History helps leaders avoid mistakes: Gen Naravane

PUNE: Army Chief General Manoj Naravane on Saturday said that the purpose of the military history is to learn from the mistakes of the past, as it helps understand why some leaders succeed and why some failed.

Gen Naravane was speaking at the launch of book titled ‘Ya Sam Ha’ (One and the Only) written by Major General Shashikant Pitre (retired). 

The book gives an insight into the military aspect of the times of Baji Rao I, who is better known as Bajirao Peshwa, who remained unconquered in 39 battles he fought. Maj Gen Pitre, a war veteran of 1965 and 1971 wars and an officer of Corps of Engineers, has written seven books till now.

“India from ancient times has witnessed a succession of dynasties and empires. However, we have been very poor chroniclers of history. We have a tradition of ballads or oral history. They used to recite ballads and other stories in musical form in the praise of the kings they served, however, what was missing was the analytical insights of what was actually happening on the ground. In the absence of a well-chronicled history, the education of the military leaders has suffered,” the Army Chief said. 

He further added, “The purpose of the military history is to learn from the mistakes of the past. There are always historical parallels and it is for us to recognise those. The study of military history by itself is not a panacea or solution to all but a careful reading of military history will certainly give us insights and provide inputs for some decision making. Probably those leaders who succeed are the ones who learned the lessons from history and therefore avoided the mistakes.”

Speaking about qualities of a military leader, Gen Naravane said, “Ground, relative strength and time and space are three key factors, which we keep in mind whenever we do the basic. 

Any General who can analyse these factors and shape the battlefield to his advantage ultimately wins that battle. Bajirao had the uncanny ability to select such ground and then orchestrate the battle and channelise the enemy into that pre-selected killing ground. That is how he achieved all his successes.” 

At the book launch, former Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal PV Naik (retd), Lt Gen Vinayak Patankar (retd) and strategic and international affairs expert Dr Shrikant Paranjpe also spoke about military prowess of Bajirao Peshwa.