Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Rai Singh Yadav,

MVC MVC may refer to: Science and technology * Maximum-value composite procedure, an imaging procedure * Multivariable calculus, a concept in mathematics * Multivariable control, a concept in process engineering * Mechanical vapor compression, a desal ...

(17 March 1925 – 23 March 2017) was an officer in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

notable for his participation in the Nathu La and Cho La clashes 1967. He displayed exemplary courage and leadership during the clashes, for which he was awarded the

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...

, India's second highest military decoration. He is also known as the Tiger of Nathu La.

Early life

Rai Singh Yadav was born in the village of Kosli in

Gurgaon district Gurgaon district, officially known as Gurugram district, is one of the 22 districts of Haryana in northern India. The city of Gurgaon is the administrative headquarters of the district. The population is 1,514,432. It is one of the southern dist ...

of Punjab Province (now in

Rewari district Rewari district is one of the 22 districts in the state of Haryana, India. It was carved out of Gurgaon district by the Government of Haryana on 1November 1989. It is also part of the National Capital Region. The administrative headquarter of t ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

) on 17 March 1925. His father was Rai Sahib Ganpat Singh who had served in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

in 1920s. Rai Singh passed his Senior Cambridge from King George Military School, Jullundur.

Military career

Rai Singh joined the Army as a sepoy in 1944. He was commissioned into 2 Grenadiers on 10 December 1950. In 1967, with the rank of Lt Col, he was commanding the 2 Grenadiers battalion deployed at

Nathu La Nathu La (, ) is a mountain pass in the Dongkya Range of the Himalayas between China's Yadong County in Tibet, and the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal in Bengal, South Asia. The pass, at , connects the towns of Kalimpong and Gangtok to ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

, when the Chinese Army attempted incursions into Indian held territory, leading to the

Nathu La and Cho La clashes The Nathu La and Cho La clashes, sometimes referred to as the Sino-Indian War of 1967, consisted of a series of border clashes between India and China alongside the border of the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, then an Indian protectorate. The ...

. In order to hold on to the Nathu La pass and defeat the Chinese attempted incursions, Lt Col Rai Singh led his men from the front and displayed conspicuous bravery and exceptional leadership in the face of the enemy.

In popular culture

Brigadier Rai Singh Yadav's character was played by Bollywood actor

Arjun Rampal Arjun Rampal (born 26 November 1972) is an Indian actor, model, film producer and television personality who works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romance film ''Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and has since gone on to ...

in the 2018 Indian Hindi-language film

Paltan (film) ''Paltan'' (; ) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language action-war film written, directed and produced by J. P. Dutta, based on 1967 Nathu La and Cho La clashes along the Sikkim border after 1962 Sino-Indian War. It stars an ensemble cast with Jackie S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yadav, Rai Singh Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra People from Rewari district Indian generals Military personnel from Haryana 1925 births 2017 deaths

Early life

Military career

In popular culture

See also

Further reading

References