Title Badge (India) - Revision history

Bharatman: further updated intro per standard format and updated info for clarity

2025-05-28T10:51:03Z

further updated intro per standard format and updated info for clarity

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-{{short description|Badge for holders of certain titles bestowed by British India.}}
+#REDIRECT [[Title Badge]]
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-{{Use British English|date=August 2020}}
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-{{infobox military award
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imported>Citation bot: Alter: url. URLs might have been anonymized. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by RoanokeVirginia | Category:Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom | #UCB_Category 5/82

2021-07-17T10:18:58Z

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{{short description|Badge for holders of certain titles bestowed by British India.}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2020}}
{{infobox military award
| name = Title Badge
| image = [[File:Diwan Bahadur Title Badge, India.png|144px]][[File:Rao Bahadur Medal.jpg|145px]]
| caption = Insignia for [[Diwan Bahadur]] and [[Rao Bahadur]]
| presenter = the [[Emperor of India]]
| country =
| type = Title holder's insignia
| eligibility = Native Indian civilians and [[Viceroy's commissioned officer]]s
| awarded_for = Faithful service or acts of public welfare
| campaign =
| status = No longer awarded
| description =
| motto =
| clasps =
| post-nominals =
| established = 12 December 1911
| firstawarded = June 1912
| lastawarded = 1947
| total_awarded =
| total_awarded_posthumously =
| total_recipients =
| precedence_label =
| individual =
| higher =
| same =
| lower =
| related =
| image2 = [[File:Title Badge (India) 1st class. Ribbon.png|100px]] Ribbon: 1st class [[File:Waterloo Medal BAR.svg|100px]] Ribbon: 2nd class [[File:Title Badge (India) 3rd class. Ribbon.jpg|100px]] Ribbon: 3rd class
| caption2 =
}}

'''Title Badges''' were presented to Indian citizens who received certain formal [[title of honor|titles of honour]] during [[British Raj|British rule in India]]. They ceased to be awarded in 1947 on Indian independence.

==Establishment==

The system for bestowing titles on prominent Indians pre-dated the British presence in India. As part of a wider awards system, the British used these traditional Indian titles to reward native Indian civilians and [[Viceroy's commissioned officer]]s of the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] for faithful service and acts of public welfare.<ref name=Dorling>{{Cite book |author=Captain H. Taprell Dorling.|title= Ribbons and Medals|page=111|publisher= A.H.Baldwin & Sons, London|year=1956}}</ref>

At the [[Delhi_Durbar#Durbar_of_1911|Delhi Durbar celebrations in 1911]], King [[George V]] established a series of badges to be worn by title holders, enabling them to publicly display the title held.<ref name=Mussell>{{Cite book |author=John W. Mussell, editor |title=Medal Yearbook 2015|page=305|publisher= Token Publishing Limited, Honiton, Devon |year=2015}}</ref> The award was dis-established in 1947, upon Indian independence.<ref>Sharma, B. K. ''Introduction to the Constitution of India'', Published by Prentice-Hall, India, 2007, {{ISBN|8120332466}}, p. 83.</ref>

==Classes==

There were three classes, each sub-divided to reflect the religion, and sometimes region, of the title holder.<ref name=Dorling/><ref name=Tagore>{{cite book |last1=Tagore |first1=Abanindranath |last2=Tagore |first2=Gaganendranath |title=Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore's The Make-Believe Prince (Kheerer Putul); Gaganendranath Tagore's Toddy-Cat the Bold |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-909217-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVZxDwAAQBAJ&q=SARDAR+BAHADUR+TITLE+AWARDED&pg=PT282 |accessdate=12 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

'''First Class'''
*[[Sardar Bahadur]], ''for Muslims'';{{efn|Often also awarded to Sikhs from the Punjab.}}
*[[Diwan Bahadur]], ''for Hindus;''
'''Second Class'''
*[[Khan Bahadur]], ''for Muslims;''
*[[Rai Bahadur]] (North India) or Rao Bahadur (South India), ''for Hindus;''
'''Third Class'''{{efn|There may have been a ''Sardar Sahib'' Title Badge for Sikhs from the Punjab. Elsewhere they were rewarded as Hindus.}}
*[[Khan Sahib]], ''for Muslims;''
*[[Rai Sahib]] (North India) or Rao Sahib (South India), ''for Hindus.''

Those of other religions received the title considered most appropriate, for example native Indian Christians with a Hindu sounding name would receive a Hindu title,<ref name=Tagore/> with Jews receiving a Muslim title.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHJccZ92IecC&q=Khan+Sahib+title&pg=PA35 |title=The Jewish communities of India|author=Joan G. Roland|page=35|publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=1998|isbn=0765804395 |accessdate=2020-08-12}}</ref>

Title badges took precedence after all British and Indian orders and decorations, and before campaign medals.<ref name=Mussell/> In most cases, recipients proceeded from the lowest class to the higher grades, with only the most senior title, and badge, used. Ranking below a knighthood, these titles were dropped by any holder who became a knight of a British Order, for example the [[Order of the Star of India]] or the [[Order of the Indian Empire]].<ref name=Dorling/>

Members of the first class of the [[Order of British India]] could also use the title of ''Sardar Bahadur'', with members of the second class using ''Bahadur''.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=34694|page=6511|date=26 September 1939}}</ref> In these cases, the Title Badge was not worn.

==Appearance==

The badge consisted of a radiant star topped by an imperial crown, with a laurel wreath draped below the crown. A central medallion bore the appropriate title on a band surrounding the crowned profile of the king, either [[George V]] or [[George VI]]. Facing right until 1933, the design was then changed to show George V's bust facing left. The George VI version showed his bust facing left.<ref name=Mussell/> The reverse was plain, and was engraved with the name and details of the recipient.<ref name=Mussell/>

All three classes were the same size: {{convert|58|mm|in}} in height and {{convert|45|mm|in}} wide, differentiated by their metal finish and ribbon:<ref name=Dorling/>
* 1st class: silver gilt with the title displayed on the central medallion enamelled pale blue. The ribbon was light blue edged with dark blue;
* 2nd class: silver gilt without enamel. The ribbon was red edged with dark red;
* 3rd class: silver with the title displayed on the central medallion enamelled dark blue. The ribbon was dark blue edged with light blue.
All three classes were worn around the neck from the {{convert|39|mm|in}} wide ribbon,<ref name=Dorling/> although the badge was sometimes unofficially worn on the left chest alongside other medals.{{efn|Confirmed by contemporary photographs, e.g. [[:File:C.S.Rathinasabapathy_Mudaliar.jpg| C. S. Ratnasabhapathy Mudaliar]]}}

==See also==

*[[Raj Ratna]]
*[[Dewan]]

==Notes and References==

{{Notelist}}{{reflist}}

{{Decorations of the United Kingdom}}

[[Category:Orders, decorations, and medals of British India]]
[[Category:Men's social titles]]
[[Category:Orders, decorations, and medals of India]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1911]].
[[Category:Awards disestablished in 1947]]
[[Category:Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Orders, decorations, and medals of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Titles in India]]