Post office · Madras Presidency
OotacamundPostal Covers & Pre-1854 Postal History
Ootacamund postal covers and handstruck postal markings of pre-1854 British India, recorded in an open census: 6 Ootacamund handstamps recorded between 1828 and 1856, Madras Presidency, with 30 Ootacamund covers traced to them.
- Handstamps
- 6
- Recorded
- 1828–1856
Ootacamund, the headquarters of the Nilgiri District, Madras Presidency, IS situated 11°25' N and 76°42' E, on the Nilgiri plateau, about 7500 feet above sea level. It is 356 miles from Madras, 1053 from Bombay and 1374 from Calcutta. First discovered by two civilians in 1818, and recommended as a health resort. The first house was built in 1821 by the Collector at Coimbatore, and in 1827 the authorities established it as the sanitarium of the Presidency.
Ootacamund has 6 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings dated 1828–1856 recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Ootacamund handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Ootacamund— postal history & markings
Ootacamund sits high on the Nilgiri plateau, some seven and a half thousand feet up, the headquarters of the Nilgiri District and the great hill resort of the south. Its six handstamps, from 1828 to 1856, are all in common use, worked evenly in black and red. There are no rarities here to single out; the record is the steady output of a hill station's post, sending the correspondence of officials and visitors down from the heights to the plains. For the collector, Ootacamund's value lies in its setting — the post of the Madras Presidency's foremost sanitarium — rather than in scarce strikes.
Frequently asked — Ootacamund postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Ootacamund?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Ootacamund are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Ootacamund post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Ootacamund was a post office of the Madras Presidency, British India, and this census records 6 distinct postal markings used there, dated between 1828 and 1856.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Ootacamund?
- 6 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Ootacamund in this census. Each mark carries its Hammond Giles catalogue figure number, colour, date range, evidence-based rarity grade, and links to every surviving cover recorded with it.
- What is Ootacamund called today?
- Ootacamund is the colonial-era name of present-day Udhagamandalam, India. The office also appears in postal history literature and auction catalogues as Ooty. Covers and postmarks are catalogued here under the historical name used on the marks themselves.
- How do I identify an Ootacamund postmark or cover?
- Compare your cover against the reference impressions on this page — each figure shows the mark's design, ink colour and recorded date range. If your Ootacamund cover bears a mark that matches a figure, open that figure's page to see every recorded example with provenance. If it matches none, it may be unrecorded: submit photographs through the form on this page and the editors will review it for inclusion in the census.
For background on the material itself, see the guides to the handstruck stamps of India, the pre covers of India and the pre stamp covers of India, which explain how marks like those recorded at Ootacamund were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Ootacamund, Udhagamandalam, Ooty, Ootacamund HG 1, Ootacamund handstruck stamps, Ootacamund pre stamp covers, Ootacamund postal history.
How to cite
“Ootacamund, Madras Presidency — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/madras/ootacamund (accessed 24 September 2026).
Updated: 24 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Ootacamund?
If you hold a cover or strike from Ootacamund that does not match any figure above, submit it below. Approved additions appear here as new entries in the census — every submission is reviewed first.
Same presidency
Other post offices in the Madras Presidency
Explore the pre-1854 postal history of other Madras Presidency post offices — each page lists its recorded handstruck markings, dates and surviving covers.