Southern Command (India)

The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies became the Indian Army.[2] The Indian Army was divided into four Commands (Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command) each under a lieutenant general.[2]

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).[2] 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.[3]

During World War II, Southern Command was reformed as Southern Army in April 1942. The formation reverted to the title Southern Command in November 1945.[4]

Component divisions included:[5]

• 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:[5]

• 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

Commanders included:[6]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Army

• 1907 – Oct 1908 General Sir Archibald Hunter
• Oct 1908 – Oct 1912 General Sir Edmund Barrow
• Oct 1912 – Feb 1915 General Sir John Nixon
• Feb 1915 – 1916 Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Scallon
• Apr 1917 – Nov 1919 Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Anderson
• Nov 1919 – 1923 Lieutenant-General Sir William Marshall

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command

• 1923 – Mar 1924 Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Skeen
• Mar 1924 – Mar 1928 Lieutenant-General Sir Harold Walker
• Mar 1928 – Mar 1932 General Sir William Heneker
• Mar 1932 – Mar 1936 General Sir George Jeffreys
• Mar 1936 – Oct 1937 Lieutenant-General Sir Ivo Vesey
• Oct 1937 – Mar 1941 General Sir John Brind
• Mar 1941 – Oct 1941 Lieutenant-General Thomas Riddell-Webster
• Oct 1941 – Jun 1942 General Sir Brodie Haig

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Army

• Jun 1942 – Mar 1945 Lieutenant-General Sir Noel Beresford-Peirse

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command

• Apr 1945 – 1947 Lieutenant-General Sir Rob Lockhart
• 1947–1948 Lieutenant-General Eric Goddard (post-independence)

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.[2] 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.[2] 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 redesignated 12th Infantry Division, under Major General J.F.R. Jacob, and also placed under Southern Command.

Today the command headquarters is located at Pune Cantonment in Pune, Maharashtra.[7] It consists of two corps and two military areas.[2] The two areas appear to be : one at Mumbai, the Maharashtra Goa and Gujarat Area (MG&G Area), responsible for those states; and one at Chennai, the Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala Area (ATNK&K Area) responsible for Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.[8]

The Southern Command encompasses nine states and four union territories which covers about 40% of India.[2] In 2005, some changes to the command's boundaries were made when a new South Western Command was established.

Its components include:[9]

• XII Corps, headquartered at Jodhpur, Rajasthan[10]
  • 4th Armoured Brigade
  • 340th Mechanized Brigade
  • 11th Infantry Division headquartered at Ahmedabad, Gujarat
  • 12th RAPID headquartered at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
• XXI Corps, headquartered at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
  • 41 Artillery Division headquartered at Pune, Maharashtra. The division includes 97 Artillery Brigade,[11] may include 98 Artillery Brigade.[12]
  • 31st Armoured Division headquartered at Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh
  • 36th RAPID headquartered at Saugor, Madhya Pradesh
  • 54th Infantry Division headquartered at Secunderabad, Telangana
  • Artillery brigade
  • Air Defence brigade
  • 475th Engineering Brigade
• Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa Area headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra[13]
• Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala Area headquartered at Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• 617 Independent Air Defence Brigade at Pune, Maharashtra

• Rinaldi, Richard; Rikhye, Ravi (2011). Indian Army Order of Battle. General Data. ISBN 978-0982054178.