New Delhi  - One of India's greatest war heroes, field marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, died Friday, the Defence Ministry said. He was 94.

Manekshaw died from a progressive lung disease at the military hospital in the southern Indian town of Wellington, the ministry said in a statement.

"He had developed acute bronchopneumonia with associated complications, and his condition had been serious for the past four days," the statement said.

Born on April 3, 1914, Manekshaw was commissioned into the Indian army in 1934 when the country was under British rule.

Manekshaw became chief of Indian Army in 1969 and crafted what is considered India's greatest military victory in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Manekshaw, whose military career spanned four decades and five wars, was conferred the rank of field marshal in 1973, one of only two Indian generals to have risen to that position, the ministry said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mourned the death of Manekshaw, popularly known as Sam Bahadur, which means brave in Hindi.

Singh described him as "one of India's greatest soldiers and a truly inspiring leader of the country."

"Military historians will forever record the strategic brilliance and the inspirational leadership of Sam Bahadur," Singh said in his condolence message. (dpa)