Khedive's Star

 

For Campaign Service In Egypt & the Anglo-Egyptian War 1882 -1889 (combined).

 

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

 

 

The Khedive’s Star was a British Empire campaign medal presented for service in Egypt. The medal was instituted in 1882 and was awarded by the Khedivate to Egyptian forces who had participated in the military campaigns in Egypt between 1882 and 1889.

 

It was also awarded to recipients of the British Egypt medal for the military actions involving the British Army during the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War.

 

 

The medal is of a five pointed star design and is 60mm high and 45mm wide and struck in bronze. The obverse of this medal bears an image of the Sphinx with the Pyramids behind with the inscription; ‘EGYPT’ above followed by a year written in Arabic below. 

 

There were four separate issues of the medal those being dated; ‘1882’, ‘1884’ and ‘1884-6’ plus an undated version.

 

The undated version was awarded to troops who did not qualify for the British Egypt medal.

 

The reverse depicts the monogram of the Khedive under a crown within a raised circle.

 

The ribbon suspender is a straight bar with a crescent and five pointed star in the centre which is attached to the star with a small metal loop passing through a small ring between the top two points of the medal.

 

The majority of these medals were issued unnamed or with some form of regimental stampings on the reverse. Some were privately named after issue.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 37mm wide and is dark blue in colour.

 

 

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.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The Anglo-Egyptian War.

 

The Anglo-Egyptian War - In 1878, an Egyptian army officer, Colonel Orabi Pasha, initiated a coup against Tewfik Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, because of grievances over disparities in pay between Egyptian and European employees, as well as other concerns. In January 1882 the British and French governments sent the 'Joint Note' to the Egyptian government, declaring their recognition of the Khedive's authority.

 

On 20 May 1882, British warships arrived off the coast of Alexandria. France had withdrawn at the last minute. On 11 June 1882, a riot occurred in Alexandria that killed 50 Europeans, though Colonel Orabi ordered his forces to put down the riot. On 11 July 1882, after confused orders, British warships began their bombardment of Alexandria.

 

The British fleet bombarded Alexandria from 11-13 July followed by British marines occupying it. The bombardment was very one sided, the British did not lose a single boat. Much of the city was destroyed by fires that broke out as a result of the bombardment. Orabi had his men start these fires to ruin the city that the British were taking over. The British then installed the Khedive Tawfiq, who declared Orabi a rebel and took away his political rights.

 

Orabi then counteracted by obtaining a fatwa, which was authorised by Al Azhar Shaykhs which stated that Tawfiq was a traitor who brought on the occupation of Egypt by a foreign nation and stated that he betrayed his religion. Orabi also ordered conscription and he declared war on the United Kingdom.

 

The British army tried to reach Cairo through Alexandria but was stopped for five weeks at Kafr-el-Dawwar. In August, a British army of over 40,000, commanded by Garnet Wolseley, invaded the Suez Canal Zone. He was authorised to destroy Orabi's forces and clear the country of all other rebels.

 

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.