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J N Chaudhuri | |
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| 9thHigh Commissioner of India to Canada | |
| In office July 1966 – August 1969 | |
| Preceded by | B. K. Acharya |
| Succeeded by | A.B. Bhadkamkar |
| 11thChairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee | |
| In office 3 March 1966 – 7 June 1966 | |
| President | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman |
| Succeeded by | Arjan Singh |
| 5thChief of the Army Staff | |
| In office 20 November 1962 – 7 June 1966 | |
| President | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Prime Minister | Jawaharlal Nehru Gulzarilal Nanda(acting) Lal Bahadur Shastri Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Pran Nath Thapar |
| Succeeded by | P. P. Kumaramangalam |
| Military Governor ofHyderabad State | |
| In office 17 September 1948 – 25 January 1950 | |
| Preceded by | Office Established |
| Succeeded by | Mir Osman Ali Khan asRajapramukh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1908-06-10)10 June 1908 Chatmohar, Eastern Bengal and Assam, British India |
| Died | 6 April 1983(1983-04-06) (aged 74) New Delhi, India |
| Alma mater | University of Calcutta Highgate School, London |
| Military career | |
| Nickname | Muchhu |
| Allegiance |  British India(1928–1947)  India(1947–1983) |
| Branch |  British Indian Army(1928–1947)  Indian Army(1947–1966) |
| Service years | 1928–1966 |
| Rank |  General |
| Service number | IA-130[1] |
| Unit | 7th Light Cavalry 16 Light Cavalry |
| Commands | Southern Army 1st Armoured Division 16 Light Cavalry |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards | Padma Vibhushan Officer of the Order of the British Empire Order Of Merit (Arab Union) |
GeneralJayanto Nath ChaudhuriOBE (10 June 1908 – 6 April 1983) was an Indianarmy general who served as the 5thChief of Army Staff of theIndian Army from 1962 to 1966 and theMilitary Governor ofHyderabad State from 1948 to 1949. After his retirement from the Indian Army, he served as the IndianHigh Commissioner to Canada from 19 July 1966 until August 1969.[2]
Chaudhuri was born into an aristocraticBengali Brahmin of theMoitro gotra, a family which produced many lawyers and writers. His family were theZamindars (landlords) of Haripur and the family was known as the Chaudhuris of Haripur in the province of Bengal, British India. Chaudhuri's paternal grandfather, Durgadas Chaudhuri, was the landlord ofChatmohar Upazila ofPabna district of present-dayBangladesh. His paternal grandmother, Sukumari Devi (wife of Durgadas Chaudhuri), was the sister of theNobel laureate poetRabindranath Tagore. Chaudhuri's mother, Pramila Chaudhuri, was the daughter ofWomesh Chandra Bannerjee, who was the first president of theIndian National Congress.[3]
Other members of Chaudhuri's family were also distinguished in their fields, mainly law, medicine and literature. All six of his father's elder brothers, namely Sir Ashutosh Chaudhuri (judge during theBritish Raj), Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri(editor of the Calcutta high court journal and barrister), Kumudnath Chaudhuri (barrister),Pramathanath Chaudhuri (writer), Capt. Manmathanath Chaudhuri (first Indian surgeon-general ofMadras Presidency) and Dr. Suhridnath Chaudhuri, were distinguished on their own right. Two of them (Sir Asutosh and Pramathanath) were married to their first cousins (mother's brother's daughters), the nieces of Rabindranath Tagore, and the others were married to women fromBengali families.
The Indian actress,Devika Rani, was Chaudhuri's first cousin, being the daughter of his father's brother, Manmathnath Chaudhuri. Among Chaudhuri's other close relatives were Barrister Kumud Nath Chaudhuri and Raisahib Babu Narendra Krishna Talukdar, Zamindar of Maligacha and honorary first class magistrate forPabna District,Rajshahi Division. WriterPramatha Chaudhuri, who married a niece ofRabindranath Tagore, was his uncle.
Chaudhuri completed his early education in Pataldanga Academy (Now known asHare School) in Calcutta. Later, he studied atSt. Xavier's College (University of Calcutta). He also studied atHighgate School in London, from May 1923 until July 1926,[4] and theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst. At Sandhurst, he got his nickname, "Muchhu" (owing to hismoustache).Ayub Khan, who becamePresident of Pakistan in 1958, was one of his batchmates in Sandhurst. Both of them had trained in the same platoon.[5]
He was commissioned from Sandhurst as a second lieutenant onto the Unattached List, Indian Army on 2 February 1928.[6] Returning to India, he was attached to the 1st battalionNorth Staffordshire Regiment from 19 March 1928. He was accepted for the Indian Army and joined the7th Light Cavalry on 19 March 1929.[7] In 1934, he attended the course at the Equitation School, Saugor. He attended the Staff course atCommand and Staff College,Quetta from December 1939 to June 1940.[8]
In 1940, as an acting major, he went overseas on the staff of the5th Infantry Division and saw service inSudan,Eritrea,Abyssinia and the western deserts of Africa. For his services, he wasMentioned in Dispatches on 30 December 1941, for distinguished services in the Middle East Feb to July 1941,[9] and again on 30 June 1942 for the same from July to October 1941.[10] He was awarded theOBE on 18 February 1943 for gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East between May and Oct 1942.[11] Recalled to India, he was appointed as a senior Instructor at theCommand and Staff College,Quetta as a GSO-1 in 1943.In August 1944 he was transferred to the16th Light Cavalry. Then a temporary Lt. Colonel, he commanded this unit from September 1944 to October 1945 inBurma for which he was twice moreMentioned in Dispatches, (London Gazette 9/5/46) for gallant and distinguished services in Burma (Temporary Lt-Col 16th Light Cavalry) and (London Gazette 17/9/46) for gallant and distinguished services in Burma (Temporary Lt-Col, Indian Armoured Corps). At the end of the Burma campaign, he saw service inFrench Indochina and inJava,Indonesia with his regiment.
In 1946, he was promoted to the temporary rank ofBrigadier with the war-substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel, in Charge of Administration inBritish Malaya and in the same year was selected to command the Indian Victory Contingent to London.[12]
Following a course at theImperial Defence College in London in 1947, he returned to India and was appointed Director of Military Operations & Intelligence at Army Headquarters in New Delhi in November 1947.[13]
Chaudhuri worked with Major General Mohite to complete military evacuation from Pakistan. He had to organise theKashmir war effort up to May 1948, when he was succeeded by the then Brig.Sam Manekshaw as DMO and Chand Narayan Das as Director of Military Intelligence.
In February 1948, he was promoted to actingMajor General and became the officiating Chief of the General Staff. In May that year, he took over command of the1st Armoured Division.[14]
In September, the 1st Armoured Division played a major role in the1948 Hyderabad Operations. He received the surrender of theHyderabad State Forces from Major GeneralSyed Ahmed El Edroos at Secunderabad. FollowingOperation Polo in 1948, he was appointed as theMilitary Governor ofHyderabad State.[15]
In the years following, he occupied important military posts and led an Indian Military Delegation to China. In 1949, he was appointed as the first Colonel Commandant of theCorps of Electrical & Mechanical Engineers and was promoted to substantive brigadier on 1 January 1950.[1]
In January 1952, he was appointed as theAdjutant General at Army HQ, as a substantive major-general, and in January 1953, he again took over as theChief of the General Staff. He was promoted to local lieutenant-general on 16 December 1955 and given command of a corps,[16] with promotion to substantive lieutenant-general on 8 May 1957.[17] He was appointed GOC-in-C Southern Command on 25 May 1959.[18]
The debacle of theSino-Indian War and subsequent government inquiries revealing India's military unpreparedness and mismanagement resulted in theChief of the Army Staff (COAS)Pran Nath Thapar's resignation on 19 November 1962. On 20 November, Chaudhuri succeeded Thapar as officiating COAS with the acting rank of general.[19] Chaudhuri was officially appointed COAS on 20 February 1963,[20] and was promoted to substantive general on 20 July 1963.[21] In March 1964, he was decorated with the Grand Cordon of theOrder of Merit of theUnited Arab Republic by its president,Gamal Abdel Nasser.[22]
Chaudhari was COAS during theIndia–Pakistan war of 1965, generally regarded as a strategic defeat for Pakistan as it failed to achieve its objectives of capturing Kashmir.[23]
Chaudhari is regarded as one of the founding fathers of theBorder Security Force. In the aftermath of the 1965 war, he proposed a paramilitary force to patrol the India–Pakistan border in peacetime and would be relieved by the army when war was imminent.[24] For his services to the nation, he was awarded thePadma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour by the President of India.[25] He retired on 7 June 1966, after completing 38 years of military service.
After his retirement, Chaudhuri was appointed High Commissioner of India to Canada.[26] After a three-year stint at the High Commission of India at Ottawa, he relinquished office, handing over to A. B. Bhadkamkar in August 1969.[27]
Chaudhuri wrote two books on military matters and served as a literary reviewer for a leading Indian dailyThe Statesman. He was the first Indian army chief to write an autobiography in 1979. He lovedWestern music and founded and was first president of the Delhi Symphony Society, an organisation that promoted Western music. Chaudhuri was married to Karuna Chattopadhyay, with whom he had two sons.
Chaudhuri died at his home inPamposh Enclave, New Delhi of acardiac arrest on 6 April 1983.[28] His funeral and cremation the following day, with full military honours, was attended by hundreds of serving and retired officers and soldiers, including his fellow Chiefs of Staff,Admiral A. K. Chatterji andAir Chief MarshalArjan Singh.[29] In his honour, theBSF awards its best infantry battalion with the GEN. J. N. Chaudhuri trophy annually.[30]
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| Padma Vibhushan | General Service Medal 1947 | ||
| Sainya Seva Medal | Indian Independence Medal | Officer of theOrder of the British Empire (Military Division) | 1939–1945 Star |
| Burma Star | War Medal 1939–1945 | India Service Medal | Grand Cordon of theOrder of Merit (United Arab Republic) |
| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date of rank |
|---|---|---|---|
_OF-1a.svg) | Second Lieutenant | British Indian Army | 2 February 1928[6] |
_OF-1b.svg) | Lieutenant | British Indian Army | 2 May 1930[31][32] |
_OF-2.svg) | Captain | British Indian Army | 2 February 1937[33] |
_OF-3.svg) | Major | British Indian Army | 1940 (acting) 22 September 1941 (temporary)[34] 8 February 1943 (war-substantive)[35] 2 February 1945 (substantive)[36] |
_OF-4.svg) | Lieutenant-Colonel | British Indian Army | 22 September 1941 (acting)[34] 8 February 1943 (temporary)[37] 21 January 1946 (war-substantive)[1] |
_OF-5.svg) | Colonel | British Indian Army | 21 January 1946 (acting)[38] |
| Major | Indian Army | 15 August 1947[note 1][39] |
_OF-7.svg) | Major-General | Indian Army | February 1948 (acting)[note 1] |
_OF-6.svg) | Brigadier | Indian Army | 21 January 1946 (acting)[38] 1 January 1950 (substantive)[1][note 1] |
 | Brigadier | Indian Army | 26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)[39][40] |
 | Major General | Indian Army | January 1952 (substantive) |
 | Lieutenant General | Indian Army | 16 December 1955 (local)[16] 8 May 1957 (substantive)[17] |
| General (COAS) | Indian Army | 20 November 1962 (acting)[19] 20 July 1963 (substantive)[21] |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief of the General Staff (officiating) 1948-1948 | Succeeded by Kalwant Singh |
| Preceded by | Chief of the General Staff 1953-1955 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command 1959-1962 | Succeeded by |
| Chief of the Army Staff 1962-1966 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee 1966-1966 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by B K Acharya | High Commissioner of India to Canada 1966–1969 | Succeeded by A B Bhadkamkar |
| Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army (1947–1948) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Chief of the Army Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army (1948–1955) | ||
| Chief of the Army Staff (1955–present) |
| |
(**Seconded from theBritish Army) | ||
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