Item number: M153

Year: AD 1858

Material: Silver

Size: 36.2 x 90.4 x 3.2 mm

Weight: 40.25 g

Manufactured by: Royal Mint, London

Provenance: Spink 2022

John Bramhall, serving in the 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade, participated in the Second relief of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny of AD 1857, thereby earning the “Indian Mutiny Medal” along with a clasp engraved with the word “Lucknow.”

In AD 1858, the British government established the Indian Mutiny Medal to reward military personnel who participated in suppressing the mutiny. Subsequently, in AD 1868, the eligibility for the medal expanded to include non-military personnel who experienced the rebellion firsthand, with a total issuance of 290,000 medals. The medal, crafted in silver, features a profile portrait of Queen Victoria wearing a crown on the obverse, with Latin inscriptions on either side indicating “VICTORIA REGINA.” On the reverse side is the symbol of Britannia, representing Britain, holding a shield with the Cross of St. George in her left hand and raising a laurel wreath symbolising victory with her right hand, accompanied by a male lion at her feet. Inscriptions on the reverse include “India” at the top and the mutiny years “1857-1858” below. At the bottom edge of the medal, there is an engraving of “JOHN BRAMHALL. 2^ND BN. RIFLE BDE.,” denoting the recipient’s name and unit number. Finally, the medal is suspended from a swivel scroll suspension attached to a ribbon approximately 32mm wide, featuring five equally spaced red and white stripes.

According to the individual service records, the British government designed five distinct clasps for this medal, namely: “Delhi,” “Defence of Lucknow,” “Relief of Lucknow,” “Lucknow,” and “Central India”. Lucknow alone has three types of clasps (see image below).

According to the regulations, a medal can receive a maximum of four clasps, which are placed on the ribbon in chronological order of the battles, from top to bottom. Those without clasps are often non-military personnel who were awarded the medal after its expansion in AD 1868. The clasp “Lucknow” was awarded to all officers and soldiers who, under the command of Colin Campbell, attempted the second relief of the Lucknow garrison from November onwards.

Lucknow was a crucial point on the route to Delhi, and from June onwards, the rebel forces attempted to drive out the British troops stationed in the city. However, they were repelled by the British forces, leading to a stalemate. On September 25, the first batch of reinforcements arrived in Lucknow to support the heavily wounded British troops. Considering the casualties and the difficulty of resupply, the British forces decided to abandon the breakout and chose to stay and wait for the arrival of larger forces. It was not until November 16 that the second batch of reinforcements, under the command of Colin Campbell, successfully relieved the siege. However, Campbell, realising the challenges of defence, decided to evacuate all personnel from Lucknow. The evacuation of the final batch of British troops and civilians was completed on November 27. During this conflict, Lucknow was besieged for a total of 87 days and 61 days in separate instances.

In the earlier stages, the British colonisation of the Indian subcontinent was managed by the private British East India Company. During the conquest of India, the East India Company heavily relied on local soldiers known as “Sepoys” recruited from various regions of India. By the eve of the Indian Mutiny, out of the Company’s 240,000-strong army in the Indian subcontinent, approximately 200,000 were sepoys. Prior to the outbreak of the mutiny in AD 1857, sporadic resistance was met with by the East India Company’s governance. However, by manipulating complex ethnic and religious relations, the Company managed to suppress these sporadic resistances for the most part.

Yet, in March AD 1857, rumours spread among the sepoys that they would be forced to convert to Christianity and that the paper cartridges they were given were greased with pork or beef fat, which deeply offended the Muslim and Hindu soldiers, who formed the majority in the army. Fuelled by these rumours, the rebellion spread in northern India in May of that year and briefly captured Delhi, with the imprisoned Emperor Bahadur Shah II at the Red Fort being declared the leader of the mutiny. However, under the intervention of the British government, deployment of other regular British forces stationed overseas and local princely states not involved in the rebellion were mobilised to quell the rebellion. By AD 1858, the uprising was largely suppressed across various regions. Subsequent assessments of the conflict estimate the number of Indian lives lost to be between 100,000 to 800,000, varying in different accounts.

The mutiny’s most significant impact was the British government revoking the East India Company’s management system and declaring the Indian subcontinent a direct colonial territory under government control. In AD 1876, the British royal family was even bestowed with the title of “Emperor of India.” On the other hand, in the eyes of Indian nationalists, this mutiny was revered as the Great Uprising of the Nation, and the First Independence War. Ultimately, after the end of World War II, India gained independence and established its own nation in AD 1947, bringing an end to nearly two centuries of British rule in the region.

物件編號: M153

年代: 公元 1858 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 36.2 x 90.4 x 3.2 mm

重量: 40.25 g

製造地: 皇家鑄幣廠, 倫敦

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2022

約翰·布拉哈爾以步槍旅第二營的身分，參與鎮壓公元1857年印度叛亂中的第二次勒克瑙解圍戰，故獲頒「印度叛亂獎章」和刻有「勒克瑙」字樣銘牌。

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。獎章的下緣，刻有「約翰·布拉哈爾 步槍旅第二營」，即本人的姓名和部隊番號。最後獎章以螺旋式懸掛銜接綬帶，綬帶寬度約32mm，並有五道等寬的紅白相間條紋。

按照個人服役紀錄，英國政府針對該獎章打造五種銘牌，分別是：「德里」、「防衛勒克瑙」、「解救勒克瑙」、「勒克瑙」和「印度中部」。光是勒克瑙一地就有三種銘牌。(見下圖)

根據法律規定，一個獎章最多只能得到四道銘牌，並按照戰役的時序先後由上往下放置。沒有銘牌的，多是公元1868年擴大頒發的非軍事人員。「勒克瑙」銘牌授予11月起在科林·坎貝爾指揮下，嘗試第二次營救勒克瑙守軍的全體官兵。

勒克瑙是通往德里的必經之路，自六月起叛軍便嘗試驅逐駐守城內的英軍，但都被英軍擊退就此陷入僵局。9月25日，第一批援軍抵達勒克瑙支援傷亡慘重的英軍，但是考量到人員傷亡和補給不易，英軍放棄突圍選擇留守等待大部隊支援。一直到11月16日，科林·坎貝爾指揮的第二批援軍才成功解圍。但是坎貝爾考量防守不易，決定疏散所有人員離開勒克瑙，11月27日完成最後一批英軍和平民的疏散。此次戰爭中，勒克瑙先後被包圍長達87天和61天。

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。