| Product
Code |
: |
PUD NO_905-1-2-1 AR |
| Subject | : | Prince & Princess of Wales Visit India - Belvedere |
| Size | : | 35 mm |
| Metal | : | Silver |
| Year | : | 1905 |
| Description | : | obv. Conjoined bare headed busts of Prince and Princess of Wales, left, around border : T-R-H-THE PRINCE & PRINCE OF WALES, rev : In centre a tiger lying under palm tree. Prince of Wales' plumes to right; rayed Star of India to left, around border : TO COMMEMORATE THE ROYAL VISIT TO THE INDIAN EMPIRE - 1905-06 - Signed : HAMILTON & Co.
Suspended by a claw and ring.
On the afternoon of the 1st January 1906 the Princess of Wales held a ‘purdah party’ at Belvedere, the residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal and this medal was presented to the guests. Purdah meant curtain or veil and the practice of keeping their women in separate quarters veiled from head to foot was brought to India by the Muslims and gradually spread to Hindus. By the time the British arrived in India only the lowest castes and the primitive tribes allowed their women to go without veils. In the early part of the twentieth century the British attempted to encourage social intercourse between wives and high officials and upper class Indian women thus the holding of ‘purdah parties’ and the hosting of ‘purdah clubs’ came into vogue. |
