IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 141339 accession number: CM.1245-2009 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Monday 15 January 2024 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: 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. A rebellion by Subadar Holkar VI of Indore in 1802 defeated his forces and the Peshwa forthwith concluded a treaty with the British East India Company, trading territory for protection. Baji Rao's subjects greeted this with outrage and rebellion ensued, which the British moved to suppress for Baji Rao in 1803. Among the rebels were the Bhonsle rulers of Nagpur and Berar, whose forces under prince Raghoji II were defeated conclusively at Assye despite more than tenfold superiority, and again in a rather less certain battle at Argaon (Argaum as the bar has it). The British force responsible, under Sir Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, went on to take the supposedly impregnable fortress of Gawilghur. This medal was awarded to Lieutenant Edward Osborn of the 2nd Native Infantry. Lester Watson purchased this medal later than most of his collection, from the London dealer Baldwin in 1930. title: Army of India Medal NOTES ----- type: history note value: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Baldwin 1930 LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Coins and Medals collection: Lester Watson Collection creditline: Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009 STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141339 TECHNIQUES ---------- struck CATEGORIES ------ category: medal DATING ------ creation date: 1851 - 1851 creation date earliest: 1851 creation date latest: 1851 CREATORS -------- maker: London maker: East India Company maker: Wyon, William maker: Victoria (1837-1901) maker: Victoria regina DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Diameter units: mm value: 35.9 dimension: Weight units: g value: 43.89 CITATIONS -------- British Battles and Medals 7th edn British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959) --- IMAGES surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0128_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 104 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0128_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 104 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0128_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 104 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0128_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 104 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0128_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 101 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0128_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 101 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0128_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 101 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0128_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 101 pixels