Page 228 - The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia

A third Post Office was opened on January 3rd, 1960, at Dukhan
on the west coast. Initially it was a sub-office of Uinin Said and used the
Type 13 canceller, probably on registered mail only. However, from
April 4th, 1965 (when it was no longer a British Agency Post Office), it
acquired direct status under Doha and used new cancellers (Types 14 and
15, the latter having been registered in the Impression Book in London
on December 22nd, 1964).

Si DOHA

uJ
13 OCT 60 i/)
o
or
< Q_
Q-
• QATAR*

Type 16 Type 17
The Doha Parcel Post canceller (Type 16) is known used in
October 1960, but had probably been introduced some time earlier. A
replacement Type 6 appears as a proof strike in the Impression Book in
London on May 15th, 1961, and Type 17 (with numbers from 1 to 6) on
December 5th, 1961. The latter are also known in later years with
“AM” or “PM” above the date.

The issue of Qatar’s first definitives was planned for 1960 and in
the National Postal Museum in London there is an extensive collection
of essays for this set. They arc all based on the subjects finally selected
— the Ruler’s portrait, Hawk Dhow, Oil Rig and Mosque - but set in an
infinite variety of frames and with inscriptions in differing English and
Arabic scripts. One of them, depicting a dhow, is inscribed “40 NP” in
English but “45 NAYE” (New) in Arabic! Many of them carry no
‘Postage’ inscription; but two of them (10 NP Hawk and 50 NP Dhow)
are inscribed ‘Postage’ in English and ‘Postal Fees’ (‘Rasoom al Bosta’)
in Arabic. This unusual inscription was used on the Sudan General
Gordon high values in 1935; but, for a long time, the Arabic word more
generally used is ‘Bareed’.

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