ARMY OF INDIA MEDAL

The Army of India medal was awarded to participants in a number of conflicts in late 18th Century and 19th Century India. The medal had a relatively small number of recipients relative to the number of combatants due to the dates of the conflicts and the issue date of the medal itself.

The Bhurtpoor clasp, pictured here, was issued to soldiers and followers who participated in the siege of the fortress of Bhurtpore, the capital of the Indian Princely State of the same name (now Bharatpur in modern-day Rajasthan). It was long considered impregnable by British and Indian forces during the early 19th century. Held against a British siege in 1805, in 1825 the Honourable East India Company decided again to try to take the fortress, fearing what control of the site by an independent Bharatpur state would mean for their future expansion in the region, and in an attempt restore the recently-imprisoned heir to the Rajah of Bhurtpore. The siege began in earnest on December 19th 1825, and the HEIC forces under Lord Coombermere were soon joined by three companies of the Sirmoor Battalion (an ancestor to today’s Royal Gurkha Rifles) under Captain Fisher. The siege continued until January 18th, when two large mines were detonated under the walls, allowing troops to take the fort by storm.