page_title: Indian Military Academy
section_title: Demands for an Indian military training academy
hierarchical_section_title: Indian Military Academy / History / Demands for an Indian military training academy
caption_attribution_description: Bain News Service,, publisher. Gen. Sir Philip Chetwode [between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915] 1 negative&#160;: glass&#160;; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. Notes: Title from unverified data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards. Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). Format: Glass negatives. Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication. Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.17309 Call Number: LC-B2- 3238-5
context_page_description: The Indian Military Academy is an officer-training academy of the Indian Army in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. It was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up under the chairmanship of Field Marshal Philip Chetwode. From a class of 40 male cadets in 1932, IMA now has a sanctioned capacity of 1,650. Cadets undergo a training course varying between 3 and 16 months depending on entry criteria. On completion of the course at IMA cadets are permanently commissioned into the army as Lieutenants.
  The Academy, spread over 1,400 acres, houses the Chetwode Hall, Khetarpal Auditorium, Somnath Stadium, Salaria Aquatic Centre, Hoshiar Singh Gymnasium and other facilities that facilitate the training of cadets. Cadets in IMA are organized into a regiment with four battalions of four companies each. The Academy's mission, to train future military leaders of the Indian Army, goes hand in hand with the character building enshrined in the IMA honour code, warrior code and motto. Cadets take part in a variety of sports, adventure activities, physical training, drills, weapons training and leadership development activities.
context_section_description: During the Indian independence movement, Indian leaders recognized the need for a local military institution to meet the needs of an armed force loyal to sovereign India. The Indianisation of the officer cadre of the army began in 1901, but it was only for the elite, and after training they were not allowed into the regular army. The British Raj was reluctant to commission Indian officers or permit local officer training. In 1905, natives could officer only Indian troops and by rank were not equal to commissioned British officers. Up to World War I, the highest rank to which a native soldier of India could rise was Subedar, a rank lower than the lowermost officer rank of Subaltern.
  But following the Indian military performance in World War I, the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms facilitated the officer training of 10 Indian commissioned officers at Royal Military College, Sandhurst. In 1922, the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (now known as the Rashtriya Indian Military College or just RIMC) was set up in Dehradun to prepare young Indians for admission to Sandhurst. The Indianisation of the Army started with the commissioning of 31 Indian officers. Among this first batch of officers to be commissioned was Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, who became the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army in 1969 and later the first Indian Field Marshal.
  
  Despite demands from the Indian officers, the British resisted expansion of the Indian officer cadre. Indian leaders pressed the issue at the first Round Table Conference in 1930. The establishment of an Indian officer training college was one of the few concessions made at the conference. The Indian Military College Committee, set up under the chairmanship of Field Marshal Sir Philip Chetwode, in 1931 recommended the establishment of an Indian Military Academy in Dehradun to produce forty commissioned officers twice a year following two and a half years of training.
caption: General Sir Philip Chetwode
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