XXI Corps (India)

XXI Indian Corps
XXI Corps
Active 1917-18
1942–1943
1990–present
Country British India
India
Allegiance British Empire
India
Branch British Indian Army
Indian Army
Type Corps
Role Strike
Part of Southern Command
Garrison/HQ Bhopal
Nickname(s) Sudarshan Chakra Corps
Engagements World War II
Commanders
Current
commander		 Lt General Prit Pal Singh
Notable
commanders		 General Nirmal Chander Vij
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain

XXI Corps is a strike corps of the Indian Army and is headquartered at Bhopal.

World War I

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.

World War II

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.

Present

Exercise Sudarshan Shakti, 21 Corps, December 2011

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. 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. 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:

List of Commanders

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
R K Gulati January 1992 October 1992 9th Deccan Horse
Krishna Mohan Seth October 1992 October 1994 Regiment of Artillery
Chandra Shekhar October 1994 1996 4th Gorkha Rifles
Nirmal Chander Vij 1996 1997 Dogra Regiment
B M Kapur 1997 Armoured Corps
Satish Satpute 30 August 2002 Maratha Light Infantry
P P S Bhandari 31 August 2002 31 December 2004 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)
Aditya Singh 01 January 2004 January 2005 9th Deccan Horse
Harcharanjit Singh Panag January 2005 December 2006 Sikh Regiment
Pradeep Khanna January 2007 May 2008 20 Lancers
Arvinder Singh Lamba 26 May 2008 May 2009 Regiment of Artillery
Rajinder Singh May 2009 2010 Mechanised Infantry Regiment
Syed Ata Hasnain 2010 December 2010 Garhwal Rifles
Sanjiv Langer December 2010 January 2012 Armoured Corps
S H Kulkarni January 2012 January 2013 Armoured Corps
Amit Sharma January 2013 February 2014 45 Cavalry
Rajeev Vasant Kanitkar February 2014 2015 17th Horse (Poona Horse)
Pradeep Singh Mehta 2015 31 June 2016 1st Horse (Skinner's Horse)
Cherish Mathson 1 July 2016 30 June 2017 Garhwal Rifles
Iqroop Singh Ghuman 1 July 2017 31 June 2018 Brigade of the Guards
Ravendra Pal Singh 01 July 2018 July 2019 Mechanised Infantry Regiment
Yogendra Dimri July 2019 25 July 2020 Bombay Sappers
Atulya Solankey 26 July 2020 30 July 2021 11th Gorkha Rifles
Dhiraj Seth 31 July 2021 31 July 2022 2nd Lancers
Vipul Shinghal 3 August 2022 31 December 2023 51 Armoured Regiment
Prit Pal Singh 01 January 2024 Incumbent 62 Cavalry

See also