, pp. 65–66.
• [31] “The Charkhari State Post”, from notes supplied by C. L. Pigott, The Philatelic Journal of India I, no. 3, March 1897, pp. 71–72.
• British Library, India Office Records, IOR/R/1/1/3708, File 166-P(S)/1941, Charkhari succession, 1941–43.
• “Indian states before 1947 A–J”, Charkhari entry: list of rulers, with the succession from Arimardan Singh to Jagendra Singh on 8 November 1941.
• Supreme Court of India, Virendra Singh and Others v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 29 April 1954: Charkhari’s accession and the 1948 covenant of the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand states forming Vindhya Pradesh.
• StampWorld, Charkhari, postage stamps 1894–1940, page 2: nos. 39–40, the 1940 crossed-swords surcharges.