ABSTRACT
The present-day Indian defence forces have evolved from the British Indian military that existed at the time of independence in 1947. The mores, traditions, systems and structures that existed then have continued to be followed, with some changes being introduced very gradually and in a measured manner. The Indian political leadership then had little or no experience of matters military. Rather, the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and some of his political colleagues shared a perception that a powerful and unified military might pose a challenge to the civil authority. Military takeovers in the neighbourhood and elsewhere in Asia also reinforced their perceptions. Therefore, one of the causalities of such a thought process was the concept of a unified command.
