| Unit name | Eastern Command |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1920–present |
| Country | India |
| Garrison | Vijay Durg, Kolkata, West Bengal |
| Garrison label | Headquarters |
| Battles | World War II Sino-Indian War Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 2020 China–India skirmishes |
| Notable commanders | Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa Gen Rajendrasinhji Jadeja Gen K S Thimayya Gen P. P. Kumaramangalan Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Lt Gen S. P. P. Thorat Gen A. S. Vaidya Gen V. N. Sharma Gen V. K. Singh Gen Bikram Singh Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag Gen Praveen Bakshi Gen M. M. Naravane Gen Anil Chauhan Gen Manoj Pande |
| Current commander | Lt Gen V. M. Bhuvana Krishnan |
| Identification symbol label | Flag |
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.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3] The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a lieutenant general.[3]
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.[3]
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.[4]
Second World War
In 1942, the command had the following formations under it:
- IV Corps (Headquarters at Imphal)
- XXXIII Corps (Headquarters at Arakan)
- 70th British Division and 50th Indian Tank Brigade in reserve.
On 21 April 1942, the command was re-designated as Eastern Army.[5] 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.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8]
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)
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[11]
- 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.[12][13]
Structure
The Command's Area of responsibility covers West Bengal; Sikkim; Assam; Arunachal Pradesh; Nagaland; Manipur; Mizoram; Tripura; Meghalaya, and Jharkhand.[14]
The Eastern Command includes III Corps, IV Corps, XVII Corps, XXXIII Corps and the 23rd Infantry Division.[15][16] It also supervises 101 Area, originally raised at Shillong in 1963 as 101 Communications Zone.[17]
| 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[18] | 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[19] | 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[20] | 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[21] | 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[22] | |||
| 111 Area | Bengdubi, West Bengal | Lt Gen Pawan Chadha[23] | |||
Precursors (1902–1947)
Following is the list of precursors to the Eastern Command and their commanders:[24]
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 | 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 | November 1920 | February 1924 | Northamptonshire Regiment | |
| 2 | General Sir George de S. Barrow | February 1924 | April 1928 | Connaught Rangers | |
| 3 | General Sir John S. M. Shea | April 1928 | April 1932 | Royal Irish Regiment | |
| 4 | General Sir C. Norman MacMullen | April 1932 | April 1936 | Unattached | |
| 5 | General Sir H. B. Douglas Baird | April 1936 | April 1940 | Unattached | |
| 6 | Lieutenant General Sir Charles N. F. Broad | 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 | Jul 1942 | May 1943 | Essex Regiment | |
| 2 | General Sir George J. Giffard | 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 | October 1943 | December 1944 | 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers | |
| 2 | General Sir Richard N. O'Connor | January 1945 | October 1945 | Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) | |
| 3 | Lieutenant General Sir Arthur F. Smith | October 1945 | January 1946 | Coldstream Guards | |
| 4 | Lieutenant General Sir Francis I. S. Tuker | January 1946 | November 1947 | Royal Sussex Regiment | |
| Acting | Lieutenant General F. R. Roy Bucher | August 1946 | August 1947 | Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) | |
List of GOC-in-C of Eastern Command (1947–present)
Notes
- ^ "The Official Home Page of the Indian Army". www.indianarmy.nic.in
- ^ "LIEUTENANT GENERAL VMB KRISHNAN ASSUMES COMMAND OF EASTERN COMMAND". pib.gov.in. 1 April 2026.
- ^ "Northern Army". Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ "Sir Havelock Hudson". Vol. 47. Pioneer Mail and Indian Weekly News. 26 November 1920. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- ^ Volume II: India's Most Dangerous Hour, Major-General Stanley Kirby et al., 1958, 193.
- ^ "77 Brigade". Order of Battle. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- ^ "Why is the Fourteenth Army known as the Forgotten Army?". Royal British Legion. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ "Central Command Raising Day concludes". The Times of India. 3 May 2009. Archived 5 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ Islam, Maj. Rafiqul, A Tale of Millions, p318
- ^ Jacob, Lt. Gen. JFR, Surrender at Dacca: Birth of A Nation, p196
- ^ Islam, Maj. Rafiqul, A Tale of Millions, p313
- ^ Burke, S. M (1974). Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani Foreign Policies – S. M. Burke. ISBN 9780816607204. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ Bose, Sarmila (November 2011). "The question of genocide and the quest for justice in the 1971 war". Journal of Genocide Research. 13 (4): 398. doi:10.1080/14623528.2011.625750. S2CID 38668401. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- ^ "Eastern Command". Indian Army. Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
- ^ "Eye on China, India to raise second division for mountain corps". The Indian Express. 2017-03-17. Archived 17 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- ^ "The mountain is now a molehill". Archived 19 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- ^ "Indian Army’s 101 Area celebrated their Raising Day yesterday". North East India Broadcast. 23 April 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
- ^ "Lt Gen Abhijit S Pendharkar took over command of the Spear Corps from Lt Gen HS Sahi.". X (formerly twitter). 2024-08-10.
- ^ "Lt Gen Neeraj Shukla Takes Over Gajraj Corps as Lt Gen Gambhir Singh Hands Over Command". 2026-04-01. Retrieved 2026-04-04.
- ^ "Lt General Yash Ahlawat Assumes Command of Brahmastra Corps". 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ "Lt Gen Man Raj Singh Mann Assumes Command of Trishakti Corps". 2025-10-01. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa Assumes Command of Headquarters 101 Area". 2025-10-29. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "Lt Gen Pawan Chadha Assumes Command as GOC of 111 Area". 2025-09-16. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Gen Cariappa Becomes Eastern Army Commander". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 November 1947. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ "Changes in Army Commands". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 20 January 1948. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ "Eastern Command History"
- ^ "Promotions in the Indian Army". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 15 October 1952. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- ^ "From Henderson to Subrahmanyam: Army to be Blamed. And Political Leaders". www.satp.org. Archived 24 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "The Two Myths of 1962 | Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses". idsa.in. Archived 24 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "Somnath Sharma, Sam Manekshaw, Amitabh Bachchan, Old Sherwoodians Sherwood College, Nainital - Alumni". www.oldsherwoodians.com. Archived 24 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "Indian Army: Charges of incompetence among senior officers undermined the Eastern Command". Archived 23 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "Eastern Army ex-Commander Kalkat passes away". The Tribune. 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived 23 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "New Vice Chief of Army Staff Appointed in India". Arab News. 2005-01-01. Archived 17 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "National : New Vice-Chief of Army Staff". The Hindu. 2005-01-01. Archived from the original on 16 February 2005. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "K S Jamwal is new GoC-in-C, Eastern Command". Zee News. 2007-01-04. Archived 23 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "Lt Gen Kapoor to be new VCOAS; Panag, Jamwal to head N, E Cmds". www.oneindia.com. Archived 23 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "Army chief gets his way, Panag shifted out of J&K - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived 18 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived 23 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "Lt Gen Suhag to take over Eastern Army Command". India Today. 2012-06-15. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
- ^ "Lt Gen MMS Rai, COS, SW Command promoted as Army Commander. To takeover as GOC-in-C Eastern Command on 01 Jan 14". X (formerly twitter)
- ^ "Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi takes charge of army's Eastern Command". The Economic Times. 2018-07-11. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
- ^ "Lt Gen Abhay Krishna new chief of Eastern Command". The Economic Times. 2018-07-11. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
- ^ "Lt. Gen. Naravane appointed Eastern Army Commander". The Hindu. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
- ^ "Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan takes over as Eastern Army Commander". The Times of India
- ^ Negi, Manjeet (2021-05-30). "Lt Gen Manoj Pande to take charge as Eastern Command chief on June 1". India Today. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
- ^ "Lt. Gen. Rana P Kalita Takes Charge as General Officer Commanding in Chief in Kolkata". Sentinel Assam. 2022-01-25.
- ^ "Lieutenant General Ram Chander Tiwari assumes charge of Eastern Command". The Economic Times. 2024-01-02. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
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.