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{{Infobox Military Award
|name= Army of India Medal
|image= [[File:Army Of India Medal with clasp 'Ava', Obverse.jpg|148px]][[File: Army of India Medal - Reverse.jpg |150px]]
|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.svg|center|108px]]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 (1847)|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,<ref>Mayo, p. 336</ref> 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 War|Pindaree]] or [[Third Mahratta War]] (1817–18), and the [[First Burmese War]] (1824–26), together with the [[Siege of Bharatpur|siege of Bhurtpoor]] (1825–26).<ref name=Mussell>Mussell, p.135</ref> Each battle or action covered by the medal was represented by a clasp on the ribbon and twenty-one were sanctioned.<ref name=Joslin>Joslin, Litherland & Simpkin, p. 96.</ref> While the maximum awarded to one man was seven,<ref>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.</ref> 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.<ref name=Mussell>Mussell, p.135</ref>

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 [[Burma Medal|medal for this Burma campaign]] to all native Indian soldiers present.<ref name=Joslin1>Joslin, Litherland & Simpkin, pp. 98 and 101.</ref>

==Appearance==
The medal is circular, made of silver, and {{convert|1.4|in|mm}} in diameter. It was designed by [[William Wyon]].<ref name=Joslin>Joslin, Litherland & Simpkin, p. 96.</ref> The [[obverse and reverse|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 (mythology)|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<ref name=Mayo>Mayo, p. 333</ref> [[trophy of arms]] in the background. Above is the inscription ''TO THE ARMY OF INDIA'', below in the [[exergue]] ''1799-1826''.<ref>Mayo, p. 330</ref>. British recipients had their name and unit impressed on the rim of the medal in block [[Roman square capitals|Roman capitals]]. Medals to Indians – which were named locally – had a number of different impressed and engraved styles.<ref name=Joslin/> The pale blue ribbon is {{convert|1.25|in|mm}} wide.

==Clasps==
The following clasps were issued,<ref name=Mayo>Mayo, p. 333</ref> they reading downwards from the top of the medal:<ref name=Mussell>Mussell, p.135</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
'''[[Second Mahratta War]]:'''
* [[Siege of Aligarh|Allighur]] (4 September 1803)
* [[Battle of Delhi, 1803|Battle of Delhi]] (11 September 1803)
* [[Battle of Assaye|Assaye]] (23 September 1803)
* Asseerghur (21 October 1803)
* [[Battle of Laswari|Laswarree]] (1 November 1803)
* [[Battle of Argaon|Argaum]] (29 November 1803)
* [[Capture of Gawilghur|Gawilghur]] (15 December 1803)
* Defence of Delhi (8-14 December 1803)
* [[Battle of Deig]] (13 November 1804)
* [[Siege of Deeg|Capture of Deig]] (11-23 December 1804)
'''[[Gurkha War]]:'''
* [[Anglo-Nepalese War|Nepaul]] (October 1814 - March 1816)
'''[[Third Mahratta War]]:'''
* [[Battle of Khadki|Kirkee]] (5 November 1817)
* Poona (11-16 November 1817)
* Khadki and Poona (5-16 November 1817)
* [[Battle of Sitabuldi|Seetabuldee]] (26-27 November 1817)
* Nagpore (16 December 1817)
* Seetabuldee and Nagpore (26-27 November, 16 December 1817)
* [[Battle of Mahidpur|Maheidpoor]] (21 December 1817)
* Corygaum (1 January 1818)
'''[[First Burmese War]]:'''
* [[First Anglo-Burmese War|Ava]] (April 1824 - February 1826)
'''[[Siege of Bharatpur|Siege of Bhurtpoor]]:'''
* [[Siege of Bharatpur|Bhurtpoor]] (17-18 January 1826)}}

==References and notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* Mussell, John (ed.) (2014). ''Medals Yearbook 2015'', Token Publishing Limited. {{ISBN|1-870192-66-4}}
* Joslin, Edward; Litherland, Andrew & Simpkin, Brian. (eds.) (1988). ''British Battles and Medals'', Revised edition, Spink & Sons Ltd. London. {{ISBN|0-907605-25-7}}
* Mayo, John Horsley (1897). ''[https://archive.org/details/medalsdecoration02mayouoft/page/n5 Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, Volume 2]''. A. Constable, London.

==External links==
*[https://www.dnw.co.uk/resources/medal-rolls/medal-roll.php?medalroll_id=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]]

Army of India Medal - Revision history

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