The genesis of this “Centre of Excellence”, lay in the creation of Imperial Cadets College, for the cadets of the Imperial Cadets Corps in 1901, by the then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon of Kendleston at this very location in Dehra Dun. As a military training nursery for the scions of the Indian Princely Familees, it functioned with success until 1914, when it was disbanded. Thus, a colourful and creative vignette of this tale, which covered a period featuring such notable figures as Lieutenant General Sir Pratap Singh of Jodhpur, who led the legendary Jodhpur Lancers to France & Flanders in 1914, came to an end. The saga of the “Indianisation” of the Army and the creation of an equivalent establishment to Sandhurst on the sub-continent, was taken up thereafter, by eminent personalities such as Motilal Nehru, MA Jinnah, Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Skeen and other members of the Indian Sandhurst Committee.
From 1914 to 1921, the Mechanical Transport School was located at the present location of the college, and thereafter for a brief period it was with a Convalescent Hospital. At the conclusion of World War I, Lord HS Rawlinson, the then Commander-in-Chief, India recognized the need for an establishment to train potential Indian Officers of the former British Indian Army, to enable them obtain the coveted King’s
commission, through direct entry into the Royal Military College, Sandhurst or the Royal Air Force College at Cranwell. The Government of India, accepting the demands of the Indian thinkers and political leaders, accomplished the formal establishment of this College at its present location, on 22 February 1922.
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