The Feudatory State of Bahawalpur

Bahawalpur was a Princely State to the east of Punjab in India. It was in a subsidiary alliance with the British and became a part of the Dominion of Pakistan after the independence and subsequent partition of India. Bahawalpur was the largest princely state with both a Muslim majority population and a Muslim ruler. The rulers of the state were called Amirs. The first postage stamps of Bahawalpur were issued during the reign of Nawab Amir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V (1907-1947).

The kingdom of Bahawalpur was established in 1802 by Bahawal Khan, a member of the Abbasi clan who had migrated from Sindh in 1748. A series of wars and treaties in the early 1800s, first with Maharaja Ranjit Singh and then with the British, led to the consolidation of the kingdom and its protection from the Sikhs and the Marathas. The Nawab of Bahawalpur assisted the British through their wars between 1847 and 1880 and was amply rewarded for his loyalty.

The kingdom was rocked by insurrection, political intrigue and political assassinations in the 1860s. Things took such a turn that the administration was handed over to the British. The Nawab was finally given his full powers back in 1879. He supported the British with all their resources during the Anglo-Afghan wars of 1878-80 and was rewarded with a pension and a 17-gun salute.

During the independence of India in 1947, the predominantly Muslim population of Bahawalpur decided to support the Muslim League and the formation of Pakistan. Nawab Sadeq Mohammad Khan V played an important role in the nascent nation and supported its economy, even going as far as paying salaries of the government servants from his treasury. Bahawalpur formally acceded to Pakistan on 9th October 1948. The state was finally abolished in 1955.

Stamps of Bahawalpur

Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan V was an avid philatelist. he lobbied the British government for permission to issue stamps but was never granted.  The earlier postage stamps of the state were overprints of the stamps of King George VI, with the inscription of INDIA obliterated and overprinted with the name of the state in Urdu.

Finally, in the twilight years of 1947-1955, he could issue commemorative stamps highlighting the history and personalities of the state. Many of the stamps were designed by the Nawab himself and printed by De La Rue & Co. Ltd, London. The stamps carried Muslim and Abassid motifs and had images of mosques, buildings, martial traditions, portraits of the rulers, and various other aspects of the state. Bahawalpur even issued stamps to commemorate the U.P.U. in 1949.