| The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India | |
|---|---|
 Insignia of a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) | |
| Awarded by monarch of the United Kingdom .svg) | |
| Type | Order of chivalry |
| Established | 1861 |
| Motto | Heaven's Light Our Guide |
| Awarded for | At the monarch's pleasure |
| Status | Last appointment in 1947 Dormant order since 2009 |
| Founder | Victoria |
| Grades |
|
| Former grades | Knight Companion |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Order of the Bath |
| Next (lower) | Order of St Michael and St George |
 Ribbon bar of the Star of India | |
TheMost Exalted Order of the Star of India is anorder of chivalry founded byQueen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:
No appointments have been made since the1948 New Year Honours, shortly after thePartition of India in 1947. Following the death in 2009 of the last surviving knight, theTej Singh Prabhakar, Maharaja ofAlwar, the order became dormant.
The motto of the order was "Heaven's Light Our Guide". TheStar of India emblem, the insignia of the order and the informal emblem of British India, was also used as the basis ofa series of flags to represent theIndian Empire.
The order was the fifth most senior British order of chivalry, following theOrder of the Garter,Order of the Thistle,Order of St Patrick andOrder of the Bath. It is the senior order of chivalry associated with theBritish Raj; junior to it is theOrder of the Indian Empire, and there is also, for women only, theImperial Order of the Crown of India.
Several years after theIndian Rebellion of 1857 and the consolidation of Great Britain's power as the governing authority in India, it was decided by the British Crown to create a new order of knighthood to honour Indian Princes and Chiefs, as well as British officers and administrators who served in India. On 25 June 1861, the following proclamation was issued byQueen Victoria:
The Queen, being desirous of affording to the Princes, Chiefs and People of theIndian Empire, a public and signal testimony of Her regard, by the Institution of anOrder of knighthood, whereby Her resolution to take upon Herself the Government of the Territories in India may be commemorated, and by which Her Majesty may be enabled to reward conspicuous merit and loyalty, has been graciously pleased, byLetters Patent under theGreat Seal of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to institute, erect, constitute, and create, an Order of Knighthood, to be known by, and have for ever hereafter, the name, style, and designation, of "The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India"[1]
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19 persons were appointed Knights Companion at the creation of the Order:[1]
12 additional Knights Companion were appointed over the next five years.
On 24 May 1866, the Order was expanded to additional ranks. All surviving Knights Companion were elevated to Grand Commander.
Additional appointments were made to the Order in the ranks of Grand Commander, Knight Commander, and Companion. These include
The last appointments to the Order were made in the1948 New Year Honours, some months after thePartition of India in August 1947.
TheOrder of the Indian Empire, founded in 1877, was intended to be a less exclusive version of the Order of the Star of India; consequently, many more appointments were made to the former.
As the last Grand Master of the Orders,Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma was also the last known individual to wear publicly the stars of a Knight Grand Commander of both Orders, during theSilver Jubilee of Elizabeth II celebrations in 1977.[9]
TheBritish Sovereign was, and still is, Sovereign of the Order. The next most senior member was the Grand Master, a position heldex officio by theViceroy of India. When the order was established in 1861, there was only one class of Knights Companion, who bore the postnominals KSI. In 1866, however, it was expanded to three classes. Members of the first class were known as "Knights Grand Commander" (rather than the usual "Knights Grand Cross") so as not to offend the non-Christian Indians appointed to the Order. All those surviving members who had already been made Knights Companion of the Order were retroactively known as Knights Grand Commander.
Former viceroys and other high officials, as well as those who served in the Department of theSecretary of State for India for at least thirty years were eligible for appointment. Rulers of Indian Princely States were also eligible for appointment. Some states were of such importance that their rulers were almost always appointed Knights Grand Commanders; such rulers included theNizam ofHyderabad, theMaharaja of Mysore, theMaharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, theMaharaja ofBaroda, the Maharajas ofGwalior, theNawab of Bhopal, theMaharaja ofIndore, the Maharajas of Singrauli, theMaharana ofUdaipur, theMaharaja of Travancore, theMaharaja ofJodhpur and theMaharao ofCutch.
Kashi NareshPrabhu Narayan Singh of Benares andSir Azizul Haque were appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in 1892 and 1941 respectively, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) in 1898, and Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) for his services in theFirst World War in the 1921 New Year Honours.[10]
Rulers of other nations in Asia and the Middle East, including theEmir of Kuwait, the Maharajas of theRana dynasty, theKhedive of Egypt, theKing of Bhutan and the rulers ofZanzibar,Bahrain andOman were also appointed to the Order. Like some rulers ofprincely states, some rulers of particular prestige, for example the Maharajas of the Rana dynasty or the Sultans of Oman, were usually appointed Knights Grand Commanders.
Women, save the princely rulers, were ineligible for appointment to the order. They were, unlike the habit of many other orders, admitted as "Knights", rather than as "Dames" or "Ladies". The first woman to be admitted to the order was Nawab Sikandar Begum Sahiba, Nawab Begum of Bhopal; she was created a Knight Companion at the Order's foundation in 1861. The order's statutes were specially amended to permit the admission of QueenMary as a Knight Grand Commander in 1911.
Members of the Order wore elaborate costumes on important ceremonial occasions:
On certain "collar days" designated by the Sovereign, members attending formal events wore the order's collar over their military uniform, formal day dress, or evening wear. When collars were worn (either on collar days or on formal occasions such as coronations), the badge was suspended from the collar.
At less important occasions, simpler insignia were used:
Unlike the insignia of most other British chivalric orders, the insignia of the Order of the Star of India did not incorporate crosses, as they were deemed unacceptable to the Indian princes appointed to the Order.
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 Commanders and Knights Commanders. (Seeorder of precedence in England and Wales for the exact positions.)
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Knights Grand Commanders used thepost-nominal initials "GCSI", Knights Commanders "KCSI" and Companions "CSI". Knights Grand Commanders and Knights Commanders prefixed "Sir" to their forenames. Wives of Knights Grand Commanders and Knights Commanders could prefix "Lady" to their surnames. Such forms were not used by peers and Indian princes, except when the names of the former were written out in their fullest forms.
Knights Grand Commanders were also entitled to receiveheraldic supporters. They could, furthermore, encircle their arms with a depiction of the circlet (a circle bearing the motto) and thecollar; the former is shown either outside or on top of the latter. Knights Commanders and Companions were permitted to display the circlet, but not the collar, surrounding their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet.
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