A king's commissioned Indian officer (KCIO) was an Indian officer of the British Indian Army who held a full king's commission after training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, as opposed to the Indian commissioned officers (ICOs), who were trained at the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun, and the viceroy's commissioned officers (VCOs), who were treated in almost all respects as commissioned officers, but only had authority over Indian troops.
KCIOs were introduced in the early 20th century under the Indianisation process. They were equivalent in every way to the British king's commissioned officers (KCOs), held the same ranks, and unlike VCOs had authority over British troops. In fact, most KCIOs served on attachment to a British unit for a year or two early in their careers.
One of the first KCIO was Rana Jodha Jung Bahadur. Commander-in-Chief of Tripura State Forces, Col. Jodha Jung Bahadur Rana MBE, Military Cross Medal, MID Award, GSM Medal, Allied Victory Medal, King George V Silver Jubilee Medal, King George VI Coronation Medal, British War Medal, KCIO first (1st) king's commissioned officer fought in Great World War I commanding Tehri-Garhwal Sappers and Miners 1914-1919 in France, Flanders, Egypt and Mesopotamia. He later commanded forces in Afgan War and Wazirstan War as well. He received 5 bullet wounds in the neck and upper shoulder during The Great War and recovered in London Hospital.
Many officers who later held high rank in the post-independence Indian Army and Pakistan Army began their careers as KCIOs. Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, Hanmantrao Mohite, Kodendera Subayya Thimayya, S. P. P. Thorat, B. M. Kaul, Ishfakul Majid and Ayub Khan were a few of the Sandhurst-trained officers.
The last of the KCIOs in Indian Army Service was General P. P. Kumaramangalam, who retired in 1969.
Those king's commissioned officers who were captured by the Japanese in Malaya, joined the Indian National Army. They were subsequently tried by the British for treason and courtmartialled at the Red Fort trials. Colonel Abdul Aziz Sultan Mohammad Tajik of Peshawar and Prince Burhanuddin of Chitral were two such officers. As they joined Pakistan, they never got their pensions and dues.
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