The Eastern Command is one of the six operational commands of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

. It is headquartered in Fort William in the city of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

. 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 Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Rana Pratap Kalita Rana Pratap Kalita UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM is a serving Lieutenant General in the Indian Army. He is currently the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Indian Army's Eastern Command. Personal life He is Assamese by ethnicity ...

is the current GOC-in-C of Eastern Command.

History

Early history

The

Presidency armies The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India, composed primarily of Indian sepoys. The presidency armies were named after the preside ...

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

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

, and

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

became the

. The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. Between 1904 and 1908, the Bengal Command became the Eastern Command. In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies – Northern Army and Southern Army – as recommended by the then Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army,

Lord Kitchener Lord Kitchener may refer to: * Earl Kitchener, for the title * Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. ...

. 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 Nainital ( Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a city and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the High Court of the state being located there and is the headquarters ...

and winter headquarters in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divisio ...

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Havelock Hudson, become its first Commander.

Second World War

In 1942, the command had the following formations under it: * IV Corps (Headquarters at

Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the ...

) ** 17th Indian Infantry Division and

23rd Indian Infantry Division The 23rd Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It fought in the Burma Campaign. It was then reformed as a division of the independent Indian Army in 1959. History The division was raised on 1 ...

* XXXIII Corps (Headquarters at

Arakan Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it access ...

) **

14th Indian Infantry Division The 14th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It fought in the Arakan Campaign 1942–43, and was subsequently converted into a Training Division, providing drafts of replacements for unit ...

and 26th Indian Infantry Division * 70th British Division and

50th Indian Tank Brigade The 50th Indian Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed for service in the Burma Campaign of World War II from units of the British Army and the British Indian Army. The brigade's form ...

in reserve. In Apr 1942, the command was re-designated as Eastern Army and its headquarters moved to

Barrackpore Barrackpore (also known as Barrackpur) is a city and a municipality of urban Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital ...

to fight the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The

Chindits The Chindits, officially as Long Range Penetration Groups, were special operations units of the British and Indian armies which saw action in 1943–1944 during the Burma Campaign of World War II. The British Army Brigadier Orde Wingate fo ...

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 of the area east of the

Meghna River The Meghna River ( bn, মেঘনা নদী) is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, ...

. With this, the Eastern Army retained responsibility of the area west of the river. After the war, on 23 March 1947, the Command HQ moved to

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

. The HQ was later moved to

in 1955. However on 1 May 1963, post

Sino-Indian War The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...

; the Central Command was re-raised and

was made its HQ, while

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 re-organised as a Division-sized combat formation.

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 -

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 Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

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 -

Sagat Singh * Corps Artillery Brigade * Three Independent Tank Squadrons * 8th Mountain Division (GOC -

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 Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

) (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 Balurghat (pron:bʌlʊəˈgɑ:t) is a town and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the district headquarter of the Dakshin Dinajpur district. It is one of the major cities connected through National Highway 512. In this tow ...

) (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 Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in t ...

) (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 Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

) (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 The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

surrendered at

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

ceased to exist and

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

was born. Lt Gen J S Arora accepted the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender, signed by Lt Gen

A. A. K. Niazi Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi (1915 – 1 February 2004) was a Pakistan Army general. During the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he commanded the Pakistani Eastern Command in East Pakistan (now Ba ...

at Dacca Racecourse. Approximately 90,000 to 93,000 Pakistani servicemen were taken prisoner by the

, 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 (AOR) covers the following states of India: *

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It ...

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the eas ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and Jai ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . ...

The Eastern Command has been assigned operational units under: III Corps, IV Corps, XVII Corps, XXXIII Corps and a 23rd Infantry Division.

Precursors (1902–1947)

Following is the list of precursors to the Eastern Command and their commanders:Army Commands

History

Early history

Second World War

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Structure

Precursors (1902–1947)

Eastern Command (1902–1907)

Eastern Command (1920–1940)

Eastern Army (1942–1943)

Eastern Command (1943–1947)

List of GOC-in-C of Eastern Command (1947–present)

Notes

Further reading