The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:
Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) Knight Commander (KCSI) Companion (CSI)
No appointments have been made since the 1948 New Year Honours, shortly after the Partition of India in 1947. Following the death in 2009 of the last surviving knight, the Maharaja of Alwar, the order became dormant.
The motto of the order was "Heaven's Light Our Guide". The Star of India emblem, the insignia of order and the informal emblem of British India, was also used as the basis of a series of flags to represent the Indian Empire.
The order was the fifth most senior British order of chivalry, following the Order of the Garter, Order of the Thistle, Order of St Patrick and Order of the Bath. It is the senior order of chivalry associated with the British Raj; junior to it is the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, and there is also, for women only, the Imperial Order of the Crown of India.
History
Several years after the Indian 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 by Queen Victoria:
Recipients
Knights Companion
19 persons were appointed Knights Companion at the creation of the Order:
The Prince Consort
The Prince of Wales
Earl Canning, GCB, Governor-General of India and Grand Master of the Order
Sir James Outram, Bt, GCB, Member of the Viceroy's Council
Lord Harris, Governor of Madras
Sir George Russell Clerk, Governor of Bombay
Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence, Bt, GCB, Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab
Sir Hugh Henry Rose, GCB, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
Viscount Gough, former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
Lord Clyde, former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
Tukojirao Holkar II, Maharaja of Indore
Afzal-ud-Daulah, 5th Nizam of Hyderabad
Jayajirao Scindia, Maharaja of Gwalior
Duleep Singh, former Maharaja of the Sikh Empire
Ranbir Singh Dogra, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
Yusef Ali Khan, Nawab of Rampur
Nawab Sikander Begum, Nawab Begum of Bhopal
Narendra Singh, Maharaja of Patiala
Khanderao II Gaekwad, Maharaja of Baroda
12 additional Knights Companion were appointed over the next five years. 19 August 1861 Viscount Combermere, former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army Sir George Pollock, Bt. GCB, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan 11 November 1863 Ram Singh II, Maharajah of Jaipur Swarup Singh, Rajah of Jind 10 December 1864 Randhir Singh, Rajah of Kapurthala Raghuraj Singh Ju Deo Bahadur, Maharaja of Rewa 12 February 1866 Sir Robert Montgomery, former Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab Sir Henry Bartle Frere, Bt., GCB, Governor of Bombay Takht Singh, Maharajah of Jodhpur Ayilyam Thirunal, Maharajah of Travancore General Sir William Mansfield, KCB, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army Madan Pal, Maharaja of Karauli Sir Joginder Sen Bahadur KCSI , Maharaja of Mandi State
On 24 May 1866, the Order was expanded to additional ranks. All surviving Knights Companion were elevated to Grand Commander.
Later appointments
Additional appointments were made to the Order in the ranks of Grand Commander, Knight Commander, and Companion. These include
Shahu of Kolhapur, Maharaja of Kolhapur
Maharaja Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana of Nepal
Maharaja Bahadur Sir JAIMANGAL Singh of Gidhaur Estate KCSI 24.05.1866. Maharaja Bahadur Sir Ravaneshwar Singh of Gidhaur Estate KCIE 25.05.1895. Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur, Nawab of Dhaka Mir Osman Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi - Asaf Jah VII - 7th Nizam of Hyderabad Maharaj Bhim Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana Sadeq Mohammad Khan IV, Nawab of Bahawalpur
The last appointments to the Order were made in the 1948 New Year Honours, some months after the Partition of India in August 1947.
The Order has never been formally abolished, and Charles III succeeded his mother Elizabeth II as Sovereign of the Orders when he ascended the throne in 2022. He remains Sovereign of the Order to this day. However, there are no living members of the Order.
The Order 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 latter than to the former.