Deccan Medal

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The Deccan Medal, also known as the Carnatic Medal, was the East India Company’s first campaign medal. Authorized in 1784, it was awarded to native Indian troops who served in campaigns in western India, Guzerat, and the Carnatic region (Southern India) between 1778 and 1784. This included service in the second phase of the First Maratha War (1778–82) and the Second Mysore War (1780–84).

Two sizes of medals were issued in silver and one in gold:
- Gold medals: 41 mm (1.6 in) in diameter, awarded to Subedars.
- Silver medals: also in two sizes—41 mm (1.6 in) for Jemadars, and 32 mm (1.25 in) for Havildars, Naiks, and Sepoys.
- The medals were unnamed, and a milled edge was used like a coin.

Eligibility and distribution
- The medal was awarded only to native Indian soldiers of the East India Company’s forces.
- Europeans (including EIC and British Army personnel) were not eligible.
- Only those alive when the recipient roll was compiled in May 1785 qualified; eligibility was extended in January 1785 to artillery Lascars.
- In addition to the medal, native soldiers received one rupee per month in pay; other ranks of European units received two rupees per month. Each participating Indian battalion also received two honorary standards.

Minting and suspension
- The medal was struck in Calcutta by a private contractor.
- It was issued with a ring suspension for wearing on a suspension cord (usually yellow or sand-colored), not on a ribbon.

Design
- Obverse: Britannia seated on military trophies, holding a laurel wreath toward a distant fort flying a Union Jack; there is no inscription.
- Reverse: Two Persian inscriptions. The center translates roughly as: “As coins are current around the world, so shall be the bravery and exploits of those heroes by whom the name of the victorious English Nation was carried from Bengal to the Deccan.” Around the edge: “Presented AD 1784 (Hijri year 1199) by the East India Company’s Calcutta Government.”
- The medal was issued unnamed and has a uniform design across sizes.