THE BURMA STATE LOTTERY WRITES TO GANDHI: OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE FROM COLONIAL RANGOON INCLUDING A 1947 BURMA STATE LOTTERY TICKET
An exceptionally rare and historically important colonial-era postal archive comprising an official Burma State Lottery registered envelope together with its original enclosed Burma State Lottery ticket, sent from Rangoon, Burma, to Mahatma Gandhi during the final year preceding Burmese independence;
The manuscript-addressed registered envelope variously addressed in black ink to:
“Baratha Kasturi Mahathma Ghandi”
care of
“R. N. Raja Ram Jai Hind, Stall No. 77, Janda Market, Triplicane, Madras”,
subsequently redirected in manuscript and postal markings to New Delhi;
the cover bearing the official governmental designation:
“OHMS” (“On His Majesty’s Service”),
together with a stamped sender designation:
“Controller, Burma State Lottery, Rangoon”;
further bearing Burmese King George VI “SERVICE” overprinted official stamps including: 4 Annas (purple) and 1 Anna (blue-black),
multiple Rangoon circular date stamps dated April 1947, a large boxed “REGISTERED” handstamp, blue-bordered registration label:
“R RANGOON 94”, and additional postal rerouting and New Delhi transit markings associated with Gandhi’s movements during 1947;
the envelope retaining its original enclosed Burma State Lottery ticket for the “FIFTEENTH 1947” drawing, printed in English and Burmese, ticket number: 208599, featuring Burmese and Western numerals, central green illustration of the Karaweik royal barge flanked by traditional Burmese architectural motifs (Pyatthat), together with printed facsimile signature of the Secretary, Finance Department;
the reverse of the lottery ticket additionally bearing a manuscript inscription in black ink:
“Baratha Kasturi Mahathma Ghandi”, the highly unusual poetic formulation “Baratha Kasturi” (“The Fragrance” or “Musk of India”) functioning as an honorific devotional title addressed to Gandhi;
the archive preserving exceptional evidence of official colonial Burmese postal administration, wartime/postwar registration procedures, redirected transnational correspondence, Burmese nationalist-era visual identity, and Gandhian moral influence extending into Southeast Asia during the final phase of British imperial rule.
“The Fragrance of India”—A Burmese Lottery Ticket Addressed to Mahatma Gandhi
Few surviving Gandhian postal archives capture the intersection of colonial administration, popular devotion, political transition, and everyday material culture as vividly as the present Burma State Lottery correspondence sent from Rangoon to Mahatma Gandhi in 1947.
At first glance, the archive appears almost improbable: an official state lottery envelope, transmitted under governmental postal authority from colonial Burma, enclosing an original Burma State Lottery ticket addressed reverentially to Gandhi. Yet it is precisely this unlikely convergence of bureaucracy, popular imagination, and Gandhian symbolism that gives the archive its historical significance.
The material survives from a moment of profound political transformation across Asia. In April 1947, Burma stood on the threshold of independence from British rule, while India itself approached Partition and Independence only months later. Anti-colonial movements across South and Southeast Asia increasingly viewed Gandhi not merely as an Indian nationalist leader but as a wider moral and symbolic figure associated with decolonisation, ethical resistance, and spiritual authority. The present archive preserves evidence of that broader transnational reverence.
Particularly remarkable is the manuscript address: “Baratha Kasturi Mahathma Gandhi”.
The phrase “Baratha Kasturi”—roughly translatable as “The Fragrance” or “Musk of India”—transforms the envelope from ordinary correspondence into an act of devotional address. The unusual spelling, honorific structure, and handwritten phrasing reveal not bureaucratic formality but personal admiration expressed across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Such idiosyncratic and reverential formulations are among the most compelling features of Gandhian postal history, preserving how ordinary individuals and distant correspondents addressed Gandhi in deeply respectful terms.
Materially, the archive is exceptionally rich. The registered envelope preserves official “OHMS” governmental usage, Burmese “SERVICE” overprinted King George VI stamps, registration labels, Rangoon transit markings, rerouting evidence, and New Delhi forwarding marks associated with Gandhi’s movements during the final phase of his public life. Collectively, these markings reconstruct the physical journey of the correspondence across the geography of late empire.
Equally important is the enclosed Burma State Lottery ticket itself. Issued for the “FIFTEENTH 1947” drawing, the ticket preserves bilingual Burmese-English typography and striking nationalist visual motifs, including the Karaweik royal barge and traditional Pyatthat architectural forms. Produced during the final year before Burmese independence, the ticket reflects the emergence of modern Burmese state identity at the precise historical moment when colonial structures were beginning to dissolve across Asia.
The juxtaposition of a state lottery ticket with Gandhi is especially intriguing historically. Gandhi’s public philosophy consistently rejected material excess, gambling, and moral indulgence, yet here the lottery ticket appears to have been sent as a symbolic gesture. Whether intended as a tribute, curiosity, donation, or token of reverence, the act of sending such material to Gandhi illustrates the remarkable range of objects that circulated within his international correspondence.
Today, few surviving artefacts preserve so many different strands of Gandhi’s world within a single object. Carrying official colonial seals, a state lottery ticket, devotional manuscript inscriptions, and the physical traces of movement across Rangoon, Madras, and New Delhi, the archive demonstrates how Gandhi's correspondence extended well beyond political matters. More than postal history, it documents the diverse ways in which Gandhi was regarded by correspondents across the colonial world during the final years of empire.
This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.
An exceptionally rare and historically important colonial-era postal archive comprising an official Burma State Lottery registered envelope together with its original enclosed Burma State Lottery ticket, sent from Rangoon, Burma, to Mahatma Gandhi during the final year preceding Burmese independence;
The manuscript-addressed registered envelope variously addressed in black ink to:
“Baratha Kasturi Mahathma Ghandi”
care of
“R. N. Raja Ram Jai Hind, Stall No. 77, Janda Market, Triplicane, Madras”,
subsequently redirected in manuscript and postal markings to New Delhi;
the cover bearing the official governmental designation:
“OHMS” (“On His Majesty’s Service”),
together with a stamped sender designation:
“Controller, Burma State Lottery, Rangoon”;
further bearing Burmese King George VI “SERVICE” overprinted official stamps including: 4 Annas (purple) and 1 Anna (blue-black),
multiple Rangoon circular date stamps dated April 1947, a large boxed “REGISTERED” handstamp, blue-bordered registration label:
“R RANGOON 94”, and additional postal rerouting and New Delhi transit markings associated with Gandhi’s movements during 1947;
the envelope retaining its original enclosed Burma State Lottery ticket for the “FIFTEENTH 1947” drawing, printed in English and Burmese, ticket number: 208599, featuring Burmese and Western numerals, central green illustration of the Karaweik royal barge flanked by traditional Burmese architectural motifs (Pyatthat), together with printed facsimile signature of the Secretary, Finance Department;
the reverse of the lottery ticket additionally bearing a manuscript inscription in black ink:
“Baratha Kasturi Mahathma Ghandi”, the highly unusual poetic formulation “Baratha Kasturi” (“The Fragrance” or “Musk of India”) functioning as an honorific devotional title addressed to Gandhi;
the archive preserving exceptional evidence of official colonial Burmese postal administration, wartime/postwar registration procedures, redirected transnational correspondence, Burmese nationalist-era visual identity, and Gandhian moral influence extending into Southeast Asia during the final phase of British imperial rule.
“The Fragrance of India”—A Burmese Lottery Ticket Addressed to Mahatma Gandhi
Few surviving Gandhian postal archives capture the intersection of colonial administration, popular devotion, political transition, and everyday material culture as vividly as the present Burma State Lottery correspondence sent from Rangoon to Mahatma Gandhi in 1947.
At first glance, the archive appears almost improbable: an official state lottery envelope, transmitted under governmental postal authority from colonial Burma, enclosing an original Burma State Lottery ticket addressed reverentially to Gandhi. Yet it is precisely this unlikely convergence of bureaucracy, popular imagination, and Gandhian symbolism that gives the archive its historical significance.
The material survives from a moment of profound political transformation across Asia. In April 1947, Burma stood on the threshold of independence from British rule, while India itself approached Partition and Independence only months later. Anti-colonial movements across South and Southeast Asia increasingly viewed Gandhi not merely as an Indian nationalist leader but as a wider moral and symbolic figure associated with decolonisation, ethical resistance, and spiritual authority. The present archive preserves evidence of that broader transnational reverence.
Particularly remarkable is the manuscript address: “Baratha Kasturi Mahathma Gandhi”.
The phrase “Baratha Kasturi”—roughly translatable as “The Fragrance” or “Musk of India”—transforms the envelope from ordinary correspondence into an act of devotional address. The unusual spelling, honorific structure, and handwritten phrasing reveal not bureaucratic formality but personal admiration expressed across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Such idiosyncratic and reverential formulations are among the most compelling features of Gandhian postal history, preserving how ordinary individuals and distant correspondents addressed Gandhi in deeply respectful terms.
Materially, the archive is exceptionally rich. The registered envelope preserves official “OHMS” governmental usage, Burmese “SERVICE” overprinted King George VI stamps, registration labels, Rangoon transit markings, rerouting evidence, and New Delhi forwarding marks associated with Gandhi’s movements during the final phase of his public life. Collectively, these markings reconstruct the physical journey of the correspondence across the geography of late empire.
Equally important is the enclosed Burma State Lottery ticket itself. Issued for the “FIFTEENTH 1947” drawing, the ticket preserves bilingual Burmese-English typography and striking nationalist visual motifs, including the Karaweik royal barge and traditional Pyatthat architectural forms. Produced during the final year before Burmese independence, the ticket reflects the emergence of modern Burmese state identity at the precise historical moment when colonial structures were beginning to dissolve across Asia.
The juxtaposition of a state lottery ticket with Gandhi is especially intriguing historically. Gandhi’s public philosophy consistently rejected material excess, gambling, and moral indulgence, yet here the lottery ticket appears to have been sent as a symbolic gesture. Whether intended as a tribute, curiosity, donation, or token of reverence, the act of sending such material to Gandhi illustrates the remarkable range of objects that circulated within his international correspondence.
Today, few surviving artefacts preserve so many different strands of Gandhi’s world within a single object. Carrying official colonial seals, a state lottery ticket, devotional manuscript inscriptions, and the physical traces of movement across Rangoon, Madras, and New Delhi, the archive demonstrates how Gandhi's correspondence extended well beyond political matters. More than postal history, it documents the diverse ways in which Gandhi was regarded by correspondents across the colonial world during the final years of empire.
This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.