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Maker(s):

London; mint
East India Company; issuer
Wyon, William; artist
Victoria (1837-1901); ruler; Queen of Great Britain 1837-1901
Victoria regina; ruler; with the title of

Name(s):

Army of India Medal; denomination
medals; Series
Military; subseries
Britain; subsubseries
British Army; subsubsubseries

Date:

1851

Description:

The numerous campaigns of the forces of the British East India Company were not officially recognised with a medal until 1851, in the same move as that which created the Military and Naval General Service Medals for service in the contemporary French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The resulting Army of India medal covered battles from 1799 to 1826 in a theatre where many subsequent conflicts had arisen, so many of those involved were no longer living. Queen Victoria, by whose order the medal was issued and whose bust it therefore carried, was likewise not on the throne for the actions for which it was awarded.
The Maratha Empire, a Hindu confederacy which began in 1674, had in 1796 fallen into the hands of the Peshwa ruler Baji Rao II. Repeated rebellions against his authority led him to seek help from the British, who used the opportunity to extract considerable territorial concessions. Raiding by Pindari tribesmen which resulted from this became the cause for a new war, and in 1817 British forces set out to arrest Baji Rao. The subsequent chase involved pitched battles at Kirkee and Poona in November 1817, and Baji Rao was eventually captured in 1818, and exiled on a considerable British pension which he lived to enjoy for 33 more years.
This medal is engraved to Captain J. Ford, Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, although his name is not on the Roll of those awarded the medal. Lester Watson purchased it from the dealer Gifford in 1927.

Production
Place (legacy):

London, mint, place

Technique:

struck

Material:

silver

Dimension(s):

weight, 35.26, g
diameter, 36.0, mm

Acquisition:

loan; 2005; Cambridge in America

Inscription(s):

design; obverse; VICTORIA REGINA; Bust of Victoria facing left
design; reverse; Victory seated facing left before palm and war spoils, holding laurel branch and wreath

Alternative
Number(s):

Watson Catalogue; 140
ordering; M-0124

Documentation:

Hayward, John (author, C20th). Birch, Diana. Bishop, Richard. 2006. British Battles and Medals 7th edn.London: Spinkp. 194-196, 197, 202

British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959).
India 1799-1826 (Kirkee and Poona): Capt. J Ford, D.A.A.G. Not confirmed on roll.

Accession:

Object Number: LW.0124
(Coins and Medals)
(record id: 141335; input: 2007-03-27; modified: 2009-11-23)

Permanent
Identifier:

http://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141335