Pakistan

The first stamps of Pakistan were issued in October 1947, following the mostly Muslim country’s partition from mostly Hindu India in August that year. These stamps were issues of the former British India, overprinted “Pakistan”. They made up a set of 20, all with a portrait of England’s King George V. In July, 1948, Pakistan’s first set of commemoratives was issued in honor of the country’s independence from British rule. Printed in London, they featured date of independence in English, a crescent, and an inscription in Urdu, one of the major Indian languages. These stamps are referred to as “Nasik Overprints” referring to the location where the overprint was applied.