How the postal system started?

We are all familiar with the importance of the postal system. It is because of this that we are able to receive letters written by our friends and relatives from England or America in six to seven days. Similarly it takes only 2-3 days for the letters to reach us from Bombay, Calcutta or some other places.

All this is the marvel of the postal system. Mail vans, trains and Aeroplanes carry letters sent by us. Millions of people are engaged in this carrying of letters from one place to another.
In the ancient times, man had private arrangements for sending his messages from one place to another. During the 16th century, the governments took over the postal system. There were three main reasons for this. The first reason was the governments' intention to keep an eye on the suspicious messages. The second aim was to earn money through the postal system and the third aim was the welfare of the people. Now the service to the people is prime factor behind the postal system. Up to 1609, special messengers appointed by the governments used to carry letters. In 1680, a businessman of London started his own postal system for the city and its suburbs. In 1840, the entire structure of the postal system in England was modified. This very year postal stamps were issued and postal rates were made uniform for the entire country. Other countries of the world also followed the English system and so the postal system was established throughout the world. Today America has the biggest postal system. It has about 7.5 lac employees and some 100000 million letters are handled by the system every year. In India the postal system was started in 1854. The Air Mail service was started on the 10th February 1911. The postal system of India is considered better than that of America as far as facilities are concerned.