Rameshwar Nath Kao was a legendary spymaster of India. He was the founder of the Indian espionage system. Kao founded the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) of India’s external intelligence agency in 1960.Kao was born in Varanasi in 1918.
In 1947, Kao was deputed to the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He was trained under the guidance of Bhola Nath Mullick. Kao was also a close adviser and security chief to three Indian Prime Ministers including Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru.
After the unpredicted Sino-Indian war in 1962, there was a need for the establishment of an intelligence agency. Kao was made the first director in chief of Aviation Research Centre (ARC) at Odisha. In 1968, Intelligence Bureau was bifurcated to Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Kao was made the head of this newly created organization. Kao has also played an important role in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. Kao is also credited for the merger of Sikkim into India in 1975.
Kao guided a team of juniors who were known as ‘Kao boys’. RAW had become a highly efficient force under the direction of R.N. Kao.
