Post office · North Western Provinces
BhopalPostal Covers & Pre-1854 Postal History
Bhopal postal covers and handstruck postal markings of pre-1854 British India, recorded in an open census: 5 Bhopal handstamps recorded between 1831 and 1856, North Western Provinces, with 5 Bhopal covers traced to them.
- Handstamps
- 5
- Recorded
- 1831–1856
Bhopal is the capital of the Indian State, situated 23°16' N and 77°25' E, 521 miles from Bombay.
Bhopal has 5 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings dated 1831–1856 recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Brown border = community submission, verified by editors
Bhopal handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Bhopal— postal history & markings
Bhopal's five handstamps, from 1831 to 1856, work across black, red and — distinctively — magenta, the ink of HG 4. HG 2A is scarce; the rest are in common use. The town was the capital of Bhopal State, one of the larger princely states of central India, and its post served that seat of a ruling house. The record is small, but the magenta strike and the scarce HG 2A give it a little more character than a plain black-and-red run, and for the collector of the central Indian states, Bhopal fills an important place on the map with a compact but colourful record.
Frequently asked — Bhopal postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Bhopal?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Bhopal are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Bhopal post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Bhopal was a post office of the North Western Provinces, British India, and this census records 5 distinct postal markings used there, dated between 1831 and 1856.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Bhopal?
- 5 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Bhopal 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.
- How do I identify a Bhopal 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 Bhopal 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 Bhopal were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Bhopal, Bhopal HG 1, Bhopal handstruck stamps, Bhopal pre stamp covers, Bhopal postal history.
How to cite
“Bhopal, North Western Provinces — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/n-w-provinces/bhopal (accessed 24 September 2026).
Updated: 24 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Bhopal?
If you hold a cover or strike from Bhopal 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.