Your Window To The World
The World of Philately
This section displays a slice of a philatelist’s workspace or room, aiming to introduce visitors of the museum to the world of philately, seemingly little yet colossal. This philatelist is based in Meghalaya, and his or her workspace shows a collection of Meghalaya-themed stamps and other objects, giving his or her philatelic paraphernalia in the room a distinct character. Meghalaya has been highlighted prominently in this section, through the display of Meghalaya-related stamps either in terms of theme or which were issued to commemorate important events and milestone dates in the state. These stamps shed a light on the heritage, history, cultural disposition, pivotal locations, geographical marvels and important personalities of the state. The Meghalaya-themed stamps are rather contemporary and show that stamps promise to remain relevant historical and cultural objects in this place, even outside of the postal services.
In this section, there are also stamps that have traveled across continents, marks that showcase political movements and designs that celebrate nature, science and art. They have been displayed according to theme, including Music, Art, Literature, Aviation, Sports, Century-old stamps and more. The section also accentuates historically important stamps of the world. Each stamp here tells a unique story, bridging the past with the present. Whether you are a seasoned philatelist or simply intrigued, this section celebrates the enduring and evolving world of philately and the countless stories it holds.
A Glimpse of the Section
This gallery includes the nine Meghalaya-themed stamps along with four northeast India stamps featuring the flora and fauna of Meghalaya, all of which occupy the centre-stage of the Philately section. Among them are, the Tirot Sing stamp, Patogan Sangma stamp, JJM NIchols Roy portrait stamp, the caves of Meghalaya and fifty years of Meghalaya. The Meghalaya-based philatelist's workspace has also been featured. There are stamps issued in various countries over the last century and a half and visitors are taken on a tour across the globe through them. They feature endeavours in global aviation, the Olympics, various sports, architectural cultures across the world, flora and fauna, literature, important writers and lore, music, art, important artists and century-old stamps issued in colonial India and other countries. Among the more prominent stamps are the princely state stamps, the first Indian stamps issued post-independence, Chinese lore stamps, the Grimm Brothers, gold leaf-Olympic stamps, embossed century-old stamps and more. Old postcards mailed during the twentieth century along with important envelopes have also made their way into the collection.
History of the Postal Services in the Khasi, Jaiñtia and Garo Hills
In the Khasi and Jaiñtia Hills, where writing only officially began among the native communities in the nineteenth century, it is usually presumed that letters officially began to be circulated with the arrival of the British in the hills. The letters were written, sent and received among the British to coordinate their colonial endeavour in the hills and among the Christian missionaries to further their cause and mission in the hills.
The contemporary lore which has been told for a few generations by word of mouth, has it that mail used to be brought to the hills and taken away from them on bullock carts. Later official documents state the existence of officially appointed runners who delivered mail on foot and postmen who delivered it either on foot, horseback, on the back of other beasts of burden or by a vehicle. A Runner is a messenger or a deliverer of mail appointed within a postal system or network, to transport mail from one place to another on foot. Runners continue to be appointed till this day in India, to transport mail in places where there is minimum accessibility. These people brave harsh situations like severe weather, unfavourable routes and attacks by animals and people with ill intentions.
In B.C. Allen’s tenth volume of the Assam District Gazetteer printed in 1906, he mentioned the existence of Dak Bungalows by that time, in Sohra and Dympep, the distances from Shillong which he recorded as thirty-three and a half miles and seventeen and a half miles respectively. He also mentioned the location of a rest house in Sohra Rim and Dak Bungalows at Nongpoh, Byrnihat, Umsning or Naia Bungalow and at Mawphlang which was connected to Sohra by a bridle path. Dak Bungalows are rest houses specially constructed for travellers and they are located along a Dak route, which is a system designed for the transport of mail within the Indian subcontinent. The Dak route in the Khasi, Jaiñtia and Garo Hills was developed by the British, unlike in several parts of the country wherein the routes already existed prior to the arrival of the colonisers.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, post offices had been set up and were running in Shillong, Sohra, Nongpoh, Jowai, Laitkynsew, Mawphlang and Ishamati. The offices at Nongpoh, Sohra and Ishamati were combined post and telegraph offices and in Shillong, there was a departmental telegraph office. B.C. Allen wrote that there were approximately thirty thousand letters and postcards delivered from the post offices in the Khasi and Jaiñtia Hills during the years 1903 and 1904.
The Assam Postal Circle office was established during the colonial period, in 1873 under the headship of the Deputy Postmaster General then. Official records that were issued during the late twentieth century indicate that the circle office was located in Shillong. In 1961, it was proposed that the Shillong Postal Division ought to be created within the Assam Postal Circle, by bifurcating the previously extant Lower Assam Postal Division. The new postal division with headquarters located in Shillong would consist of the Garo, Khasi and Jaiñtia Hills, United Cachar Hills and the Mikir Hills. It was finally formally established in 1962, with the Assistant Director of the Postal Service, Assam Circle Shillong being transferred to the office of the Superintendent of Post Offices, Shillong Division at Gauhati. At the time, Assam was also the only state in India where the office of the Postal Superintendent was stationed in the state capital.
According to official documents, in 1962, mail from Tura had to be brought to Shillong via Guwahati (spelt ‘Gauhati’) or Goalpara, for there was no direct link between Shillong and Tura. The density of post offices in the Khasi and the Garo Hills is one every fifty to a hundred and fifty square miles. Bullock, foot and vehicle were the modes of mail transport in these hills. The Shillong postal division in 1962 employed a head post master, clerks, runners, postmen, stamp vendors and more to run the office.
The Assam Postal Circle Office continued to be stationed in Shillong, until the bifurcation of the Northeast Postal Circle from the Assam Postal Circle in 1988. Today, the Northeast Postal Circle Office is stationed in the Secretariat Hills, in Shillong. This circle covers Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Tripura and Manipur. The General Post Office (GPO) which is the central post office in Shillong is also located along the Soso Tham Road, Secretariat Hills, in Shillong city. The first letter box to ever have been set up in the city is located within the premises of this office. The letter box is now a collection of chipped rocks, worn out paint and layers of debris, which no longer remains in use. This structure possesses historical worth today and is worthy of being conserved.
