AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN افغانستان

 

Revised  July 1, 2018

 

See, Cecil H. Uyehara and Horst G. Dietrich, Afghan Philately 1871-1989

Winthrop S. Boggs, Afghanistan, Fifty Years of the Amir’s Post 1870 to 1920

Robert Jack, Afghanistan 1870-1900 - A Specialised Catalogue

Robert Jack, Afghanistan 1901-1933 - A Specialised Catalogue

Website: http://www.afghanphilately.co.uk

David P. Masson and B. Gordon Jones, The Postage Stamps of Afghanistan  

John M Wilkins, Afghanistan 1840-1896 Postal History Handbook

Frank E.Patterson III, Afghanistan: Its Twentieth Century Postal Issues.

 

NUMBERS – DATES AND TALISMANS

 

۰ ۱ ۲ ۳ ۴ ۵ ۶ ۷ ۸ ۹

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

 

۷۶۴۲  8642

۶۹۱ 691

 

 

 

Half 1/2  نيمايي  ?

 

On “Tiger” (Lion) Heads, the date is usually at lower right in small numbers and close to the head. Amir was Sher Ali  شير علي  Noble Lion

Dates read from left to right.

1288 = 1871  ۱۲۸۸  inscribed in lower right side of first issue

1289 = 1872

1290 = 1873

1291 = 1874

1292 = 1875

1293 = 1876

1294 = 1877

1295 = 1878

 

Denominations

Shahi شاهی

Sanar سنار

Abasi عباسي

Rupee  روپۍ

 

Early cancellations:

Peshawar – red seal or smear

Kabul -   حـ “sword” pen mark that looks like “h” with a longer tail

Tashkurghan – pen symbol that looks like a fancy Kholm خلم  in Pashto (another name for Tashkurghan).

Word mahsul (tax) محصول  usually torn or cut from lower left of stamp

Words talaf kardan تلف كردن (spoiled)  in manuscript

 

Word battal or batila (cancelled) بطال   in squared diamond in different colors on the Kingdom issues, 1891-4. Possibly, orange was used at Peshawar, red at Kabul, green at Tashkurgan, purple at Kandahar and blue at Mazar-i-Sharif according to Major Adrian Hopkins and others.

 

 

1907 issue and later:

 

Oval cancel usually with  باطل شوی  (batil shod = cancelled or invalidated) in the top segment, date in the middle and name of office at the foot. The Kabul cancel has ?? مراک

at the top, meaning Mark of the Postal Service. Round cancels were used by receiving offices and have رسید  (receipt) at the top. Rectangular cancels with رجستری  (registry) in the top segment were used for registered mail.

 

Aibek  ایبک (Samangan) 36n16 68e01 

Andkhvoy اندخوی 36n55 65e06

Asadabad اسدآباد 34n52 71e09

Badakshan بدخشان (Fayzabad  فيض آباد)   37n07 70e35

Baghram (Bagram) بگرام 35n00 69e17

Balkh بلخ 36n44 66e53

Bamyan بامیان 34n49 67e49

Band-e-Amir بند امیر near 34n50 67e14

Bazarak  بازارک  35n19 69e33 

Bokhara  Embassy  بخارا سفارت  ? Mazar-i-Sherif مزارشریف   1920

Chaghcharan چغچران 34n21 65e15

Chaman چمن 30n55 66e26 Pakistan border town, Jaddeh Chaman, سړک  چمن  Chaman Road.

Charikar کاریچار  1909 35n01 69e10

Dowlatabad  دولت‌آباد 36n59 66e49

Ferah (Farah) فراه 1908 32n22 63e07

Gandamak گندمك 34n18 70e02 

Gardez ګردېز prior to 1911 33n36 69e13       

Ghazni غزني  33n33 68e25

Ghurian  غوریان opened prior to 1908 34n20 61e28

Hadda (Ada) هده 35n20 70e28

Headquarters of the National Forces مرکزي دفتر  1909

Herat هرات1908 34n20 62e12

Jamrud Fort جمرود 33n59 71e22 Pakistan

Jellalabad (Jalalabad) جلال آباد 1870 34n26 70e28

Kabul کابل  1870 34n31 69e12

Kalai Jadid   جدید  کلي  ?   before 1932 prison Kabul province?

Kamdish کامدیش 35n25 71e20 

Kandahar قندھار 1881 31n32 65e30

Khanabad خان آباد before 1909 36n41 69e10

Khost خوست 33n20 69e55

Kunduz کندز 36n44 68e52

Kushk كوشك 1908 33n36 68e25

Laghman  لغمان  34n40 70e12

Lalpura (Lalpur) لالپور ?1876 34n14 71e01

Landi Kotal لنڈی کوتل 34n05 71e08 Pakistan

Lashkar Gah  لښکرګاه (Bost  بست ) 31n35 64e22

Mahmud-i-Raqi محمود راقى 35n01 69e20

Maydan Shar میدان ښار  34n27 68e47

Maymana میمنه before 1908 35n56 64e45 

Mazar-i-Sherif مزارشریف،  1907 36n42 67e06

Mihtarlam مهترلام 34n39 70e11

Morghab مرغاب 35n35 63e20

Nili نیلی 33n43 66e07

Paghman پغمان 34n34 68e56

Peshawarپشاور , India (now Pakistan) 1870 34n00 71e32

Puli Khumri پل خمری 35n57 68e42

Puli-i-Alam پل علم 33n59 69e02

Qala Bist (Qal`eh-ye Bost) قلعه بست  31n31 64e22   

Qala-i-Naw قلعه نو 34n59 63e07

Qalat قلات 32n06 66e54

Qataghan قطغن 1931 province, capital was Baghlan 36n08 68e42

Samangan سمنگان 36n16 68e01

Sar-e-Pol سر پل 35n06 66e03

Sharan  شرنه 33n08 68e47

Sheberghan شبرغان 36n40 65e45

Taloqan تالقان 36n43 69e31

Tarin Kowt ترين کوټ 32n37 65e52    

Tashkurghan تاشقۇگان (Kholm) 1870 36n42 67e41

Torkham طورخم before 1925 34n08 71e07

Turkestan  ترکستان  province, capital was Khanabad, see above, mark used before 1928  

Zaranj  زرنج  30n58 51e36 

 

FORWARDING OFFICES

Quetta کوئٹہ  , now Pakistan 30n13 67e01

Killa Abdulla (Qilla Abdullah) قلعہ عبد الله  , now Pakistan 30n42 66e38

 

Pashto from Wikipedia

Pashto has 45 letters and 4 diacritic marks. The Southern (S), Central (C) and Northern (N) dialects of Pashto are included.

Name

IPA

Transliteration

Contextual forms

Isolated

ALA-LC
Romaniz.

Latin

Unicode
(Hex)

Symbol

Examples

Final

Medial

Initial

alif

[ɑ], [ʔ]1

abdomen (short a); bark (long a)

ā, ʾ

ـا

ـا

آ, ا

آ, ا

ā, ʾ

Ā ā, nothing

U+0627,
U+0622

madd alif

[á]

aardvark

á

–

–

آ

آ

be

[b]

born

b

ـب

ـبـ

بـ

ب

b

B b

U+0628

pe

[p]

peel

p

ـپ

ـپـ

پـ

پ

p

P p

U+067E

te

[t̪]

team

t

ـت

ـتـ

تـ

ت

t

T t

U+062A

ṭe

[ʈ]

attach

ṭ (or tt)

ـټ

ـټـ

ټـ

ټ

ṭ

Ṭ ṭ

U+067C

se2

[s]

biscuit

s

ـث

ـثـ

ثـ

ث

s̱

S s

U+062B

jīm

[d͡ʒ]

jar

j (or ǰ)

ـج

ـجـ

جـ

ج

j

J j

U+062C

če

[t͡ʃ]

cheese

č

ـچ

ـچـ

چـ

چ

ch

Č č

U+0686

he2

[h] / [x]3

hydrogen

h

ـح

ـحـ

حـ

ح

ḥ

H h

U+062D

xe

[x]

Bach

x

ـخ

ـخـ

خـ

خ

kh

X x

U+062E

ce

[t͡s] / [s]

Ritz

ts (or c)

ـڅ

ـڅـ

څـ

څ

ṡ

C c

U+0685

źim

[d͡z] / [z]

match

dz (or j)

ـځ

ـځـ

ځـ

ځ

ż

Ź ź

U+0681

dāl

[d̪]

deer

d

ـد

ـد

د

د

d

D d

U+062F

ḍāl

[ɖ]

bedding

ḍ (or dd)

ـډ

ـډ

ډ

ډ

ḍ

Ḍ ḍ

U+0689

zāl2

[z]

buzz

z

ـذ

ـذ

ذ

ذ

ẕ

Z z

U+0630

re

[r]

rain

r

ـر

ـر

ر

ر

r

R r

U+0631

ṛe4

[ɺ̢] (, ɭ̆), [ɻ]

arrow

ṛ (or rr)

ـړ

ـړ

ړ

ړ

ṛ

Ṛ ṛ

U+0693

ze

[z]

zebra

z

ـز

ـز

ز

ز

z

Z z

U+0632

že

[ʒ] / [d͡z]

zip, giraffe

ž

ـژ

ـژ

ژ

ژ

zh

Ž ž

U+0698

ẓ̌e (S)
ǵe (C, N)

[ʐ] (S)
[ʝ] (C)
[ɡ] (N)

(for Eastern Dialect); fig (for Western Dialect)

ẓ̌ (S)
γ̌/ǵ (C)
g (N)

ـږ

ـږ

ږ

ږ

ẓh (S)
g'h (C)
g (N)

Ǵ ǵ (or Ẓ̌ ẓ̌)

U+0696

sīn

[s]

sin

s

ـس

ـسـ

سـ

س

s

S s

U+0633

šīn

[ʃ]

shin

š

ـش

ـشـ

شـ

ش

sh

Š š

U+0634

ṣ̌īn (S)
x̌īn (C, N)

[ʂ] (S)
[ç] (C)
[x] (N)

Schubert (German sch) or sh + h – for Western Dialect;

ṣ̌ (S)
x̌ (C)
x (N)

ـښ

ـښـ

ښـ

ښ

ṣh (S)
k'h (C)
kh (N)

X̌ x̌ (or Ṣ̌ ṣ̌)

U+069A

swād2

[s]

swim

s

ـص

ـصـ

صـ

ص

ṣ

S s

U+0635

dwād / zwād2

[z], [d̪]

dwarf

z, d

ـض

ـضـ

ضـ

ض

z̤

Z z, D d

U+0636

twe2

[t̪]

twin

t

ـط

ـطـ

طـ

ط

ṭ

T t

U+0637

zwe2

[z]

zoom

z

ـظ

ـظـ

ظـ

ظ

ẓ

Z z

U+0638

ayn2

[ʔ]

ouch, pouch

ʻ

ـع

ـعـ

عـ

ع

ʻ

nothing

U+0639

ğayn

[ɣ]

aghast

gh (or γ)

ـغ

ـغـ

غـ

غ

gh

Ğ ğ

U+063A

fe2

[f] / [p]5

feeble

f

ـف

ـفـ

فـ

ف

f

F f

U+0641

qāf

[q] / [k]6

fickle

q

ـق

ـقـ

قـ

ق

q

Q q

U+0642

kāf

[k]

keep

k

ـک

ـکـ

کـ

ک 7

k

K k

U+06A9

gāf

[ɡ]

get

g

ـګ

ـګـ

ګـ

ګ 8

g

G g

U+06AB

lām

[l]

lamb

l

ـل

ـلـ

لـ

ل

l

L l

U+0644

mīm

[m]

minute

m

ـم

ـمـ

مـ

م

m

M m

U+0645

nūn

[n]

near

n

ـن

ـنـ

نـ

ن

n

N n

U+0646

ṇūn

[ɳ]

funnel

ṇ (or nn)

ـڼ

ـڼـ

ڼـ

ڼ

ṇ

Ṇ ṇ

U+06BC

wāw

[w], [u], [o]

watch (initial w); ponder (medial, final o)

w, ū, o

ـو

ـو

و

و

w, ū, o

W w, Ū ū, Oo

U+0648

gərda he
round hē

[h], [a]

hey (initial, medial h; ant (final ah)

h, a

ـه

ـهـ

هـ

ه

h, a

H h, A a

U+0647

kajīra he
idiosyncratichē

[ə]

duel; (similar to French deux)

ə

ۀ

–

–

ۀ 13

ə

Ə ə

U+06C0

klaka ye
hard yē

[j], [i]

yacht

y, ī

ـي

ـيـ

يـ

ي

y, ī

Y y, Ī ī

U+064A

pasta ye
soft yē

[e]

eight, ate

ē

ـې

ـېـ

ېـ

ې 9

e

E e

U+06D0

nārīna ye
masculine yē

[ai], [j]10

guy

ay, y

ـی

ـ

ـ

ی 9

ay, y

Ay ay, Y y

U+06CC

x̌əźīna ye
feminine yē

[əi]

bay

əi

ـۍ

ـ

ـ

ۍ 10

ạy

Əi əi

U+06CD

fāiliya ye
verbal yē

[əi], [j]12

buy, shy

əi, y

ـئ

ـئـ

ئـ

ئ9,12

ạy, y

Əi əi, Y y

U+0626

 

 

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