Eastern Command (India)
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The Eastern Command is one of the six operational commands of the Indian Army. It is headquartered in Vijay Durg (formerly known as 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 V. M. Bhuvana Krishnan is the present Eastern Army Commander since 1 April 2026.
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. The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a lieutenant general.
Between 1904 and 1908, the Bengal Command became the Eastern Command. In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies – the 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.
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.
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. 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.
In October 1943, the Fourteenth Army was formed and was given responsibility for the area east of the Meghna River. With this, the Eastern Army retained responsibility for the area west of the river.
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.
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
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 reorganised 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 containing: Mizo Range Hills Brigade
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
- 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.
Structure
The Command's Area of responsibility covers West Bengal; Sikkim; Assam; Arunachal Pradesh; Nagaland; Manipur; Mizoram; Tripura; Meghalaya, and Jharkhand.
The Eastern Command includes III Corps, IV Corps, XVII Corps, XXXIII Corps and the 23rd Infantry Division. It also supervises 101 Area, originally raised at Shillong in 1963 as 101 Communications Zone.
| Structure of Eastern Command | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insignia | Corps/Area | Corps/Area HQ | General Officer Commanding | Assigned Units | Unit HQ |
| III Corps (Spear Corps) | Rangapahar, Nagaland | Lt Gen Abhijit S. Pendharkar | 2 Mountain Division | Dinjan, Assam | |
| 56 Mountain Division | Likabali, Arunachal Pradesh | ||||
| 57 Mountain Division | Leimakhong, Manipur | ||||
| IV Corps (Gajraj Corps) | Tezpur, Assam | Lt Gen Neeraj Shukla | 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 | 59 Mountain Division | Panagarh, West Bengal | |
| 23rd Infantry Division | Ranchi, Jharkhand | ||||
| 17 (Independent) Artillery Brigade | Panagarh, West Bengal | ||||
| XXXIII Corps (Trishakti Corps) | Siliguri, West Bengal | Lt Gen Man Raj Singh Mann | 17 Mountain Division | Gangtok, Sikkim | |
| 20 Mountain Division | Binnaguri, West Bengal | ||||
| 27 Mountain Division | Kalimpong, West Bengal | ||||
| 101 Area | Shillong, Meghalaya | Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa | |||
| 111 Area | Bengdubi, West Bengal | Lt Gen Pawan Chadha |
Precursors (1902–1947)
Following is the list of precursors to the Eastern Command and their commanders:
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)
Notes
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.