India Medal

 

General Service In India 1895 - 1902.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The India Medal was a British Empire campaign medal presented to those who participated in operations in India and the North-West Frontier between 1895 and 1902 for which no other separate medal was intended. The medal was instituted in 1896 and was initially awarded to the defenders and relievers of Chitral, but later this was extended to officers and men of the British and Indian armies who engaged in further Indian frontier campaigns and actions.

 

This medal replaced the India General Service Medal (1854). Each campaign was represented by a clasp on the ribbon; seven were sanctioned.

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and was struck in either silver or bronze. There are two obverses for this medal. The first bears the head of Queen Victoria and the inscription; ‘VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX’ while the second (post 1901 issue) has the head of King Edward VII and the inscription; ‘EDWARDVS VII REX IMPERATRIX'.

 

The reverse depicts a British soldier with rifle and an Indian Sowar with sword both holding upright the Royal Standard. The inscription; ‘INDIA’ appears on both versions to the left but the date; ‘1895’ appears only on the Victorian awards. 

 

The ribbon suspender is of the swivelling ornate scroll style, attached to the medal by a claw mount.

 

The recipient's details can be found on the medal's rim. Most medals to British and Indian units are found engraved in running script but those with the ‘PUNJAB FRONTIER 1897-98’ and ‘MALAKAND 1897’ clasps are usually in indented capitals. Those to the Highland Light Infantry are in upright engraved sans serif capitals.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 32mm wide and red in colour with two green stripes.

 

 

This medal was issued with the following clasps:-

 

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

** The individual medal value will vary considerably based on the recipient’s details.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The North West Frontier.

- The Relief Of Chitral 1895.

- The First Mohmand Campaign.

- The Siege of Malakand.

- The Samana Range And The Battle Of Saragarhi.

- The Tirah Campaign.

- The Mahsud Waziris Blockade.

 

The North West Frontier - The North-West Frontier region of British India was the most difficult area to conquer in the Indian subcontinent, strategically and militarily. It remains the western frontier of present-day Pakistan, extending from the Pamir Knot in the north to the Koh-i-Malik Siah in the west, and separating the present-day Pakistani frontier regions of North-West Frontier Province (renamed as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan to the east from neighbouring Afghanistan in the west. The borderline between is officially known as the Durand Line and divides Pashtun inhabitants of these provinces from their kinsmen in Afghanistan.

 

The two main gateways on the North West Frontier are the Khyber and Bolan Passes. Since ancient times, the Indian subcontinent has been repeatedly invaded through these north-western routes. With the expansion of the Russian Empire into Central Asia in the twentieth century, stability of the Frontier and control of Afghanistan became cornerstones of defensive strategy for British India.

 

Much of the Frontier was conquered by Ranjit Singh in the early 19th century, and then taken over by the East India Company when it annexed the Punjab in 1849.

 

Between 1849 and 1947 the military history of the frontier was a succession of punitive expeditions against offending Pashtun (or Pathan) tribes, punctuated by three wars against Afghanistan. Many British officers who went on to distinguished command in the First and Second World Wars learnt their soldiering on the North-West Frontier, which they called the Grim.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Siege Of Chitral 1895 - In the last phase of the Great Game attention turned to the unclaimed mountainous area north of British India along the later Sino-Soviet border. Chitral was thought to be a possible route for a Russian invasion of India, but neither side knew much about the local geography.

 

The British sent people like George W. Hayward, Robert Shaw and probably some Pundits north to explore. The ruler of Chitral may have had some involvement in Hayward's murder. From 1871 there were Russian explorers in the Pamir Mountains to the north. Around 1889 some Russians entered Chitral territory as well as Hunza to the east and Gabriel Bonvalot reached Chitral from Russian territory. From around 1876 Chitral was under the protection of the Maharaja of Kashmir to the southeast and therefore in the British sphere of influence but there was no British resident.

 

At this time Chitrali power extended east to the Yasin Valley about half way to Hunza. The British established the Gilgit Agency about 175 miles east in 1877. In 1891 the British occupied Hunza north of Gilgit.

 

From 1857 to 1892 the ruler (Mehtar) was Aman-ul-Mulk II of the Katoor Dynasty. When the old ruler died in 1892 one of his sons, Afzul-ul-Mulk, seized the throne and killed as many of his half-brothers as he could. The old ruler's brother, Sher Afzul Khan, who had been in exile at Kabul about 150 miles southwest, secretly entered Chitral with a few supporters and murdered Afzul. Another of the old ruler's sons, Nizam-ul-Mulk, who had fled to the British at Gilgit, advanced westward from Gilgit, accumulating troops as he went, including 1200 men Sher had sent against him.

 

Seeing the situation was hopeless, Sher fled back to Afghanistan and Nizam took the throne with British blessing and a British political resident called Lieutenant Gurdon. Within a year Nizam was murdered by his brother, Amir-ul-Mulk, while the two were out hunting. Umra Khan, a tribal leader from Bajour to the south marched north with 3,000 Pathans either to assist Amir-ul-Mulk or replace him. George Scott Robertson, the senior British officer at Gilgit, gathered 400 troops and marched west to Chitral and threatened Umra Khan with an invasion from Peshawar if he did not turn back.

 

Amir-ul-Mulk began negotiating with Umra Khan so Robertson replaced him with his 12-year-old brother Shuja-ul-Mulk. At this point Sher Afzul Khan re-entered the contest. The plan seems to have been that Sher would take the throne and Umra Khan would get part of the Chitral territory. Robertson moved into the fortress for protection which increased local hostility. Since Umra Khan and Sher Afzul continued their march secret messengers were sent out requesting help.

 

The fort was 80 yards square and built of mud, stone and timber. The walls were 25 feet high and eight feet thick. There was a short covered way to the river, the only water source. The fort held 543 people of whom 343 were combatants including five British officers. The units were the 14th Sikhs and a larger detachment of Kashmiri Infantry.

 

Artillery support was 2 seven-pounders without sights and 80 rounds of ammunition. There were only 300 cartridges per man and enough food for a month. There were trees and buildings near the walls and nearby hills from which sniping was possible with modern rifles. Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend of Mesopotamia fame commanded the troops, or part of them.

 

On March 3 a party was sent out to determine the enemy strength. Its loss was 23 killed and 33 wounded. Harry Frederick Whitchurch won a Victoria Cross for aiding the wounded. At about the same time a small force from Gilgit was defeated and the ammunition and explosives they were carrying captured. By April 5 the Chitralis were 50 yards from the walls.

 

On April 7 they set fire to the south-east tower which burned for 5 hours but did not collapse. Four days later the Chitralis began digging a tunnel in order to blow open the fort. The tunnel started from a house where the Chitralis held noisy parties to hide the sounds of digging. By the time sounds of digging were heard it was too late to dig a counter mine.

 

One hundred men rushed out of the eastern gate, found the mouth of the tunnel, bayoneted the miners, blew up the explosives and returned with a loss of eight men. On the night of April 18 someone shouted over the wall that the besiegers had fled. The next morning a heavily armed party found that this was true. Kelly's relief force entered Chitral on April 20 and found the besieged '…walking skeletons'. The siege had lasted a month and a half and cost the defenders 41 lives.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Relief Of Chitral 1895 - or the Chitral Expedition was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral which was under siege after a local coup.

 

After the death of the old ruler power changed hands several times. An intervening British force of about 400 men was besieged in the fort until it was relieved by two expeditions, a small one from Gilgit and a large one from Peshawar.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The First Mohmand Campaign - The First Mohmand Campaign was a British military campaign against the Mohmands from 1897 to 1898. The Mohmands are a Pashtun tribe who inhabit the hilly country to the north-west of Peshawar, in the North-West Frontier Province of India, now Pakistan. British punitive expeditions had been sent against the Mohmands in 1851-1852, 1854, 1864, 1879, 1880, but the principal operations were those of 1897-1898.

 

The year 1897 witnessed an almost general outbreak among the tribes on the north-west frontier of India. The tribes involved were practically independent, but the new frontier arranged with the amir of Afghanistan, and demarcated by Sir Mortimer Durand's commission of 1893-1894 (the Durand Line), brought them within the British sphere of influence.

 

The fear of these tribes was annexation, and the hostility shown during the demarcation led to the Waziri expedition of 1894. Other causes, however, contributed to bring about the outbreak of 1897.

 

The easy victory of the Turks over the Greeks in the Greco-Turkish War (1897) gave rise to excitement throughout the Muslim world, and the publication by the amir of Afghanistan, in his assumed capacity of king of Islam, of a religious work, in portions of which fanatical antipathy to Christians was thinly veiled, aroused a militant spirit among the border Mahommedans.

 

The growing unrest was not recognized, and all appeared quiet, when, on 10 June 1897, a detachment of Indian troops escorting a British frontier officer was suddenly attacked during the mid-day halt in the Tochi Valley, where, since the Waziri expedition of 1894-95, certain armed posts had been retained by the government of India.

 

On 29 July, with equal suddenness, the fortified posts at Chakdara and Malakand, in the Swat valley, which had been held since the Chitral expedition of 1895, were for several days fiercely assailed by the usually peaceful Swatis under the leadership of the Mad Mullah in the Siege of Malakand.

 

On 8 August the village of Shabkadar (Shankarghar), within a few miles of Peshawar, and in British territory, was raided by the Mohmands, while the Afridis besieged the fortified posts on the Samana ridge, which had been maintained since the expeditions of 1888 and 1891. Finally, the Afridis, within a few days, captured all the British posts in the Khyber Pass.

 

The Malakand Field Force commanded by Major-General Sir Bindon Blood was assembled at Nowshera. The post at Malakand was reached on 1 August, and on the following day Chakdara was relieved. The punishment of the Afridis was deferred till the preparations for the Tirah campaign could be completed.

 

The Mohmands, however, could be immediately dealt with, and against them the two brigades of Sir Bindon Blood's division advanced from Malakand simultaneously with the movement of another division under Major-General Edmond Elles from Peshawar; it was intended that the two columns should effect a junction in Bajour.

 

About 6 September the two forces advanced, and Major-General Blood reached Nawagai on 14 September, having detached a brigade to cross the Rambat Pass. This brigade being sharply attacked in camp at Markhanai at the foot of the pass on the night of the 14th, was ordered to turn northwards and punish the tribesmen of the Mamund valley.

 

On the 15th Brigadier-General (afterwards Major-General) Jeffreys camped at Inayat Killa, and on the following day he moved up the Mamund valley in three columns, which met with strong resistance. A retirement was ordered, the tribesmen following, and when darkness fell the general, with a battery and a small escort, was cut off, and with difficulty defended some buildings until relieved.

 

The casualties in this action numbered 149. This partial reverse placed General Blood in a position of some difficulty. He determined, however, to remain at Nawagai, awaiting the arrival of General Elles, and sent orders to General Jeffreys to prosecute the operations in the Mamund valley.

 

From the 18th to the 23rd these operations were carried on successfully, several villages being burned, and the Mamunds were disheartened. Meanwhile, the camp at Nawagai was heavily attacked on the night of the 20th by about 4000 men belonging to the Hadda Mullah's following.

 

The attack was repulsed with loss, and on the 21st Generals Blood and Elles met at Lakarai. The junction having been effected, the latter, in accordance with the scheme, advanced to deal with the Upper Mohmands in the Jarobi and Koda Khel valleys, and they were soon brought to reason by his well-conducted operations. The work of the Peshawar division was now accomplished, and it returned to take part in the Tirah campaign. Its total casualties were about 30 killed and wounded.

 

On the 22nd General Blood joined General Jeffreys, and on the 24th he started with his staff for Panjkora. On the 27th General Jeffreys resumed punitive operations in the Mamund valley, destroying numerous villages.

 

On the 30th he encountered strong opposition at Agrah, and had 61 casualties. On 2 October General Blood arrived at Inayat Killa with reinforcements, and on the 5th the Mamunds tendered their submission. The total British loss in the Mamund valley was 282 out of a force which never exceeded 1,200 men. After marching into Buner, and revisiting the scenes of the Umbeyla Campaign of 1863, the Malakand field-force was broken up on 21 January.

 

The objects of the expedition were completely attained, in spite of the great natural difficulties of the country. The employment of imperial service troops with the Peshawar column marked a new departure in frontier campaigns

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Siege of Malakand - The Siege of Malakand was the 26 July – 2 August 1897 siege of the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial British India's North West Frontier Province.

 

The British faced a force of Pashtun tribesmen whose tribal lands had been bisected by the Durand Line, the 1,519 mile (2,445 km) border between Afghanistan and British India drawn up at the end of the Anglo-Afghan wars to help hold the Russian Empire's spread of influence towards the Indian subcontinent.

 

The unrest caused by this division of the Pashtun lands led to the rise of Saidullah, a Pashtun fakir who led an army of at least 10,000 against the British garrison in Malakand. Although the British forces were divided amongst a number of poorly defended positions, the small garrison at the camp of Malakand South and the small fort at Chakdara were both able to hold out for six days against the much larger Pashtun army.

 

The siege was lifted when a relief column dispatched from British positions to the south was sent to assist General William Hope Meiklejohn, commander of the British forces at Malakand South. Accompanying this relief force was second lieutenant Winston Churchill, who later published his account as 'The Story of the Malakand Field Force: An Episode of Frontier War'.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Samana Range And The Battle Of Saragarhi - The Samana Range is a mountain ridge in the Kohat District of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, commanding the southern boundary of Tirah. The ridge lies between the Khanki Valley on the north and the Miranzai Valley on the south, and extends for some 30m. west from Hangu to the Samana Suk. It is some 6000 to 7000 ft. high.

 

Beyond the Samana Suk lies the pass, known as the Chagru Kotal, across which the Tirah Campaign marched in 1897. On the opposite hill on the other side of this road is the famous position of Dargai. After the Miranzai Expedition of 1891 this range was occupied by British troops and eleven posts were established along its crest, the two chief posts being Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan.

 

In 1897 all the forts on the Samana were attacked by the Orakzais, this is when the Battle of Saragarhi took place and this and the Afridi attack on the Khyber Pass were the two chief causes of the Tirah Expedition. When Lord Curzon reorganized the frontier in 1900, British garrisons were withdrawn from the Samana forts, which were then held by a corps of tribal police 450 strong, called the Samana Rifles.

 

The actual battle of Saragarhi was fought before the Tirah Campaign on 12 September 1897 between twenty-one Sikhs of the 36th Sikhs (now the 4th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment) of British India, defending an army post, and 10,000 Afghan and Orakzai tribesmen. The battle occurred in the North-West Frontier Province, which formed part of British India. It is now named the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and is part of Pakistan.

 

The contingent of the twenty-one Sikhs from the 36th Sikhs was led by Havildar Ishar Singh. They all chose to fight to the death. It is considered by some military historians as one of history's great last-stands. Sikh military personnel and Sikh civilians commemorate the battle every year on 12 September, as Saragarhi Day as the battle was giving the honour of a regimental holiday.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Tirah Campaign - The Tirah Campaign, often referred to in contemporary British accounts as the Tirah Expedition, was an Indian frontier war in 1897 - 1898. Tirah is a mountainous tract of country.

 

The Afridi tribe had for sixteen years received a subsidy from the government of British India for the safeguarding of the Khyber Pass, in addition to which the government had maintained for this purpose a local regiment entirely composed of Afridis, who were stationed in the pass.

 

Suddenly, however, the tribesmen rose, captured all the posts in the Khyber held by their own countrymen, and attacked the forts on the Samana Range near the city of Peshawar. The Battle of Saragarhi occurred at this stage.

 

It was estimated that the Afridis and Orakzais could, if united, bring from 40,000 to 50,000 men into the field. The preparations for the expedition occupied some time, and meanwhile British authorities first dealt with the Mohmand rising northwest of the Khyber Pass.

 

The general commanding was General Sir William Lockhart commanding the Punjab Army Corps; he had under him 34,882 men, British and Indian, in addition to 20,000 followers. The frontier post of Kohat was selected as the base of the campaign, and it was decided to advance along a single line.

 

On 18 October, the operations commenced, fighting ensuing immediately. The Dargai heights, which commanded the line of advance, were captured without difficulty, but abandoned owing to the want of water. On 20 October the same positions were stormed, with a loss of 199 of the British force killed and wounded. The progress of the expedition, along a difficult track through the mountains, was obstinately contested on 29 October at the Sampagha Pass leading to the Mastura valley, and on 31 October at the Arhanga Pass from the Mastura to the Tirah valley.

 

The force, in detached brigades, now proceeded to traverse the Tirah district in all directions, and to destroy the walled and fortified hamlets of the Afridis. The two divisions available for this duty numbered about 20,000 men.

 

A force about 3,200 strong commanded by Brigadier-General (afterwards Major General Sir Richard) Westmacott was first employed to attack Saran Sar, which was easily carried, but during the retirement the troops were hard pressed by the enemy and the casualties numbered sixty-four. On 11 November, Saran Sar was again attacked by the brigade of Brigadier-General (afterwards Sir Alfred) Gaselee. Experience enabled better dispositions to be made, and the casualties were only three.

 

The traversing of the valley continued, and on 13 November Brigadier General Francis James Kempster's third brigade visited the Waran valley via the Tseri Kandao Pass. Little difficulty was experienced during the advance, and several villages were destroyed; but on the 16th, during the return march, the rearguard was hotly engaged all day, and had to be relieved by fresh troops next morning. The casualties in the British force numbered seventy-two.

 

Almost daily the Afridis, too wise to risk general engagements, waged a perpetual guerrilla warfare, and the various bodies of troops engaged in foraging or survey duties were constantly attacked. On 21 November, a brigade under Brigadier-General Westmacott was detached to visit the Rajgul valley. The road was exceedingly difficult and steady opposition was encountered. The objectives were accomplished, and the casualties during the retirement alone numbered twenty-three.

 

The last task undertaken was the punishment of the Chamkannis, Mamuzais and Massozais. This was carried out by Brigadier-General Gaselee, who joined hands with the Kurram movable column ordered up for the purpose. The Mamuzais and Massozais submitted immediately, but the Chamkannis offered resistance on the 1/2 December, the British casualties numbering about thirty.

 

The Kurram column then returned to its camp, and Lockhart prepared to evacuate Tirah, despatching his two divisions by separate routes: the first under Major-General W. Penn Symons (d. 1899) to return via the Mastura valley, destroying the forts on the way, and to join at Bara, within easy march of Peshawar; the second division under Major General Yeatman Biggs (d. 1898), and, accompanied by Lockhart, to move along the Bara valley. The base was thus to be transferred from Kohat to Peshawar.

 

The return march began on 9 December. The cold was intense, 21 degrees of frost being registered before leaving Tirah. The movement of the first division though arduous was practically unopposed, but the 40 miles to be covered by the second division were contested almost throughout.

 

The actual march down the Bara valley (34 miles) commenced on 10 December, and involved four days of the hardest fighting and marching of the campaign. The road crossed and recrossed the icy stream, while snow, sleet and rain fell constantly. On the 10th, the casualties numbered about twenty.

 

On the 11th, some fifty or sixty casualties were recorded among the troops, but many followers were killed or died of exposure, and quantities of stores were lost. On the 12th, the column halted for rest. On the 13th, the march was resumed in improved weather, though the cold was still severe. The rearguard was heavily engaged, and the casualties numbered about sixty. On the 14th, after further fighting, a junction with the Peshawar column was effected. The first division, aided by the Peshawar column, now took possession of the Khyber forts without opposition.

 

Negotiations for peace were then begun with the Afridis, who under the threat of another expedition into Tirah in the spring at length agreed to pay the fines and to surrender the rifles demanded. The expeditionary force was broken up on 4 April 1898. A memorable feature of this campaign was the presence in the fighting line of the Imperial Service native troops under their own officers, while several of the best known of the Indian princes served on Lockhart's staff.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Mahsud Waziris Blockade - During the late 1890s, the Mullah Powindah led the Mahsud Waziris' on small raids on British outposts. These stopped after he met with the local British Political Agent in 1900.

 

The commissioner of Derajat, W.R.H. Merk, meets some 500 Mahsud Waziris and informed them that the whole tribe would be blockaded unless thy met the terms of the British government. The demand was for a payment of a fine of one 0.1 million.

 

Dreading a blockade much more than a punitive expedition the Mahsuds agree to pay the fine and promise not to continue the raids - although the raids stopped, no payment was ever made.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.