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Kaisar-i-Hind Medal

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Kaisar-i-Hind Medal
This article is about medal for distinguished public service in India during British rule. For medal commemorating the proclamation of Queen Victoria, see Empress of India Medal. For other uses, see Kaiser-i-Hind (disambiguation).

The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (or herself) by important and useful service in the advancement of the public interest in India."[2]

Quick Facts Type, Awarded for ...
Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India
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Representations of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals (George V – second type)
TypeCivil decoration
Awarded forPersons considered to have done some public service worthy of recognition by Government[1]
CountryBritish Raj
Presented byEmperor of India
EligibilityCivilians of any nationality
Campaign(s)Dormant since 1947
Established10 April 1900
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Ribbon of Kaisar-i-Hind Medal
Precedence
Next (higher)Order of British India
Next (lower)Order of St John
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The name "Kaisar-i-Hind" (Urdu: قیصرِ ہند qaisar-e-hind, Hindi: क़ैसर-इ-हिन्द) literally means "Emperor of India" in the Hindustani language. The word kaisar, meaning "emperor" is a derivative of the Roman imperial title Caesar, via Persian (see Qaysar-i Rum) from Greek Καίσαρ Kaísar, and is cognate with the German title Kaiser, which was borrowed from Latin at an earlier date.[3] Based upon this, the title Kaisar-i-Hind was coined in 1876 by the orientalist G.W. Leitner as the official imperial title for the British monarch in India.[4] The last ruler to bear it was George VI.

Kaisar-i-Hind was also inscribed on the obverse side of the India General Service Medal (1909), as well as on the Indian Meritorious Service Medal.[5]

History

Empress of India or Kaisar-i-Hind, a term coined by the orientalist G.W. Leitner in a deliberate attempt to dissociate British imperial rule from that of preceding dynasties[4] was taken by Queen Victoria from 1 May 1876, and proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1877.

The medal was instituted by Queen Victoria on 10 April 1900.[6] The name translates as "Emperor of India" (a name also used for a rare Indian butterfly, Teinopalpus imperialis). The Royal Warrant for the Kaisar-i-Hind was amended in 1901, 1912, 1933 and 1939. While never officially rescinded, the Kaisar-i-Hind ceased to be awarded following the passage of the Indian Independence Act 1947.[7] The awards of the gold medal were often published in the London Gazette, while other classes were published in the Gazette of India.

Medal grades and design

The medal had three grades. The Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal for Public Service in India was awarded directly by the monarch on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for India. Silver and Bronze medals were awarded by the Viceroy. The medal consisted of an oval-shaped badge or decoration in gold, silver or bronze with the Royal Cipher and Monarchy on one side, and the words "Kaisar-i-Hind for Public Service in India" on the other. It was to be worn suspended from the left breast by a dark blue ribbon. The medal has no post-nominal initials.[7]

One of its most famous recipient is Mahatma Gandhi, who was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind in 1915 by The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst for his contribution to ambulance services in South Africa. Gandhi returned the medal following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre carried out by the British officials and wrote, "In European countries, condonation of such grievous wrongs as the khilafat and the Punjab would have resulted in bloody revolution by the people."[8][9][10][11]

Notable recipients

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Perspective

Award of the Medal and Bar to the Medal

  • Olive Monahan, Gold Medal with Bar; retired Chief Medical Officer Kalyani Hospital, Madras[12]
  • Cornelia Sorabji, Gold Medal with Bar, first female advocate in India; first woman to practice law in India and Britain
  • Lucia Navamani Virasinghe-Chinnappa, awarded Medal 1937 & Bar to the Medal 1941; pioneered maternity and child Health on the Indian Sub-Continent.

Award of the medal

Gold medal

  • Sardar Khan Bahadur Mir Abdul Ali, JP, Bombay, 9 November 1901[13]
  • Dr Margaret Ida Balfour, Scottish doctor and campaigner for women's medical health issues[14]
  • Dr Mary Ronald Bisset, Scottish physician and missionary for women's medical health.[15][16]
  • Florence Mary Macnaghten, British - Scottish CMS nurse / in charge of the Canadian Zanana Mission Hospital at Kangra, Punjab, India, for 1905 earthquake relief work and for women's medical health.[citation needed]
  • Richard Burn, for famine services in 1907–08[17]
  • Shankar Madhav Chitnavis, Esq., Deputy-Commissioner, Central Provinces, 9 November 1901[13]
  • Major General Thomas Arthur Cooke, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • The Lady Curzon of Kedleston, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • Major Herbert Edward Deane, R.A.M.C., 9 November 1901[13]
  • Major Thomas Edward Dyson, MB, CM, Indian Medical Service, 9 November 1901[13]
  • Mrs E J Firth, of Madras, awarded medal on 9 November 1901 for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[13]
  • Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (returned 1920)
  • Major General Sir William Forbes Gatacre, chairman of the plague committee of Bombay City 1896 and 1897[19]
  • N S Glazebrook, Esq., JP, of Bombay, 9 November 1901[13]
  • Very Rev John A. Graham, D.D., for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • Thomas Holderness, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • Sydney Hutton Cooper Hutchinson, Esq., AMICE, Superintendent of Telegraphs, 9 November 1901[13]
  • The Most Hon Alice Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading[20]
  • Reverend William Henry Jackson of the Blind School, Kemmendine, Rangoon, awarded the gold medal for public services in India, 1930.[21]
  • Colonel Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, KCIE, Indian Staff Corps, 9 November 1901[13]
  • Hakim Ajmal Khan, physician and one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia University[22]
  • Isabel Kerr, Scottish medical missionary in India in the early 20th-century, created the Victoria Leprosy Centre in Hyderabad, and worked to cure leprosy across India.[23]
  • Taw Sein Ko, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • Harrington Verney Lovett, Esq., Indian Civil Service, 9 November 1901[13]
  • Elizabeth Adelaide Manning, awarded the medal in 1904 for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[24]
  • Sir Francis William Maclean, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18][25]
  • Herbert Frederick Mayes, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, Indian Civil Service, 9 Nov 1901[13]
  • Lieutenant-Colonel James McCloghry, FRCS, Indian Medical Service, 9 November 1901[13]
  • Miss Eleanor McDougall, awarded Medal of the First Class in June 1923 for her work as Principal of the Women's Christian College, Madras[26]
  • A Donald Miller, MBE, (1939) for work with the Leprosy Mission 1921-1942[27]
  • Rev Charles Henry Monahan, awarded Medal of the First Class in February 1937 for his work as General Superintendent, Methodist Missionary Society, Madras[28]
  • Olive Monahan, Gold Medal with Bar, retired Chief Medical Officer Kalyani Hospital, Madras[12][29]
  • Sarojini Naidu, Received gold medal for organising flood relief work in Hyderabad, later returned in protest over Jallianwala Bagh massacre.[30][31]
  • Amina Hydari - social worker, reformer, activist. Received medal for organising flood relief work in Hyderabad during the Musi floods.[32]
  • Vidyagauri Nilkanth, social reformer, educationist, and writer[33]
  • William Florey Noyce, Esq., Extra-Assistant Commissioner and Assistant Secretary to the Financial Commissioner, Burma, 9 November 1901[13]
  • Dr John David O′Donnell, MBE, VD, FRCSEd, Chief Medical and Sanitary Officer, Kolar Gold Fields, Mysore, July 1926[34]
  • Babu Sri Ram, Rai Bahadur, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • V. P. Madhava Rao, CIE[18]
  • Mary Reed (missionary), 1917, for missionary services to lepers[35][36]
  • Thomas d'Esterre Roberts, S.J., Archbishop of Bombay, for services to the forces during World War II[37]
  • HH Madho Rao Scindia, Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior[18]
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Sir David Semple, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • Rai Bahadur Kameleshwari Pershad Singh of Monghyr, Bengal[13]
  • HH Ganga Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner[18]
  • Maharaja Rameshwar Singh Bahadur of Darbhanga[18]
  • Donald Mackenzie Smeaton CSI, Scottish Liberal MP and Indian civil servant[18]
  • Cornelia Sorabji, Gold Medal with Bar, first female advocate in India, first woman to practice law in India and Britain[38]
  • Robert Barton Stewart, Esq., Indian Civil Service, 9 November 1901[13]
  • Dr William Stokes, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[39]
  • Rev Dr Frederick Vincent Thomas, Baptist Medical Mission, Palwal[40]
  • Edgar Thurston, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • Gajadhar Upadhaya, Esq., Chief Regimental Religious Teacher, 1st (K.G.V.s Own) G.R. [Gurkha Rifles][41]
  • Raja Ravi Verma, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • Captain Edmund Wilkinson, FRCS, Indian Medical Service, 9 November 1901[13]
  • HH Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra, Maharaja of Venkatagiri.[18]
  • Arthur Delaval Younghusband, civil servant, awarded for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj[18]
  • Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer[22]
  • Maganbhai Bavajibhai Patel "Bavaji Nivas" Ode
  • Sir Kashirao Holkar (Dada Saheb) KCSI KIH
  • Dr Jean Murray Orkney, Chief Medical Officer, Women's Medical Service[42]
  • Jane Leeke Latham, missionary head in 1938.[43]
  • Dr Mohammod Sharif for exceptional services in earthquake affected areas more noticeably in Quetta, Pakistan. Awarded the medal in 1930s[citation needed]
  • Dhanvanthi Rama Rau for her work with women's associations.[44]
  • Mrs Gwendolen Keene, for public service at the Indian Civilian Hospital in Quetta and in the villages after the earthquake in 1935.

Silver medal

Bronze medal

Unknown grade

See also

References

External links

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