Some of my favourite items from Jammu and Kashmir by Sandeep Jaiswal

The presentation will cover all aspects of Jammu & Kashmir philately including stamps, postal history and postal stationery. Special emphasis will be given to types of inks, colours and papers. There will be a section on Reprints and Forgeries as well.

Biography:

Sandeep Jaiswal started collecting Indian States, at the age of 20, when he moved from Calcutta to California to attend college. Liz Blake, an ardent collector of Indian States living in San Francisco, introduced him to the mesmerizing field of Indian Princely States and within six months Sandeep had acquired, thanks to his uncle who financed the purchase, her 26 volume collection.

Sandeep has never looked back and while he has added other collecting areas such as postal stationery of British India, Aden, Burma, Ceylon and Nepal, he is just as passionate about the Indian Princely States today as he was 40 years ago.

Jammu & Kashmir philately is arguably one of the most interesting and challenging areas among the Indian Princely States. Sandeep was very lucky to have Dr. Frits Staal, the author of "The stamps of Jammu & Kashmir" (a book that is considered the best that has ever been published on this subject), as his mentor and guru who taught him most of what he knows about this area. Dr. Staal spent months demystifying this complex and challenging area. It became a weekly routine for Sandeep to spend hours at a time at his residence in Berkley, California.

In 40 years of collecting this area and having been extremely fortunate in acquiring some of the finest collections to ever have been formed on this subject, Sandeep finally put together two single-frame exhibits last year, both having been awarded gold medals.

Sandeep is now preparing a multi-frame exhibit for the FIP show in Dubai 2026.

Sandeep has written numerous articles, exhibited at the National and International level having won over fifty Gold medals for his various exhibits. Sandeep is the past editor of India Post, journal of the India Study Circle. He expertizes Indian States philatelic items for three organizations, including the ISES and is a consultant for two other organizations and is a recognized ’Expert’ for eBay.