Order of the Medjidie

Medjidie or Mejidie (Mecidiye Nişanı, August 29, 1852-1922 ) is the name of a military and knightly order of the Ottoman Empire. The Order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdülmecid I.

Order of the Medjidie
Instituted in 1851, the Order was awarded in five classes, with the First Class being the highest. The Order was issued in considerable numbers by Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I as a reward for distinguished service to members of the British Army and the Royal Navy and the French Army who came to the aid of the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War against Russia. In Britain it was worn after any British gallantry and campaign medals awarded, but before the Turkish Crimean War medal. The Order was usually conferred on officers but a few enlisted soldiers also received it in a lower class. During World War I it was also awarded to a number of German and Austrian officers.

The Order was often conferred on non-Turkish nationals.

Design of the Order
On the obverse of the star is Sultan Abdul Mejid's royal cipher surrounded by an inscription on a gold-bordered circle of red enamel; all on a star of seven triple quills with small crescents and five-pointed stars between them, suspended from a red enameled crescent and star suspender with green enameled edges.

The order has 5 classes. First, second, third and fourth classes are gold. Fifth (lower) class is silver.

Owners of the order:
 * First Class Order (Gold) - 50 people (Given by Sultan)
 * Second Class Order (Gold) - 150 people (Given by Sultan)
 * Third Class Order (Gold) - 800 people
 * Fourth Class Order (Gold) - 3,000 people
 * Fifth Class Order (Silver) - 6,000 people

Some notable recipients

 * Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri, Algerian Islamic scholar and political and military leader who led a struggle against the French invasion.
 * Napoleon III, Emperor of France,
 * Abraham Ashkenazi, chief rabbi of Palestine.
 * Maréchal Vaillant
 * Pierre Louis Charles de Failly, French soldier
 * George Alfred Henty, English Commissariat Officer and author
 * Auguste Lumière, French industrialist and biologist
 * Léon-Eugène Méhédin, French architect and photographer
 * Lord George Paulet, British naval officer
 * Ludomił Rayski, Polish pilot
 * Jules Ernest Renoux, French painter
 * Pierre-Auguste Sarrus, French musician
 * Cecil Spring-Rice, British diplomat
 * Edward Wilmot Blyden, Pan Africanist and Liberian Statesman
 * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Ottoman Army officer.
 * Charles Doughty-Wylie, English army officer who was later killed in the Gallipoli Campaign, ironically in action against Ottoman forces.
 * Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish author.
 * Pedro II of Brazil, Emperor of Brazil
 * Tadeusz Grocholski, painter and landowner
 * Theodor Herzl, journalist and Zionist leader