Iskander Mirza

Iskander Mirza married Rifaat Begum on 24th November 1922, and the couple were blessed with six children, which included four daughters and two sons.

One of his sons, named Humayun Mirza has authored the book ‘From Plassey to Pakistan: The Family History of Iskander Mirza’.

In 1954, this Pakistani leader married an aristocratic lady Naheed Amirteymour, who was the daughter of Iranian Statesman Amirteymour Kalali.

Mirza was born in a feudal family to Sahibzada Sayyid Muhammad Fateh Ali Mirza and Dilshad Begum, in the late 1890s in Murshidabad district of Bengal, then a part of British India.

His father was a descendent of the last Nawab of Bengal, Nawab Mansur Ali Khan.

He was a student of the ‘Elphinstone College’, Bombay (now Mumbai), and later moved to England to pursue his higher studies at the ‘Royal Military Academy’, Sandhurst. After completing his course in England, he returned to India and got appointed in the ‘British Indian Army’, in 1920.

From 16th July 1920 onwards, Mirza started his career in the army. He was associated with a battalion named ‘Cameronians’, and was even a part of the ‘Khodad Khel Operations’ as well as the ‘Waziristan War’. He later got transferred to the ‘17th Poona Horse’ regiment as an Army Inspector.

In 1926, he parted ways with the ‘British Indian Army’, and entered the ‘Indian Political Service’ as ‘Assistant Commissioner’ of the ‘North West Frontier Province’.

He was then appointed as the District Officer in the early 1930s and he continued to serve in this post for a few years.

During the period 1938-1945, he was appointed as the Political Agent of the tribal areas. Later, he was the Political Agent of ‘North West Frontier Province’ and Odisha regions, for a year.

In 1946, he resumed the position of the Joint Defence Secretary in the ‘Ministry of Defence’ of British India, with the responsibility of splitting the ‘British Indian Army’ into two armies, namely India and Pakistan.

In 1909, this political leader became a recipient of the ‘India General Service Medal’.

He was given the ‘King George V Silver Jubilee Medal’ in 1935, and two years later, he was felicitated with the ‘King George VI Coronation Medal’.

In 1939, this former Pakistani President was honoured with the ‘Officer of the Order of the British Empire’.

In the year 1945, Iskander Mirza received the ‘Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire’.

He was also given the ‘Pakistan Independence Medal’ in 1948, after the country gained independence.