Order of British India

Last updated

Order of British India
Order of British India.jpg
Insignia of the Order, Second Class (above) and First Class, prior to 1939, (below)
TypeOrder of merit
Awarded forLong, faithful and honourable service
Presented bythe British monarch
EligibilityOfficers of the British Indian Army holding a Viceroy's commission, Indian Officers of Indian States Forces, Frontier Corps and Military Police
Post-nominalsOBI
StatusNo longer awarded after 1947
Established17 April 1837
OBI 1837-8.jpg
Ribbon 1837–1838
OBI 1838-1939.jpg
Ribbon 1838–1939
OBI 1939-1947 1.jpg
First Class ribbon 1939–1947
OBI 1939-1947 2.jpg
Second Class ribbon 1939–1947
Precedence
Next (higher) Royal Red Cross (Class II)
Next (lower) Kaisar-i-Hind Medal [1]
1st class Insignia of design awarded from 1939, with presentation case Sardar Bahdaur Title of Honorary Captain Sardar Bahadur Ranjit Singh.jpg
1st class Insignia of design awarded from 1939, with presentation case

The Order of British India was an order of merit established in 1837 by the East India Company for "long, faithful and honourable service". [2] The company's powers were removed after the Indian Mutiny, and the Order was incorporated into the British Honours System in 1859. The order became obsolete in 1947, after the partition of British India into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.

Contents

The Order

The Order of British India was awarded by the Viceroy of India for long, faithful and honourable service by Viceroy's Commissioned (i.e. native Indian) Officers in the Indian Army. While the Order could be awarded for distinguished service on a particular campaign, it was more often awarded to selected serving officers of between 20 and 30 years service.

Establishment

When first ordered by Lord William Bentinck in April 1837, the Order was intended as a means of providing recognition for serving Indian officers in the East India Company's military forces. These so-called "Native Officers" faced slow promotion under a system that was based on advancement through seniority. The 1st Class of the Order conferred the title of sirdar bahadoor on the 100 subedars and risaldars (senior Indian officer ranks) to whom membership was limited, plus an increase in salary of two rupees a day. Appointments to the 2nd Class, limited to a further 100 Indian officers of any rank, entitled the recipient to the title of bahadoor and a more modest wage increase. In an article published in the Calcutta Review in 1856 Henry Lawrence however expressed the opinion that the Order had become "virtually the reward of old age" with its wearers mostly limited to retired pensioners.

Later history

In September 1939 eligibility was extended to include native officers serving in the Indian States Forces, Frontier Corps and Military Police, [3] and further extended in January 1944 to include native officers and Indian Warrant Officers in the Royal Indian Navy and the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery, as well as foreign officers, who could be appointed honorary members of the Order. [4]

Appearance

The Order was awarded in two classes, both worn from a neck ribbon: [5]
First Class. The badge consisted of a gold star 1.7 inches (43 mm) in diameter composed of rays of gold with in the centre the words ORDER OF BRITISH INDIA encircling a lion on a background of light blue enamel, surrounded by a laurel wreath, surmounted by a Crown. The enamel behind the wording was dark blue until 1939, when it was changed to the same light blue as appears behind the lion. [5] Recipients of the first class were entitled to use the title Sardar Bahadur (heroic leader). [3]
Second class. The badge comprised a slightly smaller gold star 1.5 inches (38 mm) in diameter of similar design to the first class, but without the crown and with the centre enamel in dark blue enamel. Recipients of the second class were entitled to the title Bahadur (hero). [3]

Holders of both classes could use the post-nominal letters OBI. [3]

All initial awards to the Order were in the second class, with appointments to the first class made from existing members of the second class. [2]

The ribbon was originally sky-blue, but changed to dark red in 1838 after it was found that the hair oil favoured by Indian soldiers stained the ribbon. From September 1939 the first class ribbon had two thin light blue strips added towards the centre of the dark red ribbon, while the second class had one light blue stripe added to the centre of the ribbon. [2]

Pakistan awarded the Order to a small number of seconded British officers who rendered outstanding services at the time of independence. [6] [5]

Recipients

The following is an incomplete list of people appointed to the Order of British India:

First Class

Honorary Captain Muhammad Khan in the picture wearing OBI first class medal Honorary Captain Muhammad Khan OBI First Class.jpg
Honorary Captain Muhammad Khan in the picture wearing OBI first class medal
Portrait of honorary Subedar Major Bahadur MULTANI RAM with his medals(first class) and insignia. MULTANI RAM.jpg
Portrait of honorary Subedar Major Bahadur MULTANI RAM with his medals(first class) and insignia.
Honorary Lieutenant Pehlwan Khan OBI First Class Honorary Lieutenant Pehlwan Khan OBI First class.jpeg
Honorary Lieutenant Pehlwan Khan OBI First Class
Honorary Captain 'Sardar Bahadur' Rewat Singh Chandawat Gotan War. Highly decorated for World War 1 Honorary Captain Sardar Bahadur Rewat Singh Chandawat.jpg
Honorary Captain 'Sardar Bahadur' Rewat Singh Chandawat Gotan War. Highly decorated for World War 1
Honorary Captain Sardar Bahadur, Mihr Din, OBI (1st Class) Capt. Mihr Din(1stS&M).jpg
Honorary Captain Sardar Bahadur, Mihr Din, OBI (1st Class)

Second class

Notes

  1. ORDER OF WEAR, Website of the UK government: Directgov, date accessed 4 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 H. Taprell Dorling (1956). Ribbons and Medals. A. H. Baldwin & Son, London. p. 42.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "London Gazette, 26 Sept 1939, page 6511" . Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  4. "London Gazette, 21 January 1944, page 434" . Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 John W. Mussell, ed. (2015). Medal Yearbook 2015. Token Publishing Limited, Honiton, Devon. p. 88.
  6. Edward C Joslin. Observer Book of British Awards and Medals. p. 42. Published by Frederick Warne & Co, 1973.
  7. Army Headquarters, India (6 February 2012). Indian Army List January 1919 — Volume 3. Andrews UK Limited. ISBN   9781781502594.
  8. Army Headquarters, India (4 August 2023). Leading Officials, Nobles, And Personages In The Native States Of Rajasthan. Andrews UK Limited. ISBN   9781781502594.
  9. "When Army runs in the DNA".
  10. Field Marshal Lord Roberts, Forty-one Years in India 1897. Note, page 208.
  11. Various (15 March 2007). Hyderabad State List of Leading Officials, Nobles and Personages. Potter Press. p. 4. ISBN   978-1-4067-3137-8.
  12. Singh, Raja Jeoraj. "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, I JANUARY, 1941" (PDF). thegazette.co.uk.
  13. Army Headquarters, India (3 February 2012). Indian Army List January 1919 — Volume 2. Andrews UK Limited. ISBN   9781781502570.
  14. Various (15 March 2007). Alwar State List of Leading Officials, Nobles and Personages. Potter Press. p. 4. ISBN   978-1-4067-3137-8.
  15. 33 Years record of unbroken service (1911–1944). Served in both world wars. Madras War Review journal. 21 January 1944.
  16. "The London Gazette". 20 November 1936. p. 7495.
  17. Condon, W.E.H. (1962). The Frontier Force Regiment. Gale & Polden. p. 574.
  18. "File:Sardar Bahadur Tiku Singh Thapa, OBI, KPM, CM, 2nd in Command, Gurkha Military Police.jpg – Wikimedia Commons". commons.wikimedia.org. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  19. Thapa, Tiku (February 1937). "Sardar Bahadur" (PDF). Edinburgh Gazette. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  20. iarchive:in.ernet.dli.2015.169153
  21. The award of the OBI to him was gazetted in August 1897, as he was one of a special contingent that went to London to present a Guard of Honour to Queen Victoria, on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. Naval and Army Illustrated August 1897; also see Indian Army Lists, 1902, 1911
  22. Captain Bahadur Inayat Ullah Asmi, OBI served in two World Wars, as Subedar and Captain (King's Commission); he died in 1947 in Lahore.
  23. Subedar-Major Bahadur Jagindar Singh, OBI "" O'Dwyer, Michael Francis (1918). War Speeches. Lahore, Punjab: Superintendent Government Printing. p.  129. his conspicuous gallantry in action on 17 November 1914 when with a party of Sappers under the command of a British Officer he was always to the fore and led his men with great determination into the enemy's trenches. Subedar-Major Jagindar Singh, Saini Sikh of Kheri Salabatpur in Bupar, gained the 2nd Class Order of Merit at the battle of Loos in Belgium for striking leadership and conspicuous bravery in action after most of his company and all but one British Officer in his regiment had been killed or wounded. This officer was also awarded the 2nd Class of the Order of British India for distinguished conduct in the field.
  24. vide GGO No. 430 of 1898. OBI vide Gazette of India No. 872 of 1917.
  25. "The Gazette of India, 1903, January-June". 6 October 1903 via Internet Archive.
  26. "India - Official Gazette". Foreign Law Guide. Retrieved 31 December 2023.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajputana Rifles</span> Rifle regiment of the Indian Army

The Rajputana Rifles is the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally a part of the British Indian Army, when six previously existing regiments were amalgamated to form six battalions of the 6th Rajputana Rifles. In 1945, the numeral designation was dropped from the title and in 1947 the regiment was transferred to the newly independent Indian Army. Since independence, the regiment has been involved in a number of conflicts against Pakistan, as well as contributing to the Custodian Force (India) in Korea under the aegis of the United Nations in 1953–54 and to the UN Mission to the Congo in 1962. As a rifle regiment, it uses a bugle horn as its insignia, the same as the British Light Division, but unlike its British counterparts, the Rajputana Rifles march at the same march pace used in the Indian Army as a whole.

Subedar is a military rank in the militaries of South Asia roughly equivalent to that of a warrant officer. Historically classes in the British Indian Army as a Viceroy's commissioned officer, the rank was retained in the Indian Army and Pakistan Army after independence. The rank of subedar is classed as a junior commissioned officer rank in India and Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maratha Light Infantry</span> Infantry regiment of Indian army

The Maratha Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It traces its lineage to the Bombay Sepoys, raised in 1768, making it the most senior light infantry regiment in the Indian Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">17th Horse (Poona Horse)</span> Indian Army regiment

The Poona Horse is an armoured regiment in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. The regiment, known before independence as The Poona Horse, was raised as a regular cavalry regiment in the Bombay Presidency army of the East India Company. It was formed from the 3rd Regiment of Bombay Light Cavalry, raised in 1820, and the Poona Auxiliary Horse, raised about 1817–18. The latter unit was absorbed into the regular forces about 1860 and the two regiments later became the 33rd Queen Victoria's Own Light Cavalry and the 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Order of Merit</span>

The Indian Order of Merit (IOM) was a military and civilian decoration of British India. It was established in 1837, although following the Partition of India in 1947 it was decided to discontinue the award and in 1954 a separate Indian honours system was developed, to act retrospectively to 1947. For a long period of time the IOM was the highest decoration that a native member of the British Indian Army could receive and initially it had three divisions. This was changed in 1911 when Indian servicemen became eligible for the Victoria Cross. A civilian division of the IOM also existed between 1902 and 1939, however, it was only conferred very rarely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)</span> Indian Army regiment

4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) is a part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army, which had its beginnings as an irregular cavalry regiment during the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ganda Singh Datt</span>

Sardar Bahadur Risaldar Major Ganda Singh Datt, was a decorated soldier in the British Indian Army, who served in the 19th Regiment of Bengal Lancers.

Sardar Bahadur Risaldar Major and Honorary Captain Bakshi Tirath Ram Vaid, (1857–1924), also known as Tirath Ram, was a decorated soldier of the British Indian Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Horse (Skinner's Horse)</span> Indian Army regiment

The 1st Horse (Skinner's Horse) is a regiment of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. It traces its origins as a cavalry regiment from the times of the East India Company, followed by its service in the British Indian Army and finally, after independence as the fourth oldest and one of the senior cavalry regiments of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)</span> Armoured regiment of the Indian Army

The 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse) is one of the oldest and a highly decorated armoured regiment of the Indian Army. The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of two of the oldest regiments of the Bengal Army – the 2nd Royal Lancers (Gardner's Horse) and the 4th Cavalry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Frontier Rifles</span> Military unit

The Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) are a State Armed Police Force for the Indian state of West Bengal. They are a part of the West Bengal Police, as opposed to the Kolkata jurisdiction. The Border Guards Bangladesh are descended from the portion of the Eastern Frontier Rifles given to Pakistan during the partitioning of 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Horse (Deccan Horse)</span> Regiment of the Indian Army

The Deccan Horse or 9 Horse is one of the oldest and most decorated armoured regiments of the Indian Army. The Royal Deccan Horse , which was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army was formed from the amalgamation of two regiments after World War I. They saw service from the Mutiny of 1857 up to and including World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st Horse (Central India Horse)</span> Indian Army unit

The Central India Horse was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army and is presently part of the Indian Army Armoured Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Distinguished Service Medal</span> Award

The Indian Distinguished Service Medal (IDSM) was a military decoration awarded by the British Empire to Indian citizens serving in the Indian armed forces and military police. When it was instituted in 1907 it was the second highest award available to Indians, behind the Indian Order of Merit (IOM). However, when eligibility for the Victoria Cross was extended to cover all Commonwealth subjects in 1911, the IDSM became third highest in the order of precedence. It was instituted in order to recognise acts of gallantry that did not meet the standards required of the IOM. The award was discontinued following the partition and subsequent independence of India in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talagang</span> City in Punjab, Pakistan

Talagang is a city and the headquarters of the Talagang District located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is part of the Potohar Plateau and lies on the north of Salt Range and east of the Kala Chita range. Talagang is known for its literature and has produced prolific writers and poets including Dr. Satyapal Anand, who was born in 1931, in the adjoining village Kot Sarang. The area largely depends upon arid agriculture. It’s famous for its peanut production which is the highest in the Potohar region consisting of around 42,000 acres of cultivation followed by Chakwal, which has around 34,985 acres. It is known for its hunting grounds with local fauna including black francolin, white-throated francolin, quail, and hare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mir Dad Khan</span>


Risaldar-Major Mir Dad Khan, OBI, was from the Tareen tribe in Hazara region of the North West Frontier Province. He was a Risaldar Major in the British Indian Army. He was the father of former Pakistani president Ayub Khan and the Muslim League stalwart Sardar Bahadur Khan

The New Year Honours 1915 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were announced on 1 January 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sardar Lehna Singh</span>

Sardar Lehna Singh, Sardar Bahadur, (1825–1916) was a British Indian Army soldier and the Chief of the village Lehna Singhwala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Man Bahadur Rai</span>

Captain Man Bahadur Rai AC, MC, IDSM was a highly decorated Indian Army Gorkha officer and a recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, the highest peacetime Indian gallantry decoration. Only the fourth Ashoka Chakra recipient to be decorated while living, he was the third Indian Army serviceman and the first Indian Army officer to have been honoured while alive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Title Badge (India)</span> Badge for holders of certain titles bestowed by British India.

Title Badges were presented to Indian citizens who received certain formal titles of honour during British rule in India. They ceased to be awarded in 1947 on Indian independence.

References