3 July 2025
Did you know? Long before post offices, messages ran on foot?
In the kingdom of Travancore, messages were once delivered by men who sprinted from village to village. They were called Anchalottakkars — human messengers who never missed a beat.
Wearing khaki and red hats, Anchalottakkars followed fixed routes, handing off letters like a relay team. Rain or shine, they ran — fast, reliable, and respected.
AI-generated image
This unique postal system began in 1729 under Anizham Thirunal Marthandavarma of Travancore, designed to serve royals, nobles, and merchants with speed and security.
By 1851, Maharaja Uthram Thirunal opened the Anchal system to the public. Over 90 offices sprang up, staffed by clerks, sepoys, and the Anchal Pillai, also known as the local post master.
Credits: Mathrubhoomi
This was a fully native communication system, built long before British post offices reached southern India. Organised, efficient, and ahead of its time.
Near Kochi, in Udayamperoor, one old Anchal office survives beside a modern post building — its worn walls still echoing a time when messages moved on foot.
Credits: Wikimedia
Heritage groups like Kerala Historical Research Society and local historians want this building preserved. Even the Archaeological Survey of India has shown interest in conserving it.
Saving these offices means honoring a public service built on trust and discipline, a system that connected people long before technology did.
Would you have prefrred something like this in the present times?
Travancore’s Anchal is a powerful reminder: even the fastest runners of the past carried something more than messages; they carried connection.