Order of the Leader,
First Grade
(Full size)
領袖勳章
第一等
(官方版)
Nadir Shah, with the superior Class badge with diamond of the Order of the Leader
Source: The Times (London), 9 November 1933 | Courtesy of the Hamburg World Economic Archive (HWWA)
Source: The Times (London), 9 November 1933 | Courtesy of the Hamburg World Economic Archive (HWWA)
Item number: M487
Year: AD 1911-1973
Material: Gold
The results after XRF testing
| element | centre of reverse |
| Au | 90.66 % |
| Ag | 5.22 % |
| Cu | 4.12 % |
Size: 70.1 x 37.5 x 5.6 mm
Weight: 36.0 g
Provenance: Spink 2025
Originally suspended from a ribbon, this badge belongs to the Kingdom of Afghanistan’s Order of the Leader (Nishan-i-Sardari). The Order of the Leader was instituted by King Amanullah in AD 1923 to reward individuals who rendered exceptional services to the ruler and the nation.
The obverse and reverse of the badge are identical, featuring the national emblem of Afghanistan at its centre, which depicts a mosque containing a niche (mihrab) and a pulpit (minbar). National flags are inserted onto the exterior walls of the mosque, and the entire structure is supported by a crescent moon.
In addition to the ribbon-suspended badge, recipients were originally intended to be simultaneously invested with a breast star; however, that component is absent from this set. The central medallion of the breast star likewise bears the national emblem of Afghanistan, encircled by an exterior inscription. Beneath this medallion emanate seven star rays, the points of which are adorned with decorative crescents or Karakul hats. Because the order was conferred across two distinct historical periods, and the detailed regulations remain unsubstantiated by historical records, numerous variants and classification systems exist, yielding no definitive consensus.
During the early twentieth century, Afghanistan was convulsed by waves of modern nationalism and secularisation. King Amanullah Khan of the Barakzai Dynasty ascended the throne in AD 1919 and promptly launched the Third Anglo-Afghan War, compelling Great Britain to recognise Afghanistan’s diplomatic autonomy and permanent independence. He subsequently pursued sweeping, radical reforms with immense determination, promulgating a constitution based on Western models, enforcing the separation of state and religion, establishing female education, and abolishing forced corvée labour to stimulate national commerce and industry. Nonetheless, these secularising measures, lacking the robust backing of a loyal military, severely undermined the vested interests of conservative local tribes and religious mullahs. This ultimately culminated in a major conservative rebellion led by the ‘Son of the Water-Carrier’ at the end of AD 1928, precipitating a military mutiny that forced Amanullah to abdicate and go into exile.
Following a brief interregnum under the usurper’s tyranny and a steady transition via the Nadir Dynasty, King Zahir successfully succeeded to the throne in AD 1933 at the age of eighteen, initiating a forty-year period of stability unparalleled in Afghan history. Learning from the failures of his predecessors, Zahir pursued a prudent policy of modernisation characterised by being ‘vigorous yet not reckless’. He established the national bank to consolidate state finances, actively expanded the national highway network connecting the country’s urban centres, and initiated vast irrigation and hydroelectric projects, such as those in the Helmand River valley. Diplomatically, he adroitly navigated the geopolitical fissures of great-power rivalries, adhering to a resolute policy of strict neutrality that successfully preserved Afghan sovereignty from the ravages of the Second World War. Although he proactively implemented several five-year economic plans, commenced the extraction of natural gas, and promulgated a new constitution in AD 1964 to inaugurate a ‘democratic experiment’ permitting political parties and independent journalism, his later reign failed to reconcile endemic domestic corruption with the rapid ascendancy of radical left- and right-wing factions. Consequently, in AD 1973, whilst the King was in Europe receiving medical treatment for an eye affliction, he was overthrown in a military coup d’état staged by the former Prime Minister, Prince Daoud. This brought a definitive end to the Afghan monarchy and plunged the nation into a cataclysmic abyss of protracted upheaval and civil war during the closing decades of the twentieth century.
物件編號: M487
年代: 公元 1911-1973 年
材質: 黃金
XRF分析結果
| 元素 | 背面測點中央處元素比例 |
| 金 | 90.66 % |
| 銀 | 5.22 % |
| 銅 | 4.12 % |
