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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 Bhurtpoor relates to a siege of the city of Bharatpur, capital of the Jat Empire. In 1825 the Rajah of Bharatpoor had died, and his infant son been imprisoned by a cousin who then took the throne. British forces were therefore sent to capture the legendarily-impregnable city, which they did at length by mining in January 1826. The infant Rajah was restored, but the ramparts of his city were levelled.
Awarded the medal for this campaign was Private J. Andrews of the 11th Light Dragoons, whose medal this is. Lester Watson purchased it from the dealer Gifford at some point before 1928.
History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Gifford before 1928
Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009
Diameter: 36 mm
Weight: 38.48 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.1239-2009
Primary reference Number: 141333
Watson Catalogue: 137
Ordering: M-0122
Previous object number: LW.0122
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://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141333 Accessed: 2024-11-08 19:11:18
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141333
|title=Army of India Medal
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-08 19:11:18|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://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-141333
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_0122_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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