A wonderful piece of philatelic history that connects Delhi and Gaza as well as the histories of colonisation and the legacies of Empire! Here is a letterhead found on the internet that presents the first airmail exchange between Gaza, from the then British Mandate of Palestine and Delhi. It is addressed to J. Davis, the postmaster of the newly inaugurated city of New Delhi in 1931. The route of the flight can be traced through Karachi, another vital node of Empire.
At the time, both Gaza and Delhi were firmly embedded within imperial structures. Palestine had become a British Mandate in 1920 after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. While the British government instituted the mandate under the aegis of the League of Nations, it functioned less as a step toward self-determination and more as an instrument of imperial control—a compromise between colonial ambitions and the emerging tide of nationalist movements.
Similarly, the inauguration of New Delhi as the premier imperial city in 1931 marked a fresh phase of consolidation and spectacle in Britain’s rule over India. Both events—the mandate in Palestine and the ceremonial birth of New Delhi testify to the adaptability of empire, its shifting strategies of governance, and the enduring legacies that affect us today.
With Gaza, in solidarity.
Ref- Private philatelic seller on eBay
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