Myanmar Post and Stamp History

The development of postal services was determined by military needs during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826) and relied on neighboring Bengal . By 1827, a post office was opened in Akyab ; by 1837, 4 branches appeared in Kyouk Phyoo , Ramree , Sandway , and Moulmein . Since 1838, postal stamps began to be applied in Burma ^[2] .

Soon after the British seized Rangoon in 1852, the post of postmaster was introduced there, and postal service swept the province of Pegu ^[2] .

From October 1, 1854, stamps began to be used to pay for postal services ( see details below  ) ^[3] . In 1856, Burma was included in the Bengal Postal District ^[3] .

With the opening of a post office in Port Blair on the Andaman Islands in Burma in February 1860, there were already 22 post offices where correspondence was canceled by number postal stamps of the Bengal postal district ^[2] .

The emergence in 1861 of a separate postal district of Pegu led to the formation in 1862 (according to other sources - in 1861 ^[3] ) of the Burmese Postal District ^[2] . In this regard, there have been changes in postmarks: the letter "B" (from the English. Bengal - "Bengal") before the number was replaced by the letter "R" (from Rangoon - "Rangoon") ^[3] . Few people used the postal services in those days except foreigners, and therefore until 1874 there was no need for the development of a provincial postal network. For many years, the internal mail service, carried out with the help of messengers and river boats, remained slow and difficult. Mail to Europe was forwarded through Calcutta through the Indian postal service. In the period from 1869 to 1885, the local post offices in Mandalay and Bamo either opened or closed, while they remained part of the state of Ava ^[2] .

Since 1887, postal wagons and mobile post offices on river steamboats appeared in Burma ^[2] .

In October 1933, a regular Indian air mail route from England to Akyab and Rangoon was opened, soon extended to Singapore ^[2] .

During World War II, the Burmese Independence Army resumed postal service in May 1942 with permission from the Japanese occupation administration. In August of the same year, the postal service was transferred to the Japanese General Directorate, but already in November 1942 it was again subordinated to the Burma Independence Army ^[2] .

In 1975, 1094 post offices worked in Burma ^[2] .

British India

From 1854 to 1937, postage stamps of British India were in circulation on the territory of Burma without any overprints ^{[4] [5]} . Such stamps are determined only by the stamps on them of postmarks, which after 1856 were specially made for Burmese post offices ^[5] .

Colony Burma

The first postage stamps of Burma were stamps of British India with the overprint "BURMA" ("Burma"), issued on April 1, 1937 ^{[3] [4] [5]} .

The first postage stamps with the inscription “Burma” not on the overprint, but on the original drawing of the stamp itself was a standard issue with a portrait of King George VI , issued in 1938-1940 ^{[3] [5]} . A postage stamp from this issue with a face value of 1 annu is known both in lithographic and in printing ^[3] .

On May 6, 1940, a commemorative stamp was issued to commemorate the centenary of the first postage stamp ^[3] . It was created by overprinting a special drawing on a regular standard stamp with a face value of 2 annas and 6 letters ^[5] .

British Military Administration

After the liberation of Burma at the end of World War II and during the British military administration , normal postal service was gradually restored. In 1945, the pre-war standard issue of Burma in 1938 was overprinted with the text “MILY ADMN” (short for “Military administration” - “Military Administration”) ^[5] :

British Civil Administration

When the civil administration was restored in Burma, new standard stamps with the stamp of 1938, but made in different colors, went into the mail:

•  

  1 rupee ( Mi # 63; Yt # 46)

•  

  10 rupees ( Mi # 66)

On May 2, 1946, a commemorative series of four postage stamps was published dedicated to the victory of the Allies in World War II. In 1947, on the standard 1946 series, an overprint of the “Provisional Government” was made in Burmese ^{[3] [5]} .

Independent Republic

Burmese Union

On January 4, 1948, Burma became an independent federal republic called the Union of Burma ^[4] . In honor of the declaration of independence in January 1948, a commemorative series of postage stamps of five denominations with a picture of a stamp with a face value of 2 annas from the series dedicated to the victory in World War II was released, with one difference: the portrait of the British monarch replaced the portrait of the hero of the struggle for independence, General Aung San . On the stamps of this series, the name of the young state was also indicated as “Burma” (“Burma”), but already on the next issue, released on July 19, 1948, in memory of those who died in the struggle for independence, the inscription “Union of Burma” (“Burmese” Union ”), as well as in Burmese ^[3] . Under this name, stamps were issued until 1973.

On the first anniversary of independence, the first series of standard stamps of the young republic appeared in postal circulation. In 1952, she was re-released in modified colors and using a different printing method. In 1954, a series of standard stamps of the same figure was issued with denominations in the new currency ^[3] .

Special commemorative issues celebrated the seventy-fifth and centennial of the Universal Postal Union , the days of independence of the republic, some national and international events ^[3] .

The first postal block was released in the country in 1971 and was dedicated to the First Congress of the Party of the Burmese Socialist Program ^[3] .

Socialist Republic of Burmese Union

Since 1974, the inscription “Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma” (“Socialist Republic of the Burmese Union”) was put on postage stamps ^[6] .

On March 2, 1974, the adoption of the new constitution was marked by a series of commemorative stamps. On a stamp with a face value of 15 ppi from this series, images of the flags of Burma and seven national districts that are part of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma are placed ^[3] .

The release of a series of three postage stamps marked the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow ^[3] .

Myanmar Union

Since 1990, in connection with the change of the name of the state on the postage stamps, the inscription “Union of Myanmar” (“Union of Myanmar”) appears ^[6] .

All issues of the Burmese standard postage stamps of the colonial period, with the exception of issues of the British military administration, were labeled “Service” and used to pay for official correspondence ^[3] .

The use of service marks continues to the present time; for this, standard overprints (“Service”) in Burmese are put on standard stamps ^[3] .

Created in 1941, the Burma Independence Army in 1942 established control over the Irrawaddy River Delta ^[7] . In May 1942, an overprint was made on the colonial stamps depicting a peacock with her tail open ^{[2] [7]} . There are seven types of overprints that were produced in the cities of Miaunmya , Basin and Khintada . In August 1942, the Burmese Postal Service came under the control of the Japanese occupation forces ^[7] .

During World War II, Burma was occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945.

On June 1, 1942, the first appeared in circulation, which was simply a print of the facsimile of the head of the postal service of the Japanese army Shizuo Yano ( Japanese 矢野 静 雄 ) . Then a postage stamp with a face value of 1 Anna was issued depicting a peasant with bulls and with an inscription in Japanese ^[3] .

In September 1942, Japanese postage stamps were issued on which an overprint of the value in Burmese currency was made. Already in October, stamps of this issue were manually overprinted with the new currency (1 rupee = 100 cents) with full or partial strikethrough of the previous face value. In the same month, Japanese postage stamps appeared with postage overprint in cents ^[3] .

After the transfer of the postal service in November 1942 to the Burmese administration on February 15, 1943, she issued a postage stamp depicting the emblem of the administration in tooth and toothless versions. In 1943, two series of standard stamps of original drawings were published. In addition, the formal proclamation of the "independent" State of Burma was marked by a commemorative series, which was also released without prongs and was intended for gifts ^[3] . In 1943 and in 1944, postage stamps were issued by the Government of Burma with the permission of the occupation forces ^[5] .

• Postage stamps of the Japanese occupation of Burma in World War II
•  

  June 1, 1942: Mark Yano, published by the Japanese occupation administration ( Mi # 47)

•  

  March 26, 1943: standard mark, 15 cents ( Mi # 83)

•  

  August 1, 1943: stamp in honor of the proclamation of the "independent" State of Burma , 1 cent ( Mi # 86C; Yt # 33a)

•  

  October 1, 1943: stamp of the State of Burma, 30 cents ( Mi # 96; SG # 95)

•  

  Same, 2 rupees ( Mi # 98; SG # 97)

In the puppet state of Shanghai created by the Japanese occupiers, postage stamps were also issued. The first stamps for local mail, which were overprints on Japanese postage stamps with a face value of 3 cents in blue and 5 cents in purple (unlike similar black overprints that were in circulation in the rest of Burma), were issued in 1942 ^[3] .

In 1943, a series of postage stamps of seven denominations (from 1 to 30 cents) with an image of a cart drawn by buffalo (4 denominations) and a Shan woman (3 denominations) with inscriptions in Japanese were issued for the Shan State ^[3] .

In connection with the transition of the Shan State in November 1943 under the control of the Burmese administration on its postage stamps of seven denominations, an overprint in the Burmese language of the inscription " Burmese state " was made, after which they became used throughout the territory of occupied Burma ^[3] .

In July-August 1942, in the Chin Hills area surrounded by the Japanese army, on Burmese postage stamps the handwriting or typewriter was overprinted with the abbreviation OHMS ( “On His Majesty's Service ”) and the words “ Service ” (“ Service ”). Such stamps paid for the forwarding of official postal items ^[3] .

In 1964, an overprint of “Service” (“Service”) was made on a 1954 postage stamp with a face value of 3 people. The circulation of the issue amounted to 160 thousand pieces ^[3] .

• Myanmar History
• List of people on Myanmar stamps

• Burma // Philately USSR . - 1975. - No. 7. - P. 44. - (Rubric: By country and continent).
• Owner N. Burma // Philately of the USSR. - 1984. - No. 8. - S. 28-29. - (Category: By country and continent).
• Baker R. Burma Post: A Personal Story of Air Mails and Other Activities in the Burma Campaign, 1944–45. - Churchman Publications, 1989 .-- ISBN 1-85093-146-1 . (eng.)
• Davis G. , Burma Postal History. - London: Ltd., 1971. - ISBN 0-85397-030-0 . (Supplement: Supplement, 1987). (eng.)
• Min Sin Min . Stamps of Burma: A Historical Record Through 1988 .-- Chiang Mai, Thailand: Mekong Press, 2007 .-- ISBN 974-8102-43-2 . (eng.)

• Burma. Encyclopaedia of Postal History . Stampsite: The Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities . - Information about Myanmar stamps in the database “Encyclopedia of the History of Mail. Encyclopedia of Post Offices. " Date of treatment September 24, 2010. Archived November 22, 2008.
• Home . Society of Indo-China Philatelists; Larry Fillion - Society of philatelists of Indochina. Date of treatment September 24, 2010. Archived May 26, 2012.