Major General Mohammed Zaman Kiani (1 October 1910 – 4 June 1981) was an officer of 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 ...

who later joined the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

(INA), led by

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

, and commanded its 1st Division. He earned the Sword of Honour from the Indian Military Academy, and joined 14/1 Punjab Regiment (now 5 Punjab, in the Pakistan Army). After Indian independence, Kiani moved to Pakistan, he served as political agent of Gilgit Agency and also remained Minister of Information in

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

's government. His contributions to the Azad Hind were later acknowledged and he was awarded with Netaji Medal posthumously by the Indian Government.

Early life

Mohammad Zaman Kiani was born in the village of

Shakarparian Shakarparian (; also known as Shakarparian Hills) is a hill, and a national park located near the Zero Point Interchange in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan Monument and Pakistan Monument Museum are also located in Shakarparian. The old Gakhars tri ...

in the

Rawalpindi District Rawalpindi District ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capi ...

, now part of

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

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 ...

. A keen

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player in his youth, Kiani joined the

in 1931 at the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

Dehra Dun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislativ ...

. He won the Sword of Honour & Gold Medal for the most outstanding Cadet in 1935 from the Indian Military Academy, and was commissioned in the 1st Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment as a Second Lieutenant.

Second World War and the Azad Hind

In March 1941 the 1st Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment was sent to Malaya and he fought in the

Battle of Malaya The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

during

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 ...

and was taken prisoner of war. He later joined the First Indian National Army (INA), when it was formed in 1942 under the command of

Mohan Singh Mohan Singh (4 March 1945 – 22 September 2013) was an Indian politician from the Samajwadi Party. He was elected three times to the Lok Sabha from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. He was the General Secretary of the Samajwadi Party. He died on 22 ...

. After this army collapsed due to disagreements with the Japanese, the

Indian Independence League The Indian Independence League (also known as IIL) was a political organisation operated from the 1920s to the 1940s to organise those living outside India into seeking the removal of British colonial rule over India. Founded by Indian national ...

placed Kiani as Army Commander of the remains, with

Jaganath Rao Bhonsle Major General Jaganath Rao Bhonsle, also known as Jagannathrao Krishnarao BhonsleOctober 1939 Indian Army List (20 April 1906 – 14 May 1963) was an Indian military officer, independence activist, and politician. As a member of the Indian Na ...

as Director of the Military Bureau. After the arrival of

in 1943 and the revival of the

(INA), as well as the proclamation of the Free India government, Kiani was appointed the commander of the first division, which he led during the invasion of India in 1944. At the time of the fall of Rangoon, Kiani led the personnel of the Indian National Army and the Azad Hind Government who, along with Bose, marched to

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

. After Bose flew to Tokyo in August 1945, Kiani surrendered to the British 5th Division at

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

on 25 August 1945 as the commander of the INA, along with the rest of his troops. He was repatriated to India and interned until 1946, before being cashiered and discharged from the British Indian Army.

Poonch Rebellion

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: ...

, Kiani returned to Rawalpindi after the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

in 1947. In September 1947, the Pakistani prime minister

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

and the Punjabi minister

Shaukat Hayat Khan Major Shaukat Hayat Khan ( Punjabi, ; 24 September 1915 – 25 September 1998) was an influential politician, military officer, and Pakistan Movement activist who played a major role in the organising of the Muslim League in the British-controlle ...

put him in charge of the southern wing of the Pakistan's effort to overthrow the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

of Jammu and Kashmir. General Kiani established a General Headquarters, GHQ Azad, based in

Gujrat City Gujrat ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. It is the capital of Gujrat District and it is the 21st largest city of Pakistan by population. Along with the nearby cities of Sialkot and Gujranwala, Gujrat forms ...

. From here, Kiani's forces organised raiding operations 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 ...

border and directed the Kashmiri rebels in

Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...

, eventually leading to the formation of

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...

. Brigadier Habibur Rehman served as his chief of staff.

Later life

Kiani was later appointed the political agent of the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...

. He wrote his memoirs while in retirement in Rawalpindi. They were published after his death: *

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Extract from Sugata Bose, ''A Hundred Horizons''
world-journal.net, archived on 6 October 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiani, Mohammed Zaman Indian National Army personnel Indian Muslims Azad Hind British Indian Army officers People from Karachi Indian Military Academy alumni 1910 births 1981 deaths People of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 People of the 1947 Kashmir conflict