Is this a military badge Indian ??

[ponty]

I have a pair of these gilt badges, 3.6cms across, 4 rear pins, donkey / mule in the centre and what appears to be Sankrit writing at the bottom. Any ideas, not even sure if they are military, but they did come with a few WW1 badges, possibly Indian ?


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[Khyber]

Order of the Golden Donkey !!!??

No offence meant! The writing at the bottom appears to be one of the south-Indian scripts, but no idea what it is..Doubt whether it is military though.

[Just]

Hello

could it be furniture, clock, decoration..... ??

cordially
Didier

[ponty]

Thanks for your replies, it is a bit of a mystery, as you say, probably not military, but it did come with a collection of WW1 Canadian badges, so who knows ???? Maybe it is the Order of the Golden Donkey as suggested

[GTB]

Looks more like a hare to me. Whatever, I'm convinced it isn't military - looks more like a decorative fitment. Possibly even with a reference to hunting

GTB

[ponty]

I do believe you`re right, it is indeed a hare or rabbit, didn`t notice the short tail.

[peter monahan]

I believe that one of the British units - possibly the Transport Corps - rejoiced in the nickname 'Donley Wallopers' but, no, this is not an Indian military badge and, like others, I suspect it is a) a rabbit and b) purely decorative.

Not convinced that the squiggles at the bottom are Deva Nagri script either, though they may be intended for that. But, as I don't read that script I may be wrong.

[RAD]

the 'key' border looks Chinese to me and the hare or rabbit features in their iconography .... I would guess a Chinese good luck charm & perhaps related to the Chinese Year of the Rabbit.

[RAD]

Originally Posted by RAD

the 'key' border looks Chinese to me and the hare or rabbit features in their iconography .... I would guess a Chinese good luck charm & perhaps related to the Chinese Year of the Rabbit.

I should add that the plant depicted is the lotus , which features in both Indian and Chinese decoration , but in conjunction with the key pattern border and the rabbit , this makes the badge sure to be Chinese .

[Khyber]

[QUOTE=Not convinced that the squiggles at the bottom are Deva Nagri script either, though they may be intended for that. But, as I don't read that script I may be wrong. [/QUOTE]

Hi Peter,
It's not Devanagri script. That's used in most North Indian languages. This is almost certainly one of the Dravidian languages from down south I think- either Malayalam or Kannada ... I'm a south Indian myself and the former is my mother tongue, but am sorry to say that I unfortunately cannot read it..anyway neither here no there

[ponty]

Thank you everyone for your interesting comments and suggestions, looks like they`re going to remain a mystery for now.

[High Wood]

I am pretty sure that it is a Sri Lankan badge. I had an aluminium badge of a similar design.

[peter monahan]

Originally Posted by Khyber

Hi Peter,
It's not Devanagri script. That's used in most North Indian languages. This is almost certainly one of the Dravidian languages from down south I think- either Malayalam or Kannada ... I'm a south Indian myself and the former is my mother tongue, but am sorry to say that I unfortunately cannot read it..anyway neither here no there

That's my bias showing, Khyber! My interest in the old Indian Army, especially the units on the Western Front - the Rwwalpindi, Peshawar, and Secunderbad Brigades - predisposes me to think 'northern' when I think India. My sincere apologies! I was infected earlier in life by the old 'martial races' nonsense and tend to fall pray to it from time to time if I'm not careful.

Chinese makes sense to me too, but if someone has a confirmed example from Sri Lanka, I suppose that's the answer. And one of the reasons I love this forum! An early girl friend once referred to my 'storehouse of mental dross' and where but here would I ever get to share it with like minded... gentlemen?

Peter