S. M. Shrinagesh: Difference between revisions

{{Use Indian English|date=April 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

| honorific-prefix = [[General (India)|General]]

| name = S. M. Shrinagesh

| image = General Satyawant Mallana Srinagesh.jpg

| width = 200px

| office4 = 2nd [[Chief of the Army Staff (India)|Chief of the Army Staff]]

| term_start4 = 15 May 1955

| term_end4 = 7 May 1957

| president4 = [[Rajendra Prasad]]

| primeminister4 = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]

| predecessor4 = [[Rajendrasinhji Jadeja|General Rajendrasinhji Jadeja]]

| successor4 = [[Kodendera Subayya Thimayya|General Kodendera Subayya Thimayya]]

| term_start3 = 14 October 1959

| term_end3 = 12 November 1960

| 1blankname3 = Chief Minister  

| 1namedata3 = Bimala Prasad Chaliha

| predecessor3 = Chandreswar Prasad Sinha

| successor3 = Vishnu Sahay

| order2 = 6th

| office2 = Governor of Assam

| term_start2 = 13 January 1961

| term_end2 = 7 September 1962

| 1blankname2 = Chief Minister  

| 1namedata2 = [[Bimala Prasad Chaliha]]

| predecessor2 = [[Vishnu Sahay]]

| successor2 = Vishnu Sahay

| order1 = 3rd

| office1 = Governor of Andhra Pradesh

| term_start1 = 8 September 1962

| term_end1 = 4 May 1964

| 1blankname1 = Chief Minister  

| 1namedata1 = [[Neelam Sanjiva Reddy]]<br>[[Kasu Brahmananda Reddy]]

| predecessor1 = [[Bhim Sen Sachar]]

| successor1 = [[Pattom A. Thanu Pillai]]

| office = 2nd [[List of Governors of Karnataka|Governor of Mysore]]

| term_start = 4 May 1963

| term_end = 2 April 1965

| 1blankname = Chief Minister  

| 1namedata = [[S. Nijalingappa]]

| predecessor = [[Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur]]

| successor = [[V. V. Giri]]

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1903|05|11}}

| birth_place = [[Kolhapur]], [[Kolhapur State]], [[British Raj]]<br>(now in [[Maharashtra]], India)

| death_place = [[New Delhi]], India

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1977|12|27|1903|05|11}}

| spouse = Rajkumari Kochhar

| children = 5

| module = {{Infobox military person | embed=yes

        | allegiance = [[File:British Raj Red Ensign.svg|23px]] [[British Indian Empire]]<br/>{{flag|India}}

        | branch = {{army|British Raj}}<br/>{{army|India}}

        | serviceyears = 30 August 1923- 7 May 1957

        | rank = [[File:General of the Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[General (India)|General]]

        | servicenumber = IA-417<ref name="COAS"/>

        | unit = [[19th Hyderabad Regiment]] presently [[Kumaon Regiment]]

        | commands = [[File:Flag COAS India.jpg|20px]] Chief of Army Staff<br/>[[File:IA Southern Command.svg|20px]] [[Southern Command (India)|Southern Army]] <br/>[[File:IA Western Command.svg|20px]] [[Western Command (India)|Western Army]]<br/>GOC Madras Area<br/>[[XV Corps (India)|V Corps (later XV Corps)]]<br/> [[Lushai Brigade]] ([[Burma]])<br/>[[64th Indian Infantry Brigade]]<br/> [[19th Hyderabad Regiment|6/19 Hyderabad (now 6 Kumaon)]]}}

Shrinagesh was born in [[Kolhapur]], [[Maharashtra]], the eldest son of Dr. Shrinagesh Mallannah, in a [[Kannada language|Kannada]] speaking [[Lingayat]] family influenced by [[Brahma Samaj]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.udayavani.com/kannada/news/rajangana/128710/palella-political-leaders-military-leaders-and-the-fame | title=S. M. Shrinagesh | publisher=Udayavaani | access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref> His father was the personal physician to [[Asaf Jah VII|H.E.H. Mir Sir Osman Ali Khan Asaf Jah VII]], the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]]. His mother was Ahalyabai, daughter of Krishnaji Kelavkar. Born in 1903 at Kolhapur, Maharashtra he went to West Buckland School in England and entered the [[University of Cambridge]] in 1921.

He was then appointed as the first Indian Commandant of the Kumaon Regimental Centre in Agra on 2 October 1946 and served in that capacity till 12 December 1946. He was then chosen to lead the 268th Infantry Brigade British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in post [[World War II]] [[Japan]] and served in that post till 1947. He was also Brigade Commander of the famous Lushai Brigade in Burma in 1947.

On his return from Japan, he was promoted to acting [[Major-General]] on 3 September 1947 and was appointed the General Officer Commanding of the Madras Area.<ref name="actg_maj_gen">{{cite web|title=Five More Indians Promoted Major Generals|url=http://pibarchive.nic.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/DEFENCE/1947-JULY-DEC-MIN-OF-DEFENCE/PDF/DEF-1947-09-03_372.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|date=3 September 1947|access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref> From January 1948, he was appointed as the Adjutant General at the Army Headquarters and held that post till August of the same year. Promoted to acting [[Lieutenant-General]], he also commanded the 5th Corps (later designated as 15th Corps). He was appointed the overall commander of all troops in Jammu & Kashmir during the 1947–48 [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947|Indo-Pak War]] and held this command till the ceasefire on 1 January 1949. He was chosen as the GOC-in-C Western Command on 15 January 1949 and promoted to the substantive rank of [[Lieutenant General]] in 1950. He was then appointed as the GOC-in-C Southern Command and held that post, till he assumed charge as the Army Chief on 14 May 1955. He was decorated with the U.S. [[Legion of Merit]] in September 1955.<ref>{{cite web|title=General Shrinagesh Received U.S. Legion of Merit|url=http://pibarchive.nic.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/DEFENCE/1955-JULY%20DEC-DEFENCE/PDF/DEF-1955-09-02_094.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|date=2 September 1955|access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref>

In 1934, Shrinagesh married Rajkumari Kochhar (14 April 1915—24 January 2017),<ref name="showers"/><ref>{{cite news |date=2 February 2017 |title=Rajkumari Shrinagesh|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/rajkumari-shrinagesh/articleshow/56931766.cms |work=The Times of India|access-date=27 September 2020}}</ref> with whom he had three sons and two daughters. One son, Satish, also joined the Indian Army, retiring as a major.<ref name="showers">{{cite news |date=15 April 2015 |title=Showers of love as Army's grand old lady turns 100|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/chandigarh/showers-of-love-as-army-s-grand-old-lady-turns-100-67639 |work=The Tribune (Chandigarh) |access-date=27 September 2020}}</ref>

Diagnosed with [[Parkinson's disease]] in the late 1950s,<ref name="showers"/> Shrinagesh succumbed to the disease in the morning of 27 December 1977 at the Army Hospital Delhi Cantonment. Survived by his wife and children, he was cremated with full military honours in New Delhi the following day, with his funeral attended by senior military officers including the Chief of the Army Staff [[Tapishwar Narain Raina]].<ref>{{cite web|title=General S.M. Shrinagesh Passes Away|url=http://pibarchive.nic.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/DEFENCE/1977-AUG-DEC-MIN-OF-DEFENCE-PART-2/PDF/DEF-1977-12-72_276.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|date=27 December 1977|access-date=27 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=General Shrinagesh Cremated|url=http://pibarchive.nic.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/DEFENCE/1977-AUG-DEC-MIN-OF-DEFENCE-PART-2/PDF/DEF-1977-12-28_277.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|date=28 December 1977|access-date=27 September 2020}}</ref>

|align="center" |[[File:Lieutenant_General_of_the_Indian_Army.svg|35px]] || [[Lieutenant-General]] || Indian Army || 26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)<ref name="insignia_designs">{{cite web|title=New Designs of Crests and Badges in the Services|url=http://pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_38/ACC%20NO%20807-BR/HOM-1950-01-06_484.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808193914/http://pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_38/ACC%20NO%20807-BR/HOM-1950-01-06_484.pdf|archive-date=8 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=227  |date=11 February 1950 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref>

* [http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/Army-Chiefs/Chiefs-Army05.html at bharat-rakshak.com]