Reverence with a difference

For millennia, the Subcontinent was ruled by empires, and yet, at any given time, much of the land was under the supervision of viceroys, quasi-rulers, and as was the case in Bengal, Zamindars.

The East India Company faced initial resistance, but under the Crown, colonial grip on this region was strengthened and any major opposition dealt with iron hands. And at this point, where the rulers faced a bleak future if not complete annihilation of their wealth and status, the British made an offer they could not refuse! As long as they agreed to remain as subservient under the colonial government, they would be allowed to continue having royal privileges.

Important wealthier states were handed state emblems, the petite and the powerless were allowed to design one of their own. As signs of sovereignty, some were permitted to mint coins; others issued postage stamps. An arrangement was also made for them to exercise relative power by means of operating courts and a judicial system. This meant paperwork, and lots of it. We now find endless remnants of that era.

And this is where the rulers got creative!

Some put their regal portraits; for others, it was the state emblem; some gave contracts to European printers, while others issued doodle-like images of malnourished lions.

And then there were the ones with religious iconography. Goddess Durga annihilating Mahishashur with her trident; Ma on her feline ride. There was even a version of Durga killing a German soldier — an image on stamps issued to collect tax for World War II.

The religious vignettes do not stop there-- Vishnu standing on a bed of lotus and carrying the ubiquitous conch shell in one of his four hands. Ganesh in his myriad forms; even Hanuman the ardent follower of Lord Krishna, carrying the sun!

At the time, when India became independent, there were over 600 states. Students of history and society of pre-partition India keenly study such material as they not only reveal the politics of the period, but also the social history.

The people of this land have been shaped by a range of languages, religions and traditions. It is what defines us. While certain sources want to preach that it is religion that separates people, others can equally argue that it is faith that binds us all.

Special thanks to Jiri Cerny of the Czech Republic, an ardent collector and researcher of Indian State revenue stamps for providing the images.