Scinde Dawk

Scinde Dawk (Sindhi: सिन्धी डाक‎) was a postal system that utilized runners to facilitate communication across the Indus Valley in Sindh, which is now part of present-day Pakistan. The term also pertains to the first adhesive postage stamps introduced in Asia, which served as precursors to the adhesive stamps later adopted across India, Burma, the Straits Settlements, and other regions under the control of the British East India Company. The name "Scinde Dawk" is derived from "Scinde", the British spelling of the province of Sindh, and "Dawk," an anglicised version of the Hindi word डाक meaning "post".

Literature

• Robson Lowe, Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps, v.III, 1951: The Sind District Dawk, pp. 149–152.
• H.D.S. Haverbeck, "The Sind District Dawk", The Collectors Club Philatelist v. 44 no. 2 (March, 1965) pp. 79–85.
• Mohini Lal Mazumdar, The Imperial Post Offices of British India. Calcutta, Phila Publications, 1990.
• B. B. Misra, "Postal Communications in India, 1773–1834", reprinted from The Central Administration of the East India Company 1773–1834, pp. 415–449. Robson Lowe, Manchester University Press, 1939.