Early (pre-1858) awards for India

[Ed_Haynes]

Interesting, Mike. Thanks for this.

From what I have seen in the records (in Delhi and London), the decision was made for this medal and monies were appropriated, always a key moment for any government. Maybe even a more important moment for a joint stiock company than for a proper "government"? And it was clearly intended as something to be worn (apparently reflecting earlier unofficial practices -- has anyone ever seen a Capture of Pondicherry Medal mounted for wear, I'd wager they exist/ed).

What happened after that is, at best, vague.

The image, but the way, came from another collector, whose name also starts with "M", with permission to use (without attribution).

[MCMH]

This is from the Mint book, I assume that the Campaign in Gujerat and the Campaign in Carnatic refers to the Deccan Medal, although the individual auditing the dies seemed to be unaware of this. The Moghur Mutiny is not to be found in this list, however there are other records that sanction it's production, but unlike the Deccan and all medals that followed, there are no minutes relating to the cost of it's production, the final design, or where it was struck.

List of Medals awarded to the Indian Army

Location Of Die Medal Awarded Date

? Battle of Plassey 23rd June 1757

? Battle of Buscar 23 Oct, 1764

? Battle of Korah 10 June 1776

? Campaign in Gujerat 1781 - 1784

Calcutta Mint Campaign in Carnatic 1781 - 1784

Calcutta Mint Campaign in Mysore 1790 - 1793

Calcutta Mint Capture of Seringaputnam 4 May 1794

Calcutta Mint Expedition to Egypt 1801

Calcutta Mint Expedition to Ceylon 1795 - 1796

Calcutta Mint Exped. to Isle of France 1810

Calcutta Mint The War in Nepal 1814 - 1816

Wyron The War in Burmah 1825/26

Calcutta Mint Storming of Ghuznee 1839

Wyron Army of India 1799 - 1826

Wyron Jelalabad April 42

Wyron China War 1842

Wyron Candahar & Scinde 1842 / 1843

I believe the medals to Plassey, Buscar, and Korah may refer to gold medals produced for individual Officers, and as such they were of limited manufacture. This is highly subjective, and based upon information relating to other such awards. One detractor from this theory is that the above list does not include the medals that were produced for the Vellore Mutiny, which the Mint Book and Directors Correspondence both refer to.

The list is also of interest given that it notes Wyron had the die for Jelalabad. Presumably they are refering to the 2nd Type, and not the original.

MCMH

As I said Ed, it isn't a problem. It was my photo, I still have it on the hard drive and I copied you and Sushil in on the same email. Nobody more sorry than me that it wasn't the Moghur Medal. I haven't told the National Army Museum yet !! I am the other M, i.e. Mark H ( sorry if all the initials make me sound like Mike! Don't want to use my surname, too easy to google )