<P> The history of postage stamps in the region dates back to 1852, when Sir Bartle Frere of the British East India Company became the Chief Commissioner of Sind in 1851 and in 1852 . Following the British example set by Rowland Hill, Frere improved upon the operations of the postal system of Sindh, introduced a cheap and uniform rate for postage (independent of distance travelled) and initiated the production of the Scinde Dawk stamps . These became the forerunners of the adhesive stamps to be used throughout India, Burma, the Straits Settlements and other areas controlled by the British East India Company . Their usage ceased with the introduction of official British Indian stamps in 1854 . </P> <P> At the time of independence in August 1947, the country inherited a divided (east and west) postal system established by the British rulers . The new system started operating under the modified Post Office Act no VI of 1898 . The post office was part of the joint Department of Posts and Telegraph of the Ministry of Communications . Though the Office of the Postmaster General became operational at Lahore from 15 August 1947, the newly formed government was too preoccupied with establishing itself, therefore British Indian stamps continued to be used without an overprint as was the practice in other countries . </P> <P> On 1 October 1947, the government released its first stamps, being from the 1940s British India series of King George VI stamps overprinted with the word Pakistan . Known as the Nasik Overprints, after the place near Mumbai, India, where they were overprinted, this set consists of 19 stamps . These Nasik overprints were also used in some Gulf states, both officially and unofficial . At the time of independence, the postal system of some of these areas was run from Karachi, and therefore, they became the responsibility of the new government . Officially these stamps were used in Muscat and Oman and its protectorate of Gwadar (on Pakistan's Baluchistan coast) and Dubai . Muscat used these stamps for a period of only 3 months from 29 December 1947 to 31 March 1948 . Gwadar used this issue and various other commemorative ones until 1958 . Dubai used these stamps from October 1947 until the end of March 1948 . </P> <P> In November 1947, Pakistan joined the Universal Postal Union as its 89th member . Nine months later on 9 July 1948, the government released its first commemorative set for the country's first anniversary which consisted of 4 stamps . The stamps were inscribed "15 August 1947" because of the prevailing confusing as to which date was Pakistan's actual date of independence . It wasn't until early 1949, that this confusion was cleared by declaring 14 August as independence day . The first day cancellation for this issue was the country's first special pictorial postmark . </P>

When was the first pakistani postal stamp issued