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]
Dominion of Pakistan was born on 14 August 1947 and its army was known as 'Royal Pakistan Army'; on 15 August British Indian Army's General Frank Messervy became the first C-in-C of the newly created Pakistan Army. General Ayub Khan was the first native Pakistani to hold the appointment on 17 January 1951. However, Ayub didn't hold the substantive rank of full general till 1957.
In 1969, when General Yahya Khan became President of Pakistan, Lieutenant General Abdul Hamid Khan was promoted to full General and was appointed as the 'Chief of Staff of the Army'.[8] On 20 March 1972, the commander-in-chief post was renamed as "Chief of Army Staff (COAS)" with Lieutenant-GeneralTikka Khan elevated to four star rank to be appointed as army's first chief of army staff; this renaming was done copying India's COAS appointment.[13]
The first native Pakistani person to be the C-in-C and as a substantive full general to hold the appointment, also the first chief to become President of the country. He was a self promoted Field Marshal after becoming the President.[14]
Last C-in-C of the Pakistan Army, serving till 1972 in the rank of lieutenant general.
Responsibility
The responsibility of the C-in-C was to perform as the chief commander of the army, he was responsible to make army and war policies along with other senior generals. He had the main command authority over the army. It was also the responsibility of the general to preside over the formation commanders meeting and any other meeting in the General Headquarters.
The C-in-Cs were assisted by Chiefs of Staff (COS), as prior to the birth of Pakistan, the GHQ, Pakistan was an army command's HQ of the British Indian Army (the Northern Command, India) and there had been the appointment of the Chief of Staff under the command's commander, this trend continued in independent Pakistan's newly created army headquarters (GHQ).[15] The last Chief of Staff was General Abdul Hamid Khan, who served till 1971. Another noted chief of staff was Lieutenant General Nasir Ali Khan in 1950s.[15][16]
^Cheema, Pervaiz Iqbal (2002). "Defence Administration". The Armed Forces of Pakistan(google books) (1st ed.). New York, U.S.: NYU Press. p. 225. ISBN9780814716335. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
^ abBajwa, Kuldip Singh (2003). "Kashmir Valley Saved"(google books). Jammu and Kashmir war, 1947-1948 : political and military perspective (1st ed.). New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. p. 350. ISBN9788124109236. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
^ abSingh, Ravi Shekhar Narain Singh (2008). "Military and Politics"(googlebooks). The Military Factor in Pakistan (1st ed.). London, UK: Lancer Publishers. p. 550. ISBN9780981537894. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
