The Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun is the institution which groooms an enterprising neighbourhood boy into an officer and teaches him to lead his men during war and peace. The origin of IMA dates back to 1912 when the demand for increasing Indians’ participation in the governance of their homeland took firm roots. The persistent efforts of late Gopal Krishna Gokhale led to the setting up of a Commission in 1912 in which he represented the nation’s aspirations. However the then British rulers saw it as a danger to their military interests. So it always met with stout resistance. Nevertheless, Lord Curzon set up the Imperial Cadet Corps in which only selected Indians of proven loyalty were admitted.

Having proved their mettle in the first World War, the Indian soldiers earned the right to be officers in their own army. The Army’s indianisation started with the grant of King’s Commission to 31 trusted Indians including KM Cariappa who later became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. As a feeder institution, the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College was set up at Dehradun in 1922 for providing necessary preliminary training to the Indian boys for
entry into the Military College in England.

The first batch of 40 Gentlemen Cadets passed out of IMA in December 1934. They included SHFJ Manekshaw, Mohd Musa and Smith Dun who rose to become Field Marshals or Generals and later’ the Chiefs of the Indian, Pakistani and Burmese armies respectively.

Between 1934 to 1941, sixteen regular courses passed out of the Academy and 524 Gentlemen Cadets (GCs) were commissioned. From August 1941 to January 1949, the Academy commissioned 3887 Indian and British Gentlemen Cadets.

The Independence in 1947 brought about a change in the command of the Academy. The first Indian Commandant was Brig Thakur Mahadeo Singh. The bifurcation of the Indian Army led to redefining the training needs. Later, the Government of India approved the creation of an Inter-Services Wing for training cadets for the Army, Navy and the Air Force together. Thus, in 1949 the Academy was redesignated the Armed Forces Academy which later became the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1950. The Inter-Services Wing became Joint Services Wing (JSW). The JSW, again rechristened NDA moved to Khadakvasla in December 1954.

The military wing which remained in Dehradun was redesignated Military College, only to be renamed again as the Indian Military Academy in 1960.