Before Sharjah achieved postal independence on 10 July 1963, much of its mail was carried to and from Dubai by local merchants. A small amount of its mail was posted at the airport in Sharjah, which served as a base for the British Royal Air Force. After Dubai achieved postal independence on 14 June 1963, Sharjah mail came and went via Bahrain. This mail route continued for a time even after Sharjah achieved postal independence.
At first, the stamps used on mail from Sharjah were unoverprinted India issues. From October 1947 to 31 March 1948 Sharjah used Indian stamps overprinted "Pakistan." From 1 April 1948 to 9 July 1963 Sharjah used the values-only overprinted British stamps and, for a brief time, the Trucial States issues.
Before 10 July 1963, Sharjah did not have its own post office. The only way to tell whether a cover was mailed to or from Sharjah prior to its postal independence is by means of the addresses. Covers carried to Dubai usually were cancelled with a Dubai postmark. Covers mailed from the RAF base in Sharjah were postmarked with an F.P.O. unit number such as 936 and the date.
After a period of negotiations, Shaikh Saqr secured an agreement with the British government to establish Sharjah's postal service. Sharjah's population was about 60 000. The mail service was to include twice-weekly air service between Khor Fakkan and Sharjah. The first issues were a postal definitive set of 15 values: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 16, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 75 naye paise and 1 rupee. The airmail definitives were: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 rupees.
The design of these stamps included a map of Sharjah and its Dependencies. The map was created by Ibrahim Mubarak who was a student at al-Aruba High School in Sharjah. The portrait of Shaikh Saqr was taken from the frontpiece the Shaikh's then-recently published book of poetry. The stamps themselves were designed by Bruce Conde. The air mail issues include the image of a hawk in flight.
Sharjah's postal service was more popular then expected. A series of stamps commemorating the United Nations Freedom from Hunger campaign had to be overprinted before the stamps were officially issued because many of the needed values were no longer available.
Some of the stamps of Sharjah in the mid-sixties commemorated international events such as the Summer Olympics and the United Nations programmes. Other stamps commemorated events important to the Arab states such as the Pan-Arab Games in Cairo and the 10th anniversary of the Arab Postal Union's Permanent Office. Sharjah also commemorated Sharjah's Boy and Girl Scout programmes and pictured views of the Sharjah and the dependencies in a beautiful air mail set issued 13 August 1964.
The mid-sixties also witnessed several important changes. The first post office in Khor Fakkan opened 20 February 1965. A month later the air mail set with the views of Sharjah was overprinted with "Khor Fakkan" in English and Arabic. These and subsequent Khor Fakkan issues were valid throughout the shaikhdom.
On 24 June 1965 Shaikh Saqr was replaced by his cousin, Shaikh Khalid. Many of the earlier stamps were overprinted with black or violet bars. One set of aerogrammes were overprinted in green. Other sets were postponed and redesigned with the portrait of Shaikh Khalid.
The sudden devaluation of the Gulf rupee in 1966 also effected Sharjah's stamp programme. Several Sharjah sets were overprinted with the interim substitute, the Saudi Arabian piastre and riyal for use in June, July, August and September. Later in 1966, Sharjah began to use the Qatari/Dubai dirham and riyal. This change too is reflected in the overprints of various sets and the aerogrammes.
A new post office in Sharjah also opened in July 1966, replacing the one room post office that opened three years earlier.
During the later years, Sharjah's stamps illustrated many of the events of the sixties, including the American and Soviet space programmes, the Olympics, and Expo ‘70 in Osaka, Japan. Other events commemorated included the fifth and sixth anniversaries of the accession of Shaikh Khalid and the formation of the United Arab Emirates.
Sharjah's stamps continued to be valid until April 1973, although covers postmarked later are known. Covers with mixed UAE and Sharjah stamps are also known.
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