Charkhari~Bhopal.

Tony, if you have the cover close at hand,
can you read the departure date? any backstamps?
I would be very interested how long the transfer took.

A bit of a long shot, but this could get your imagination running,
the recipient of that cover Mrs N V Poulose, still may have relatives in Ernakulam
Grandson? Dr A V Poulose
http://cjoint.com/data/jkkr7FgylQ.htm

Cheers.


"rodney"

That cover has travelled some distance.
So how did it (presumably) get from Kunnamkulam to the rail station at Wadakkancheri?
(don't those names just roll off the tongue?)


"Asia-translation"
Rodney, you are either having a bit of a lend, or this is cartographic
aggression on behalf of the erstwhile Travancore State ...

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...overs-SG76.jpg

You may very well be right, Rodney. The mail arrangements in the Deep
South are still something of a closed book to me. (Though I have just
picked up a batch of Cochin covers on eBay. I think I may be growing
reconciled to Cochin, at least.)

And BTW, Scoop has some lovely examples of journalists' cables between
the Daily Beast of London and its correspondent in Darkest Ethiopia,
Boot of the Beast.

T

rodney wrote:
If it were in Travancore, I may have been able to advise.
Dak bullock cart, or Dak Tonga, canoe maybe.
Individual on Shanks's pony, I doubt very much.

And I may well be wrong Tony.
Having more time to look at the map, it is only a short 5 mile or so
run to the rail head (1"=4 miles)
Runners were still active as late as 1935 as far as I can see.
In 1904
there were 150 Anchal offices, 129 letterboxes
and 928 route miles handled by the Anchal office
5 million covers carried (Mooss 41)

The tributaries running off the Ghats would provide canoe
service further South but bordering Cochin I don't know)

(In 1844 there were 170 runners in Travancore and their requisite speed was to average 2mph,
they were fined for every hour late)
rodney


"Asia-translation"
You may very well be right, Rodney. The mail arrangements in the Deep
South are still something of a closed book to me. (Though I have just
picked up a batch of Cochin covers on eBay. I think I may be growing
reconciled to Cochin, at least.)

And BTW, Scoop has some lovely examples of journalists' cables between
the Daily Beast of London and its correspondent in Darkest Ethiopia,
Boot of the Beast.

T

rodney wrote:
If it were in Travancore, I may have been able to advise.
Dak bullock cart, or Dak Tonga, canoe maybe.
Individual on Shanks's pony, I doubt very much.

An excerpt from the East India Gazeteer June 1826
Indore Opium sale recorded
http://cjoint.com/data/jma5xjlSoI.htm

I find that rather curious as the Malwa Opium was in direct competition
with the Bengal opium of the British East India, still, it is surprising
in the amount sold, that was big Rupees in those days.

I wish I could source more of these East India papers, they make fascinating reading,
the same edition as above (June 1826) has NSW beginning its first days
of the Chamber of commerce, with the problems of the Spanish Dollar being in
competition with the new British coinage.


"Asia-translation"

rodney wrote:

Thanks for the Dhar map, strange thing that, Gwalior and Indore are the central high
hills in the Opium trade (well, as I have it) and yet, I do not see it mentioned anywhere
in Wiki.
My scant knowledge has it travelling West, for China, to the coast, under tacit approval from her maj,
because the Muslim north were hijacking.
Know anything on this? any recommended reading?

Airbrushed out, I daresay. Indore Opium Licences with Indore fiscals
turn up on eBay occasionally, and I think I recall a fleeting
reference to opium revenues in the Barwani section of the Central
India Gazetteer. (It would be your best for the grisly details. It
has all the grisly details about everything, down to how many times a
day Mr Das of Rajpur scratched himself the previous year. The State
Library here has it, in about 6000 volumes: Perth may have it too.)

Tony

On Sep 9, 5:43*pm, "rodney" pookiethai@NOSPAM iprimus.com.au wrote:
You have missed a calling there Blair
I am in support of "letter carrier" not post runner,
there would be rather more walking than running if I had the cleft stick.

Interesting you employed SG nomeclature of 13 1/2 pies,
where I prefer the stamp tablet 13a6p.


For shame Rodney. And you and you an India collector. too.

There is a HUGE difference between 13 1/2 pies and 13a6p.

13a6p is 13 1/2 ANNAS, not pies.It was the equivalent
of the basic airmail rate (1/3 in the UK)

13a6p = 13 annas 6 pies = 162 pies = 1 shilling three pence farthing.

13.5 pies = 1 anna 1.5 pies = 1.125 annas = 1d farthing

Actually I should have said 11 pies = 1d = 2 cents.

Blair

Blair

Oh Dear!, oh dear!,
yes I blew that one.

Of course I understand, I was thinking at the time
of the SG instance of calling a 6p value tablet as a half anna.
I was operating the keyboard whilst the brain was in neutral.

A time to develop that ability to laugh at oneself, Blair.


"Blair"
For shame Rodney. And you and you an India collector. too.

In 1908, the Central India Gazetteer for, ahem, Barwani records:
"Poppy About 70 acres are sown yearly with poppy; no hemp is
cultivated for drugs." By comparison, in 1905-6 (latest year shown)
48,329 acres were sown to cotton, the major local crop (and the
average daily wage for male workers in the cotton gins was 3 to 4
Annas, female 2½ to 3 Annas, and children 1½ to 2 Annas).

T

rodney wrote:
An excerpt from the East India Gazeteer June 1826
Indore Opium sale recorded
http://cjoint.com/data/jma5xjlSoI.htm

I find that rather curious as the Malwa Opium was in direct competition
with the Bengal opium of the British East India, still, it is surprising
in the amount sold, that was big Rupees in those days.

I wish I could source more of these East India papers, they make fascinating reading,
the same edition as above (June 1826) has NSW beginning its first days
of the Chamber of commerce, with the problems of the Spanish Dollar being in
competition with the new British coinage.


"Asia-translation"

rodney wrote:

Thanks for the Dhar map, strange thing that, Gwalior and Indore are the central high
hills in the Opium trade (well, as I have it) and yet, I do not see it mentioned anywhere
in Wiki.
My scant knowledge has it travelling West, for China, to the coast, under tacit approval from her maj,
because the Muslim north were hijacking.
Know anything on this? any recommended reading?

Airbrushed out, I daresay. Indore Opium Licences with Indore fiscals
turn up on eBay occasionally, and I think I recall a fleeting
reference to opium revenues in the Barwani section of the Central
India Gazetteer. (It would be your best for the grisly details. It
has all the grisly details about everything, down to how many times a
day Mr Das of Rajpur scratched himself the previous year. The State
Library here has it, in about 6000 volumes: Perth may have it too.)

Tony