Authorised by General order on the 4th October, 1842 there are four different striking’s of this silver medal that was issued in Simla. It was awarded to European and Native troops who took part in the First Anglo-Afghan War under the command of General William Nott. Conflicts included the skirmish outside the fortress of Ghuznee in August 1842.

Many Peninsular veterans’ were reported to be enraged that the Indian Government was much more liberal with issuing this medal than the British Crown government.

All the medal types are the same except for the reverse. The obverse of each medal bears the head of a young Queen Victoria, with the legend “VICTORIA REGINA”.

The order of rarity is as follows: (1) Ghuznee, Cabul, (2) Candahar (3) Candahar, Ghuznee, Cabul, (4) Cabul.

Description:

Materials: The majority of the British medals and clasps are made of solid silver, though some were issue in bronze versions, mainly to Indian non-combatants. The majority of the British campaign awards are circular, usually 36mm in diameter.

Ribbons: Medals are worn suspended from their own specific ribbons. These were first made of silk but cotton was increasingly used as the nineteenth century developed. Their own colours often have a symbolic significance: the equal stripes of the ‘1939 to 1945 Star,’ for example, are dark blue to represent the service of the Royal and Merchant Navies, red, to represent that of the Armies and light blue to represent that of Air Forces.

Ribbon width can vary slightly though it is generally 32mm wide.

Ribbon – Rainbow pattern watered Red, Yellow and Blue.

Candahar, Guznee, Cabul Medal ribbon

Type – Campaign Medal

Suspension – A straight steel suspender fastened by means of a pin to a steel clip attached to the piece.

Campaign – First Anglo-Afghan War

Established – 1842

Designer – W. Wyon, R.A.

Naming – Some in indented capital letter, some in script, whilst a few were issued unnamed.

Total Awarded – Candahar: Europeans 130 medals and natives 2,485

Cabul: Europeans 3,500 medals and natives 9,241

Ghuznee & Cabul: Europeans 360 medals and natives 1,163

Clasps – Nil

Description - Obverse is the head of Queen Victoria with the legend “VICTORIA VINDEX.” The four different types of reverse are as follows:

Candahar (May, 1842). – The reverse has “CANDAHAR” with the date “1842” underneath, the whole surrounded by a laurel wreath and surmounted by a crown.

Cabul (15th September, 1842). – The reverse has “CABUL” with the date “1842” underneath, the whole surrounded by a laurel wreath and surmounted by a crown.

Ghuznee and Cabul. – The reverse has two intertwined laurel wreaths, with “GHUZNEE” in the first and “CABUL” in the second. The whole surrounded by a laurel wreath and surmounted by a crown.

Candahar, Ghuznee, Cabul. – The reverse has the words of these three places in this order, with the date “1842”. The whole surrounded by a laurel wreath and surmounted by a crown.

This guide will help you through all the parts and descriptions of military medals

Sources:

Major L L Gordon ‘British Battles and Medals’

Some of the material on this page was also partially derived from

<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Candahar,_Ghuznee,_Cabul_Medal >

Which are released under the terms of

Creativecommons.org/licenses/by-s/3.0/.

Candahar, Guznee, Cabul Medal 1842