General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji
  Indianetzone: Largest Free Encyclopedia of India with thousand of articles Indian Administration


in  
Art & Culture | Entertainment | Health | Reference | Sports | Society | Travel
Forum  | RSS Feeds  | Free E-magazine
Indian Administration : Ancient Indian Political System l Constitution of India l Divisions in Indian Administration l Government of India l State Governments in India l Indian Judiciary l Indian Economy l Constitutional Bodies in India l Indian Civil Awards l Local Self Governments l Indian Political Parties l Foreign Relation of India l Indian Government Departments l National Symbols of India l Indian Media l Indian Armed Forces l Council of Ministers of India l Indian Coins
Home > Reference > Indian Administration > Indian Armed Forces > Indian Army > Indian Army Personalities > General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji
General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji
The former army chief of India and the first one to be awarded as the Distinguished Service Order.

General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji was born on 15 June 1899.He was mostly known as Maharaj Shri Ranjitsinhji and Rajendrasinhji Jadeja. After completing his education from Rajkumar College at Rajkot, Gujarat he got admitted to Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Sandhurst in 1919. General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji joined the Indian army as a Second Lieutenant at 2nd Royal Lancers in 1922. The British Government in the Indian Army gave him different posts. During the Second World War General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji showed his professional talent distinctly. In 1941 he was sent to North Africa to fight against Axis force. He fought courageously and was awarded Distinguished Service Order. He was first Indian to be honored with this award in World War II. After the world war he was appointed as the Military Attaché in Washington D.C.

General Maharaj Kumar Shri RajendrasinhjiDuring the critical period of partition General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji was given many crucial responsibilities. In 1947 he was promoted to Major General. After a short period he rose from the rank of Lieutenant General and served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Delhi and East Punjab (1947-48), GOC Eastern Command (1948) and GOC Southern Command (1948-53). He carried out Operation Polo to integrate Hyderabad State with India while he was in charge of Southern command.

General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji completed courses from National Defence Academy in Dehradun in 1953 and was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji advised to the newly joined Army officers to maintain professionalism, loyalty, duty, and discipline, physical & mental fitness. In his great speech he said, "To-day you are on the threshold of your careers as officers of the Indian Army. Tomorrow you will become members of a brotherhood that has a code of honor and sense of duty unequalled in any other profession in the world. See to it that your responsibilities and obligations to this brotherhood do not find you lacking in spirit or energy. Your loyalty to your country and the Army must be the dominating factor. Keep abreast of your profession, and ensure that you keep pace with new weapons and their effects in applied military science. The men who respect your professional knowledge, and have confidence in your leadership will follow you anywhere. You must be the leader of your men and cannot afford to lag behind being out of condition. Go out shooting, trekking, mountaineering, go in for games that develop sound judgment, decision-making and team work, because these are the qualities that will make your career a success." - this ideally reflects his undaunted courage.

On 01 April 1955 General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji assumed the charge the Chief of Army Staff. He retired on 14th May 1955 after completing years of distinguished service to the nation. He died on 01 January 1964. General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji got several medals in his career. India General Service Medal (1941),Africa & Burma stars,Defence & War medals (1945),Officer of the Legion of Merit of the USA (1948),Indian Independence Medal (1947),George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935),George VI Coronation Medal (1937).

(Last Updated on : 7/09/2009)
  More on Indian Army Personalities...
 
Field Marshal K.M Cariappa Air Marshal Arjan Singh General Arun Sridhar Vaidya
Tapishwar Narain Raina Albert Ekka Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor
General Joginder Jaswant Singh General Nirmal Chander Vij General Ved Prakash Malik
General Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri Lt General Sundararajan Padmanabhan General K. Venkata Krishna Rao
General P.P. Kumaramangalam General Prannath Thapar General S. F. Rodrigues
General Om Prakash Malhotra General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor General Vishwanath Sharma
Air Marshal Fali Homi Major Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi
Anil Yashwant Tipnis Surinder Kumar Mehra General Sir Mcgregor Macdonald Lockhart
General Sir Francis Robert Roy Bucher General Bipin Chandra Joshi General Krishnaswamy Sundarji
General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji Kodendera Subayya Thimayya General Satyawant Mallannah Shrinagesh
Air Chief Marshal Denis Anthony La Fontaine Air Chief Marshal Idris Hassan Latif Satish Kumar Sareen
Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh Air Chief Marshal Nirmal Chandra Suri Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar
Air Chief Marshal Pratap Chandra Lal Air Marshal Aspy Merwan Engineer Air Chief Marshal Om Prakash Mehra
Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee Air Marshal Sir Ronald Ivelaw- Chapman Air Chief Marshal Swaroop Krishna Kaul
Air Marshal Sir Thomas Walker Elmhirst Air Marshal Sir Gerald Ernest Gibbs Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw
Recently Updated Articles in Indian Administration
E-mail this Article | Post a Comment
Free E-magazine
Subscribe to Free
E-Magazine on Indian Administration

 
General Maharaj Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji Sitemap
Contact Us   |   RSS Feeds
Copyright © 2008 Jupiter Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved including the right to reproduce the contents in whole or in part in any form or medium without the express written permission of Jupiter Infomedia Pvt. Ltd.