Syed Shahid Hamid (), HJ (17 September 1910 – 12 March 1993) was a two-star general in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

, and a close associate of

President Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, comm ...

. Hamid was the first Master General of Ordnance (MGO) of the

. ISI was first started in 1948 by Syed Shahid Hamid. He also authored numerous books, most notably ''Disastrous Twilight - A Personal Record of the Partition of India 1946-1947'', an eyewitness account of being on the staff of the last British Commander in Chief of the Indian Army, Field Marshal Sir

Claude Auchinleck Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck ( ) (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Indian Army commander who saw active service during the world wars. A career soldier who spent much of his militar ...

. He was the grandfather of the British journalist,

Mishal Husain Mishal Husain (born 12 March 1973) is a British journalist, broadcaster and author. She is best known for having presented a range of BBC News programmes, most notably BBC Radio 4's ''Today'' programme. She has occasionally appeared as a relief ...

Early life

Hamid was born to a

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...

family in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He went to school at the Colvin Taluqdar school (Lucknow) in 1923 before going to the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

. He was accepted into the Royal Military College Sandhurst in 1932. He received a commission onto the Unattached List, Indian Army on 1 February 1934. He arrived in India on 16 February 1934 and was shortly afterwards attached to the 2nd battalion of the Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire) regiment at

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

. On 12 March 1935, he was admitted into the Indian Army and was posted to the 3rd Cavalry at

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

. His seniority as a Second Lieutenant was later antedated to on 31 August 1933. He was attached to the Royal Indian Army Service Corps in early 1940 and later permanently transferred. He served in

Kohat Kohat (; ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century. With a population o ...

Fort Sandeman Zhob (; ), formerly known as Fort Sandeman is a city and district headquarters of the Zhob District in the Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan province of Pakistan. Zhob is located on the banks of the Zhob River, Zhob river. It lies 337 kilometres ...

, and

Risalpur Risalpur (Pashto/) is a city in Nowshera District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on the Nowshera-Mardan Road. It is nearly 45 km from Peshawar and 18 km from Mardan and is located at 34°4'52N 71°58'21E. In a basin some 316 meters abo ...

. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 30 November 1935 and to Captain on 31 August 1941.

Military career

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he fought on the Burmese front, where his eyes were badly injured. He retreated from

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

and was evacuated from Shewbo to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. In 1943, after being declared fit for duty, he became a Senior Instructor at the Command and Staff College in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

. Field Marshal

appointed Hamid his Private Secretary on 28 March 1946 and Hamid played an influential role in the decision making by Auchinleck. Shahid Hamid was an inside player in the crucial months leading up to the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947.

Founding Inter-Services Intelligence

When

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

was created, he opted to join the

. As a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1948, he set up the Inter Services Intelligence from a small office in Karachi. Lieutenant-Colonel Hamid set up the ISI along with former

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

Major General Sir Robert Cawthome, then Deputy Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Army. The Australian-born Cawthorne succeeded Hamid as head of the ISI after Lieutenant-Colonel Hamid's promotion.

Post-ISI Senior appointments

In 1951, at the age of 41, he became the youngest general in the Pakistan army. He served as both Master General of Ordnance (MGO) Adjutant-General before retiring in July 1959, writing later: 'After the imposition of Martial Law I felt that I had no place in the army and I could not justify to my conscience my existence in these circumstances.' In a meeting with Ayub Khan at the beginning of 1959 he advised him to send the army back to the barracks. Ayub responded that they had a job to do first. Hamid wrote: 'It was obvious that the 'hawks' had his ear and many had been placed in important assignments, where they were enjoying authority and power and wanted the army to stay on. In 1978, he was summoned back to public life by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Zia ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of ...

, and served as a federal cabinet minister for three years.

Post-retirement

Shahid Hamid was deeply interested in education, and helped found and became a patron of the Aligarh Old Boys Association and established Sir Syed School and Sir Syed Science College for boys and girls at Tipu Road,

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. After traveling across Pakistan's mountainous

Northern Areas Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

, he helped open up the region for local people and tourists by supporting road projects and writing books and articles in which he described the beauty of the area. For the last 20 years of his life, he wrote and researched books. He wrote one of the early books on Hunza after first visiting in 1954 when the valley was only accessible on horseback or on foot. Other books covered the politics of the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

, and the Pakistani army, as well as an autobiography.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamid, Syed Shahid 1910 births 1993 deaths Military personnel from Lucknow Pakistan Army major generals Directors General of Inter-Services Intelligence British Indian Army officers Indian Army personnel of World War II Pakistani military writers Pakistani travel writers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Aligarh Muslim University alumni Pakistani autobiographers Indian emigrants to Pakistan Recipients of Hilal-i-Jur'at