Army of India Medal

Award

Army of India Medal

Obverse and reverse of the medal.

Type| Campaign medal
Awarded for| Campaign service.
Description| Silver disk, 36mm diameter.
Presented by| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Eligibility| British and Honourable East India Company forces.
Campaign(s)| India 1803–26.
Clasps| 21 authorised.
Established| 21 March 1851
Total| 4,500
Ribbon: 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

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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,[1] 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).[2] Each battle or action covered by the medal was represented by a clasp on the ribbon and twenty-one were sanctioned.[3] While the maximum awarded to one man was seven,[4] 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.[2]

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.[5]

## Appearance

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The medal is circular, made of silver, and 1.4 inches (36 mm) in diameter. It was designed by William Wyon.[3]
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 and[6] trophy of arms in the background. Above is the inscription TO THE ARMY OF INDIA, below in the exergue 1799-1826.[7].
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.[3]
The pale blue ribbon is 1.25 inches (32 mm) wide.

## Clasps

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The following clasps were issued,[6] they reading downwards from the top of the medal:[2]

Second Mahratta War:

* Allighur (4 September 1803)
* Battle of Delhi (11 September 1803)
* Assaye (23 September 1803)
* Asseerghur (21 October 1803)
* Laswarree (1 November 1803)
* Argaum (29 November 1803)
* Gawilghur (15 December 1803)
* Defence of Delhi (8-14 December 1803)
* Battle of Deig (13 November 1804)
* Capture of Deig (11-23 December 1804)

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:

* Bhurtpoor (17-18 January 1826)

## References and notes

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1. ^ Mayo, p. 336
2. ^ a b c Mussell, p.135
3. ^ a b c Joslin, Litherland & Simpkin, p. 96.
4. ^ 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.
5. ^ Joslin, Litherland & Simpkin, pp. 98 and 101.
6. ^ a b Mayo, p. 333
7. ^ Mayo, p. 330

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Joslin; Litherland; Simpkin (1988). British Battles and Medals (6th ed.). London: Spink. ISBN 0-907605-25-7.
* Mayo, John Horsley (1897). Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, Volume 2. London: A. Constable.
* Mussell, John, ed. (2014). Medal Yearbook 2015. Honiton, Devon: Token Publishing Ltd (published 20 September 2014). p. 177\. ISBN 978-1-908828-17-0.

## External links

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* Army of India Medal Roll (1803-1826)
* Naval recipients of the Burmah Medal 1824-1826 (ADM 171/11) available via Ancestry
* London Gazette announcement of Army of India Medal, 28 February 1851

* v
* t
* e

British campaign medals

18th century|

* Naval General Service Medal (1793–1840)
* Naval Gold Medal (1793–1815)
* Military General Service Medal (1793–1814)

19th century|

* Army of India Medal (1803–26)
* Army Gold Cross/Army Gold Medal (1806–14)
* Waterloo Medal (1815)
* South Africa Medal (1834–6, 1846–7, 1850–3)
* Ghuznee Medal (1839)
* First China War Medal (1839–42)
* Jellalabad Medals (1841–2)
* Candahar, Ghuznee, Cabul Medal (1842)
* Medal for the Defence of Kelat-I-Ghilzie (1842)
* Scinde Medal (1843)
* Gwalior Star (1843)
* Sutlej Medal (1845–6)
* New Zealand Medal (1845–7, 1860–6)
* Punjab Medal (1848–9)
* India General Service Medal (1852–95)
* Baltic Medal (1854–5)
* Crimean War Medal (1854–6)
* Indian Mutiny Medal (1857–8)
* Second China War Medal (1857–60)
* Canada General Service Medal (1866–70)
* Abyssinian War Medal (1867–8)
* Ashantee Medal (1873–4)
* South Africa Medal (1877–9)
* Afghanistan Medal (1878–80)
* Kabul to Kandahar Star (1880)
* Cape of Good Hope General Service Medal (1880–1, 1896–7)
* Egypt Medal (1882–9)
* Royal Niger Company Medal (1886–97)
* North West Canada Medal (1885)
* East and West Africa Medal (1887–1900)
* British South Africa Company Medal (1890–7)
* Central Africa Medal (1891–8)
* India Medal (1895–1902)
* Ashanti Star (1895–6)
* Queen's Sudan Medal (1896–8)
* East and Central Africa Medal (1897–9)
* Queen's South Africa Medal (1899–1902)
* Queen's Mediterranean Medal (1899–1902)
* Transport Medal (1899–1902)
* China War Medal (1900)
* Ashanti Medal (1900)

20th century
pre-First World War|

* King's South Africa Medal (1902)
* Africa General Service Medal (1902–56)
* Tibet Medal (1905)
* Natal Native Rebellion Medal (1906)
* India General Service Medal (1909)

First World War|

* 1914 Star
* 1914–15 Star
* British War Medal
* Mercantile Marine War Medal
* Victory Medal (United Kingdom)
* Victory Medal (South Africa)
* Territorial War Medal

Inter-World Wars|

* Naval General Service Medal (1915)
* General Service Medal (1918)
* India General Service Medal (1936)

Second World War|

* 1939–1945 Star
* Atlantic Star
* Arctic Star
* Air Crew Europe Star
* Africa Star
* Pacific Star
* Burma Star
* Italy Star
* France and Germany Star
* Defence Medal
* War Medal 1939–1945
* Canadian Volunteer Service Medal
* Africa Service Medal
* India Service Medal
* New Zealand War Service Medal
* Australia Service Medal
* Southern Rhodesia Service Medal

Post-Second World War|

* Korea Medal (1951)
* Nuclear Test Medal (1952)
* General Service Medal (1962)
* Rhodesia Medal (1980)
* South Atlantic Medal (1982)
* Gulf Medal (1992)

21st century|

* OSM for Sierra Leone (2000)
* OSM for Afghanistan (2002)
* OSM for Democratic Republic of Congo (2003)
* Iraq Medal (2004)
* Iraq Reconstruction Service Medal (2004)
* Civilian Service Medal (Afghanistan) (2011)
* Ebola Medal (2015)
* General Service Medal (2008) (2015)
* OSM for Iraq & Syria (2017)
* Humanitarian Medal (2023)
* Wider Service Medal (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Campaign medals of the Honourable East India Company

18th Century|

* Monghyr Mutiny Medal (1766) (Unclear if awarded)
* Deccan Medal (1778-4)
* Mysore Medal (1790-2)
* Capture of Ceylon Medal (1795–6)
* Seringapatam medal (1799)

1801 – 1837|

* Egypt Medal (1801)
* Army of India Medal (1803–26)
* Medal for capture of Rodrigues, Isle of Bourbon and Isle of France (1809-10)
* Java Medal (1811)
* Nepal Medal (1814-16)
* Ceylon Medal (1818)
* Burma Medal (1824-6)
* Coorg Medal (1837)

1st Afghan War|

* Ghuznee Medal (1839)
* Jellalabad Medals (1841–2)
* Candahar, Ghuznee, Cabul Medal (1842)
* Medal for defence of Kelat-I-Ghilzie (1842)

1843 – 1858|

* Scinde Medal (1843)
* Gwalior Star (1843)
* Sutlej Medal (1845–6)
* Punjab Medal (1848–9)
* Indian Mutiny Medal (1857–8)

Note: Where no ribbon is shown, the medal was suspended around the neck by a cord:
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