Page 23 - Leadership in the Indian Army

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F IELD M ARSHAL K.M. C ARIAPPA , OBE

First Indian Commander-in-Chief

Kodandera Madappa Cariappa was the country’s first Indian Commander-
in-Chief of the Army. Considered the epitome of military leadership by

generations of Indians, he was responsible for laying the foundations of
what we today recognise as the modern Indian Army. Kipper, as he was
affectionately called, was a ‘pucca’ sahib, even more so than the British
themselves. Though many Indians considered him a WOG (Westernised
Oriental Gentleman), he was fiercely patriotic. His iron discipline, integrity
and forthright views won him many admirers. However, what he was
known for best was his love for the Indian soldier or jawan. It is no wonder,

then that the troops loved and worshipped him. For a military leader, there
can be no greater approbation.
Kipper was born on 28 January 1900, in Madikeri (Mercara), Kodaga
(Coorg), a small state on the western coast of South India. Inhabited by the
Kodavus (Coorgs)—a warlike race—Kodaga is a picturesque region,
famous for its coffee plantations. Cariappa came from a family of

prosperous farmers belonging to the Kodandera clan. His father, Madappa,
was an official of the revenue department who lived in Madikeri in a house
called Lime Cottage. Madappa had four sons—Aiyanna, Cariappa,
Nanjappa and Bopaiah and two daughters, the elder being Bollu. In 1917,
after finishing his schooling at the Centre School in Madikeri, Cariappa
joined Presidency College, Madras. It was here that he learnt that Indians
were being selected for commissions in the Indian Army. At that time, the

Indian Army was being led by British officers, who had been trained in
Britain. The Royal Military College at Sandhurst was the premier institution
imparting pre-commission training to officers of the British and Indian
armies, as well as those of several other Dominions. On successful
completion of the course at Sandhurst, officers were granted the King’s
Commission. To tide over the shortage of officers in the Indian Army

during World War I, the British government had decided to open a