The family of
Imran Khan
Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...
, the former
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Paki ...
and former
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the
Pakistan cricket team
The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International ...
, is the former
First Family of Pakistan The family of head of state and government in Pakistan is an unofficial title for the family of the head of state or head of government of a country (usually a republic). In Pakistan, the term ''First Family'' usually refers to the head of state (t ...
. Imran Khan was born on 5 October 1952 in
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. ...
to father Ikramullah Niazi. He grew up as the only son in the family, with four sisters. The family are ethnically of
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
origin. Paternally, Khan belongs to the
Niazi
Niazi (; , ps, نيازي; ur, نیازی) Niazai, Nyazi, Nyazai, Niyazi or Niyazai is one of the largest Pashtun tribes which resides in Afghanistan and northwestern part of Pakistan.
The earliest work which provides the details about ...
Pashtun tribe which has
long been settled in
Mianwali
Mianwali ( Punjabi/ ur, ) is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan. The 81st largest city of Pakistan, it is known for its diverse population of, Punjabi and Pashtun ethnicities.
History
Mianwali District was an agricu ...
in northwestern
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 ...
.
Khan's mother hailed from the
Burki
The Ormur ( ps, اورمړ), also called Burki or Baraki ( ps, برکي), are an Eastern Iranic people mainly living in Baraki Barak, Logar, Afghanistan and in Kaniguram, South Waziristan.
Despite speaking their own distinct Eastern Iranian l ...
Pashtun tribe settled in
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...
, Punjab, which emigrated a few centuries ago from
South Waziristan
South Waziristan District ( ps, سويلي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) was a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before splitting in to Lower South Waziristan District and Upper South Waziristan District and ...
in the
tribal areas of northwest Pakistan.
Khan's maternal family has produced several great cricketers, the most prominent of whom are
Javed Burki
Javed Burki ( ur, ; born 8 May 1938) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played in 25 Test matches from 1960 to 1969 to eventually become an ICC match referee. Burki received his early education from Saint Mary's Academy at Rawalpindi. He a ...
and
Majid Khan.
From 1995 to 2004, Imran Khan was married to
Jemima Goldsmith
Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith (born 30 January 1974; known as Jemima Khan for work) is an English screenwriter, television, film and documentary producer and the founder of Instinct Productions, a television production company. She was formerly a j ...
, a British socialite turned writer and activist, and member of the influential
Goldschmidt family
The Goldschmidt family is a family of German Jewish descent, originally from Frankfurt am Main, known for their success in banking. With origins tracing back to the 15th century, most members were forced to leave Frankfurt after the 1614 Fettmil ...
of England. They have two sons from the marriage Sulaiman Isa Khan (born 1996) and Kasim Khan (born 1999). The marriage ended amicably in
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
in 2004. In early 2015, Khan announced his second marriage to the British Pakistani journalist
Reham Khan
Reham Nayyar Khan (Urdu/Pashto: ; born 3 April 1973) is a British-Pakistani journalist, author, and filmmaker from Baffa, Pakistan. She is a former wife of Imran Khan, who later became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018, The publication of ...
. The marriage lasted nine months and ended in divorce on 30 October 2015.
In 2018, he married
Bushra Maneka
Bushra Bibi Khan () is the third spouse of Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. She and Khan married six months before he assumed office as Prime Minister.
Early life
Bushra Bibi was born to a conservative, politically influential ...
, who was previously his
spiritual mentor.
Elementary family
Wives
Jemima Goldsmith
![Jemima Goldsmith](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Jemima_Goldsmith.jpg)
On 16 May 1995, Khan married Jemima Goldsmith, in a traditional
Pakistani wedding ceremony in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a
civil ceremony A civil, or registrar, ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by a government official or functionary. In the United Kingdom, this person is typically called a registrar. In the United States, civil ceremonies may be performed ...
at the
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
registry office in England, followed by a reception at the Goldsmiths' house in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
which was attended by London's elite.
The wedding was named by the media as "The wedding of the century".
Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith is the eldest child of Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart and Billionaire financier Sir James Goldsmith, who was one of richest men in UK. Goldsmith enrolled at the University of Bristol in 1993 and studied English, but dropped out when she was married in 1995. She eventually completed her bachelor's degree in March 2002 with upper second-class honours. In 2003, she received her MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, focusing on Modern Trends in Islam.
The marriage, described as "tough" by Khan,
ended in 2004 after nine years. Shortly after their marriage, Imran and Jemima arrived at Zaman Park in Lahore from their honeymoon at one of the Goldsmiths' farms in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, and were greeted by international and local reporters. It was also announced that Jemima had converted to Islam and she would use 'Khan' as her last name.
As an agreement of his marriage, Khan spent four months a year in England and the rest in
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. ...
. The marriage produced two sons, Sulaiman Isa (born 18 November 1996) and Kasim (born 10 April 1999).
During the marriage Jemima actively participated in a Khan led charity drive for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre and also supported her husband in starting his initial political career.
Rumours circulated that the couple's marriage was in crisis. Jemima placed an advertisement in Pakistan newspapers to deny them. It read: "Whilst it is true that I am currently studying for a master's degree at the
School of Oriental and African Studies
SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...
in London, it is certainly not true to say that Imran and I are having difficulties in our marriage. This is a temporary arrangement."
On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the couple had divorced, ending the nine-year marriage because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan" despite both their best efforts.
The marriage ended amicably. Khan described the six months leading to the divorce and the six months after as the hardest years of his life. After the divorce Jemima returned to Britain with the boys. According to the divorce settlement, Khan's sons visit him in Pakistan during their school holidays while he stays with his former mother-in-law,
Lady Annabel Goldsmith
Lady Annabel Goldsmith (' Vane-Tempest-Stewart, formerly Birley; born 11 June 1934) is an English socialite and the eponym for a London nightclub of the late 20th century, Annabel's. She was first married for two decades to entrepreneur Mark B ...
, when he comes to London to see them.
Reham Khan
In January 2015, Imran Khan married
British Pakistani
British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...
journalist and television anchor
Reham Khan
Reham Nayyar Khan (Urdu/Pashto: ; born 3 April 1973) is a British-Pakistani journalist, author, and filmmaker from Baffa, Pakistan. She is a former wife of Imran Khan, who later became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018, The publication of ...
, after months of speculation. The marriage was conducted via a simple
nikah
In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islami ...
ceremony at Khan's residence in Bani Gala. The marriage ended in divorce nine months later, in October 2015.
Reham belonged to the Lughmani sub-clan of the
Swati tribe.
She comes from
Mansehra
Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city of Pakistan and 7th largest city in the province.
The name of the city (written in Hindko, Urdu and Goj ...
in the
Hazara region of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
,
and speaks the local dialect
Hindko, in addition to
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
and Urdu.
Bushra Bibi
Khan married Bushra Bibi, who was in her 40s, on 18 February 2018 at his residence in Lahore.
["PTI confirms Imran Khan's marriage to Bushrangers Maneka in Lahore"](_blank)
Dawn, 18 February 2018. Retrieved on 1 August 2018 She is known for her connection to
Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
; prior to her marriage with Khan, she had been his
spiritual mentor (''
murshid
''Murshid'' ( ar, مرشد) is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher", derived from the root ''r-sh-d'', with the basic meaning of having integrity, being sensible, mature. Particularly in Sufism it refers to a spiritual guide. The term is frequently use ...
'').
Bushra has two sons and three daughters, to whom Imran is a step-father, from her first marriage to Khawar Maneka.
Children
Khan has two sons from his marriage with Jemima: Suleiman Isa Khan (b. 18 November 1996) and Qasim Khan (b. 10 April 1999).
Following their divorce, Jemima returned to England with their sons. As per a mutual settlement, Khan's sons visit him in Pakistan during their school holidays while he stays with his former mother-in-law,
Lady Annabel Goldsmith
Lady Annabel Goldsmith (' Vane-Tempest-Stewart, formerly Birley; born 11 June 1934) is an English socialite and the eponym for a London nightclub of the late 20th century, Annabel's. She was first married for two decades to entrepreneur Mark B ...
, when he visits London to see them.
In addition to these, Imran has a daughter, Tyrian White, born out of wedlock with a former lover. Sita White took legal action against Khan in the United States. The court passed a default judgement declaring Tyrian as his daughter after Imran refused to take a DNA test. In response to the Californian court default judgement ruling, Imran Khan said, on 15 August 1997, "As I do not live in California or in England, my response is to welcome Sita White to Pakistan, where I live. And I would more than welcome the opportunity to present my side of the story in a Pakistani court rather than conducting an undignified trial by media. I will, of course, be prepared to submit to a blood test in Pakistan and will fully stand by the decision of the competent Pakistani courts."
Moreover, it is highly unlikely that Khan is the father of Tyrian White due to the fact that the article mentions Tyrian being 5 years old in 1997 and Sita White's attorney, Gloria Allred saying that Sita had a relationship with Khan from "1987 to 1988".
Immediate family
Parents
Khan was born in
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. ...
, the only son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, and his wife Shaukat Khanum the daughter of Ahmad Hassan Khan. Khan in his childhood and youth was a quiet and shy boy. Khan grew up with his four sisters in relatively affluent (upper middle-class) circumstances
and received a privileged education. Khan's parents were moderate and practicing Muslims.
Khan's father, Ikramullah Khan Niazi, was born in Mianwali on 24 April 1922.
He was a
civil engineer who graduated from the
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
in 1946.
Ikramullah was a staunch supporter of the
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...
during the days of the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
and was "fiercely anti-colonial"; he would tell off local waiters at the
Lahore Gymkhana Club
The Lahore Gymkhana Club is a sports club founded in 1878 in Lahore, Pakistan. It offers sports facilities, including golf, swimming, cricket, squash, tennis, billiards, and a gymnasium, and organizes family concerts, lectures, and seminar
A se ...
who would speak to him in English.
He worked in the
Pakistan Public Works Department Pakistan Public Works Department ( ur, ) is a Federal Department under Ministry of Housing and Works of which, Tariq Bashir Cheema is serving as federal minister and Shabbir Ali Qureshi is serving as minister of state. Its headquarters are locate ...
.
He was also a philanthropist, founding a charity called the Pakistan Educational Society which "funded the university education of underprivileged but talented children."
Ikramullah Niazi served as a board member of the
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre ( ur, , abbreviated as SKMCH&RC/SKMCH) is a cancer centre with locations in Lahore and Peshawar, Pakistan. It is the first project of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charitabl ...
during his later years.
He died on 19 March 2008, a month before his 86th birthday, from pneumonia, after a protracted illness for which he was being treated at Shaukat Khanum cancer hospital. He is buried at the family's ancestral graveyard in Mianwali. He was one of the hundreds of people Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had removed from civil service on corruption charges.
Khan's mother, Shaukat Khanum, was a housewife. She was born in
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...
, before the
partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
.
[Did you know Imran Khan has a Jalandhar connection?](_blank)
/ref> He credits his mother as having played a deep influential role in his upbringing. In 1985, she died due to cancer. The helplessness and personal experience of seeing his mother diagnosed with cancer, which became the cause of her death, motivated Khan to build a cancer hospital in Pakistan where those who could not afford expensive care could be treated well. In 1994, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre ( ur, , abbreviated as SKMCH&RC/SKMCH) is a cancer centre with locations in Lahore and Peshawar, Pakistan. It is the first project of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charitabl ...
was founded by Khan in Lahore, and named in memory of his mother. A second Shaukat Khanum cancer hospital has been inaugurated in Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
, while plans are underway for a third hospital to be located in Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
.
Siblings
Khan has four sisters: Rubina Khanum, Aleema Khanum, Uzma Khanum and Rani Khanum.
Khan's elder sister, Rubina Khanum, is an alumnus of the London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
and held a senior post with the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.
Aleema Khanum is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who is the founder of a Lahore-based textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
buying house, CotCom Sourcing (Pvt.) Ltd. She graduated with an MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
from the Lahore University of Management Sciences
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) () is a private research university, located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
In 1983, Syed Babar Ali, a renowned businessman in Pakistan, recognized the shortage of qualified managers in the co ...
in 1989. Her textile buying house has served textile retailers and agents across the globe, and maintains representative offices in Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
and New York. Aleema served as marketing director for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, and played an instrumental role in fundraising efforts for the hospital. She is a member of the board of governors of the hospital. She is also a member of the board of the Imran Khan Foundation and Namal Education Foundation, and several charitable and social welfare organisations including the Hameed Muggo Trust and the SAARC Association of Home-Based Workers.
Of Khan's other sisters, Uzma Khanum is a qualified surgeon based in Lahore while Rani Khanum is a university graduate who coordinates charity activities.
Shortly after her marriage to Imran Khan, Jemima acknowledged the support she received from Khan's sisters while adjusting to life in Lahore and described them as "educated, strong women, with lives of their own."
Paternal family
Khan's father belonged to the Niazi
Niazi (; , ps, نيازي; ur, نیازی) Niazai, Nyazi, Nyazai, Niyazi or Niyazai is one of the largest Pashtun tribes which resides in Afghanistan and northwestern part of Pakistan.
The earliest work which provides the details about ...
Pashtun tribe, who were long settled in Mianwali
Mianwali ( Punjabi/ ur, ) is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan. The 81st largest city of Pakistan, it is known for its diverse population of, Punjabi and Pashtun ethnicities.
History
Mianwali District was an agricu ...
in northwestern 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 ...
. The Niazis had come to the subcontinent with invading Afghan tribes during the fifteenth century. Imran identifies Haibat Khan Niazi
Haibat Khan Niazi was an Afghan noble and military leader. He was the most powerful noble of Sher Shah Suri and Commander of the Niazi contingent of his army. He is best known for bringing law and order in Multan by destroying the power of Baloch ...
as a paternal ancestor, a sixteenth century military general of Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری)
(1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان)
, was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...
and later governor of Punjab. His paternal family hail from the Shermankhel sub-clan of the Niazis. The Niazis mainly speak Saraiki and are based in Mianwali and surrounding areas, where family and tribal networks are strong and where, according to Khan, "even third cousins know each other".
Grandparents
Imran Khan's paternal grandfather, Azeem Khan Niazi, was a physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
. The ancestral haveli
A ''haveli'' is a traditional townhouse, mansion, manor house, in the Indian subcontinent, usually one with historical and architectural significance, and located in a town or city. The word ''haveli'' is derived from Arabic ''hawali'', mean ...
(mansion) of Khan's paternal family is located in Shermankhel Mohallah, Mianwali, and is known as ''Azeem Manzil
For the convenience of those who read the Quran in a week the text may be divided into seven portions, each known as Manzil.
The following division to 7 equal portions is by Hamza Al-Zayyat (d.156/772):
# Al-Fatihah (chapter 1) through An-Nis ...
'' (named after his paternal grandfather, who built it), where Khan's extended relatives still reside.[Imran Khan's Haveli in Mianwali](_blank)
Samaa News It is spread over an area of ten kanals, and the family's ancestral graveyard where Imran's paternal grandfather, grandmother as well his father are buried, lies nearby.
Khan began his political campaign from Mianwali in 1996, winning his first seat in the National Assembly from the city which he calls his hometown.
Uncles
Azeem Khan Niazi had four sons: Ikramullah Khan Niazi (Imran's father), Amanullah Khan Niazi, Zafarullah Khan Niazi and Faizullah Khan Niazi.[In Memory of My Father](_blank)
, The Nation Imran's paternal uncle Amanullah Khan Niazi was a lawyer and politician who was a senior member of the Muslim League. Zafarullah Khan Niazi was a businessman. Imran's father Ikramullah and uncles Zafarullah and Amanullah previously resided in the family haveli. It is now the property of Khan's cousin, Inamullah Niazi.
Cousins
Zafarullah Khan Niazi had several sons, including Khan's paternal cousin Inamullah Niazi
Inamullah Khan Niazi is a Pakistani politician who had been a Member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, from 1993 to 1996 and again from November 2014 to May 2018. He had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 1997 to 1999. ...
; a politician and former parliamentarian who was a member of the Pakistan Muslim League (N)
The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...
for nearly two decades, before becoming senior vice-president of Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...
in Punjab in 2013. He later rejoined the PML (N), following a dispute over election ticket distributions. Inamullah's brother and occasional columnist Hafizullah Niazi is also Imran's brother-in-law, through cousin marriage
A cousin marriage is a marriage where the spouses are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times, and continues to be common in some societies toda ...
to Imran's sister. They have other brothers, including Irfanullah Niazi, Abdul Hafeez Niazi (a politician and former member of the Punjab provincial assembly), and their youngest brother, the late Najeebullah Khan Niazi, politician and former member of the Punjab provincial assembly.
According to ''Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...
'', many members of Khan's paternal tribe, and particularly his cousins, have been traditional supporters of the PML-N, even after Khan founded his own party. The newspaper noted that Khan's ancestral home functioned "partially as a local office for the PML-N" and that instead of Khan, the family home featured posters of the Sharifs and pictures of other family members. Inamullah was reportedly unhappy when he was snubbed and not given an election ticket from the PTI's platform, causing Inamullah and his brothers to part ways with Khan and heavily criticise him on the media. Commenting on the bitter family politics, Khan once said: "What should I say? It is a family matter. They are my brothers, Hafizullah and Saeedullah, and their contributions to PTI are great. Inamullah was new to the party... but I did hat I thought was fair"
Another cousin, Saeedullah Khan Niazi was the president of the PTI in Punjab. He also has a cousin, Ahmed Khan Niazi, who served as his head of security.
Maternal family
Khan's maternal family or Imran khan's mother Shaukat Khanum belonged to the Burki
The Ormur ( ps, اورمړ), also called Burki or Baraki ( ps, برکي), are an Eastern Iranic people mainly living in Baraki Barak, Logar, Afghanistan and in Kaniguram, South Waziristan.
Despite speaking their own distinct Eastern Iranian l ...
Pashtun tribe. The Burkis speak their own dialect, an Iranian language
The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau.
The Iranian languages are grouped ...
distinct from Pashto known as Ormuri
Ormuri (Pashto: ارموری ژبه) fa, زبان ارموری; literally, "Ormuri language") also known as ''Baraki, Ormur, Ormui or Bargista '' is an Eastern Iranian language spoken in Southeast Afghanistan and Waziristan. It is primarily spo ...
(also called the Burki dialect). There are various theories about the origins of the Burkis, including one which states that they migrated from Turkish Kurdistan
Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () refers to the southeastern part of Turkey, where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of the ...
over at least eight centuries ago, and settled in the mountains of Kaniguram. Another theory, as discussed by Robert Leech (1838), ascribes a "Farsiwan
Fārsīwān (Pashto/ fa, فارسیوان or its regional forms: Pārsīwān or Pārsībān,The ''Encyc. Iranica'' makes clear in the article on Afghanistan — Ethnography that "The term Farsiwan also has the regional forms Parsiwan and Pars ...
" or " Tajik" origin with ancestry from Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
, from whence they arrived in Afghanistan and were later brought to India along with the army of Mehmood Ghaznavi. According to Leech, the tribe had two divisions in Afghanistan's Logar Province
Logar (Pashto/Dari: ; meaning Greater Mountain ( لوې غر)) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan located in the eastern section of the country. It is divided into 7 districts and contains hundreds of villages. Puli Alam is the capital of ...
; one in Baraki Rajan
Baraki Rajan (Dari/Pashtun: برکی راجان) is a town within the Baraki Barak District of Logar Province, Afghanistan. Baraki Rajan lies approximately 3 km south of the town of Baraki Barak, the capital of the Baraki Barak District. Bar ...
, which spoke Persian, and one in Baraki Barak
Barakī Barak (Dari/Pashto/Ormuri: برکی برک) is a town and the center of Baraki Barak District, Logar Province, Afghanistan. It was also the former capital of Logar Province. The town is in a mountainous area in the valley of the Logar Rive ...
, where they spoke the Burki dialect (also known as Ormuri). Leech added that the Burkis of Kaniguram spoke the Burki dialect, just like their kinsmen in Barak. Despite this, the Burkis are considered to be part of the Pashtun tribal system and are within the Karlan
Karlāṇī ( ps, کرلاڼي) is a Pashtun tribal confederacy. They primarily inhabit the FATA region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and certain parts of eastern Afghanistan. In the 16th century the Karlani founded the Karrani dynas ...
confederacy.
According to a tribal legend, they may have served as bodyguards for Mehmood Ghaznavi who conquered much of Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of northern India in the eleventh century, and were awarded lands. They made their living as traders, taking horses and silk to India. Some members of the Burki tribe emigrated from Kaniguram around 1600 AD and formed a settlement in the city of Jalandhar
Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...
(southeast of Amritsar and 40 miles from Lahore; now in Punjab, India), where Khan's mother was born. According to Khan, his maternal family had been based in Jalandhar for over 600 years before migrating to Pakistan after the partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
. His mother's family played an instrumental role in establishing the Islamia College in Jalandhar.
Maternally, Khan is a descendant of the Sufi warrior-poet and inventor of the Pashto alphabet
The Pashto alphabet () is a version of Perso-Arabic script used to write the Pashto language.
Form
Pashto is written in the Arabic Naskh. Pashto uses all 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet, and shares 3 letters (, , and ) with Persian in the ...
, Pir Roshan
Bāyazīd Khān Ansārī Pīr Rōshān ( ps, ) or Pīr Rōkhān (1525–1585) was an Afghan warrior, poet, Sufi, and revolutionary leader. He wrote mostly in Pashto, but also in Persian, Hindustani, and Arabic, while he also spoke Ormuri. H ...
(also known as Bayazid Khan), a Burki born in Jalandhar who hailed from Kaniguram. According to a Burki historian, K. Hussain Zia, the Burki emigration from Kaniguram was prompted by a severe drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
; "The elders decided that some people would have to leave in order for the others to survive. It was thus that 40 families bade farewell to Kaniguram. The entire population walked with them for some miles and watched from the top of a hill till they were out of sight." These forty caravans would eventually arrive in Jalandhar, an area which the Burkis were already acquainted with previously, on account of their trading routes to India via the Grand Trunk Road
The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...
. In Jalandhar, the Burkis established fortified villages referred to as "bastis". To preserve their ethnic identity and keep their Pashtun culture
Pashtun culture ( ps, پښتون کلتور ) is based on Pashtunwali, as well as speaking of the Pashto language and wearing Pashtun dress. Culture is native to the native Pashtun belt of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pashtunwali and Islam are the ...
intact in India, they did not marry outside their tribe. Khan's maternal family lived in twelve fortresses in an area in Jalandhar founded by the Burkis known as the ''Basti Pathan'' (lit. ''Pathan Colony''). Khan's maternal grandfather, Ahmed Hasan Khan, was a civil servant and known to have hosted Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan, at Basti Pathan. Until the 18th century, the Jalandhar Burkis retained ties and trading links with their kinsmen back in Kaniguram. However, these links were cut off following local instability during Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
resistance against the Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
. As a result of this, the Jalandhar Burkis lost much of their language and cultural traits, adopting the Punjabi language
Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers.
Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 m ...
.
Following the partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
and the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the entire Burki clan migrated to Lahore in Pakistan, escaping the carnage and violence that ensued during the partition. In Lahore, the Burkis settled in an affluent area which came to be known as Zaman Park, and it was here among his maternal family where Imran Khan spent much of his youth growing up. The area is named after Imran's maternal grandfather's brother (i.e. grand-uncle), Khan Bahadur Mohammed Zaman Khan, who settled in Lahore before the partition and was serving as postmaster general for the undivided Punjab Province. When the Burkis from Jalandhar arrived to Lahore, they took shelter in Zaman's house and eventually took up surrounding houses vacated by Hindus who left for India. Thus, all of Imran's maternal family established themselves in Zaman Park. Imran's parents built their house in the same area, which he now owns. Imran grew up playing cricket with his cousins in the neighbourhood. The name Zaman Park came from the presence of a park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
, around which the houses were located.
Imran Khan's maternal family is known for its sporting tradition; the Burki clan has produced a long line of cricketers and played an influential role in Pakistan's cricket history. Eight of his cousins played first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
. The most prominent of them are Javed Burki
Javed Burki ( ur, ; born 8 May 1938) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played in 25 Test matches from 1960 to 1969 to eventually become an ICC match referee. Burki received his early education from Saint Mary's Academy at Rawalpindi. He a ...
and Majid Khan, who went on to represent the national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
and served as captains. In total, up to forty members of the Burki tribe have at some point played first-class cricket in British India or Pakistan. Two of Imran's mother's cousins also captained the Pakistan national field hockey team
The Pakistan national field hockey team ( ur, ) represents Pakistan in international field hockey. Having played its first match in 1948, it is administered by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), the governing body for Sport in Pakistan#Fiel ...
.
Grandparents
Imran's maternal grandfather Ahmad Hasan Khan was born in 1883, and his father Shah Khan(Imran's maternal great-grandfather) had also been a civil servant. He entered the Government College Lahore
The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002.
Overview
In 1864, Gov ...
in 1900, and was reputed in sport, captaining the cricket and football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
teams at the college. After completing his studies, Ahmed entered the government service. At the height of his career in civil service, he served as the census commissioner of Punjab. He was posted in various areas, including a posting as a District Commissioner in Mianwali (the hometown of Imran Khan's paternal family).
Writing on his maternal grandmother, Khan said that his mother would "make us children go to see our maternal grandmother with our cousins every day for half an hour. These evenings with her were most enjoyable. She would know everything that was going on in our lives. In fact she would get involved in all our problems and we would tell her things that even our parents would not know." According to Khan, his grandmother died at the age of a hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
and "all her mental faculties were fully intact." He also writes that his grandmother died shortly after his own mother died in 1985, and that she might have lived longer but could not get over the loss; "my mother being her youngest child... It almost seemed as if she decided it was time for her to go. She refused to get out of bed and three months after my mother's death she passed away."
Uncles and aunts
Ahmed Hasan Khan had four daughters: the eldest, Iqbal Bano, followed by Mubarak and Shaukat (Imran's mother). Another sister is said to have died early. Ahmed Raza Khan
Ahmed Raza Khan, commonly known as Aala Hazrat, Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, or Ahmed Rida Khan in Arabic, (14 June 1856 CE or 10 Shawwal 1272 AH – 28 October 1921 CE or 25 Safar 1340 AH), was an Islamic scholar, jurist, mufti, philoso ...
(Imran's maternal uncle) was the only son. Lieutenant General Ahmed Raza was known affectionately by his friends as "Aghajan", and entered the military service. He also played fifteen first-class cricket matches in India and Pakistan, playing for Northern India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
followed by 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 ...
. He later served as a national selector at the Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...
.
Imran's eldest maternal aunt, Iqbal Bano, was married to General Wajid Ali Khan Burki
Lieutenant-General Wajid Ali Khan Burki (28 October 1900 – 17 January 1989) CBE, was a high-profile Pakistani military official who served as Minister-in-Charge of the Ministry of Health under the military government of Field Marshal A ...
, a high-ranking military official and physician in the Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
. Imran's second aunt, Mubarak, was married to Jahangir Khan
Jahangir Khan (Pashto/ ur, جهانگير خان born 10 December 1963) is a former World No. 1 professional Pakistani squash player. He won the World Open title six times , and the British Open title ten times (1982-1991). Jahangir Khan is w ...
. Jahangir was a cricketer during the British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
era who played for India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and later served as a cricket administrator in Pakistan post-independence.
Cousins
Nausherwan Burki is a US-based physician and pulmonologist
Pulmonology (, , from Latin ''pulmō, -ōnis'' "lung" and the Greek suffix "study of"), pneumology (, built on Greek πνεύμων "lung") or pneumonology () is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving the respiratory tract. who played an instrumental role in setting up Imran's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital and serves in its board of governors; he was also among the original founders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 1996. Wajid and Iqbal Bano's second son, Javed Burki
Javed Burki ( ur, ; born 8 May 1938) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played in 25 Test matches from 1960 to 1969 to eventually become an ICC match referee. Burki received his early education from Saint Mary's Academy at Rawalpindi. He a ...
briefly played cricket for Pakistan during the 1960s and also captained the national side. After retiring from cricket, Javed served as secretary to the Ministry of Water and Power
The Ministry of Water and Power ur, , ''wazarat-e- aabb o barq-e'' (abbreviated as MoPW) was a federal ministry in Pakistan.
The ministry was dissolved in August 2017. The water division was merged with newly created Ministry of Water Resou ...
of the Government of Pakistan. Their third son Jamshed Burki Jamshed Burki was a popular Political Agent in the Khyber Agency and North-West Frontier Province Home Secretary in the Home and Tribal Affairs Department. He started his career in the Civil Service after retiring from the Pakistan Army as a Capta ...
, was a retired army major and civil servant who served as a political agent in the Khyber Agency
Khyber District ( ps, خېبر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas; with the merger of FATA with Khyber Pak ...
of the tribal areas, among many other important posts, and went on to become the Interior Secretary of Pakistan
The Interior Secretary of Pakistan (Urdu: ) is the Federal Secretary for the Ministry of Interior. As in-charge of the country's law and order machinery, the Interior Secretary is one of the most coveted and sensitive positions in the Government o ...
.
Jahangir Khan and Mubarak's eldest son Asad Jahangir Khan
Asad Jahangir Khan (born 25 December 1945) is a former first-class cricketer and senior police officer in Pakistan. He specialised in traffic policing, and became Inspector-General of Police in Sindh Province. He is now retired.
Cricket caree ...
won an Oxford Blue
A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...
in cricket and was a first-class cricketer in Pakistan. Their second son, Majid Khan became a cricket legend who captained the national side of Pakistan during the 1970s. Majid's son Bazid Khan
Bazid Khan (born 25 March 1981) is a Pakistani cricket commentator and former cricketer.
In the 2021 edition of ''Wisden Cricketer's Almanack'', he was named as the Schools Cricketer of the Year for his performances between 1998 and 2000.
Earl ...
is also a cricketer who has played at the national level. Another distant cousin, Humayun Zaman, played first-class cricket between 1956 and 1971.
Extended family
Imran's nephew Hassan Niazi headed the Insaf Students Federation, the student wing of the PTI. He also has many other nephews. PTI's Additional General Secretary Saifullah Niazi belongs to the Niazi clan and is a distant relative. Pakistani cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq
; born 28 May 1974) is a former Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer. Misbah captained Pakistan in all formats and is former head coach and former chief selector of the Pakistan national team.
A late bloomer, Misbah was a midd ...
also belongs to the Niazi tribe in Mianwali and shares blood relations with Imran Khan paternally. One of his father's cousins, Sajjad Sarwar Niazi, was a poet and music composer who served as the director of the Peshawar Radio Station, while his daughter Nahid Niazi earned fame as a singer. Nahid was married to a prominent Bengali music composer Moslehudin, and her sister Najma Niazi was also a popular singer.
Shaukat Khanum's cousin Mrs. Lt Col. Zaheer-ud-Din, has two sons Lt. Col. Muhammad Omer Khan and Muhammad Ali Khan, who is a banker serving as a Vice President in MCB Bank Limited. Her grandson, Moin Khan holds a record for traveling from California, America to Lahore, Pakistan on a sports bike.
Imran's uncle Jahangir's brother-in-law Baqa Jilani also played cricket for India. Jilani's nephew, Sherandaz Khan, was a first-class cricketer, and another distant cousin of Imran from the Burki tribe. He was also the first bowler to dismiss Imran in first-class cricket. The Pakistani economist Shahid Javed Burki
Shahid Javed Burki ( ur, ) is a Pakistani-American professional economist who has served as Vice President of the World Bank and as de facto Finance Minister of Pakistan on a caretaker basis. He has written extensively on economic developm ...
is a nephew of Wajid Ali Khan Burki and an extended relative of Imran.
Imran Khan is said to be a distant cousin of the British-Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan
Hasnat Ahmad Khan ( ur, حسنات احمد خان; born 1 April 1958) is a British-Pakistani heart and lung surgeon. He is widely known for his romantic relationship with Diana, Princess of Wales, from 1995 to 1997.
Early life and education
...
, who had a relationship with Lady Diana. He is also a cousin of one of Pakistan's leading English-language columnists, Khaled Ahmed, who belongs to the Burki tribe. Lawyer and PTI member Hamid Khan is also a relative.
Imran's great-uncle Khan Salamuddin and many members of Salamuddin's extended family also made a name in cricket.
Many family relatives of Imran, from both the paternal and maternal sides, have served in the Pakistan Armed Forces
The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...
. Major General Bilal Omar Khan, who died in the 2009 Rawalpindi mosque attack was from Khan's maternal family and Major General Sanaullah Khan Niazi who died in a IED blast in 2013 was from Khan's paternal family. Another extended relative, General Zahid Ali Akbar Khan
Lieutenant General Zahid Ali Akbar ( ur, ; b. 1933) , is a former engineering officer in the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers, who oversaw the civil construction of the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, and later directing the Engineering Research La ...
, was an engineering officer in the Pakistan Army, director of the nuclear Project-706
Project-706, also known as Project-786 was the codename of a research and development program to develop Pakistan's first nuclear weapons. The program was initiated by Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1974 in response to the Indian nucle ...
, and later chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
In-law families
Goldsmith family
Jemima was the eldest child of the Anglo-French billionaire and business tycoon James Goldsmith
Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier, tycoon''Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith'' by Ivan Fallon and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family.
His cont ...
, and his partner Lady Annabel Goldsmith
Lady Annabel Goldsmith (' Vane-Tempest-Stewart, formerly Birley; born 11 June 1934) is an English socialite and the eponym for a London nightclub of the late 20th century, Annabel's. She was first married for two decades to entrepreneur Mark B ...
. Her parents married in 1978, having been previously married to other partners. Her father belonged to the Goldsmith family
The Goldschmidt family is a family of German Jewish descent, originally from Frankfurt am Main, known for their success in banking. With origins tracing back to the 15th century, most members were forced to leave Frankfurt after the 1614 Fettmilc ...
, a prominent financial dynasty of German Jewish
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
descent. James Goldsmith was a son of the Conservative MP Frank Goldsmith
Francis Benedict Hyam Goldsmith (22 November 1878 – 14 February 1967) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1910 to 1918. He served in World War I. In 1918, he moved to France, where he en ...
, and grandson of the tycoon Adolphe Goldschmidt
Adolphe Benedict Hayum Goldschmidt (1838, Frankfurt – 6 April 1918, London) was co-inheritor of the Goldschmidt family bank in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Life
His father was Benedikt Hayum Goldschmidt, founder of the bank and consul to th ...
. His grand-uncle was the German banker Maximilian von Goldschmidt-Rothschild
Maximilian von Goldschmidt-Rothschild (20 June 1843 – 18 February 1940) was a German banker and art collector. The son of Benedict Hayum Salomon Goldschmidt, he was the co-inheritor of the Goldschmidt family bank along with his brother Adolphe ...
. His brother (Jemima's paternal uncle) was the environmentalist Edward Goldsmith
Edward René David Goldsmith (8 November 1928 – 21 August 2009), widely known as Teddy Goldsmith, was an Anglo-French environmentalist, writer and philosopher.
He was a member the prominent Goldsmith family. The eldest son of Major F ...
. Edward's daughter (Jemima's paternal cousin) is the French actress Clio Goldsmith
Clio Goldsmith (born 16 June 1957) is a French former actress, appearing mostly as a femme fatale in some films of the early 1980s. She is a member of the prominent Goldsmith family through her father ecologist Edward Goldsmith. Goldsmith was m ...
.
Jemima's mother belongs to an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family and raised Jemima as a Christian. Her maternal great-grandfather and great-grandmother were the 7th Marquess of Londonderry and Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart (daughter of Henry Chaplin
Henry Chaplin, 1st Viscount Chaplin (22 December 1840 – 29 May 1923) was a British landowner, racehorse owner and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 until 1916 when he was raised to the peerage.
Backgrou ...
) respectively, maternal grandfather was the 8th Marquess of Londonderry, while her maternal uncle was the late 9th Marquess of Londonderry.
Jemima has two younger brothers, Zac Goldsmith
Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist serving as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment s ...
and Ben Goldsmith
Benjamin James Goldsmith (born 28 October 1980) is an English financier and environmentalist. The son of financier James Goldsmith and Lady Annabel Goldsmith he is founder and CEO of London-listed investment firm Menhaden, which focuses on the ...
, and five paternal and three maternal half-siblings, including Robin Birley and India Jane Birley
India Jane Birley (born 1961) is a British artist and businesswoman. Her father, Mark Birley, opened the private member's club Annabel's, named for her mother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, in the early 1960s and Birley ran the club with her brother ...
.
Reham Khan's family
Reham's parents, Dr. Nayyar Ramzan and his wife, moved to Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
in the late 1960s, where Reham was born in Ajdabiya in 1973. Reham has two sisters and a brother. She is also the niece of Abdul Hakeem Khan
Abdul Hakeem Khan was a former governor of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and former Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court He belongs to Swati tribe of Baffa, the largest Union Council of Mansehra District. He was appointed as the G ...
, a former governor of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
province as well as former Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court
The Peshawar High Court ( ur, ) is the highest judicial institution of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is located in the provincial capital Peshawar. The Parliament passed a bill extending the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (SC) and the Peshawar Hig ...
. Reham had three children from her previous cousin marriage to British Pakistani psychiatrist Ijaz Rehman, to whom Imran Khan was a step-father; a son, Sahir Rehman (b. 1993) and two daughters, Ridha Rehman (b. 1997) and Inaya Rehman (b. 2003).
Bushra Imran's family
Bushra was born to a conservative, politically influential family of central 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 ...
. She belongs to the Punjabi clan of Wattoo, and originates from the town of Pakpattan
Pakpattan (Punjabi and ), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf (; ''"Noble Pakpattan"''), is the capital city of the Pakpattan District, located in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 48th largest city of Pakistan by population according ...
. Her elder sister, Maryam Riaz Wattoo, is an influential member of PTI, having served as President of the UAE women's wing, and was responsible for Bushra's introduction to Khan. Her brother, Ahmed Wattoo, is a landowner and real estate developer in Lahore.
See also
* Pets of Imran Khan
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Imran
Pashtun families
Political families of Pakistan
Pakistani families
Cricketing families of Pakistan
Families of national leaders
Family by person
Burki family