Field marshal (India)

Army
Gen. K.M. Cariappa was appointed to this rank in 1986, more than thirty years after his retirement from the Indian Army. He was a member of the Army Sub Committee of the Forces Reconstitution Committee, which divided the British Indian Army into the Indian and Pakistani Armies after the Partition of India in 1947. He served as the Indian Army's first Commander-in-Chief, India's first Indian Chief of Staff, and led the Indian forces in Kashmir during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.

Sam Manekshaw MC (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), also known as Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was an Indian military leader who was the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. His distinguished military career spanned four decades and five wars, beginning with service in the British Indian Army in World War II. Manekshaw rose to be the 8th chief of staff of the Indian Army in 1969 and under his command, Indian forces conducted victorious campaigns against Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 that led to the liberation of Bangladesh in December 1971.

Air Force
The equivalent rank in the Indian Air Force (IAF), Marshal of the Air Force, was conferred on Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh in 2002 in recognition of his service in building the Force, and for his leadership during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was also the first officer promoted to Air Chief Marshal in the IAF. All previous Indian Chiefs of Air Staff had been Air Marshals.

Navy
The equivalent rank in the Indian Navy is the Admiral of the Fleet, but this has never been awarded.