Malik Amir Mohammad Khan (; 20 June 1910 – 26 November 1967) was the Nawab of Kalabagh and a prominent

feudal lord An overlord in the Kingdom of England, English Feudalism in England, feudal system was a lord of the manor, lord of a manor who had Subinfeudation, subinfeudated a particular Manorialism, manor, Estate in land, estate or fief, fee, to a Leaseho ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, the chief or

sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

of the

Awan Awan may refer to: Places * Awan (ancient city), a city-state in Elam in the 3rd millennium BCE * Awan (region), a town in Guna district, Madhya Pradesh, India * Awan, Bhulath, a village in Kapurthala district, Punjab, India, Punjab, Pakistan * ...

tribe, and of his tribal estate

Kalabagh Kalabagh ( ur, ) is a town and union council of Mianwali District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is part of Isakhel Tehsil. It is located on the western bank of the Indus River. It was the seat of the ''nawab'' of Kalabagh, who lived in ...

, in

Mianwali District The Mianwali District ( ur, ), is a district located in Sargodha Division of Punjab province, Pakistan. It was separated from NWFP in 1901, and has a border with the Chakwal, Attock,Kohat, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Bhakkar, an ...

of north western

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

Early life

Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan received his college education at

Aitchison College Aitchison College ( ur, ایچیسن کالج) is an independent, semi-private boys school for boarding and day students from grade 1–13 in Lahore, Pakistan. It has a tradition of providing an education that uses academics, sports, and co-curri ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and then went on to finish his education at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Career

Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan served as a member of the

Provincial Assembly of Punjab The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Punjab, which is located in Lahore, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Paki ...

from 1956 – 1958. He also served as

Governor of West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial Enclave and exclave, exclaves created during the One Unit, One Unit Schem ...

from 1960 to 1966. He was appointed chairman

Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) ( ur, ) is a state corporation of Pakistan working under Ministry of Industries and Production. It was established in 1952. PIDC was created to set up industries in such fields where large cap ...

with the rank of a Central Minister in 1959, and subsequently

on 12 April 1960 by Pakistan President General

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

. His role during the

Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

is praised, as he kept the law and order, controlled the prices, trafficked the raw material, and prevented smuggling. Among the guests to his famous Kalabagh guest house, the Bohr Bangalow were

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

in 1952 and former Pakistani Presidents

Iskander Mirza Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakis ...

and

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

. General Jahandad Khan, who was military secretary to Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan, the then governor of West Pakistan, wrote a book, ''Pakistan Leadership Challenges''. In that book Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan comes across as a sound, no-nonsense administrator, firmly wedded to the values and traditions of the feudal class. He was also considered "brutal," "ruthless" and "harsh" in both his public and private life. British assessment of the Nawab of Kalabagh was very similar. In his book ''Jahandad'', Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan's military secretary dismisses alleged rumours about a somewhat sinister aspect of the Ayub regime. In 1963, the regime faced strong opposition from the political party

Jamaat-i-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fr ...

. Ayub himself "felt gravely threatened by its head,

Maudoodi Abul A'la al-Maududi ( ur, , translit=Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in British India and later, following the parti ...

." "Some sycophants" sought to persuade Ayub that "the physical elimination" of Maulana would bring peace to the country and that Malik Amir Mohammad Khan would help execute this attempt. Khan dismisses this as a baseless rumour in his above book.

Death

It was widely reported in Pakistani

news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and th ...

that his third youngest son Asadullah Khan killed him over a family property dispute on 26 November 1967.

Descendants

His eldest son Nawab Malik Muzaffar Khan won a

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

seat from NW-44, Mianwali-I in the December 1970 elections. Nawab Malik Muzzafar Khan had three sons: the eldest Malik Idrees Khan, the second Malik Fareed khan and the youngest Malik Waheed Khan. Nawab Malik Idrees Khan became the Nawab of Kalabagh after his father’s death. He died without issue. After his death, his second Brother Nawab Malik Fareed Khan became Nawab. Nawab Malik Fareed Khan died in a vehicle accident. Thus his only son Nawab Malik Mohammad Ali Khan became Nawab of Kalabagh, a position he holds to this day. Nawab Malik Amir Muhammad Khan's second son Malik Allah Yar also remained a member of Majlis-e-Shoora during

General Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law i ...

's military regime. Amir Mohammad Khan's grandson from his third son, Malik Asad

Malik Amad Khan Nawabzada Malik Ahmad Khan , or simply Malik Ahmad Khan is the former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Pakistan), Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and member of Majlis-e-Shoora from 2008 to 2013. He was one of the youngest members of ...

, won the National Assembly seat from NA-71 Mianwali-I in the February 2008 elections as an independent candidate. Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan's fourth and youngest son Malik Azam Khan was murdered in 1995. Malik Azam died without issue. His paternal granddaughter, Sumaira Malik, the daughter of his second son Malik Allahyar Khan, was a member of the National Assembly from 2004 until she was disqualified in 2013.Sumaira Malik, Member of National Assembly on pakistanileaders.com website
Retrieved 5 March 2018

Early life

Career

Death

Descendants

See also

References

Further reading