British Postal Agencies in Persia 20th Century Postmarks (Exhibit)
This web page contains links to the content of the exhibit pages for the exhibit 'British Postal Agencies in Persia 20th Century Postmarks' by the late
Al Kugel.
Because of its geographic proximity to India, British sailors and merchants had long traveled into the Persian Gulf to establish trade routes. As this area was relatively undeveloped economically, it was necessary to provide a reliable means of communications. As a result, there was a need for a postal service. The British selected the Indian Post Office as the appropriate vehicle for the establishment of a series of postal agencies, with the first on Persian (Iranian) territory being opened at Bushire in 1864. Ten more agencies were created subsequently, mostly in the period following the discovery of petroleum by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (today's BP) in the early years of the 20th Century.
This exhibit is designed to show the postal markings used at the British postal agencies in Persia during the period 1900 until 1923, when the offices were closed down under agreement with the Persian government. The order in which the material is shown follows that used in the handbook of The Indian Postal Agencies in the Persian Gulf Area by Alan Parsons, the primary reference source for this subject, being alphabetical from Abadan through Mohammerah, and then followed by covers from the special military post office used by the Seistan Arbitration Commission in 1905.
This exhibit was created by, and is the property of the late Al Kugel, and is being supplied by his heirs as a courtesy to the Military Postal History Society. (See the MPHS webpage) The Military Postal History Society (MPHS) is a non-profit organization for philatelists and stamp collectors interested in the collecting and studying of the postal aspects of all wars and military actions of all countries, including soldiers' campaign covers, naval mail, occupation and internment covers, patriotics, propaganda, V-mail, censorship and similar related material.
Note that this subject has been covered by Al in other published articles, as well as in these exhibit pages.
This exhibit, created by the late Al Kugel, is made up of 16 pages, so it occupies
one frame.
(See
the PDF information page for additional help with this file format.)
Single Frame of the Exhibit of British Agencies in Persia
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Updated 19 August 2026