History

The Army of India Medal was established by the Honourable East India Company and approved by Queen Victoria in 1851. It was retroactively awarded to all Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and enlisted men of the British Army and Honourable East India Company Army who served in battles during the period of 1799-1826, including those in the Second Mahratta War (1803-1805), the Nepal War (1814-1816), the Third Mahratta War (1817-1819), and the Burmese War (1824-1826).

The Medal was designed and engraved by William Wyon. The "short-hyphen" die features the name of the engraver on the obverse and the initials on the reverse, but the "long-hyphen" die does not.

Every Medal was issued with at least one clasp that denoted service in a specific battle. The highest number officially issued to one recipient was seven. The following 21 clasps were officially issued:

1. "ALLIGHUR"
2. "BATTLE OF DELHI"
3. "ASSYE"
4. "ASSEERGHUR"
5. "LASWARREE"
6. "ARGAUM"
7. "GAWILGHUR"
8. "DEFENCE OF DELHI"
9. "BATTLE OF DEIG"
10. "CAPTURE OF DEIG"
11. "NEPAUL"
12. "KIRKEE"
13. "POONA"
14. "KIRKEE AND POONA"
15. "SEETABULDEE"
16. "NAGPORE"
17. "SEETABULDEE AND NAGPORE"
18. "MAHEIDPOOR"
19. "CORYGAUM"
20. "AVA"
21. "BHURTPOOR"

There are two known versions of the medal, the "short-hyphen" and the "long-hyphen," that were struck from different dies. They differ slightly in the size of the inscription and the size of the hyphen on the reverse. It is possible that the "long-hyphen" medals were struck in India. There are no known differences in price between the two version of the Medal and are thus not listed separately. There are also a number of different styles of naming including engraved or impressed text. Some were named in England, and others were named in India.

There may be additional versions of the Medal that differ in size.