Southern Command is a formation of the Indian Army, active since 1895. It has seen action during the integration of several Princely States into modern India, during the 1961 Indian Annexation of Goa, and during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani Wars.
Lieutenant General Rajesh Pushkar is the present Southern Army Commander.
History Early history The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies became the Indian Army. The Indian Army was divided into four Commands (Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command) each under a lieutenant general.
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). In 1914, the Southern Army consisted of the 4th (Quetta) Division, the 5th (Mhow) Division, the 6th (Poona) Division, the 9th (Secunderabad) Division, and the Aden Brigade.
Second World War During the Second World War, Southern Command was reformed as Southern Army (equivalent to a corps) in April 1942. The formation reverted to the title Southern Command in November 1945.
Component divisions included: 19th Indian Infantry Division, April 1942 to July 1944 2nd British Infantry Division, June 1942 to April 1943, and then June 1945 to August 1945 70th British Infantry Division, July 1943 to October 1943 81st (West Africa) Division, March 1945 to August 1945 36th Infantry Division (British Army), June 1945 to August 1945
Component brigades included: 7th Armoured Brigade, June 1942 to September 1942 British 6th Infantry Brigade, November 1942 to December 1942 150th Indian Infantry Brigade March 1944 to August 1945 26th Indian Infantry Brigade July 1944 to December 1944
Post war In August 1947, Southern Command had the Deccan, Madras and Bombay Areas (with HQs at Kamptee, Madras and Bombay). In 1947–48, Southern Command was largely responsible in getting Junagadh and Hyderabad to sign the instrument of accession to India. 1st Armoured Division did the actual incursion into Hyderabad. In 1961, the Indian annexation of Goa was conducted by 17th Infantry Division and 50th Parachute Brigade, under the operational control of Southern Command.
In 1965–66, two further divisions were raised within the command. After fighting broke out in the Rann of Kutch in April 1965, a hastily constituted force, named Kilo Force under Maj. Gen P. O. Dunn was formed to contain this attack. Kilo Force was later re-designated as 11 Infantry Division. In September 1965, the operational responsibility for the Barmer sector was given to Southern Command and entrusted to 11 Infantry Division. Delhi and Rajasthan Area, with its Advance Headquarters at Jodhpur, fought in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 under Western Command. On 3 November 1966, this formation was re-designated 12th Infantry Division, under Major General J.F.R. Jacob, and also placed under Southern Command.Renaldi and Rikhye 2011, p. 43
Structure The command headquarters is located in Pune, Maharashtra. It consists of two corps and two military areas. The two areas are the Maharashtra Goa and Gujarat Area (MG&G Area)Renaldi and Rikhye, 2011, p. 18 and the Dakshin Bharat Area (renamed). In 2005, changes were made to its area of responsibility when a new South Western Command was established.
Dakshin Bharat Area is a static formation which now provides administrative, logistical, and infrastructural support to military units and establishments in Southern India. It was previously known as the Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala Area (ATNK&K Area). The current General Officer Commanding is Lieutenant General Karanbir Singh Brar. Its responsibilities include administrative; logistical; and infrastructure support. The area encompasses the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala, as well as the union territories of Puducherry and Lakshadwee.
Structure of Southern CommandInsigniaCorps/AreaCorps/Area HQGeneral Officer CommandingAssigned UnitsUnit HQXII Corps (Konark Corps)Jodhpur, RajasthanLt Gen Aditya Vikram Singh Rathee11 Infantry DivisionAhmedabad, Gujarat12 RAPID DivisionJaisalmer, Rajasthan75 (Independent) Infantry BrigadeBhuj, Gujarat4 (Independent) Armoured BrigadeJaisalmer, Rajasthan340 (Independent) Mechanized BrigadeAjmer, RajasthanXXI Corps (Sudarshan Chakra Corps)Bhopal, Madhya PradeshLt Gen Arvind Chauhan54 Infantry DivisionSecunderabad, Telangana36 RAPID DivisionSagar, Madhya Pradesh31 Armoured DivisionJhansi, Uttar Pradesh41 Artillery DivisionPune, Maharashtra475 Engineering BrigadeNasirabad, RajasthanMaharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa AreaMumbai, MaharashtraLt Gen Dheerendra Singh KushwahDakshin Bharat AreaChennai, Tamil NaduLt Gen V Sreehari
Precursors (1907–1948) Following is the List of precursors to the Southern Command and their commanders:
Southern Command (1907–1908) General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission References1General Sir Archibald Hunter June 1907October 19084th (King's Own Royal) Regiment of Foot
Southern Army (1908–1920) General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Army S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission References1General Sir Edmund G. Barrow October 1908October 1912102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)2General Sir John E. Nixon October 1912February 191575th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot3Lieutenant General Sir Robert I. Scallon February 1915191672nd (Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot4Lieutenant General Sir Charles A. Anderson April 1917November 1919Royal Horse Artillery5Lieutenant General Sir William R. Marshall November 19191920Sherwood Foresters
Southern Command (1920–1942) General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission References1Lieutenant General Sir William R. Marshall 1920December 1923Sherwood Foresters 2Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Skeen December 1923March 1924King's Own Scottish Borderers3Lieutenant General Sir Harold B. Walker March 1924March 1928Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry4General Sir William C. G. Heneker March 1928March 1932Connaught Rangers5General Sir George D. Jeffreys March 1932March 1936Grenadier Guards6Lieutenant General Sir Ivo L. B. Vesey March 1936October 1937Queen's Royal Regiment7General Sir John E. S. Brind October 1937March 1941Royal Artillery8Lieutenant General Thomas S. Riddell-Webster March 1941October 1941Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)9General Sir Brodie Haig October 1941June 194224th Punjabis
Southern Army (1942–1945) General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Army S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission References1Lieutenant General Sir Noel M. de la P. Beresford-Peirse June 1942March 1945Royal Artillery
List of GOC-in-C of Southern Command (1945- present) General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission References1Lieutenant General Rob Lockhart April 194515 August 194751st Sikhs 2Lieutenant General Eric Goddard 15 August 19471 May 1948107th Pioneers3Lieutenant General Rajendrasinhji Jadeja 1 May 194814 January 19532nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)4Lieutenant General Satyawant M. Shrinagesh 17 January 195314 May 195519th Hyderabad Regiment 5Lieutenant General K. S. Thimayya 15 May 195514 September 195619th Hyderabad Regiment6Lieutenant General Pran Nath Thapar 21 January 195724 May 19591st Punjab Regiment7Lieutenant General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri 25 May 195919 November 19627th Light Cavalry8Lieutenant General Lionel Protip Sen 10 May 19637 May 196510th Baluch Regiment9Lieutenant General Moti Sagar 8 May 19653 July 19694th Gorkha Rifles10Lieutenant General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor 4 July 196914 January 1973Dogra Regiment11Lieutenant General Sartaj Singh 27 January 197331 July 1974Regiment of Artillery12Lieutenant General Om Prakash Malhotra 1 August 197419 January 1977Regiment of Artillery13Lieutenant General A. M. Vohra 20 January 197730 May 19793rd Gorkha Rifles14Lieutenant General A. N. Mathur 31 May 197929 June 1980Corps of Signals15Lieutenant General Ram Dharam Dass Hira 30 June 198031 August 198111th Gorkha Rifles16Lieutenant General Tirath Singh Oberoi 1 September 198130 November 1984Parachute Regiment17Lieutenant General Ranjit Singh Dyal 14 February 198530 November 1986Parachute Regiment18Lieutenant General Depinder Singh 1 December 198629 November 19888th Gorkha Rifles19Lieutenant General A. K. Chatterjee 1 March 198831 May 1990Sikh Light Infantry20Lieutenant General Bipin Chandra Joshi 1 June 199014 August 199264 Cavalry21Lieutenant General A. S. Kalkat 15 August 199231 December 19938th Gorkha Rifles22Lieutenant General Moti Dar 1 January 199416 July 199517th Horse (Poona Horse)23Lieutenant General Ved Prakash Malik 17 July 199531 August 1996Sikh Light Infantry24Lieutenant General H. M. Khanna 1 September 19963 January 19994th Gorkha Rifles25Lieutenant General Sundararajan Padmanabhan 4 January 199930 September 2000Regiment of Artillery26Lieutenant General Nirmal Chander Vij 1 October 200031 September 2001Dogra Regiment27Lieutenant General Gurbaksh Singh Sihota 9 October 200129 February 20047 Field Regiment28Lieutenant General Balraj Singh Takhar 1 March 200431 January 200617th Horse (Poona Horse)29Lieutenant General Aditya Singh 1 March 200630 September 20079th Deccan Horse30Lieutenant General Noble Thamburaj 1 October 200731 December 2008Bombay Sappers31Lieutenant General Pradeep Khanna 1 January 200928 February 201120 Lancers32Lieutenant General Ajay Kumar Singh 1 March 201131 January 20137th Light Cavalry33Lieutenant General Ashok Singh 1 February 201331 December 2015Brigade of the Guards34Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat 1 January 201631 July 201611th Gorkha Rifles35Lieutenant General P. M. Hariz 1 September 201630 November 2017Mechanised Infantry36Lieutenant General Dewan Rabindranath Soni 1 December 20171 October 2018Central India Horse37Lieutenant General Satinder Kumar Saini 1 October 201824 January 2020Jat Regiment38Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty 30 January 202031 January 2021Rajput Regiment39Lieutenant General Jai Singh Nain 1 February 202131 October 2022Dogra Regiment40Lieutenant General Ajai Kumar Singh 1 November 202230 June 202411th Gorkha Rifles41Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth 1 July 202431 March 20262nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)42Lieutenant General Sandeep Jain 1 April 202630 June 2026Mahar Regiment43Lieutenant General Rajesh Pushkar 1 July 2026Incumbent74 Armoured Regiment
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