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Mint:
London
Issuer:
East India Company
Artist:
Wyon, William
Ruler:
Victoria (1837-1901)
Ruler:
Victoria regina
(With the title of)
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 bar for Ava relates to the same campaign for which the East India Company awarded its Burma War Medal to their Indian troops (some 25 years earlier!). In 1824 raiding by Burmese troops of King Bagyidaw of Ava, in modern-day Myanmar, into the border states of Sylhat and Cachar (now both in India) had caused their independent rulers to appeal for help from the British in India. This led to an orchestrated reprisal expedition whose aim was to take Rangoon. The campaign lasted through two years of extremely difficult fighting, but in 1826, with his forces driven from Assam, Rakhine and Manipur, King Bagyidaw agreed a treaty with the British. He was to abdicate in 1837.
This medal was awarded to Lieutenant A. Harrison of the 38th 1st South Staffordshire Regiment. Lester Watson purchased it at some time before 1928.
History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt before 1928
Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009
Diameter: 35.9 mm
Weight: 38.14 g
Method of acquisition: Given (2009) by Watson, Lester
Production date: AD 1851
Inscription present: Bust of Victoria facing left
Inscription present: Victory seated facing left before palm and war spoils, holding laurel branch and wreath
Accession number: CM.1240-2009
Primary reference Number: 141334
Watson Catalogue: 139
Ordering: M-0123
Previous object number: LW.0123
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Coins and Medals
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Army of India Medal" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141334 Accessed: 2024-11-08 16:08:26
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141334
|title=Army of India Medal
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-08 16:08:26|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-141334
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0123_281_29.jpg"
alt="Army of India Medal"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Army of India Medal</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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