Nur Jahan seated with a painted spice jar - 1895

1895. Ink and gouache with gold heightening on fibrous, brown laid paper with a Jaipur Court Fee tax stamp in purple ink, 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 inches (340 x 222 mm). Toning, handling creases and minor scattered surface soiling throughout. A typed and signed court order dated 1891 (in reference to a landlord/tenant dispute) appears on the verso, as well as the purple blindstamp of the Treasury of Jaipur. There are scattered coeval Hindi inscriptions in ink on the recto. The following text appears typed on the verso:

"Maloom order of 2nd July, 1891, and (5) party No. (b) applied to the P.I.B. Department for redress.

The P.W. Member opined that party No. (b) is entitled to live in the quarters which had been continually occupied by them and party No.(a) should not interfere with the other party in respect of the quarters which should be restored to the latter.

Resolution No.34.

Resolved that the proposal of the P.W.Member be accepted.

TRUE COPY

Registrar,

Mahakma Khas, Jaipur."


The first revenue stamps in India were issued in the mid-nineteenth century during the Raj, and they are still being issued to this day. Apart from issues for the whole of India, many princely states, provinces, and other states also had (or still have) their own revenue stamp issues.

Before independence, Indian revenue stamps were closely modeled on similar designs from Great Britain, as is the case with this carriage motif stamp from Jaipur. The stamps were issued to denote various denominations, including rupees and annas. An anna (or ānna) was a currency unit formerly used in British India, equal to 1⁄16 of a rupee. It was subdivided into four (old) Paisa or twelve pies (thus there were 192 pies in a rupee). When the rupee was decimalized and subdivided into 100 (new) paise, one anna was therefore equivalent to 6.25 paise. This particular stamp was used as evidence of court taxes remitted for property dealings.