__NOTOC__ The India General Service Medal (1854 IGSM) was a campaign

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

approved on 1 March 1854, for issue to officers and men of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

armies. It was awarded for various minor military campaigns in India and nearby countries, between 1852 and 1895. In 1852

Lord Dalhousie James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie (22 April 1812 – 19 December 1860), also known as Lord Dalhousie, styled Lord Ramsay until 1838 and known as The Earl of Dalhousie between 1838 and 1849, was a Scottish statesman and co ...

had suggested a general service medal for smaller Indian campaigns, in order to limit the number of individual medals awarded.Dorling, page 63

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

units made up the majority of forces present for nearly all campaigns. While the expeditions covered by the medal included few formal battles, most were undertaken in difficult terrain against determined resistance from local tribesmen. In 1895, the

India Medal The India Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1896 for issue to officers and men of the British and Indian armies. The India Medal was awarded for various minor military campaigns in India, chiefly for service on the North-West Frontier duri ...

was authorised to reflect service in further Indian expeditions, replacing the 1854 General Service Medal.

Appearance

The medal is in diameter, and was struck at the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...

.
It was initially awarded only in silver. From the ''Burma 1885–87'' clasp, medals in bronze were awarded to authorised native followers who accompanied the troops, such as bearers, sweepers and drivers. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

bears a left facing effigy of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

wearing a diadem. Surrounding the head is the inscription VICTORIA REGINA.Mayo, page 337
The reverse depicts

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

crowning a seated warrior with a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a s ...

. In the

exergue A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

are lotus flowers and leaves.
It was always issued with the recipient's rank, name and unit engraved or impressed on the rim.
The medal is suspended by a scrolled bar. The wide ribbon is divided into five stripes, three red and two dark blue, each wide.

Clasps

A total of 24 clasps were awarded for 23 campaignsMedals Yearbook 2016, page 141 with 55 qualifying actions. Those who qualified for a second or subsequent clasp received the new clasp only, to be attached to their existing medal. The medal was never issued without a clasp, with the maximum number known to be awarded to one individual being seven.This was General Sir W. Lockhart. However, unconfirmed claims that some native Indian soldiers had up to ten bars. See Joslin, page 120.
The following clasps were issued:Joslin, pages 120-126 After the first phase of the

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the ...

in May 1879, it was proposed that the India General Service Medal be issued with clasps for Afghanistan, Ali Musjid and Peiwar Kotal. However then the war recommenced in September 1879, it was decided to award a distinct Afghanistan Medal instead to cover the whole Afghan War.Mayo, page 402.

Notes

Bibliography

* Collett, D.W, ''Medals Yearbook'', (1981) * Dorling, H. Taprell, ''Ribbons and Medals'', (1956), A. H. Baldwin & Son * Joslin, Litherland, and Simpkin (eds), ''British Battles and Medals'', (1988), Spink * Mayo, John Horsley.
Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, Volume 2
', (1897). A. Constable & Co * Mussel, J et al (eds), ''Medals Yearbook'', (2016), Token Publishing, {{British campaign medals British campaign medals Military of British India