Darshan Kumar Khullar is an Indian mountaineer, writer and a former

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. I ...

of 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- ...

. He led the

Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

expedition which included Bachendri Pal and

Phu Dorjee Phu Dorjee (also spelled Phu Dorji) was a Sherpa and the first Indian to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. He did so on May 5, 1984 on a solo ascent from the South East Ridge. Dorjee died in 1987 on the Kanchanjunga Expedition of ...

that summitted the peak in May 1984. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

awarded him the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 1984.

Biography

Born in 1941 at Bassi Pathana in

Fatehgarh Sahib district Fatehgarh Sahib district is one of the twenty-three districts of the state of Punjab, India, with its headquarters in the town of Fatehgarh Sahib. The district came into existence on 13April 1992, Baisakhi Day and derives its name from Sahi ...

in the Indian state of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, Khullar did his education at the

Rashtriya Indian Military College The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) is a military school for boys and girls situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for ...

, Dehradun. He was commissioned into 22 Mountain Regiment in the

Regiment of Artillery The Regiment of Artillery is a combat/fighting arm of the Indian Army, which provides massive firepower during all ground operations of the Indian Army. It is a successor to the Royal Indian Artillery (RIA) of British Indian Army, which itsel ...

in 1961. He participated in the

Sino-Indian War The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...

of 1962. He commanded 168 Field Regiment. As a Brigadier, he commanded 54 Artillery Brigade (under 54th Infantry Division) in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. He briefly commanded the corps artillery brigade in Kashmir, when the insurgency broke out. He took premature retirement from the Army in 1993. He was the principal of the

Himalayan Mountaineering Institute The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI Darjeeling) was established in Darjeeling, India on 4 November 1954 to encourage mountaineering as an organized sport in India. The first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund ...

(HMI),

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

between 1981 and 1985. He was chosen as the leader of the 1984 Everest expedition team composed of eleven men and six women, which summitted the peak in May 1984 through the South East Ridge route. The team included Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to scale

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

and

, the first Indian to climb the peak without oxygen. Khullar is a member of the Expedition Commission of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation, Berne, Switzerland. He is the author of several books on mountaineering and international politics and has co-authored the second book written by Bachendri Pal in 2006 about the Trans-Himalayan all-women expedition of 1997. Khullar lives a retired life in

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-are ...

in Haryana.

Works

Some of his publications are: * ''Themes of Glory: Indian Artillery in War'' * ''The Call of Everest: First Ascent by an Indian Woman'' * ''A Mountain of Happiness'' * ''When Generals Failed: The Chinese Invasion: Abdiction from Battle, Tawang, Sela, and Bomdila, 1962'' * ''Security, Peace and Honour'' * ''Pakistan, Our Difficult Neighbour and Allied Issues'' * ''Pakistan our Difficult Neighbour and India's Islamic Dimensions''

Awards

The

awarded him the civilian honour of

in 1984. He was also awarded the Arjuna award and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khullar, D. K. Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports 1941 births Living people People from Fatehgarh Sahib district Military personnel from Punjab, India Rashtriya Indian Military College alumni Mountain climbers from Punjab, India Indian summiters of Mount Everest Writers from Punjab, India Indian Army personnel Recipients of the Arjuna Award

Biography

Works

Awards

See also

References