Indian Territorial Army was Founded 66 Years Ago on this Day: All you Need to Know

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

India's first Governor General Shri C Rajagopalachari formally inaugurated the Indian Territorial Army on this day in 1949. It is an organization where volunteers apply for a training of a few days in a year to be ready to tackle any emergent situation or to serve for the defence of India.

The Territorial Army, also known as the 'Terriers', is considered the second line of national defence after the regular Army. According to the Indian Army official website, "the Territorial Army is part of Regular Army and its present role is to relieve the Regular Army from static duties and assist civil administration in dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services in situations where life of the communities is affected or the Security of the Country is threatened and to provide units for Regulars Army as and when required."

The armed regiment of the Territorial Army had been actively involved in several military operations (OP) such as in OP-PAWAN in Sri Lanka, OP RAKSHAK in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, OP RHINO and OP BAJRANG in North East India. Apart from these, the Terriers have also taken part in humanitarian operations such as coming to aid during earthquake in Latoor and Uttarkashi and the super cyclone in Odisha.

The Terriers also present honorary ranks to civilians who have achieved great heights in their respective fields.

Here are five personalities who have received honorary ranks by the Indian Territorial Army:

1. Kapil Dev: The 'Haryana Hurricane' Kapil Dev joined the Territorial Army on September 24, 2008. The Army honoured him with the post of Honorary Lieutenant Colonel for his contribution to Indian cricket.

2. Mohanlal: The South-Indian filmmaker Mohanlal also joined the Terriers on July 9, 2009. Being the only actor to have received this honour, Mohanlal has been posted as the Lieutenant Colonel of the Madras Regiment. He was honoured for his work in films such as Kirti Chakra and Kurukshetra.

3. Deepak Rao: He is the man behind India's training on advanced close quarter battles. Accordig to Army records, Deepak and his wife Seema Rao have trained around 15,000 soldiers over the span of 17 years in close quarter battle training. The Ministry of Defence cited them to be specialists in close quarter warfare. Deepak has received an Honorary Rank of Major in the Territorial Army.

4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni: On November 1, 2011, Team India's most successful captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni received an honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army. He chose to join the Parachute Regiment as it was the most challenging section of the force.

5. Abhinav Bindra: India's first and only Olympic Gold medalist received the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel at the Sikh Regiment in the Territorial Army along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni.