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 British Raj." The name "Kaisar-i-Hind" ( ur, ''qaisar-e-hind'', hi, क़ैसर-इ-हिन्द) literally means "

Emperor of India Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948, that was used to signify their rule over British India, as its imperial head of state. Royal Proclamation of 22 ...

" in the

Hindustani language Hindustani (; Devanagari: , * * * * ; Perso-Arabic: , , ) is the '' lingua franca'' of Northern and Central India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, the lang ...

. The word ''kaisar'', meaning "emperor" is a derivative of the Roman imperial title

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

, 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. Based upon this, the title ''

Kaisar-i-Hind Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948, that was used to signify their rule over British India, as its imperial head of state. Royal Proclamation of 2 ...

'' was coined in 1876 by the orientalist

G.W. Leitner Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (14 October 1840 – 22 March 1899), also known as Gottlieb William Leitner, was a British orientalist. Early life and education Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner was born in Pest, Hungary, on 14 October 1840 to a Jewish fam ...

as the official imperial title for the British monarch in India.B.S. Cohn, "Representing Authority in Victorian India", in E. Hobsbawm and T. Ranger (eds.), ''The Invention of Tradition'' (1983), 165-209, esp. 201-2. The last ruler to bear it was

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

. ''Kaisar-i-Hind'' was also inscribed on the

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

side of the India General Service Medal (1909), as well as on the Indian Meritorious Service Medal.

History

Empress of India Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948, that was used to signify their rule over British India, as its imperial head of state. Royal Proclamation of 2 ...

or ''Kaisar-i-Hind'', a term coined by the orientalist

in a deliberate attempt to dissociate British imperial rule from that of preceding dynasties was taken by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

from 1 May 1876, and proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1877. The medal was instituted by

on 10 April 1900. The name translates as "Emperor of India" (a name also used for a rare Indian butterfly, ''

Teinopalpus imperialis ''Teinopalpus imperialis'', the Kaisar-i-Hind, is a rare species of swallowtail butterfly found from Nepal and north India east to north Vietnam. The common name literally means "emperor of India". The Kaisar-i-Hind is much sought after by butte ...

''). 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 The Indian Independence Act 1947 947 CHAPTER 30 10 and 11 Geo 6is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Act received Royal Assent on 18 Ju ...

. The awards of the gold medal were often published in the '' London Gazette'', while other classes were published in the ''

Gazette of India ''The Gazette of India'' is a public journal and an authorised legal document of the Government of India, published weekly by the Department of Publication, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. As a public journal, the ''Gazette'' prints offic ...

''.

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 A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

. 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 Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

initials. Its most famous recipient is Mohandas 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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Gandhi returned the medal in 1920 as part of the national campaign protesting in the support of the Khilafat Movement.

Notable recipients

Gold medal * Khan Saheb (1909) Bahadur (1917) Mirza Mohammed Baig philanthropist, Yemmiganur, A.P. * Sardar Khan Bahadur

Mir Abdul Ali Mir Abdul Ali (August 1840 – 14 June 1906, service in the Bombay Police from 1865 to 1903) with the titles of Khan Bahadur and Sardar, was an Indian police detective who served with the British Police Force in Bombay City. His father Akbar Ali h ...

, JP, Bombay, 9 November 1901 * Dr

Margaret Ida Balfour Margaret Ida Balfour, FRCOG (21 April 1866 – 1 December 1945) was a Scottish medical doctor and campaigner for women’s medical health issues, who made a significant contribution to the development of medicine in India. Her prolific writing ...

, Scottish doctor and campaigner for women's medical health issues * Dr

Mary Ronald Bisset Mary Ronald Bisset (10 April 1876 – 20 January 1953) was a physician and missionary. After she received her medical degrees, she went to Bhiwani, Punjab Province (British India), Punjab, India, where she was a medical missionary. She provided care ...

, Scottish physician and missionary for women's medical health. *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. * Richard Burn, for famine services in 1907–08"BURN, Sir Richard", in ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, online edition,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2014; retrieved 27 May 2014. *

Shankar Madhav Chitnavis Shankar Madhav Chitnavis (born 1867 - ) was a statutory officer and worked a deputy commissioner of Central Province. He was brother of Gangadhar Rao Chitnavis. He was member of First and Second Legislative Council of Central Provinces and Ber ...

, Esq., Deputy-Commissioner, Central Provinces, 9 November 1901 * Major General Thomas Arthur Cooke, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * The Lady Curzon of Kedleston, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Major Herbert Edward Deane, R.A.M.C., 9 November 1901 * Major Thomas Edward Dyson, MB, CM, Indian Medical Service, 9 November 1901 * 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 *

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

(returned 1920) * Major General Sir William Forbes Gatacre, chairman of the plague committee of Bombay City 1896 and 1897 * N S Glazebrook, Esq., JP, of Bombay, 9 November 1901 * Very Rev John A. Graham, D.D., for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj *

Thomas Holderness Sir Thomas William Holderness, 1st Baronet, (11 June 1849 – 16 September 1924) was the first former member of the Indian Civil Service to be appointed to the post of Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India (although Sir George Russell Cler ...

, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Sydney Hutton Cooper Hutchinson, Esq.,

AMICE The amice is a liturgical vestment used mainly in the Roman Catholic church, Western Orthodox church, Lutheran church, some Anglican, Armenian and Polish National Catholic churches. Description The amice consists of a white cloth connected to t ...

, Superintendent of Telegraphs, 9 November 1901 * The Most Hon

Alice Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading Alice Edith Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, (''née'' Cohen; – 30 January 1930) was the first wife of Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, and a prominent philanthropist in colonial India. Her husband served as Viceroy and Governor-Gener ...

* Reverend

William Henry Jackson William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942) was an American photographer, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West. He was a great-great nephew of Samuel Wilson, the progenitor of Am ...

of the Blind School, Kemmendine, Rangoon, awarded the gold medal for public services in India, 1930. * Colonel Sir

Samuel Swinton Jacob Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

, KCIE, Indian Staff Corps, 9 November 1901 *

Hakim Ajmal Khan Mohammad Ajmal Khan (11 February 1868 – 29 December 1927), better known as Hakim Ajmal Khan, was a physician in Delhi, India, and one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia University. He also founded another institution, Ayurved ...

, physician and one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia University * 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. * Taw Sein Ko, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Harrington Verney Lovett, Esq., Indian Civil Service, 9 November 1901 * Elizabeth Adelaide Manning, awarded the medal in 1904 for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Sir

Francis William Maclean Sir Francis William Maclean (13 December 1844 – 11 November 1913) was an English barrister and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1891. Maclean was the third son of Alexander Maclean, of Barrow Hedges, Cars ...

, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Herbert Frederick Mayes, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, Indian Civil Service, 9 Nov 1901 * Lieutenant-Colonel James McCloghry, FRCS, Indian Medical Service, 9 November 1901 * Miss Eleanor McDougall, awarded Medal of the First Class in June 1923 for her work as Principal of the Women's Christian College, Madras * A Donald Miller, MBE, (1939) for work with the Leprosy Mission 1921-1942 * Rev Charles Henry Monahan, awarded Medal of the First Class in February 1937 for his work as General Superintendent, Methodist Missionary Society, Madras * Olive Monahan, Gold Medal with Bar, retired Chief Medical Officer Kalyani Hospital, Madras *

Sarojini Naidu Sarojini Naidu (''née'' Chattopadhyay; 13 February 1879 – 2 March 1949) was an Indian political activist, feminist and poet. A proponent of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti-imperialistic ideas, she was an important person in Ind ...

, Received gold medal for organising flood relief work in Hyderabad, later returned in protest over

Jallianwala Bagh massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independenc ...

. * Amina Hydari - social worker, reformer, activist. Received medal for organising flood relief work in Hyderabad during the Musi floods. *

Vidyagauri Nilkanth Vidyagauri Nilkanth was an Indian social reformer, educationist, and writer. She was also one of the first two women graduates in Gujarat. Early life Vidyagauri Nilkanth was born on 1 June 1876 in Ahmedabad. She was the daughter of a judicial ...

, social reformer, educationist, and writer * William Florey Noyce, Esq., Extra-Assistant Commissioner and Assistant Secretary to the Financial Commissioner, Burma, 9 November 1901 * Dr John David O′Donnell, MBE, VD, FRCSEd, Chief Medical and Sanitary Officer, Kolar Gold Fields, Mysore, July 1926 * Babu Sri Ram, Rai Bahadur, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * V. P. Madhava Rao, CIE *

Mary Reed (missionary) Mary Reed (1854-1943) was an American Christian missionary to India. For the first ten years of her career, she worked as a school teacher in her home state of Ohio. In 1884, she went to India as a missionary of the Cincinnati Branch of the Woman' ...

, 1917, for missionary services to lepers * Thomas d'Esterre Roberts, S.J., Archbishop of Bombay, for services to the forces during World War II * HH Madho Rao Scindia, Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior * Lieutenant-Colonel Sir David Semple, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Rai Bahadur Kameleshwari Pershad Singh of Monghyr, Bengal * HH Ganga Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner * Maharaja Rameshwar Singh Bahadur of Darbhanga * Donald Mackenzie Smeaton CSI, Scottish Liberal MP and Indian civil servant *

Cornelia Sorabji Cornelia Sorabji (15 November 1866 – 6 July 1954) was an Indian lawyer, social reformer and writer. She was the first female graduate from Bombay University, and the first woman to study law at Oxford University. Returning to India after he ...

, Gold Medal with Bar, first female advocate in India, first woman to practice law in India and Britain * Robert Barton Stewart, Esq., Indian Civil Service, 9 November 1901 * Dr William Stokes, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Rev Dr Frederick Vincent Thomas, Baptist Medical Mission, Palwal *

Edgar Thurston Edgar Thurston CIE (1855– 12 October 1935) was the British Superintendent at the Madras Government Museum from 1885 to 1908 who contributed to research studies in the fields of zoology, ethnology and botany of India, and later also publish ...

, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Gajadhar Upadhaya, Esq., Chief Regimental Religious Teacher, 1st (K.G.V.s Own) G.R. urkha Rifles*

Raja Ravi Verma Raja Ravi Varma ( ml, രാജാ രവിവർമ്മ; 29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter and artist. He is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. His works are one of the best examples ...

, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Captain Edmund Wilkinson, FRCS, Indian Medical Service, 9 November 1901 * HH Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra, Maharaja of Venkatagiri. * Arthur Delaval Younghusband, civil servant, awarded for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer * Maganbhai Bavajibhai Patel "Bavaji Nivas" Ode *Sir Kashirao Holkar (Dada Saheb) KCSI KIH *Dr Jean Murray Orkney, Chief Medical Officer, Women's Medical Service * Jane Leeke Latham, missionary head in 1938. *Dr Mohammod Sharif for exceptional services in earthquake affected areas more noticeably in Quetta, Pakistan. Awarded the medal in 1930s * Dhanvanthi Rama Rau for her work with women’s associations. Silver medal * AMIR SARDAR SHAH, 1919, for distinguished service in the advancement medical field, being a doctor in the British Raj * Kheroth Bose, medical missionary, for bringing medical care to rural India. * Sita Devi Sahiba, Maharajkumarani of Kapurthala, New Year's Honours list 1944 * Alice Headwards-Hunter, surgeon, 1945 * Dr Mina MacKenzie, medical doctor for over 30 years of public service in India, including helping control the cholera epidemic during the 1906 Kumbh Mela pilgrimage * Dr Alexandrina Matilda MacPhail, medical missionary * Alexander Steel, for services to cotton growing * Helen Vorley, for her part in facilitating the evacuation of 300,000 Indians from Burma in 1942 * Sir William James Wanless, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Dr Lilian Arratoon, surgeon, March !945 For public service in India Bronze medal * Clara Anne Williams (née Rendall), 1946, for her work during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

being in-charge of

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

Work in

Dooars The Dooars or Duars ( as, দুৱাৰ, duar, rkt, দুৱাৰ, duar, bn, দুয়ার, duyar) () are the alluvial floodplains in eastern-northeastern India that lie south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas and north of the ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. Unknown grade * Kaviraja Shyamaldas (1836-1893), one of the first modern Indian historian and author of Vir Vinod; Kaviraja and

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the e ...

Udaipur State Kingdom of Mewar, sometimes known as Udaipur State, was ruled by the Sisodia dynasty. It was an independent kingdom in Rajputana region of India. It was established around the 7th century as minor rulers of the Nagada-Ahar region of Udaipur an ...

* Dr. Jitendera Kumar Mukherjee, Head surgeon of Leperacy Asylum in Nanni, Allahabad * Frederick Booth-Tucker, Commissioner in the Salvation Army * General Sir Charles John Burnett * Liston Garthwaite (May, 1900) * Isabel Kerr (1923), medical missionary, for working with lepers *Florence Mary Macnaghten * HH Sayajirao Gaekwad III, Maharaja of Baroda * HH Bhagvatsingh, Maharaja of Gondal * HH Tukojirao Holkar II, Maharaja of Indore * HH Sultan Shah Jahan, Begum of Bhopal *

Khan Bahadur Raja Jahandad Khan Khan Bahadur Raja Jahandad Khan, (1849–1906) was a politician and Chief of the Gakhars and a descendant of Sultan Sarang Khan Ghakkar, King of Potohar. Raja Jahandad took the title of ''Khan Bahadur'' on 24 May 1881 and the Companion of the ...

* Seth Jehangir Hormusji Kothari, merchant and philanthropist from

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

(present-day

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

) * HH Khengarji III, Maharao of Kutch * Pandita Ramabai, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Edward Sell, missionary and Islamic scholar * Udai Pratap Nath Shah Deo, Maharaja of Chotanagpur * HH Pratap Singh, Maharaja of Idar * HH Partab Singh, Maharaja of Kashmir * HH Ram Singh, Maharaja of Bharatpur * HH Nihal Singh, Rana of Dholpur * Dr

Howard Somervell Theodore Howard Somervell OBE, FRCS (16 April 1890 – 23 January 1975) was an English surgeon, mountaineer, painter and missionary who was a member of two expeditions to Mount Everest in the 1920s, and then spent nearly 40 years workin ...

, OBE, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Sir

Robert Stanes Sir Robert Stanes (13 May 1841 – 6 September 1936) was a British businessman and philanthropist in India who founded United Nilgiri Tea Estates (UNTE) in Coimbatore. Stanes was born in Aldgate, London, the eighth of nine children of James ...

, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Parukutty Nethyar Amma (Lady Rama Varma of Cochin) received the medal in 1919 for public work. * Sister R. S. Subbalakshmi, educationist and social worker, Madras, for the educating and upliftment of child widows, in 1920 * HH Ayilyam Thirunal, Maharaja of Travancore * HH Visakham Thirunal, Maharaja of Travancore * Sir Vicar-ul-Umra, for distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj * Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visveswaraiah, KCIE, Indian engineer, scholar, statesman and the Diwan of Mysore * Charlotte Viall Wiser, co-author of ''Behind Mud Walls'',

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disciplines. In many ...

, and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

* Mona Chandravati Gupta, Myanmar-born Indian social worker, educationist and the founder of Nari Sewa Samiti, a non governmental organization working for the social and economic upliftment of women * Silverine Swer, Khasi environmental and social activist * Khan Bahadur Abu Nasr Muhammad Yahia, Zamindar and Honorary Magistrate of Sylhet, for public services in British India

References

External links

Image of obverse side of Gold Kaisar-i-Hind Medal
at medals.org.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaisar-I-Hind Orders, decorations, and medals of British India Awards established in 1900 * Awards disestablished in 1947 Civil awards and decorations of India Titles in India

History

Medal grades and design

Notable recipients

See also

References

External links