Dear Herbert and Ed,
I have some covers from Nepalese government offices from border towns carried to India and sent via the Indian postal system to government offices in Kathmandu or to Nepal border towns government offices. Most of the covers to Kathmandu are addressed to the Maharajah of Nepal. The earliest cover I have is from Nepalganj via Jamnaha, Bahraich to Kathmandu in 1881. I have also some covers from Nepal to Nepal via India from 1893 to 1936. On most of the covers there is the name of the sender. I don't know if it's somebody from a government office or a private sender. On a cover from 1917 from Nepalganj to KTM via Rupaidiha, there is the name of the sender followed by "℅ Babu Bhairah Prasad, Nepalganj", may be the name of the agent who carry the mail to Indian side. In the book of Eden Vansittart (the Gurkhas, 1906) this information is interesting : "Letters sent for delivery through the Nepal P.O. should be enclosed in two covers. The inner cover should be addressed in Parbatia to its destination in Nepal with a Nepalese stamp affixed to it. The outer cover should be addressed in English or Vernacular to the Post Master, the Residency, Nepal, with the requisite British postage stamp affixed. All such letters received by the Post Master, Nepal, will be transferred without delay to the Nepal state P.O. for transmission." May be only official covers from this period survived because they stayed in the archives of the government offices and the King Palace. The covers from the private senders were destroyed by the postmaster of the British Residency in Kathmandu. I think that the service of sending letters through India was open to public. It would be interesting to find covers from Kathmandu to another city of Nepal with the inscriptions of the address of the sender from a border town of India. After 1937 the Nepal stamps were valid for sending a letter from Nepal to India, also from Nepal to Nepal via India. The letters sent from Nepal border towns to Kathmandu via India continued, may be because it was not possible to send registered letters with Nepal stamps to or via India. I have covers from Nepal to Nepal via India from 1937 to 1960.
This postal history of letters from Nepal to Nepal via India is very interesting. But there is so little informations about it. Only the covers can tell us the truth.
I you have any comments, I would be happy to have your opinion.
Regards, Bruno LE PEUT
------------- Bruno LE PEUT
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