Scinde Medal

 

The Scinde Campaign 1843.

 

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

 

 

The Scinde Medal was a British Empire campaign medal presented for service during the Scinde Campaign. The medal was instituted in September 1843 and was awarded to both company soldiers and those soldiers of the 22nd Regiment of Foot who participated in the Scinde campaign against the Amirs of Sindh under the command of Major General Sir Charles Napier.

 

Napier was sent to Sindh for the purpose of quelling the Muslim rulers of the region, who had made various hostile demonstrations against the British government after the termination of the First Anglo-Afghan War, conducting frequent raids on British convoys travelling between India and Afghanistan.

 

His campaign resulted, after the victories of Miani and Hyderabad, in the complete subjugation of the province of Sindh, and its annexation to eastern dominions. The medal was issued in three variations reflecting service in the battles at Miani or Hyderabad or both.

 

 

The medal is circular 36mm in diameter and was struck in silver. The obverse of this medal is common to all issues, bearing the head of Queen Victoria with the inscription; 'VICTORIA REGINA'.

 

However, there are three different versions of the reverse available - each for the different actions fought during the Scinde campaign.

 

The first shows the Royal Crown of Queen Victoria at the top and a laurel wreath containing the inscription; 'MEEANEE 1843'. This particular reverse is very rare with only 65 being issued to the 22nd Foot, the remainder being awarded to native troops.

 

The second is identical, but with the inscription; 'HYDERABAD 1843' within the wreath, while the third strike has the inscription; 'MEEANEE, HYDERABAD 1843'. 

 

The ribbon suspender is of the plain straight and non-swivelling style attached directly to the medal.

 

The recipient's details can be found on the medal's rim found, either in block capital letters or engraved in script.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 44mm wide and the watered rainbow colour common to most Honourable 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 Scinde Campaign.

- The Battle Of Miani.

- The Battle Of Hyderabad.

- The Honourable East India Company.

- The Army Of The Honourable East India Company.

 

The Scinde Campaign - In 1802 as Mir Ghulam Ali Khan Talpur Baloch succeeded as the Nawab in the Scinde provience, internal tension broke out in the province and in 1803, prompting the Maratha Empire to declare a war of aggression against Sindh and Berar Subah, in which Arthur Wellesley took a leading role causing much early suspicion between the Emirs of Sindh and the British Empire. The Honourable East India Company made its first contacts in the Sindhi port city of Thatta, which according to a report was:

 

'…a city as large as London containing 50,000 houses which were made of stone and mortar with large verandahs some three or four stories high ... the city has 3,000 looms... the textiles of Sindh were the flower of the whole produce of the East, the international commerce of Sindh gave it a place among that of Nations, Thatta has 400 schools and 4,000 Dhows at its docks, the city is guarded by well armed Sepoys'.

 

British and Bengal Presidency forces under General Charles James Napier arrived in Sindh in the nineteenth century and conquered Sindh in 1843. The Baloch coalition led by Talpur Balochs under Mir Nasir Khan Talpur Baloch were defeated in the Battle of Miani, during which 5,000 Talpur Baloch were killed. Shortly afterward, Hoshu Sheedi commanded another army at the Battle of Dubbo, where 5,000 Baloch were killed.

 

The first Agha Khan helped the British in their conquest of Sindh. As result he was granted a lifetime pension. A British journal by Thomas Postans mentions the captive Sindhi Amirs: ‘The Amirs as being the prisoners of 'Her Majesty' they are maintained in strict seclusion; they are described as Broken-Hearted and Miserable men, maintaining much of the dignity of fallen greatness, and without any querulous or angry complaining at this unlivable source of sorrow, refusing to be comforted’.

 

Within weeks, Charles Napier and his forces occupied Sindh. After 1853, the British divided Sindh into districts. Sindh was later made part of British India's Bombay Presidency. Sindh became a separate province in 1935.

 

Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi pioneered the famous Sindhi Muslim Hur Freedom Movement against colonialists for the freedom of Sindh. Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi was hanged on 20 March 1943 in Hyderabad, Sindh.

 

His burial place is not known. During the British period, railways, printing presses and bridges were introduced in the province. Writers like Mirza Kalich Beg compiled and traced the literary history of Sindh.

 

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 Miani - The Battle of Miani (or Battle of Meeanee) was a battle between British forces under Sir Charles Napier and the Talpur Amirs of Sindh, of today's Pakistan. The Battle took place on 17 February 1843 at Miani, Sindh in what is now Pakistan.

 

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 Hyderabad - The Battle of Hyderabad was fought in March 1843 between the British colonial empire and the Talpur Emirs of Sindh near Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan.

 

A small British force, led by Captain James Outram, who were attacked by the Talpur Balochis and forced to make a fort of the British residency, which they successfully defended until they finally escaped to a waiting river steamer.

 

After the British victory at Meeanee (also spelt Miani), Sir Charles Napier continued his advance to the Indus River and attacked the Sindh Capital of Hyderabad. Hyderabad was defended by 20,000 troops under the command of Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur and Hosh Mohammad.

 

Charles Napier with a force of only 6,000 men but with artillery support stormed the city. During the battle Hosh Mohammad was killed and his forces routed; Baluchistani resistance collapsed and Sindh came under British rule.

 

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 Honourable East India Company - The East India Company, originally chartered as the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies, and more properly called the Honourable East India Company, was an English and later (from 1707) British joint-stock company formed for pursuing trade with the East Indies but which ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent, Qing Dynasty China, North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan.

 

Commonly associated with trade in basic commodities, which included cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea and opium, the Company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth in 1600, making it the oldest among several similarly formed European East India Companies. Shares of the company were owned by wealthy merchants and aristocrats.

 

The government owned no shares and had only indirect control. The Company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own private armies, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company rule in India effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey and lasted until 1858 when, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control of India in the era of the new British Raj.

 

The company was dissolved in 1874 as a result of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act passed one year earlier, as the Government of India Act had by then rendered it vestigial, powerless and obsolete. Its functions had been fully absorbed into the official government machinery of British India and its private presidency armies had been nationalised by the British Crown.

 

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 Army Of The Honourable East India Company - The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India. The presidency armies were named after the presidencies: the Bengal Army, the Madras Army and the Bombay Army. Initially, only Europeans served as commissioned or non-commissioned officers. In time, Indian Army units were garrisoned from Peshawar in the north, to Sind in the west, and to Rangoon in the east.

 

The army was engaged in the wars to extend British control in India (the Mysore, Maratha and Sikh wars) and beyond (the Burma, Afghan, First and Second Opium Wars, and the Expedition to Abyssinia).

 

The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the Company until the Indian Rebellion of 1857, when the Crown took over the Company and its three armies. In 1895 the three presidency armies were merged into a united Indian Army.

 

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.