Military field formation of the Indian Army
Military unit
The XXI Corps, or the Sudarshan Chakra Corps, is a strike corps of the Indian Army and is headquartered at Bhopal.
World War I [ edit ]
The XXI Indian Corps was first raised on 12 August 1917 during the World War I, specifically for operations in the Middle East region against the German–Ottoman alliance. The corps was part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under Allenby and took active part in the capture of Gaza and Jerusalem from October to December 1917, and against the Turkish Seventh and Eight Armies in 1918. The Corps was disbanded in 1918, at the end of the war.[ 2]
World War II [ edit ]
The corps was re-raised in Persia on 6 June 1942 as a formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The corps was commanded throughout its existence by Lieutenant General Mosley Mayne and was part of the Tenth Army. The corps, composed of the 8th Indian Infantry Division (Major-General Dudley Russell) and the British 56th Infantry Division (Major-General Eric Miles), was created as part of the Allied buildup of forces in Persia and Iraq to create Persia and Iraq Command in order to prevent a German invasion of the Caucasus. The invasion never occurred and the corps was disbanded on 24 August 1943.[ 3]
Present [ edit ]
Exercise Sudarshan Shakti, 21 Corps, December 2011[ 4]
After India's intervention in Sri Lanka, the provisional headquarters (HQ) controlling India's expeditionary force, HQ Indian Peace Keeping Force, became HQ XXI Corps in April 1990 at Chandimandir. Permanent retention of the Corps at Bhopal was authorised on 29 October 1990.[ 2] It is the only strike corps in the Indian Army’s Pune based Southern Command, the other three being - I Corps, II Corps and XVII Corps.[ 5] XXI corps functions as both a strike corps and would also be used if India were to make another large intervention overseas.
It currently consists of:[ 6]
31 Armored Division (White Tiger Division) headquartered at Jhansi-Babina in Uttar Pradesh, Central India.[ 7]
36 Infantry Division (RAPID) (Shahbaaz Division) at Sagar[ 9]
Division Artillery Brigade at Talbehat (2001)
18 Armoured Brigade at Gwalior (2001)[ 10]
72 Infantry Brigade at Gwalior
115 Infantry Brigade was at Dhana.[ 11]
54 Infantry Division (Bison Division) headquartered at Hyderabad/Secunderabad.[ 12] It includes -
91 Infantry Brigade at Thiruvananthapuram (Amphibious)[ 13] [ 14]
47 Infantry Brigade
76 Infantry Brigade
41 Artillery Division (Agnibaaz Division) headquartered at Pune.[ 15]
Corps Artillery Brigade
Corps Air Defence Brigade (First To Strike Brigade) [ 16]
475 Engineering Brigade
List of Commanders [ edit ]
Lt Gen Vipul Shinghal taking over the command of the Corps from Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth, August 2022.
Rank
Name
Appointment Date
Left Office
Unit of Commission
References
Lieutenant General
G L Bakshi
April 1990
January 1992
Kumaon Regiment
[ 17]
R K Gulati
January 1992
October 1992
9th Deccan Horse
[ 17]
Krishna Mohan Seth
October 1992
October 1994
Regiment of Artillery
[ 18] [ 17]
Chandra Shekhar
October 1994
1996
4th Gorkha Rifles
[ 19] [ 17]
Nirmal Chander Vij
1996
1997
Dogra Regiment
[ 18] [ 17]
B M Kapur
1997
Armoured Corps
[ 17]
Satish Satpute
30 August 2002
Maratha Light Infantry
[ 17]
P P S Bhandari
31 August 2002
31 December 2004
4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)
[ 20] [ 17]
Aditya Singh
1 January 2004
January 2005
9th Deccan Horse
[ 17] [ 21]
Harcharanjit Singh Panag
January 2005
December 2006
Sikh Regiment
[ 22] [ 17]
Pradeep Khanna
January 2007
May 2008
20 Lancers
[ 23]
Arvinder Singh Lamba
26 May 2008
May 2009
Regiment of Artillery
[ 24]
Rajinder Singh
May 2009
2010
Mechanised Infantry Regiment
[ 25] [ 26]
Syed Ata Hasnain
2010
December 2010
Garhwal Rifles
[ 27]
Sanjiv Langer
December 2010
January 2012
Armoured Corps
[ 28]
S H Kulkarni
January 2012
January 2013
Armoured Corps
[ 29]
Amit Sharma
January 2013
February 2014
45 Cavalry
[ 30]
Rajeev Vasant Kanitkar
February 2014
2015
17th Horse (Poona Horse)
[ 6]
Pradeep Singh Mehta
2015
31 June 2016
1st Horse (Skinner's Horse)
[ 31]
Cherish Mathson
1 July 2016
30 June 2017
Garhwal Rifles
[ 32]
Iqroop Singh Ghuman
1 July 2017
31 June 2018
Brigade of the Guards
[ 33]
Ravendra Pal Singh
1 July 2018
July 2019
Mechanised Infantry Regiment
[ 34]
Yogendra Dimri
July 2019
25 July 2020
Bombay Sappers
[ 35]
Atulya Solankey
26 July 2020
30 July 2021
11th Gorkha Rifles
[ 36]
Dhiraj Seth
31 July 2021
31 July 2022
2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)
[ 37]
Vipul Shinghal
3 August 2022
31 December 2023
51 Armoured Regiment
[ 38]
Prit Pal Singh
1 January 2024
Incumbent
62 Cavalry
[ 1]
See also [ edit ]
Indian Peace Keeping Force
72nd Indian Infantry Brigade
References [ edit ]
^ a b "Lieutenant-General Prit Pal Singh assumes command of Sudarshan-chakra Corps" . 1 January 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024 .
^ a b "SUDARSHAN CHAKRA CORPS" . Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "British Military History" . www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk . Archived from the original on 11 August 2016.
^ "Exercise 'Sudarshan Shakti', Mighty Manoeuvres" . 11 December 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ Chauhan, R S (3 January 2014). "Finally, an army strike corps aimed at China" . Rediff.com . Retrieved 21 June 2017 .
^ a b "General Officer Commanding 21 Corps meets MP CM" . 11 August 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2021 .
^ "Lt Gen JS Nain, Army Cdr Southern Command accompanied by Lt Gen Atulya Solankey, GOC Sudarshan Chakra Corps visited White Tiger Division, Babina to witness integrated field firing conducted on a near realistic technology enabled battle field situation" . 13 March 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "Armoured Formations" . Retrieved 14 August 2024 .
^ "Army strike formation validates new assault concepts" . SP's MAI .
^ See also http://www.kv3gwalior.org/index.php?qs=cont_show&pageid=2
^ Mandeep Bajwa and Ravi Rikhye, Indian Army RAPID Divisions Archived 28 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 11 February 2001
^ "GOC Sudarshan Chakra Corps visits Secunderabad Military Station" . 8 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ Kerala to be headquarters for country's first amphibious brigade Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 5 October 2008
^ "Major General Sanjeev Narain" . 19 August 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2021 .
^ "Lt General Dhiraj Seth, GOC, Sudarshan Chakra Corps visited Agnibaaz Division" . 1 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021 .
^ "AD unit of First to Strike Brigade of Sudarshan Chakra Corps organised a blood donation camp" . 30 September 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021 .
^ a b c d e f g h i j "Of commanders and their command" . 9 December 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ a b "Sudarshan Chakra corps celebrate 3rd reunion" . 3 December 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ Shekhar, Chandra (2016). Gorkha Hat and Maroon Beret . Ambi Knowledge Resources Pvt.Ltd. ISBN 978-8190359160 .
^ "PIB press release" . 31 August 2002. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "Lt Gen Aditya Singh takes over charge of Southern Command" . 1 March 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "New Northern Command chief takes over" . 1 January 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "Lt Gen Pradeep Khanna takes over" . 6 January 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "Lt Gen Lamba is new GOC of Bhopal-based 21 Corps" . Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "Army Chief visits Pangode" . 1 December 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "Musical fight" . 13 March 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021 .
^ "General Ata Hasnain" . 21 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "Pratibha Patil to review Sudarshan Shakti in desert" . 1 December 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "Lt Gen Kulkarni takes over reins of Sudarshan Chakra Corps" . 9 January 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "LT GEN AMIT SHARMA, VSM APPOINTED C-IN-C STRATEGIC FORCE COMMAND" . 20 June 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "Centre sits on postings of Lt Generals, Western Command awaits GOC-in-C" . 23 August 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2021 .
^ "lt Gen Cherish Mathson takes over Sudarshan Chakra's command" .
^ "Lt General Ghuman takes command of Sudarshan Chakra Corps" . thehitavada.com . Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017 .
^ "Lt Gen Ravendra Pal Singh assumes command of Sudharshan Chakra Corps" . thehitavada.com . Retrieved 21 August 2018 .
^ "Lieutenant General Yogendra Dimri, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal Assumes Command of Sudarshan Chakra Corps" . The Times of India . Retrieved 7 August 2019 .
^ atulya, solankey. "atulya solankey took over reins of sudarshan chakra corps" .
^ "Bhopal: Lt General Dhiraj Seth assumes command of Sudarshan Chakra Corps" . 31 July 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022 .
^ "Lt Gen Vipul Shinghal took over the command of the Sudarshan Chakra Corps from Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth" . 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022 .
Active corps of the Indian Army
By commands
Central Command Eastern Command
III Corps
IV Corps
XVII Corps
XXXIII Corps
Northern Command
I Corps
XIV Corps
XV Corps
XVI Corps
Southern Command South Western Command Western Command
II Corps
IX Corps
XI Corps
By number
I Corps
II Corps
III Corps
IV Corps
IX Corps
X Corps
XI Corps
XII Corps
XIV Corps
XV Corps
XVI Corps
XVII Corps
XXI Corps
XXXIII Corps
(*Currently assigned to Northern Command )