Medals from a Mutiny Collection

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, no clasp (Lieut. G, A, H, Lillie. Attd. to. 1st. Bn. 13th. L.I.) toned, light scratches to Queen’s check on obverse, otherwise good extremely fine £500-£700

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from a Mutiny Collection.

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Provenance: George McIlroy Collection.

George Arthur Howard Lillie was born in Fulham on 27 February 1831, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Scott Lillie, C.B., who commanded the 7th Caçadores in the Portuguese Service during the Peninsula War (and whose medals sold in these rooms in June 1997). Nominated for the Honourable East India Company’s Army by Sir William Young, he was commissioned Ensign on 11 June 1847 and joined the 13th Bengal Native Infantry in January 1848. Promoted Lieutenant on 30 April 1851, he saw action during the Santal Rebellion in 1855, an insurgence caused by the high caste Santal people. According to the tribal leaders, this insurrection was instigated as a result of a supernatural revelations.

In his work The Influence of Buddhism on Primitive Christianity, Lillie describes the the Rebellion and his role thus:
‘In India before the mutiny I was employed with a force sent to put down the rebellion of the Santals. These, a branch of the Kolarias, represent the early races that the Arya displaced. And their institutions were singularly like those of the Jews. They worshipped in “high places” rude circles of upright monoliths. They worshipped in “groves”; and on one occasion we came across a slaughtered kid still warm, that under the holy Sal tree had been sacrificed to obtain the help of Singh Bonga against us. They had, like the Jews, twelve tribes... When we met them in action a chief came forward like Goliath with gestures and shouts of defiance. Like the Jews they were stiff-necked in the conservatism.’ (The Theosophical Society by J. D. Lavoie refers).
The insurgence lasted 6 months, from July 1855 to January 1856. British casualties were low.

Lillie was away from his Regiment when the Great Sepoy Mutiny broke out at Lucknow on 30 May 1857, and was subsequently attached to the 13th Light Infantry as an Interpreter, being present at the Action of Azimghur on 6 April 1858:
‘Whilst serving with the little column of Lord Mark Kerr I had the honour of taking part in another severe action against my old Dinapore comrades, when Lord Mark Kerr defeated Koer Singht at Azimgurh. The poor torn colours of the 13th Light Infantry were exposed to a fire on that day, according to the Duke of Edinburgh, such as a few other English regiments have ever witnessed.’ (ibid).

Lillie relinquished his commission owing to ill health on 20 December 1860. Having converted to Buddhism whilst in India, he subsequently wrote many books on Bhuddism and Indian religions. He was also an authority on the game of croquet, and in 1897 was appointed honorary Secretary for Croquet at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. He died in Kensington, London, on 28 November 1911.

Sold together with a copy of The Theosophical Society, by J. D. Lavoie, in which the recipient features; and a modern reprint of An Indian Wizard, a semi-autobiographical account of the recipient’s time in India.