Muhammad Azam Khan (1908–1994) was a senior general of the Pakistan army who was a minister under Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the first military ruler of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. Azam was the first commander of the Pakistan Army's

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

, and was

Governor of East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

Early life and education

Khan was born on 1 August 1908 in Mathra,

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 ...

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,

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 ...

into the family of Khan Bahadur Akram Khan, a soldier who had served in the British army and fought against the germans in France in world war one. He attended the

Rashtriya Indian Military College The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) is a military school for boys and girls situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for ...

then 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 infant ...

and was commissioned a second lieutenant on the Unattached List for the Indian Army on 29 August 1929.April 1940 Indian Army List

Military career

Khan started his career being attached to the Rifle Brigade for a year then he joined the British Indian Army 1 November 1930 and was posted to the 4th battalion,

19th Hyderabad Regiment The 19th Hyderabad Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed at the time of reforms of the Indian Army after the First World War, when it moved from single-battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. The reg ...

. He was promoted Captain 1 August 1938 and appointed Adjutant 6 December 1939. By October 1942 he was serving with 6th battalion,

and had attended a war time staff course. By April 1944 he was a war substantive Major attached to the 10th Baluch Regiment. He was appointed temporary Lt-Col and was the commanding officer of 9th battalion

10th Baluch Regiment The 10th Baluch or Baluch Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. After independence, it was transferred to the Pakistan Army. In 1956, it was amalgamated with the 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments. During more ...

from May 1945 to April 1946. He was promoted Major 29 August 1946. He fought in

Arakan Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it accessi ...

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 ...

World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. By 1947, he was an Assistant Quarter Master General. On partition and the creation of Pakistan he opted for the Pakistan Army. On 1 January 1948, he was appointed Brigadier and commander of the 25th Brigade. In January 1950, he was promoted to major general and command of 10th Division at Lahore Four years later he was promoted to lieutenant general. As the General officer commanding (GOC) of Lahore Garrison he was appointed

Martial law administrator Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 an ...

in 1953 following cabinet's decision to declare martial law and request military aid to civil power following the provincial authorities loss of control as a result of the anti-

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

'Punjab Disturbances'. As the GOC he oversaw the defense of the walled old city during the

Lahore riots of 1953 The Lahore riots of 1953 were a series of violent riots against the Ahmadiyya Movement, a faith marginalized in Pakistan, mainly in the city of Lahore, Pakistan as well as the rest of Punjab, which were eventually quelled by the Pakistan Army wh ...

. Hailed as the 'Saviour of Lahore' he adopted very broad powers, and it is believed that the experience whetted both his conviction, and the Army's more generally, that they were better candidates to oversee administration than civilian politicians. He later served as the 14th Division commander in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

before joining Ayub Khan's military regime. In 1958, he took command of Pakistan Army's first filed corps, the 1 Corps, then based in Abbottabad and was subsequently promoted to lieutenant general.

Political career

He supported Ayub Khan's coup d'état in 1958 first against the elected civilian government, and then against President

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 Pakista ...

, an army officer. On 28 October 1958 he was made a senior ''Minister for Refugees Rehabilitation'' in Ayub Khan's administration. He was appointed as the Governor of

province on 14 April 1960. He was a well-liked governor in East Pakistan. "Azam Khan acquired the love and respect of the people of East Pakistan by his personal behaviour and free mixing with all classes of people." There were reported rumors back then that president Ayub Khan was upset by the great popularity of the governor and felt threatened by it. Ayub Khan saw him as his potential rival of the future. He established the Graphic Arts Institute in

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

in 1957. He remained in office until 1962. During the presidential election of 1964. Azam Khan "supported the presidential candidacy of Fatima Jinnah" and continued to work strongly against Ayub Khan until after the latter's ouster.

President of Pakistan Olympic Association

* Lieutenant General Azam Khan served as the President,

Pakistan Olympic Association Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) or National Olympic Committee of Pakistan (NOC) ( ur, پاکستان اولمپک ایسوسی ایشن, acronym: POA) is the national olympic organization in Pakistan. It was established in 1948 to oversee the ...

from 16 November 1958 to 22 September 1963.

Death

He died 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 ...

, Pakistan in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Muhammad Azam 1908 births 1994 deaths Pakistani generals Governors of East Pakistan Pakistani sports executives and administrators British Indian Army officers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Rashtriya Indian Military College alumni