Who was the first Field Marshal of the Indian Army?

The correct answer is B, Sam Manekshaw, who led the Indian Army as Chief of the Army Staff during the war of 1971 and was the first officer raised to the five-star rank of Field Marshal.

Option A, General K. M. Cariappa, was given the same rank many years later, but his own first is different and is asked just as often: he was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, taking charge in 1949. Option C, Arjan Singh, was promoted to Marshal of the Indian Air Force, the equivalent five-star rank in the air force, so he is a rank-based distractor rather than an army one. Option D, General J. N. Chaudhuri, commanded the army during the war of 1965 but held no five-star rank. Keep the other service firsts with these: Subroto Mukerjee was the first Indian Chief of the Air Staff and R. D. Katari the first Indian Chief of the Naval Staff.