This is the second Index of Postage Stamps of Pakistan. The first Index covered the period since Independence of Pakistan in 1947 after partition of the erstwhile British India into two sovereign states of Pakistan (consisting of two wings; East and West Pakistan) and India. 1971 was the last year when Pakistan Post printed stamps for both wings of Pakistan, i.e. the East and West Pakistan.
The Last stamp with Pakistan written in Bengali (left - 1972) - The First stamp without Bengali (right 1973)
From 1972, there was only one Pakistan after the East Pakistan became Bangladesh in December 1971. However, the word "Pakistan" written in Bengali continued on Pakistan postage stamps throughout in 1972 and from 1973 the Bengali script was done away with.
This second Index covers a period of 1972-2000.
The Independence Day Day stamp on 14th August 1973 was issued on the historic event of passing and adoption of the constitution of Pakistan.
The hallmark event of the year 1974 was the holding of the second Islamic Summit Conference at Lahore February 22-24 ,1974. The conference was a memorable occasion as some of the unique and always remembered Kings, heads of the state and foreign ministers attended the conference. These included King Faisal of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, Libyan Arab Republic President, Mohammad Muammer Gaddafi, President Houari Boumedienne of Algeria, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razzak, Indonesian Foreign Prime Minister of Bangladesh Mujib ur Rehman, Minister Adam Malik, Mr. Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and others. Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto was the host on behalf of the people of Pakistan.
To commemorate the historic event, Pakistan Post issued two stamps. Read details of the conference and the agenda
here.
The year 1976 was the birth centenary of father of the nation, Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, born 25 December 1876 in Karachi. A special stamp was issued on 25th December 1976 which contained 25 m.g of 23/24 carat gold (as shown above).
9th November 1977: Birth Centenary of Dr Muhammad Iqbal - The stamps showed two paintings by Behzad (of denomination Paisa 20 and 65), two stamps (of denomination Rs. 1.25 and 2.25) showing verses of the Iqbal and central stamp (Rs. 3.00 denomination) showed portrait of the poet philosopher.
Year 1980 commenced with the publishing of a stamp to commemorate the 25th Anniversary (1855-1980)of the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on 10th January 1980. The airline commenced international services in 1955 to London, via Cairo and Rome. PIA was the first non-communist airline to fly to China and was the second Asian airline to acquire jet aircraft by inducting a Boeing 707. In 2004, PIA became the launch customer of the Boeing 777-200LR.
The Karakoram Mountain Range is the pride of Pakistan. It is also known as the highest mountain range of the world since it houses seven peaks over 26,000 feet and thirty others over 25,000 feet. That is on an average the Karakoram tops are 25,000 feet and above. In Pakistan, four of the fourteen Eight Thousanders are located in the Karakoram mountain range, including the K-2, second highest peak after Mt Everest. Pakistan Post published stamps of these four peaks during the year 1981.
The hallmark of the year's activities in 1983 was the issuance of a massive six stamps sheet (containing two rows of six stamps each) on the eve of the International Stamp Exhibition "PAKPHILEX '83" - showing the cultural landscape of the old city of Lahore as seen in 1852.
1984 to celebrate the 20 years of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) became the first airlines outside the then Communist Bloc to fly to China and later to operate a service between Asia and Europe via Moscow. Since then the air link to China is one of the premier routes of PIA. A commemorative stamp was issued to mark the 20th anniversary of the inaugural flight to Peking, now Beijing.
1985 was a great year for Pakistan for its Hockey Team bagged the 1985 Asia Cup held at Dhaka to earn its grand slam by winning three world titles simultaneously. It had already won the World Cup title in 1982 held at Bombay, India, followed by the 1984 Olympic title at L A, USA. Pakistan Post rightly credited the National Hockey Team by issuing a commemorative stamp to celebrate the grand slam.
The beautiful Marco Polo sheep, Ovis ammon polii, with their large size and spiraling horns, are "near threatened" species. This beautiful sheep lives mainly in the northwestern part of the Hunza district of Pakistan along the Chinese border, inhabiting the northwestern area of Khunjerab National Park. In order to create awareness of their "near threatened" status and save these beautiful sheep from extinct, Pakistan Post issued a special commemorative stamp during 1986.
Pakistan Air Force is one of the mst formidable, battle hardened air forces of the world. It started with a very humble background and equipment at the time of the independence of Pakistan. Just in three decades it grew from turboprop to jet engine fighter aircraft like F-86s Sabers in the 1950s to F-140s (the first country outside NATO to acquire these faster than the speed of sound Starfighters) in the 1960s and F-16s in the 1980s. Pakistan Post issued a 10-stamps sheet covering the period of its evolution to its maturity covering a period of 1947-1987.
The Suleiman Markhor (Capra falconeri jerdoni) is species of markhor which is found away from the Karakoram and the Himalayas in the south of the Gumal River, mainly in the Sulaiman range and the Torghar Hills of the Toba-Kakar range (District Zhob), and in the Takatu Hills (District Quetta). On 29 October, Pakistan Post in its Wildlife Series (Fauna) issued a special stamp of Capra falconeri jerdoni or the Suleiman Markhor.
The famous and influential seat of high learning in Asia, Government College, Lahore is situated in the heart of city. Not only it is the oldest college in Pakistan, it is also one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the Muslim world. On 27th December 1989 on the eve of 125 years of the Government College, Pakistan post published a Rs.6 denomination stamp showing the massive structure of the college building.
The second portion of this second index covers period of 11 years from years 1990 to 2000:
1990 marked the 50th Anniversary of passing of the famous Lahore Resolution on 23rd March 1940 which paved the way for the attainment of independent Pakistan seven years later. To commemorate the day, four stamps were issued by Pakistan Post.
Allah Baksh will was the man who immortalized our rural life, and specially of the Punjab, Pakistan – the land where he was born in 1885 in the small town of Wazirabad. His very near-to-life life-size paintings are full of colour, life and people that forces an onlooker to stop in his tracks and appreciate his masterly work of art.
To honour this great maestro of art, Pakistan Post in its series of stamps on Painters of Pakistan, issued this commemorative stamp on 29th December 1991.
Year 1992 was a great year for Pakistan for it was this year when Pakistan Cricket Team under Imran Khan won its first Cricket World Cup title. The final was played on 25 March 1992 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, and finished with Pakistan beating England by 22 runs in the final to become the World Cup champions for the first time. This was Imran Khan's last ODI. Wasim Akram was declared as the player of the match.
1994 was a great year for Pakistan for it was the year when Pakistan defeated the Netherlands 1–1 (4–3 on penalties) in the final of the World Hockey Cup to lift the trophy. The Pakistan Post thus issued its last stamp of the year on 31st December to commemorate the feats of hockey team of Pakistan which had the distinct honour of having won the World Cup Hockey championship four times; 1971, 1978, 1982 and the current year 1994.
The Year 1997 was a year to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the creation of Pakistan as carved out of the British India on 14th August 1947. To befittingly commemorate the occasion, Pakistan Post issued a beautiful set of four stamps on 14th August honouring the four stalwart Muslim leaders of the time who made it possible to obtain independence for the majority of Muslims living in the British India.
1998 was the 50th death anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. the Quaid-e-Azam, the founder of Pakistan. On this occasion a befitting stamp of Rs. 15 showing the portrait of Mr Jinnah on a sheet showing the complete portrait of the great Quaid was issued on 11th September.
1999 marked the first anniversary of Pakistan's testing its nuclear devices on 28th May 1998 in Ras Koh Hills in the Chagai District of Balochistan Province. The tests made Pakistan the seventh nation to possess nuclear weapons, and the first in the Muslim world.
Celebrating the 53rd Anniversary of founding of Pakistan, a massive landscape was painted on a sheet of four stamps showing the immigration of refugees into Pakistan on and around 14th August 1947. The influx continued even months after the independence.
Continue seeing Pakistan Postage stamps in other two indexes indexes:
- Index: Pakistan Postage Stamps issued from 1947-1971
- Index: Pakistan Postage Stamps issued from 2001 till date
Pakistan Postage Stamps since 1947 have been published in our two blogs and website on Pakistan:
