Stamped Paper - a Random Stroll Down Indian History
A recent visit to an exhibition of stamped papers from various Indian Princely states led me down this rabbit hole. Colloquially known as Stamp Paper in India, in reality it should be called a Stamped Paper - a foolscap sheet that bears a pre-printed or embossed revenue stamp. A British act of 1765 decreeing all colonies in the new world to use stamped papers printed in Great Britain seems to have caused the Americans to revolt against the empire. And yet, people oftentimes don't realize the power of a piece of blank paper. Adolph Koeppel's book on this topic sells for $150 now on Amazon, far far more expensive than what a stamped paper would have cost in those times, perhaps even more than the properties in question. The stamped paper is used to collect the stamp duty - a tax collected on purchase of property or on official documents. Obviously, you need a revenue stamp to complete the loop - a deliciously bureaucratic process with origins in the Ottoman empire. It's...