The good Second Sikh War and Indian Mutiny pair awarded to to Private Christopher Durwand, 1st Bombay (European) Regiment of Fusiliers, Honourable East India Company Forces. Durward from Edinburgh, saw some 21 years service in India between May 1838 and July 1859, and survived all that the climate had to throw at him. Durward’s involvement in the siege of Mooltan, from November 1848 until January 1849, may have seen him witness one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history when on 30 December 1848 a British mortar hit the citadel and the stored magazine exploded. During the storming of the fortress of Mooltan on 2nd January 1849, his regiment carried the Kooni Boorj breach, where the Regimental Colour was planted. His regiment was awarded a battle honour for this action. Durwand later fought through the Indian Mutiny.
Pair: Punjab Medal 1848-1849, 1 Clasp: Mooltan; (CHRISTR. DURWAND, 1ST. EUR. FUS.); Indian Mutiny Medal 1857-1858, no clasp; (CHRIS. DURWAND, 1ST. BOMBAY EURN. FUSRS.)
Condition: light contact wear, Good Very Fine or better.
Christopher Durward, a baker from Edinburgh, signed up to join as a Private the 1st Bombay (European) Regiment on 14 May 1838, with whom he fought for 21 years and saw action in key events in Indian history including the Second Sikh War and the Indian Mutiny.
The Second Sikh War started on 19 April 1848, when Patrick Vans Agnew and a fellow British officer entered Mooltan to replace Dewan Mulraj Chopra with a more compliant Sikh ruler, Sardar Khan Singh. Mulraj co-operated initially, handing over the city keys, but the mob attacked the officers hacking their heads off. This sparked open rebellion amongst the Sikh troops. Throughout the rest of the year and into the early part of 1849, the British were engaged in battles and sieges before finally annexing the Punjab. Durward’s involvement in the siege of Mooltan, from November until January, may have seen him witness one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history when on 30 December 1848 a British mortar hit the citadel and the stored magazine exploded.
During the storming of the fortress of Mooltan on 2nd January 1849, the 1st Bombay (European) Regiment carried the Kooni Boorj breach, where the Regimental Colour was planted by Sergeant (afterwards Major) John Bennett. He was awarded a commission for his bravery in doing this as the pike of the colour was severed by a bullet as he held it. For their services at the storming of Mooltan, the 1st Bombay (European) Regiment were awarded the battle honour "Mooltan".
Durward was also involved in the Indian Mutiny. In March 1857, sepoy Mangal Pandey attacked his British officers at Barrackpore, followed by further revolts of the Indian troops at Meerut over the use of Lee Enfield cartridges, where they again attacked their British officers. So began the Indian Mutiny. The sepoys then marched on Delhi and restored the elderly Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II. Revolts also spread to Agra, Kanpur and Lucknow. Many of the Princes though did not join the revolt but it took two years to quell.
At the end, the East India Company was abolished, with the British Government now ruling India directly. The 1st Bombay (European) Regiment in due course were placed under the command of the Victorian Crown in 1858 becoming the 1st Royal Bombay Fusiliers in May 1861 and the 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers) in 1862
Durward must have been of a strong constitution if he was in India for the full 21 years: not only would he have seen the political playout of the last days of the East India Company, but he would have survived the deadly trinity of smallpox, cholera and plague, no small feat given that British armed forces were almost four times more likely to perish from disease than the armed forces in Europe.
On 19 July 1859, 11 days after the end of the Indian Mutiny, Durward was discharged with a pension of a shilling a d
