Azad Hind

Indian National Army – Chalo Delhi

1944

The Chalo Delhi stamps of the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) were designed perhaps to compensate for the need for postage stamps when the Indian Legion stamps from Germany failed to arrive. The INA was preparing for its march to Imphal in early 1944 and these stamps were to be carried by the troops as they made their way to Kohima and Imphal through Burma, in the anticipation that the army would succeed in its goals to free India and will eventually reach its destination – Delhi.

The stamps were either commissioned by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose himself or by an officer of the INA. The design was crude, illustrating a corner of the Red Fort of Delhi, an inscription that read “Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind” in an arc and “Provincial Govt (sometimes Government) of Free India” above the image of the fort. The inscription “Chalo Delhi”, the warcry of INA was placed below the image and the denominations were printed at the bottom. The stamps were crudely perforated with perforations varying from 11 ½ to 12.

Country: India/ Burma

Series: Chalo Delhi

Issued On: 1944

Type: Cinderella

Printing: Typography

Watermark: None

Azad Hind

Subhash Chandra Bose inspecting troops of Indian National Army during a parade

The stamps were reportedly printed in Rangoon, like at a local printing press, in likely denominations of 1 anna and 1 pice. They were printed in limited copies and the ones deemed to be originals are scarce. The stamps were rarely used for postal usage. As per Jal Cooper, “a few stray covers were used by troops on the march, and these were brought to India by the I.N.A. troops who fell into Allied hands before or after the Japanese surrender… It was printed in Rangoon, and it is said that the original drawings and die still exist in the possession of a printer there. The design, strangely enough, appears on both sides.”

Forgeries and reprints abound, most notably the so-called Sengupta Prints. Stanley Gibbons includes these stamps in their India catalogue but without a clear catalogue number.

An interesting article on the Chalo Delhi stamps can be found here.