https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Brij_Mohan_KaulBrij Mohan Kaul - Revision history2026-07-31T03:59:19ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Brij_Mohan_Kaul&diff=372445&oldid=prevBot at 22:58, 4 November 20222022-11-04T22:58:23Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian Army general (1912–1972)}}<br />
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{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}<br />
{{Infobox military person<br />
|name=Brij Mohan Kaul<br />
|nickname=''Bijji''<br />
|image=<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:|200px]] --><br />
|caption= Lieut General<br />
|birth_name= Brij Mohan Kaul<br />
|birth_place= [[Lahore]], [[British Punjab|Punjab]], [[British India]]<br />
|birth_date={{Birth date|df=yes|1912|05|01}}<br />
|death_date={{Death date|df=yes|1972|04|18}}<br />
|allegiance={{flagicon|British Raj}} [[British India]] <br /> {{flag|India}}<br />
|branch=[[Indian Army]]<br />
|serviceyears=1933-1962<br />
|servicenumber=AI-162<br />
|rank= [[File:Lieutenant General of the Indian Army.svg|30px]] [[Lieutenant General]]<br />
|unit=[[Rajputana Rifles]]<br/>[[Royal Indian Army Service Corps]]<br />
|commands= [[File:Gajraj corps.png|30px]] [[IV Corps (India)]], NEFA<br />
|battles=<br />
|awards=[[Param Vishisht Seva Medal]]<br />
|relations= [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]<br />
|laterwork= ''The Untold Story'', ''Confrontation with Pakistan''<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Brij Mohan Kaul''' (1912-1972) was a Lieutenant General in the [[Indian Army]].<ref name=imh><br />
{{cite web |title=The 7th Infantry brigade at the Battle of the Namkachu 1962 |url=http://www.indianmilitaryhistory.org/india/namkachu1962.html |publisher=indianmilitaryhistory.com |date=31 March 2002 |access-date=28 July 2012}}<br />
</ref> He served as the [[Chief of the General Staff (India)|Chief of General Staff]] during 1961–1962 and was regarded as a key architect of Indian military response to the Chinese challenge.<ref><br />
{{harvp|Hoffmann, India and the China Crisis|1990|loc=pp.&nbsp;143–144: "Kaul was the strongman in the army, not Thapar."}}<br />
</ref><br />
In October 1962, he was given the command of a newly-raised [[IV Corps (India)|IV Corps]] to counter the impending Chinese invasion of [[North-East Frontier Agency|NEFA]] (modern day [[Arunachal Pradesh]]),{{sfnp|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010|p=297}} but it got [[Sino-Indian War|routed by the Chinese]].<ref name="Mahadean"><br />
{{cite book |last=Mahadeven |first=P. |chapter=Intelligence and the Sino-Indian War of 1962 |editor1=Floribert Baudet |editor2=Eleni Braat |editor3=Jeoffrey van Woensel |editor4=Aad Wever |date=1 July 2017 |title=Perspectives on Military Intelligence from the First World War to Mali: Between Learning and Law |publisher=Springer |pages=71–72 |isbn=9789462651838 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g3oqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA71}}<br />
</ref><br />
He resigned in the aftermath of the war, and was awarded the [[Param Vishisht Seva Medal]] in 1960.<br />
<br />
==Personal life==<br />
He was born on 1 May 1912, in a [[Kashmiri Hindu]] family to Gaura and Jagmohan Kaul in [[Lahore]], [[British Punjab|Punjab]], [[British India]]. His birth date coincided with [[Buddha Jayanti]]. He had a sister (Dulari), and a half-brother (Shyam) and a half-sister (Nanni). He married Dhanraj Kishori; they had two daughters Anuradha and Chitralekha.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}<br />
<br />
==Career==<br />
A [[King's Commissioned Indian Officer]], Kaul attended the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]] and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on the Unattached List for the Indian Army on 31 August 1933. He then spent the next year attached to a British Army regiment in India, the 1st battalion the East Surrey Regiment, starting 5 November 1933. After his years attachment accepted for the Indian Army and he was posted to the 5th Battalion, 6th Rajputana Rifles on 10 November 1934 with his date of commission as a Second Lieutenant antedated to 2 February 1933. He was promoted to Lieutenant 2 May 1935 but by mid-1936 he was attached away from the battalion to the [[Royal Indian Army Service Corps]], a posting that led to a permanent transfer on 18 February 1937.<ref>Indian Army Lists April 1934, January 1935, April 1936, October 1937 and July 1938</ref><ref name=imh /><br />
<br />
At the outbreak of World War Two he was serving with the 26th Mechanical Transport Company.<ref>October 1939 Indian Army List</ref> He was promoted Captain 2 February 1941, acting Major 7 November 1942 and local Lieutenant-Colonel 14 December 1942, War Substantive Major & temporary Lieutenant Colonel 19 February 1944 and Major 1 July 1946.<ref>Half Yearly Army List January 1946 and April & December 1947 Army List</ref><br />
<br />
In October–December 1946, he was the secretary to "Armed forces nationalisation committee" constituted by Viceroy. Coincidentally, it was led by N Gopalawami Ayengar, later defense minister, with members including future Chief of Army Staff [[Kodendera Subayya Thimayya|General Thimayya]], future Pakistan Army chief [[Muhammad Musa]] and future Indian MP [[H.N. Kunzru]].<br />
<br />
In May 1947, Kaul was promoted local colonel and appointed as India's defence attache in Washington.<ref name="attache">{{cite web|title=India's New Military Attache' in Washington|url=http://pibarchive.nic.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/DEFENCE/1947-JULY-DEC-MIN-OF-DEFENCE/PDF/DEF-1947-05-15_230.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|date=16 May 1947|access-date=19 July 2020}}</ref> He returned to India in the aftermath of Indian Pakistan hostilities over Kashmir,<ref>{{cite news |title=Lest we Forget |url=http://pakistanpal.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/lest-we-forget/ |publisher=pakistanpal.wordpress.com |first=Hamid |last=Hussain |access-date=28 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517035642/http://pakistanpal.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/lest-we-forget/ |archive-date=17 May 2013 }}</ref> and was promoted to acting brigadier in 1950 and to the substantive rank of colonel on 2 February 1951.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=57 |date=24 March 1951 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> On 15 January 1956, by now a brigadier, he was appointed an area commander in the acting rank of major-general.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=61 |date=31 March 1956 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref><br />
<br />
In 1962, he was appointed as the commander of ''IV Corp''s in the north eastern region of India.<ref>{{cite news |title=Army aftermath, General V.K.Singh |url=http://theindianawaaz.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7674&catid=9 |first=Ashok B |last=Sharma |date=26 May 2012 |access-date=28 July 2012}}</ref><br />
<br />
===Operation Leghorn===<br />
In 1962, Lt General B.M. Kaul was appointed as the General officer Commanding (GOC) the North east, replacing Lt General Umrao Singh. Kaul was to head the newly appointed IV Corps at Tezpur, however no new troops were sent to the corps with only the new headquarter staff being deployed there. The entire NEFA (North East Frontier Agency), now [[Arunachal Pradesh]] was made Kaul's domain.<br />
<br />
On his first day of assignment, Kaul flew to Lumpu & then trekked to Namkachu valley. He was the first General officer to visit the valley. Under his leadership, the Indian patrol occupied Tse Jong, a hillock north-west of the Chinese settlement. Kaul reportedly fell ill during the assignment and was deported to New Delhi. The Indian patrol occupying Tse Jong was wiped out when an 800 strong enemy force raided the post subsequently.<ref>{{cite news |title=How rude reality set in at Thangla |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/how-rude-reality-set-in-at-thagla/818799/1 |publisher=indianexpress.com |first=Inder |last=Malhotra |date=18 July 2011 |access-date=28 July 2012 |page=2}}</ref><br />
<br />
The battle with China in 1962, in the NEFA, is also known as the ''Battle of Namkachu''.<ref name=imh /> The Battle of the Namakachu is used today to teach Indian Army officers on things to not do.<ref name="imh" /><br />
<br />
==Honours==<br />
Kaul was the recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal instituted by the Indian government in 1960, for his work in successfully completing the construction of quarters for troops in Ambala.<ref><br />
[http://faculty.winthrop.edu/haynese/india/medals/PVSM.html Param Vishisht Seva Medal]{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060828152007/http://faculty.winthrop.edu/haynese/india/medals/PVSM.html |date=28 August 2006}}<br />
</ref> <br />
<br />
==Controversies==<br />
In 1968, Brigadier [[John Dalvi]], the former commanding officer of the 7th Infantry Brigade that participated in the [[1962 Sino-Indian War]] authored a book named ''[[Himalayan Blunder]]'', where he gave his first hand accounts and perceptions of the causes for India's defeat in the war. He was critical of Lt General B.M. Kaul and attributed the loss in 1962 war partly to him. <br />
Excerpt from the book: "He managed to keep himself away from hardship and learning the nuances of a military commander as a junior officer and later in service, managed to grab important Army senior command appointments due to his "pull". His involvement with Jawaharlal Nehru later turned out to be a major reason for shameful loss and massacre of Indian troops at the hands of the Chinese".<ref>The Himalayan Blunder - Brig JP Dalvi</ref><br />
<br />
In 1991, [[Kotha Satchidananda Murthy|K. Satchidananda Murty]] wrote a biographical book about the second President of India, Shri [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]], named ''Radhakrishnan: His Life and Ideas''. In the book, he quoted the former president as having expressed doubts over the capability of Lt General B.M. Kaul.<br />
Excerpt from the book: "The General Officer was well known in the Army and Political Circles to be a "personal favourite" of Jawaharlal Nehru since his junior officer days. He reportedly received a number of undue professional favours throughout his career due to this personal connection and he made full use of this opportunity with utter disregard to the Army organisation".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x6FsaptULgAC&q=B.M+Kaul+nepotism&pg=PA161|title=Radhakrishnan: His Life and Ideas|last=Murty|first=K. Satchidananda|publisher=SUNY Press|year= 1990|isbn=9780791403433 |location=161 |pages=239 |language=en}}</ref><br />
<br />
In the book ''The Unfought War of 1962: An Appraisal'', by Raghav Sharan Sharma, he has mentioned that Lt General B.M. Kaul was a distant relation of Indian Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. As a result, V.K.Krishna Menon who was the then Defence Minister and Jawaharlal Nehru's close aide, appointed Lt General B.M. Kaul as Chief of General Staff, against the recommendation of the outgoing [[Chief of the Army Staff (India)|Chief of Army Staff]], General [[Kodandera Subayya Thimayya|K.S.Thimayya]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ntNBDwAAQBAJ&q=distant+relation&pg=PT164|title=The Unfought War of 1962: An Appraisal|last=Sharma|first=Raghav Sharan|publisher=Routledge|year= 2017|isbn=9781351056366 |location=236 |pages= 428|language=en}}</ref> and in spite of the fact that he was an [[Indian Army Service Corps|Army Service Corps]] officer, with no prior combat experience and having never commanded a fighting unit earlier.<ref>{{cite news |last= Guruswamy|first= Mohan|date=13 October 2012|title=In dubious battle at heaven's gate|url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/In-dubious-battle-at-heaven%E2%80%99s-gate/article12557779.ece|newspaper=The Hindu}}</ref><br />
<br />
Both the books have been highly critical about Lt General B.M. Kaul. However, Lt General Kaul also authored a book named ''The Untold Story'', where he gave his version of reasons for the loss in the 1962 war.<br />
<br />
==Books authored==<br />
He wrote his side of the story about operation leghorn in the book ''The Untold Story'' and, in another book, '' Confrontation with Pakistan''.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
* {{citation |last=Hoffmann |first=Steven A. |title=India and the China Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpSRwC5_EPUC |year=1990 |publisher=University of California Press |ISBN=978-0-520-06537-6 |ref={{sfnref|Hoffmann, India and the China Crisis|1990}}}}<br />
* {{citation |last=Raghavan |first=Srinath |title=War and Peace in Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbtBJb1bsHUC |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |ISBN=978-1-137-00737-7 |ref={{sfnref|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010}}}}<br />
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{{s-bef|before=S. D. Verma}}<br />
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chief of the General Staff (India)|Chief of the General Staff]]|years=8 May 1961 – 4 October 1962}}<br />
{{s-aft|after= Moti Sagar}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaul, Brij Mohan}}<br />
[[Category:1912 births]]<br />
[[Category:1972 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Military personnel from Lahore]]<br />
[[Category:Indian generals]]<br />
[[Category:People from Lahore]]<br />
[[Category:Kashmiri people]]<br />
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]<br />
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]<br />
[[Category:People of the Sino-Indian War]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal]]</div>Bot