Post office · North Western Provinces
BarellyPostal Covers & Pre-1854 Postal History
Barelly postal covers and handstruck postal markings of pre-1854 British India, recorded in an open census: 6 Barelly handstamps recorded between 1819 and 1854, North Western Provinces, with 21 Barelly covers traced to them.
- Handstamps
- 6
- Recorded
- 1819–1854
Barelly City, the Headquarters of the same named District in the United Provinces, with a cantonment, is situated 28°22' N and 79°24' E, 812 miles from Calcutta and 1031 from Bombay. It was first founded in 1537, and with the decline of the Moghal empire, came under the Rohilla power until 1774, when it fell into possession of the Nawab of Oudh, supported by the British, but passed into British hands by cession in 1801. During the uprising in 1857, it was an important centre of disaffection.
Barelly has 6 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings dated 1819–1854 recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Brown border = community submission, verified by editors
Barelly handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Barelly— postal history & markings
Barelly's six handstamps, from 1819 to 1853, run through an unusual range of colour: black and red, but also a purple strike, HG 3 of 1838. HG 1 of 1819 is scarce, and HG 3a is a scarce variety with notably large letters, some four millimetres high. Headquarters of its United Provinces district and a cantonment, the town first founded in the sixteenth century leaves a steady record — several marks noted as revised impressions of earlier dies. For the collector, the purple HG 3 and the big-lettered HG 3a are the entries that distinguish it.
Frequently asked — Barelly postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Barelly?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Barelly are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Barelly post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Barelly was a post office of the North Western Provinces, British India, and this census records 6 distinct postal markings used there, dated between 1819 and 1854.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Barelly?
- 6 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Barelly 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 Barelly called today?
- Barelly is the colonial-era name of present-day Bareilly, India. The office also appears in postal history literature and auction catalogues as Bareili. Covers and postmarks are catalogued here under the historical name used on the marks themselves.
- How do I identify a Barelly 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 Barelly 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 Barelly were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Barelly, Bareilly, Bareili, Barelly HG 1, Barelly handstruck stamps, Barelly pre stamp covers, Barelly postal history.
How to cite
“Barelly, North Western Provinces — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/n-w-provinces/barelly (accessed 24 September 2026).
Updated: 24 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Barelly?
If you hold a cover or strike from Barelly 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 North Western Provinces
Explore the pre-1854 postal history of other North Western Provinces post offices — each page lists its recorded handstruck markings, dates and surviving covers.