Kabul To Kandahar Star

 

The Second Anglo-Afghan War 1870 - 1880.

 

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

 

 

The Kabul to Kandahar Star, also known as the Roberts Star or Kandahar Bronze Star was a British Empire campaign medal presented for service during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The medal was instituted in 1881 and was awarded to those troops under the command of General Frederick Roberts who participated in the 320 mile march from Kabul to the besieged city of Kandahar in Afghanistan between 9-31 August 1880.

 

This star should always be accompanied with the Afghanistan Medal 1878-80 with the ‘Khandahar’ clasp. The star is made of bronze from captured Afghan cannons taken from Ayub Khan at the battle of Kandahar.
 

 

This medal was struck in bronze and is 60mm high and 45mm wide. It is of a five pointed star design with a ball between each point except for the top which is surmounted by a crown.

 

At the centre of the obverse of this medal is the raised monogram of Queen Victoria consisting of the overlapping letters; ‘V.R.I.’ around which is a circular border containing the inscription; ‘KABUL TO KHANDAHAR’ and the date; ‘1880’ at the bottom. 

 

Above the crown is a ring through which the ribbon passes while the reverse of the star is plain.

 

The recipient's details can be found on the plain reverse indented in capitals or sloping script in the case of those issued to Indian troops.

 

The manufacturer, H. Jenkins and Sons apparently released a number of specimens impressed with their name on the reverse -'H. JENKINS & SONS, BIRMINGHAM'.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 40mm wide and the watered rainbow colour common to most East India Company medals. It is red on the left edge fading into white, which changed to yellow in the centre, fading back to white, until finally changing to blue at the right edge.

 

 

None were authorised for this medal.

 

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.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The Second Anglo-Afghan War.

- The Kabul To Kandahar March.

- The Battle Of Kandahar.

 

The Second Anglo-Afghan War - The Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan.

 

This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended after the British emerged victorious against the Afghan rebels and the Afghans agreed to let the British attain all of their geopolitical objectives from the Treaty of Gandamak.

 

Most of the British and Indian soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan. The Afghans were permitted to maintain internal sovereignty but they had to cede control of their nation's foreign relations to the British.

 

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 Kabul To Kandahar March - General Frederick Roberts was despatched to Afghanistan in September 1879, along with Maurice Abraham Cohen an expert in the Urdu language, to march on Kabul and seek retribution for the death of Sir Louis Cavagnari, the British envoy there. He was given the local rank of lieutenant-general on 11 November 1879.

 

After completing his mission to occupy Kabul, he was appointed commander of the Kabul and Kandahar field force and led his 10,000 troops across 300 miles of rough terrain in Afghanistan to relieve Kandahar and defeat Ayub Khan at the Battle of Kandahar on 1 September 1880.

 

For his services, Roberts received the thanks of Parliament, and was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) on 21 September 1880 and appointed Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) during 1880

 

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 Battle Of Kandahar - The Battle of Kandahar, 1 September 1880, was the last major conflict of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The battle in southern Afghanistan was fought between the British forces under command of General Roberts and the Afghan forces led by Ayub Khan, ended with a decisive British victory, inflicting nearly 3,000 casualties in total.

 

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.