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Mint:
London
Issuer:
East India Company
Artist:
Wyon, William
Ruler:
Victoria (1837-1901)
(Inferred)
The First Afghan War of 1839 had culminated in the British restoration of the Shah Shujah al-Mulk, a situation which caused his dissatisfied people to rise in revolt in 1841. The murder of the British envoy provoked an initial evacuation of the British garrison, most of which was massacred on its march back to India. The British forces in Afghanistan were for a short while confined to those at the fort of Khelat-i-Ghilzai and the garrison of Jalalabad.
Khelat-i-Ghilzai withstood an even longer siege than Jalalabad, holding out for four months before its eventual relief in the campaign that restored British control in the area. For participation in the defence of the town the British East India Company issued this silver medal to all combatants.
The particularly dogged defence by the Shah's own Afghan contingent in the town caused them to be enrolled in the British forces in Bengal thereafter as the Khelat-al-Gilzie Regiment, otherwise listed as the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Bombay Pioneers. One of these men was Havildar Maun Singh, and this is his medal. Lester Watson purchased it at some point before 1928.
History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt before 1928
Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009
Diameter: 36.2 mm
Weight: 34.95 g
Method of acquisition: Given (2009) by Watson, Lester
Production date: AD 1842
Inscription present: Shield bearing inscription, surrounded by laurel wreath and surmounted by mural crown
Inscription present: Collection of war trophies surmounting plaque bearing inscription
Accession number: CM.1292-2009
Primary reference Number: 141386
Watson Catalogue: 195
Ordering: M-0175
Previous object number: LW.0175
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Coins and Medals
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Defence of Khelat-i-Gilzie Medal" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141386 Accessed: 2024-12-22 14:53:20
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141386
|title=Defence of Khelat-i-Gilzie Medal
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 14:53:20|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-141386
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0175_281_29.jpg"
alt="Defence of Khelat-i-Gilzie Medal"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Defence of Khelat-i-Gilzie Medal</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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