Delhi Durbar Medal (1911)

Delhi Durbar Medal, 1911
Obverse and reverse of 1911 Durbar Medal
Type	Commemoration medal
Awarded for	Participation in Durbar or broader service to the Indian Empire
Presented by	United Kingdom and British Raj
Established	1911
Total	200 gold and 26,800 silver medals
Ribbon bar

Delhi Durbar Medals were instituted by the United Kingdom to commemorate the Delhi Durbar where the new Emperor of India was proclaimed, in 1903 for Edward VII, and in 1911 for George V.^[1] On both occasions the medals were one and a half inches in diameter and were awarded in both gold and silver.^[2] They were worn in date order alongside Coronation and Jubilee medals on the left chest, suspended from a ribbon one and a quarter inches wide.^[3] These Royal commemorative medals were worn before campaign medals until November 1918,^[4] after which the order of wear was changed, with them now worn after campaign medals and before long service awards.^[5]

Obverse: The conjoined crowned busts of King George V and Queen Mary facing left within a floral wreath of roses.
Reverse: A legend in Persian, which translates as The Durbar of George V, Emperor of India, Master of the British Land.^[6]
The medal was awarded unnamed.^[4]

Two hundred gold medals were struck for award to ruling chiefs and high-ranking officials. 30,000 silver medals were struck,^[7] with 26,800 awarded to civic dignitaries, government officials, and including 10,000 to officers and men of the British and Indian armies.^[8] The medal was distributed, not only to those present at the Durbar, but to others throughout India who contributed to the Raj.^[9]

The ribbon was the same as for the medal for King George's Coronation, and while the obverse design is the same, the Durbar Medal is larger, being 1½ inches in diameter, compared with 1¼ inches for the Coronation Medal. Both medals could not be worn together, and those eligible for both wore a clasp bearing the word 'Delhi' on the ribbon of the Coronation Medal.^[10]

Durbar clasp for Coronation Medal ribbon

From the British forces present, 905 silver medals were awarded to officers and only 3266 to British other ranks – so that approximately a quarter of the British troops actually having participated in the Durbar celebrations received a medal.^[11]

Duckers notes there must have been disappointment that a minority of men in a regiment got the medal whereas the majority did not, despite also having been participated in the same event. One consequence is that medal collectors often come across Delhi Durbar medals in medal groups, not documented on the medal roll as officially issued, that have been self-awarded by those who were present at the Durbar, and felt that they had a right to wear the medal.^[11]

• Delhi Durbar Medal (1903)
• Delhi Durbar
• British colonial India
• Empress of India Medal

• Arden, Yves (1976). Military Medals and Decorations: A Price Guide for Collectors. Newton Abbott: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7274-6.
• Cole, Howard N (1977). Coronation and Royal Commemorative Medals. London: J. B. Hayward & Son. ISBN 978-0-90-375411-8.
• Lecane, Philip (15 April 2015). Beneath a Turkish Sky: The Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Assault on Gallipoli. Dublin: History Press Ireland Limited. ISBN 978-0-7509-6477-7.
• McCreery, Christopher (2012). Commemorative Medals of the Queen's Reign in Canada, 1952-2012. Toronto: Dundurn. ISBN 978-1-4597-0756-6.
• Mussell, John W, ed. (2015). Medal Yearbook 2015. Honiton, Devon: Token Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-90-882816-3.

• "Delhi Durbar Medal Roll 1911". 1. Order of March 2. 99 Manchester soldiers on the roll. themanchesters.org. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
• "UK, [British Army] Delhi Durbar & Medal List, 1911, Records: 6,335". Retrieved 16 September 2024 – via Fold3. Indexed transcriptions only, no images
• "Delhi Durbar 1911: medal rolls of Army in India and memorandum showing conditions under which the Delhi Durbar medals of 1903 and 1911 were issued. Archive Reference: WO 100/400 [file to download]" – via The National Archives (United Kingdom).