The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the British monarch between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (or herself) by important and useful service in the advancement of the public interest in India."
The name literally means "Emperor of India" in the vernacular of the Hindi and Urdu languages. The word kaisar, meaning "emperor" is a derivative of the Roman imperial title Caesar (via Persian, Turkish - see Kaiser-i-Rum - and the Greek Καίσαρ), and is cognate with the German title Kaiser, which was borrowed from the Latin at an earlier date.
Kaisar-I-Hind was also inscribed on the obverse side of the India General Service Medal (1909).
Empress of India or Kaisar-i-Hind, a form coined by the orientalist G.W. Leitner in a deliberate attempt to dissociate British imperial rule from that of preceding dynasties was taken by Queen Victoria from 1 May 1876, and proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1877.
The medal was instituted by Queen Victoria on April 10, 1900. The name translates as "Emperor of India", a name also used for a rare Indian butterfly Teinopalpus imperialis. The Royal Warrant for the Kaisar-i-Hind was amended in 1901, 1912, 1933 and 1939. While never officially rescinded, the Kaisar-i-Hind ceased to be awarded following the passage of the Indian Independence Act 1947. The awards of the gold medal were often published in the London Gazette, while other classes were published in the Gazette of India.
Medal grades and design
The medal had three grades. The Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal for Public Service in India was awarded directly by the monarch on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for India. Silver and Bronze medals were awarded by the Viceroy.
The medal consisted of an oval-shaped badge or decoration in gold, silver or bronze with the Royal Cipher and Monarchy on one side, and the words "Kaisar-i-Hind for Public Service in India" on the other. It was to be worn suspended from the left breast by a dark blue ribbon. The medal has no post-nominal initials.
Its most famous recipient is Mohandas Gandhi, who was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind in 1915 by The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst for his contribution to ambulance services in South Africa. Gandhi returned the medal in 1920 as part of the national campaign protesting the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and in support of the Khilafat Movement.
Gold medal
Parukutty Nethyar Amma was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind medal by King George V in 1919 for public work and came to be known as Lady Rama Varma of CochinGajadhar Upadhaya,Esq., Chief Regimental Religious Teacher, 1st (K.G.V.s Own) G.R. [Gurkha Rifles] <Office of the Private Secretary to the Viceroy (NAI), 4-H/1948.>Sardar Khan Bahadur Mir Abdul Ali, JP, Bombay, 9 November 1901S.Wadawa Singh Sohi for his services in world war 1Shankar Madhav Chitnavis, Esq., Deputy-Commissioner, Central Provinces, 9 November 1901Khan Bahadur Dhanjibhai Fakirji Commodore, CIE, 9 November 1901Major Herbert Edward Deane, R.A.M.C., 9 Nov 1901Major Thomas Edward Dyson, MB, CM, Indian Medical Service, 9 November 1901William EgertonMrs. E. J. Firth, of Madras, 9 November 1901N. S. Glazebrrok, Esq., JP, of Bombay, 9 November 1901Sydney Hutton Cooper Hutchinson, Esq., AMICE, Superintendent of Telegraphs, 9 November 1901Colonel Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, KCIE, Indian Staff Corps, 9 November 1901Rai Bahadur Amar Nath Khanna of Lahore awarded gold medal for his philanthropic work.Harrington Verney Lovett, Esq., Indian Civil Service, 9 November 1901Herbert Frederick Mayes, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, Indian Civil Service, 9 Nov 1901Lieutenant-Colonel James McCloghry, FRCS, Indian Medical Service, 9 November 1901William Florey Noyce, Esq., Extra-Assistant Commissioner and Assistant Secretary to the Financial Commissioner, Burma, 9 November 1901Dr. Thomas Joseph O′Donnell, VD, FRCSI, Chief Medical Officer, Kolar Gold Fields, Mysore, 12 December 1911Dr. John David O′Donnell, MBE, VD, FRCSEd, Chief Medical and Sanitary Officer, Kolar Gold Fields, Mysore, July 1926 Walter Samuel Sharpe, Director of Telegraphs, Bombay, 1 Jan 1916Rai Bahadur KameleshwariPershad Singh of Monghyr, BengalRobert Barton Stewart, Esq., Indian Civil Service, 9 November 1901Dr. William Stokes Captain Edmund Wilkinson, FRCS, Indian Medical Service, 9 November 1901Dr. R. N. Chopra, Public Services, Abbottabad, now in Pakistan.The Rt Hon. Alice Isaacs, Marchioness of ReadingSreemathi Panapilla Kartiyani Pilla Bhagavathi Pilla Kochamma, Vadasseri Ammaveedu, daughter of His Highness the Maharaja of Travancore, Madras.The Right Reverend Bishop Francis Stephen Coppel, Nagpur, Central Provinces.The Reverend Arthur Herbert Bestall, General Superintendent of Wesleyan Missions in Burma.Dr. M. E. Ry. Pazhamarneri Sundaram Ayyar Chandra Sekhara, Ayyar Avargal, Director of the Tuberculosis Institute and Hospital, Madras.Mrs. Cowasji Jehangir, Bombay.Rai Bahadur, Upendra Nath Brahmachari, Additional Physician, Out-Patient Department, Medical College Hospital, Bengal.Edwin Sheard, Esq., Adjutant, Salvation Army, United Provinces.Rai Bahadur Lala Mathra Das, Assistant Surgeon in the Punjab.Pir Puran Nath Mahant, Mahant of Bohar in the Rohtak district, Punjab.Richard Burn, for famine services in 1907–08Roderick Henry Turing Mackenzie, Esq. AMICE. Chief Engineer Buildings and Roads, Bikaner State, for drought relief services. 1940Silver medal
Dr Laxmi Shankar, awarded for his work during WWII as an Army Medical Corps Doctor.Laxmidas Pitambardas Adodra, awarded for public service and large-scale but anonymous philanthropic contributions towards animal welfare as well as public healthcare including significant help for controlling Cholera outbreak in Porbandar, Gujarat.Dr. Lilian Arratoon, surgeon, New Year's Honours list 1945.Khan Bahadur Sher Jang, 1916Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy Pantulu, 1933 for his Services in Anthropology and Telugu Colloquial languageDr. Eulius Sheldon Downs, 1945Dorothy L. Ferris, MD for her healing services at Frances Newton Hospital, FerozeporeDr. Mina MacKenzie, MD for over 30 years of public service in India, including helping control the cholera epidemic during the 1906 Kumbh Mela pilgrimage.Ram Lal Khanna 1947, Post & Telegraph, Lahore.Helen Vorley, for her part in facilitating the evacuation of 300,000 Indians from Burma in 1942 Unknown grade
Elizabeth Adelaide Manning, 1904Maharaja Rameshwar Singh Bahadur of DarbhangaMary Barrington-Smith, engaged in counter-propaganda at G.H.Q. in India and awarded for her work as Diversional Therapy Officer during WW2.Frederick Booth-Tucker, Commissioner in the Salvation ArmyGeneral Sir Charles John BurnettKizhakkethara Chandu (1921), Station Master of Tirur, Station unscathed during mappila rebellion, KeralaMajor General Thomas Arthur CookeThe Lady Curzon of KedlestonReverend Barnardo Nansen Eade, New Zealand-born Baptist missionary, for relief work in the Bengal famine of 1943, awarded 1945.Rachel Emanuel (according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission record of the death of her son, Flt Lt William Vernon Emanuel, RAFVR).HH Sayajirao Gaekwad III, Maharaja of BarodaMohandas Karamchand Gandhi (returned 1921)Dr. Tongul Kuki Gangte, awarded on 14 June 1945 for his work during WW2 as a Red Cross Doctor.Major General Sir William Forbes Gatacre as Chairman of the plague committee of Bombay City 1896 & 1897.HH Bhagvatsingh, Maharaja of GondalVery Rev. John A. Graham, D.D.Dr N K Guha, Dacca, Bangladesh (formerly East Bengal) in recognition of his philanthropic and humanitarian work during the 1940s.Thomas HoldernessHH Tukojirao Holkar II, Maharaja of IndoreKulsoom Shahid Husain Member Legislative Assembly great aunt of Dr. Ali M. MIrHH Sultan Shah Jahan, Begum of BhopalDr. Krishnabai Krishnajee Kelavkar of Kolhapur in 1908 for Public Service.Khan Bahadur Raja Jahandad KhanSeth Jehangir Hormusji Kothari, Parsii merchant and philanthropist of Karachi.HH Khengarji III, Maharao of KutchSir Francis William MacleanReverend Alan Gordon MacLeod, Presbyterian missionary, for relief work in the Bengal famine of 1943.Gertrude Edith Mary Middleton-Stewart, awarded 6 May 1935Dr. Margaret O'Hara awarded in 1932 for her long and valued service to IndiaDr. Thomas Franklin Pedley, a Doctor in RangoonRai Bahadur Sri RamPandita RamabaiV. P. Madhava RaoHH Madho Rao Scindia, Maharaja Scindia of GwaliorHH Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra, Maharaja of Venkatagiri.Edward Sell, missionary and Islamic scholarLieutenant-Colonel Sir David SempleReverend Ernest Bell Sharpe for his work as a missionary and superintendent of the Purulia Leper Asylum. Awarded the First Class Medal in 1929 for services to India.HH Ganga Singh, Maharaja of BikanerHH Pratap Singh, Maharaja of IdarHH Partab Singh, Maharaja of KashmirHH Ram Singh, Maharaja of BharatpurHH Nihal Singh, Rana of DholpurDonald Mackenzie SmeatonDr. Howard Somervell, OBESir Robert StanesSister R.S.Subbalakshmi, Educationist and Social Worker, Madras for the educating and upliftment of child widows, in 1920Major M. Subramanyam, Health Officer Sholapur, awarded in 1938Reverend William Summers Sutherland, K.I.H., M.A., D.D., Missionary in India.Taw Sein KoHH Ayilyam Thirunal, Maharaja of TravancoreHH Visakham Thirunal, Maharaja of TravancoreReverend Dr Frederick Vincent Thomas, Baptist Medical Mission, PalwalEdgar ThurstonRaja Ravi VermaSir Vicar-ul-UmraDr. L. N. Virasinghe-Chinnappa, awarded twice Medal 1937 & Bar to the Medal 1941, Pioneered Maternity & Child Health on the Indian Sub-ContinentBharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visveswaraiah, KCIE, notable Indian engineer, scholar, statesman and the Diwan of Mysore.Sir William James WanlessDr. Constance Whittaker received the medal for public service during WW2Charlotte Melina Viall Wiser, co-author of Behind Mud Walls, nutritionist, and Presbyterian missionary.Reverend Carl Wyder, Superintendent, Kothara Leper Asylum, Ellichpur taluq, Amraoti district (27 February 1941)Arthur Delaval YounghusbandLieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward YounghusbandReverend John Henry Schultz, Superintendent Chandkhuri Leprosy Hospital & Home Baitalpur, Madhya Pradesh StateDr. R. N. Chopra, Public Services, Abbottabad, now in Pakistan.Margaret Ida BalfourMona Chandravati GuptaSilverine Swer, Khasi environmental and social activistClemons Defries Potter, Public Services, MadrasAlexander Steel, for services to cotton growing
