Description
Indian Meritorious Service Medal (for Europeans of the Indian Army), H.E.I.C., V.R., an original unnamed example.
This scarce medal was established by the East India Company in 1848, to be awarded for long and meritorious service of at least 21 years to members of the H.E.I.C. Army, as members of the British Army had their own example which the HEIC did not qualify for.
Awardees of the medal would typically be veterans of the Candahar, Ghuznee and Cabal campaigns, Punjab and Sutlej Wars or Indian Mutiny.
It was only awarded until 1873 when it was absorbed into the standard Meritorious Service Medal.
