The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members in three classes or ranks:
Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) Knight Commander (KCIE) Companion (CIE)
New appointments to the order ceased after 1947, the year that British India became the independent Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. With the death of the last surviving knight, the Maharaja Meghrajji III of Dhrangadhra, the order became dormant in 2010.
The motto of the Order is Imperatricis auspiciis, (Latin for "Under the auspices of the Empress"), a reference to Queen Victoria, the first Empress of India. The Order is the junior British order of chivalry associated with the British Indian Empire; the senior one is The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India.
History and Senior Recipients The British founded the Order in 1878 to reward British and native officials who served in British India. The Order originally had only one class (Companion), but expanded to comprise two classes in 1887.Buckland, C. E. (1901). Bengal Under the Lieutenant-Governors: Being a Narrative of the Principal Events and Public Measures During Their Periods of Office, from 1854 to 1898, p. 699. Calcutta: S. K. Lahiri & Co. The British authorities intended the Order of the Indian Empire as a less exclusive version of the Order of the Star of India (founded in 1861);Orders Associated with the Indian Empire, Debretts.com; accessed 1 July 2017. consequently, many more appointments were made to the former than to the latter.
On 15 February 1887, the Order of the Indian Empire formally became "The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire" and was divided into two classes: knights commander and companions. The following are those made knight commander, listed up to 1906:Great Britain. India Office 1905
Maharaja Harendra Kishore Singh Bahadur (1884) Dietrich Brandis (1887) Alexander Meadows Rendel Donald Campbell Macnabb George Birdwood Surgeon-General Benjamin Simpson Albert James Leppoc Cappel Donald Mackenzie Wallace Alfred Woodley Croft Bradford Leslie Jaswantsinghji Fatehsinghji, Thakur Sahib of Limri William Gerald Seymour Vesey-Fitzgerald Charles Arthur Turner (1888) Edwin Arnold Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock Raymond West Guilford Lindsey Molesworth Frederick Russell Hogg Sirdar Nauroz Khan, of Kharan Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Henry Mortimer Durand (1889) Arthur George Macpherson William Markby H. S. Cunningham Maharana Shri Wakhat Singh Dalil Singh, Raja of Lunavada. Roper Lethbridge (1890) Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning Edward Charles Kayll Ollivant (1892) Charles Pontifex Henry Hoyle Howorth MP Henry Seymour King Lieutenant-Colonel William Brereton Hudson (1893) Lieutenant-General Thomas Edward Gordon Lieutenant-General Edward Charles Sparshott Williams Field Marshall George White VC John Lambert Colonel John Charles Ardagh (1894) James Lyle Mackay Henry Ravenshaw Thuillier (1895) Nawab Sidi Ahmad Khan Sidi Ibrahim Khan of Janjira Sirdar Krishna Rao Bapu Saheb Jadu Raja Sri Rao Vencatesveta Chalapati Ranga Rao Bahadur of Bobbili Sir William Robert Brooke (Director General of Telegraphs, IndiaEdward Walford ) Maharaja Pratap Narayan Singh of Ayudhya Maharaja Ravaneshwar Prasad Singh, Bahadur of Gidhaur Lt.Col. Adalbert Cecil Talbot Maj.-Gen. Thomas Dennehy (1896) His Highness Maharaja Sawai Ranjor Singh Bahadur, of Ajaigarh (1897) Henry William Bliss Shri Shaurya Prakash, K.C.I.E. Nawab Amir-ud-din Ahmad Khan Bahadur, Chief of Loharu. Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur, Nawab of Dhaka Colonel William Sinclair Smith Bisset General Edward Stedman John Jardine Rear-Admiral John Hext Mancherjee Merwanjee Bhownaggree Colonel Thomas Hungerford Holdich Baba Khem Singh Bedi, of Kallar (1898) Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin George King, KCIE Sir Arthur Wilson, Francis William Maclean Sir Andrew Wingate W.C. Kunwar Harnam Singh, Ahluwalia Maj.-Gen. Sir Gerald De Courcy Morton Gen. Sir George Corrie Bird S. Subramaniya Aiyar, CIE, Dewan Bahadur (1900) Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill Alexander Frederick Douglas Cunningham (1901) Henry Evan Murchison James Maharaj Ganga Singh of Bikaner Shahbaz Khan Bugti James George Scott Maharaja Dhiraj Milkman Sign Eahadur (1902) Maharaja Rameshwara Singh Bahadur Sir Thomas Higham Col. Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob Lt.Col. Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie Sir Lawrence Hugh Jenkins (1903) Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh, CIE (1903) Sir Herbert Thirkell White Sir Charles Lewis Tupper, CSI Surgeon-General Benjamin Franklin, CIE, Sir Frederick Augustus Nicholson, CSI Sir Arthur Upton Fanshawe, Esq, CSI, Sir Walter Roper Lawrence, Esq, CIE, Sir John Eliot, Esq, CIE, Raja Dhiraj Nahar Singh, of Shahpura, Gangadhar Rao Ganesh, alias Bala Sahib Patwar-Dhan, Chief of Miraj Sardar Ghaus Bakhsh, Raisani, Maharaja Harballabh Narayan Singh Bahadur, of Sonbursa, Maharaja Peshkar Kishn Parshad Puma Narasingharao Krishna Murti, CIE, Maj.-Gen. Sir Edmond Roche Elles (1904) Sir Henry Thoby Prinsep Pherozeshah Merwanji Mehta Col. Sir Buchanan ScottJashwant_Singh_II Col. Sir John Walter Ottley Raja Jaswant Singh, of Sailana Major Sir Francis Edward Younghusband Bt.-Col. Sir James R. L. Macdonald Sri Ugyen Wangchuk, Tongsa Penlop of Bhutan Sir Frederic Styles Philpin Lely (1905)
General Sir Mowbray Thomson (1911)
Only a few months later, on 21 June 1887, a further proclamation regarding the Order was made. The Order was thence expanded from two classes to three – adding a rank of Knight Grand Commander to the extant Knight Commander and Companion classes. Seven knights grand commander were created, mostly members of the Royal Family, namely: The Prince of Wales The Duke of Edinburgh The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn The Duke of Cambridge Lord Reay, Governor of Bombay Lord Connemara, Governor of Madras General Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts (promoted from a Knight Commander)
Honorary awards Also from 1897, 3 honorary knights commander were made: Léon Émile Clément-Thomas (1897); Col. Sir Eduardo Augusto Rodriques Galhardo (Jan 1901); and Sir Hussien Kuli Khan, Mokhber-ed-Dowlet (June 1902).
Emperor Gojong of Korea was made an honorary Knight Grand Commander on 17 December 1900.
Ceasement Appointments to both the Order of the Star of India and the Order of the Indian Empire ceased after 14 August 1947. As the last Grand Master of the orders, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma was also the last known individual to have publicly worn the stars of a Knight Grand Commander of both orders, during the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977. There are no living members of the order.
The last Grand Master of the Order was Rear Admiral The 1st Viscount Mountbatten of Burma (later promoted and created Admiral of the Fleet, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma; 1900–1979), the last Viceroy of India and the first Governor General of the newly independent Union (or Dominion) of India. Lord Mountbatten was killed in an IRA bombing in County Sligo on 27 August 1979.
The last surviving GCIE, Maharaja Sri Sir Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma (1912–1991), the Maharaja of Travancore, died on 19 July 1991 in Trivandrum.
The last surviving KCIE, Maharaja Sri Sir Mayurdwajsinhji Meghrajsinhji III Maharaja of Dhrangadhra (1923–2010), the Maharaja of Dhrangadhra-Halvad, died at Dhrangadhra on 1 August 2010.Obituary of The Maharaja of Dhrangadhra-Halvad, Telegraph.co.uk, 2 September 2010
The last surviving CIE, Sir Ian Dixon Scott (1909–2002), died on 3 March 2002.Obituary for Sir Ian Dixon Scott, Telegraph.co.uk, 11 March 2002.
The fictional characters Purun Dass, invented by Rudyard Kipling, and Harry Paget Flashman, invented by George MacDonald Fraser, were KCIEs; Kipling's engineer Findlayson in The Day's Work (1908) aspires to the CIE.
Composition
The British sovereign serves as Sovereign of the Order. The grand master held the next-most senior rank; the position was held, ex officio, by the viceroy of India. Members of the first class were titled "Knight Grand Commander" rather than "Knight Grand Cross" so as not to offend the non-Christian Indians appointed to the order.
At the time of foundation in 1878 the order had only one class, that of Companion, with no quota imposed. In 1886, the Order was divided into the two classes of knights commander (50 at any given time) and companions (no quota). The following year the class of Knight Grand Commander (25 at any given time) was added; the composition of the other two classes remained the same. The statute also provided that it was "competent for Her Majesty, Her heirs and successors, at Her or their pleasure, to appoint any Princes of the Blood Royal, being descendants of His late Majesty King George the First, as Extra Knights Grand Commander".
By Letters Patent of 2 Aug 1886, the number of knights commander was increased to 82, while commanders were limited to 20 nominations per year (40 for 1903 only). Membership was expanded by letters patent of 10 June 1897, which permitted up to 32 knights grand commander. A special statute of 21 October 1902 permitted up to 92 knights commander, but continued to limit the number of nominations of commanders to 20 in any successive year. On 21 December 1911, in connection with the Delhi Durbar, the limits were increased to 40 knights grand commander, 120 knights commander, and 40 nominations of companions in any successive year.
British officials and soldiers were eligible for appointment, as were rulers of Indian Princely States. Generally, the rulers of the more important states were appointed knights grand commander of the Order of the Star of India, rather than of the Order of the Indian Empire. Women, save the princely rulers, were ineligible for appointment to the order. Female princely rulers were admitted as "knights" rather than as "dames" or "ladies". Other Asian and Middle Eastern rulers were also appointed as well.
Vestments and insignia
Members of the order wore elaborate costumes on important ceremonial occasions: The mantle, worn only by knights grand commander, comprised dark blue satin lined with white silk. On the left side was a representation of the star (see photo at right). The collar, also worn only by knights grand commander, was made of gold. It was composed of alternating golden elephants, Indian roses and peacocks.
At less important occasions, simpler insignia were used: The star, worn only by knights grand commander and knights commander, had ten points, including rays of gold and silver for knights grand commander, and of plain silver for knights commander. In the centre was an image of Victoria surrounded by a dark blue ring with the motto and surmounted by a crown.Boutell, Charles (1908). English Heraldry, p. 290. London: Reeves & Turner. The badge was worn by knights grand commander on a dark blue riband, or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip, and by knights commander and companions from a dark blue ribbon around the neck. It included a five-petalled crown-surmounted red flower, with the image of Victoria surrounded by a dark blue ring with the motto at the centre.
The insignia of most other British chivalric orders incorporate a cross; the Order of the Indian Empire does not, in deference to India's non-Christian tradition.
Precedence and privileges
Members of all classes of the order were assigned positions in the order of precedence. Wives of members of all classes also featured on the order of precedence, as did sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of knights grand commander and knights commander. (See order of precedence in England and Wales for the exact positions.)