Mir Muhammad Jamal Khan (September 23, 1912 – March 18, 1976) was the last
Mir
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
of the princely
state of Hunza.
Early life
The son and heir of Mir Ghazan Khan
CBE
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 ...
, heir to the throne of Hunza, Muhammad Jamal Khan was born in 1912 and educated in Gilgit, mostly at home. For most of his youth Hunza was ruled by his grandfather, Sir Mir Muhammad Nazim Khan, KCSI KCIE, who ruled the state for 79 years, dying in 1938. His father, Ghazan Khan, succeeded as Mir in 1938, when Jamal became the
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
.
[MUHAMMAD JAMAL KHAN, MIR (1912-1976)]
ismaili.net, accessed 3 December 2022[ ''Memoranda on the Indian States'' (1939), p. 169: “Mir Sir Muhammad Nazim Khan was created a K.C.I.E. in June 1921 and K.C.S.I. in May 1937 on the occasion of the Coronation of His Majesty King George VI”]
Reign
In April, 1945 at the age of 33, Jamal succeeded his father. In August 1947, the British withdrew from India, partitioning their possessions between India and Pakistan and leaving the princely states independent. Jamal visited Kashmir in the hope of persuading
Hari Singh
Maharaja Sir Hari Singh (September 1895 – 26 April 1961) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Hari Singh was the son of Amar Singh and Bhotiali Chib. In 1923, following his uncle's death, Singh became ...
, the Maharaja of
Jammu and Kashmir, to
accede his state to the new
dominion of Pakistan
Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...
. In October 1947, Jamal acceded his own state of Hunza to Pakistan. He joined in the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, or the First Kashmir War, was a war fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four Indo-Pakistani wars that was fought between th ...
over Jammu and Kashmir and was rewarded with the title of ''Ghazi-e-Millat''.
[
In 1951, ]Aga Khan IV
Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He ha ...
formed 64 local councils in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, and appointed Jamal as President of his Supreme Council for Hunza and Chitral and also as his Personal Representative in Central Asia.[
In 1962, for his help to the Italian mountaineering expedition to K-2, Italy awarded Jamal its Order of the Grand Officer.][
In October 1969, Jamal was invited to Paris to attend the marriage of the Aga Khan with Begum Salimah. After the ceremony, he and his wife showered 49 pearls at their feet as an act of reverence.][
The President of Pakistan also gave Jamal the titles of Hilal-e-Pakistan and Hilal-e-Juraet, and in December, 1964, he was promoted to the rank of honorary Major General in the ]Pakistani Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the 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 British India, which occurred as a result ...
.[
The Mir's rule in Hunza came to an end in 1974 when ]Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...
, the 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 Pa ...
, abolished his government and annexed the state to the Northern Areas of Pakistan, under the federal government. Jamal was forced to abdicate, and two years later he died at his residence in Karimabad, the former capital.
Personal life
In 1934 Jamal married Shams-un-Nehar, a princess of the state of Nagar
Nagar ( ur, , ''Riyasat Nagar'') was a princely salute state in the northern part of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. Until August 1947, it was in a subsidiary alliance with British India. It bordered the states of the Gilgit Agency to the south ...
, and they had two sons and three daughters, including Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan
Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan (Urdu: میر غضنفر علی خان, born 31 December 1945) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 6th Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan.
He was appointed as a governor of Gilgit-Baltistan after governor Barjees Tahir. On ...
.[
]
See also
* Hunza (princely state)
Notes
External links
Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemmaNorthern Areas Development GatewayPakistan's Northern AreasThe Mountain Areas Conservancy Project
{{MEast-royal-stub
People from Hunza-Nagar District
History of Gilgit Agency
Hunza
Monarchs who abdicated
1912 births
1976 deaths
People from Gilgit-Baltistan
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany