Sikkim’s Rocket mail Experiment towards 75th anniversary

With an article on Sikkim’s Rocket Mail Experiment 1935, I joined Weekend Review, noted a weekly newspaper published by Gangtok, and debuted in the print media. So the story of Sikkim's Rocket mail is, in fact, very close to me. When I first received feedback for the article on Sikkim Rocketmail in 2003, the small note read 'lost in 1935 discovered in 2003’; true to the words, the Sikkim Rocketmail Experiment in 1935 had been long lost and nowhere to be found in Sikkim itself.

Today, the Western world acknowledges the great achievement of the effort of a single man, Stephen Hector Taylor-Smith, promptly called the pioneer of Indian Rocketmail. More than seven decades of the historical experiments that set forward the early days of the world airmail invention today are long forgotten in this part of the world. Forgotten is the World's first parcel dispatch over the river that was conducted at Rani Khola, near Ranipool, and one of the outstanding accomplishments in Sikkim soil when, for the first time, a parcel was carried by means of a rocket. This successful rocket firing was done from Surumsa to Ray.

Chogyal Tashi Namgyal with a rocket

It was a red-letter day on April 7, 1935, at Gangtok, the then capital of the small Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim, when the first Sikkim Rocket mail experiment, a unique experiment in mail delivery, was flown. In fact, Sikkim was one of the first countries in the world during the reign of the Chogyal to achieve this ambitious goal. The parcels, along with letters and other items, were sent from the rockets to the confined destinations. Sikkim Rocket mail experiments were the first official firings in Asia.

Stephen Hector Smith, a pioneer in Indian Rocket mail history, chose Sikkim for his experiment because of its geographical features and mountains. With the sanction of the Sikkim Durbar, Stephen Smith visited Sikkim early in April and conducted a series of experiments. The Durbar also sanctioned the use of four special rocket stamps for the mail and parcel experiments, 2000 of each kind being printed by the Experimenter.

Rocket-mail cover

At that time, the experiment of sending mail through rockets was being conducted in only two places in the Indian subcontinent: Calcutta and some of the district towns of West Bengal and the Kingdom of Sikkim. The Oriental Fireworks Company of Calcutta, which was also responsible for their design, supplied all of the rockets free to Smith.

The rockets were apparently fairly crude, resembling larger versions of fireworks. They were approximately 6 feet long, with the body (which carried the mail) 2 feet long. They were launched by lighting a touchpaper from a sloping stand aimed in the general direction of the intended target. Oriental Fireworks Company, based in Calcutta, provided all the rockets to Smith. “The rockets were launched by lighting a touchpaper from a sloping stand aimed in the general direction of the intended target”, a document relating to the experiment says.

Sikkim is also the first country in the world to successfully dispatch a parcel containing small quantities of valuable articles, such as medicine, tobacco, tea, sugar, etc., using a rocket. Those people who helped the Sikkim Rocket experiment succeed included Chogyal Tashi Namgyal, CE Dudley, General Secretary to the Chogyal, Tashi Dadul Densarpa, Private Secretary, Rai Sahib Fakir Chand Jali, the state engineer, and F Williamson, British Political Officer. For curiosity, I would like to tell you that a masked statue of Williamson's face could be seen on the wall of STNM Hospital on the way to the male ward above the blood donation room.

Before the first experiment at Gangtok, four tests were done of the four; two were ragged and busted. The first official rocket mail was sent from the Gangtok Post Office compound to the Durbar High School, where 200 items were carried. It was between 10.30 am and 10.35 am. The envelopes were franked with the special two rupees Rocket mail stamp in blue and yellow. The letters were then posted with the postmark "Gangtok 7th April 1939." Two launches were made with over 50 successful yards.

The second firing was done at Chogyal Tashi Namgyal Field towards the Post Office in the presence of the Chogyal and His Highness signing his name on three of the six covers. The covers are scripted “Tashi Namgyal Field 8/4/35.” The Maharajah flew six covers and 410 cards with one pound of mail as the weight carried by a rocket.

On the evening of April 8, I witnessed an interesting vertical firing. This was the first vertical firing east of Europe. The rocket carried 388 gold cards and raised 1000ft, and its weight included 2 lbs. The Chogyal autographed two cards for the experimenter and granted him permission to have a block made of his signature to impress all rocket mail items he dispatched.

The fourth firing saw 175 covers being dispatched by F Williamson from Dak Bungalow towards the Post Offices. The rocket failed to reach its target, struck the rock, and was smashed. The world's first parcel dispatch over the river was done on April 10 over River Rani Khola, written as Ranikhali on the covers at 3.30 pm. CE Dudley discharged the mail rocket.

The sixth firing on April 10 at 3.35 pm established a new world record when, for the first time, a parcel was carried utilizing a rocket. The parcel included 12 items: a packet of tea, sugar, a spoon, a handkerchief, a toothbrush, cigarettes, and others. Dudley fired the parcel rocket over the river Rani Khola from Surumsa to Ray. The river was crossed once the parcel reached its destination, and Smith opened it. All the articles were perfectly intact. In the missives, the word “mail” was cancelled by hand, and “Parcel’ was written instead.

The firing was again done over River Rani Khola but from the opposite bank, i.e. from Ray to Surumsa. Tashi Dadul Densapa fired the 186-cover flight. Dudley handed a certificate to Smith stating that this experiment was a means of transport during floods or landslides. 

Another experiment was held on the same day at the White Memorial Hall, Gangtok. The test was to observe the strength of the rocket against the gale. Smith fired eight shots over Singtam River in Singtam on April 13 with 118 covers flown. The distance covered by the rocket was 550 yards. The last and the ninth firing in Sikkim were made over the Rungpo River at Rungpo. There were 100 covers flown.

Today, these historic Sikkim Rocket Mail Experiment envelopes are very sought-after by airmail stationery collectors as well as stamp collectors across the globe. I found it very interesting that this single Sikkim Rocket mail flight covers each cost from $100 to $500. I do have one of the labels or so-called Sikkim Rocket mail stamps in my collection, including a signature of Stephen Smith, for which I had to pay Rs 1500 a decade back. Today, we have long forgotten this rare achievement performed on Sikkim's soil. However, whenever anyone talks about airmail history, the name Sikkim Rocket Mail Experiment 1935 will always be given due respect.