The mail, or post, is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels.In Australia, Canada, and the U.S., the term "mail" is commonly used for the postal system and for the letters, postcards, and parcels it carries; in New Zealand, "post" is more common for the postal system and "mail" for the material delivered; in the UK, "post" prevails in both senses. However, the British, American, Australian, and Canadian national postal services are called, respectively, the "Royal Mail", the "United States Postal Service", "Australia Post", and "Canada Post"; in addition, such fixed phrases as "post office" or "junk mail" are found throughout the English-speaking world. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal systems have generally been established as a government monopoly, with a fee on the article prepaid. Proof of payment is usually in the form of an adhesive postage stamp, but a postage meter is also used for bulk mailing.
Postal authorities often have functions aside from transporting letters. In some countries, a postal, telegraph and telephone (PTT) service oversees the postal system, in addition to telephone and telegraph systems. Some countries' postal systems allow for savings accounts and handle applications for passports.
The Universal Postal Union (UPU), established in 1874, includes 192 member countries and sets the rules for international mail exchanges as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations.
Etymology
The word comes from the Middle English word , referring to a travelling bag or pack. It was spelled in that manner until the 17th century and is distinct from the word male in reference to the biological sex and gender. The word is cognate with French () and (, whence ). In the 17th century, the word mail began to appear as a reference for a bag that contained letters: "bag full of letter" (1654). Over the next hundred years the word mail began to be applied strictly to the letters themselves and the sack as the mailbag. In the 19th century, the British typically used mail to refer to letters being sent abroad (i.e. on a ship) and post to refer to letters for domestic delivery. The word post is derived from Old French , which ultimately stems from the past participle of the Latin verb .Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, 1963, pp. 662–63. So in the U.K., the Royal Mail delivers the post, while in North America both the U.S. Postal Service and Canada Post deliver the mail.
The term email, short for "electronic mail", first appeared in the 1970s. The term is a retronym to distinguish it from the quicker email. Various dates have been given for its first use.
History
The practice of communication by written documents carried by an intermediary from one person or place to another almost certainly dates back nearly to the invention of writing. However, the development of formal postal systems occurred much later. The first documented use of an organized courier service for the dissemination of written documents is in Egypt, where Pharaohs used couriers to send out decrees throughout the territory of the state (2400 BCE). The earliest surviving piece of mail is also Egyptian, dating to 255 BCE.
Iran
The first credible claim for the development of a real postal system comes from the Achaemenid Empire. The best-documented claim, by the Greek historian Xenophon, attributes the invention to the Persian king Cyrus the Great (550 BCE), who mandated that every province in his kingdom would organize reception and delivery of post to each of its citizens. Other writers credit his successor Darius the Great (521 BCE), who reorganized and rebuilt the Royal Road to facilitate the rapid travel of Persian couriers from Susa (now Iran) in the east to Sardis (now Turkey) in the west. Other sources claim much earlier dates for a postal system under the Assyrians, with credit given to Hammurabi (1700 BCE) and Sargon II (722 BCE). Mail may not have been the primary mission of this postal service, however. The role of the system as an intelligence-gathering apparatus is well documented, and the service was (later) called angariae, a term that in time came to indicate a tax system. The Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible makes mention of this system: Persian king Ahasuerus used couriers to relay his decisions across the Near East.
The Persian system worked using stations called Chapar Khaneh (), whence the message carrier (the Chapar) would ride to the next post, whereupon he would swap his horse with a fresh one for maximum performance and delivery speed. The Greek historian Herodotus described the system in this way: "It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day's journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed".Herodotus, Herodotus, trans. A.D. Godley, vol. 4, book 8, verse 98, pp. 96–97 (1924). The verse prominently features on James Farley Post Office in New York City, although it uses the translation "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds". The ancient Persian postal service system greatly influenced the Greco-Roman world such that its model was adapted by the Roman Empire as the cursus publicus.
India
The economic growth and political stability under the Mauryan Empire (322–185 BCE) stimulated sustained development of civil infrastructure in ancient India. The Mauryans developed early Indian mail service as well as public wells, rest houses, and other facilities for the public.Dorn 2006: 145 Common chariots called Dagana were sometimes used as mail chariots in ancient India.Prasad 2003: 104 Couriers were used militarily by kings and local rulers to deliver information through runners and other carriers. The postmaster, the head of the intelligence service, was responsible for ensuring the maintenance of the courier system. Couriers were also used to deliver personal letters.Mazumdar 1990: 1
In South India, the Wodeyar dynasty (1399–1947) of the Kingdom of Mysore used mail service for espionage purposes thereby acquiring knowledge related to matters that took place at great distances.Aiyangar 2004: 302
By the end of the 18th century, a postal system in India was in operation. Later this system underwent complete modernization when the British Raj established its control over most of India. The Post Office Act XVII of 1837 provided that the Governor-General of India in Council had the exclusive right of conveying letters by post for hire within the territories of the East India Company. The mails were available to certain officials without charge, which became a controversial privilege as the years passed. On this basis the Indian Post Office was established on October 1, 1837.Lowe 1951: 134
Rome
The first well-documented postal service was that of Rome. Organized at the time of Augustus Caesar (62 BCE – 14 CE), the service was called cursus publicus and was provided with light carriages (rhedæ) pulled by fast horses. By the time of Diocletian, a parallel service was established with two-wheeled carts (birotæ) pulled by oxen. This service was reserved for government correspondence. Yet another service for citizens was later added.
Vietnam In 1802, the first Vietnamese postal service was established under the Nguyen dynasty, under the Ministry of Rites. During the Nguyen dynasty, official documents were transported by horse and other primitive means to stations built about 25–30 kilometers apart. In 1904, three wireless communication offices were established, and in early 1906 they were merged with the postal service to form the Post and Wireless Office. In 1945, after the August Revolution, the Post and Wireless Office was renamed the Post Office under the Ministry of Transportation. In 1955, the Post Office was upgraded to the Ministry of Post.
China
Some Chinese sources claim mail or postal systems dating back to the Xia or Shang dynasties, which would be the oldest mailing service in the world. The earliest credible system of couriers was initiated by the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), who had relay stations every 30 li (about 15 km) along major routes.
The Tang dynasty (618 to 907 AD) operated a recorded 1,639 posthouses, including maritime offices, employing around 20,000 people. The system was administered by the Ministry of War and private correspondence was forbidden from the network. The Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644) sought a postal system to deliver mail quickly, securely, and cheaply. Adequate speed was always a problem, because of the slow overland transportation system, and underfunding. Its network had 1,936 posthouses every 60 li along major routes, with fresh horses available every 10 li between them.Chelsea Zi Wang, "More Haste, Less Speed: Sources of Friction in the Ming Postal System". Late Imperial China 40.2 (2019): 89–140. The Qing operated 1,785 posthouses throughout their lands. More efficient, however, was the system linking the international settlements, centered around Shanghai and the Treaty ports. It was the main communication system for China's international trade.Lane J. Harris, "Stumbling towards empire: the Shanghai Local Post Office, the transnational British community and informal empire in China, 1863–97". Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 46.3 (2018): 418–445.
Mongol Empire
Genghis Khan installed an empire-wide messenger and postal station system named Örtöö within the Mongol Empire. During the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan, this system also covered the territory of China. Postal stations were used not only for the transmission and delivery of official mail but were also available for travelling officials, military men, and foreign dignitaries. These stations aided and facilitated the transport of foreign and domestic tribute specifically and the conduct of trade in general.
By the end of Kublai Khan's rule, there were more than 1400 postal stations in China alone, which in turn had at their disposal about 50,000 horses, 1,400 oxen, 6,700 mules, 400 carts, 6,000 boats, more than 200 dogs, and 1,150 sheep.
The stations were apart and had reliable attendants working for the mail service. Foreign observers, such as Marco Polo, have attested to the efficiency of this early postal system.Mote 1978: 450
Each station was maintained by up to twenty five families. Work for postal service counted as military service. The system was still operational in 18th century when 64 stations were required for a message to cross Mongolia from the Altai Mountains to China.
Japan The modern Japanese system was developed in the mid-19th century, closely copying European models. Japan was highly innovative in developing the world's largest and most successful postal savings system and later a postal life insurance system as well. Postmasters play a key role in linking the Japanese political system to local politics. A postmaster's position is in high prestige, and is often hereditary.Patricia L. Maclachlan, The people's post office: The history and politics of the Japanese postal system, 1871–2010 (Brill, 2012). To a large extent, the postal system generated the enormous funding necessary to rapidly industrialize Japan in the late 19th century.Sheldon Garon, Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves (2012) pp 143–67.
Korea
The postal service was one of Korea's first attempts at modernization. The Joseon Post Office was established in 1884.
Other systems