India General Service Medal 1854-95, Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel Damodar Purshotum Warliker, Indian Medical Service, 1885-1900

Silver medal with an effigy of Queen Victoria and inscription, 'Victoria Regina', on the obverse; on the reverse, the figure of Winged Victory crowning a kneeling figure with a laurel wreath; red and dark blue ribbon with the clasps: 'Burma 1885-87' and 'Burma 1887-89'.

Indians became eligible to serve in the Medical Department after the 1853 India Act opened the service to 'all natural-born subjects of Her Majesty' who passed a competitive examination. Although only three Indians had joined by the time of the Mutiny, a total of 109 were commissioned between January 1855 and August 1913. Among them was Warliker, who qualified as a surgeon in London in 1877. Damodar Purshotum Arliker (1854-1932) was born on 17 July 1854.

Warliker was one of the first Indian officers to be appointed to the Indian Medical Department (later Service), Madras, and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1898. He served during the Rampa Rebellion of 1878-1880 and the Khond Rebellion of 1882. He served in the Burma (1886-1888) and rose to the rank of Surgeon Lieutenant Colonel in 1898. Warliker was attached as a Medical Officer to the China Field Force during the 3rd China War (Boxer Rebellion) in 1900. Warliker retired in 1909 but rejoined the Army for service in India during World War One (1914-1918). He was employed in Burma from 1915 until 1921. He died in London 27 September 1932 in London.

The Indian General Service Medal was approved on 1 March 1854. It was awarded to all ranks for various military campaigns on the subcontinent between 1852 and 1895. Each battle or campaign covered by the medal was represented by a clasp on the ribbon.