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Medal - Gwalior Star

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Overview

The Gwalior Star is a Campaign medal presented by the Honourable East India Company to the soldiers of the British Army and the British led Bengal Army who took part in the 1843 Gwalior campaign. The medal is a 50 millimetre diameter six pointed bronze star cast from guns captured during the Gwalior Campaign. In the centre of the star is a silver disk, with the date 29th Dec, 1843 and the name of one of the Gwalior Campaign battles, either Maharajpoor or Punniar. The reverse of the medal is plain and engraved with the name and regiment of the soldier to whom the medal was awarded.

Historical information

Rising tensions between the East India Company and the State of Gwalior led to a British led advance into Gwalior early in December 1843 in a two pronged attack. On December 29, 1843, the British Army defeated Maharaja Shrimant Jayaji Rao Scindia, and regained control of Gwalior. The first division of the army, commanded by General Sir Hugh Gough, was victorious at the Battle of Maharajpoor. Major-General Grey, on the same day, with the second division, was victorious at the Battle of Punniar.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-99-036

Inscriptions and markings

Manufactured at the Calcutta Mint, this medal was presented by the British India Government originally as a star with a clip on the back to be worn on the breast. Eventually most of these were fitted with a ring or bar of varying design, so that they could be suspended by a ribbon and worn with other medals. The ribbon used was the common ribbon used on many East India Company medals, which was a red-white-yellow-white-blue gradient ribbon. There is no standard method of affixing a ring or bar.

Contextual Information

The examples in the Museum's collection are provenanced to Pensioner Guards, retired servicemen acting as guards for transported prisoners who elected to remain in Western Australia after their convict guard duties were comcluded.

Geotag

26.231439987302, 78.169152376716

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Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

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