When the Postal facilities were opened to public on 1st April 1774, there were 3 Postal Circles namely Bengal, Bombay and Madras. Bengal was catering whole of Eastern and Northern regions of British Empire. Madras was handling whole of Southern region and the rest was catered by Bombay.
In 1839, North West Province Circle was formed and since then, new Postal Circles were formed, as the need was born to have separate Circles.
In December 1860 Punjab Circle, in 1861 Burma Circle, in 1866 Central Province Circle and in 1869 Sind Circle were formed. Till 1880 Oudh (1870), Rajputana (1871), Assam ((1873), Bihar (1877), Eastern Bengal (1878) and Central India (1879) were formed. Since then, new Circles were formed and existing Circles were amalgamated with other Circles.
The Indian Postal Guide of August 1880 shows the following Postal Circles
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The Indian Postal Guide of August 1881 shows the following Postal Circles
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The Indian Postal Guide of July 1909 shows the following Postal Circles
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Postal Circle
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Head Quarters
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Postal Circle
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Head Quarters
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Bengal (Including Bihar)
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Calcutta
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Bombay (Including Sind)
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Bombay
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Burma
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Rangoon
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Central
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Nagpore
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Eastern Bengal & Assam
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Dacca
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Madras
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Madras
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Punjab & North West Frontier
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Lahore
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U. P. (Agra & Oudh)
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Lucknow
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Sorting Circles-Northern
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Ambala
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Sorting Circles-Eastern
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Allahabad
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Sorting Circles-Western
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Nasik
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Sorting Circles-Southern
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Bangalore
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In 1914, there were only 7 Postal Circles namely - Bengal & Assam, Bihar & Orissa, Bombay (including Sind), Burma, Central, Madras, Punjab & NWF and U. P.
By 1937, there were 8 Postal Circles, though Burma was separated from India on 1st April 1937. The Postal Circles were Bengal & Assam, Bihar & Orissa, Bombay, Sindh, Central, Madras, Punjab & NWF and U. P.
On 1st April 1946, the British India had the following Postal Circles - Bengal & Assam, Bombay, Madras, United Province, Punjab & NWF, Bihar & Orissa, Central and Sind & Baluchistan.
After partition, the independent India had the following Postal Circles - Assam, Bengal, Bihar & Orissa, Bombay, Central, East Punjab, Madras and U. P.
When this article was written by Mr. Ashok Kumar Bayanwala in 2001, there were 20 postal circles in India. Now we have 23 Postal Circles in India.
| 1. Andhra Pradesh | 13. Madhya Pradesh |
| 2. Assam | 14. Maharashtra |
| 3. Bihar | 15. North Eastern |
| 4. Chhattisgarh | 16. Orissa |
| 5. Delhi | 17. Punjab |
| 6. Gujarat | 18. Rajasthan |
| 7. Haryana | 19. Tamilnadu |
| 8. Himachal Pradesh | 20. Uttar Pradesh |
| 9. J & K | 21. Uttarakhand |
| 10. Jharkhand | 22. West Bengal |
| 11. Karnataka | 23. Army Postal Service |
| 12. Kerala |
Courtesy: Mr. Ashok Kumar Bayanwala, Ahmedabad.
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