Order of the Dooranee Empire

1st Class Star awarded to Sir Thomas Willshire in the Musée national de la Légion d'Honneur et des Ordres de Chevalerie, Paris

The Order of the Dooranee Empire was awarded to British field officers and above during the First Afghan War by Shah Shoojah-ool-Moolk of Afghanistan in gratitude for his restoration to the throne.^[1]

The first investiture of the order was held at a grand durbar in the courtyard of the Harem Serai of the Bala Hissar, Kabul, on the evening of 17 September 1839.^[2] At the time there were not enough decorations prepared but on the day those who were not on duty were presented before the king.^[3] The result was that there are numerous variations in the stars and medals as many were subsequently made in India and Europe, particularly in the number of pearls on the order.

There were three classes to the order as to emulate the three classes of the Order of the Bath. The first and second classes had both a star and a medal while the third consisted of a medal only. The medal of all three classes had the red/green ribbon of the Ghuznee Medal.

1st Class

Medal: A gold Maltese cross with eight points terminating in a gold bead on two crossed swords. In the centre is a green flower on a blue enamel ground with the words "dui-i-dauran" in Persian script, meaning "pearl of the age", the name attributed to the Durrani dynasty. The enamel centre is encircled by pearls.

Star: A silver star with a smaller Maltese cross in gold overlaid in the same style as the medal with the addition of a diamond on each arm of the gold cross. There are 17 pearls circling the enamel work.

2nd Class

Medal: As the 1st class but with 20 pearls encircling the centre.

Star: A silver star shaped like a Maltese cross with the gold medal overlaid as above but with 18 pearls.

3rd Class

Medal: As the 1st class but with 14 pearls encircling the centre.

Recipients

This is not an exhaustive list

1st Class

1. Lieut. Col. Sir Alexander Burnes
2. Lieut. General Sir Willoughby Cotton
3. Lord Auckland
4. Lieut. General Sir John Keane
5. Sir William Hay Macnaghten
6. Lieut. Col. Sir Claude Martin Wade
7. Major General Sir Thomas Willshire

2nd Class

1. Lieut. Col. Robert Arnold
2. Lieut. Col. JG Beaumgardt
3. Major A Campbell
4. Major Patrick Craigie
5. Major William Garden
6. Lieut. Col. Keith
7. Lieut. Col. Macdonald
8. Major General Sir James Outram
9. Major General James Parsons
10. Major Alexander Peat
11. Major General Abraham Roberts
12. Major General Sir Robert Henry Sale
13. Lieut. Col. J Scott
14. Major General Edward Simpson
15. Lieut. Col. Stephenson
16. General Sir Joseph Thackwell
17. Lieut. Col. George Thomson
18. Major Elliot D'Arcy Todd
19. Lieut. Col. Hugh Wheeler

3rd Class

1. Major General Augustus Abbott
2. Major William Alexander
3. Captain William Anderson
4. Superintending Surgeon James Atkinson
5. Captain JDD Bean
6. Colonel David Birrell
7. Lieut. Col. Bulstrode Bygrave
8. Lieut. Col. Neil Campbell
9. Lieut. Col. Charles Carmichael Smyth
10. Lieut. Col. Richard Carruthers
11. Major CJ Connyngham
12. Captain Edward Barry Conolly
13. Lieut. Col. Croker
14. Lieut. Col. David Cuninghame
15. Lieut. Col. Charles Robert Cureton
16. Lieut. Col. Daly
17. Captain David Davidson
18. Lieut. Col. William Dennie
19. Major Deshon
20. Major General Thomas Douglas
21. Superintending Surgeon J Forsyth
22. Major J Fraser
23. Captain H Garbett
24. Major C Griffiths
25. Major Crawford Hagart
26. Major Henry Hancock
27. Major John Hay
28. Lieut. Col. John Herring
29. Captain Hugh Johnson
30. General Sir George St Patrick Lawrence
31. Major Robert Leech
32. Mr PB Lord
33. Lieutenant Frederick Mackeson
34. Lieut. Col. James Maclaren
35. Lieut. Col. McDowell
36. Lieut. Col. GHM McGregor
37. Captain James McGregor
38. Major Thomas McSherry
39. Colonel Thomas Monteath
40. Lieut. Col. Joseph Orchard
41. Lieut. Col. John Pennycuick
42. Lieut. Col. William Persse
43. Lieut. Col. Peter Pew
44. Major Edward Pottinger
45. Lieut. Col. Sir HC Rawlinson
46. Captain James Nathaniel Rind
47. Lieut. Col. Henry Salter
48. Captain Edward Sanders
49. Lieut. Col. Bentham Sandwith
50. General Sir Richmond Shakespeare
51. Lieut. Col. LR Stacy
52. Lieut. Col. Foster Stalker
53. Major Robert Thomas
54. Major John Thompson
55. Lieut. Col. Tronson
56. Captain Hamilton Wade
57. Captain A Wall
58. Major General George Warren
59. Lieut. Col. John Weston
60. Lieut. Col. CB Wheeler
61. Captain Foster Wheler
62. Colonel GP Wymer
63. Captain AGFJ Younghusband

References

1. ^ p.139 British Battles and Medals by Major L L Gordon; published by Spink & Son Ltd 1947
2. ^ pp. 322-323 The Expedition into Affghanistan: notes and sketches descriptive of the country, contained in a personal narrative during the campaign of 1839 & 1840 by James Atkinson, etc; published by W H Allen & Co, London, 1842
3. ^ p. 21 The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany, Volume 31, 1840