| NATIVE ADJUTANT NAUSELWANJEE |
| 5TH REGIMENT OUDE MILITARY POLICE CAVALRY |
An unusual no bar Indian Mutiny medal named to a Parsee (or Parsi). The medal is properly
named in running script in the normal engraving style for Mutiny medals awarded to natives.
The members of the Parsee (or Parsi) faith are a small religious minority in India. The
followers of the prophet Zoroastria (Zarathushtra in the West), they are believed to have
immigrated to India from Persia in the 8th Century. They prospered in India and even today
the Parsees are an unusually affluent community, but now number less than 100,000 members.
It is probable that Native Adjutant Nauselwanjee was the son of a prosperous Parsee
merchant, whose family’s wealth and position provided with him the opportunity to receive the
education necessary to allow him to be appointed to the position of Native Adjutant.
Interestingly, however, members of the Parsee faith were generally considered to be
nonviolent. 1 Thus, service in the military was inconsistent with their religious beliefs and it
is unusual to find any Victorian military medal named to a member of the Parsee faith. The
appointment of Nauselwanjee as Native Adjutant was almost certainly done in order to take
advantage of his education by appointing him to a position that was primarily responsible for
keeping the records and accounts of the regiment. What is not known, however, is how his
service in the military, whether as Native Adjutant or otherwise, could have been reconciled
with his religious beliefs and customs.
It is uncommon for a Mutiny medal to include Native Adjutant in the naming of the medal, as
Native Adjutant is an appointment and not a rank, the appointment usually being held by the
junior Jemadar of the regiment. The post was sometimes called Woordie Major in native
cavalry regiments, but apparently the Oude Military Police cavalry regiments did not follow
this convention, possibly because they were more akin to mounted infantry than true cavalry.
named in running script in the normal engraving style for Mutiny medals awarded to natives.
The members of the Parsee (or Parsi) faith are a small religious minority in India. The
followers of the prophet Zoroastria (Zarathushtra in the West), they are believed to have
immigrated to India from Persia in the 8th Century. They prospered in India and even today
the Parsees are an unusually affluent community, but now number less than 100,000 members.
It is probable that Native Adjutant Nauselwanjee was the son of a prosperous Parsee
merchant, whose family’s wealth and position provided with him the opportunity to receive the
education necessary to allow him to be appointed to the position of Native Adjutant.
Interestingly, however, members of the Parsee faith were generally considered to be
nonviolent. 1 Thus, service in the military was inconsistent with their religious beliefs and it
is unusual to find any Victorian military medal named to a member of the Parsee faith. The
appointment of Nauselwanjee as Native Adjutant was almost certainly done in order to take
advantage of his education by appointing him to a position that was primarily responsible for
keeping the records and accounts of the regiment. What is not known, however, is how his
service in the military, whether as Native Adjutant or otherwise, could have been reconciled
with his religious beliefs and customs.
It is uncommon for a Mutiny medal to include Native Adjutant in the naming of the medal, as
Native Adjutant is an appointment and not a rank, the appointment usually being held by the
junior Jemadar of the regiment. The post was sometimes called Woordie Major in native
cavalry regiments, but apparently the Oude Military Police cavalry regiments did not follow
this convention, possibly because they were more akin to mounted infantry than true cavalry.
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1.There is some debate in the literature of the time whether the lack of participation in the military by Parsees was mandated by their religious beliefs or simply by the fact that soldiering was not
considered a sufficiently prestigious or financially rewarding occupation for a Parsee youth. See for example, Dosabhai Framji Karaka, History of the Parsis: Their Manners, Customs, Religion and
Present Position, Macmillian and Co, 1884. The recent appointment in 2007 of Air Marshall Fali Homi Major as Chief of the Air Staff would seem to support the latter view. There was no
dispute, however, as to the seemingly almost complete absence of any Parsees serving in the military or police during the era of the Raj.
considered a sufficiently prestigious or financially rewarding occupation for a Parsee youth. See for example, Dosabhai Framji Karaka, History of the Parsis: Their Manners, Customs, Religion and
Present Position, Macmillian and Co, 1884. The recent appointment in 2007 of Air Marshall Fali Homi Major as Chief of the Air Staff would seem to support the latter view. There was no
dispute, however, as to the seemingly almost complete absence of any Parsees serving in the military or police during the era of the Raj.