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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.
At the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries what is now Nepal was an area under pressure from two converging empires, the British in India and the Gurkhas of Kathmandu. The Gurkha Empire had been somewhat curtailed by war with China, but it and the British Empire had an undefined border in the Nepalese hills, in an area where a deliberately provocative Gurkha governor had been installed, and war inevitably followed in 1814. An unfortunate British campaign, in which one of the generals deserted, was nonetheless brought to a succesful conclusion in 1815, and when the Gurkhas failed to ratify the resulting treaty a more determined war was waged. The Treaty of Sugauli in 1816 resolved the conflict to the considerable benefit of the British East India Company.
This medal was awarded to Private P. McHugh of the 66th Foot. Lester Watson purchased this medal at some point 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: 38.83 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.1244-2009
Primary reference Number: 141338
Watson Catalogue: 143
Ordering: M-0127
Previous object number: LW.0127
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/141338 Accessed: 2024-11-08 15:42:01
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141338
|title=Army of India Medal
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-08 15:42:01|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-141338
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_0127_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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