Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army

This article is about the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army. For Commanders-in-Chief of the other countries, see Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
For the present title of the head of the Pakistan Army, see Chief of the Army Staff (Pakistan).
Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army
پاک فوج کے کمانڈر انچیف
Flag of the Pakistan Army
Longest serving
General Muhammad Musa
27 October 1958 – 17 September 1966
Ministry of Defence
Army Secretariat-I at MoD[1]
AbbreviationC-in-C
ResidenceRawalpindi Cantonment
SeatGeneral Headquarters
Rawalpindi Cantonment in Punjab, Pakistan
NominatorGovernor General of Pakistan, Prime Minister or President of Pakistan
AppointerGovernor General of Pakistan, Prime Minister or President of Pakistan
Term lengthNot fixed
Formation15 August 1947 (1947-08-15)
First holderGen. Frank Messervy
Final holderLt. Gen. Gul Hassan Khan
Abolished3 March 1972 (1972-03-03)
SuccessionChief of Army Staff
Unofficial namesArmy chief
DeputyChief of Staff of the Pakistan Army

The Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army (abbreviation: C-in-C of the Pakistan Army) was the professional head of the Pakistan Army from 1947 to 1972.[2] The C-in-C was directly responsible for commanding the army. It was an administrative position and the appointment holder had main operational command authority over the army.[3]

Direct appointments to the command of the Pakistan Army came from the British Army Council until 1951, when the first native Pakistani commander-in-chief (General Ayub Khan) was nominated and appointed by the Government of Pakistan.[4][5]

The C-in-C designation was changed to 'Chief of Army Staff' in 1972; General Tikka Khan was the first person to hold the new title. Six generals have served as C-in-C, the first two of them were native British and the post's name was derived from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the British Indian Army.[6][7][8][9][10]

  1. ^ MoD, Ministry of Defence. "Organogram of MoD" (PDF). Ministry of Defence (Pakistan). Ministry of Defence Press. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  2. ^ Bajwa, Kuldip Singh (2003). "Kashmir Valley saved". Jammu and Kashmir War, 1947-1948: Political and Military Perspective (googlebooks) (1st ed.). New Delhi, India: Har-Anand Publications. p. 320. ISBN 9788124109236. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  3. ^ Siddiqi, Abdurrahman (2020). General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan: The Rise & Fall of a Soldier, 1947-1971. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190701413.
  4. ^ Khan, Mohammad Ayub (1967). Friends Not Masters: A Political Autobiography. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9789697553006.
  5. ^ Harmon, Daniel E. (2008). Pervez Musharraf: President of Pakistan: Easyread Super Large 20pt Edition. ReadHowYouWant.com. ISBN 9781427092038. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  6. ^ Cheema, Pervaiz Iqbal (2002). "Defence Administration". The Armed Forces of Pakistan (google books) (1st ed.). New York, U.S.: NYU Press. p. 225. ISBN 9780814716335. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  7. ^ Shabbir, Usman (2003). "Command and Structure control of the Pakistan Army". pakdef.org. PakDef Military Consortium. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  8. ^ Cloughley, Brian (2016). A History of the Pakistan Army: Wars and Insurrections. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781631440397. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Pakistan: Army and Paramilitary Forces". Factba.se. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  10. ^ "The Army Chief's". www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.