Northern Command (India)

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.[1][2]

"North Western Army" redirects here. For the Chinese revolutionary army, see Guominjun.

Northern Command
Insignia of Northern Command
Active1908–1947
1972 – present
Country India
Branch Indian Army
TypeCommand
HQUdhampur
Motto(s)Forever in operations
Commanders
GOC-in-CLt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, AVSM
Notable
commanders		Lt Gen P. S. Bhagat
Gen S. Padmanabhan
Gen Deepak Kapoor
Insignia
Flag

History

The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies 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]

In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies: Northern Army and Southern Army. 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. In April 1942, the Western Independent District was absorbed into the Northern Command which itself was re-designated as North Western Army to guard the borders at North West Frontier during World War II. It controlled the Kohat, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Baluchistan and Waziristan Districts.[4][5]

The formation reverted to the title Northern Command in November 1945.[6] In 1947, India moved towards partition, with Northern Command HQ at Rawalpindi becoming the Army HQ of the newly formed Pakistan Army (as GHQ, Pakistan), with the rest of commands passing to the Indian Army.[7]

In 1972, the Government of India decided to raise a separate command to oversee operations in the northern borders with Pakistan and China. Lt. Gen. P. S. Bhagat was appointed as its GOC-in-C in June 1972. Bhagat's main activities as Army Commander were the improvement of defence and the living and working condition of his troops.[8] Headquarters for the command was established at Udhampur, J&K.[9]

The XIV Corps (Leh), XV Corps (Srinagar) and XVI Corps (Nagrota) control the operational units in Northern Command. 71 Independent Sub Area is part of the Command. In 2001–02, during Operation Parakram the III Corps and its 57th Mountain Division were temporarily shifted into the command as a reserve.[9]

Dhruva War Memorial, Udhampur

Structure

Currently, the Northern Commands has been assigned operational units under four corps: XIV Corps, I Corps, XV Corps and XVI Corps.

In 2021, the Strike One Corps was re-organised to join the Northern Command to assist at the Ladakh border with China.[10][11]

Structure of Northern Command
Corps Corps HQ GOC of Corps

(Corps Commander)

 Assigned Units Unit HQ
XIV Corps

(Fire and Fury Corps)

 Leh, Ladakh Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta[12] 3 Infantry Division Karu, Ladakh
8 Mountain Division Dras, Ladakh
254 (Independent) Armoured Brigade Leh, Ladakh
102 (Independent) Infantry Brigade Partapur, Ladakh
118 (Independent) Infantry Brigade Nyoma, Ladakh
XV Corps

(Chinar Corps)

 Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir Lt Gen Amardeep Singh Aujla[13] 19 Mountain Division Baramulla, Jammu & Kashmir
28 Infantry Division Gurez, Jammu & Kashmir
Rashtriya Rifles "Kilo Force" N/A
Rashtriya Rifles "Victor Force" N/A
XVI Corps

(White Knight Corps)

 Nagarota, Jammu & Kashmir Lt Gen Manjinder Singh[14] 10 RAPID Division Akhnoor, Jammu & Kashmir
25 Armoured Division Rajauri, Jammu & Kashmir
39 Mountain Division Yol, Himachal Pradesh
Rashtriya Rifles "Delta Force" N/A
Rashtriya Rifles "Romeo Force" N/A
Rashtriya Rifles "Uniform Force" N/A
10 Artillery Brigade N/A
I Corps

(Strike One Corps)

 Mathura, Uttar Pradesh Lt Gen Gajendra Joshi[15] 4 RAPID Division Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh
6 Mountain Division Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
42 Artillery Division Bassi, Rajasthan
14 (Independent) Armoured Brigade Bhatinda, Punjab

Precursors (1895-1947)

Following is the List of precursors to the Northern Command and their commanders:[16]

Punjab Command (1895-1907)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Punjab Command
Rank Name Assumed office Left office Unit of commission
General Sir William S. A. Lockhart April 1895 Nov 1898 44th Bengal Native Infantry
General Sir Arthur Power Palmer Nov 1898 March 1900 5th Bengal Light Infantry
Lieutenant General Sir Charles C. Egerton

(acting)

 March 1899 Oct 1901 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot
General Sir Bindon Blood Oct 1901 Oct 1904 Royal Engineers

Northern Command (1904-1908)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command
Rank Name Assumed office Left office Unit of commission
General Sir Bindon Blood Oct 1904 June 1907 Royal Engineers

Northern Army (1908-1920)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Army
Rank Name Assumed office Left office Unit of commission
General Sir Alfred Gaselee June 1907 Nov 1908 Sutherland Highlanders
Lieutenant General Sir Josceline H. Wodehouse Nov 1908 Oct 1910 Royal Artillery
Lieutenant General Sir James Willcocks Oct 1910 Aug 1914 100th Regiment of Foot
Lieutenant General Sir Robert I. Scallon Aug 1914 Feb 1915 72nd Highlanders
General Sir John E. Nixon Feb 1915 Apr 1915 75th Regiment of Foot
- Vacant Apr 1915 May 1916 -
General Sir Arthur A. Barrett May 1916 May 1920 44th Regiment of Foot

Northern Command (1920-1942)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command
Rank Name Assumed office Left office Unit of commission
General Sir William R. Birdwood, Bt Nov 1920 Nov 1924 Royal Scots Fusiliers
General Sir Claud W. Jacob Nov 1924 May 1926 Worcestershire Regiment
General Sir Alexander S. Cobbe May 1926 May 1930 Indian Staff Corps
General Sir Robert A. Cassels May 1930 May 1934 Indian Staff Corps
General Sir Kenneth Wigram May 1934 May 1936 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles

(The Sirmoor Rifles)

General Sir John F. S. D. Coleridge May 1936 Jun 1940 Indian Staff Corps
General Sir Alan F. Hartley Jun 1940 Jan 1942 Durham Light Infantry
General Sir Cyril D. Noyes Jan 1942 Apr 1942 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry

North-Western Army (1942-1945)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief North-Western Army
Rank Name Assumed office Left office Unit of commission
General Sir Cyril D. Noyes Apr 1942 May 1943 Royal Scots Fusiliers
General Sir Edward P. Quinan May 1943 Aug 1943 Worcestershire Regiment
General Sir Henry Finnis Aug 1943 May 1945 Indian Staff Corps
Major-General Cecil Toovey

(acting)

 Jun 1945 Oct 1945 Indian Staff Corps
General Sir Richard N. O'Connor Oct 1945 Nov 1945 Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

Northern Command (1945-1947)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command
Rank Name Assumed office Left office Unit of commission References
General Sir Richard N. O'Connor Nov 1945 May 1946 Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Lieutenant General Douglas D. Gracey

(acting)

 May 1946 Oct 1946 Royal Munster Fusiliers
Lieutenant General Frank W. Messervy Oct 1946 Aug 1947 9th Hodson's Horse [17]

List of GOC-in-C of Northern Command (1972-present)

Following is the list of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Northern Command after its re-raising in 1972:

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command
Rank Name Assumed office Left office Unit of commission References
Lieutenant General Premindra Singh Bhagat June 1972 28 July 1974 Bombay Sappers [8]
Lieutenant General H. C. Rai 28 July 1974 31 July 1978 Rajputana Rifles [18]
Lieutenant General Gurbachan Singh 1 August 1978 31 December 1979 20 Lancers [19]
Lieutenant General Suraj Prakash Malhotra 1 January 1980 30 September 1982 Brigade of The Guards [20]
Lieutenant General Manohar Lal Chibber 1 October 1982 31 August 1985 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) [21][22]
Lieutenant General A. K. Handoo 1 September 1985 31 May 1987 Brigade of Guards [23]
Lieutenant General Biddanda Chengappa Nanda 1 June 1987 31 May 1989 Mahar Regiment [23]
Lieutenant General Gurinder Singh 1 June 1989 30 September 1991 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) [24]
Lieutenant General D. S. R. Sahni 1 October 1991 31 August 1993 Madras Sappers [25][26]
Lieutenant General Surrinder Singh 1 September 1993 31 August 1996 17th Horse (Poona Horse) [27][28]
Lieutenant General Sundararajan Padmanabhan 1 September 1996 31 December 1998 Regiment of Artillery [29]
Lieutenant General H. M. Khanna 1 January 1998 31 January 2001 Gorkha Rifles [30]
Lieutenant General R. K. Nanavatty 1 February 2001 31 May 2003 8th Gorkha Rifles [31]
Lieutenant General Hari Prasad 1 June 2003 31 July 2005 Maratha Light Infantry [32]
Lieutenant General Deepak Kapoor 1 September 2005 30 December 2006 Regiment of Artillery [33][34]
Lieutenant General Harcharanjit Singh Panag 1 January 2006 29 February 2008 Sikh Regiment [35]
Lieutenant General Prabodh Chandra Bhardwaj 1 March 2008 30 September 2009 Parachute Regiment [36]
Lieutenant General B. S. Jaswal 1 October 2009 31 December 2010 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles [37][38]
Lieutenant General K. T. Parnaik 1 January 2011 30 June 2013 Rajputana Rifles [39]
Lieutenant General Sanjiv Chachra 1 July 2013 31 May 2014 Rajput Regiment [40]
Lieutenant General Deependra Singh Hooda 1 June 2014 30 November 2016 4th Gorkha Rifles [41]
Lieutenant General Devraj Anbu 1 December 2016 31 May 2018 Sikh Light Infantry [42]
Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh 1 June 2018 31 January 2020 Dogra Regiment [1]
Lieutenant General Yogesh Kumar Joshi 1 February 2020 31 January 2022 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles [43]
Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi 1 February 2022 Incumbent Jammu and Kashmir Rifles [44]

References
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  2. "Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi assumes charge of Army's Northern Command". The Economic Times. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
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  10. Service, Tribune News. "Focus on China, Army moves key 'strike' elements to eastern Ladakh". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
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Sources
  • Rinaldi, Richard; Rikhye, Ravi (2011). Indian Army Order of Battle. General Data. ISBN 978-0982054178.
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