British Commonwealth Stamps  »  Bahrain

Archipelago in the Arabian Gulf.

Bahrain first used the postage stamps of British India before eventually issuing its own stamps in 1960.

The first post office in Bahrain opened on 1 August 1884 in the capital Manama. This was a sub-office of the Indian Post Office at Bushire in Iran, both of which were part of the Bombay Postal Circle. This remained the only post office until 1946. Until 1933 un-overprinted stamps of British India were used in Bahrain and used examples may be identified from the cancels.

The first stamps specifically designed for Bahrain were a definitive set issued in 1960. These featured Shaikh Sulman bin Hamed al-Khalifa with Arabic text at the top. In 1964 a new definitive set was issued depicting Shaikh Isa bin Sulman al-Khalifa and the Bahrain Post Office fully took over from Britain on 1 January 1966 when a further definitive set was issued.