Scinde Dawk, 1852, 1/2 Anna, WHITE, Diamond of dots cancellation, Starburst Cancellation, Certified By BPA expertizing limited, London, Certificate No. 78479, dated 1st Nov 2011, USED, SG # 1,  Extremely Rare.

Scinde Dawk was a very old system of runners that served the Indus Valley of Sindh, (Now in Pakistan), The term also refers to the first adhesive postage stamps in Asia. The name derives from the words “Scinde”, the British spelling of the name of the province of “Sindh”, and “Dawk”, the anglicized spelling of the Hindustani word “Dak” or Post. 

Bartle Frere of the East India Company became the Chief Commissioner of Sindh in 1850. Following the English example set by Rowland Hill, Frere improved upon the postal system of Sindh by introducing a cheap and uniform rate for postage, independent of distance travelled. In 1851 the runners were replaced with an efficient system using horses and camels, following routes through Scinde province, generally along the valley of the Indus river. The mail was carried quickly and efficiently, connecting government offices and post offices from Karachi through Kotri and Hyderabad up to Sukkur in the north.