Iskander Mirza Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Iskandar Ali Mirza CIE, OBE
ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা اسکندر علی مرزا
Mirza in 1956

1st President of Pakistan
In office 23 March 1956 – 27 October 1958
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Muhammad Ayub Khan
4th Governor-General of Pakistan
In office 7 August 1955 – 23 March 1956
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Mohammad Ali Bogra (1955) Muhammad Ali (1955–56)
Preceded by	Malik Ghulam Muhammad
Succeeded by	Position abolished
4th Minister of Interior
In office 24 October 1954 – 7 August 1955
Prime Minister	Mohammad Ali Bogra
Preceded by	Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani
Succeeded by	Fazlul Huq
Minister of States and Frontier Regions
In office 24 October 1954 – 7 August 1955
Prime Minister	Mohammad Ali Bogra
Governor of East-Bengal
In office 29 May 1954 – 23 October 1954
Governor General	Sir Ghulam Muhammad
Chief Minister	Abu Hussain Sarkar
Preceded by	Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman
Succeeded by	Muhammad Shahabuddin (Acting)
Secretary of Defence
In office 23 October 1947 – 6 May 1954
Prime Minister	Liaquat Ali Khan (1947–51) K. Nazimuddin (1951–53) Mohammad Ali Bogra (1953–54)
Minister	Liaquat Ali Khan
Preceded by	State established
Succeeded by	Akhter Husain
Vice-President of the Republican Party
In office 1955–1958
President	Sir Feroze Khan
Minister of Defence Acting
In office 16 October 1951 – 17 October 1951
Preceded by	L. A. Khan
Succeeded by	Khawaja Nazimuddin

Personal details
Born	Iskandar Ali Mirza (1899-11-13)13 November 1899 Murshidabad, Bengal Presidency, British India (now, West Bengal, India)
Died	13 November 1969(1969-11-13) (aged 70) London, England
Cause of death	Cardiac arrest
Resting place	Imamzadeh Abdullah, Tehran, Iran
Citizenship	United Kingdom (1899–1947) (1958-1969) Pakistani (1947–1969)
Political party	Republican Party (1955–59)
Other political affiliations	Muslim League (1950–55)
Spouses	Rifaat Begum (m. 1922⁠–⁠1953) Nahid Mirza (m. 1954⁠–⁠1969)
Children	6
Relatives	Nawabs of Bengal (paternal) Tyabji family (maternal)
Residences	Dhaka, East Bengal London, England
Alma mater	Royal Military College Bombay University
Civilian awards	Nishan-i-Lmar Nishan-e-Pahlavi Order of the Indian Empire
Military service
Branch/service	British Indian Army Pakistan Army
Years of service	1920–1954
Rank	Major-General
Unit	Corps of Military Police
Commands	Corps of Military Police East Pakistan Rifles
Battles/wars	Waziristan War Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Military awards	Order of the British Empire General Service Medal

Iskandar Ali Mirza (13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969) was a Bengali-Pakistani politician, statesman and military general who served as the Dominion of Pakistan's fourth governor-general of Pakistan from 1955 to 1956, and then as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan's first president of Pakistan from 1956 to 1958.

Early life
Career
Family
- Honours
Images for kids
See also

Early life

Iskander Mirza as 2nd-Lt in the British Indian Army, ca.1920.

Iskandar Ali Mirza was born in Murshidabad, Bengal, in India on 13 November 1899, into an elite and wealthy aristocrat family. Mirza was the eldest child of Nawab Fateh Ali Mirza and Dilshad Begum (1875–1925). His family had close ties to the British monarchy.

Mirza was educated at the University of Bombay before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Career

After a military service in the British Indian Army, he joined the Indian Political Service and spent the most of his career as a political agent in the Western region of British India until elevated as joint secretary at the Ministry of Defence in 1946. After the independence of Pakistan as a result of the Partition of India, Mirza was appointed as the first Defence Secretary by prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan, only to oversee the military efforts in the first war with India in 1947, followed by the failed secession in Balochistan in 1948. In 1954, he was appointed as the Governor of his home province of East Bengal by Prime Minister Mohammad Ali of Bogra to control the law and order situation sparked by the popular language movement in 1952, but was later elevated as Interior Minister in the Bogra administration in 1955.

Playing a crucial role in the ousting of Governor-General Sir Malik Ghulam, Mirza assumed his position in 1955 and was elected as the first President of Pakistan when the first set of Constitution was promulgated in 1956. His presidency, however, was marked with political instability which saw his unconstitutional interferences in the civilian administration that led to the dismissal of four prime ministers in a mere two years. Facing challenges in getting the political endorsements and reelection for the presidency, Mirza surprisingly suspended the writ of the Constitution by imposing martial law against his own party's administration governed by Prime Minister Feroze Khan on 8 October 1958, enforcing it through his army commander General Ayub Khan who dismissed him when the situation between them escalated, also in 1958. Mirza lived in the United Kingdom for the remainder of his life. He died of a heart attack on 13 November 1969, his 70th birthday and was buried in Iran in 1969.

His legacy and image is viewed negatively by some Pakistani historians who believe that Mirza was responsible for weakening democracy and causing political instability in the country.

Family

Mirza was married twice: his first marriage took place on 24 November 1922, when he married an Iranian woman, Rifaat Begum (1907–23 March 1967). The couple had two sons and four daughters.

In October 1954, while in West Pakistan, Mirza's second marriage took place in Karachi after he fell in love with an Iranian aristocrat, Naheed Amirteymour (1919-2019), daughter of Amirteymour Kalali.