Indian Army

The Indian Army, also known as the BhartiyaThal-Sena, is the land-based arm of the Indian Armed Forces. The Indian Army is commanded by the President of India, and its professional commander is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), a four-star general. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Government of India is in charge of the Indian Armed Forces. It is the world's second-largest military force, with over 1.4 million active personnel, and the world's largest volunteer army. It also has the world's third-largest defence budget.

 

• The East India Company was responsible for the formation of the Indian Army. In 1776, the East India Company's government in Kolkata established a Military Department. Its main purpose was to keep track of orders issued to the army by the East India Company's various departments for the territories under its control.

• The East India Company's Secretariat was reorganised into four departments, including a Military Department, with the Charter Act of 1833. The armies of the presidencies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras served as separate Presidency Armies until 1 April 1895, when they were merged into the Army of the Government of India.

• In 1903, Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, India's newly appointed Commander-in-Chief, completed the unification of the three former Presidency armies, as well as the Punjab Frontier Force, the Hyderabad Contingent, and other local forces, into one Indian Army (including also units of the British Army stationed in India).

• The Indian Army Act of 1911 made the Indian Articles of War of 1869 obsolete. The Governor General signed it into law. During the Indian National Army Trials in 1945, the Army charged defendants under sections of this law. After partition and independence, it was replaced by the "Indian Army Act, 1950"

• The Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College was established in Dehradun in March 1912 with the goal of providing education to the scions of aristocratic and well-to-do Indian families and preparing selected Indian boys for admission to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

• Every year on January 15, India commemorates Field Marshal Kodandera M. Cariappa's appointment as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, succeeding General Fransis Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India, on January 15, 1949.

 

 

The British Indian Army was a vital component of British forces in both world wars in the twentieth century. 1.3 million Indian soldiers fought alongside the Allies in World War I (1914–1918), with 74,187 killed or missing in action. The British would have lost the war if it hadn't been for the Indian Army. INDIA GATE is a memorial to the 70,000 British Indian Army soldiers who died in the First World War and the Third Anglo-Afghan War between 1914 and 1921.

 

Indian soldiers fought alongside the Allies in World War II. The Indian Army's size and role grew dramatically as the war progressed, and troops were sent to various battlefronts. Five Indian divisions, one British division, and three African divisions fought in Burma in 1944–45. Even more were active in the Middle East. The war claimed the lives of 87,000 Indian soldiers. By the end of the war, it had grown to over 2.5 million men, making it the largest volunteer army in history.

 

Tensions between India and Pakistan erupted immediately after independence, resulting in the first of three full-scale wars between the two countries over the princely state of Kashmir.

By the end of 1948, a shaky peace broke out, with Indian and Pakistani soldiers facing each other across the Line of Control (LOC).

 

 

Hyderabad State, a princely state ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad, chose to remain independent after India's partition. On September 12, 1948, India's then-Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ordered Indian troops to secure Hyderabad State, ending a standoff between the government of India and the Nizam.

 

As part of the 1st Commonwealth Division, India sent its 60th Parachute Field Ambulance unit to aid UN troops fighting against the North Korean invasion of South Korea during the Korean War.

 

After repeated attempts to negotiate with the Portuguese prime minister and dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, India launched Operation Vijay on December 12, 1961, to capture the Portuguese colonies, which was accomplished by small contingents of Indian troops.

 

The conflict was sparked by a territorial dispute between the Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh border regions. The Aksai Chin region, claimed by both India and China as part of Ladakh and Xinjiang, contains an important road link connecting the Chinese regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. One of the causes of the conflict was China's construction of this road.

China urged India's government to negotiate as the fighting spread beyond disputed territory; however, India remained adamant about reclaiming lost territory. China unilaterally withdrew its forces from Arunachal Pradesh because no agreement was in sight.

 

This war's main battleground was Punjab. The Indian Army made it all the way to Lahore, Pakistan. The Soviet Union acted as an intermediary at the time. The Ceasefire occurred after the Tashkent Agreement.

 

 

This war is also known as the Bangladesh Liberation War. Bangladesh was split from Pakistan by this war.

 

SINO-INDIAN WAR OF 1967

The Sino-Indian War of 1967, also known as the Nathu La and Cho La clashes, was a series of border clashes between India and China along the border of the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, which was then an Indian protectorate.

 

India was able to gain a "decisive tactical advantage" and hold off Chinese forces. The attacking Chinese forces were driven back by many PLA fortifications at Nathu La. The competition for control of the disputed borderland in Chumbi Valley is seen as a major factor in inflaming tensions.

 

Due to the extreme weather conditions, it was common practise for Indian and Pakistani forces to abandon forward posts in Kargil during this time. In the spring, these positions would be filled again. In a bid to retake Kashmir this spring, the Pakistan Army occupied Indian posts as well.

 

As a response to Pakistan's Operation Badr, the Army launched Operation Vijay. Operation Safed Sagar was launched by the Indian Air Force to assist the ground forces. In the history of the Indian Armed Forces, this war saw the first large-scale use of air power.

 

Since the UN's inception, India has provided the most troops to UN peacekeeping missions. India has participated in 43 UN peacekeeping missions so far, with a total contribution of over 160,000 troops and a large number of police personnel. With 7,860 personnel deployed in 2014, India was the third largest troop contributor (TCC), with 995 of them being police officers, including the first UN Female Formed Police Unit, serving with ten UN peacekeeping missions.

 

There are six operational commands and one training command in the army. Each command is led by a Lieutenant General who is the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief. Each command reports directly to Army Headquarters in New Delhi. Army officers can also be in charge of tri-service commands like the Strategic Forces Command and the Andaman and Nicobar Command.

 

1.    CENTRAL COMMAND  HQ at Lucknow 

2.    EASTERN COMMAND  HQ at Kolkata

3.    NORTHERN COMMAND  HQ at Udhampur

4.    WESTERN COMMAND  HQ at Chandimandir

5.    SOUTHERN COMMAND  HQ at Pune

6.    SOUTH-WEST COMMAND HQ at Jaipur

7.    ARMY TRAINING COMMAND HQ at Shimla

 

• Gentlemen Cadets receive pre-commission training at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun and the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. The Army War College in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh; the High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir; the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJW) in Vairengte, Mizoram; and the College of Military Engineering (CME) in Pune are among the specialised training institutions.

• The Army Training Command (ARTRAC) in Shimla is in charge of personnel training.

 

The Indian Army's ranks are largely modelled after the British Army's.

Commissioned officers are the army's top leaders, commanding units ranging from platoons to brigades, divisions, corps, and beyond.

For promotions and appointments, Indian Army officers are continually put through various courses of training and evaluated on merit. Promotions up to lieutenant colonel or equivalent are based on time served, whereas those for colonel and above are based on selection, with promotion to colonel being also based on time served.

 

1.    Field Marshal    

2.    General    

3.    Lieutenant General    

4.    Major General    

5.    Brigadier    

6.    Colonel    

7.    Lieutenant Colonel    

8.    Major    

9.    Captain    

10.    Lieutenant

 

1.    Subedar Major

2.    Subedar    

3.    NaibSubedar

4.    Havildar    

5.    Naik    

6.    Lance Naik/Sepoy

 

 

These are the Indian army's combat divisions. The army will not be able to survive without these branches. Our army's front-line fighting formation is made up of these branches. They confront, fight, and defeat the enemy.

 

Infantry is primarily used to attack and defend. The soldiers on foot are supported by all other branches and arms.

 

The Indian Army's armoured regiments make up this branch. It was established in 1947.

 

The Indian Army's artillery is the second largest branch. It makes up nearly a sixth of the Army's total strength. Guns, mortars, rocket launchers, unmanned aerial vehicles, surveillance systems, missiles, and artillery firepower are all part of the arsenal. It is divided into two divisions: Field Artillery and Army Air Defence Corps.

 

AAC provides logistical support for the Indian Army in remote and inaccessible areas, particularly in the Siachen Glacier, in addition to attacking the enemy from the air. Combat search and rescue (CSAR), artillery lift, combat transportation, logistics relief, military prisoner transportation, and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) are all tasks they perform during a war or in the event of a natural disaster.

 

•    CORPS OF SIGNALS

Corps of Signals handles army’s military communications. The Corps works closely with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop command and control software.

•    CORPS OF ENGINEERS

•    CORPS OF ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

 

•    ARMY EDUCATION

•    MILITARY INTELLIGENCE 

•    MILITARY POLICE 

•    ARMY ORDINANCE CORPS

•    JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL

•    ARMED FORCES MEDICAL SERVICES