Group of Senior Officers of the Post Office in 1884 _Frontispiece_ Sir Charles Stewart Wilson, K.C.I.E. _Facing page_ 24 Group of Senior Officers in 1898 " 46 Sir William Maxwell, K.C.I.E. " 56 Combined Passenger and Mail Motor Van " 98 General Post Office, Bombay " 110 General Post Office, Madras " 116 Post Office, Agra " 124 Group of Senior Officers in 1907 " 152 Early Stamps " 178 Sheet of Four-Anna Stamps, 1854 " 178 Block of Half-Anna (Blue) Stamps of 1854 " 180 Victorian Issues of Postage Stamps " 182 Edwardian and Georgian Issues of Postage Stamps " 184 General Post Office, Calcutta " 200 Site of Black Hole, Calcutta " 200 THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA AND ITS STORY CHAPTER I THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA To anyone connected with the work of the Post Office of India it is almost inconceivable that the present institution, with its vast organization and its elaborate system, has grown up in the course of little more than half a century. Previous to 1854 the Post Office was a medley of services in different provinces, each having separate rules and different rates of postage. Regular mails were conveyed over a very few main lines between important towns, and Collectors of districts were responsible for the management of their own local post offices. There were no postage stamps, and since rates were levied according to distance, and distances were often unknown, the position of a postal clerk in a large office was a distinctly lucrative one. In large cantonments a military officer with plenty of other duties was usually postmaster, and his supervision was at best sketchy, especially during the snipe shooting season.