Muhammad Anwar Khan

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Muhammad Anwar Khan
Born12 October 1915[1]
Allegiance British Raj
 Pakistan
Service/branch British Indian Army (1936-1947)
Pakistan Army (1947-19??)
Years of service1936–19??
RankLieutenant-General
UnitPakistan Army Corps of Engineers
Commands heldPakistan Army
Battles/warsIndo-Pakistani War of 1947

Lieutenant-General Raja Muhammad Anwar Khan was the Pakistan army engineer officer and the first Muslim engineer in Chief of the Pakistan Army. He was the first Muslim to be an officer in the Indian Corps of Engineers.

Ethnicity

Khan belonged to the Mair-Minhas Rajput clan from Chakwal. The Mair Minhas tribe has a long martial tradition which has continued into modern times. Muslim Minhas Rajputs, being recognised in history as the warrior aristocracy, prior to this they were designated by the British Empire as a Martial Race and recruited into the British Indian Army.

Military background

His father Raja Fazal Dad Khan was a minor Zamindar (landowner) and had been a Viceroy's Commissioned Officer with a British Indian Army cavalry unit.

He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on 15 July 1936 and was attached to the Corps HQ of the King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners on 9 August 1936.[2] His date of initial commission was antedated to 1 September 1935 and he was promoted Lieutenant 1 December 1937.[3] He was posted to the 5th Field Company 1 August 1939.[4]

He later became an officer of the British Indian Army Engineers Corps; Khan was inherited by the Pakistan Army after the creation of Pakistan. He was one of the early engineer officers at the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers where he also completed his B.Sc. in structural engineering at the Pakistan Military Academy.

Five of Muhammed Anwar Khan's brothers (in total he had seven brothers) joined the Army and became officers. His elder brother, Muhammed Akbar Khan was the first Indian Muslim to become a General in the British Indian Army. His brother, Brigadier Muhammed Zafar Khan was the first Indian Commander of Cavalry and his brother Major General Muhammed Iftikhar Khan was an officer inherited by the Pakistan Army from British India. He had been nominated to become the first local Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Army after General Douglas David Gracey's retirement. However, his death in a tragic plane crash in 1949 was a disaster for the newly formed country. Two younger brother's Brigadier M. Afzal Khan and Brigadier M. Yusaf Khan were among the senior commanders of army like the elder ones. All served with a distinguished service including World war II.

References

  1. ^ April 1940 Indian Army List
  2. ^ October 1937 Indian Army List
  3. ^ October 1939 Indian Army List
  4. ^ October 1939 Indian Army List

Further reading

  • Pakistan's Drift into Extremism, Hassan Abbas, 2005
  • Pakistani Generals, A. K Anwar, 1992
  • Akbar Khan, a biography, Khalid Akbar, 2006. Khalid Akbar is his son.
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