Eastern Command (India)

The Eastern Command is one of the six operational commands of the Indian Army. It is headquartered in Fort William in the city of Kolkata in the state of West Bengal. The Eastern Command was formed on 1 November 1920.^[1] The Command is commanded by a three-star rank officer with the title General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C).

Eastern Command
Insignia of the Eastern Command
Active	1920–present
Country	India
Branch	Indian Army
Type	Command
Headquarters	Fort William, Kolkata, West Bengal
Engagements	World War II Sino-Indian War Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 2020 China–India skirmishes
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Gen Ram Chander Tiwari UYSM AVSM SM
Notable commanders	Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa Gen Rajendrasinhji Jadeja Gen K S Thimayya Gen P. P. Kumaramangalan Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Lt Gen S. P. P. Thorat Gen A. S. Vaidya Gen V. N. Sharma Gen V. K. Singh Gen Bikram Singh Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag Gen M. M. Naravane Gen Anil Chauhan Gen Manoj Pande
Insignia
Flag

Lieutenant General Ram Chander Tiwari is the current GOC-in-C of Eastern Command.^[2]

History

Early history

The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras became the Indian Army.^[3] The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a lieutenant general.^[3]

Between 1904 and 1908, the Bengal Command became the Eastern Command. In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies – Northern Army and Southern Army – as recommended by the then Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army, Lord Kitchener. This system persisted until 1920 when the arrangement reverted to four commands again: Eastern Command, Northern Command, Southern Command and Western Command.^[3]

On 1 November 1920, the Eastern Command was formed, with its summer headquarters in Nainital and winter headquarters in Lucknow. General Sir Havelock Hudson, became its first Commander.^[4]

Second World War

In 1942, the command had the following formations under it:

• IV Corps (Headquarters at Imphal)
  • 17th Indian Infantry Division and 23rd Indian Infantry Division
• XXXIII Corps (Headquarters at Arakan)
  • 14th Indian Infantry Division and 26th Indian Infantry Division
• 70th British Division and 50th Indian Tank Brigade in reserve.

On 21 April 1942, the command was re-designated as Eastern Army.^[5] Its headquarters moved to Barrackpore to fight the World War II. The Chindits were raised and launched into operations in 1943, by the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade, a unit of the Eastern Command.^[6]

In October 1943, the Fourteenth Army was formed and was given responsibility of the area east of the Meghna River. With this, the Eastern Army retained responsibility of the area west of the river.^[7]

After the war, on 23 March 1947, the Command HQ moved to Ranchi. The HQ was later moved to Lucknow in 1955. However, on 1 May 1963, post the Sino-Indian War; the Central Command was re-raised and Lucknow was made its HQ, while Kolkata was made HQ Eastern Command.^[8]

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Main article: Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Pakistan's Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi signing the Instrument of Surrender under the gaze of Lt. Gen. J. S. Aurora, the head of the Indian Army's Eastern Command, on 16 December 1971, in Dhaka.

The Command had the overall responsibility of the eastern theatre of the 13-day war. The command had the two existing infantry corps – IV Corps and XXXIII Corps and raised another – II Corps. Apart from this, the 101 Communication Zone was re-organised as a Division-sized combat formation. Lieutenant General J S Arora, as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command, commanded all Indian and Bangladesh Forces in the eastern theatre. The Order of Battle of the Eastern Command during the war was:

II Corps (HQ - Krishnanagar) (GOC - Lieutenant General T N Raina)

• 50th Independent Parachute Brigade (less 2 Para Bn Gp) – Brigadier M Thomas
• 8th Mountain Artillery Brigade
• 58th, 68th and 263rd Engineering Regiments
• 9th Infantry Division (GOC - Major General Dalbir Singh)
  • 32 Infantry Brigade – Brigadier M Tewari
  • 42 Infantry Brigade – Brigadier J. M. Jhoria
  • 350 Infantry Brigade – Brigadier H. S. Sandhu
  • 9th Artillery Brigade
• 4th Mountain Division (HQ - Krishnanagar) (GOC - Major General M S Barar)
  • 7th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Zail Singh
  • 41st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Tony Michigan
  • 62nd Mountain Brigade - Brigadier Rajinder Nath
  • 4th Mountain Artillery Brigade

IV Corps (HQ - Agartala) GOC - Lieutenant General Sagat Singh

• Corps Artillery Brigade
• Three Independent Tank Squadrons
• 8th Mountain Division (GOC - Major General K. V. Krishna Rao)
  • Echo Force Brigade – Brigadier Wadeker
  • 59th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier C. A. Quinn
  • 81st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier R. C. V. Apte
  • 2nd Mountain Artillery Brigade
• 57th Mountain Division (GOC - Major General B.F. Gonsalves)
  • 311th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Mishra
  • 73rd Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Tuli
  • 61st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Tom Pande
  • 57th Mountain Artillery Brigade
• 23rd Mountain Division (GOC - Major General R.D. Hira)
  • 301st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier H. S. Sodhi
  • 181st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Y. C. Bakshi
  • 83rd Mountain Brigade – Brigadier B. S. Sandhu
  • 23rd Mountain Artillery Brigade
  • Kilo Force Brigade – Brigadier Ananda Swaroop^[9] containing:
  • Mizo Range Hills Brigade^[10]

XXXIII Corps (HQ - Siliguri) (GOC - Lieutenant General M L Thapan)

• Corps Artillery Brigade
• 471st Engineering Brigade – Colonel Suri
• 235th Army Engineering Regiment
• 2 Para Bn Gp
• MF Brigade – Brigadier Prem Singh
• 71st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier P. N. Kathpalia
• 20th Mountain Division (HQ - Balurghat) (GOC - Major General Lachhman Singh)
  • 66th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier G. S. Sharma
  • 165th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier R. S. Pannu
  • 202nd Mountain Brigade – Brigadier F. P. Bhatty
  • 3rd Armoured Brigade – Brigadier G. Singh Sidhu
  • 20th Mountain Artillery Brigade
  • 340th Mountain Brigade Group – Brigadier Joginder Singh
• 6th Mountain Division ( HQ - Cooch Behar) (Eastern Command HQ Reserve) (GOC - Major General P C Reddy)
  • 9th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Tirit Varma
  • 99th Mountain Brigade
  • 6th Mountain Artillery Brigade

101st Communication Zone (HQ: Guwahati) (GOC - Major General Gurbax Singh Gill)

• 312 Air Defence Brigade
• 342 Ind. Air Defence Brigade
• 95th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Hardev Singh Kler
• FJ Sector Brigade – Brigadier Sant Singh^[11]
• 167th Infantry Brigade – Brigadier Irani (allotted after 8 December 1971)
• 5th Mountain Brigade (allotted after 8 December 1971)

On 16 December 1971, the Eastern Command of the Pakistan Armed Forces surrendered at Dhaka. East Pakistan ceased to exist and Bangladesh was born. Lt Gen J S Arora accepted the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender, signed by Lt Gen A. A. K. Niazi at Dacca Racecourse. Approximately 93,000 Pakistani servicemen were taken prisoner by the Indian Army, which included 79,676 to 81,000 uniformed personnel of the Pakistan Armed Forces, including some Bengali soldiers who had remained loyal to Pakistan.^[12][13]

Structure

The Command's Area Of Responsibility (AOR)^[14] covers the following states of India:

• West Bengal
• Sikkim
• Assam
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Nagaland
• Manipur
• Mizoram
• Tripura
• Meghalaya
• Jharkhand

The Eastern Command has been assigned operational units under: III Corps, IV Corps, XVII Corps, XXXIII Corps and the 23rd Infantry Division.^[15][16]

Structure of Eastern Command
Corps		Corps HQ	GOC of Corps (Corps Commander)	Assigned Units	Unit HQ
	III Corps (Spear Corps)	Rangapahar, Nagaland	Lt Gen Abhijit S Pendharkar[17]	2 Mountain Division	Dinjan, Assam
				56 Mountain Division	Likabali, Arunachal Pradesh
				57 Mountain Division	Leimakhong, Manipur
	IV Corps (Gajraj Corps)	Tezpur, Assam	Lt Gen Gambhir Singh[18]	5 Mountain Division	Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh
				21 Mountain Division	Rangia, Assam
				71 Mountain Division	Missa Mari, Assam
	XVII Corps (Brahmastra Corps)	Panagarh, West Bengal	Lt Gen Yash Singh Ahlawat[19]	59 Mountain Division	Panagarh, West Bengal
				23 Infantry Division	Ranchi, Jharkhand
				72 Mountain Division	Pathankot, Punjab
	XXXIII Corps (Trishakti Corps)	Siliguri, West Bengal	Lt Gen Zubin A Minwalla[20]	17 Mountain Division	Gangtok, Sikkim
				20 Mountain Division	Binnaguri, West Bengal
				27 Mountain Division	Kalimpong, West Bengal

Precursors (1902–1947)

Following is the list of precursors to the Eastern Command and their commanders:^[21]

Eastern Command (1902–1907)

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command
S.No	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Unit of Commission	References
1	General Sir Alfred Gaselee GCIE, KCB	October 1904	June 1907	93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot

Eastern Command (1920–1940)

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command
S.No	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Unit of Commission	References
1	General Sir Havelock Hudson KCB, KCIE	November 1920	February 1924	Northamptonshire Regiment
2	General Sir George de S. Barrow KCB, KCMG	February 1924	April 1928	Connaught Rangers
3	General Sir John S. M. Shea GCB, KCMG, DSO	April 1928	April 1932	Royal Irish Regiment
4	General Sir C. Norman MacMullen KCB, CMG, CIE, DSO	April 1932	April 1936	Unattached
5	General Sir H. B. Douglas Baird KCB, CMG, CIE, DSO	April 1936	April 1940	Unattached
6	Lieutenant General Sir Charles N. F. Broad KCB, DSO	April 1940	July 1942	Royal Field Artillery

Eastern Army (1942–1943)

General Officer Commanding Eastern Army
S.No	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Unit of Commission	References
1	Lieutenant General Noel M. S. Irwin CB, DSO**, MC	Jul 1942	May 1943	Essex Regiment
2	General Sir George J. Giffard KCB, DSO	May 1943	October 1943	Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment

Eastern Command (1943–1947)

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command
S.No	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Unit of Commission	References
1	General Sir A. G. O. Mosley Mayne KCB, CBE, DSO	October 1943	December 1944	13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers
2	General Sir Richard N. O'Connor KCB, DSO*, MC	January 1945	October 1945	Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
3	Lieutenant General Sir Arthur F. Smith KBE, CB, DSO	October 1945	January 1946	Coldstream Guards
4	Lieutenant General Sir Francis I. S. Tuker KCIE, CB, DSO, OBE	January 1946	November 1947	Royal Sussex Regiment
Acting	Lieutenant General F. R. Roy Bucher CB, OBE, MC	August 1946	August 1947	Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

List of GOC-in-C of Eastern Command (1947–present)

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command
S.No	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Unit of Commission	References
1	Lieutenant General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa OBE	November 1947	January 1948	88th Carnatic Infantry	[22]
2	Lieutenant General Maharaj Shri Rajendrasinhji Jadeja DSO	January 1948	November 1948	2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)	[23]
3	Lieutenant General Thakur Nathu Singh	November 1948	January 1953	Rajput Regiment	[24]
4	Lieutenant General Sant Singh	January 1953	30 September 1956	1/14 Punjab	[25]
5	Lieutenant General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya OBE	1 October 1956	March 1957	19th Hyderabad Regiment
6	Lieutenant General Shankarrao Pandurang Patil Thorat KC, DSO	May 1957	May 1961	1/14 Punjab	[26][27]
7	Lieutenant General Lionel Protip Sen DSO	May 1961	30 April 1963	10th Baluch Regiment
8	Lieutenant General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam DSO, MBE	1 May 1963	November 1963	Regiment of Artillery
9	Lieutenant General Thomas Bryan Henderson Brooks	November 1963	31 March 1964	Maratha Light Infantry
10	Lieutenant General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam DSO, MBE	1 April 1964	November 1964	Regiment of Artillery
11	Lieutenant General Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw MC	16 November 1964	8 June 1969	12th Frontier Force Regiment
12	Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora PVSM	June 1969	February 1973	2nd Punjab Regiment
13	Lieutenant General Naveen Chand Rawlley PVSM, AVSM, MC	February 1973	31 July 1974	Brigade of the Guards
14	Lieutenant General Jack Farj Rafael Jacob PVSM	1 August 1974	31 July 1978	Regiment of Artillery
15	Lieutenant General E. A. Vas PVSM	1 August 1978	31 May 1981	9th Gorkha Rifles
16	Lieutenant General Arun Shridhar Vaidya PVSM, MVC, AVSM	1 June 1981	Aug 1983	9th Deccan Horse
17	Lieutenant General K. Chiman Singh PVSM	August 1983	31 January 1986	Rajputana Rifles
18	Lieutenant General J. K. Puri PVSM, AVSM	1 February 1986	31 May 1987	Regiment of Artillery
19	Lieutenant General Vishwa Nath Sharma PVSM, AVSM	1 June 1987	30 April 1988	16th Light Cavalry	[28]
20	Lieutenant General Raj Mohan Vohra PVSM, MVC	1 May 1988	31 May 1990	4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)
21	Lieutenant General Kuldip Singh Brar PVSM, AVSM, VrC	1 June 1990	30 September 1992	Maratha Light Infantry	[29]
22	Lieutenant General Jameel Mahmood UYSM	1 October 1992	31 May 1993	Regiment of Artillery
23	Lieutenant General R. N. Batra PVSM, VSM	1 June 1993	29 February 1996	Regiment of Artillery
24	Lieutenant General Ravi Eipe PVSM, AVSM	1 March 1996	28 February 1998	Rajput Regiment
25	Lieutenant General H. R. S. Kalkat PVSM, AVSM	1 April 1998	31 July 2002	Maratha Light Infantry	[30]
26	Lieutenant General J. S. Verma PVSM, AVSM	1 August 2002	31 December 2004	63rd Cavalry (India)
27	Lieutenant General Arvind Sharma PVSM, AVSM, VSM	1 January 2005	31 December 2006	4th Gorkha Rifles	[31][32][33]
28	Lieutenant General K. S. Jamwal PVSM, AVSM, VSM	1 January 2007	29 February 2008	Regiment of Artillery	[34][35]
29	Lieutenant General Vijay Kumar Singh PVSM, AVSM, YSM	1 March 2008	31 March 2010	Rajput Regiment	[36]
30	Lieutenant General Bikram Singh PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM	1 April 2010	30 April 2012	Sikh Light Infantry	[37]
31	Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM	16 June 2012	31 December 2013	5th Gorkha Rifles
32	Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh Rai PVSM, AVSM, VSM	1 January 2014	31 July 2015	Bombay Sappers
33	Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi PVSM, AVSM, VSM	1 August 2015	31 July 2017	Skinner's Horse
34	Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM	1 August 2017	30 September 2018	Rajputana Rifles	[38]
35	Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM	1 October 2018	31 August 2019	Sikh Light Infantry	[39]
36	Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM	1 September 2019	31 May 2021	11th Gorkha Rifles	[40]
37	Lieutenant General Manoj Pande PVSM, AVSM, VSM	1 June 2021	31 January 2022	Bombay Sappers	[41]
38	Lieutenant General Rana Pratap Kalita PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM	1 February 2022	31 December 2023	Kumaon Regiment	[42]
39	Lieutenant General Ram Chander Tewari UYSM, AVSM, SM	1 January 2024	Incumbent	Kumaon Regiment	[2]

Notes

1. "The Official Home Page of the Indian Army". www.indianarmy.nic.in.
2. "Lt Gen RC Tiwari to be next Eastern Army Commander". Chanakya Forum. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
3. "Northern Army". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
4. "Sir Havelock Hudson". Pioneer Mail and Indian Weekly News. 26 November 1920. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
5. Volume II: India's Most Dangerous Hour, Major-General Stanley Kirby et al., 1958, 193.
6. "77 Brigade". Order of Battle. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
7. "Why is the Fourteenth Army known as the Forgotten Army?". Royal British Legion. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
8. "Central Command Raising Day concludes". The Times of India. 3 May 2009. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
9. Islam, Maj. Rafiqul, A Tale of Millions, p318
10. Jacob, Lt. Gen. JFR, Surrender at Dacca: Birth of A Nation, p196
11. Islam, Maj. Rafiqul, A Tale of Millions, p313
12. Burke, S. M (1974). Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani Foreign Policies – S. M. Burke. ISBN 9780816607204. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
13. Bose, Sarmila (November 2011). "The question of genocide and the quest for justice in the 1971 war" (PDF). Journal of Genocide Research. 13 (4): 398. doi:10.1080/14623528.2011.625750. S2CID 38668401. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
14. "Eastern Command". Indian Army. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
15. "Eye on China, India to raise second division for mountain corps". The Indian Express. 17 March 2017. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
16. "The mountain is now a molehill". Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
17. "Lt Gen Abhijit S Pendharkar took over command of the Spear corps from Lt Gen HS Sahi". X (formerly twitter). 10 August 2024.
18. "Lt Gen Gambhir Singh takes over as GOC IV Corps - ADGPI Twitter". X (formerly twitter). Retrieved 1 August 2024.
19. "Lt General Yash Ahlawat Assumes Command of Brahmastra Corps". 20 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
20. "GOC of Trishakti Corps inaugurates oxygen generation plant in Siliguri". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
21. Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
22. "Gen Cariappa Becomes Eastern Army Commander" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 November 1947. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
23. "Changes in Army Commands" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 20 January 1948. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
24. "Eastern Command History".
25. "Promotions in the Indian Army" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 15 October 1952. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
26. "From Henderson to Subrahmanyam: Army to be Blamed. And Political Leaders". www.satp.org. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
27. "The Two Myths of 1962 | Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses". idsa.in. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
28. "Somnath Sharma, Sam Manekshaw, Amitabh Bachchan, Old Sherwoodians Sherwood College, Nainital - Alumni". www.oldsherwoodians.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
29. "Indian Army: Charges of incompetence among senior officers undermined the Eastern Command". Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
30. "Eastern Army ex-Commander Kalkat passes away". The Tribune. 28 January 2021.
31. "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
32. "New Vice Chief of Army Staff Appointed in India". Arab News. 1 January 2005. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
33. "National : New Vice-Chief of Army Staff". The Hindu. 1 January 2005. Archived from the original on 16 February 2005. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
34. "K S Jamwal is new GoC-in-C, Eastern Command". Zee News. 4 January 2007. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
35. "Lt Gen Kapoor to be new VCOAS; Panag, Jamwal to head N, E Cmds". www.oneindia.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
36. "Army chief gets his way, Panag shifted out of J&K - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
37. "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
38. "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
39. "Lt. Gen. Naravane appointed Eastern Army Commander". The Hindu. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
40. "Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan takes over as Eastern Army Commander". The Times of India.
41. Pande, Manoj. "Manoj Pande to take over Eastern Command".
42. "Lt. Gen. Rana P Kalita Takes Charge as General Officer Commanding in Chief in Kolkata". Sentinel Assam. 25 January 2022.

Further reading

• Richard A. Renaldi; Ravi Rikhe (2011), 'Indian Army Order of Battle', Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC, ISBN 978-0-9820541-7-8.