Shahryar Khan
Encyclopedia
Nawabzada Shahryar Mohammad Khan (born 29 March 1934) is a former career Pakistan
diplomat who rose to the position of Foreign Secretary of Pakistan
in 1990, and remained so till his retirement from service in 1994; he was later appointed as UN SRSG to Rwanda (1994–1996).
Nawabzada Shahryar Muhammed Khan is descended from the Orakzai
tribe of Tirah
, (present day Afghanistan). He was born in the Qasr-e-Sultani, Bhopal (a princely state, honoured with 19 gun-salute), British India in the pre-partition era. He is the only son and male heir of both Nawab Muhammad Sarwar Ali Khan, the ruler of former princely state
of Kurwai and princess Abida Sultan
(Suraya Jah, and Nawab Gauhar-i-Taj) Begum Sahiba, herself the Crown Princess and the eldest daughter of last ruling Nawab of Bhopal
, Haji-Hafiz Sir Muhammad Nawab Hamidullah Khan
, who reigned state of Bhopal after a prolonged era of Begums regime (the queens). He is the first cousin of the Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
, who died on 22 September 2011.
Shahryar Muhammed Khan's maternal grand father, H.H. Hameedullah Khan, was the closest companian of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah, during the era of Pakistan movement. His eldest daughter, princess Abida Sultan
titled Nawab Gauhar-i-Taj - being the crown princess, former president of the Ministers' Cabinet, Bhopal, and the Chief Secretary, Government of Bhopal - was supposed to be the next ruler of the state. Shahryar Muhammed Khan left India with his mother for Pakistan in 1950. Prior to migration, he was educated at the Daly College
, Indore
(Madhya Pradesh
) & Grosvenor School, UK.
He is also an alumnus of the famous Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun
(India
) and of Corpus Christi College
, University of Cambridge
.
Shahryar Khan took an LLB from Cambridge in 1956, and then studied for a year at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He then worked for a year with Burmah Shell Oil, and in 1957, joined the Pakistani foreign service. In 1960, he was posted as a Third Secretary in the Pakistani High Commission in London, and was promoted to Second Secretary in the Tunis embassy from 1962 to 1966. In 1976, Shahryar Khan became Pakistan’s ambassador to Jordan (1976–1982) and the United Kingdom (1987–1990) He also stayed as Pakistan Ambassador to France (1999–2001) and Chairman, Committee on Foreign Service Reforms, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1997–1999). He is currently teaching Pakistan's Foreign Relations at the Lahore University of Management Sciences
(LUMS) as part of the Social Sciences
faculty. He teaches a course titled "Pakistan's Foreign Relations". In the Fall Semester of 2009, he has offered a senior level course titled "Critical Issues in Pakistan's Foreign Relations". At LUMS, he is also the patron of the LUMS Model UN Society (LUMUN).
On 1 July 1994, he was appointed United Nations Secretary-General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
's Special Representative to Rwanda
, succeeding Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh
. As U.N. Special Representative, he represented the United Nations during the genocide
and subsequent refugee crisis
. He also remained the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board
from 10 December 2003 till he resigned on 7 October 2006.
In his retirement, Shaharyar Khan has written a number of books, The Begums of Bhopal - a history of the princely state of Bhopal and The Shallow Graves of Rwanda - which is an eye witness account of his two year stay in a country ravaged by genocide. Cricket - a Bridge of Peace - is his third book. His most personal book has been the biography of his mother Princess Abida Sultaan - Memoirs of a Rebel Princess. This book has recently been translated into Urdu. He was recently made an honorary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
diplomat who rose to the position of Foreign Secretary of Pakistan
Foreign Secretary of Pakistan
The Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan is the bureaucratic head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary, as in all other ministries of Government of Pakistan, works under the Minister who is the member of National Assembly...
in 1990, and remained so till his retirement from service in 1994; he was later appointed as UN SRSG to Rwanda (1994–1996).
Nawabzada Shahryar Muhammed Khan is descended from the Orakzai
Orakzai
Orakzai is a Pashtun tribe settled in the Orakzai Agency of Pakistan. It consists of eighteen clans. Most of the members are situated in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan.-Location:...
tribe of Tirah
Tirah
Tirah is a region located in Kurram and Khyber agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan . It lies between the Khyber Pass and the Khanki Valley. It is inhabited by the Afridi and Orakzai tribes of Pashtuns...
, (present day Afghanistan). He was born in the Qasr-e-Sultani, Bhopal (a princely state, honoured with 19 gun-salute), British India in the pre-partition era. He is the only son and male heir of both Nawab Muhammad Sarwar Ali Khan, the ruler of former princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
of Kurwai and princess Abida Sultan
Abida Sultan
Princess Suraya Jah, Nawab Gowhar-i-Taj, Abida Sultan Begum Sahiba was the eldest daughter of Hamidullah Khan, the last nawab of the Bhopal state. In 1928, she was recognized as the heiress apparent to the Bhopal throne...
(Suraya Jah, and Nawab Gauhar-i-Taj) Begum Sahiba, herself the Crown Princess and the eldest daughter of last ruling Nawab of Bhopal
Nawab of Bhopal
The Nawabs of Bhopal were the Muslim rulers of the princely state of Bhopal, now part of the modern state of Madhya Pradesh, in India. The last Nawab was Hamidullah Khan, who acceded his state to India in 1947....
, Haji-Hafiz Sir Muhammad Nawab Hamidullah Khan
Hamidullah Khan
Hajji Nawab Hafiz Muhammad Hamidullah Khan was the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal, which merged with the state of Madhya Pradesh in 1956. He ruled from 1926 when his mother, Begum Kaikhusrau Jahan Begum, abdicated in his favor, until 1949 and held the honorific title until his death in 1960...
, who reigned state of Bhopal after a prolonged era of Begums regime (the queens). He is the first cousin of the Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
Mansoor Ali Khan or Mansur Ali Khan , sometimes M.A.K. Pataudi , nicknamed Tiger Pataudi, was an Indian cricketer and former captain of the Indian cricket team...
, who died on 22 September 2011.
Shahryar Muhammed Khan's maternal grand father, H.H. Hameedullah Khan, was the closest companian of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah, during the era of Pakistan movement. His eldest daughter, princess Abida Sultan
Abida Sultan
Princess Suraya Jah, Nawab Gowhar-i-Taj, Abida Sultan Begum Sahiba was the eldest daughter of Hamidullah Khan, the last nawab of the Bhopal state. In 1928, she was recognized as the heiress apparent to the Bhopal throne...
titled Nawab Gauhar-i-Taj - being the crown princess, former president of the Ministers' Cabinet, Bhopal, and the Chief Secretary, Government of Bhopal - was supposed to be the next ruler of the state. Shahryar Muhammed Khan left India with his mother for Pakistan in 1950. Prior to migration, he was educated at the Daly College
Daly College
The Daly College, located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, was founded by Sir Henry Daly of the British Indian Army during India's colonial British Raj. It was established in 1881, and is one of the oldest co-educational boarding school in the world....
, Indore
Indore
Indore is one of the major city in India, the largest city and commercial center of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Indore is located 190 km west of the state capital Bhopal. According to the 2011 Indian census, Indore city has a population of 1,960,631...
(Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
) & Grosvenor School, UK.
He is also an alumnus of the famous Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
(India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
) and of Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
Shahryar Khan took an LLB from Cambridge in 1956, and then studied for a year at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He then worked for a year with Burmah Shell Oil, and in 1957, joined the Pakistani foreign service. In 1960, he was posted as a Third Secretary in the Pakistani High Commission in London, and was promoted to Second Secretary in the Tunis embassy from 1962 to 1966. In 1976, Shahryar Khan became Pakistan’s ambassador to Jordan (1976–1982) and the United Kingdom (1987–1990) He also stayed as Pakistan Ambassador to France (1999–2001) and Chairman, Committee on Foreign Service Reforms, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1997–1999). He is currently teaching Pakistan's Foreign Relations at the Lahore University of Management Sciences
Lahore University of Management Sciences
The Lahore University of Management Sciences, usually referred to by its acronym LUMS, is a university located in Lahore, Pakistan. LUMS was established in 1984 by a group of industrialists and people belonging to Pakistan's leading private and public sector corporations, to provide rigorous...
(LUMS) as part of the Social Sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
faculty. He teaches a course titled "Pakistan's Foreign Relations". In the Fall Semester of 2009, he has offered a senior level course titled "Critical Issues in Pakistan's Foreign Relations". At LUMS, he is also the patron of the LUMS Model UN Society (LUMUN).
On 1 July 1994, he was appointed United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996...
's Special Representative to Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, succeeding Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh
Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh
Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh was the Minister of External Relations of Cameroon from 1988 to 1992 and the head of United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda .-Biography:Booh-Booh was born in Manak, Cameroon...
. As U.N. Special Representative, he represented the United Nations during the genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
and subsequent refugee crisis
Great Lakes refugee crisis
The Great Lakes refugee crisis is the common name for the situation beginning with the exodus in April 1994 of over two million Rwandans to neighboring countries of the Great Lakes region of Africa in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide...
. He also remained the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board
Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board is a sporting organization that is responsible for governing all professional cricket including Test cricket and One Day International matches played in Pakistan...
from 10 December 2003 till he resigned on 7 October 2006.
In his retirement, Shaharyar Khan has written a number of books, The Begums of Bhopal - a history of the princely state of Bhopal and The Shallow Graves of Rwanda - which is an eye witness account of his two year stay in a country ravaged by genocide. Cricket - a Bridge of Peace - is his third book. His most personal book has been the biography of his mother Princess Abida Sultaan - Memoirs of a Rebel Princess. This book has recently been translated into Urdu. He was recently made an honorary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
See also
- Foreign Secretary of PakistanForeign Secretary of PakistanThe Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan is the bureaucratic head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary, as in all other ministries of Government of Pakistan, works under the Minister who is the member of National Assembly...
- Foreign relations of PakistanForeign relations of PakistanPakistan is the second largest Muslim country in terms of population , and its status as a declared nuclear power, being the only Islamic nation to have that status, plays a part in its international role....
- Pakistan Cricket BoardPakistan Cricket BoardThe Pakistan Cricket Board is a sporting organization that is responsible for governing all professional cricket including Test cricket and One Day International matches played in Pakistan...