XI Corps (India)

The XI Corps of the Indian Army is based in Jalandhar and is a part of Western Command.

XI Corps
Active1950 - present
CountryIndia
BranchIndian Army
RoleStrike Corps
SizeArmy Corps
Part ofWestern Command
Garrison/HQJalandhar
Nickname(s)Vajra Corps
Defenders of Punjab[1]
Battle honoursTheatre Honour:
Punjab
Battle Honours:
Dograi
Barki
Asal Uttar
Sehjra
Dera Baba Nanak[2]
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt Gen Vijay B Nair
Notable
commanders		General Om Prakash Malhotra
General Ved Prakash Malik
Lt Gen T B Henderson Brooks
Lt Gen J S Dhillon
Indian Army Corps (1915 - Present)
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XXI Corps I Corps

History

XI Corps was raised to take command of the formations in the Punjab in 1950[3] as India reorganised its post-1947 army to meet the new threat of Pakistan.[4] It was raised on March 1, 1950 at Ambala under the command of Lieutenant General Kalwant Singh.[5] The corps headquarters was relocated to Jalandhar in July 1951.[2]

To reduce the load of XI Corps, X Corps was formed at Bathinda on 1 July 1979, taking over south Punjab and north Rajasthan.[6]

Formation Sign

The Corps formation sign consists of the 'red-white-red background' depicting a corps of the Indian Army overlaid by a Vajra, the powerful thunderbolt weapon of Lord Indra, the symbol of sacrifice of the great sage Dadhichi, who voluntarily sacrificed his body to make the fiercest weapon from his thighbone.[5]

Vajra Corps Platinum Jubilee, 1 March 2020

Organisation

The corps consists of:[7]

  • 7 Infantry Division (Golden Arrow Division) headquartered at Firozpur, raised in 1964.[8]
  • 9 Infantry Division (Pine Division) headquartered at Meerut.[9] It has one brigade each at Meerut, Delhi and Jalandhar.
  • 15 Infantry Division (Panther Division) headquartered at Amritsar.[10] Appears to include 350 Infantry Brigade.[11]
  • 23 (Independent) Armoured Brigade (Flaming Arrow Brigade) at Khasa, Amritsar.[12]
  • 55 (Independent) Mechanised Brigade (Double Victory Brigade) at Beas[13][14]
  • Corps Artillery Brigade[15]
  • Corps Air Defence Brigade[16]
Vajra Shaurya Sthal, Jalandhar Cantonment - the Corps war memorial

Operations

List of Commanders
Vajra Museum, Jalandhar[18]
Name Rank Appointment Date Left Office Unit of Commission References
Kalwant Singh Lieutenant General 1 March 1950 1st Punjab Regiment [5]
S P P Thorat 1955 May 1957 1/14 Punjab [19][5]
T B Henderson Brooks 1962 1963 5th Mahratta Light Infantry [20]
Joginder Singh Dhillon November 1963 August 1966 Bengal Sappers [21]
Premindra Singh Bhagat August 1966 August 1970 Bombay Sappers
Naveen Chand Rawlley 1970 1972 12th Frontier Force Regiment [22]
Om Prakash Malhotra May 1972 July 1974 Regiment of Artillery [23]
Krishnaswamy Gowri Shankar 1984 1985 Corps of Signals [24]
V K Nayar 1985 31 October 1987 Parachute Regiment[nb 1] [26]
Bakshi Krishan Nath Chhibber July 1990 September 1992 9th Gorkha Rifles [27]
Ved Prakash Malik August 1992 Sikh Light Infantry [28][5]
H B Kala April 1995 Jat Regiment [29]
Virendra Kumar Sewal Armoured Corps
Kamal Davar March 2000 April 2001 7th Light Cavalry [30]
Shantonu Choudhry April 2001 April 2002 Regiment of Artillery [31]
Krishnamurthy Nagaraj Apr 2002 May 2003 Maratha Light Infantry [32]
S Pattabhiraman May 2003 May 2004 Bombay Sappers [33][5]
Parmendra Kumar Singh May 2004 May 2005 Regiment of Artillery [34]
Mandhata Singh May 2005 April 2006 9th Gorkha Rifles [34]
Noble Thamburaj May 2006 September 2007 Bombay Sappers [35]
S S Kumar October 2007 August 2008 Brigade of the Guards [36]
Virender Singh Tonk August 2008 July 2009 Rajput Regiment [37]
Ramesh Halgali 24 July 2009 August 2010 Sikh Light Infantry [38]
Munish Sibal August 2010 November 2011 Rajputana Rifles [39][40]
Sanjeev Madhok November 2011 March 2013 Brigade of the Guards [41]
Ashwini Kumar Bakshi March 2013 July 2014 Bihar Regiment [42]
N P S Hira August 2014 31 July 2015 Sikh Light Infantry [43]
Jagbir Singh Cheema 21 August 2015 31 August 2016 Sikh Regiment [44][45]
B S Sahrawat 1 September 2016 2 November 2017 Kumaon Regiment [46]
Dushyant Singh 2 November 2017 4 November 2018 Maratha Light Infantry [47]
Arvind Dutta 5 November 2018 5 November 2019 Dogra Regiment [48]
Sanjeev Sharma 6 November 2019 2 December 2020 Rajputana Rifles [49]
C B Ponnappa 2 December 2020 10 February 2022 Mahar Regiment [50]
Devendra Sharma 11 February 2022 15 May 2023 Scinde Horse [51]
Vijay B Nair 15 May 2023 Incumbent Punjab Regiment [52]

Notes
  1. Originally a Signals officer, General Nayar, after persistent pestering of his bosses, managed a transfer to his desired regiment — the Maratha Light Infantry (MLI), securing a billet with 2 Para (3rd battalion, MLI, converted to paratroop infantry).[25]

References
  1. "Vajra Corps celebrates 71st Raising Day". 1 March 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  2. "Vajra Corps - 'Defenders of Punjab' - celebrates Platinum Jubilee". The Times of India. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  3. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, 26.
  4. "IPS Driver Error". Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  5. "Vajra Corps celebrates Raising Day". 17 March 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  6. "Commands of the Indian Army, South Western (Sapta Shakti) Command: Forever Victorious". 16 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  7. "Vajra Corps celebrates Infantry Day". 28 October 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  8. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, 40
  9. "Golden moments at Pine Division". 9 August 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  10. "15 Infantry division celebrates its raising day". 1 October 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  11. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, 166.
  12. "Army Commander Western Command visits Khasa Military station". 18 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  13. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011.
  14. "War Disabled Soldiers and Veer Naris Meet Organised at Beas". 16 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  15. "Vajra Corps organises Veer Nari meet". 4 May 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  16. "Vajra Air Defence felicitates veer naris at annual event". 17 December 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  17. "Saluting 'Defenders of Punjab'". 7 March 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  18. "Vajra Museum inaugurated". 6 October 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  19. Singh, VK (2005). Leadership in the Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers. SAGE India. p. 140. ISBN 978-0761933229.
  20. "1962 war report: When Nehru stepped on the Dragon's tail". The Times of India. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  21. "Last salute to the lion of 1965". 19 December 2003. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  22. "1971 operations - Case West - I". Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  23. "COAS pays Tribute to Former COAS Gen Om Prakash Malhotra". 31 December 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  24. "Examples of Learning in Counter-Insurgency". Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  25. "Unforgiving take on past". 11 August 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  26. "PIB Release" (PDF). 27 October 1987. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  27. "Souvenir 1995" (PDF). Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  28. "COVER STORY: DECORATED DUO". 16 August 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  29. "About Us". Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  30. "Golden jubilee of Vajra Corps". 4 March 2000. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  31. "Lt Gen Shantonu Choudhry appointed Vice Chief of Army Staff". 14 December 2002. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  32. "Vajra Corps celebrates Raising Day". 1 March 2003. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  33. "Pattabhiraman takes over as GOC-in-C, Western Command". 3 February 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  34. "Lieut-Gen Mandhata Singh is new GOC of Vajra Corps". 22 May 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  35. "Lt Gen Kumar takes over as GOC of Vajra Corps". 29 September 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  36. "Vajra Celebrations". 8 April 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  37. "Lt Gen VS Tonk takes command of Vajra Corps". 21 August 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  38. "K'taka man to head military training". 17 August 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  39. "Lt.Gen. Sibal to head Vajra Corps". 18 August 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  40. "Appointment". 17 August 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  41. "BriefLt Gen Madhok takes over Vajra Corps Command". The Times of India. 12 November 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  42. "Lieutant general AK Bakshi assumes command of Vajra Corps". 13 March 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  43. "Lt Gen Hira to take over as new Northern Command Chief of Staff today". 1 August 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  44. "LT GEN JS CHEEMA, PVSM, AVSM (RETD)". Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  45. "Deadlock over Army postings: GOC 11 Corps appointed officiating Western Army Commander". 29 January 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  46. "Lt Gen BS Sahrawat takes over as commanding officer of Vajra Corps". Chandigarh. 3 September 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  47. "Vajra Corps GOC". 3 November 2017.
  48. "Lt Gen Arvind Dutta takes over command of Vajra Corps". Jalandhar. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  49. "Lt Gen sharma is Goc vajra corps". Jalandhar. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  50. Service, Tribune News. "Lt Gen C Bansi Ponnappa is new GOC Vajra Corps". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  51. "Lieut Gen Devendra Sharma is new Vajra Corps commander". 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  52. "Lt Gen Sharma to take over as Western Command chief of staff". 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
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