The post office currently standing in the Raopura area was built in the early 1930s and has a long history of correspondence between the Britishers and the Gaekwads.
The earliest known postal service available in Baroda before 1863 was through the Camp PO, located inside the Cantonment area. Till 1863 there was no other post office. The city only had one letterbox installed on its premises. For buying the stamps and for registered post people had to walk to Camp Post Office.
Correspondence :
This changed when Maharaja Khanderao Gaekwad entered into an agreement with Britishers for opening Postal Services in Baroda State. But this agreement did not bear any fruits. Mainly because the Brits wanted an office inside the walled city. This according to the Maharaja was not feasible because the city gates were closed at the night.
Finally, after years of correspondence, a small Post Office was established near the Limra Chowk around 1874, outside the Lehripura Gate. Another Post office was established in the city around 1877, in Raoji Appaji Fanse’s Wada in the Raopura area. Nothing further appears to have happened in the matter until 1892. In 1892, the Britishers again started communication with the then Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. This was for establishing a new building for the Post office as the present building was inadequate for the purpose. Unfortunately, these communications also failed to bear any fruit.
A collapse and a new building :
Then again in the early 1900s the matter saw some spark. In 1907, Appaji’s Wada collapsed and then for the next 12 months, the office was established in a building near the Kothi area. Meanwhile, in 1908, the construction of a new building for the Head Post Office Building was sanctioned. The site chosen for this was close to Nawab’s Wada (Haveli) on Chimnabai Tower Road. The landlord Mr. Chhaganlal Parikh agreed to give the new building ready by September 1908. A building was then constructed on the Raopura Road comprising of the Telegraph Office, sorting room, post master’s room, treasury room, clerk’s room, runner’s room, and godowns. For a long period, this building functioned as the Head Post Office.
Then on 26th September 1922, the approval for the construction of the new building was granted. Finally, in August 1934, the construction of a new Head Post Office building opposite to the Suryanarayan Temple (present location of Baroda H.O.) was completed. The new building started its period as the Head Post Office from September 1, 1934. On moving to the new building, the window deliver system was ceased and the Post Box system was introduced with a fee of Rs. 15.00 per annum.
Later on more Branches of Post Office were built at Rajmahal Road, Makarpura Palace, etc places.
Services :
Apart from the regular mail services the office also had a service through which any Post would reach Baroda State in Just 7 Days. An incident where the postal services of the State proved to be very helpful was during the “Ghoda Pur” (Horse Flood). During these floods, the State decided to carry on the Postal Services on elephants !!!
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So this was the story of a Princely State trying to establish a neighborhood friendly Post Office for the convenience of its people, who now with the changing age have almost forgotten the good old mailing system !!!
Partial Source : Baroda State Postal History (Prashant Pandya)
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