Sher Ali Khan Pataudi

Major General Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan of Pataudi (Urdu: نوابزادہ شیر علی خان بڑیچ پٹوڈی) HJ (13 May 1913 – 29 May 2002) was a Major General in Pakistan. Born into the Pataudi family, He was the second son of Nawab Ibrahim Ali Khan, in Pataudi and his wife Shahar Bano Begum, daughter of Amiruddin Ahmad Khan, the Nawab of Loharu.

Sher Ali Khan Pataudi
Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, 1964
Nickname(s)Sher
Born13 May 1913
Pataudi, East Punjab (now in Haryana), British India
Died29 May 2002(2002-05-29) (aged 89)
Lahore, Pakistan
Allegiance British India
Pakistan
Service/branch British Indian Army
 Pakistan Army
Years of service1933–1958
RankMajor General
UnitPakistan Army Light cavalry
Commands held1st Punjab Regiment
Pakistan Army 14 Brigade
Command and Staff College
Battles/warsWorld War II
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
AwardsHilal-i-Jurat (Military)
Other workAmbassador and civil servant

Family and background

Sher Ali Khan Pataudi is the son of Ibrahim Ali Khan, the 7th Nawab of Pataudi from 1913 to 1917, and Shahar Bano Begum, daughter of Amiruddin Ahmad Khan, the Nawab of Loharu. Through his mother, he is related to the Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib, and the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan. He is the brother of Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the 8th Nawab of Pataudi and the captain of the Indian national cricket team. Iftikhar was married to the Begum of Bhopal, Sajida Sultan, and their son and his nephew, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, also served as a captain in the Indian national cricket team. The actor Saif Ali Khan is his grand-nephew.

Sher Ali Khan married Silvat Mueenuddin younger daughter of Mian Ghulam Mueenudin of Lahore,[1] and had four sons and a daughter. He died 29 May 2002 at Sher Manzil in Lahore. One of his sons, Major General Isfandiyar Ali Khan Pataudi, was the commander of the Pakistan Army's 25th Mechanized Division and Deputy Director-General of Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence.[2]

Career

He was commissioned into the 7th Light Cavalry of the Indian Army in 1933. He subsequently commanded the 1st battalion of the First Punjab Regiment during the Second World War.

After the war, he served as the Defence Attaché of the Indian Armed Forces in Washington, D.C.. Having chosen to move to Pakistan at independence, he commanded Pakistan's 14 (Parachute) Brigade during the 1947 Kashmir War in which action he was awarded the first Hilal-i-Jurat of Pakistan. He was appointed Adjutant General of the Pakistan Army and later served as the Chief of General Staff.

He was superseded along with Maj. Gen. Adam Khan and the former Commandant Command and Staff College Maj Gen M.A. Latif Khan when Maj Gen Muhammad Musa and Maj Gen Habibullah Khan Khattak were made C-in-C and COS respectively in October 1958.[3]

In 1958, on retirement from active service, he was appointed Pakistan's High Commissioner to Malaysia and in 1963 as Ambassador to Yugoslavia with concurrent accreditation to Bulgaria and Greece. He served in the cabinet of General Yahya Khan as Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting & and National Affairs 1969 – 71. He was a member of Pakistan's Polo team for many years, Captain of the All Malaysia Polo team for six years and President of the Malayan Polo Association 1959/1963. He also established the Djakarta Riding/Saddle club and was its first elected President. He taught briefly at Aitchison College and was also Vice Chairman of its Board of Governors. He was the Co-founder and Chairman of the governing body of Viqar-un-Nisa Women's College at Rawalpindi. He was the Author of several books and the recipient of the highest civil awards from governments in Malaysia, Yugoslavia and Indonesia, and was a Dato of the State of Pahang in Malaysia.

References

  1. "UQconnect, The University of Queensland". Uq.net.au. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  2. "Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi's cousin in running for next Pak ISI chief : Pakistan, News". Indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  3. Archived 27 January 2005 at the Wayback Machine
Military offices
Preceded by
Major General Mian Hayaud Din
Chief of General Staff Succeeded by
Major General Habibullah Khan Khattak
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