Afghan/pashtun postage stamps

[graveyardofempires]

[Catya Sher]

Excellent idea for a thread.
I used to collect stamps growing up - good way to learn about
the world and especially history of various parts of the world.

I will add some Afghan ones too, some special ones,
as you have clearly gotten about all the official postal issues
over the decades !

[graveyardofempires]

^
yes
please do post yours

[Catya Sher]

Sorry this turned out sideways,

But these are extremely RARE issues done privately during
the mid-1980s while the Soviets were occupying most of Afghanistan
at least ostensibly so.

These read "Free Province of Wardak"
Whether Wardak was entirely free is another question.
But this was a good effort to bring international attention
to the fact that Soviet rule was not as extensive as outsiders believed.
And that the Afghans were reconquering vast amounts of
their terrain from Soviet or Afghan Army forces.

These were given to me by their creator, Amin Wardak,
in an interview with him.

He later went to New York to attempt to get these stamps recognized by an international
postal system as legitimate to use. Permission was not granted ;
that's why they are so rare !!

I did later receive a letter posted from Pakistan with some of of these affixed.

However, Pakistani stamps had to accompany them.

They certainly ARE pretty, with beautiful color scheme.

Whether one is inclined to favor Amin or not,
this was a creative idea.

Few other commanders had time
to think of niceties like this, however.

These Free Province of Wardak stamps [I think all of the ones that were produced at that time are here below] are unique.

Even if not official issues, they should take an important
place in the history of Afghan stamp commemoratives.

They have a vibrancy that certainly was lacking in the Soviet-run
issues of the Afghan postal service.

Usually Soviet satellite regimes produced distinctly wooden stamps, either monuments to some evil figure or Communist Party Congress, or wildlife.

No mosques, no fighters, nothing remotely religious.
Nothing from local culture with spiritual links or content :
for example, only SECULAR poets carefully approved by the Soviets could be commemorated in statues, parks, and stamps.

[Haris]

Thank you Catya for your very useful post.

[Catya Sher]

Thank you for saying that, Haris.

I am searching for a couple more details.

One aspect is that the 40 AF stamps picture Amin himself
as commander of some Wardak Mujahideen.