The Siege of Seringapatam medal
Duncan Evans takes a look at the medal awarded to the Honourable East India Company forces that took part in the 1799 battle
We covered the Siege of 1799 itself last month and now here’s a look at the medal awarded to British and Indian troops fighting for the Honourable East India Company in the Mysore campaign.
We covered the firearms and bayonets used during the Siege of Seringapatam last month so what could be more appropriate than having a look at the medal that was awarded as a result. The battle was the final action in the Fourth Mysore War and pit the forces of the East India Company and its allies, against the soldiers of the Kingdom of Mysore, ruled by Tippoo
(or Tipu) Sultan. The British forces and their allies, numbering 50,000 in total, breached the walls of the fortress and stormed the citadel, killing Tippoo Sultan in the process. To reward the participants a medal was designed by Kucher and issued in 1808, by mints in England and Calcutta to the British and Indian forces respectively. The British mint versions were 48mm in diameter and issued in gold (30), silver-gilt (185), silver (850), bronze (5,000) and pewter tin (45,000). The Calcutta mint versions were 45mm in diameter, in gold (83) and silver (2,786).
The obverse of the medal features the British Lion slaying the Tiger of Mysore, representing Tippoo Sultan, along with the date of the capture of the fortress, inscribed as ‘IV MAY MDCCXCIX’. The reverse features a scene depicting the storming of the fortress city. The medal was to be suspended from a gold ribbon, however, as it was issued without suspension a wide variety of these were fitted by the individual recipients, sometimes with a different colour ribbon entirely.
This was the first EIC campaign medal to be issued to both the British and Indian forces on the same basis. The British mint version was sent out to India in
1808 with the gold medal going to highranking officers, Indian princes and other dignitaries; the silver-gilt medal went to the next rank down, Majors and senior EIC officials; silver to more junior officers; bronze to Sergeant-level Europeans, native commissioned and senior noncommissioned officers; and the pewter tin medal to British and Indian Corporals and other ranks.
The Calcutta mint also issued its version in 1808 to give to the troops of the Bengal Presidency, even though they were eligible for the British mint version anyway. Here the gold version went to Indian officers and the silver medal to non-commissioned officers and other ranks.
Permission to wear the medal was formally granted to East India Company officers in 1815 and to anyone from the British Army in 1851 when the Army of India medal was instituted without a Seringapatam clasp.