MIRDHA DAK

In the history of postal Services in India, the role played by former princely state of Marwar in Rajasthan catches great attention. Before the unification of the postal services through the Imperial (British) Postal system, a number of postal services had been in vogue, in the country, like the Anche Dak in the south, Nizamat Dak, the Nawab’s Salt Dak or Police Dak and the Behangy Dak in the East. The most important of these - the Mirdha Dak, was prevalent in Rajasthan and Northern India. The historic association of the family of Mirdhas of Rajasthan with development and maintenance of Postal services in different parts of Mughal Empire has been traced to the halcyon days of Akbar the Great.

The Mirdha family of Jodhpur managed the postal system in Marwar, known as Mirdha Dak. The administrative reports of Maharaja Jaswant Singh written by Munshi Hardayal Singh, compiled in 1883-84 captioned as ‘Mazmoo-e-halat Raj Marwar’ relate to postal arrangements along with other administrative matters. Dafa 321 and 232 in the 17^th Chapter refer to the Department of Posts. Reference is made to incidents around 1584 A.D. One such event relates to the victory of Raja Uday Singh over Gujarat by defeating Sultan Muzzafar. This news was conveyed to the Emperor Akbar at Delhi by one of the Mirdhas. The Mughal was so pleased that he presented a Tughlaki - golden earring - to the bearer of the good news.

Though the Mirdhas belonged to the Jat community, their traditional role as conveyers of mails, gave them a distinct identity. They usually accompanied the king during the pilgrimage and other travels. Mails were delivered even when the king was in the battlefield. The Mirdhas were responsible for delivering all messages and mails from the royal headquarters at Jodhpur to other officials and the systems operated by them. In recognition of this position as the chief of the Postal system it was called Mirdha Dak. The Mirdhas were presented with a silver rod, to which were attached small bells, symbolic of the mail carrying work. This rod was also an expression of the authority conferred on the Mirdhas.

The Quaysides (couriers) working under the Mirdhas covered normally 15-20 miles a day but when there was urgency they could 50 to 70 miles a day. Impressed by this feat, Maharaja Bakht Singh gave the Mirdhas the privilege of riding horses (the title of Godha-Quasid), something that was exclusive to the higher classes in those days. On conquering Ahmedabad Maharaja Abhey Singh awarded a village known as Kuchera to the Mirdha family. When Maharaja Bhakt Singh, 1751 A.D., came to power he gave Mangal Ram Mirdha, the then Chief Postal Administrator, the village Silas. An additional gift was made to the Mirdhas by giving them power to collect land revenue up to Rs.500 annually. Raja Man Singh also awarded the grandfather of Shivji Mirdha the right to collect revenue in the village of Bhakrod, Dhudia at Nagaur.

Even now in the town of Jodhpur there is a place called Mirdhon ke Dera, which would have been awarded to the Mirdhas by the Maharajas. Over the centuries Mirdhas attained the status of nobles. The remnants of the mansions occupied by these Mirdhas at a place called Jatadas bears testimony to the social status enjoyed by the family.

The Functioning Of Mirdha Dak

Under the Mirdhas, a community called Sargara did the actual carrying of mail, which was to be delivered to village officers. Different sets of people were employed to handle the mails meant for the common people. They were under the charge of the head messenger who was responsible to the Mirdha. Depending upon the distance between places, schedules were fixed. For instance, between Lahore and Delhi it was 8 days, between Ahmedabad to Jodhpur it was 5 days, from Delhi to Jodhpur it was 6 days.

Some details of this system have been given in the reports, which state that the Mirdha Dak was conveyed through horses and that there used to be a mail post at every 10 kos. The mail couriers (The Quaside) used to work under the supervision of the Mirdhas who acted as supervisors of mail offices (Dak Chowkies) and the courier services. There used to be 2 Quaysides working at intervals of 5 kos each who were paid a salary of Rs. 5/- per month by the state. Whenever the Maharaja or any VIP had to go out on tour, the Mirdhas used to arrange for the appointment of quaysides and Harkaras, for satisfactory conveyance of messages. Mirdhas used to accompany important dignitaries during their tours to personally supervise the mail arrangements. This Dak used to normally cover 40 kos in 24 hours though there were occasions when it covered up to 70 kos during 24 hours. At times, it could even Jaipur & Bundi (situated over 100 kos apart) in two days.

By the middle of 18^th century, during the rule of Raja Bakht at Jodhpur, the postal system was quite well organized. For Nagaur and other places mail was delivered through carrier-pigeons; the mail system was divide in to four categories; -

1. Avval (First Class) Desi Dak

2. Angreji (English) Dak

3. Chilka Dak

4. Telegraph Office Dak

Desi Dak was further subdivided in to three classes:

1. Avval Mirdhas Dak

2. Mahajani Dak

3. Brahamni Dak

In 1818, the British gained control over Marwar through a treaty they signed with King Chatar Singh. But even after this, the various Dak systems were operating as before. The English Dak was commissioned in 1819 during the reign of Maharaja Man Singh. After the introduction of railways in 1882, in the reign of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, trains to some stations from Jodhpur sent mails. The Angreji Dak was sent by train to Naya Nagar (Bedwar) Sojat, Pali, Eranpura, Abu, Sambher, and Naun cities. The rest of the Dak was still delivered by runners.

In 1870 the government enunciated the policy of integration of all postal systems in to one. In Marwar the postal system was integrated in 1885, in the reign of Jaswant Singh II. The amalgamation of Princely states’ postal system was completed in 1892.

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