Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Mohammad Iftikhar Khan (; 10 January 1909 — 13 December 1949) also known as ''Ifti'', was a two-star general 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 ...

serving as GOC 10th Division. Prior to the Partition of British India, he was an officer in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. He was the most senior to succeed General Douglas Gracey as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, but unfortunately was killed in a plane crash before he took office leading to

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 ...

taking the position.

Pataudi Pataudi is a town and one of the 4 sub-divisions of Gurugram district, in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Haryana, within the boundaries of the National Capital Region of India. Ahirs/Yadav dominate the area. It is located f ...

, a close friend of Iftikhar, claimed that Iftikhar was concerned about the politicization of officers and he distrusted politicians. According to him, Iftikhar once stated that ‘it would be better for both of us if we both got out before our hands were stained and garments polluted’. Additionally,

believed that if Iftikhar had lived to be C-in-C, "he would not have allowed the Army to be used for political purposes and ‘would have never used his position as C-in-C, to come into power through the Army".

Early life

Iftikhar was born on 10 January 1909 into a family which belonged to the Punjabi Minhas

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

clan of

Chakwal Chakwal ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city in Rawalpindi Division, Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 66th largest city of Pakistan by population. Chakwal is located 90 kilometres south-west of the federal capital, Islamabad and 270 kilomet ...

Family

His father was Sardar Bahadur Ressaidar Raja Fazal Dad Khan, who was a

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

and had served as a Viceroy's Commissioned Officer with the 12th Cavalry Unit of the

. Iftikhar had nine brothers and four sisters. Six brothers including Iftikhar were in the army, namely Major General

Muhammed Akbar Khan Muhammed Akbar Khan ( ur, محمد اکبر خان), MBE PA-1 (19 April 1897 - 1993) was a Pakistani general and at the time of the independence of Pakistan, he was the most senior Muslim General. He also served as the first Senior Military Se ...

, Major General Muhammad Anwar Khan, Brigadier Muhammad Afzal, Brigadier

Muhammed Zafar Khan Brigadier Muhammed Zafar Khan was the first South Asian Commander in the British Indian Army Cavalry. Khan belongs to the Minhas Rajput clan of Chakwal. His father Raja Fazal Dad Khan was a minor Zamindar (landowner) and was commissioned with ...

, and Brigadier Muhammad Yusuf Khan. The three other brothers Baqir Khan, Tahir Khan, and Masud Khan chose civilian careers.

Personal life

He was married to Begum Iftikhar, a Parsi woman who was the number one woman rider in

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 ...

Personality

Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, recalled that Iftikhar was professionally sound, well read and highly intelligent. He added that Iftikhar was a shy person and people wrongfully assumed he was conceited. He was amongst a group of officers who were more tolerable to the British than the rest because they were anglicized. Syed Shahid Hamid stated that Iftikhar was "more English than the English themselves and looked down on everything native".

Shaukat Riza credited Iftikhar in his book, ''The Pakistan Army 1947-49'', as “a handsome and forceful character who was never slowed by obstacles”.

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Mohammad Yusuf, who was concurrently adjutant of 7th Light Cavalry remembered Iftikhar as “a fine horseman and a strict adjutant.”

A.O. Mitha Major General Aboobaker Osman Mitha ( ;–1923–1999), popularized as A.O. Mitha, was a Pakistan Army general who is considered a legend in the Pakistan Army, and a "stay behind" conceptual founder of Special Services Group (SSG). With the h ...

, the founder of Pakistan's Special Service Group, in his book ''Unlikely Beginnings: a Soldier’s Life'' recalls that “Iftikhar was a tough commander and had the reputation of eating a brigadier or a colonel for breakfast every day. However, he was big enough to tolerate outspoken, forceful subordinates”.

Military Career

On 29 August 1929, after attending the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, Iftikhar was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on the Unattached List for the

. He then spent a year on attachment to the 2nd battalion of the

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

British Indian Army

Khan transferred to the Indian Army on 16 October 1930 and was posted to the 7th Light Cavalry. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 29 November 1931. He then transferred to the 3rd Cavalry on 1 October 1932, a regiment which was in the process of being Indianised. He was promoted to Captain on 29 August 1938 and served as regimental Quartermaster from 1 August 1937 to 18 April 1938, then as regimental Adjutant from 19 April 1938 to 5 August 1940. He was appointed a Staff Captain on 7 August 1940. From 17 December 1941, Khan was attached to the No. 2 Indian Armoured Corps Training Center. By January 1943, he was a General Staff Officer Grade 2 on the staff of Headquarters Ceylon Army Command. By July 1943 he was a local Lieutenant Colonel and a General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the

Command and Staff College, Quetta ( ''romanized'': Pir Sho Biyamooz Saadi)English: Grow old, learning Saadi ur, سیکھتے ہوئے عمر رسیدہ ہو جاؤ، سعدی , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'' in Deolali, British India) , closed ...

. He was still in this role in April 1944. In early 1945, he was a temporary Major and second in command of the 45th Cavalry, a war raised armoured unit then serving in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, later posted to the 7th Light Cavalry as temporary Major and second in command. He was promoted to Major on 29 August 1946. He commanded the 7th Light Cavalry in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

as part of the

occupation forces Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

from September to December 1946.

Confrontation with Moochu

According to a letter from Major General I.R. Graeme to Syed Shahid Hamid, an incident occurred during a late-night gathering where an intoxicated General Moochu, expressed that he was looking forward for a day when British influence would strongly prevail in India. In response, Iftikhar Khan vehemently objected by striking him and firmly declaring, "Over my dead body." Subsequently, Moochu was escorted to bed.

Pakistan Army

On the Partition of British India in August 1947, Khan opted to join the new

. He was quickly promoted to Major General and on 1 January 1948 assumed the command of the 10th Division. Khan had been nominated by the

Government of Liaquat Ali Khan A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

to become the first local Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army after General Douglas David Gracey's retirement.Major-General Shaukat Riza, ''The Pakistan Army 1947-49'', p. 183 He was senior to later Commander-in-Chief and dictator

. In

's book ''Friends, not masters'', he alleged "the British were backing Major General Iftikhar and that he was short tempered and difficult to get on with."

Death

While Iftikhar planned to go by train from

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. ...

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 then take a flight to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

for a course at the Imperial Defence College, Brigadier Sher Khan had been appointed to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and was headed there for the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

discussion on

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. Sher Khan called Iftikhar and persuaded him that they travel by air together. Before Khan could take up his new post, at 10PM PST on 13 December 1949, he lost his life alongside his wife, Director Military Operations Brigadier Sher Khan and his wife, Len Mitchell a British owner of a fruit farm in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, Mrs. Bergie the wife of a British Bank manager in Karachi, and 20 others in a Pakistan Airways Dakota plane crash. The plane was flying from Lahore to Karachi when it crashed at Karo Jabal, near Malmari Jalalji Village, Thatta, 102 kilometers from Karachi and several miles away from the nearest rescue base in Jungshahi. Khan was on the way to

to proceed to

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 ...

for a course at the Imperial Defence College (IDC).

Funeral

The funeral procession began at the

Frere Hall Frere Hall ( ur, ) is a building in Karachi, Pakistan that dates from the early British colonial era in Sindh. Completed in 1865, Frere Hall was originally intended to serve as Karachi's town hall, and now serves as an exhibition space and li ...

, making its way 1.5 miles through

Saddar Bazaar Saddar Bazaar ( ur, صدر بازار) is usually the main market or bazaar in most of the Cantonments of India and Pakistan. Meanings and derivation The word ''Saddar'' is derived from Arabic which means, the 'Chest', 'Center' or 'Main'. Owing to ...

. Thousands of people witnessed the procession before it reached its final destination at the Armed Forces Cemetery, commonly known as Fauji Qabristan. The remains of Iftikhar and Sher Khan were transported to Gun carriages by military personnel, namely Commodore Chaudhri, Brigadier Rodham, Brigadier Sher Ali, and Group Captain Murad. Among the chief mourners was the brother of Iftikhar,

, and Lieutenant Colonel Yusuf Khan, the brother of Sher Khan. Following them were Admiral Jefford, Major General Raza, and Ghulam Muhammad, who represented

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Liaquat Ali Khan. Furthermore, diplomats, government officials, military personnel, and prominent individuals from Karachi were present in the procession. Each

Gun carriage A gun carriage is a frame and mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be maneuvered and fired. These platforms often had wheels so that the artillery pieces could be moved more easily. Gun carriages are also used ...

was pulled by 8 JCOs. Over 30,000 people attended the Funeral prayers at the Fauji Qabristan.

Dates of rank

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

The Quaid: Pakistan’s Tom Paine or Thomas Jefferson? By Mohammad Ashraf Chaudhry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Iftikhar Mohammad 1909 births 1949 deaths Pakistani generals British Indian Army officers Indian Army personnel of World War II Pakistani Muslims 20th-century military personnel People from Chakwal District Punjabi people Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Pakistan Army personnel People from Punjab, Pakistan People from British India Military personnel from Punjab, Pakistan 20th-century Pakistani military personnel People from Chakwal District Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1949 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Pakistan Pakistan Army officers