Kodandera Madappa Cariappa (1899-1993) was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Chief of Staff after India gained her independence from the British Empire in the aftermath of the Second World War. He was instrumental in overseeing the peaceful and orderly division of the Indian army into two separate national armies due to the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. He also played important roles in the Indian army's ejection of the Japanese army from Burma during World War Two and the Indian success in the Kashmir conflict with the Pakistanis in 1947-8. While he was well-known as a Westernised Oriental Gentleman, his love for the Indian Soldier (Jawan) and his patriotism won him the respect and admiration of most Indians.

Cariappa was born on 28 January 1899 at Shanivarsanthe, Coorg (now renamed Kodavu), a small state on the western coast of South India. Cariappa was born into a family of prosperous farmers - his father was an official of the revenue department. Cariappa had his formal education in the Central High School at Madikeri, and Presidency College at Madras. He was heavily influenced by famous academics at the Presidency College, where he developed a passion for literature and theatre, was an active sportsman in hockey and tennis, and also grew to love music and sleight of hand tricks.

Cariappa had wanted to be a soldier since his childhood and when the opportunity presented itself in the late 1910s, he applied to become a cadet in the temporary School for Indian Cadets at Daly College, Indore. The selection criteria, comprising of a written test followed by an interview were very stringent. Cariappa was one of the privileged few selected to be the first batch of Indian cadets. After a year and a half of rigorous training, Cariappa was placed seventh in the overall order of merit in his cohort of 42 newly commissioned officers in December 1919.

Cariappa was first posted to the 2nd battalion of the 88th Carnatic Infantry at Bombay. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred to the 2/125 Napier Rifles, which moved to Mesopotamia in May 1920. In June 1922, he returned to India and was posted to 7th Prince of Wales’ own Dogra Regiment. The Battalion's main task was to maintain law and order and keep the rebellious Pathan tribesmen under check at Khirgi in Waziristan. It was here that Cariappa had his baptism of fire: Relatively soon after his posting to Waziristan, Pathan tribesmen ambushed his convoy of lorries. His command abilities and quick thinking were well demonstrated in this crisis and he kept the situation well under control before reinforcements arrived and the convoy suffered little damage.

As the 1920s progressed, the process of Indianisation of the Indian army was well under way and Indian Officers, like Cariappa, had more career advancement opportunities than their predecessors. In June 1923, Cariappa was transferred to the 1st battalion of the 7th Rajput Regiment (Queen Victoria's own Light Infantry), which became Cariappa's parent unit. His new unit had just moved to Waziristan and been assigned similar duties with that of his former unit. Life in the 7th Rajput regiment was interesting with regular attacks by the rebellious tribesmen in the northwest frontier in Waziristan, a good training ground for young officers. It was at Waziristan that young Cariappa learnt the fundamentals of his profession. He also understood the importance of good administration and situational awareness.

In 1925, he decided to embark on an extended overseas tour to further his knowledge and broaden his horizons. He had the support of the General Headquarters in Delhi, which helped arrange for stays with British units where possible. Cariappa visited Europe, America, China, Japan, among several other nations. This trip exposed him to people of many nationalities and showed him why India was still behind many of these countries. The trip was greatly beneficial and he returned a wiser and more informed person. Upon his return, he rejoined his battalion, which had moved to Fatehgarh, a small town with little entertainment activities. Cariappa thus spent his spare time reading books of a wide range of topics. He also started writing for military journals and newspapers. This pastime provided him with the satisfaction of seeing his name in print and some extra income at the same time. Cariappa's personality was one of frugality and moderation. He was always immaculate and fastidious about punctuality, etiquette and table manners.

In 1931, Cariappa was posted to HQ Peshawar District; it provided him with important experience about the functioning of administrative staff at the higher headquarters. In 1933, Cariappa passed the entrance examination to the Staff Course, and became the first Indian officer to attend the course at the Staff College in Quetta. After completing his course, he rejoined his parent unit at Kohat for a third tour of regimental service on the northwest frontier in 1934.

In 1936, he was posted to Secunderabad as Staff Captain of the Deccan Area. In 1938, he was promoted to Major and appointed to a higher post in the same headquarters. At the start of the Second World War, he was posted as Brigade Major to the 20th Indian Brigade in Derajat.

In 1941, he was posted to 10th Indian Division under General Slim and the division spent the next year in Iraq, Iran, Syria and North Africa. In 1942, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and became the first Indian Officer to be given command of a unit - 7 Rajput Machine Gun Battalion. Cariappa was a hard taskmaster and quickly managed to weld his men into a well-trained and effective fighting force. His unit was soon converted into an Infantry unit and moved to Secunderabad in Deccan. In 1943, Cariappa handed over command of his battalion and was posted to the HQ Eastern Command as Assistant Quartermaster. Therefore, although Cariappa had been given command of a battalion, he would miss the chance to lead it in battle against the Germans or the Japanese. Cariappa wanted to have battle experience and he volunteered to serve in an active formation when the South East Asia Command was formed the same year. However, he was again appointed as Assistant Quartermaster, this time of the 26th Indian Division based in Burma. Although it was still a staff job, at least it was on the battlefront. The division was in the thick of the fighting against the Japanese and was instrumental in pushing them out of Burma. Cariappa was awarded the Order of the British Empire, for his efforts.

In November 1944, he was promoted to Brigadier but was not given command of a brigade; instead he was assigned as a member of the Reorganisation Committee, studying the reorganisation of the Indian army after the war. This short stint provided Cariappa with the opportunity to observe the workings of the army headquarters as well as the Viceroy Secretariat, which would prove invaluable when he took over as Commander-in-Chief. In November 1945, Cariappa was finally handed command of a brigade, when he was appointed as the Commander of the Bannu Frontier Brigade.

After the end of the Second World War, Cariappa became the first Indian selected for training in the higher directions of war at Imperial Defence College, Camberly. There he was exposed to a larger worldview and to the major global geopolitical issues of that era. During this period, there was much talk about the impending partition of the Indian subcontinent and the consequent division of the Indian Army, which Cariappa opposed. He felt that an undivided army could help India and Pakistan overcome their teething problems, sound advice that went unheeded by his political masters. In July 1947, Cariappa returned to India with his course incomplete as he was recalled to supervise the reorganisation of the Indian army before Partition took place.

On 15 August 1947, India became independent and Cariappa was promoted to Major General and appointed as the Deputy Chief of General Staff. He was also the Indian officer-in-charge of overseeing and managing the division of the Indian Army and the sharing of its assets between India and Pakistan in a just and orderly manner during the traumatic Partition period.

In November 1947, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed as the Eastern Army Commander as war between India and Pakistan broke out over Kashmir. Within months, he became the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, directing major offensives in the Kashmir Conflict. Cariappa enjoyed some of his finest moments during the Kashmir operations. Operation Kipper, planned by and named after him managed to successfully wrestle back Naushera and Jhangar from the Pakistanis. Soon after, he directed operations for the recapture of Zojila, Dras, and Kargil, and the re-establishment of links with Leh. He achieved all these in spite of the numerous restrictions placed on him by Indian politicians due to larger geopolitical considerations.

On 15 January 1949, Cariappa was appointed as the first Commander-in-Chief of an independent Indian Army, and was instrumental in the integration of troops and the transformation from an imperial to a national army. He raised the Brigade of the Guards and the Parachute Regiments composed of all castes, and the National Cadet Corps and Territorial Army using Regular army troops. He once remarked, "I don't care a damn if a man is a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Parsi or Christian as long as he plays the game to serve our country well. This is all that matters to me."
Cariappa was a man of strategic insight. He once said, "In modern warfare, a large army is not sufficient, it needs industrial potential behind it. If the army is the first line of defence, the industry is the second." He was also a servant of the nation: "Army is there to serve the Government of the day, and we should make sure that it does not get mixed up with party politics. A soldier is above politics and should not believe in caste or creed." A key achievement of Cariappa's during his four year stint as Commander-in-Chief of the Indian army was keeping the Indian army apolitical and establishing good precedents for his successors to emulate. This was a lasting legacy and to this day, India did not witness political instability arising from military interference in politics.

After retiring from active service at an age of 53, he was appointed as Indian High Commissioner to Australia in July 1953. When Cariappa arrived at Canberra, the Governor-General, Field Marshal Slim, broke protocol and visited Cariappa at his residence before the newly arrived Commissioner had the opportunity to present the Governor-General with his credentials. This was perhaps an indication of the friendship between these two distinguished leaders and the high regard that Slim has for Cariappa.

In 1956, he returned to India and retired to his house, Roshanara at Madikeri, where he spent much of his spare time teaching and educating Indians about sanitation, the environment, among other issues. He continued to take a keen interest in matters affecting his beloved military. In 1962, when border clashes broke out between the Chinese and Indians, he went to a local recruitment office and volunteered to enlist as a soldier. During the wars of 1962, 1965, and 1971, he visited the front lines to inspire the troops, once saying that "An officer is nothing without the soldiers", a statement which remains the guiding spirit for Indian officers even today.

In 1964, Cariappa founded the Indian Ex-Servicemen's League to look after the welfare of ex-servicemen. He made a brief unsuccessful foray into politics in the early 1970s. In 1986, he was conferred the title of Field Marshal by the Indian Government for exemplary service as well as the deep sense of respect in which Cariappa was held by all sections of Indian society. He lived and remained, as he said, "an Indian and to the last breath would remain an Indian. To me there are only two sthans - Hindusthan (India) and Foujisthan (the Army)." On 15 May 1993, Cariappa passed away in Bangalore at the age of 94, as a legendary hero of his country and an inspiration for the people of India.

Bibliography:

Major General V. K. Singh, Leadership in the Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers (Sage Publications, 2005).