The order was issued in considerable numbers by Sultan Abdülmecid 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 and to British recipients for later service in Egypt and/or the Sudan.

The order was usually conferred on officers but a few enlisted soldiers and sailors also received it in a lower class.

During World War I it was also awarded to a number of German, Austrian and Bulgarian officers.

On the obverse of the star is Sultan Abdülmecid'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.

Rough translation of the front: To the left: (you have) crossed.