{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "A Bikaner Collector Has Kept 147 Years Of India's Postal History Alive In His Postcards",
  "summary": "Bikaner based collector Bharat Bhushan Gupta has preserved a rare collection of postcards spanning from 1879 to the present, including ones handwritten by his father and rare pieces from the British era.",
  "content": "Step into Bharat Bhushan Gupta's home in Bikaner and you walk straight into more than a century of India's postal history. In an era when smartphones and instant messaging have all but killed the habit of writing letters, Gupta has spent enormous effort preserving hundreds of postcards dating from 1879 right up to the present day. His collection offers a clear window into India's postal system, its changing modes of communication and the many historical eras the country has passed through. It has become an inspiring example of how postal history, heritage and personal memory can be kept alive.\n\nA Collection That Stretches Back To British Rule\nGupta says postcards first came into circulation in India in 1879, a period when East India Company rule had already given way to direct British rule and Queen Victoria held sway over the country. Postcards from that very era still survive intact in his collection. Alongside them sit postcards issued during the reigns of King Edward, King George V and King George VI. Gupta has also carefully preserved postcards of various denominations that were released after India's independence, gathering them with years of patient effort.\n\nMore Than 50 Varieties, From Three Paise To Fifty Paise\nAccording to Gupta, his collection includes more than 50 varieties of postcards priced at three paise, five paise, six paise, ten paise, fifteen paise, twenty paise, twenty five paise and fifty paise. The price and design of these postcards changed with time, but he says their historical importance has stayed exactly the same, and every single postcard tells the story of the period it belongs to. Some pieces in his collection are considered especially rare, including a competition postcard that was priced at two rupees and is now hard to find anywhere. His collection also includes a special commemorative postcard that the postal department issued to mark 100 years of postcard service in India, along with postcards that were once sent by air mail, which were an important part of the postal system of that time.\n\nLetters In His Father's Own Handwriting\nGupta, who is from Ajmer, recalls a time when the postcard was the cheapest and most popular way for ordinary people to stay in touch with each other. People used postcards to share good news and bad, family updates, greetings and urgent messages, and every village and town waited eagerly for the postman to arrive. Gupta still has several postcards written in his own father's hand, pieces that are not just collector's items for him but priceless family memories. His collection also gives special place to Meghdoot postcards, which used to carry advertisements for government schemes and private organisations.\n\nPassing The Legacy On To The Next Generation\nThese postcards were sold cheap and also served as an effective tool for spreading public awareness. Over the years, Gupta has also gathered postcards linked to various themes, occasions and special campaigns. He says that while modern technology may have changed the way people communicate, postcards remain an important part of India's social and cultural history. His aim, he says, is to pass this legacy on to future generations, so that people know that a simple looking postcard was once the biggest medium for connecting people's hearts.\n\nWhat this means for you\nThis story does not carry a direct everyday impact, but it matters to anyone interested in history and heritage.\n\n• Across India: The collection works as a living record of India's old postal system and social history, useful for historians and researchers who want to trace how communication evolved.\n• In Bikaner: Bharat Bhushan Gupta's personal collection has effectively become part of the city's heritage and could, in future, reach local residents through exhibitions or research built around it.\n\nQuestions & Answers\n\n1. What is the oldest postcard in Bharat Bhushan Gupta's collection?\nHis collection includes postcards from 1879, the year postcards first came into circulation in India.\n\n2. How many different types of postcards does he own?\nHe owns more than 50 varieties of postcards priced from three paise to fifty paise.\n\n3. Which is the rarest postcard in his collection?\nA competition postcard priced at two rupees is considered the rarest and is hard to find today.\n\n4. Where is Bharat Bhushan Gupta from?\nHe is from Ajmer, and his postcard collection is linked to Bikaner.\n\n5. What is special about the Meghdoot postcards in his collection?\nThese postcards used to carry advertisements for government schemes and private organisations.\n\n6. Why is Gupta preserving this collection?\nHe wants India's postal history and this heritage to be passed on to future generations.\n\nInspiration & Lessons\nBharat Bhushan Gupta's story shows that even the smallest looking objects can turn into a major legacy if someone has the passion to preserve them.\n\n• Learn to preserve the old: By saving postcards from 1879 right up to today, he shows that patience and sustained effort can keep history alive.\n• Value family memories: Holding onto postcards written in his own father's hand shows that personal memories can matter just as much as historically significant objects.\n• Give a hobby a purpose: His goal is not just to collect postcards but to pass this heritage on to future generations.\n• Every small object has a story: His belief that every postcard tells the story of its own era is a reminder that history can hide inside the most ordinary everyday things.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/culture/bikaner-ke-bharat-bhushan-gupta-ke-pasa-maujuda-hai-britisha-daura-se-aja-taka-ke-postakardon-ka-durlabha-khajana-4349",
  "category": "Culture",
  "publishedAt": "2026-07-03",
  "tags": [
    "postcard collection",
    "Bikaner",
    "postal history",
    "Bharat Bhushan Gupta",
    "Meghdoot postcard",
    "British rule",
    "postal department"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}