Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India | |
---|---|
Type | Order of chivalry |
Established | 1861 |
Motto | Heaven's Light Our Guide |
Awarded for | At the monarch's pleasure |
Status | Last appointment in 1947 Dormant order since 2009 |
Founder | Victoria |
Sovereign | Charles III |
Grades |
|
Former grades | Knight Companion |
Precedence | |
Next (higher) | Order of the Bath |
Next (lower) | Order of St Michael and St George |
Ribbon bar of the Star of India |
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:
No appointments have been made since the
The motto of the order was "Heaven's Light Our Guide". The Star of India emblem, the insignia of order and the informal emblem of British India, was also used as the basis of a series of flags to represent the Indian Empire.
The order was the fifth most senior British order of chivalry, following the
History
Several years after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the consolidation of Great Britain's power as the governing authority in India, it was decided by the British Crown to create a new order of knighthood to honour Indian Princes and Chiefs, as well as British officers and administrators who served in India. On 25 June 1861, the following proclamation was issued by Queen Victoria:
The Queen, being desirous of affording to the Princes, Chiefs and People of the
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to institute, erect, constitute, and create, an Order of Knighthood, to be known by, and have for ever hereafter, the name, style, and designation, of "The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India"[1]
Recipients
Knights Companion
19 persons were appointed Knights Companion at the creation of the Order:[1]
- The Prince Consort
- The Prince of Wales
- and Grand Master of the Order
- Sir James Outram, Bt, GCB, Member of the Viceroy's Council
- Governor of Madras
- Sir Governor of Bombay
- Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence, Bt, GCB, Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab
- Sir Hugh Henry Rose, GCB, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
- Viscount Gough, former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
- Lord Clyde, former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
- Tukojirao Holkar II, Maharaja of Indore
- Afzal-ud-Daulah, 5th Nizam of Hyderabad
- Jayajirao Scindia, Maharaja of Gwalior
- Duleep Singh, former Maharaja of the Sikh Empire
- Ranbir Singh Dogra, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
- Yusef Ali Khan, Nawab of Rampur
- Nawab Sikander Begum, Nawab Begum of Bhopal
- Narendra Singh, Maharaja of Patiala
- Khanderao II Gaekwad, Maharaja of Baroda
12 additional Knights Companion were appointed over the next five years.
- 19 August 1861[2]
- Viscount Combermere, former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
- Sir George Pollock, Bt. GCB, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan
- 11 November 1863[3]
- Ram Singh II, Maharajah of Jaipur
- Swarup Singh, Rajah of Jind
- 10 December 1864[4]
- Randhir Singh, Rajah of Kapurthala
- Raghuraj Singh Ju Deo Bahadur, Maharaja of Rewa
- 12 February 1866[5]
- Sir Robert Montgomery, former Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab
- Sir Henry Bartle Frere, Bt., GCB, Governor of Bombay
- Takht Singh, Maharajah of Jodhpur
- Ayilyam Thirunal, Maharajah of Travancore
- General Sir William Mansfield, KCB, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
- Madan Pal, Maharaja of Karauli
- Sir Joginder Sen Bahadur KCSI, Maharaja of Mandi State
On 24 May 1866, the Order was expanded to additional ranks. All surviving Knights Companion were elevated to Grand Commander.
Later appointments
Additional appointments were made to the Order in the ranks of Grand Commander, Knight Commander, and Companion. These include
- Shahu of Kolhapur, Maharaja of Kolhapur
- Maharaja Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana of Nepal
- Maharaja Bahadur Sir JAIMANGAL Singh of Gidhaur Estate KCSI 24.05.1866.
- Maharaja Bahadur Sir Ravaneshwar Singh of Gidhaur Estate KCIE 25.05.1895.
- Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur, Nawab of Dhaka[citation needed]
- Nizam of Hyderabad
- Maharaj Bhim Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana[citation needed]
- Nawab of Bahawalpur
The last appointments to the Order were made in the 1948 New Year Honours, some months after the Partition of India in August 1947.
The Order has never been formally abolished, and Charles III succeeded his mother Elizabeth II as Sovereign of the Orders when he acceded the throne in 2022. He remains Sovereign of the Order to this day. However, there are no living members of the Order.
The Order of the Indian Empire, founded in 1877, was intended to be a less exclusive version of the Order of the Star of India; consequently, many more appointments were made to the latter than to the former.
As the last Grand Master of the Orders, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma was also the last known individual to wear publicly the stars of a Knight Grand Commander of both Orders, during the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977.[8]
- There were only three female members of the Order: Nawab Sikander Begum of Bhopal; Nawab Sikander's daughter, Shah Jahan Begum of Bhopal; and Queen Mary, consort of George V.
- The last Grand Master of the Order, Admiral of the Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979), was assassinated by the Provisional IRAon 27 August 1979.
- The last surviving Knight Grand Commander, Maharaja Sree Padmanabhadasa Sir Trivandrum.[8]
- The last surviving Knight Commander, Tej Singh Prabhakar BahadurKCSI (1911–2009), Maharaja of Alwar, died on 15 February 2009 in New Delhi.
- The last surviving Companion of the Order, CSI(1909–1999), died on 3 September 1999 in London.
Composition
The
Former viceroys and other high officials, as well as those who served in the Department of the
Rulers of other nations in Asia and the Middle East, including the
Women, save the princely rulers, were ineligible for appointment to the order. They were, unlike the habit of many other orders, admitted as "Knights", rather than as "Dames" or "Ladies". The first woman to be admitted to the order was Nawab Sikandar Begum Sahiba, Nawab Begum of Bhopal; she was created a Knight Companion at the Order's foundation in 1861. The order's statutes were specially amended to permit the admission of Queen Mary as a Knight Grand Commander in 1911.
Vestments and accoutrements
Members of the Order wore elaborate costumes on important ceremonial occasions:
- The mantle, worn only by Knights Grand Commander, was made of light blue satin lined with white silk. On the left side was a representation of the star (see below).
- The collar, also worn only by Knights Grand Commander, was made of gold. It was composed of alternating figures of lotuses, red and white roses and palm branches, with an imperial crown in the centre.
On certain "collar days" designated by the Sovereign, members attending formal events wore the order's collar over their military uniform, formal day dress, or evening wear. When collars were worn (either on collar days or on formal occasions such as coronations), the badge was suspended from the collar.
At less important occasions, simpler insignia were used:
- The star, worn only by Knights Grand Commanders and Knights Commanders, included a sunburst, with twenty-six large rays alternating with twenty-six small rays; it was in gold and circular for Knights Grand Commanders, and in silver and eight-pointed for Knights Commanders. In the centre of the sunburst was a light blue ring bearing the motto of the Order. Within the ribbon was a five-pointed star, decorated with diamonds for Knights Grand Commanders.
- The badge was worn by Knights Grand Commanders on a white-edged light blue riband, or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip, and by Knights Commanders and Companions from a white-edged light blue ribbon around the neck. It included an oval, containing the effigy of the Sovereign, surrounded by a light blue ring bearing the motto of the Order; the oval was suspended from a five-pointed star, which may be decorated with diamonds depending on class.
Unlike the insignia of most other British chivalric orders, the insignia of the Order of the Star of India did not incorporate crosses, as they were deemed unacceptable to the Indian Princes appointed to the Order.
Precedence and privileges
Members of all classes of the Order were assigned positions in the order of precedence. Wives of members of all classes also featured on the order of precedence, as did sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Commanders and Knights Commanders. (See order of precedence in England and Wales for the exact positions.)
Knights Grand Commanders used the
Knights Grand Commanders were also entitled to receive
Gallery
-
Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, Viceroy of India, in the robes of the Order of the Star of India (as Grand Master of the Order)
-
Charles Hardinge, Viceroy of India, in the robes of the Order (as Grand Master of the Order)
-
King Edward VII's Delhi Durbarof 1903
-
Sayajirao Gaekwad III, Maharaja of Baroda, wearing the sash and star of a Knight Grand Commander (GCSI), along with the star of a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE)
-
Indian Civil Service officer Henry Stokes, wearing the insignia of a Knight Commander (KCSI) of the Order.
See also
References
- ^ a b "No. 22523". The London Gazette. 25 June 1861. p. 2622.
- ^ "No. 22542". The London Gazette. 27 August 1861. p. 3501.
- ^ "No. 22788". The London Gazette. 13 November 1863. p. 5361.
- ^ "No. 22920". The London Gazette. 13 December 1864. p. 6545.
- ^ "No. 23073". The London Gazette. 20 February 1866. p. 973.
- ISBN 978-81-87879-54-1. Archivedfrom the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ Library, India Collection at the British (22 December 2017). "Nawab of Bahawalpur, 1870". The Friday Times - Naya Daur. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- ^ ISBN 1852835109.
- ^ "No. 32178". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1921. p. 5.
External links
- Media related to Order of the Star of India at Wikimedia Commons
- Proclamation founding the Order of the Star of India, london-gazette.co.uk, 25 June 1861.