Jhalawar: the Raj Post and Its Quarter-Anna Stamps, 1887–1900

The state behind the stamp

Jhalawar, ruled by Jhala Rajput Ranas from its capital Jhalrapatan, was created from Kota territory in 1838. Its boundaries changed greatly in 1899, so a map or population figure must be dated before it is used for a stamp year. The territorial transfer that created the reduced state on 1 January 1899 and Imperial postal unity in 1900 were separate changes; official reports record an earlier scheme, a delay over the state’s constitution and a delay from famine.^[2][17]

Its Raj Post carried 114,934 letters in Samvat 1949 and had at least seventeen offices in 1896, yet issued only two stamps, both worth a quarter anna.^[12][3]

The rulers

A ruler’s reign and the dates a stamp was issued or valid are different kinds of evidence.^[2]

Reign	Ruler	Note
1875–1896	Rana Zalim Singh	Ruler during both stamp designs; deposed in 1896
1896–1899	British administration
from 1899	Rana Bhawani Singh	Chief of the reduced state

Chronology

Date	Event
1838	Jhalawar created from Kota territory
July 1887	First design, one pice (Haverbeck); Moens’s queried date
October–November 1887	First design reported and illustrated; the apsara reading attributed to M. Rodet
June 1890	Second design, quarter anna (Haverbeck)
August–December 1890	Second design reported in strips of twelve; shades and papers noted
9 April 1894	Irwin reports 114,934 Raj Post letters and a loss
5 August 1896	Seventeen office-seal strips presented by Jwala Prasad to Lt. Col. J. H. Sadler
1896–97	A scheme for postal unity shelved
9–12 December 1897	Envelope from Jhalrapatan to Bombay with both posts’ stamps
1 December 1898	Manoharthana date cancellation
1 January 1899	Territorial transfer creates the reduced state
1899–1900	Famine delays unification; Jhalrapatan City becomes a sub-office
1 November 1900	Imperial postal unity (Evans; the year confirmed officially)
1907	Seven Imperial offices and an Rs 800 service-stamp grant

A closer look at the stamps

The stamps

The issues and their values, from the research checklist. Shades, papers, positions and proofs are not listed. The collector’s checklist for Jhalawar is a separate page in this section.

Period	Issue	Values
July 1887	Oval inscription band; central figure	1 pice (¼ anna)
June 1890	Clipped-corner octagonal frame	¼ anna

Sources

• [2] Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition (1911), “Jhalawar”.
• [3] L. E. Dawson, “Jhalawar: Some Further Notes”, The Collectors Club Philatelist, vol.37, no.3 (1958), pp.131–132.
• [12] G. R. Irwin, Political Agent, “Jhallawar Agency Administration Report”, No. 111 G., Jhalrapatan, 9 April 1894, in Report on the Political Administration of the Rajputana States for 1893–94, pp. 109–111, especially “Raj Post Office”, pp. 110–111.
• [17] The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition, vol. XIV, Jaisalmer to Kara (Oxford: Clarendon Press), “Jhalawar State”, pp. 117 and 119.