Begum Mahmooda Salim Khan ( ur, بیگم محمودہ سلیم خان; May 1913 – June 2007) was a Pakistani

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

, early political figure and a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was d ...

for education during President Ayub Khan's regime.

Background

Begum Salim Khan was born in 1913, at

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, then

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. She was the eldest daughter of the renowned Unionist Party statesman,

Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan '' Khan Bahadur'' Captain Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, (5 June 1892 – 26 December 1942), also written Sikandar Hyat-Khan or Sikandar Hyat Khan, was an Indian politician and statesman from the Punjab who served as the Premier of the Punjab, amon ...

of Wah from his first wife, Begum Zubaida Khanum. After her mother's death in 1919, she was raised by her aunt and educated at

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

School for

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Women and Queen Mary's College,

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. ...

. In 1934, she was married to

Abdus Salim Khan Abdus Salim Khan, also known as Khan Sahib (28 December 1907 – 12/13 July 1957) was an Indian Civil Servant who later joined Pakistani Civil Service to become a diplomat. He served as an ambassador to several countries representing Pakistan. ...

a Civil Servant from

Talokar Talokar is a village in the Haripur area of Hazara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province) in Pakistan. History Talokar was founded during the 12th or 13th century AD by the Talokar is khoker awan but in the 17th century b ...

Haripur. who was the eldest son of an aristocrat Abdul Majid Khan Tarin, OBE. Her husband served the Government of

and later served the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to ...

of the newly created state of Pakistan from 1947 onwards. In initial years of her married life she focussed primarily on looking after household and raising her children like any Pakistani housewife. However, she gradually, involved herself in helping the people through welfare activities, and got socially more active. Her endeavors in this regard were multifaceted and added much to the benefit of the Pakistani society.

Philanthropy

On her husband's death in 1957, Begum Salim Khan moved to the town of

Abbottabad Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourth ...

, Pakistan, where she became increasingly involved in various social and charitable works over the years, in close collaboration with other well-known women social workers such as Lady

Viqar un Nisa Noon Begum Viqar un Nisa (also known as Victoria Rekha or ‘Lady Noon’; 1920 – 16 January 2000) was the Spouse of the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1957 to 1958. By profession, she was a social worker. She married 7th Pakistani Prime Minis ...

, Begum Zari Sarfaraz, Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan Dr

Attiya Inayatullah Attiya Inayatullah is a Pakistani politician who had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan between 1985 and 2013. Early life and education She holds master's degree in Sociology from Boston University and obtained her PhD degree fr ...

and Begum

Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah (22 July 1915 – 11 December 2000) was a Pakistani Bengali, Bengali Pakistani politician from Bengal, diplomat and author. She was the first Muslim woman to earn a PhD from the University of London. She wa ...

; and also served as Chief Executive of organizations such as the Family Planning Association of Pakistan, Pakistan Red Crescent Society, Lok Virsa Museum, National Crafts Council of Pakistan, Anti TB Association of Pakistan, the

SOS Children's Villages SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children in need and protect ...

, Pakistan and others. She also remained patron-president of the National Youth Council of Pakistan and received the

Adelaide Ristori Adelaide Ristori (29 January 18229 October 1906) was a distinguished Italian tragedienne, who was often referred to as the Marquise. Biography She was born in Cividale del Friuli, the daughter of strolling players and appeared as a child on the ...

Award, Italy, in 1980, for her work in promoting cultural activities among Pakistani youth. She also received several other national and international awards for social welfare activities.

Political career

Back in 1960s, she was sworn in as the first ever woman Provincial Minister in West Pakistan's Cabinet, during 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 ...

government, serving as Minister of Education in 1962-1967. But her stay in politics was brief and she resumed her welfare activities which she continued till her demise. She had passion for gardening and was very fond of flowers. She died peacefully at her home in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2007, at the age of 94 years.News obituary, The Nawai Waqt, Islamabad ed, 18 June 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Begum Mahmooda Salim 1913 births 2007 deaths Pakistani social workers 20th-century Pakistani women politicians Politicians from Amritsar People from Amritsar Hayat Khattar family Queen Mary College, Lahore alumni Women federal ministers of Pakistan