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{{short description|East India Company medal for 1799 Battle of Seringapatam during Mysore Wars}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox military award
| name = Seringapatam Medal
| image = [[File:Seringapatam Medal obv.jpg|150px]][[File:Seringapatam Medal rev.jpg|150px]]
| caption = Obverse and reverse of a silver Seringapatam medal
| presenter = [[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|28px]] [[East India Company|Honourable East India Company]] (HEIC)
| country =
| type = [[Campaign medal]]
| eligibility =
| awarded_for = Participation in the [[Battle of Seringapatam]], April–May 1799
| campaign = Part of [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]]
| status =
| description =
| motto =
| clasps =
| post-nominals =
| established = 1801
| firstawarded =
| lastawarded =
| total_awarded = '''About 54,000''': 113 gold 185 silver gilt 3,636 silver 5,000 bronzed 45,000 tin.
| total_awarded_posthumously =
| total_recipients =
| precedence_label =
| individual =
| higher =
| same =
| lower =
| related =
| image2 = [[File:Seringapatam Medal 1799.JPG|x29px]]
| caption2 = Ribbon of the medal
}}

The '''Seringapatam Medal''', or ''Sri Ranga Pattana'', is a campaign medal that was awarded by the [[Governor-General of India]] to all British and [[East India Company|Indian]] soldiers who participated in the [[British Empire|British]] victory in the [[Battle of Seringapatam]] in 1799.

==Criteria==
The 1799 siege and capture of [[Battle of Seringapatam|Seringapatam]], the capital of [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]], was the culmination of the [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]]. It resulted in the death in battle of [[Tipu Sultan]] of Mysore, with Mysore becoming a [[Kingdom_of_Mysore#Princely_state|princely state]] within [[British India]].<ref>{{cite book|author=George Childs Kohn|title=Dictionary of Wars|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qTDfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA322|date=31 October 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-95494-9|pages=322–323}}</ref>

The Seringapatam Medal was commissioned by the [[Honourable East India Company]] (HEIC) in 1801 to reward all ranks of both the [[British Army|British]] and [[Presidency armies|Indian]] armies who contributed to the [[British Empire|British]] victory,<ref name="vam">{{cite web | url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O169908/the-seringapatam-medal-medal-unknown/ | title=The Seringapatam Medal | publisher=The [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] | access-date=27 November 2014}}</ref> including those who set out for the campaign but did not finally take part.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mayo|first1=John Horsley|title= Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, Volume 1|date=1897|publisher= A. Constable & Co|page=[https://archive.org/details/medalsdecoration01mayouoft/page/145 145]|url=https://archive.org/details/medalsdecoration01mayouoft|access-date=27 May 2019}}</ref> This was the first HEIC campaign medal awarded to both Indian and British troops on the same basis. Those eligible included the [[Swiss mercenaries|Swiss mercenary]] unit, the [[Regiment de Meuron]].<ref>{{London Gazette|date=14 September 1799|issue=15180|page=921}}</ref>

The original medal was minted in England in 1801–2, but only sent out to India in 1808, for distribution to dignitaries and to troops from the presidencies of [[Bombay Army|Bombay]] and [[Madras Army|Madras]].<ref name=MayoI>{{cite book|last1=Mayo|first1=John Horsley|title= Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, Volume 1|date=1897|publisher= A. Constable & Co|pages=[https://archive.org/details/medalsdecoration01mayouoft/page/134 134]-137|url=https://archive.org/details/medalsdecoration01mayouoft|access-date=27 May 2019}}</ref> This issue was presented in various metals determined by the rank and status of the participant:<ref name="fitz">{{cite web | url=http://webapps.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/explorer/index.php?oid=141524 | title=Seringapatam Medal (Gold) | publisher=The Fitzwilliam Museum | access-date=27 November 2014}}</ref> in gold to the highest-ranking commanders, Indian princes and other dignitaries; in [[silver-gilt]] to intermediate officers including majors and senior HEIC officials; in silver to more junior officers; in bronze to native commissioned and senior non–commissioned officers and to European sergeants and equivalent; and in [[tin]]/[[pewter]] to corporals and other ranks, both British and Indian.<ref name=steward>{{cite book|last1=Steward|first1=William Augustus|title=War Medals and Their History|date=1915|publisher=Stanley Paul & Co.|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/warmedalstheirhi00stewrich/page/11 11]-14|url=https://archive.org/details/warmedalstheirhi00stewrich|access-date=27 May 2019}}</ref> A second issue of the medal was struck in Calcutta, India in 1808 for award to [[Bengal army|troops of the Bengal Presidency]]. The [[Bengal Presidency|Presidency]], apparently unaware of the original award criteria, followed the precedent set by the earlier HEIC campaign medals for the [[Deccan Medal|Deccan]] and [[Mysore Medal|Mysore]] and awarded medals in gold to [[Viceroy's commissioned officer|native officers]] and in silver to native non–commissioned officers and other ranks.<ref name=Joslin/>

Although commonly worn in uniform, formal permission to wear the medal was only granted to officers in HEIC service in 1815,<ref name=Dorling>{{Cite book|author=Captain H. Taprell Dorling.|title=Ribbons and Medals.|page=56. Published A.H.Baldwin & Sons, London. 1956}}</ref> and to members of the British Army in 1851, upon the decision not to grant a separate ''Seringapatam'' clasp to the newly instituted [[Army of India Medal]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mayo|first1=John Horsley|title= Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, Volume II|date=1897|publisher= A. Constable & Co|page=[https://archive.org/details/medalsdecoration02mayouoft/page/335 335]|url=https://archive.org/details/medalsdecoration02mayouoft|access-date=27 May 2019}}</ref>

In addition to the medals, those present received [[prize money]], varying from £100,000 for [[George Harris, 1st Baron Harris|General Harris]], the Commander-in-Chief, and £10,000 to other [[general officer]]s to £7 for each [[Private (rank)|private soldier]].<ref name=Joslin/>

==Description==
The medal, designed by [[Conrad Heinrich Küchler]], had the following design:<ref name=Joslin>{{Cite book|author=Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin.|title=British Battles and Medals.|pages=23-24. Published Spink, London. 1988}}{{ISBN|0907605257}}</ref>
 
The obverse shows the [[Royal Arms of England|British lion]] trampling a tiger, Sultan Tipu's emblem,<ref name="fitz" /><ref name="vam" /> with a pennant above bearing the Arabic caption ''Asad Allah al-Ghalib'' ({{lang-ar|أسـد الله الـغـالـب}}), which translates as ''The Victorious Lion of God''. Below is the date of the fort's capture: ''IV MAY MDCCXCIX''. The reverse displays the storming of [[Srirangapatna Fort|Seringapatam Fort]] with, above, the sun at its zenith. Below is an inscription in [[Persian language|Persian]] ''Seringapatam, God given 28 day of the month zikadah, in the [[Hijri year]] 1213''.<ref name=maya>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fx3obJai0RMC&q=the+lion+of+god+not+the+tiger+is+the+conqueror&pg=PT150|title=Edge of Empire: Lives, Culture, and Conquest in the East, 1750–1850|publisher=[[Random House]]|author=Maya Jasanoff|year=2007|isbn=978-0-307-42571-3}}</ref> It was issued unnamed, although some recipients had their details engraved on the medal.

The original medals, with a diameter of {{convert|1.9|in|mm}}, were manufactured at the [[Soho Mint]] in [[Birmingham]], England in 1801–2. Additional gold and silver medals were produced by the [[Calcutta Mint]] in 1808. These were of poorer workmanship and are slightly smaller, with a diameter of {{convert|1.8|in|mm}} and slightly thinner.<ref name=steward/>

The Soho Mint medals were awarded without any means of suspension for wear,<ref>{{Cite book|author=John Mussell (ed).|title=Medal Yearbook 2015.|page=116. Token Publishing Ltd. Honiton, Devon}}{{ISBN|978-1-908-828-16-3}}</ref> with recipients arranging their own, which included both ring and bar suspenders.<ref name=Joslin/> The Calcutta Mint medals were issued mounted with a flattened loop for suspension.<ref name=MayoI/> Although there was no formal regulation, the medal was usually worn on the left chest from a [[Moire (fabric)|watered]] pale orange ribbon, with the shading representing the stripes of a tiger, Tipu's emblem.<ref name=Dorling/> However, British officers frequently adopted the blue edged red ribbon used for the [[Army Gold Medal]], and worn around the neck by [[general officer]]s and on the left chest by more junior officers.<ref>''For example, British commander [[George Harris, 1st Baron Harris|General Harris]] wore his medal around the neck. His son, a Lieutenant at the battle, wore it on his chest. See Mayo p 136.''</ref> Some native Indian soldiers wore the medal around the neck from a yellow cord, as was the practice for other HEIC medals.<ref name=Joslin/>

While no clasps were authorised, some officers added an unofficial clasp bearing the word ''Seringapatam''.<ref name=MayoI/>

==Number awarded==
In total, about '''53,934''' medals were awarded:<ref name=Joslin/>
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
!Maker|| Gold medals|| Gilt medals|| Silver medals|| Bronze medals|| Pewter medals
|-
|align=center| Soho Mint, Birmingham ||align=center|30 ||align=center| 185 ||align=center| 850 ||align=center| 5,000 ||align=center| 45,000
|-
|align=center| Calcutta Mint ||align=center| 83 ||align=center| – ||align=center| 2,786 ||align=center| – ||align=center| –
|-
|align=center| '''Total''' ||align=center| '''113''' ||align=center| '''185''' ||align=center| '''3,636''' ||align=center| '''5,000''' ||align=center| '''45,000'''
|-
|}

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]]
* [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]]
* [[Tipu Sultan]]
* [[Tipu's Tiger]]
* [[Tiger_versus_lion#Arts_and_literature|Lions and tigers in Arts and Literature]]
{{div col end}}
==References==
{{reflist}}

{{commonscat|Seringapatam Medal}}
==External links==
*[https://www.medals.org.uk/united-kingdom/united-kingdom242.htm British Army Medals: Seringapatam Medal]
*[https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1988-01-20-1 National Army Museum: Seringapatam Medal]
{{Campaign medals of the Honourable East India Company}}
[[Category:Medals of the Honourable East India Company]]
[[Category:British campaign medals]]
[[Category:Srirangapatna]]

Seringapatam Medal - Revision history

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