Begum Begum (also begüm, bagum, begom, begam, baigum or beygum) is an honorific title from Central Asia, Central and South Asia, often used by leading women in society, including Royal family, royals, aristocrats, first lady, first ladies and prime ...

Nusrat Bhutto (; ; ; []; 23 March 1929 – 23 October 2011) was an Iranian-born Pakistani public figure who served as the First ladies and gentlemen of Pakistan, First Lady of Pakistan from 1970 Pakistani general election, 1971 to Operation Fair Play, 1977, as the wife of

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

, who served as the

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 ...

and

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

. She also served as a senior member of the federal cabinet between 1988 and 1990, under her daughter

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

's government. She was born in

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

to a wealthy merchant family of

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

heritage and her family had settled in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

before moving to

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

after the

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

. Ispahani joined a paramilitary women's force in 1950, but left a year later when she married

. She moved to

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

with her husband who then was pursuing his legal education. She returned to Pakistan alongside Bhutto who went on to serve as the

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. After her husband founded the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

, Ispahani worked to lead the party's women's wing. After Bhutto was elected as the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

in 1971, Ispahani became the

First Lady of Pakistan First ladies and gentlemen of Pakistan () is an unofficial title traditionally given, often interchangeably, to the wife or husband of the President of Pakistan, president and Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan. The current p ...

and remained so until her husband's removal in 1977. Her daughter,

immediately succeeded her husband as the leader of the

Pakistan Peoples party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

. While under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

, Ispahani fought an unsuccessful legal battle to prevent her husband's

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

. After Bhutto's execution, Ispahani, along with her children, went into

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, from where in 1981 she co-founded the

Movement for the Restoration of Democracy The Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD; ) was a political alliance in Pakistan founded in 1981 by the political parties opposing the military government of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the sixth president of Pakistan. Headed by Benazir Bhut ...

, a non-violent opposition to Zia's regime. Ispahani returned to Pakistan after her daughter Benazir made a comeback in 1986. After the People's Party's victory in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, she joined Benazir's cabinet as a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

while representing

Larkana District Larkana District ( Sindhi: لاڙڪاڻو ضلعو; ) is a district of the Sindh province of Pakistan. Its largest city is Larkana, which sits on the banks of the Indus River. It is the home district of the politically influential Bhutto famil ...

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 repr ...

. She remained in the cabinet until Benazir's government was dismissed in 1990. Afterwards, during a family dispute between her son,

Murtaza Murtaza ( Afghan Persian: مُرتَضیٰ ''Murtazâ'') or Morteza (Iranian Persian: مُرتِضیٰ ''Mortezâ'') is a Persian male given name, ultimately derived from the Arabic Murtada (مُرْتَضَى ''Murtaḍā''). Pronunciation va ...

, and her daughter, Benazir, Ispahani favored Murtaza leading Benazir to sack Ispahani as the party leader. Ispahani stopped talking to the media and refrained from political engagements after the assassination of her son Murtaza in 1996 during a

police encounter Encounter killings, often simply referred to as encounters, is a euphemism used in South Asia to refer to extrajudicial killings by security forces. The officers typically described the incidents as a shootout situation, often allegedly starting ...

, during her daughter's second government. Ispahani moved to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

in 1996, suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, she was kept out of public's eye by Benazir until her demise on 23 October 2011. In Pakistan, Ispahani is remembered for her contribution to empowerment of women in Pakistan and for advocating for democracy in Pakistan, for which she is dubbed as (English "Mother of Democracy"), a title she was honored with by the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

following her death.

Early life

Nusrat Ispahani was born on 23 March 1929 in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

(now Iran). Her father was a businessman who came from the wealthy

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Hariri family in Isfahan. Her mother was from

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to

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 ...

, where they initially lived in

and then moved to

before the

and the creation of Pakistan in 1947. She grew up with Iranian traditions at her home but adapted to Indian Muslim culture outside. Before emigrating to Pakistan, Nusrat attended the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...

where she obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(B.A.) in

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

in 1950.

Political life

As first lady from 1973 to 1977, Nusrat Bhutto functioned as a political worker and accompanied her husband on a number of overseas visits. In 1979, after the trial and execution of her husband, she succeeded her husband as leader of the

as chairman for life. She led the PPP's campaign against General

Muhammad 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 Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...

's regime. Alongside her daughter

, she was arrested numerous times and placed under house arrest and in prison in Sihala. Nusrat Bhutto was attacked by police with batons while attending a cricket match at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, when the crowd began to raise pro Bhutto slogans. In 1982, ill with cancer, she was given permission to leave the country by the military government of General Zia-ul-Haq for medical treatment in

at which point her daughter, Benazir Bhutto, became acting leader of the party, and, by 1984, the party chairman. After returning to Pakistan in the late 1980s, she served two terms as a Member of Parliament to the

from the family constituency of Larkana, Sindh. During the administrations of her daughter Benazir, she became a cabinet minister and Senior Federal Minister. In the 1990s, she and Benazir became estranged when Nusrat took the side of her son

during a family dispute but were later reconciled after Murtaza's murder. She lived the last few years of her life with her daughter's family in

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

and later suffered from the combined effects of a stroke and

Personal life, illness and death

Besides her native

, Bhutto was fluent in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and Sindhi. Nusrat met

in Karachi where they later got married on 8 September 1951. She was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's second wife, and they had four children together: Benazir,

, Sanam and Shahnawaz. With the exception of Sanam, she outlived her children. Benazir's widower and Nusrat's son-in-law

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

was the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

from 9 September 2008 to 8 September 2013 and from March 2024 to the present. Bhutto was suspected of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in 1982, and hence, allowed to leave Pakistan for medical treatment. While she continued her political activities from outside the country, she handed over the reigns of the party to her daughter Benazir. Three years later, her youngest son, Shahnawaz was found dead at

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

. She withdrew from public life particularly after her son Murtuza's death in 1996, which some suggest coincides with her onset of

. At the time of her daughter Benazir's assassination, the disease was so advanced that she did not of the killing. Bhutto used a ventilator during her last days. She died at the age of 82 in the Iranian Hospital Dubai on 23 October 2011. Her son-in-law, then Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, cut short his official trip to Jordan to escort her body from Dubai to Pakistan. Her grandchildren,

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (born 21 September 1988) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office from 27 April 2022 to 10 August 2023. He became the chairman of Pakistan People's Party in 2007 following ...

, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, and

Aseefa Bhutto Zardari Aseefa Bhutto Zardari (born 3 February 1993) is a Pakistani politician who is a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. She is the youngest daughter of Asif Ali Zardari, the current President of Pakistan, and Benazir Bhutto, the former Pr ...

came in from

. Prime Minister

Yusuf Raza Gilani Yusuf Raza Gilani (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 2024. Chairman Gilani served as the acti ...

announced a public holiday for the next day, as well as a ten-day mourning period. The ruling

, founded by her husband, announced that it will suspend all political activities for the following 40 days to mourn her death. Her body was laid to rest at

Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Garhi Khuda Bakhsh (, ) is a village in Ratodero Taluka near Naudero, in Larkana District of Sindh province, Pakistan. It contains the family graveyard of the Bhutto family and is the burial place of Zulfiqar, Murtaza, and Benazir Bhutto, in ...

in the

the next day. She was buried next to her husband and children in the

Bhutto family mausoleum The Bhutto family mausoleum is situated at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. The ''mazar'' contains the graves of the Bhutto family, and is the burial place of Zulfikar, Murtaza, Shahnawaz, Nusrat, and Benazir Bhutto. ...

at a ceremony attended by thousands of mourners. Pakistan International Airlines ran special flights from Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi to

Sukkur Sukkur is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the List of cities in Sindh by population, third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and H ...

for those who wish to attend the funeral.

Early life

Political life

Personal life, illness and death

Further reading

See also