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Army of India Medal

{{Infobox Military Award

|name= Army of India Medal

|image= 148px150px

|caption= Obverse and reverse of the medal.

|presenter= United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

|type= Campaign medal

|eligibility= British and Honourable East India Company forces.

|awarded_for= Campaign service.

|campaign= India 1803–26.

|status=

|description= Silver disk, 36mm diameter.

|clasps= 21 authorised.

|established= 21 March 1851

|total_awarded=4,500

|image2= File:Army of India Medal BAR.svgRibbon: pale blue.

}}

The Army of India Medal (AIM) was a campaign medal approved in 1851 for issue to officers and men of the British Army and the Army of the Honourable East India Company. A retrospective award following the precedent set by the Naval General Service Medal and the Military General Service Medal, it served to reward service in various actions from 1803 to 1826.

Criteria

The Army of India Medal was approved on 21 March 1851 as a retrospective award by the Honourable East India Company, who bore the cost of the medal,Mayo, p. 336 to survivors of various actions during the period 1803–1826. This period encompassed four wars: the Second Mahratta War (1803–04), the Gurkha War (1814–16), the Pindaree or Third Mahratta War (1817–18), and the First Burmese War (1824–26), together with the siege of Bhurtpoor (1825–26).Mussell, p.135 Each battle or action covered by the medal was represented by a clasp on the ribbon and twenty-one were sanctioned.Joslin, Litherland & Simpkin, p. 96. While the maximum awarded to one man was seven,One man was awarded a medal with seven clasps, 2 with six clasps, 10 with five clasps, 23 with four clasps and 149 with three clasps. See Joslin, Litherland & Simpkin, p.96. most medals were awarded with a single clasp.

The medal was only awarded to survivors and, as such, there are substantially fewer medals issued when compared with the number of men who served during this period. This was largely due to the extreme lapse of time between the wars commemorated and the issue of the medal—forty-eight years had passed between the first battle commemorated —Allighur in 1803—and the date of issue, 1851. A total of 4,500 medals were awarded.Mussell, p.135

While the medal was awarded to both British and Indian soldiers on the same basis, the clasp Ava was only awarded to Europeans, since the Honourable East India Company had already awarded a medal for this Burma campaign to all native Indian soldiers present.Joslin, Litherland & Simpkin, pp. 98 and 101.

Appearance

The medal is circular, made of silver, and {{convert|1.4|in|mm}} in diameter. It was designed by William Wyon.Joslin, Litherland & Simpkin, p. 96.
The obverse bears an effigy of a young Queen Victoria wearing a diadem. On either side of the effigy is the inscription VICTORIA and REGINA.
The reverse bears and an allegorical representation of Victory holding a laurel branch in her right hand and a wreath in her left. In the foreground is a lotus flower, with a palm tree andMayo, p. 333 trophy of arms in the background. Above is the inscription TO THE ARMY OF INDIA, below in the exergue 1799-1826.Mayo, p. 330.
British recipients had their name and unit impressed on the rim of the medal in block Roman capitals. Medals to Indians – which were named locally – had a number of different impressed and engraved styles.
The pale blue ribbon is {{convert|1.25|in|mm}} wide.

Clasps

The following clasps were issued,Mayo, p. 333 they reading downwards from the top of the medal:Mussell, p.135

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|

Second Mahratta War:

Gurkha War:

  • Nepaul (October 1814 - March 1816)

Third Mahratta War:

  • Kirkee (5 November 1817)
  • Poona (11-16 November 1817)
  • Khadki and Poona (5-16 November 1817)
  • Seetabuldee (26-27 November 1817)
  • Nagpore (16 December 1817)
  • Seetabuldee and Nagpore (26-27 November, 16 December 1817)
  • Maheidpoor (21 December 1817)
  • Corygaum (1 January 1818)

First Burmese War:

  • Ava (April 1824 - February 1826)

Siege of Bhurtpoor:

References and notes

{{reflist|2}}

Bibliography

  • {{Cite book |last1=Joslin |last2=Litherland |last3=Simpkin |date=1988 |title=British Battles and Medals |edition=6th |location=London |publisher=Spink |isbn=0-907605-25-7|ref={{harvid|British Battles and Medals|1988}} }}
  • {{Cite book |last=Mayo |first=John Horsley |date=1897 |url=https://archive.org/details/medalsdecoration02mayouoft/page/n5 |title=Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, Volume 2 |publisher=A. Constable |location=London }}
  • {{Cite book |editor-last=Mussell |editor-first=John |date=2014 |title=Medal Yearbook 2015 |location=Honiton, Devon |publisher=Token Publishing Ltd |publication-date=20 September 2014 |page=177 |isbn=978-1-908828-17-0}}

External links

  • [https://www.noonans.co.uk/resources/resources/medal-rolls/3/ Army of India Medal Roll (1803-1826)]
  • [http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1687 Naval recipients of the Burmah Medal 1824-1826 (ADM 171/11)] available via Ancestry
  • [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/21187/page/602 London Gazette announcement of Army of India Medal, 28 February 1851]

{{British campaign medals}}

{{Campaign medals of the Honourable East India Company}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Army Of India Medal}}

Category:British campaign medals

Category:Medals of the Honourable East India Company