Nathu Singh Rathore

Lt. Gen. Nathu Singh Rathore was from Gumanpura^[1], in the erstwhile state of Dungarpur in Rajasthan. It is well known that he was favored by Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck to be the first Indian Army Chief and had made his recommendation accordingly. But in conversations with the then Defence Minister, Sardar Baldev Singh and the then Prime Minister Mr. Nehru, Gen. Nathu Singh had said that it might not be fair to supersede General Cariappa.

He recalled that at the time of the Chinese invasion of Tibet, he was the GOC-in-C of the Eastern Command, and had suggested that to the powers that be that one of his brigades could hold up the Chinese at the fort of Chamdo, whilst two more in reserve, could have prevented any breakthrough by them, as forces available to them then were far less in those days. But he was ignored.

Early Years

General Nathu Singh was born in 1900^[2], although official records say he was born on 10th may 1902 at Gumanpura in the princely state of Dungarpur. He was the only son of Thakur Hamir Singhji of Gumanpura who was a descendant of Rathore Jaimal who fought for Mewar against Akbar. Gen. Nathu Singhji lost his parents at a very young age and was then taken under the wings of HRH Maharawal Vijay Singhji of Dungarpur.

Gen. Nathu Singh did his schooling at Mayo college and was nicknamed Baghi (Rebel) by his peers. He was later sent to Sandhurst academy in England to be trained as an officer in Imperial Army on the request of HRH Rajmata of Dungarpur. At Sandhurst, he met Subhash Chandra Bose and both had many meetings together, none were political though.

Days in army

Thakur Gen. Nathu Singh was the second officer to graduate from Sandhurst Academy after General Rajendra Sinhji who went on to become a three star general. He served in 1/7 Rajput regiment. With regiment he served at various places including Afghanistan, Deccan - secunderabad etc. At Staff college he scored 935 out of 1000 in Strategy, that still remains a record. He served in Burma during the World War - II^[3].

He climbed the military hierarchy and at the time of India's independence, he was offered to be the C-in-C of Indian army by Sardar Baldev Singh, the defence minister at the time. He promptly refused stating that Gen. Cariappa was senior to him and eligible for the post^[4].

References

1. ^ V. K. Singh, Leadership in the Indian army: biographies of twelve soldiers , page 55
2. ^ V. K. Singh, Leadership in the Indian army: biographies of twelve soldiers, page 56
3. ^ Pradeep Barua, Gentlemen of the Raj: the Indian Army Officer Corps, 1817-1949
4. ^ Rajendra Nath, Military leadership in India:Vedic period to Indo-Pak wars, page 15

Mayoites