Sher Ali Khan Pataudi

Sher Ali Khan Pataudi
Nickname(s)	Sher
Born	13 May 1913 Pataudi, East Punjab (now in Haryana), British India
Died	29 May 2002 (aged 89) Lahore, Pakistan
Allegiance	British India Pakistan
Service/branch	British Indian Army  Pakistan Army
Years of service	1933–1958
Rank	Major General
Unit	Pakistan Army Light cavalry
Commands held	1st Punjab Regiment Pakistan Army 14 Brigade Command and Staff College
Battles/wars	World War II Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Awards	Hilal-i-Jurat (Military)
Other work	Ambassador and civil servant

Major General Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan of Pataudi (Urdu: نوابزادہ شیر علی خان پٹوڈی‎) HJ (13 May 1913 – 29 May 2002) was the second son of Nawab Ibrahim Ali Khan of Pataudi, in Pataudi. He was educated at Aitchison College, Lahore, the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

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He was superseded along with the former Commandant Command and Staff College Maj Gen M.A. Latif Khan when Maj Gen Muhammad Musa and Maj Gen Habibullah Khan Khattak were made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.^[1]

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.

He married Silvat Mueenuddin younger daughter of Mian Ghulam Mueenudin of Lahore,^[2] and had four sons and a daughter. He died 29 May 2002 at Sher Manzil, Lahore. His great-nephew is Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan

His son, 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.^[3]

References

1. Archived 27 January 2005 at the Wayback Machine.
2. "UQconnect, The University of Queensland". Uq.net.au. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
3. "Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi's cousin in running for next Pak ISI chief : Pakistan, News". Indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 2015-09-30.