XI Corps (India) explained

Unit Name:	XI Corps
Dates:	1950 - present
Country:	India
Branch:	Indian Army
Role:	Holding Corps
Size:	Corps
Command Structure:	Western Command
Garrison:	Jalandhar
Current Commander:	Lt Gen Ajay Chandpuria ^[1]
Notable Commanders:	General Ved Prakash Malik General Om Prakash Malhotra Lt Gen Naveen Chand Rawlley Lt Gen J S Dhillon Lt Gen T B Henderson Brooks
Nickname:	Vajra Corps Defenders of Punjab^[2]
Battle Honours:	Theatre Honour: Punjab Battle Honours: Dograi Barki Asal Uttar Sehjra Dera Baba Nanak^[3]

The XI Corps of the Indian Army is based in Jalandhar and is a part of Western Command. XI Corps is also known as Vajra Corps.

History

XI Corps was raised to take command of the formations in the Punjab in 1950^[4] as India reorganised its post-1947 army to meet the new threat of Pakistan.^[5] It was raised on March 1, 1950 at Ambala under the command of Lieutenant General Kalwant Singh.^[6] The corps headquarters was relocated to Jalandhar in July 1951.^[3]

To reduce the load of XI Corps, X Corps was formed at Bathinda on 1 July 1979, taking over south Punjab and north Rajasthan.^[7]

Formation sign

The Corps formation sign consists of the 'red-white-red background' depicting a corps of the Indian Army overlaid by a Vajra, the powerful thunderbolt weapon of Lord Indra, the symbol of sacrifice of the great sage Dadhichi, who voluntarily sacrificed his body to make the fiercest weapon from his thighbone.^[6]

Organisation

The corps consists of:^[8]

• 7 Infantry Division (Golden Arrow Division) headquartered at Firozpur, raised in 1964.^[9]
• 9 Infantry Division (Pine Division) headquartered at Meerut.^[10] It has one brigade each at Meerut, Delhi and Jalandhar.
• 15 Infantry Division (Panther Division) headquartered at Amritsar.^[11] Appears to include 350 Infantry Brigade.^[12]
• 23 (Independent) Armoured Brigade (Flaming Arrow Brigade) at Khasa, Amritsar.^[13]
• 55 (Independent) Mechanised Brigade (Double Victory Brigade) at Beas^{[14] [15]}
• Corps Artillery Brigade headquartered at Jalandhar^[16]
• Corps Air Defence Brigade headquartered at Ludhiana.^{[17] [18]}
• 333 Missile Group equipped with Prithvi-I missile at Secunderabad^[19]

Operations

• Indo-Pakistani War of 1965^[20]
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1971^[20]

List of Commanders

Rank	Name	Appointment Date	Left Office	Unit of Commission	References
Lieutenant General	Kalwant Singh	1 March 1950		1st Punjab Regiment
	S P P Thorat	1955	May 1957	1/14 Punjab Regiment	^[21]
	T B Henderson Brooks	1962	1963	5th Maratha Light Infantry	^[22]
	Joginder Singh Dhillon	November 1963	August 1966	Bengal Sappers	^[23]
	Premindra Singh Bhagat	August 1966	August 1970	Bombay Sappers
	Naveen Chand Rawlley	1970	1972	12th Frontier Force Regiment	^[24]
	Om Prakash Malhotra	May 1972	July 1974	Regiment of Artillery	^[25]
	Krishnaswamy Gowri Shankar	1984	1985	Corps of Signals	^[26]
	V K Nayar	1985	31 October 1987	Parachute Regiment	^[27]
	Bakshi Krishan Nath Chhibber	July 1990	September 1992	9th Gorkha Rifles	^[28]
	Ved Prakash Malik	August 1992	March 1994	Sikh Light Infantry	^[29]
	H B Kala	April 1994		Jat Regiment	^[30]
	Virendra Kumar Sewal			Armoured Corps
	Kamal Davar	March 2000	April 2001	7th Light Cavalry	^[31]
	Shantonu Choudhry	April 2001	April 2002	Regiment of Artillery	^[32]
	Krishnamurthy Nagaraj	Apr 2002	May 2003	Maratha Light Infantry	^[33]
	S Pattabhiraman	May 2003	May 2004	Bombay Sappers	^[34]
	Parmendra Kumar Singh	May 2004	May 2005	Regiment of Artillery	^[35]
	Mandhata Singh	May 2005	April 2006	9th Gorkha Rifles
	Noble Thamburaj	May 2006	September 2007	Bombay Sappers	^[36]
	S S Kumar	October 2007	August 2008	Brigade of the Guards	^[37]
	Virender Singh Tonk	August 2008	July 2009	Rajput Regiment	^[38]
	Ramesh Halgali	24 July 2009	August 2010	Sikh Light Infantry	^[39]
	Munish Sibal	August 2010	November 2011	Rajputana Rifles	^[40] ^[41]
	Sanjeev Madhok	November 2011	March 2013	Brigade of the Guards	^[42]
	Ashwini Kumar Bakshi	March 2013	July 2014	Bihar Regiment	^[43]
	N P S Hira	August 2014	31 July 2015	Sikh Light Infantry	^[44]
	Jagbir Singh Cheema	21 August 2015	31 August 2016	Sikh Regiment	^[45] ^[46]
	B S Sahrawat	1 September 2016	2 November 2017		^[47]
	Dushyant Singh	2 November 2017	4 November 2018		^[48]
	Arvind Dutta	5 November 2018	5 November 2019	Dogra Regiment	^[49]
	Sanjeev Sharma	6 November 2019	2 December 2020	Rajputana Rifles	^[50]
	C B Ponnappa	2 December 2020	10 February 2022	Mahar Regiment	^[51]
	Devendra Sharma	11 February 2022	15 May 2023	14th Horse (Scinde Horse)	^[52]
	Vijay B Nair	15 May 2023	30 June 2024	Punjab Regiment	^[53]
	Ajay Chandpuria	1 July 2024	Incumbent	Dogra Regiment	^[54]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1 July 2024 . Lt Gen Ajay Chandpuria takes over command of the Vajra Corps from Lt Gen Vijay B Nair.. x (formerly twitter).
2. Web site: Vajra Corps celebrates 71st Raising Day. 2021-03-01. 2021-07-26.
3. Web site: Vajra Corps - 'Defenders of Punjab' - celebrates Platinum Jubilee. The Times of India. 2021-03-01. 2021-07-26.
4. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, 26.
5. Web site: IPS Driver Error . 21 September 2009 . 20 February 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120220000836/http://forum.pakistanidefence.com/lofiversion/index.php/t7640.html . dead .
6. Web site: Vajra Corps celebrates Raising Day. 2007-03-17. 2021-07-23.
7. Web site: Commands of the Indian Army, South Western (Sapta Shakti) Command: Forever Victorious. 2019-01-16. 2021-07-26.
8. Web site: Vajra Corps celebrates Infantry Day. 2016-10-28. 2021-07-26.
9. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, 40
10. Web site: 2014-08-09 . Golden moments at Pine Division . 2021-07-25.
11. Web site: 15 Infantry division celebrates its raising day. 2009-10-01. 2021-07-25.
12. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, 166.
13. Web site: Army Commander Western Command visits Khasa Military station. 2020-07-18. 2021-07-05.
14. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011.
15. Web site: War Disabled Soldiers and Veer Naris Meet Organised at Beas. 2019-01-16. 2021-07-26.
16. Web site: Vajra Corps organises Veer Nari meet. 2015-05-04. 2021-07-26.
17. Web site: Vajra Air Defence felicitates veer naris at annual event. 2018-12-17. 2021-07-26.
18. News: 2020-02-23 . Vajra Air Defence Brigade organises Veer Nari meet . 2024-08-10 . The Times of India . 0971-8257.
19. Web site: 333rd Artillery Group - India Special Weapons Agencies . 2024-08-21 . nuke.fas.org.
20. Web site: Saluting 'Defenders of Punjab'. 2020-03-07. 2021-07-26.
21. Book: Singh, VK. Leadership in the Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers. SAGE India. 2005. 978-0761933229. 140.
22. Web site: 1962 war report: When Nehru stepped on the Dragon's tail. The Times of India. 2014-03-19. 2021-07-24.
23. Web site: Last salute to the lion of 1965. 2003-12-19. 2021-07-24.
24. Web site: 1971 operations - Case West - I. 2021-07-24.
25. Web site: COAS pays Tribute to Former COAS Gen Om Prakash Malhotra. 2015-12-31. 2021-07-24.
26. Web site: Examples of Learning in Counter-Insurgency. 2021-07-24.
27. Web site: PIB Release. 1987-10-27. 2021-07-24.
28. Web site: Souvenir 1995. 2021-07-25.
29. Web site: COVER STORY: DECORATED DUO. 2017-08-16. 2021-07-23.
30. Web site: About Us. 2021-07-23.
31. Web site: Golden jubilee of Vajra Corps. 2000-03-04. 2021-07-23.
32. Web site: Lt Gen Shantonu Choudhry appointed Vice Chief of Army Staff. 2002-12-14. 2021-07-24.
33. Web site: Vajra Corps celebrates Raising Day. 2003-03-01. 2021-07-24.
34. Web site: Pattabhiraman takes over as GOC-in-C, Western Command. 2005-02-03. 2021-07-23.
35. Web site: Lieut-Gen Mandhata Singh is new GOC of Vajra Corps. 2005-05-22. 2021-07-23.
36. Web site: Lt Gen Kumar takes over as GOC of Vajra Corps. 2007-09-29. 2021-07-23.
37. Web site: Vajra Celebrations. 2008-04-08. 2021-07-23.
38. Web site: Lt Gen VS Tonk takes command of Vajra Corps. 2008-08-21. 2021-07-24.
39. Web site: K'taka man to head military training. 2010-08-17. 2021-07-23.
40. Web site: Lt.Gen. Sibal to head Vajra Corps. 2010-08-18. 2021-07-23.
41. Web site: Appointment. 2010-08-17. 2021-07-23.
42. Web site: BriefLt Gen Madhok takes over Vajra Corps Command. The Times of India. 2011-11-12. 2021-07-23.
43. Web site: Lieutant general AK Bakshi assumes command of Vajra Corps. 2013-03-13. 2021-07-23.
44. Web site: Lt Gen Hira to take over as new Northern Command Chief of Staff today. 2015-08-01. 2021-07-24.
45. Web site: LT GEN JS CHEEMA, PVSM, AVSM (RETD). 2019-11-20.
46. Web site: Deadlock over Army postings: GOC 11 Corps appointed officiating Western Army Commander. 2016-01-29. 2021-07-22.
47. News: 2016-09-03. Lt Gen BS Sahrawat takes over as commanding officer of Vajra Corps. en . Chandigarh. 20 November 2019.
48. News: 2017-11-03. Vajra Corps GOC.
49. News: 2018-11-05. Lt Gen Arvind Dutta takes over command of Vajra Corps. en . Jalandhar. 20 November 2019.
50. News: 2019-11-07. Lt Gen sharma is Goc vajra corps. en . Jalandhar. 20 November 2019.
51. Web site: Service. Tribune News. Lt Gen C Bansi Ponnappa is new GOC Vajra Corps. 2020-12-04. Tribuneindia News Service. en.
52. Web site: Lieut Gen Devendra Sharma is new Vajra Corps commander. 2022-02-12. 2022-02-12.
53. Web site: Lt Gen Sharma to take over as Western Command chief of staff. 2023-05-16. 2023-05-16.
54. Web site: 1 July 2024 . Lt Gen Ajay Chandpuria takes over command of the Vajra Corps from Lt Gen Vijay B Nair.. x (formerly twitter).