Waistbelt clasp, Madras Staff Corps, 1870-1876

Silver and gilt clasp with Queen Victoria's cypher surmounted by a crown within a circlet inscribed with the unit title, 'Madras Staff Corps'.

The Madras Army was the army of the Madras Presidency, one of the three presidencies that made up the East India Company. After the Indian Mutiny of 1857 the presidencies and their armies came under the direct authority of the British Crown. From 1861 each army had its own staff corps created to provide and place officers in military, civil and political posts. In 1903 the presidency armies were merged into the British Indian Army with the separate staff corps amalgamated into the Indian Staff Corps.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.