The Feudatory State of Rajpipla

Rajpipla was a Princely State in the Rowa Kawtha Agency, presently the Indian state of Gujarat. The state issued its first postal stamps in 1880 during the reign of Maharana Shri Gambhirsinhji II Verisalji (1860-97). 

The state of Rajpipla was founded by Samarsinhji Mokhadji, from a line of Gohil Rajputs in 1340 CE and shared the same lineage as the state of Bhavnagar. Seated deep in the hills of Satpura, the kingdom of Rajpipla managed to hold sway over the area despite the presence of dominant powers like the Mughals and the Marathas.

Rajpipla became a vassal state of the Marathas in the 1700s.  In 1705, the forces of the state under Maharana Verisalji I allied with the Maratha General Damaji Jadhav and defeated the armies of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb at the battle of Ratanpur. The state remained in alliance with the Marathas and became a tributary state of the Gaekwads of Baroda, whose demands could sometimes be excessive. 

With the advent of the British, Rajpipla allied with them in 1816, thus getting free of the influence of Baroda. However, Gohil Maharaja Verisalji rebelled against the British in 1857, causing much heartburn to the latter. After the revolt was crushed, Gohil Maharaja Verisalji was removed from the throne and his son Maharana Gambhirsinhji was made the ruler. 

The state saw major reforms under the rule of Maharana Gambhirsinhji and later his progressive son, Maharaja Vijaysinhji Chhatrasinhji. The railway network was strengthened and massive famine relief efforts were undertaken. The government also opened several schools, and hospitals, expedited electrification, set up courts, pensions for state employees and general improvements in agriculture and town planning. Rajpipla boasted of the first mosque in India where women could offer prayers. 

Maharaja Vijaysinhji Chhatrasinhji was an avid supporter of the independence of India. He was quick to join the Dominion of India in 1947 and handed the state treasury over to the government of India. 

Stamps of Rajpipla

Rajpipla issued stamps only once, in 1880, in three stamps in the denominations of 1 pice, 2 annas and 4 annas. The stamps were lithographed with or without gum (1p), or no gum (2a and 4a). The 1 pice stamp was perforated 11 and others were perforated 12½.

The stamps came with a sword motif in the centre and with the text RAJPIPLA TAPAL (HAASIL), and the denominations. The text was enclosed by two concentric circles with the sword in the inner circle. In the one pice stamp, the circle was enclosed under a hexagon with each character of the denomination at each corner. In the second stamp, the denomination was placed in a rectangle at the bottom of the stamp, while the third stamp followed the layout of the first but the placing of the denomination same as the second.