Rajpipla: the Sword Stamps of Nandod and the State Post, 1879–1886

The state behind the stamp

Rajpipla, ruled by Gohel Rajputs, lay in the hilly Rewa Kantha country between the Narmada and Tapti regions. Its capital was Nandod, on the Karjan river. Its post had offices at Nandod and Jhagadia and an exchange with the Indian post at Chandod. It printed letter sheets valued in paisas in 1879 and three sword stamps in 1880, and came under the Imperial post at the end of 1884–85.^[3][2][13]

The ruler

Maharana Gambhir Singhji was installed on 17 November 1860, according to the Bombay Gazetteer of 1880, and reigned until 1897. His reign covers the whole native stamp period; the report of Imperial management in 1884–85 and the report of the destruction of the stock in December 1886 both fall within it. A reign and the dates of a stamp are different kinds of evidence.^[12]

Chronology

Date	Event
17 November 1860	Gambhir Singhji installed
April 1879	Four letter-sheet forms described
November 1879	Their values identified as 1, 2, 3 and 4 paisas, printed together
1880	Bombay Gazetteer records an office kept by the chief at Nandod
1 June 1880	Issue of the sword stamps, by Le Timbre-Poste as quoted by Evans
November–December 1880	The one paiso, then the two and four annas, described in the Philatelic Record
1882–1883	Correspondence on the offices and the Chandod exchange (Pandya)
1883	A State press installed, by Röver’s report
May 1884	An eight-anna stamp reported, unconfirmed
end of 1884–85	Three new offices; Rajpipla brought under Imperial management
December 1886	Government stamps in use throughout the State; remaining stock destroyed
1889	A one-anna fiscal group reported as postage

A closer look at the stamps

The stamps

The issues and their values, from the research checklist; the letter sheets are listed as stationery of disputed postal status. Shades and varieties are not listed. The collector’s checklist for Rajpipla is a separate page in this section.

Period	Issue	Values
1880–1886 reported stamp period; exact withdrawal unresolved	Sword adhesives	1 paiso, 2 annas, 4 annas
Noticed in 1879; exact issue and postal acceptance unresolved	Printed letter sheets (stationery; disputed postal status)	1 paisa, 2 paisa, 3 paisa, 4 paisa

Sources

• [2] Prashant Pandya, “Rajpipla State Post”, reproduced by V. Singhi, 25 February 2014.
• [3] Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition (1911), “Rajpipla”, historical geographical entry.
• [12] Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, vol. VI: Rewa Kantha, Narukot, Cambay, and Surat States (Bombay: Government Central Press, 1880), pp. 51 and 109.
• [13] Report on the Administration of the Bombay Presidency for the Year 1884–85 (Bombay: Government Central Press, 1885), p. 140; British Library IOR/V/10/296, f.99 v.