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KHANATE OF BOKHARA

MINISTRY OF CULTURE
BOKHARA CONSULATE,
P.O. Box 3189, Auckland, New Zealand 1140.
Flag of Bokhara
The flag of Bokhara

  Click this stamp to learn more about Bokhara's First Day Covers.  Click this stamp to learn more about the Great Khan.  Click this stamp to visit the ICIS homepage.   

BOKHARA STAMPS:


Bokhara is an independent Khanate located south of Uzbekistan. It has been independent since 1798.

In 1886, the country pioneered an amazing Camel Post,where teams of expert riders raced relays of camels over the sandy dunes of our arid land. The Camel Post was an instant success, charging 11 pouls for postcards and commercial papers, 22 pouls for sealed letters, and 65 pouls for registered mail.

The same prices prevail today for inland mail.

The early stamps were reprinted numerous times, and in fact the original woodblocks of 1886 are among those still used to reprint old stamps for postal use. Some color schemes and paper types have changed over the years.

The first stamp of Bokhara: 1886, 11 pouls red. The same design is still used for our present 11 pouls stamp.   The first stamp issue of Bokhara: 1886, 22 pouls green. The same design is still used for our present 22 pouls stamp.  The first stamp issue of Bokhara: 1886, 65 pouls pink. The same design is still used for our present 65 pouls stamp.
The 1886 Camel Post set, issued imperf until 1893.

At various stages, overprints were applied to some of the regular stamps to denote special events.

Coronation of the Great Khan in 1972, 11 pouls.  Coronation of the Great Khan, 1919, T1.30.  1986, Centenary of the Bokhara Camel Post.  Coronation of the Great Khan, 1919, 11 pouls.  1961, Universal suffrage, 33 pouls.  1991, Admission to the ICIS, 22 pouls.
Some of the various commemorative overprints that have been issued by Bokhara.

Bokhara was the first country in the world to issue an entire definitive set of stamps as pictorials, in 1897, beating Tonga by a month and New Zealand by a year.

A ferret, pet animal of the Great Khan, appears on the 22 pouls stamp of 1897. Click the stamp to learn more about ferrets.  1897 Pictorials, 33 pouls, showing a piano.  The 1897 65 pouls stamp showing camels is frequently found with an interesting error: the lower half of the Arabic numeral 6 missing. On this particular stamp, all is OK.  A wolverine appears on the gold and red T3.30 stamp of 1897.  1897 Pictorials, the 5 talent stamp shows a baboon.
The 1897 Pictorial issue of Bokhara - a fresh glow of bright color!

Bokhara has an envied reputation among countries of the planet Earth, as it is the only land that can be said to not be dedicated to monthly fleecing of philatelists with expensive new stamp issues. The Khans have always been philatelists, and are appalled to think that their country could become a "wallpaper producer" like Ajman, Guyana, or San Marino.

The world's first stamp, the Penny Black, is shown on this 1990 stamp.
1990, 150th anniversary of the invention of stamps.

New stamps seldom appear in the desert country. We usually publish a special First Day Cover for each new stamp issue. Click here to view some First Day Covers from Bokhara. Click here to view our catalogue of stamps. We apologise that due to on-going industrial action by the Artists Union, a number of sets in the Catalogue do not have illustrations. These will be uploaded as soon as possible once the industrial action ends and scanning can resume.

 

          Click here for info on the rug industry.   Bokhara 1425 Budgies, 5 Talents, one of a set of four stamps featuring Budgies. Click here to view the full set.

Bokhara follows the Sunni sect of Islam, and uses both the Hijri calendar as well as Gregorian.  Hijri dates are usually shown in Arabic numerals.Many of our stamps show dates in Hijri, and fortunately for all, a web page is now available to convert Gregorian dates to Hijri and vice-versa.  Thanks be to Allah.

e-mail: bokhara@asia.com

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