Brevet Honorary ranks and honour, also called
brevet, are granted in the Indian Army, and its branches such as
India Territorial Army (TA), for various reasons. These ranks may not entitle the rank holder to pay, pension, or perks (e.g. ranks given to celebrities).
Retiring Soldiers Since the time of the British Raj, •
Mohanlal Viswanathan, 2009, Lieutenant Colonel, TA, (
Madras Regiment),
Mollywood actor and filmmaker •
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 2011, Lieutenant Colonel, TA, (
Parachute Regiment), cricketer •
Abhinav Bindra, 2011, Lieutenant Colonel, TA, (
Sikh Regiment), sports shooter and politician •
Deepak Rao, 2011, Major, TA, (Parachute Regiment), military trainer and author
Foreign trainees at India's military academies Trainees of foreign nations who are trained by the military academies of India, such as the
National Defence Academy (NDA) or the
Indian Military Academy (IMA), are sometimes awarded honorary ranks in the Indian Army. The trainees are usually from friendly armies, such as the
Singapore Army.
Reciprocal awarding of honorary ranks to other nations Nepal Since 1950, when former Indian Army Chief General
K. M. Cariappa visited Nepal, awarding the highest reciprocal
honorary ranks to the newly appointed serving chiefs of each other's armies is a practice followed by India and Nepal. For example, in 2009 the newly appointed
Nepal Army Chief General
Chhatra Man Singh Gurung was decorated with the honorary rank of General of the Indian army at
Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi by the
President of India who is also the
Supreme Commander of Indian Army. Similarly, in 2010, the newly appointed
Indian Army Chief General
V. K. Singh was awarded the honorary rank of General of Nepal Army at
Shital Niwas in Kathmandu by the
President of Nepal who is also the
Supreme Commander of Nepal Army.
British Colonial era: Indian Army ranks to British Army Some members of the ruling families of
Princely states were given ceremonial honorary ranks during the colonial era. An 1832 journal reports that during the colonial
British Raj era, the Commander-in-Chief of
British Army (
ex officio role of the serving
Monarch of Britain) promulgated an order directing that the Lieutenant Colonel of
H.M. (British Royal Army) cannot be superseded by the
East India Company's Indian Army's Lieutenant Colonel. Whenever an Indian Army Lieutenant Colonel was promoted to Colonel, all the British Army's Lieutenant Colonels who were deployed with the Indian Army and had the same date and rank as the newly appointed Colonel of the Indian Army were also mandatorily given the local Indian Army's honorary rank of Colonel from the date of their Lieutenant Colonelcy with the British Army. This unfair system preserved the fictional equivalency of British Army officers with Indian Army officers while denying the officers of the Indian Army their hard-earned honours and ranks within their peculiar service. This was not a reciprocal system, i.e., Lieutenant Colonel of
East India Company (EIC) (Indian Army) were not promoted to Colonel's rank when a British Army Lieutenant Colonel of equal date and rank was promoted to Colonel's rank in the Indian Army. For example, when a ranked Lieutenant Colonel of
Bengal Army was promoted to Colonel he was ranked 34th on the general list, he superseded 33 other Lieutenant Colonels of Indian Army, along with him all of the British Army's Lieutenant Colonel serving with the
Bengal Presidency were also given the honorary rank of Colonel of Bengal Presidency and they superseded 33 Lieutenant Colonels of Indian Army who were their seniors. The army officers of the EIC appealed against this derogatory and non-reciprocal system in the EIC's Court of Directors. EIC directors had no authority to revoke or amend the order issued by the British monarch. == Retired officers: form of address ==