Muhammed Akbar Khan ( ur, محمد اکبر خان),

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

PA-1 (19 April 1897 - 1993) was a Pakistani general and at the time of the

independence of Pakistan 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 per ...

, he was the most senior Muslim General. He also served as the first Senior Military Secretary of the Quaid-e-Azam,

Muhammed Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

. He holds the distinguished honor of being the senior most officer of the Pakistan Army and holds Pakistan Army number PA-1.

Early career

Born on 19 April 1897 to a

Minhas The Minhas or Manhas is a Rajput Clan. They are found in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. These are spread in most of the part of Gagwan and Jhatgali of district Ramban. It is found in Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities. Nota ...

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 ...

family, Khan enlisted in the Indian Army & the 12th Cavalry 1 May 1914. He was made a Viceroy's Commissioned Officer (VCO) in the rank of Jemadar 1 July 1915. The 12th Cavalry was mobilized for field service in November 1915 and he served in Mesopotamia from 28 November 1915 to 13 September 1917. He was granted a temporary commission in the Indian Army as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 1 December 1919. He was attached to 40th Cavalry Regiment from 6 January 1920 until 6 January 1921, when, now a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

as of 1 December 1920, he was attached to the 12th Cavalry. On 28 August 1921, the 12th Cavalry amalgamated with the 11th K. E. O. Cavalry to form the 11/12th Cavalry, which was renamed the 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse in July 1922. Khan was given a permanent commission in the Indian Army as second lieutenant with effect from 17 July 1920. He was also permanently appointed to the 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse from being attached to the regiment. He was promoted

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 ...

on 17 July 1927 and from late 1927 to late 1931 he held the appointment of Quarter Master in the regiment. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in June 1930. From 1 May 1933 he was posted away from the regiment as Assistant Recruiting Officer, Lahore, a post he held until 30 April 1934. On 11 May 1934 he transferred to the 1st battalion,

14th Punjab Regiment The 14th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to the Pakistan Army on independence in 1947, and amalgamated with the 1st, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments in 1956, to form the Punjab Reg ...

, who he served with on the Mohamand campaign on the North West Frontier in 1935. Whilst serving with them he later became attached to the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, to which he transferred on 5 February 1936. Khan was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 17 July 1938. At the outbreak of

World War II 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 opposin ...

he was commanding the 41st Animal Transport Company in France but deployed from Mumbai to

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

in December 1939 with 32 Animal Transport Company (Mules) as part of Force K-6, having entrained at Landikotal on 2 December 1939. Later he was to help in the evacuation of troops from Malo-les-Bains. He was promoted to temporary

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

on 31 October 1942, while serving with the R.I.A.S.C. On 27 July 1945 he was appointed acting colonel, then on 26 January 1946 promoted temporary colonel, on 17 July 1946 promoted substantive lieutenant-colonel and finally on the 21 December 1946 appointed acting brigadier. On the creation of Pakistan he was appointed to command Sind Area, later renamed (1 January 1948) 8th Division on 15 August 1947 until 6 December 1950.The Pakistan Army 1947-49 by Major-General Shaukat Riza

Books

He wrote over 40 books under the name ‘’Rangroot’’, which means private soldier or enlisted man to denote his rise from a modest background, on subjects related to Islam and military strategy, including: * ''Ḥadīs-i difāʻ Nabī-ĕ-Akram-ke usva-ĕ-ḥasana-kī rawshanī-meṅ'', 1954, 336 p. * ''Māz̤ī, ḥāl aur mustaqbal kā aṣlaḥ jang'', 1954, 115 p. * ''Hazrat Ali as an Amir'', 44 p. * ''Krūsaid aur jihād'', 1961, 436 p. * ''Muhammad Mustafā Kamāl Pasha'', 1966, 295 p. * ''Turkon ki jidd o jahd-i āzādi'', 1966, 4,240 p. * ''K̲h̲avātīn-i Islām aur hadīs'', 1966, 160 p. * ''The ideologies in conflict'', 1967, 217 p. * ''On war; the Islamic policy: grand strategy & diplomacy'', 1967, 418 p. * ''Guerrilla warfare, its past, present and future; and, Counter guerrilla warfare'', 1967, 392 p. * ''The choice of the Arabs versus Zionists cult'', 1967, 68 p. * ''K̲h̲avātīn-i Islām kelie mashʻal-i rāh'', 1967, 280 p. * ''Maḥshar-i Falast̤īn'', 1968, 244 p. * ''Sultan Salahuddin Yousaf Ayubi versus the crusaders'', 1968, 437 p. * ''Merī āk̲hi̲rī manzil'', 2006, 438 p.

Early career

Books

References

Further reading