Who is the First Commander in Chief of Indian Army?
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: September 11th, 2023
Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa was the first Commander in Chief of Indian Army. In 1942, he was granted command of a regiment for the first time by an Indian officer. In 1947, he oversaw Indian soldiers on the Western Front of the Indo-Pakistani War. In 1949, he was chosen to serve as the Commander in Chief of Indian Army. He and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw are the only two Indian Army officers to hold the five-star rank of Field Marshal.
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First Commander in Chief of Indian Army
The day General Sir FRR Bucher, the final British Commander in Chief, handed over command of the Army to Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) Kodandera M. Carriappa (C-in-C) in 1949 and became the first Commander in Chief of the Indian Army following Independence is remembered as Army Day across the nation. The day also honours the brave warriors who have given their lives in service to the country and celebrates the brilliance of the Indian Army.
He was one of the first two Indians chosen to get instruction at the Imperial Defence College in Camberley, and he was the first Indian military commander to attend the Staff College in Quetta and command a battalion. He worked in a variety of staff positions at the General HQ in New Delhi as well as at several unit and command HQs. Cariappa presided over the Eastern and Western Commands of the Indian Army before becoming the Commander in Chief of the Indian Army.
He was sent to the Western Command as General Officer Commanding in Chief when the war with Pakistan broke out in 1947, and he oversaw operations to retake regions that had been invaded. He exerted immense energy in all of this, moving soldiers despite great obstacles and ultimately guaranteeing success. He worked as the High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand until 1956 after he retired.
Summary:
Who is the First Commander in Chief of Indian Army?
The first Commander in Chief of the Indian Army was Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa. Cariappa, who was born in Madikeri, Kodagu, on January 28, 1899, enlisted in the British Indian Army soon after World War I came to an end and was given a temporary first lieutenant commission in the 2/88 Carnatic Infantry. Sir Roy Bucher, a British commanding general, was replaced by Cariappa as the first Indian commander in chief of the Indian army in January 1949.
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