Army of India Medal

The Army of India Medal (AIM) was a campaign medal approved in 1851 for issue to officers and men of the British Army and the Army of the Honourable East India Company.

The AIM approved on 21 March 1851 as a retrospective award by the Honourable East India Company to survivors of various actions during the period 1803–1826. This period encompassed four wars: the Second Mahratta War (1803–4), the Gurkha War (1814–16), the Pindaree or Third Mahratta War (1817–18), and the First Burmese War (1824–26). Each battle or action covered by the medal was represented by a clasp on the ribbon; twenty-one were sanctioned (although the maximum awarded to one man was seven). The medal was never issued without a clasp.

A point to note is that the medal was only awarded to survivors and, as such, there are substantially fewer medals issued when compared with the number of men who served during this period. This was largely due to the extreme lapse of time between the wars commemorated and the issue of the medal—forty-eight years had passed between the first battle commemorated —Allighur in 1803—and the date of issue, 1851. Some 4,500 medals were awarded in total—most with only a single clasp.

This medal followed on from the precedent set by the Naval General Service Medal and the Military General Service Medal, as retrospective awards for past campaign service.