Kunhiraman Palat Candeth

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Lieutenant General
Kunhiraman Palat Candeth
PVSM
File:Kunhiraman Palath Candeth-.jpg
Military Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu
In office
19 December 1961 – 6 June 1962
Preceded byPost Established
Succeeded byT. Sivasankar (as Lieutenant Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu)
Personal details
Born23 September 1916
Ottapalam, Malabar district, India. (Presently in Palakkad, Kerala)
Died19 May 2003
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
RelationsSir C. Sankaran Nair (Maternal Grandfather)
Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar (Paternal Grandfather)
AwardsPadma Bhushan Ribbon.svg Padma Bhushan
Param Vishisht Seva Medal ribbon.svg Param Vishisht Seva Medal
Military service
Allegiance British India
 India
Branch/service British Indian Army
 Indian Army
Years of service1934–1973
RankLieutenant General of the Indian Army.svg Lieutenant General
UnitRoyal Indian Artillery
CommandsIA Western Command.svg Western Army
8 Mountain Division
17 Infantry Division
Battles/warsWorld War II
Indo-Pakistan War of 1947
Operation Vijay
Indo-Pakistan War of 1965
Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

Lieutenant General Kunhiraman Palat Candeth, PVSM (Hindi: कुँहिरामन पलट कंडेथ; 23 October 1916 – 19 May 2003) was a senior army officer in the Indian Army who played a commanding role in Liberation of Goa from Portuguese control in 1961, and briefly tenured as the Military Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu.

He later served as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff based on GHQ in New Delhi at the midst of the second war in 1965, and later effectively commanded the Western Command during the third war with Pakistan in 1971.

Early life[edit]

He was born in Ottapalam, Malabar District (now Kerala) in British India (now India) to MA Candeth, being the grandson of the landlord and writer Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar. His maternal grandfather was Sir C. Sankaran Nair, who was the President of the Indian National Congress.[1][2]

Military career[edit]

Pre-independence[edit]

Commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1936, Candeth saw action in West Asia during the Second World War. And, shortly before India's independence from colonial rule, he was deployed in the North West Frontier Province, bordering Afghanistan, to quell local tribes. The mountainous terrain gave Candeth the experience for his later operations against Nagaland separatists in the North East. He attended the Military Services Staff College at Quetta, capital of Baluchistan in 1945.

Kashmir 1947[edit]

After Independence, Candeth was commanding an artillery regiment that was deployed to Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistan-backed tribesmen attacked and captured a third of the province before being forced back by the Indian Army. Thereafter, Candeth held a series of senior appointments, including that of Director General of Artillery at Army Headquarters in Delhi, to which he was appointed on 8 September 1959, with the acting rank of major-general (substantive colonel).[3]

North East[edit]

After relinquishing charge as Goa's Military Governor in 1963, Candeth was appointed GOC, Nagaland on 23 August 1963.[4] He took command of the newly raised 8 Mountain Division in the North-East on 15 November 1963,[5] where he battled, although with little success, the highly organised Naga insurgents. The insurgency in the North East has not been quelled completely to this day. On 7 May 1965, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (DCOAS) with the acting rank of lieutenant-general.[6] He was promoted to lieutenant-general on 17 January 1966,[7] and was appointed GOC-in-C, Western Command on 27 September 1969.[8]

Awards and later life[edit]

Lt. Gen. Kunhiraman Palat Candeth was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and also the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.[9] Retiring from the army on 21 October 1972,[10] he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 1990s and was appointed a member of the Party's Executive Committee.[11]

Dates of rank[edit]

Insignia Rank Component Date of rank
British Army OF-1a.svg Second Lieutenant British Indian Army 15 July 1937 (seniority 30 August 1936)[12]
British Army OF-1b.svg Lieutenant British Indian Army 30 November 1938[13]
British Army OF-2.svg Captain British Indian Army 1940 (acting)[12]
1 January 1941 (temporary)[12]
30 August 1944 (substantive)[12]
British Army OF-2.svg Captain Indian Army 15 August 1947[note 1][14]
British Army (1928-1953) OF-6.svg Brigadier Indian Army 1948 (acting)[note 1][14]
British Army (1920-1953) OF-3.svg Major Indian Army 30 August 1949[15][note 1][14]
Major of the Indian Army.svg Major Indian Army 26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)[14][16]
Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army.svg Lieutenant-Colonel Indian Army 1953
Colonel of the Indian Army.svg Colonel Indian Army 30 August 1956[17]
Brigadier of the Indian Army.svg Brigadier Indian Army 30 August 1959[18]
Major General of the Indian Army.svg Major General Indian Army 8 September 1959 (acting)[3]
Lieutenant General of the Indian Army.svg Lieutenant-General Indian Army 7 May 1965 (acting)[6]
11 January 1966 (substantive)[7]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Upon independence in 1947, India became a Dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations. As a result, the rank insignia of the British Army, incorporating the Tudor Crown and four-pointed Bath Star ("pip"), was retained, as George VI remained Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. After 26 January 1950, when India became a republic, the President of India became Commander-in-Chief, and the Ashoka Lion replaced the crown, with a five-pointed star being substituted for the "pip."

References[edit]

  1. ↑ C. Sankaran Nair By Kumara Padmanabha Sivasankara Menon p.138
  2. ↑ BJP today, Volume 12. Page:20, Column:3
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 24 October 1959. p. 260.
  4. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 5 October 1963. p. 339.
  5. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 11 January 1964. p. 9.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 2 April 1966. p. 211.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 2 April 1966. p. 211.
  8. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 1 November 1969. p. 1072.
  9. ↑ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 27 January 1973. p. 105.
  11. ↑ "'Liberator of Goa' Candeth dead". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Indian Army List (Special Edition) August 1947. Government of India Press. 1947. p. 226.
  13. ↑ Indian Army List (April 1939). Government of India Press. 1939. pp. 221P.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "New Designs of Crests and Badges in the Services" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 29 October 1949. p. 1520.
  16. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 11 February 1950. p. 227.
  17. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 20 April 1957. p. 97.
  18. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 31 October 1959. p. 266.

External links[edit]

Military offices
Preceded by
Harbaksh Singh 		General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command
1969-1972 		Succeeded by
M. L. Thapan
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