Muhammad Ayub Khan (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' President of Pakistan. He was an army general who seized the presidency from

Iskander Mirza Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakista ...

in a coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état in the country's history. Popular demonstrations and labour strikes supported by the protests in East Pakistan ultimately led to his

forced resignation Dismissal (also called firing) is the termination of employment by an employer against the will of the employee. Though such a decision can be made by an employer for a variety of reasons, ranging from an economic downturn to performance-related ...

in 1969. During his presidency, differences between

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...

arose to an enormous degree, that ultimately led to the Independence of East Pakistan. Trained at the British Royal Military College, Ayub Khan fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in the British Indian Army before deciding to transfer to the Pakistan Army in the aftermath of the

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1947. His assignments included command of the 14th Division in East-Bengal. He was elevated to become the first native

Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army The Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army (C-in-C of the Pakistan Army) was the professional head of the Pakistan Army from 1947 to 1972. The C-in-C was directly responsible for commanding the army. It was an administrative position and the a ...

in 1951 by Prime Minister

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

, succeeding General Douglas Gracey., Retrieved 25 August 2015 From 1953 to 1958, he served in the

civilian government Civil authority or civil government is the practical implementation of a state on behalf of its citizens, other than through military units (martial law), that enforces law and order and that is distinguished from religious authority (for exampl ...

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

and

Home Minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

and supported President Iskander Mirza's decision to impose martial law against Prime Minister Feroze Khan's administration in 1958., Retrieved 27 August 2015 Two weeks later, he took over the presidency from Mirza after a breakdown in civil-military relations between him and Mirza., Retrieved 25 August 2015 Upon taking power, he appointed General Musa Khan as Commander-in-Chief in 1958 to replace him in that role. He aligned Pakistan with the United States, and allowed American access to air bases inside Pakistan, most notably the airbase outside of

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, from which spy missions over the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

were launched. Relations with neighboring China were strengthened but his alignment with the US worsened relations with the

in 1962. He launched

Operation Gibraltar Operation Gibraltar was the codename of a military operation planned and executed by the Pakistan Army in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir in August 1965. The operation's strategy was to covertly cross the Line of Control (LoC) an ...

against

in 1965, leading to all-out war. However, with Soviet Union intervention in 1966, peace was negotiated and relations among the three nations improved. Domestically, Ayub subscribed to the laissez-faire policy of Western-aligned nations at the time. He

privatized Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

state-owned industries, and liberalized the economy generally. Large inflows of foreign aid and investment led to the fastest-growing economy in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

. His tenure was also distinguished by the completion of hydroelectric stations, dams, and reservoirs. Under Ayub, Pakistan's

space program A space program is an organized effort by a government or a company with a goal related to outer space. Lists of space programs include: * List of government space agencies * List of private spaceflight companies * List of human spaceflight prog ...

was established, and the country launched its first unmanned space-mission by 1962. However, the failure of

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

s and a weak taxation system meant that most of this growth landed in the hands of the elite. In 1965, Ayub Khan entered the presidential race as the

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League ( ur, ; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the right-wing platform in the country. The Muslim League (a different party) was the party of Pakistan’ ...

(PML) candidate to counter the popular and famed

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers s ...

Fatima Jinnah and was controversially reelected for a second term. He was faced with allegations of widespread intentional

vote rigging Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...

s, organizing political murders in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

, worsening the already-weak legitimacy of his regime after the peace with India, which many Pakistanis considered an embarrassing compromise. In 1967, wide disapproval of price hikes of food prompted demonstrations across the country led by

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

. Ayub Khan dramatically fell from power in 1969 amid a popular uprising in East Pakistan led by Mujibur Rahman. He was forced to resign to avoid further protests, and appointed

Yahya Khan General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan , (Urdu: ; 4 February 1917 – 10 August 1980); commonly known as Yahya Khan, was a Pakistani military general who served as the third President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator following his p ...

his successor to oversee elections. He fought a brief

illness A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

and died in 1974. His legacy remains mixed; he is credited with ostensible economic prosperity and what supporters dub the "decade of development" by bringing an industrial and agricultural revolution to the country, but is criticized for beginning the first of the intelligence agencies' incursions into national politics, for concentrating wealth in a corrupt few hands, and segregated policies that later led to the breaking-up of the nation's unity that resulted in the creation of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

., Retrieved 25 August 2015

Early life

Ayub Khan was born on 14 May 1907 in Rehana, a village in

Abbottabad District Abbottabad District () is a district of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is part of Hazara Division and covers an area of 1,969 km2, with the city of Abbottabad being the principal town. Neighbouring districts are Mansehra to ...

of the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now in

Haripur District Haripur District ( ps, هریپور ولسوالۍ, ur, "The Town of Hari") is a district in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The town of Haripur (meaning 'Hari's town') was founded in 1822 by Hari Singh Nalwa, the Co ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

, Pakistan) into the

Tareen The Tareen (or Tarin) ( ps, ترین) is a Pashtun tribe inhabiting southern Afghanistan, and western region of Pakistan.Caroe O. ''The Pathans 550 B.C.- A.D. 1957'' Oxford University Press . Page 521.Muhammad Hyat Khan, "Hayat i Afghan" (Orig. i ...

tribe of

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

. He was the first child of the second wife of Mir Dad Khan, a Risaldar-Major (a regimental JCO which was then known as VCO) in the

9th Hodson's Horse 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) is a part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army, which had its beginnings as an irregular cavalry regiment during the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Formation The regiment was raised during the turbulent tim ...

which was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. For his basic education, he was enrolled in a school in Sarai Saleh, which was about 4 miles from his village. He used to go to school on a mule's back and was shifted to a school in Haripur, where he started living with his grandmother. He went on to study at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and while pursuing his college education, he was accepted into the Royal Military College at Sandhurst by the recommendation of General Andrew Skeen; he did not complete his degree at AMU and departed for Great Britain. Ayub Khan was fluent in Urdu, Pashto, English, and his regional Northern Hindko dialect.

Military career

Ayub Khan joined the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, as a trainee in July 1926. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. on 2 February 1928 in the 1/14th Punjab Regiment ( 1st Battalion of the

14th Punjab Regiment The 14th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to the Pakistan Army on independence in 1947, and amalgamated with the 1st, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments in 1956, to form the Punjab Regi ...

) of the British Indian Army – before this he was attached to the Royal Fusiliers. Amongst those who passed out with him was the future chief of army staff of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, General

Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri General (India), General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri (Bengali Language, Bengali: জয়ন্তনাথ চৌধুরী; 10 June 1908 – 6 April 1983) was a General Officer in the Indian Army. He served as the 6th Chief of the Army Staff ( ...

, who served as the army chief from 1962 to 1966 while Ayub was the president of Pakistan. After the standard probationary period of service in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, he was appointed to the British Indian Army on 10 April 1929, joining the 1/14th Punjab Regiment ''Sherdils'', now known as the 5th Punjab Regiment. He was promoted to lieutenant on 2 May 1930 and to captain on 2 February 1937. During

, he was promoted to the temporary rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

in 1942 and was posted in Burma to participate in the first phase of the Burma Campaign in 1942–43. He was promoted to the permanent rank of major on 2 February 1945. Later that year, he was promoted to temporary

and assumed the command of his own regiment in which he was commissioned to direct operations in the

second phase The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

of the Burma Campaign; however, he was soon temporarily suspended without pay from that command for visible cowardice under fire. In 1946, he was posted back to

and was stationed in the

. In 1947, he was promoted to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

and commanded a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. B ...

in mountainous

South Waziristan South Waziristan District ( ps, سويلي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) was a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before splitting in to Lower South Waziristan District and Upper South Waziristan District and ...

. When the United Kingdom announced the

partition of British India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

into

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, he was one of the most senior serving officers in the British Indian Army who opted for Pakistan in 1947. At the time of his joining, he was the 10th ranking officer in terms of seniority with

service number A service number is an identification code used to identify a person within a large group. Service numbers are most often associated with the military; however, they may be used in civilian organizations as well. National identification numbers may ...

PA-010. In the early part of 1948, he was given the command of the 14th Infantry Division in the rank of acting major-general stationed in

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

. In 1949, he was decorated with the

Hilal-i-Jurat The Hilal-e-Jurat ( ur, , as if it were ''Halāl-e-Jurāt''; English: Crescent of Courage , sometimes spelled as Hilal-e-Jur'at, Hilal-e-Jurat, Hilal-i-Jurrat and Hilal-i-Juraat)Various official sources that are highly reputable spell the name ...

(HJ) by Prime Minister

for non-combatant service and called back to

General Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

as the

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

of the army on November of the same year.

Commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army

General Sir Douglas Gracey relinquished the command of the Pakistan Army on 23 January 1951, under pressure of calls for "nationalisation" of the army. The Pakistan government already called for appointing native commanders-in-chief of the army,

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

, and

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and dismissed deputation appointments from the British military. The

sent the nomination papers to the Prime Minister's Secretariat for the appointment of commander-in-chief. There were four-senior officers in the race: Major-General Akbar Khan, Major-General

Iftikhar Khan Major General Muhammed Iftikhar Khan (10 January 1907 – 13 December 1949) was an officer of the British Indian Army and later Pakistan Army. He was the strongest contender to succeed General Douglas Gracey as the Commander-in-Chief, but unfor ...

, Major-General

Ishfakul Majid Muhammed Ishfakul Majid (17 March 1903 – 31 March 1976) was the first Sylheti general in the Pakistan Army. Personal He was born on 17 March 1903 in Jorhat, Assam, British India. He is the son of Abdul Majid, the first Muslim who served as ...

, and Major-General N.A.M. Raza, and among these officers Akbar was the senior-most as he was commissioned in 1920. Initially, Gen.

(commissioned in 1929) was selected for appointment as the first native commander-in-chief of the army, but he died in an airplane crash en route to take command after finishing the senior staff officers' course in the United Kingdom. All three remaining generals were bypassed including the recommended senior-most Major-General Akbar Khan and Major-General Ishfakul Majid (commissioned in 1924). Defence Secretary

Iskandar Mirza Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakista ...

, at that time, played a crucial role in lobbying for the army post selection as presenting with convincing arguments to Prime Minister Ali Khan to promote the junior-most Major-General Ayub Khan (commissioned in 1928) to the post despite the fact that his name was not included in the nomination list. Ayub's papers of promotion were approved and he was appointed the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army on 17 January 1951 by Prime Minister Ali Khan. Ayub's becoming the commander in chief of the Pakistan Army marked a change in the military tradition to one of preferring native Pakistanis; it ended the transitional role of British military officers. Although the

Pakistani government The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territories, ...

announced the appointment of the navy's native commander in chief in 1951, it was Ayub Khan who helped Vice-Admiral M.S. Choudhri to be appointed as the first native navy commander in chief, also in 1953. The events surrounding Ayub's appointment set the precedent for a native general being promoted out of turn, ostensibly because he was the least ambitious of the generals in the line of promotion and the most loyal to civil government at that time. Ayub, alongside Admiral Choudhri, cancelled and disbanded the British military tradition in the navy and the army when the U.S. military's advisers were dispatched to the

Pakistani military The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

in 1955–57. British military traditions were only kept in the air force due to a British commander and major staff consisting of

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

officers. In 1953, Ayub visited

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, his first foreign visit as an army commander in chief, and was said to have been impressed with

Turkish military The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, General Staff, the Turki ...

tradition; he met only with the Turkish Defence minister during his visit. Thereafter, he went to the United States and visited the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

and Pentagon to lobby for forging military relations. He termed this visit as a "medical visit" but made a strong plea for military aid which was not considered due to India's opposition.

Cabinet and Defence Minister

On 24 February 1954, Ayub signed the

Central Treaty Organization The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turk ...

(CENTO) pact for Pakistan and his role in national politics, along with that of Defense Minister Mirza, began to grow In 1954, Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra's relations with the military and Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad deteriorated on issues of the economy. Pressure built up to reconstruct the cabinet which eventually witnessed General Ayub Khan becoming the defence minister and

home minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

in October 1954. Ayub Khan disdained civilian politicians, whose factional infighting had for years prevented adoption of a constitution. He wrote that he reluctantly joined the cabinet as defence minister with "two clear objectives: to save the armed forces from the interference of the politicians, and to unify the provinces of West Pakistan into one unit." The controversial

One Unit Scheme The One Unit Scheme ( ur, ; bn, এক ইউনিট ব্যবস্থা) was a geopolitical programme launched by the Government of Pakistan led by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954 and passed on 30 September 1955 ...

integrated the four western provinces into one political entity,

, as a counterbalance against the numerically superior population of

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

, which was renamed

. The province of Punjab supported the project, but all the other provinces protested against it and its centralisation of power. Opposition was particularly strong in

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

, where it was seen as an attack on the democratic principle of political egalitarianism. In 1955, Prime Minister Bogra was dismissed by Governor-General Malik Ghulam Muhammad and he was succeeded by the new Prime Minister

Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Chaudhry Muhammad Ali ( Urdu, pa, ; 15 July 1905 – 2 December 1982), best known as Muhammad Ali, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the fourth prime minister of Pakistan, appointed on 12 August 1955. His government tra ...

as the Defence Minister. After the 1954 provincial elections in East Pakistan, the Awami League formed the government there while

was governed by the PML, but the PML government collapsed in 1956. He was called on to join the Cabinet as Defence Minister by Prime Minister H.S. Suhrawardy and maintained closer relations with Iskander Mirza who now had become the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the country after the successful promulgation of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

in 1956. In 1957, President Mirza promoted him from acting full general to the substantive rank of full general. Around this time the MoD, led by General Ayub Khan, began to see the serious

interservice rivalry Interservice rivalry is the rivalry between different branches of a country's armed forces, in other words the competition for limited resources among a nation's land, naval, coastal, air, and space forces. The term also applies to the rival ...

between the

staff and the

Naval Headquarters A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...

staff. Commander in Chief of Navy Vice-Admiral M. S. Choudri and his NHQ staff had been fighting with the Finance ministry and the MoD over the issues of rearmament and contingency plans. Meanwhile, he continued to serve with Prime Minister Chundrigar and Feroz Noon's government as Defence Minister. In 1958, he chaired the joint military meeting where he became involved in a heated discussion with Admiral M. S. Choudri. He reportedly complained against Admiral Choudri to President Mirza and criticized Admiral Choudri for "neither having the brain, imagination, or depth of thought to understand such (defence) problems nor the vision or the ability to make any contribution". The impasse was broken with Admiral Choudhri resigning from the navy in protest as a result of having differences with the navy's plans of expansion and modernization. In 1958, Vice-Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan, who was known to be a confidant of General Ayub Khan, was appointed as naval chief by President Mirza.

President of Pakistan (1958–1969)

Under threat of being dismissed, Prime Minister H.S. Suhrawardy resigned and Prime Minister I.I. Chundiragar took over the post but in a mere two months he too tendered his resignation after losing a

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. The

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

then elected Sir Feroz Noon for the post of the prime minister; Noon had much wider support from the western Republican Party, the eastern Awami League, and the Krishak Sramik. This new alliance threatened President

because Suhrawardy and Feroz began campaigning to become prime minister and president in the upcoming

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. The conservative

, led by its President A.Q. Khan, was also gaining momentum in

and threatened for the '' Dharna'' movement. These events were against President Mirza hence he was willing to dissolve even Pakistan's One Unit for his advantage. At midnight on 7 October 1958, President Mirza ordered a mass mobilization of the

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

and abrogated the

after sending a letter to Prime Minister Feroz and the

about the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

. Most of the country's politicians only became aware of the coup the next morning; only U.S. Ambassador

James Langley Lieutenant-Colonel James Maydon Langley (12 March 1916 – 10 April 1983) was an officer in the British Army, who served during World War II. Wounded and captured at the battle of Dunkirk in mid-1940, he later returned to Britain and served in ...

and the British High Commissioner were kept fully informed of political developments in the country. President Mirza appointed General Ayub

chief martial law administrator The office of the Chief Martial Law Administrator was a senior and authoritative post with Zonal Martial Law Administrators as deputies created in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia that gave considerable executive authority and p ...

(CMLA), who then declared martial law. Ayub justified his part by declaring that: "History would never have forgiven us if the present chaotic conditions were allowed to go on any further," and his goal was to restore a democracy that the "people can understand and work", not to rule indefinitely. When the public ''was'' informed, public reactions were mixed. The immediate crackdown on smuggling, corruption, and trafficking won Ayub plenty of support from the commoners. The middle-class and the upper-middle class were more apprehensive. President Mirza himself was apprehensive, though for a different reason. He had been contemplating replacing Ayub Khan, and it seems that Ayub knew. Immediately after the Supreme Court's Chief Justice Munir justified the coup under the doctrine of necessity, Ayub sent the military into the presidential palace and exiled Mirza to England. This was largely done with the support of: Admiral A. R. Khan, General Azam Khan, Nawab of Kalabagh Amir Khan, General Dr. Wajid Khan, and Air Marshal

Asghar Khan Air Marshal Muhammad Asghar Khan (Retd.) ( ur, 17 January 1921 – 5 January 2018), was a Pakistani politician and an autobiographer, later a dissident serving the cause of pacifism, peace, and human rights. Born into a military fam ...

. The regime came to power with the intent of instituting widespread reform. Like Mirza, Ayub advocated for greater centralization of power, and his ruling style was more American than British. He "vowed to give people access to speedier justice, curb the crippling birth rate, and take appropriate steps, including land reforms and technological innovation, to develop agriculture so that the country could feed itself". Ayub finally "restored civil administration", although he maintained the Presidency and relied on an intricate web of spy agencies to maintain supremacy over the bureaucracy, including calling upon civilian intelligence agencies. In 1960, a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

, that functioned as the Electoral College, was held that asked the general public: ''"Do you have confidence in Muhammad Ayub Khan?".'' The

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...

was recorded at 95.6% and such confirmation was used as impetus to formalise the new system – a presidential system. Ayub Khan was elected president for the next five years and decided to pay his first state visit to the United States with his wife and also daughter Begum Naseem Aurangzeb in July 1961. Highlights of his visit included a state dinner at

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

, a visit to the

Islamic Center of Washington The Islamic Center of Washington is a mosque and Islamic cultural center in Washington, D.C. It is located on Embassy Row on Massachusetts Avenue just east of the bridge over Rock Creek. When it opened in 1957, it was the largest mosque in the ...

, and a ticker tape parade in New York City.

Constitutional and legal reforms

A Constitutional Commission was set-up under the Supreme Court to implement the work on the

that was led by Chief Justice

Muhammad Shahabuddin Muhammad Shahabuddin (Urdu: محمد شہاب الدین) was the 3rd Chief Justice of Pakistan, serving from 3 May 1960, to 12 May 1960. He also served as the Governor of East Pakistan. Early life Muhammad Shahabuddin was born on 13 May 189 ...

and Supreme Court justices. The commission reported in 1961 with its recommendations but President Ayub remained unsatisfied; he eventually altered the constitution so that it was entirely different from the one recommended by the Shahabuddin Commission. The Constitution reflected his personal views of politicians and the restriction of using religions in politics. His presidency restored the

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

of government through the promulgated constitution and restored political freedom by lifting the martial law enforced since 1958. The new Constitution respected Islam, but did not declare Islam as the state religion and was viewed as a liberal constitution. It also provided for election of the president by 80,000 (later raised to 120,000) Basic Democrats who could theoretically make their own choice but who were essentially under his control. He justified this as analogous to the American Electoral College and cited

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

as his inspiration. The Ayub administration "guided" the print newspapers through his takeover of key opposition papers and, while Ayub Khan permitted a

, it had only limited powers. On 2 March 1961, he passed and signed the "Muslim Family Laws" bill through the ordinance under which unmitigated

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...

was abolished, consent of the current wife was made mandatory for a second marriage, brakes were also placed on the practice of instant divorce where men could divorce women by saying:"I divorce you" three times under Islamic tradition. The Arbitration Councils were set up under the law in the urban and rural areas to deal with cases of: (a) grant of sanction to a person to contract a second marriage during the subsistence of a marriage; (b) reconciliation of a dispute between a husband and a wife; (c) grant of a maintenance allowance to the wife and children.

Economy and infrastructure

Kaptai dam in East Pakistan being visited by Ayub Khan

Industrialization and rural development through constructing modern national freeways are considered his greatest achievements and his era is remembered for successful industrialization in the impoverished country. Strong emphasis on capitalism and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the industry is often regarded as the "Great Decade" in the history of the country (both

economical An economic system, or economic order, is a system of production, resource allocation and distribution of goods and services within a society or a given geographic area. It includes the combination of the various institutions, agencies, entitie ...

and

political history Political history is the narrative and survey of political events, ideas, movements, organs of government, voters, parties and leaders. It is closely related to other fields of history, including diplomatic history, constitutional history, socia ...

). The "Great Decade" was celebrated, which highlighted the development plans executed during the years of Ayub's rule, the private consortium companies and industries, and is credited with creating an environment where the private sector was encouraged to establish medium and small-scale industries in Pakistan. This opened up avenues for new job opportunities and thus the economic graph of the country started rising. He oversaw the development and completion of mega projects such as

hydroelectric dams Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

power stations A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many po ...

, and barrages all over the country. During 1960–66, the annual GDP growth was recorded at 6.8%. Several hydroelectric projects were completed, including the

Mangla Dam The Mangla Dam ( ur, ) is a multipurpose dam situated on the Jhelum River in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir. It is the sixth-largest dam in the world. The village of Mangla, which sits at the mouth of the dam, serves as its namesake. I ...

(one of the world's largest dams), several small dams and water reservoirs in West Pakistan, and one dam in East Pakistan, the

Kaptai Dam Kaptai Dam ( bn, কাপ্তাই বাঁধ) is on the Karnaphuli River at Kaptai, upstream from Chittagong in Rangamati District, Bangladesh. It is an earth-fill embankment dam with a reservoir (known as Kaptai Lake) water storage ca ...

. President Ayub authorized planning of nuclear power plants, overriding the concerns of his own finance minister, Muhammad Shoaib, about their

cost In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in whic ...

. Initially, two nuclear power plants were to be established in the country: one in

and the other in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

. Dr.

Abdus Salam Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physicist and a ...

. supported by the President, personally approved the project in Karachi while the project in East Pakistan never materialized.Shahid-ur-Rehman, "Z.A. Bhutto, A Man in Hurry for the Bomb," Long Road To Chagai, p. 21. Extensive education reforms were supposedly carried out and 'scientific development efforts' were also supposedly made during his years. These policies could not be sustained after 1965, when the economy collapsed and led to economic declines which he was unable to control. Ayub introduced new curricula and textbooks for universities and schools. Many public-sector universities and schools were built during his era. He also introduced agricultural reforms preventing anyone from occupying more than 500 acres of irrigated and 1000 acres of unirrigated land. An

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

was established in Karachi. These reforms led to 15% GNP growth of the country that was three times greater than that of India. Despite the increase in the

GNP The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...

growth, the profit and revenue was gained by the famous 22 families of the time that controlled 66% of the industries and

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

of the country and 80% of the

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becau ...

and

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

companies of Pakistan.

Defence spending

During the Ayub era, the navy was able to introduce submarines and slowly modified itself by acquiring warships. However, Ayub drastically reduced funding of the military in the 1950s and de-prioritized

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s in the 1960s. The military relied on donations from the United States for major weapons procurements. Major funding was made available for military acquisitions and procurement towards

conventional weapon The terms conventional weapons or conventional arms generally refer to weapons whose ability to damage comes from kinetic, incendiary, or explosive energy and exclude weapons of mass destruction (''e.g.'' nuclear, biological, radiological and c ...

ry for conventional defence. In the 1960s, the Pakistani military acquired Americanproduced conventional weapons such as Jeep CJs,

M48 Patton The M48 Patton is an American first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M26 Pershing, M4 Sherman, M46 and M47 Patton tanks, and w ...

and M24 Chaffee tanks,

M16 rifle The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-ro ...

s, F-86 fighter airplanes, and the submarine

PNS Ghazi PNS/M ''Ghazi (S–130)'' (previously USS ''Diablo'' (SS-479); reporting name: ''Ghazi''), , was a diesel-electric submarine, the first fast-attack submarine in the Pakistan Navy. She was leased from the United States Navy in 1963. She s ...

; all through the US

Foreign Military Sales The United States Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program facilitates sales of U.S. arms, defense equipment, defense services, and military training to foreign governments. The purchaser does not deal directly with the defens ...

program. In 1961, President Ayub started the nation's fullfledged space program in cooperation with the air force, and created the Suparco civilian space agency that launched

sounding rockets A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to ...

throughout the 1960s. Ayub directed Pakistan's nuclear technology efforts towards electrical power generation, disregarding recommendations to use it for military purposes. He reportedly spent ₨. 721 million on civilian nuclear power plants and related education of engineers and scientists. Ayub Khan filled more and more civil administrative positions with army officers, increasing the military's influence over the bureaucracy. He expanded the size of the army by more than half from the early 1960s to 1969, and maintained a high level of military spending as a percentage of GDP during that period, peaking in the immediate aftermath of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

Foreign policy

U.S. alliance and 1960 U-2 incident

Motorcade in Arrival Ceremonies for Muhammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan use

The main feature of Ayub Khan's foreign policy was prioritized relations with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and Europe. Foreign relations with the

were downplayed. He enjoyed support from President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s and, working with Prime Minister Ali Khan, forged a

military alliance A military alliance is a formal agreement between nations concerning national security. Nations in a military alliance agree to active participation and contribution to the defense of others in the alliance in the event of a crisis. (Online) ...

with the United States against regional communism. His obsession towards modernization of the armed forces in the shortest time possible saw relations with the United States as the only way to achieve his organizational and personal objectives as he argued against civilian supremacy that would affect American interests in the region as a result of an election. President Lyndon B

The

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

leased

Peshawar Air Station Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

in the 1950s and spying into the Soviet Union from the air station grew immensely, with Ayub's full knowledge, during his presidency. When these activities were exposed in 1960 after a U-2 flying out of the air station was shot down and its pilot captured by the USSR, President Ayub was in the United Kingdom on a state visit. When the local CIA station chief briefed President Ayub on the incident, Ayub shrugged his shoulders and said that he had expected this would happen at some point. The resulting Soviet ire severely compromised the national security of Pakistan. Ayub Khan had to publicly offer his apologies to the Soviet Union after USSR Secretary General

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

made a threat to bomb Peshawar. President Ayub directed his Foreign Office to reduce tensions with the Soviet Union by facilitating state visits by Soviet Premier

Kosygin Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin ( rus, Алексе́й Никола́евич Косы́гин, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsɨɡʲɪn; – 18 December 1980) was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as the Premi ...

and Soviet Foreign Minister

Gromyko Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (russian: Андрей Андреевич Громыко; be, Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка; – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet communist politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as ...

and agreeing to downplay relations with the United States. In 1963, Ayub signed the historic Sino-Pakistan Frontier Agreement with China despite US opposition. This alliance of a non-communist country with a communist one was a significant event in the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

of the Cold War. During 1961–65, Ayub lost much of his support from President John Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson as they sought closer relations with India. President Johnson placed an embargo on both nations during the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

in 1965. Relations with the Soviet Union were eventually normalized when the Soviets facilitated a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...

between Pakistan and India in 1965, and reached a trade treaty with Pakistan the following year. In 1966–67, Ayub wrestled with the United States' attempt to dictate Pakistan's foreign policy, while he strengthened relations with the Soviet Union and China. Despite initiatives to normalize relations with the Soviet Union, Ayub Khan remained inclined towards the United States and the

western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, receiving President Johnson in Karachi in 1967. In 1961–62, Ayub paid a state visit to the United Kingdom. He attracted much attention from the British public when his involvement in the Christine Keeler affair was revealed.

India: 1959 joint defence and 1965 war

In 1959, Ayub Khan's interest in building defence forces had already diminished when he made an offer of joint defense with India during the Sino-Indo clashes in October 1959 in Ladakh, in a move seen as a result of American pressure and a lack of understanding of foreign affairs Upon hearing this proposal, India's Prime Minister

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

reportedly countered, "Defence Minister Ayub: Joint Defence on what?" India remained uninterested in such proposals and Prime Minister Nehru decided to push his country's role in the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

. In 1960, President Ayub, together with Prime Minister Nehru, signed the

Indus Waters Treaty The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, arranged and negotiated by the World Bank, to use the water available in the Indus River and its tributaries. It was signed in Karachi on 19 September 1960 b ...

brokered by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

.War over water
The Guardian, Monday 3 June 2002 01.06 BST In 1962, after India was defeated by China, Ayub Khan disguised a few thousand soldiers as guerillas and sent them to Indian Kashmir to incite the people to rebel. In 1964, the Pakistan Army engaged with the

in several skirmishes, and clandestine operations began. The

with India in 1965 was a turning point in his presidency, and it ended in a settlement reached by Ayub Khan at Tashkent, called the

Tashkent Declaration The Tashkent Declaration was signed between India and Pakistan on 10 January 1966 to resolve the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Peace was achieved on 23 September through interventions by the Soviet Union and the United States, both of which push ...

, which was facilitated by the Soviet Union. The settlement was perceived negatively by many Pakistanis and led Foreign Minister

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

to resign his post and take up opposition to Ayub Khan. According to Morrice James, "For them (Pakistanis) Ayub had betrayed the nation and had inexcusably lost face before the Indians."''Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War'' by Victoria Schofield Published 2003, by I.B.Tauris p. 112. According to Sartaj Aziz, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, it was Foreign Minister Bhutto who had inadvertently set Pakistan on the road to war with India. During a cabinet meeting, Bhutto had gone on a populist

anti-Indian Anti-Indian sentiment, also known as Indophobia or anti-Indianism, is a modern term referring to negative feelings and hatred towards the Republic of India, Indian people, and Indian culture. Indophobia is formally defined in the context of ant ...

and

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

binge and succeeded in spellbinding President Ayub into thinking he was becoming a world statesman fawned upon by the enemies of the United States. When Ayub authorized

, the fomenting of an Kashmiri insurgency against India, Aziz famously told the President: "Sir, I hope you realize that our foreign policy and our economic requirements are not fully consistent, in fact they are rapidly falling out of line". Aziz opposed Operation Gibraltar, fearing the economical turmoil that would jolt the country's economy, but was in turn opposed by his own senior bureaucrats. In that meeting, Foreign Minister Bhutto convinced the president and the finance minister Muhammad Shoaib that India would not attack Pakistan due to Kashmir being a

disputed territory A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...

, and per Bhutto's remarks: "Pakistan's incursion into Indian-occupied Kashmir, at hnoor, would not provide

ndia Ndia or NDIA may refer to: * Ndia Constituency, Kirinyaga District, Central Province, Kenya *Alternative name for the Southern Kirinyaga dialect of the Kikuyu language *National Defense Industrial Association, an American trade association * Natio ...

with the justification for attacking Pakistan across the international boundary because Kashmir was a disputed territory". This theory proved wrong when India launched a full-scale war against

in 1965. His army C-in-C General Musa Khan did not order the Pakistan Army to respond without the confirmation by President Ayub Khan despite Foreign Minister Bhutto's urging However, after the

advanced towards the

Rann of Kutch The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located in Gujarat (primarily the Kutch district), India, and in Sindh, Pakistan. It is divided into ...

, General Musa Khan ordered the army to respond against the opposing force. He faced serious altercations with, and public criticism from, air chief AM

for hiding the details of the war. The Air AHQ began fighting the president over the contingency plans, and this inter-services rivalry ended with Asghar Khan's resignation. To reduce interservices tensions and criticism, navy commander Admiral A. R. Khan authorised the shelling of coastal

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

posts at

Dwarka Dwarka () is a city and a municipality of Devbhumi Dwarka district in the state of Gujarat in Western India. It is located on the western shore of the Okhamandal Peninsula on the right bank of the Gomti river at the mouth of the Gulf of Kut ...

, India. About the 1965 war's contingency plans, AM Nur Khan briefly wrote that "Rumours about an impending operation were rife but the army had not shared the plans with other forces." Ayub Khan's main sponsor, the United States, did not welcome the move and the Johnson administration placed an economic embargo that caused Pakistan to lose $500 million in aid and grants that had been received through consortium. Ayub Khan could not politically survive in the aftermath of the 1965 war with India and fell from the presidency after surrendering presidential power to Army Commander General Yahya in 1969.

End of his presidency

Presidential election of 1965

In 1964, President Ayub Khan was confident in his apparent popularity and saw the deep divisions within the political opposition which ultimately led him to announce presidential elections in 1965. He earned the nomination of the

(PML) and was shocked when Fatima Jinnah was nominated by the Combined Opposition Parties. Fatima Jinnah had gained a lot of support from Karachi,

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

, and various parts of West and East Pakistan opposed to President Ayub Khan. Jinnah targeted the

, Pakistan's over-reliance on the United States, and its troubled relations with the Soviet Union. During the elections, President Ayub earned notoriety when his son,

Gohar Ayub Khan Gohar Ayub Khan ( ur, گوہر ایوب خان; born 15 January 1937) is a Pakistani politician, business oligarch, retired army officer, and conservative figure of the Pakistan Muslim League, who held ministerial positions during the administr ...

, was named in the news media for authorizing political murders in Karachi, particularly of Jinnah supporters. Angry protesters demonstrated in the streets of Sindh, chanting slogans against President Ayub. Fatima Jinnah won the popular vote in a landslide but Ayub Khan won the election through the Electoral College vote. During this time, Ayub Khan used the

Pakistani intelligence community The Pakistani intelligence community ( ur, ) comprises the various intelligence agencies of Pakistan that work internally and externally to manage, research and collect intelligence necessary for national security. Consolidated intelligence orga ...

for his own advantage.

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

actively monitored politicians and political gatherings and the Intelligence Bureau taped politicians' telephone conversations. This was the first departure of the intelligence community from national defence and security to direct interference with national politics, an interference which continued in succeeding years. It was reported that the elections were widely rigged by the state authorities and machinery under the control of Ayub Khan and it is believed that had the elections been held via direct ballot, Fatima Jinnah would have won. The Electoral College consisted of only 80,000 Basic Democrats. They were easily manipulated by President Ayub Khan, who won the bitterly-contested elections with 64% of the Electoral College vote. According to journalists of the time, the election did not conform to international standards; many viewed the election results with great suspicion.

1969 nationwide riots and resignation

The controversial victory over Fatima Jinnah in the 1965 presidential election and the outcome of the

with India in the same year brought devastating results for Ayub Khan's image and his presidency. Upon returning from

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

, Foreign Minister Bhutto went to the television media and criticized President Ayub for selling the nation's honor and sacrifice, which prompted President Ayub to depose Bhutto. In

, public resentment towards Ayub had been rising since the 1965 elections and his policies were widely disapproved. In 1967,

formed the socialist Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and embarked on a nationwide tour where he attacked the Ayub administration's economic, religious, and social policies. The detention of Bhutto further inflamed the opposition and demonstrations were sparked all over the country with the East Pakistani Awami League charging the Ayub administration with segregating policies towards the East. Labour unions called for labour strikes against Ayub Khan's labour legislation and dissatisfaction was widespread in the country's middle class by the end of 1968. When Ayub Khan was confronted with the

Six Point movement The six point movement was a movement in East Pakistan, spearheaded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which called for greater autonomy for East Pakistan. The movement's main agenda was to realize the six demands put forward by a coalition of Bengali na ...

led by

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

and with the criticism by Bhutto's PPP, he responded by imprisoning both leaders but that made matters worse for Ayub's administration.

Left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

parties, allied with the conservative masses, began advocating for the Islamic

parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

system against his presidential rule. In 1968, he survived an assassination attempt while visiting

and was visibly shaken afterwards, according to close aides; though this was not reported in the press of the day., p. 53. In 1969, Ayub Khan opened negotiations with the opposition parties in what was termed as a "

Round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in Dec ...

" where he held talks with every opposition party except for the Awami League and the Pakistan Peoples Party. However, these discussions yielded no results and strong anti-Ayub demonstrations calling for his resignation were sparked all over the country. During this time, Ayub Khan survived a near-fatal

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

that put him out of the office, and later survived a paralysis attack that put him in a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

. The

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

were unable to maintain

law and order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

in the country, especially in East Pakistan where riots and a serious uprising were quelled. At one point, Home and Defence Minister Vice-Admiral Rahman told journalists that the "country was under the Mob rule and that Police were not strong enough to tackle the situation". The PPP also led very strong protests, street demonstrations, and riots against the Ayub Khan's administration when the prices of food consumer products such as sugar, tea, and wheat, hiked up. Disapproval of Ayub Khan was widely expressed by chanted slogans and insults referring to him. On the streets of major cities of West Pakistan, massive wall chalkings that employed

derogatory A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

and

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

terms for Ayub made

headline The headline or heading is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th centur ...

s in the print and broadcast media. Ayub Khan himself was shocked upon hearing that young protesters and college students in

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

had been referring him to as "Dog". According to a ''Dawn'' editorial in 2014, it was the first time in the country's history when derogatory language was used against its politicians. Elements in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

began supporting the opposition political parties; it was this that finally brought about the demise of Ayub Khan's era. On 25 March 1969, President Ayub Khan, after consulting Advocate Raja Muhammad Qalib Ali Khan (the last person to meet the president before resignation) resigned from office and invited commander-in-chief of the army General

to take over control of the country.

Death and legacy

Ayub Khan did not comment on the Bangladesh Liberation War (or East Pakistan's Secessionist War from Pakistan's perspective) in 1971. He died of a heart attack on 19 April 1974 at his

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

near

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

. Ayub Khan's presidency allied Pakistan with the American-led

against the Soviet Union which helped Pakistan develop its strong economic background and its long-term political and strategic relations with the United States. Major economic aid and trade from the United States and European Communities ultimately led Pakistan's industrial sector to develop rapidly but the consequences of

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

ization included increased

inequality Inequality may refer to: Economics * Attention inequality, unequal distribution of attention across users, groups of people, issues in etc. in attention economy * Economic inequality, difference in economic well-being between population groups * ...

in the

distribution of wealth The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or economic heterogeneity. The distribution of wealth differs from the income distribution in that ...

. After 1965, he became extremely concerned about the arrogance and bossiness of the US over the direction of Pakistan's foreign policy when the US publicly criticized Pakistan for building ties with China and

; he authored a book over this issue known as ''Friends not Masters''. Ayub Khan began his diary in September 1966, and ended his record in October 1972, because of his failing health. The diary covers events such as his resignation from office, assumption of power by

, the separation of East and West Pakistan, and the replacement of Yahya by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. After his death in 1972, the diary was not released to the public for thirty years due to opinions which would have been detrimental to the reputation of powerful individuals at the time. Ayub Khan wanted his diary to be edited by Altaf Gauhar but after Ayub Khan's death the six-year-long diary was entrusted to Oxford University Press (OUP) to edit and publish. At OUP, ''Diaries of Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, 1966-1972'' was edited and annotated by Craig Baxter. The federal capital was relocated under the Ayub administration from the port city of Karachi to the new and carefully planned city of Islamabad in the mountains. Facilitated by the

, the Ayub administration became a party to the

with archrival India to resolve disputes regarding the sharing of the waters of the six rivers in the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

Doab that flow between the two countries. Khan's administration also built a major network of irrigation canals, high-water dams, and thermal and hydroelectric power stations. He subsidized fertilizers and modernized agriculture through irrigation development and spurred industrial growth with liberal tax benefits. In the decade of his rule, the

rose by 45% and manufactured goods began to overtake such traditional exports as jute and cotton. However, the economists in the Planning Commission alleged that his policies were tailored to reward the elite families and major landowners in the country. In 1968, his administration celebrated the so-called "Decade of Development" when the mass protests erupted all over the country due to an increasingly greater divide between the rich and the poor.

Criticism, personal wealth, and family

After 1965, the corruption in government, nepotism, and suppression of

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

, thought, and

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

increased unrest and turmoil in the country against the Ayub administration. The 1965 presidential election, where Ayub Khan was opposed by Fatima Jinnah, was allegedly rigged. In 2003, the nephew of the Quaid-i-Azam, Akbar Pirbhai, re-ignited the controversy by suggesting that Fatima Jinnah's death in 1967 was an assassination by the Ayub Khan establishment. Gohar Ayub Khan became the subject of criticism by many writers when he was accused of leading a victory parade after the 1965 election right into the heartland of opposition territory in Karachi in a blatantly provocative move. The civil administration's failure to stop the rally led to fierce clashes between opposing groups with many locals being killed.

also faced criticisms during that time on questions of family corruption and cronyism through his business links with his father-in-law, retired Lieutenant General Habibullah Khan Khattak. One Western commentator in 1969 estimated Gohar Ayub's personal wealth at the time at $4 million, while his family's wealth was put in the range of $10–20 million. Public criticism of Gohar's personal wealth and that of the President increased. All these criticisms harmed President Ayub Khan's image. He is also blamed for not doing enough to tackle the significant economic disparity between East and West Pakistan. Whilst he was aware of the acute grievances of East Pakistan, he did try to address the situation. However, the Ayub Khan regime was so highly centralized that, in the absence of democratic institutions, densely populated and politicized East Pakistan province continued to feel it was being slighted. After his death, his descendants became active in national politics in the 1990s until the present; however, these family members have been controversial. His son Gohar is an active member of the conservative PML(N) and was the Foreign Minister in the Sharif ministry in the 1990s but was removed due to his controversial and unauthorized statements about India. His daughter Nasim did not enter politics and married Miangul Aurangzeb, the

Wali of Swat A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...

. His son Shaukat was a successful businessman and had four children, three sons, and one daughter. All three sons went into business and politics, with Akbar,

Arshad Arshad is an Arabic male given name and a surname. It means "the right path". Notable people with the name include: Given name *Arshad Ali (disambiguation), several people * Arshad Ayub (born 1958), Indian cricketer *Arshad Hasan, executive direc ...

, and Yousaf Ayub Khan becoming successful members of the provincial and national assemblies. His grandson,

Omar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...

, served in the Aziz ministry as a

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in the 2000s but joined the PML(N) in 2010; he was declared ineligible for the 2013 general election after allegations of

were proved. In 2018, he joined PTI. Another grandson, Yousaf, who is a party worker of the PTI, was also declared ineligible for submitting fake documents to the Election Commission.

Awards and Decorations

Foreign Decorations

Honours

National honours

* : ** Recipient of the Nishan-e-Pakistan (NPk) ** Recipient of the

Hilal-e-Jurat The Hilal-e-Jurat ( ur, , as if it were ''Halāl-e-Jurāt''; English: Crescent of Courage , sometimes spelled as Hilal-e-Jur'at, Hilal-e-Jurat, Hilal-i-Jurrat and Hilal-i-Juraat)Various official sources that are highly reputable spell the name ...

(HJ) ** Recipient of the

Hilal-e-Pakistan Hilal-e-Pakistan () is the second-highest civil award (in the hierarchy of "Hilal") of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The award seeks to recognize those people who have made "meritorious contribution to the national interests of Pakistan, or ...

(HPk)

Commonwealth honours

* : ** Member of the Most Excellent

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) * : ** UK Order St-Michael St-George ribbon

Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) (1961) * : ** Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm (D.M.N.(K)) (1962)

Notes

Footnotes

References

External links

Ayub Khan Bio

Official profile at Pakistan Army website

Video clip of Ayub Khan in Paris
---use QuickTime Player.
Video clip of Ayub Khan with General De Gaulle

Video clip in Rawalpindi
* Creation as an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George on 26 April 1960 , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Ayub 1907 births 1974 deaths Hindkowan people Pashtun people People from Haripur District Aligarh Muslim University alumni Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Indian Army officers Punjab Regiment officers Indian Members of the Order of the British Empire Indian people of World War II Indian Army personnel of World War II Pakistan Muslim League politicians Pakistani anti-communists 1950s in Pakistan Pakistani generals Commanders-in-Chief, Pakistan Army Defence Ministers of Pakistan Interior Ministers of Pakistan Leaders who took power by coup Presidents of Pakistan Field marshals Pakistan Cricket Board Presidents and Chairmen 1960s in Pakistan People of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 1965 controversies Pakistani autobiographers Pakistani financiers Pakistani memoirists Politicians with disabilities Causes and prelude of the Bangladesh Liberation War Recipients of Hilal-i-Jur'at Recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George 20th-century Pakistani military personnel 20th-century Pakistani writers . Generals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 20th-century memoirists Pakistan Command and Staff College alumni