Kottimukula Alagaraja Singaparaja Raja, known as K.A.S. Raja, was an Indian military officer.

Early life

K.A.S. Raja was born to a politically prominent family from

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, India. He was a nephew of

P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja Poosapati Sanjeevi Kumaraswamy Raja (8 July 1898 – 16 March 1957) was an Indian politician who served as the last Premier of Madras Presidency from 6 April 1949 to 26 January 1950 and first Chief Minister of Madras State from 26 January 195 ...

, who served as the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

and Governor of

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

Military career

On 17 June 1940 Raja enlisted in the ranks of the 11th (Madras) battalion, Indian Territorial Force then on 28 July 1940 was granted a viceroy's commission in the rank of

Jemadar Jemadar or jamadar ( Hindustani: जमादार; جمعدار) is a title used for various military and other officials in the Indian subcontinent. Etymology The word stems from Urdu (), which derives through Persian ''jam'dar'' from Arab ...

in the same unit. The battalion was converted to a regular battalion of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

on 15 September 1941 titled the 1st Battalion, 3rd Madras Regiment. On 21 December 1941 Raja received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Madras Regiment in the

. Raja fought in the

Burma campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

and qualified as a paratrooper, choosing to wear a parachutist badge throughout the rest of his career. Following the end of the war, he studied at a military staff college in India. In 1946 he was granted a regular Indian Army commission. Following India's independence in 1947, he was made commander of a battalion in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. He commanded the 1st Battalion of the

Madras Regiment The Madras Regiment is the oldest infantry regiment of the Indian Army, originating in the 1750s as a unit of the East India Company, British East India Company. The regiment took part in numerous campaigns with the British Indian Army and the po ...

with the rank of lieutenant colonel during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. In the spring of 1961 Raja led a 4,500 strong contingent, the Indian Independent Brigade Group, to the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

to serve as a peacekeeping force in the

United Nations Operation in the Congo The United Nations Operation in the Congo (, abbreviated ONUC) was a United Nations United Nations peacekeeping, peacekeeping force which was deployed in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to th ...

(ONUC). On 5 August 1961 ONUC created an independent Katanga Command under Raja headquartered in Élisabethville. On 28 August he led ONUC forces in conducting

Operation Rum Punch Operation Rum Punch or Operation Rampunch was a military action undertaken by United Nations peacekeeping forces on 28 August 1961 against the military of the State of Katanga, a secessionist state from the Republic of the Congo in central Africa ...

, and action to detain and deport mercenaries and foreign military personnel serving in the

Katangese Gendarmerie The Katangese Gendarmerie (), officially the Katangese Armed Forces (), was the paramilitary force of the unrecognized State of Katanga in Central Africa from 1960 to 1963. The forces were formed upon the secession of Katanga from the Republic o ...

. He returned to India with his brigade in April 1962.

Legacy

In the 2016 film '' The Siege of Jadotville'', based on the events of the

Siege of Jadotville The siege of Jadotville () was a major battle during the Congo Crisis, that began on 13 September 1961, lasting for five days, where a small contingent of the Irish Army's 35th Battalion serving under the United Nations Operation in the Congo ( ...

and concurrent

Operation Morthor The United Nations Operation in the Congo (, abbreviated ONUC) was a United Nations peacekeeping force which was deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to the Congo Crisis. The ONUC was the UN's first peacekeeping mission wit ...

in September 1961, Raja's role is portrayed by the character General Raja.

References

Works cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raja, K.A.S. Military personnel from Tamil Nadu British Indian Army officers Paratroopers Possibly living people Year of birth missing Indian generals Indian Army personnel of World War II People of the Congo Crisis