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Medal for Bravery
(Full Size), First Class
Mozaffar Ad-Din Shah Qajar
穆扎法爾丁·沙·卡扎爾時期
一等勇氣獎章
(官方版)
Item number: M356
Year: AD 1899-1900
Material: Gold
Size: 42.0 x 36.0 mm
Weight: 14.62 g
Manufactured by: Kerman, Iran
Provenance: Stack’s Bowers 2024
This is a Medal for Bravery of the first class, issued during the Qajar Dynasty of Iran in the Islamic year AH 1317(corresponding to AD 1899–1900). The medal was awarded to military personnel in recognition of their distinguished achievements. The medal was produced in two classes: the first class, made of gold, and the second class, made of silver.
The medal is circular in shape, with a loop at the top designed to attach a green ribbon. The obverse features the Persian national emblem, which consists of a lion holding a scimitar with a rising sun in the background, flanked on both sides by decorative floral wreaths of flowers and leaves.
The reverse of the medal features a beaded circle serving as a border. Inside the inner circle, there are three lines of Persian inscriptions: “شاه قاجار مظفرالدین السلطان,” which correspond to the title and name of the ruling monarch at the time, “Shah of Qajar, Mozaffar al-Din Sultan.” On either side of the inscription, five-pointed stars act as decorative elements, and below these stars is a line of Persian numerals: “١٣١٧” (AH 1317), indicating that this medal was issued in Hijri 1317 (AD 1899–1900).
The outer ring contains a repeated inscription in Persian, separated by four-petalled floral motifs: “ضرب کرمان سنه هزار و سیصد و بیست و هفت” (Struck in Kerman in the year 1317 Hijri). This denotes the minting location and year, corresponding to Hijri 1317 (AD 1899–1900).
The Qajar Dynasty was the first in Iranian history to establish Western-style medals. The prototype of the Medal for Bravery can be traced back to AD 1808, during the reign of the dynasty’s second ruler, Fath-Ali Shah Qajar, who introduced the Order of the Lion and Sun. It was not until AD 1820 that the Medal for Bravery was formally recognised as a distinct honour. Even after the Qajar Dynasty was overthrown in AD 1925 by Reza Shah Pahlavi of the Pahlavi Dynasty, the Medal for Bravery was retained as a form of military commendation.
獎章背面則有一道珠圈作為分界,內圈有三行波斯銘文「شاه قاجار مظفرالدین السلطان」,即是時任統治者的頭銜和姓名「卡扎爾沙阿 穆扎法爾丁蘇丹」。兩側以五芒星裝飾的分界線下方有一行波斯數字「١٣١٧」,代表這一枚獎章於回曆1317年 (公元1899至1900年)頒發。外環以四瓣花飾作為分界的銘文內容「ضرب کرمان سنه هزار و سیصد و بیست و هفت」皆相同,標示這枚獎章的鑄造地點和年份「回曆1327年鑄於克曼」。
Borna Barac, Reference Catalogue Orders Medals and Decorations of the World : instituted until 1945 : Part III Silver Book G-P (Craotia:OBOL d.o.o. Zagreb, 2013)