Indian theme on foreign stamps….

 

Drought in India – Nature’s Fury

United Nations released this stamp on 21st Apr 2005, depicting children in India collecting water during a drought, as part of the Nature's Wisdom /Events as part of Meteorology.

Drought in India has resulted in tens of millions of deaths over the course of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on the climate of India: a favorable southwest summer monsoon is critical in securing water for irrigating Indian crops. In some parts of India, the failure of the monsoons result in water shortages, resulting in below-average crop yields. This is particularly true of major drought-prone regions such as southern and eastern Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, and Rajasthan.The World Record of Drought was in 2000 in Rajasthan, India

In the past, droughts have periodically led to major Indian famines. All such episodes of severe drought correlate with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is a quasiperiodic climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean roughly every five years. The Southern Oscillation refers to variations in the temperature of the surface of the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean (warming and cooling known as El Niño and La Niña respectively) and in air surface pressure in the tropical western Pacific. The two variations are coupled: the warm oceanic phase, El Niño, accompanies high air surface pressure in the western Pacific, while the cold phase, La Niña, accompanies low air surface pressure in the eastern Pacific. Mechanisms that cause the oscillation remain under study.

El Niño-related droughts have also been implicated in periodic declines in Indian agricultural output. Nevertheless, ENSO events that have coincided with abnormally high sea surfaces temperatures in the Indian Ocean—in one instance during 1997 and 1998 by up to 3 °C (5 °F)—have resulted in increased oceanic evaporation, resulting in unusually wet weather across India. Such anomalies have occurred during a sustained warm spell that began in the 1990s. A contrasting phenomenon is that, instead of the usual high pressure air mass over the southern Indian Ocean, an ENSO-related oceanic low pressure convergence center forms; it then continually pulls dry air from Central Asia, desiccating India during what should have been the humid summer monsoon season. This reversed air flow causes India's droughts. The extent that an ENSO event raises sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean influences the degree of drought.

The extremes of this climate pattern's oscillations, El Niño and La Niña, cause extreme weather (such as floods and droughts) in many regions of the world. Developing countries dependent upon agriculture and fishing, particularly those bordering the Pacific Ocean, are the most affected. In popular usage, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation is often called just "El Niño". El Niño is Spanish for "the little boy" and refers to the Christ child, because periodic warming in the Pacific near South America is usually noticed around Christmas.

- Kenneth Sequeira - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

e - mail : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com

 

Calligraphy

 

This stamp of BELGIUM on  Calligraphy 5v in booklet was issued on 13-02-2012 .One stamp in this issue shown above  features Indian Calligraphy.

: Leeza Padhi – Cuttack ( Orissa)  e -mail : leezapadhi@gmail.com

Press Clippings..

This news item published in Deccan Chronicle an English daily from Hyderabad on 29.08.2009, regarding the error on Saint Alphonsa stamp of India. The stamp was issued on 16.11.2008.

: K. Venkat Rao – Berhampur – Ganjam ( Orissa)

Asian Arrivals - Indians in New Zealand

 

 

Indian theme on foreign stamps

 

Indians first settled in New Zealand in the late 1800s. Most of these early migrants came from the regions of Punjab and Gujarat, and were temporary labourers. They numbered only a handful – an estimated forty-six persons in 1896. They were overwhelmingly men. In 1896, only one Indian woman was listed as resident in New Zealand! Most of these early migrants did not intend staying here, but wanted to earn money before returning home.

Migration increased until 1920, when the New Zealand Government introduced restrictions under a ‘permit system’. By this time, there were just over 2000 Indians in New Zealand.

Around this time, there was increasing prejudice and fear about Asian migrants. The White New Zealand League emerged in 1926 with the slogan ‘Keep New Zealand a White Man’s Country’. It found strong support in the press and from local bodies. Indians were criticised for living in shacks and ‘introducing alien views of life and standards of conduct’. The White New Zealand League warned that the intermingling of Indians with both Päkehä and Mäori would result in the ‘halfcasted citizen of the future’ – a prospect it regarded with alarm . But the New Zealand Indian community was still overwhelmingly a society of men. Many of them lived and worked communally. While a few set up shops, most found work as hawkers, bottle collectors, and kitchen hands in the larger towns, or as labourers in the market gardens of Otahuhu and Pukehohe. Others worked building railways or draining the swamps of the Hauraki lowlands.

In some places where Indians were perceived as ‘taking over’, prejudices ran deep and lasted a long time. In Pukekohe, Indians were not allowed to join the local growers’ association, some landowners refused to lease them land, and they were not allowed into the balcony seats of the picture theatre. Until 1958, only one barber’s shop in Pukekohe would cut the hair of Indians !

The discrimination Indian migrants encountered, and their increased commitment to settling in New Zealand permanently, led to the formation of the New Zealand Indian Central Association in 1926. After the introduction of the ‘permit system’ in 1920, the number of new migrants from India dropped. However, of those who did make it here, a greater proportion were women and children. By 1945, families (mostly of shopkeepers and fruiterers) were getting established, and marriages of second-generation New Zealand Indians were to become increasingly important.

But Indian weddings in New Zealand remained rare, even after World War Two when more liberal attitudes allowed for easier entry of Indian migrants into New Zealand. Indians tended to settle in concentrated pockets rather than throughout the country. Punjabis settled in Waipa, Waikato, Otorohanga, and Taumarunui, while Gujaratis settled in Auckland, Pukekohe, and Wellington.

Until the 1980s, over 90 per cent of New Zealand Indians traced their roots back to Gujarat – especially to the Surat district in the south of the state. Most were Hindu. The next biggest group (6 per cent) came from the Punjab, and were usually Sikh. In 1981, Fijian-born Indians accounted for less than 14 per cent of Indians resident here. At this stage, just under 45 per cent of a total New Zealand Indian population of 11,577 had been born in New Zealand, while 31 per cent had been born in India.

Today, Indians living in New Zealand are not restricted to the few trades that they were in before World War Two. Now few Indians (less than 5 per cent) are involved in agriculture, while nearly a third (30 per cent) are involved in professional, managerial, and administrative positions. Indians are prominent in a number of sections of New Zealand society, including business, medicine, education, politics, sport, and the arts.

Since 1987, New Zealand has become home to highly skilled, affluent migrants from North, South and South-East Asia. By 1996, 82,000 people of Chinese origin, 44,000 Indians, 13,000 Koreans and 7,000 Japanese identified themselves as New Zealanders

NZ Post released this stamp as part of the 1998 set of the " A New Beginning - Asian Arrivals"   .

- Kenneth Sequeira - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

email :  kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com

Indian theme on foreign stamps…

 

INDONESIA 2012

 

Special Souvenir Sheet issued during the Indonesia 2012 World Stamp Exhibition held at Djakarta from 18-24 June 2012.

This Souvenir sheet has the images of Bhima, Arjuna, Yudhistira, Nakula, Sadewa and Pandawa Lima from Wayang Kulit which is a unique form of Puppet Theatre employing light and shadow. 

Mahabharata characters

The puppets are crafted on buffalo hided and mounted on bamboo sticks. When held up behind a piece of white cloth, with an electric bulb or an oil lamp as the light source, shadows are cast on the screen. There is a Special Stamp images made up of light hide which is pasted on the stamp design.

The second Souvenir sheet has Batik prints and the bigger stamp has got a piece of Batik printed cloth. The form of Batik motifs is a reflection of social culture, philosophy of life, customs and people of Sunda, an ethnic group of West Java people.

 

The First Day Cover of Shekhawati and Warli paintings, which was officially released by the Indian Consul General on 20th June at Jakarta.  The India Post Booth was represented by Ms. Meera Handa and Ms. Alka Sharma.   The FDC has been autographed by Ms. Alka Sharma, who has designed the cachet for this issue.

- CG Bhaskar – Chennai  email – sipagold@gmail.com

Press Clipping

Published in the Times of India, Chennai edition on 6th July 2012

Arrivals of Indians in Jamaica…

 

Indian theme on foreign stamps..

 - Kenneth Sequeira – Dubai (UAE)

Indo-Jamaicans or Indian Jamaicans, are primarily the descendents of indentured workers of India who are citizens or nationals of Jamaica. Indians form the second largest racial group in Jamaica after Africans.

Over 36,000 Indians were taken to Jamaica as indentured workers between 1845 and 1917, with around two thirds of them remaining on the island. The demand for their labour came after the end of slavery in 1830 and the failure to attract workers from Europe. Indian labourers, who had proved their worth in similar conditions in Mauritius, were sought by the Jamaican Government, in addition to workers coming from China. Indian workers were actually paid less than the former West African slaves and were firmly at the bottom on the social ladder. The legacy of these social divisions was to linger for many decades.

The Indian Government encouraged indentured labour and recruiting depots were established in Calcutta and Madras although agents were paid significantly less, per recruit, than for a European workers. Most Indians who signed contracts did so in the hope of returning to India with the fruits of their labour, rather than intending to migrate permanently. The Indian Government appointed a Protector of Immigrants in Jamaica, although this office tended to protect the interests of the employers rather than the workers. Although technically the workers had to appear before a magistrate and fully understand their terms and conditions, these were written in English and many workers, signing only with a thumb print, did not comprehend the nature of their service.

Arrival in Jamaica

The first ship carrying workers from India, the "Maidstone", landed at Old Harbour Bay in 1845. Indian indentureship ended in 1917 to the Caribbean (Jamaica, Trinidad, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, Martinique, British Guiana (now Guyana), Dutch Guiana (now Surinam, French Guiana and Belize).

Settlement and repatriation

Although most of the workers originally planned to return to India, the planters lobbied the Government to allow them to stay and defray their settlement costs, largely to save on the costs of returning them to the sub continent.

Problems in returning

The lack of ships available to repatriate the workers was another factor in many of them staying on. Ships refused to sail if not full, and at other times were oversubscribed, leading to some time expired workers being left behind. During World War 1 German submarine warfare and a lack of ships further cut the numbers able to return.

The Indian workers tended their own gardens after the work on the plantations was done to supplement their diet. Indian workers, in search of relaxation, also introduced marijuana and the chillum pipe, to Jamaica. Hindu festivals such as Diwali were celebrated although many became Christians over time. Gradually workers left the plantations for Kingston and took jobs that better utilised their existing, and newly learned skills. The Indian community adopted English as their first language and became jewellers, fishermen, barbers and shopkeepers.

Indo-Jamaican Culture

Indians have made many contributions to Jamaican culture. Indian jewelry, in the form of intricately wrought gold bangles, are common on Jamaica, with their manufacture and sale going back to the 1860s. Indians established the island's first successful rice mill in the 1890s and dominated the island's vegetable production until the late 1940s.

Approximately 61,500 Indians live in Jamaica today, maintaining their own cultural organizations and roots but assimilated into the wider community. Traditional Indian foods such as curry goat and roti have become part of the national cuisine and are now seen as 'Jamaican'.

Descendants of the immigrant workers have influenced the fields of farming, medicine, politics and even horse-racing. Names such as Patel, Chatani, Chulani, Tewani, Mahtani, Ramchandani, Daswani, Vaswani and Chandiram have become synonymous with manufacturing, wholesale, retail and in-bond businesses providing employment for thousands of Jamaicans. Cricketers of an Indian, as opposed to African, background have found success in representing both Jamaica on the domestic scene and the West Indies.

The Jamaican Postal service released stamps in 1996 to mark the 150th Anniversary of Indians Arrivals in Jamaica.

Kenneth Sequeira may be contacted at email : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com

Indian Theme on foreign stamps…

The Arrival of  Indians  in Fiji

 

Fiji is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island. The majority of Fiji's islands were formed through volcanic activity started around 150 million years ago. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch and the British explored Fiji. Fiji was a British colony up until 1970; British occupation lasted almost a century. Because of the abundance of forest, mineral, and fish resources, Fiji is one of the most developed economies in the Pacific island realm. Today, the main sources of foreign exchange are its tourist industry and sugar exports.

The population of Fiji is mostly made up of native Fijians, who are Melanesians (54.3%) and Indo-Fijians (38.1%), descendants of Indian contract labourers brought to the islands by the British colonial powers in the 19th century.Fijian as an official language of Fiji, along with English and Fiji Hindi.

Indo-Fijians are Fijians whose ancestors came from India.They are mostly descended from indentured labourers, brought to the islands by Fiji's British colonial rulers between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji's sugar cane plantations. These were complemented by the later arrival of Gujarati and Punjabi immigrants who arrived as free settlers in contrast to their counterparts who were brought under the indentured labour system.

Indians had been employed for a long time on the European ships trading in India . Many of the early voyages to the Pacific either started or terminated in India, and many of these ships were wrecked in the uncharted waters of the South Pacific. The first recorded presence of an Indian in Fiji was by Peter Dillon, a sandalwood trader in Fiji, who survived a ship wreck and lived amongst the natives of Fiji in 1813. The colonial authorities promoted the sugar cane industry, recognizing the need to establish a stable economic base for the colony, but were unwilling to exploit indigenous labour and threaten the Fijian way of life.  British decided to implement the indentured labour scheme, which had existed since 1837. A recruiting office was set up especially around Calcutta and the South, West and North later, especially a lot in rural village areas in different farming regions, land and areas.

The Leonidas, a labour transport vessel, disembarked at Levuka from Calcutta on 14 May 1879. The 463 indentured workers who disembarked were the first of over 61,000 to arrive from the South Asia and some from East Asia over the following 37 years. The indentured slaves originated mostly from rural village background or were mostly dispossessed peasants. While the women on the other hand were either kidnapped, prostitutes or young widows. Some were even brought as kidnapped child labour.The contracts of the indentured labourers, which they called girmit (agreements), required them to work in Fiji for a period of five years. Living conditions on the sugar cane plantations, on which most of the girmityas (indentured labourers) worked, were often squalid, degrading and brutal.

After a further five years of work as an indentured labourer or as a khula (free labourer), they were given the choice of returning to India at their own expense, or remain in Fiji. The great majority opted to stay because they could not afford to return under the low pay (even in many instances they were denied paid wages) of the British government or were refused to be sent back.

After the expiry of their girmits, many leased small plots of land from Fijians and developed their own sugarcane fields or cattle farmlets. Others went into business in the towns that were beginning to spring up.

The indenture system had two positive effects on subsequent generations. Firstly the need for people of different castes to live work and eat together led to an end of the caste system. Furthermore, shortage of females resulted in many marrying outside their caste. Another positive was the development of a new koiné language, known as Fiji Hindi that was formed from different languages and dialects of India. The speakers of these languages originated from different regions in India that supplied a lot of slave labourers. Music too, was important, with a distinct Fiji Hindi culture that some commentators have described as a forerunner to both bangla and jazz. For the most part, these people came from in certain rural or village areas. The language was further heavily enriched by the inclusion of many Fijian and English words. The language is now the mother tongue of almost all Fiji Indians.

From the early 1900s, Indians started arriving in Fiji as free agents. Many of these paid their own way and had previously served in Fiji or other British colonies or had been born in Fiji. Amongst the early free migrants, there were religious teachers, missionaries and lawyers. The government and other employers brought clerks, policemen, artisans, gardeners, experienced agricultural workers, a doctor and a school teacher. Punjabi farmers and Gujarati craftsmen also paid their own way to Fiji and in later years formed an influential minority amongst the Fiji Indians.

Of the Indo-Fijians, Hindus belong mostly to the Sanatan sect (74.3% of all Hindus). The small Arya Samaj sect claims the membership of some 3.7% of all Hindus in Fiji. Muslims are mostly Sunni (59.7%) and Shia (36.7%), with an Ahmadiyya minority (3.6%). The Sikh religion comprises 0.9% of the Indo-Fijian population.Their ancestors came from the Punjab region of India, but are a much recent wave of immigrants who did not live through the indenture system.

Fiji's culture is a rich mosaic of indigenous, Indian, Chinese and European traditions, the indigenous culture is very much active and living, and is a part of everyday life for the majority of the population. However, it has evolved with the introduction of old cultures like the Indian and Chinese ones, as well as a large influence from Europe.

Fiji Post released 4 stamps in 1979 to mark the Centenary of Indian Arrivals in Fiji.

- Kenneth Sequeira  

email : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 

New stamps on London 2012 Olympics from Bahamas..

 

Date of Issue : 26 June, 2012

Bahamas Celebrates its Participation in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The 2012 Olympic Games are the third to be held in London. In 1908 the games were scheduled to take place in Rome, but the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906 led to them being moved to London. The 1944 Olympics were also to have been held in London, but were deferred to 1948 due to the world war.

The Olympic Games is the greatest sporting event in the world and The Bahamas is planning to send its best team ever to London 2012, with the hope and determination to again have their athletes on the medal stand.

Designs, the concepts of which are based on the iconic posters produced for the 1948 Games are as follows;

15c - Boxing with a view of the Houses of Parliament in the background

50c – High Jump with a view of Nelsons Column in the background

65c – Swimming with a view of the Tower Bridge in the background

70c – Athletics with a view of the Main Olympic Stadium in the background

Indian themes on foreign stamps…

150th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery & the Arrival of Indian Immigrants

In 1834, during the British administration in Mauritius, slavery was abolished. This brought repercussions on the socio-economic and demographic of the farmers. They turned to India, bringing in a large number of indentured labourers to work in the sugar cane fields. Between 1834 and 1921, around half a million indentured labourers were present on the island. They worked on sugar estates, factories, in transport and construction sites. Additionally, the British brought 8740 Indian soldiers to the islands.

Indians mainly originated from Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. Most were Bengali or Tamil. Port-Louis was divided into three sectors, with the Indian community in the eastern suburb of ‘Camp de Malabar’. A great number of Hindus from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were brought as indentured labourers.  The expanding marketing sector also attracted many traders from North India.

As the Indian population became numerically dominant and the voting franchise was extended, political power shifted from the Franco-Mauritian and their Creoleallies to the Indo-Mauritian. Some ancestral languages which are also spoken in Mauritius include Hindi or Bhojpuri, Marathi, Urdu, Telugu & Tamil.

The rupee is the currency of Mauritius. It was established by law in 1876 as the local currency of Mauritius. The rupee was chosen due to the massive inflow of Indian rupees following Indian immigration to Mauritius. The Mauritian rupee was introduced in 1877, replacing the Indian rupee.

Hindus make up 52% of the population. Public holidays involves the blending of several cultures from Mauritius’s history, like Holi, Raksha Bandhan, etc..

To mark the 150th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery & the Arrival of Indian Immigrants, Mauritius released stamps in 1984.

- Kenneth Sequeira  e-mail : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

LONDON 2012 Olympics stamps from Israel..

 

 

 

Date of Issue : 26 June 2012

Hi ! Here are new stamps on London 2012 Olympics to be issued by Israel Post on June 26, 2012. The stamps are just wonderful. The special feature of these stamps is its tabs that depict Olympic rings, London landmarks and flags of participating countries. One of the stamps featured below also  has Indian flag on its tab !! These stamps are just fantastic and sure to be liked by all sport lovers and stamp collectors.

A big thanks to the designer of these beautiful stamps who made the stamps memorable with its exquisite design forever especially for we Indians. The tabs on the stamps have added extra beauty to the stamps !! I should mention here that Israeli stamps have most beautiful tabs in the world which have special value for Thematic collectors.

I am extremely thankful to Dr Eli Moallem of Israel  who sent me details about these stamps !! This is all for  Today….Till next Post…. Have a Great Sporting day !!

 

 Indian flag on tab of the stamp (No. 5 from extreme right)

Club News

The Spiritual Science philately exhibition

The Spiritual Science philately exhibition  by M.R Prabakar during the Discourse of Bhagavadgita  by Dr.(Prof.) Narayana Acharya

From May 28, 2012 to May 30^th ( 5pm to 8 pm )

Venue : ”SRI VENUGOPALA KRISHNA SWAMY TEMPLE, 11th Cross MALLESWARAM BANGALORE"

 

 

Dr. (Prof.) Narayana Acharya and MR Prabhakar

  : Jagannath Mani, Bangalore

 

Indian theme on foreign stamps…

 

Bhavani Singh (Krishnanand Saraswati) , spiritual leader was born in Jodhpur in  1900  and died in Mauritius on 23 August 1992.

Swami Krishnanand Saraswati, who was revered far beyond India, died suddenly in Mauritius at a time when the Silver Jubilee of his first visit to the island was celebrated. It was a fitting end to a life given to the service of others: the ceremonies were held on 13 and 14 August, he enjoyed the further celebration of his 92nd birthday on the 22nd, and then, during the evening of the 23rd, he died.

His background was sophisticated: born into the royal family of Jodhpur, his name had been Bhavani Singh and, after obtaining an MA and LLB at Benares Hindu University, he became district magistrate on the borders of Gujurat and Rajasthan. In 1937 his life was transformed. Initiated into the order of Saraswati and named after Krishna, during a long meditation in the Himalayas he formulated the two guiding principles of his life - dedication to God and service to humanity. For 10 years he collaborated with Mahatma Gandhi in spreading the Hindi language. Then, what began as a response to appeals from Indian communities in Kenya during the Mau Mau conflict and in Mauritius on the verge of independence developed into a life spent travelling to displaced or expatriate Asian communities, 'scattered' as he put it 'all over the world' - in Africa, in Britain and Europe, even Afghanistan and, briefly, the United States.

He was active in some 70 countries with friends of all races and religions. His spiritual influence was such that, after training more than a score of followers in Ghana, during 1957 he laid the foundations for the Hindu Monastery of Africa, where devotion found practical expression through social work. But he was no proselytiser: he thought religions divisive. His teaching was as much through example as his quiet words and his plain advice about yoga. Of those books in airport kiosks by writers claiming to be 'experts' on yoga, he once remarked: 'Yoga is much more than standing on your head and making those difficult postures . . . yoga is a decision for the whole life. Yoga means the union of soul with God and yoga is the path.' For him God was suffering man and service to him was yoga.

The Human Service Trust, founded some 25 years ago, was a practical example of that philosophy. Penniless himself - friends or some group who had heard of 'Swamiji' would send an air ticket with their appeal for his presence, would meet him at the airport and put him up - his method was to inspire the prosperous to give to those in need. Invited to the Erasmus University in Holland, he watched open-heart surgery. Afterwards the professor and his team were moved to donate their instruments to hospitals in Mauritius. Among the many who have benefited were victims of a cyclone in Andhra Pradash and a flood in Gujarat. The Prime Minister of Mauritius has spoken of the thousands of youths who 'owe their life-philosophy to Swamiji, who set up training for young people in voluntary social work.'

In India eight eye-camps have provided operations, medicines and spectacles to patients. Wherever he went he helped keep cultures alive: his visits to Bristol or Bradford or Brent were marked by exuberant performances of music, song and dance.

Swami Krishnanand started the Human Service Trust with a group of 40 young volunteers in the year 1967.  The aim was to have responsible persons to work for the benefit of the Mauritius. Till date, thousands of youngsters have been trained and encouraged to persevere in the field of education, social work, business and even politics among others. Swami ji has spread his work in 72 countries.
Swami Krishanand Saraswati took 'Samadhi' in the year 1992 in Mauritius.  Swami Krishanand ji's 'Samadhi' is found  near the Human Service Trust Mahatma Gandhi Ayurved Hospital at Calebasses.

Mauritius released a commemorative stamp under local events 1992 issues  to mark the 25th Anniversary of his arrival to Mauritius.

- Kenneth Sequeira

e- mail : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 

Maxim Cards

Critical analysis : These Maxim Cards issued by UNPA recently on 19th April 2012 has not been designed as per FIP rules of Maximum Cards. This card uses all four stamps in block where as per FIP rules only  one stamp could be affixed on the card matching with the stamp design for creating a  Maximum Card. Such Maxim cards are not appropriate to display in a competitive exhibition. An exhibitor may get negative points for such cards though these are official cards of UNPA.

Indian theme on foreign stamps..

 

100 years of Indian Immigrants Arrival

Suriname is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west & Brazil to the south. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as Dutch Guiana. Suriname achieved independence from the Netherlands on 25 November 1975.

It has an estimated population of approximately 490,000, most of whom live on the country's north coast, where the capital Paramaribo is located.

Slavery was abolished by the Netherlands in Suriname in 1863, but the slaves in Suriname were not fully released until 1873, after a mandatory 10 year transition period during which time they were required to work on the plantations for minimal pay and without state sanctioned torture. As soon as they became truly free, the slaves largely abandoned the plantations where they had suffered for several generations, in favour of the city, Paramaribo.

As a plantation colony, Suriname was still heavily dependent on manual labour, and to make up for the shortfall, the Dutch brought in contract labourers from the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) and India (through an arrangement with the British). In addition, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, small numbers of mostly men were brought in from China and the Middle East.

According to the 2004 census, Indians form the largest major group at 37% of the population. They are descendants of 19th-century contract workers from India. They are from the Indian states of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Most of the Indians are Hindu, but some practice Islam or Christianity. Surinamese Hindi or Sarnami, a dialect of Bhojpuri, is the third-most used language, spoken by the descendants of South Asian contract workers from then British India. There are also several Hindu and Islamic national holidays like Diwali, Phagwa and Eid. There are several holidays which are unique to Suriname. These include the Indian (Hindoestaanse), Javanese and Chinese arrival days. They celebrate the arrival of the first ships with their respective immigrants.

Suriname released stamps 1973 to celebrate 100 years of Indian immigrants arrival.

- Kenneth Sequeira

email : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Indian Themes on foreign stamps…

 

L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art

 

The L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art is a museum in Jerusalem, Israel, established in 1974. The museum houses Islamic pottery, textiles, jewelry, ceremonial objects and other Islamic cultural artifacts.

The museum was founded in memory of  professor, Leo Aryeh Mayer, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a scholar of Islamic art who died in 1959. It has nine galleries organized in chronological order, exploring the beliefs and art of Islamic civilization. In addition to Mayer's private collection, the museum houses antique chess pieces, dominoes and playing cards; daggers, swords, helmets; textiles; jewelry; glassware, pottery and metalware produced in Islamic countries, from Spain to India. A collection of Islamic carpets was added in 1999.

- Kenneth Sequeira

email : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

 

My Recent Covers

 

 

 

zeljko Vasilik, Croatia

 

 

Indian Themes on foreign stamps……

 

Sher Shah Suri

Sher Shah Suri (1486- 1545) also known as Sher Khan  was the founder of the Sur Empire in northern India, with its capital at Delhi. An Afghan (Pathan) by origin, he defeated the Mughals and took control of North India in 1540. He first served as a private before rising to become a commander in the Mughal Army under Babur and then as the governor of Bihar . He is also remembered for purportedly killing a fully grown tiger with his bare hands in Bihar.

In 1537, Sher Khan turned against his master and overran the state of Bengal to establish the Sur Empire. A soldier of fortune, Sher Khan also proved himself a gifted administrator as well as an able general. His reorganization of the empire laid the foundations for the later Mughal emperors, notably Akbar the Great, son of Humayun. During his five year rule from 1540 to 1545, he set up a new template for civic and military administration. He conquered Bihar in 1534 & Bengal in 1538. In 1539, Sher Khan faced Humayun in the battle of Chausa. He forced Humayun out of India. Assuming the title Sher Shah, he ascended the throne of Delhi.

He adopted a tri-metal coinage based on copper, silver and gold coins and re-organised the postal system in his kingdom. The system of tri-metalism which came to characterize Mughal coinage was introduced by Sher Shah. While the term rūpya had previously been used as a generic term for any silver coin, during his rule the term rūpiyacame to be used as the name for a silver coin of a standard weight of 178 grains, which was the precursor of the modern rupee.

Sher Shah rebuilt the longest highway in South Asia. The highway was called the Shahrah-e-Azam (also Sadak-e-Azam, Badshahi Sadak and later Grand Trunk Road by the British). It is still in use in present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab region Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal. Mughals extended Grand Trunk Road westwards: at one time, it extended to Kabul in Afghanistan, crossing the Khyber Pass. The road was later improved by the British rulers of  colonial India. It was extended to run from Calcutta to Peshawar (present-day Pakistan). Over the centuries, the road acted as a major trade routes in the region and facilitated both travel and postal communication.

Sher Shah built monuments including Rohtas Fort (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Pakistan), many structures in the Rohtasgarh Fort in Bihar, Sher Shah Suri Masjid, in Patna, built in 1540-1545 to commemorate his reign.Qila-i-Kuhna mosque, built by Sher Shah in 1541, at Purana Qila, Delhi, a Humayun citadel started in 1533, and later extended by him, along with the construction of Sher Mandal, an octagonal building inside the Purana Qila complex, which later served as the library of Humayun. 

Sher Shah died from a gunpowder explosion during the siege of Kalinjar fort on May 22, 1545 fighting against the Chandel Rajputs. His death has also been claimed to have been caused by a fire in his store room.

His mausoleum, the Sher Shah Suri Tomb (122 ft high) stands in the middle of an artificial lake at Sasaram, a town that stands on the Grand Trunk Road.

India (1970) & Pakistan (1991) released stamps to honour him.

 

- Kenneth Sequeira, Dubai ( UAE)

email : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com

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