The Kelat-I-Ghilzie Medal is a campaign medal issued by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, to the defenders of the fort at Kelat-I-Ghilzie during the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking si ...

History

After the massacre of General Elphinstone's Army during the

1842 retreat from Kabul The 1842 retreat from Kabul, also called the Massacre of Elphinstone's army, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, was the retreat of the British and East India Company forces from Kabul. An uprising in Kabul forced the then commander, Major-Genera ...

, the only forces left in Afghanistan were at

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

and Kelat-I-Ghilzie, a fort between

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

and

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

. The garrison numbering 932, (55 Europeans and 877 Natives), consisted of Shah Shoja's 3rd Infantry Battalion, three companies of the 43rd Bengal Native Infantry, forty European gunners, sixty

Bombay Sappers and Miners The Bombay Engineer Group, or the ''Bombay Sappers'' as they are informally known, are a regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Bombay Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency army of the British Raj. ...

, and eight British officers, all under the command of Captain John Halket Craigie. All were members of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, with no

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

units present. For most of the winter, the garrison was besieged under very difficult circumstances. Finally, on 19 May 1842, a force was sent to draw off the garrison and relieve them from their post. Before the relief force arrived, the garrison repulsed one final major attack by some six thousand Afghans on 21 May 1842. A few days after this attack the garrison was finally relieved by the forces under Sir William Nott, on 26 May 1842. For the courage displayed by the garrison at Kelat-i-Ghilzie, the East India Company, on 4 October 1842, authorised the medal to be awarded to all troops who participated in the protracted siege. A testament to the distinguished service of the native troops is evident in the fact that the troops of Shah Shoja's 3rd Infantry Battalion were taken into the

Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Govern ...

as the Kelat-i-Ghilzie Regiment.

Description

The medal, designed by

William Wyon William Wyon (Birmingham 1795 – 29 October 1851), was official chief engraver at the Royal Mint from 1828 until his death. Biography Wyon was born in Birmingham and, in 1809, was apprenticed to his father, Peter Wyon who was an engraver a ...

, was silver and in diameter, with the following design:
The obverse contains a laurel wreath with

mural crown A mural crown ( la, corona muralis) is a crown or headpiece representing city walls, towers, or fortresses. In classical antiquity, it was an emblem of tutelary deities who watched over a city, and among the Romans a military decoration. Later th ...

at the top of a shield with the inscription KELAT-I-GHILZIE.
The reverse has a

trophy of arms A trophy or trophy of arms in art and architecture is a real or depicted artistically assembled display of weaponry and other militaria, often captured from a defeated enemy, as an ornament designed for the purpose of triumphalist display by a ...

on top of a plaque bearing the inscription 'INVICTA MDCCCXLII'.
The suspension consists of a straight steel suspender, attached to the medal by way of a steel clip and pin.
The ribbon is the watered rainbow coloured ribbon 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.
The name of the recipient was engraved in script on the edge of the medals issued to British personnel. Medals issued to indigenous troops were often not named.

Medals of the Anglo-Afghan War

Four separate campaign medals were awarded to British led forces who served in the

Afghan War War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

of 1839 to 1842: *

Ghuznee Medal The Ghuznee Medal is a British campaign medal awarded for participation in the storming of the fortress of Ghuznee in Afghanistan, on 21 to 23 July 1839 by troops of the British and Indian Armies. This action, the Battle of Ghazni, took place du ...

. Storming of Ghuznee fortress, 21–23 July 1839. * Jellalabad Medal. Defence of Jalalabad, 12 November 1841 – 7 April 1842. *Medal for the Defence of Kelat-I-Ghilzie. Defence of Kelat-I-Ghilzie, February–26 May 1842. *

Candahar, Ghuznee, Cabul Medal The Candahar, Ghuznee, Cabul Medal was awarded to those who took part in the campaign in the spring and summer of 1842, under the command of General William Nott, to restore British standing in Afghanistan after earlier defeats during the First ...

. Major operations of 1842, the final year of the war.

References

{{Campaign medals of the Honourable East India Company British campaign medals Medals of the Honourable East India Company