India: 1839, complete folded letter from Sagor, India to Scotland, via Bombay and transited from Basra via Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut to the UK. With routing directive on front “Per Overland Mail of June 3rd via Persian Gulph, Bussorah and Beyrout”. On back is boxed Sagor with manuscript dating 23 May and indication of 11 annas paid together with Edinburgh transit 13 Aug 1839. The front has red oval INDIA handstamp and framed 1/2 d Scottish tax marking; 2s 6d charge noted in black ink. The letter is incomplete but what remains concerns the beginning of the first Anglo-Afghan War, with a note that the Army of the Indus was advancing slowly with difficulty in obtaining transportation and adequate supplies.
An extremely rare and important 1839 India-UK overland letter demonstrating the diversion of the earlier Basra-Aleppo route through Baghdad, Damascus, and Beirut. Originating at Sagor and dispatched through Bombay, the letter travelled by a combination of East India Company steamer (Hugh Lindsay from Bombay), Middle Eastern overland transport, Royal Navy Vessel, and Mediterranean/European packet services before reaching Scotland.
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