Pran Nath Thapar Biography 
Pran Nath Thapar was the fifth Chief of Army Staff of the Indian army. He was born into a prominent Punjabi family on May 23, 1906 as the youngest son of Diwan Bahadur Kunj Behari Thapar of Lahore. Prominent journalist Karan Thapar is his youngest son. The historian Romila Thapar is his niece and Valmik Thapar, the conservationist and tiger expert, is his great nephew. He married Bimla Thapar, a relative of Nehru family.
Pran’s graduation was completed at Government College, Lahore. After graduation, he trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned into the 1st Punjab Regiment in 1926. He remained in the same post for 10 years. Later he attended the staff courses at Quetta and Minley Manor in England. During World War Second, he was at Myanmar. After that he worked in Middle East and Italy. He became Assistant Military Secretary in 1945. Commander as 1st Battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment in Indonesia in 1946 and 161 Indian Infantry Brigade in East Bengal were the major operations done during this time.
After India partition in 1947, he became Director of Military Operations and Intelligence. In November 1947, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. Chief of the General Staff and Military Secretary are other major posts held by him till 1949 before he was appointed as Master General of Ordnance. Later he became Commander of the infantry Division for four years till 1954. In 1954 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General as Commander of a Corps. He went to England to attend Imperial Defence College, London and once returned he was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command followed by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command in 1959. Thapar took over as Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army on 8 May 1961 and served until 19 November 1962. He later resigned in disgrace from India's loss in Sino-Indian War.
Published: N/A
Updated: April 02, 2014
