Saturday, October 28, 2023

Malaysian stamp history - 03 b Federated Malay States - Perak

The second state that was part of the Federated Malaysian States, is Perak.
Perak is the state above Kuala Lumpur.

Perak state in Malaysia
Perak has issued stamps since 1878, these issues were Straits Settlements stamps, overprinted with the name of Perak.

Tigers are the first pictoral stamps of most of the federated states, so also on Perak.

Perak 1892

Perak stamps of 1895

Perak is a sultanat, and power goes from the previous sultan to the eldest male of the bloodline.
This does not always is the son of the sultan, it can be a brother or a nephew, as long as it is the eldest in line. This is called an agnatic seniority.

The first sultan on the stamps of Perak, is Sultan Iskander. He is portrayed on two sets of stamps, one in 1935 and a second one in 1938.
On the first set the sultan is depicted in profile, the second set shows the sultan from the front.

Sultan Iskander 1935 set

Sultan Iskander 1938 stamps

It takes until 1950 before a new set of sultan stamps are issued. This time, sultan Yussuf Izzudin Shah decorates the set of stamps. Now, the name of Perak is written in Jawi. The headwear of the sultan is very remarkable and makes it easy to distinguish from other states.

Perak 1950

some of the 1950 stamps
Between 1957 and 1961 the same set of pictoral stamps as Negeri Sembilan is issued. Here we see an older image of sultan Yussuf Izzudin Shah.

Perak set of 1957-1961
two shades of colour brown and reddish brown

In the years after, similar stamps are issued in all Malaysian states, each time with the name Perak.
to be continued ...

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