General George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie,, styled Lord Ramsay until 1787, and Baron Dalhousie from 1815, was a Scottish soldier and colonial administrator. He was Governor of Nova Scotia from 1816 to 1820, Governor General of British North America from 1820 to 1828 and later Commander-in-Chief in India. In turn, his son, James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, would later serve as Governor-General of India.

During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his staff were based at GHQ India, and liaised with the civilian Governor-General of India. Following the Partition of India in 1947 and the creation of the independent dominions of India and Pakistan, the post was abolished. It was briefly replaced by the position of Supreme Commander of India and Pakistan before the role was abolished in November 1948. Subsequently, the role of Commander-in-Chief was merged into the offices of the Commanders-in-Chief of the independent Indian Army and Pakistan Army, respectively, before becoming part of the office of the President of India from 1950 and of the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army from 1947.