IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 141613 accession number: CM.1514-2009 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Monday 25 March 2024 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: The First Anglo-Afghan War was brought about, against a background of British desire to control this troublesome area on the Indian North-West Frontier, by the campaign of the exiled Shah Shujah al-Mulk, to oust his brother Mahmud from the Afghan throne (something which he had done in 1803 in order to succeed in the first place). After an unsuccessful attempt in 1833 backed by the ruler of the Punjab, Shujah managed to add British support for a campaign of 1839 and was thereby restored, although he was assassinated almost as soon as the British left the country, provoking a return to conflict for which other medals were awarded. The most difficult part of the campaign was the capture of the fortress in the mountain pass of Ghazni, and for participation in this battle Shah Shujah had a medal stuck at Calcutta. He was dead before it could be issued, but Queen Victoria and the East India Company allowed it to be awarded through the usual channels anyway. This medal is unnamed, but from its provenance it is clear that it was awarded to Brigadier George Warren of the European Regiment; the medal's award to him has been verified. Brigadier Warren's medal group has come as one into the Watson Collection and the Catalogue considers them as Group 9, but as the pieces are not physically attached they are treated separately here. Lester Watson purchased them as a group from the London dealers Baldwin in 1931. title: Ghuznee Medal NOTES ----- type: history note value: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Baldwin 1931 LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Coins and Medals collection: Lester Watson Collection creditline: Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009 STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141613 TECHNIQUES ---------- struck CATEGORIES ------ category: medal DATING ------ creation date: 1839 - 1839 creation date earliest: 1839 creation date latest: 1839 CREATORS -------- maker: Calcutta maker: Shuja al-Mulk (1803-9, 1839-42) maker: East India Company maker: Victoria (1837-1901) DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Diameter units: mm value: 37.2 dimension: Weight units: g value: 38.92 CITATIONS -------- British Battles and Medals 7th edn British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959) --- IMAGES surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0367d_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 143 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0367d_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 143 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0367d_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 143 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0367d_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 143 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0367d_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 141 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0367d_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 141 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0367d_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 141 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0367d_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 141 pixels