History
Pre-Independence
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. [2] The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a lieutenant general. [2]
Between 1904 and 1908, the Bombay Command was renamed as the Western Command. In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies: Northern Army and Southern Army as recommended by 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]
In 1937, Western Command was downgraded to become the Western Independent District commanded by a major general. In April 1942, the Western Independent District was absorbed in the Northern Command which itself was re-designated as North Western Army. [4]
Re-raising
After the partition of India, the erstwhile command HQ, Northern Command, went to Pakistan and was renamed as GHQ, Pakistan. The communal violence of partition necessitated the raising of a new command headquarters to relieve Army Headquarters of the day to day overseeing of operations of the two independent areas in north India. [5]
This command, initially named Delhi and East Punjab Command was raised in Delhi on 14 September 1947 with Lt Gen Sir Dudley Russell as its commander. It was responsible to administer the Delhi Independent Area and the East Punjab Independent Area. [5]
On 26 October 1947, following the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India, Western Command was put in charge of all Indian Army operations to secure the area for India. [5]
Initially a division sized force Jammu and Kashmir Division was raised on 5 November 1947 under Maj Gen Kulwant Singh for overseeing operations in Jammu and Kashmir. [5] This was later split into two parts Jammu Division (under Maj Gen Atma Singh) and Srinagar Division (under Maj Gen K.S. Thimayya) to oversee operations in Jammu and Kashmir respectively. [6]
The II Corps (Ambala), IX Corps (Yol), XI Corps (Jalandhar) and 40th Artillery Division (Ambala) are control operational units in Western Command. [7]
XV Corps, or 15 Corps, also known as Chinar Corps, is a Corps of the Indian Army which is presently located in Srinagar and responsible for military operations in the Kashmir Valley. It has participated in all military conflicts with Pakistan and China till date. Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai is its current Corps Commander since 14 June 2023 taking over from Lieutenant General Amardeep Singh Aujla.
The XI Corps of the Indian Army is based in Jalandhar and is a part of Western Command.
The Northern Command is a Command of the Indian Army. It was originally formed as the Northern Army of the British Indian Army in 1908. It was scrapped upon India's independence in 1947 and later re-raised in 1972. Currently, the XIV Corps (Leh), XV Corps (Srinagar), I Corps (Mathura) and XVI Corps (Nagrota) are under its control. Its present commander is Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi.
The XVI Corps is a corps of the Indian Army raised on 1 June 1972 with Lieutenant General J F R Jacob as its first General Officer Commanding (GOC). It has its headquarters at Nagrota Cantonment,, Jammu and Kashmir. In 2005, IX Corps was raised in southern part of the XVI Corps' area, taking over two of its divisions.
Lieutenant General Syed Ata HasnainPVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM & Bar is a retired General of the Indian Army. His last assignment in service was as the Military Secretary of the Indian Army. Prior to that, he commanded the Indian Army's 15 Corps in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, amongst other appointments. He has also commanded 21 Corps (Strike). In 2018, General Hasnain was appointed Chancellor of Central University of Kashmir.
The South Western Command of the Indian Army was established on 15 April 2005 and became fully operational on 15 August 2005. It was in response to the emerging threats and opportunities on the Western Indo-Pak border. It is headquartered at Jaipur, Rajasthan.
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. The Command is commanded by a three-star rank officer with the title General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C).
Lieutenant General Philip Campose, PVSM, AVSM & Bar, VSM was the Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army and assumed office on 1 August 2014 succeeding General Dalbir Singh. He retired on 31 July 2015 and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh Rai.
Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC was the 25th General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command of the Indian Army and assumed office on 1 August 2015 after Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh Rai. He retired on 31 July 2017 and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna. Prior, he was chief of staff of the Northern Command based at Udhampur. He succeeded Lt Gen Man Mohan Singh Rai who is appointed as the Vice Chief of Army Staff at the Headquarter of Indian Army in New Delhi.
Lieutenant General Surinder Singh, PVSM, AVSM & Bar, VSM is a retired officer of Indian Army who served as General Officer Commander-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Western Command. He took office of the Chairman, Punjab Public Service Commission on 21 August 2019.
Lieutenant General Balwant Singh Negi, PVSM, UYSM, YSM, SM, VSM & Bar is a former General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Central Command of the Indian Army who served in office from 1 December 2015 till 30 September 2018. He assumed the post after Lt General Rajan Bakshi retired and was succeeded by Lt General Abhay Krishna.
Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh Rai, PVSM, AVSM, VSM was the Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) of the Indian Army and assumed office on 1 August 2015 following the retirement of Lieutenant General Philip Campose. He retired on 31 July 2016 and was succeeded by General Bipin Rawat.
Lieutenant General Dewan Rabindranath Soni, PVSM, VSM is a former General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Southern Command of the Indian Army. He served in office from 1 December 2017 till 30 September 2018. He assumed the post after Lieutenant General P M Hariz retired and was succeeded by Lt General Satinder Kumar Saini.
General Manoj Mukund Naravane, is a retired Indian Army General who served as the 28th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), as well as the temporary Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee from 15 December 2021 until his superannuation on 30 April 2022. He took over as COAS from General Bipin Rawat on 31 December 2019 after the latter completed his term. Prior to his appointment as the COAS, the general served as the 40th Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) of the Indian Army, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Eastern Command and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Army Training Command.
Lieutenant General Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM was the Military Secretary of the Indian Army and assumed office on 15 December 2017. He was the 46th Commander, XV Corps of the Indian Army and was in office from 1 November 2016 to 14 December 2017. He assumed the post from Lt General Satish Dua and was succeeded by Lt General Anil Kumar Bhatt.
Lieutenant General Rajendra Ramrao Nimbhorkar, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM**, VSM is a former officer of the Indian Army who served as the Master General Ordnance (MGO). He assumed office on 9 August 2017 after Lieutenant General Ravi Thodge retired. He was part of one of the strike corp which was responsible for carrying out three strikes inside POK in Surgical Strikes held in 2016 by the Indian Army to clean out all the Pakistani Terrorists Camps. As surgical strikes were carried out very secretly to maintain surprise, so very few people knew of them, one of those involved was Lt. Gen. Nimbhorkar.
Lieutenant General Ajae Kumar Sharma, UYSM, YSM, SM was the former Commander, XVI Corps of the Indian Army and served from 9 October 2016 till 10 October 2017. He assumed the post from Lt General Rajendra Ramrao Nimbhorkar and succeeded was Lt General succeeded by Saranjeet Singh.
Lieutenant General Gurpal Singh Sangha, AVSM, SM, VSM is a former Chief of Staff Western Command of the Indian Army and assumed office on 30 December 2018. He assumed the post from Lt General Amarjeet Singh Bedi. He retired from his position on July 31, 2020.
Lieutenant General Bikram Singh, PVSM was a General Officer in the Indian Army. He was the General Officer Commanding XV Corps when he was killed in the 1963 Poonch Indian Air Force helicopter crash.
Indian order of battle during the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes:
British India (former) 
India (after 1947)
British Indian Army (former) 
Indian Army (after 1947)
