General Shankar Roy Chowdhury PVSM ADC is a former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, and a former member of the Indian Parliament. [2] [3]
General Roychowdhury was born in Kolkata, West Bengal, India into the Zamindar family of Taki (India), a Bengali Kayastha family, on 6 September 1937. He received his schooling at St. Xavier's Collegiate School in Kolkata and later at Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie and St. George's College, Mussoorie. He then became a cadet in the Joint Services Wing of the Indian Armed Forces in 1953. [3] [4]
General Shankar Roychowdhury was commissioned into the 20 Lancers of the Indian Army Armoured Corps on 9 June 1957, after graduating from the Indian Military Academy. He took part in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 in the Chamb-Jaurian sector, and in Jessore and Khulna during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. He commanded the 20 Lancers from 1974 to 1976, an Independent Armoured Brigade from December 1980 to July 1983, and an Armoured Division from May 1988 to May 1990. He subsequently commanded the 16 Corps in Jammu and Kashmir from 1991 to 1992. [3] [4]
He is a graduate of the Indian Military Academy Dehradun, National Defence Academy Pune, Defence Services Staff College, Army War College; National Defence College and also holds a Doctorate D.Litt. (Honoris CAVSA). [2] He held several staff and instructional appointments, including that of Director General Combat Vehicles dealing with the Arjun tank. [3] [4]
He was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service to the Indian Army and the nation. He took over as GOC-in-C, Army Training Command (ARTRAC) in August 1992. He assumed charge of the Indian Army as the 18th Chief of Army Staff on 22 November 1994, upon the untimely death of his predecessor, General B.C. Joshi. [5] He retired from the Indian Army on 30 September 1997, after 40 years of military service. [4] [6]
After retirement from the Army, General Roychowdhury became a member of the Rajya Sabha, where he highlighted defence related issues. [3] Since 21 January 2008, he has been a Director of Indian Metal & Ferro Alloys Ltd. [2] [4] His autobiography titled Officially at Peace was published by Penguin Books in 2002. [7]
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Insignia | Rank | Component | Date of rank |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | Second Lieutenant | Indian Army | 9 June 1957 [8] |
![]() | Lieutenant | Indian Army | 9 June 1959 [9] |
![]() | Captain | Indian Army | 9 June 1963 [10] |
![]() | Major | Indian Army | 9 June 1970 [11] |
![]() | Lieutenant Colonel | Indian Army | 1976 |
![]() | Colonel | Indian Army | 24 October 1982 [12] |
![]() | Brigadier | Indian Army | 12 April 1983 [13] |
![]() | Major General | Indian Army | 2 January 1988 [14] |
![]() | Lieutenant General | Indian Army | 1 July 1991 [15] |
![]() | General (COAS) | Indian Army | 22 November 1994 [1] |
General Tapishwar "Tappy" Narain Raina, best known as T.N. Raina, was a senior army officer and a diplomat who served as the 9th Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army between 1975 and 1978.
Lieutenant General Srinivas Kumar Sinha, PVSM, ADC was an Indian Army General who served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff. After his retirement, he served as Governor of the states of Jammu and Kashmir, and Assam.
General Krishnaswamy "Sundarji" Sundararajan, was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1986 to 1988. He was the last former British Indian Army officer to command the Indian Army.
General Bipin Chandra Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, ADC was the 16th Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army. He is the only Chief of the Indian Army to die in office, and until the 2021 death of General Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash, the only full general and serving Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee to have died in office.
General Arunkumar Shridhar VaidyaPVSM, MVC & Bar, AVSM, ADC was an Indian Army general. He served as the 12th Chief of the Army Staff from 1983 to 1986. Following his retirement, he was assassinated by Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha in August 1986, for his role in Operation Blue Star in 1984.
General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, was an Indian Army General Officer. He served as the 5th Chief of Army Staff from 1962 to 1966 and the Military Governor of Hyderabad State from 1948 to 1949. After his retirement from the Indian Army, he served as the Indian High Commissioner to Canada from 19 July 1966 until August 1969.
General Nirmal Chander Vij PVSM, UYSM, AVSM was the 20st Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. He held the office from 1 Jan 2003 to 31 Jan 2005.
General Maharaj Shri Rajendrasinhji Jadeja, DSO, also known as K.S. Rajendrasinhji, was the first Chief of Army Staff of the Indian army, and the second Indian, after Field Marshal K. M. Cariappa, to become Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.
General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam, DSO, MBE, FRHS was the 6th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army from 1967 to 1969. He was one of the last British-trained King's Commissioned Indian Officer (KCIO) to serve in the Indian Army, and the last KCIO to lead the Indian Army.
General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor PVSM was a senior officer of the Indian Army who served as the 8th Chief of Army Staff, and later an Indian diplomat to Denmark.
General Vishwa Nath Sharma, PVSM, AVSM, ADC was the 14th Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army, serving between 1988–1990. He was the first Indian COAS to have begun his career in the post-Independence Indian Army.
The Pakistan Army Armoured Corps is a military administrative and combined arms service branch of the Pakistan Army.
20th Lancers is an armoured regiment in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. The regiment distinguished itself in operations with its defence of Chhamb in Jammu and Kashmir during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War and won one Maha Vir Chakra. It has provided one Chief of Army Staff and two Army Commanders.
Lieutenant General Podali Shankar Rajeshwar PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC is a former General officer in the Indian Army. He last served as the 14th Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command, from December 2019 to May 2020. He took office on 1 December 2019 when Vice Admiral Bimal Verma retired. He superannuated on 31 May 2020, handing over command to Lieutenant General Manoj Pande. Earlier, he had served as the 12th Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, from November 2018 to November 2019.
Lieutenant General Ravendra Pal Singh PVSM, AVSM, VSM is a former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Western Command of the Indian Army. He assumed office on 1 August 2019, succeeding Gen Surinder Singh.
Lieutenant General Alok Singh Kler, PVSM, VSM, ADC is a retired General Officer in the Indian Army who last served as General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the South Western Command. He assumed office on 1 September 2019, taking over from Lt Gen Cherish Mathson.
Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty is a retired General Officer in the Indian Army. He was the 42nd Vice Chief of the Army Staff and assumed office on 1 February 2021, following the retirement of Satinder Kumar Saini. He was previously the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Southern Command, assuming command on 30 January 2020. He was trained at RIMC Dehradun.
Lieutenant General Amardeep Singh Bhinder, PVSM, AVSM, VSM is a former general officer of the Indian Army. He last served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief South Western Command from 2021 to 2023. He assumed command from Lieutenant General Alok Singh Kler on 1 April 2021.
Lieutenant-General Patrick Oswald Dunn was an Indian Army general. He commanded the I Corps during the Indo-Pak War of 1965 for which he was awarded the third-highest award of India - the Padma Bhushan.
Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth is a serving general officer of the Indian Army. He currently serves as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the South Western Command. He previously held the appointment of General Officer commanding Delhi Area, prior to that he was General Officer Commanding XXI Corps.