Item number: M459-3

Year: AD 1858

Material: Silver

Provenance: J. Collins Medal 2025

This is a miniature Indian Mutiny Medal, intended for wear with civilian formal dress (for example, evening dress with tailcoat). The medal ribbon is fitted with a “Central India” clasp.

The obverse bears the same left-facing portrait of Queen Victoria, with her hair bound by two fillets and a curl falling from the chignon, and wearing the front portion of the George IV State Diadem. The portrait design follows William Wyon’s commemorative medal of AD 1837, inspired by Canova’s Fountain Nymph. The inscription “W. WYON · RA” appears at the neckline, identifying the designer as William Wyon, then Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint. Around the portrait runs the legend “VICTORIA REGINA”. The obverse design is identical to that used on the China War Medal issued from AD 1843 onwards.

The reverse depicts the personification of the British Isles, Britannia, shown as a full-length figure in left profile. She wears a Roman centurion’s helmet and a classical robe. Her right arm is extended forward holding a laurel wreath, while her left arm hangs down, the upper arm bearing a Greek-style round shield emblazoned with the Union Flag, and her hand also holding a wreath. Beside her stands a lion, symbolising England. Around the upper edge is the word “INDIA”, and below, separated by a horizontal ground line, appears the date “1857–1858”, indicating the duration of the Indian Rebellion.

The ribbon consists of alternating white and red stripes, arranged in five equal-width bands, from left to right white, red, white, red, white.

In AD 1858, the British government instituted the Indian Mutiny Medal to recognise military personnel who had participated in the suppression of the rebellion. In AD 1868, eligibility was extended to include non-military individuals who had directly experienced the uprising, bringing the total number issued to approximately 290,000. The medal was struck in silver. The obverse bears a crowned left-facing portrait of Queen Victoria with her name in Latin on either side. The reverse shows Britannia, holding a Union Flag shield in her left hand and raising a laurel wreath of victory in her right, accompanied by a lion at her feet. The inscriptions “INDIA” and “1857–1858” appear respectively at the top and bottom of the reverse.

Based on individual service records, the British government authorised five clasps for this medal, corresponding to specific operations and campaigns, namely “Delhi”, “Defence of Lucknow”, “Lucknow”, and “Central India” (see illustration).

Prior to the rebellion, British colonial rule over the Indian subcontinent had been administered by the private British East India Company. In the conquest of India, the Company relied heavily on locally recruited soldiers known as sepoys. On the eve of the rebellion, of the Company’s force of approximately 240,000 troops on the subcontinent, around 200,000 were sepoys. Even before the outbreak of rebellion in AD 1857, the Company’s policies had provoked sporadic resistance, which it generally managed to suppress by manipulating complex ethnic and religious divisions. However, in March AD 1857, rumours spread among the sepoys that they would be forced to convert to Christianity and that newly issued paper cartridges were greased with pig and cow fat, offending both Muslim and Hindu soldiers, who formed the largest proportions of the ranks. Fuelled by these rumours, rebellion spread across northern India in May of that year and at one point captured Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire, proclaiming the emperor Bahadur Shah II, then confined in the Red Fort, as its leader. With direct intervention by the British government, however, regular British troops redeployed from overseas stations and loyal princely states joined in suppressing the uprising, which was largely quelled by AD 1858. Later estimates of Indian deaths in the conflict range from 100,000 to 800,000.

The most significant consequence of the rebellion was the dissolution of the East India Company’s system of rule and the transfer of the Indian subcontinent to direct government administration as a crown colony. In AD 1876, the British monarch additionally assumed the title of “Emperor of India”. Conversely, in the view of Indian nationalists, the uprising has been honoured as a great national revolt and the First War of Independence. Ultimately, following the end of the Second World War, India achieved independence in AD 1947, bringing to a close nearly two centuries of British rule.

According to surviving documentary evidence, no individual has been conclusively identified in official rolls as having received all three of these medals. The recipient of this miniature group may therefore have been an Indian-born soldier serving in the British forces.

物件編號: M459-3

年代: 公元 1858 年

材質: 銀

來源: 克林獎章 2025

這是一枚印度叛亂獎章的迷你版，用以著非軍服正裝(例如燕尾服)時配戴。獎章綬帶附有「中印度」銘牌。

獎章正面為維多利亞女王的左側肖像，頭髮以兩條髮帶(fillet)束成髮髻，一縷捲髮自髮髻垂落。前額髮際處以佩戴髮箍的方式佩戴喬治四世登基典禮所戴之喬治四世國冠(George IV State Diadem)的前半部，後半部因藝術化處理而消失。肖像設計延續了設計者威廉·威恩(William Wyon)於公元1837年為維多利亞女王登基而創作的紀念獎章，參考安東尼奧·卡諾瓦(Antonio Canova)的《噴泉仙女》(Fountain Nymph)雕像而製成。肖像頸線處有「W.WYON· RA」，標示設計者為當時皇家鑄幣廠首席雕刻師威廉·威恩。肖像左右環列「VICTORIA REGINA」，意即「維多利亞女王」。圖文設計與公元1843年起頒發的中國戰爭獎章相同。

獎章背面為不列顛群島的擬人形象——不列顛尼亞的左側全身像。其頭戴羅馬百夫長頭盔，身著羅馬式長袍。右臂平伸向前，手執桂冠花環。左臂下垂，大臂套著希臘式圓木盾，盾上繪有聯合王國的米字旗，手上亦執花環。其後方身側伴隨一隻雄獅，象徵英格蘭。上方環列「INDIA」，即「印度」；下方以橫線為地，其下「1857-1858」，標示印度譁變的持續時間。

綬帶形制為白、紅色帶相間，以五道等寬色帶相間排列，自左依序為白、紅、白、紅、白。

公元1858年，英國政府為獎勵參與鎮壓叛亂的軍事人員，設立該印度叛亂獎章以資表揚。後續公元1868年，頒發對象擴張至親歷叛亂的非軍事人員，總發行量達到29萬枚。獎章以銀質打造，正面是頭戴王冠的維多利亞女王側像，兩側以拉丁文刻有「維多利亞女王」銘文。背面是象徵英國的不列顛女神，左手持有米字旗盾牌，右手高舉象徵勝利的桂冠，腳邊則伴隨一隻雄獅。在背面的上下兩處，分別刻有「印度」和標示叛亂年份「1857-1858」字樣。

按照個人服役紀錄，英國政府針對該獎章打造五種銘牌，依事件時序為「德里」、「防衛勒克瑙」、「勒克瑙」和「印度中部」。(見下圖)

早先英國對於南亞次大陸的殖民，由私人的英國東印度公司負責包辦。征服印度的過程中，東印度公司仰賴從印度各地招募而來的「西帕依」在地士兵。截至印度叛亂的前夕，東印度公司在印度次大陸的24萬軍隊中，其中就有20萬人是西帕依。早在公元1857年叛亂爆發前，東印度公司的治理方針即招來零星反抗，不過憑藉操弄複雜的民族和宗教關係，公司大抵能撲滅這些反抗。不過在公元1857年3月，西帕依之間謠傳將被迫皈依基督教，和準備換裝的紙殼彈藥塗有豬/牛油，同時引發部隊中比例最高的穆斯林和印度教士兵不滿。在謠言的推波助瀾下，當年5月叛亂在印度北部蔓延，並且一度攻下蒙兀兒帝國的首都德里，擁護被軟禁在紅堡的皇帝巴哈杜沙二世擔任領導人。不過在英國政府介入下，動員部署在海外其他地區的英國正規軍和未參加叛亂的土邦投入平叛，並於公元1858年大抵平息各地的叛亂。後世評估這場衝突中喪失生命的印度人，數量從10萬到80萬不等。

叛亂最大的影響是英國政府撤銷東印度公司的管理體系，將印度次大陸劃為政府的直轄殖民地，公元1876年英國皇室還得到「印度皇帝」頭銜。另一方面在印度民族主義者眼中，這場叛亂被稱作民族大起義和第一次獨立戰爭而備受尊崇。最終在第二次世界大戰結束後，印度於公元1947年獨立建國，結束英國在當地近兩百年的統治。