1. Iskander Ali Mirza was a Pakistani politician, statesman and military general who served as the Dominion of Pakistan's fourth and last governor-general of Pakistan from 1955 to 1956, and then as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan's first president from 1956 to 1958.
Iskander Mirza's presidency was marked with political instability which saw his unconstitutional interferences in the civilian administration that led to the dismissal of four prime ministers in a mere two years.
Iskander Mirza lived in the United Kingdom for the remainder of his life and was buried in Iran in 1969.
Sahibzada Iskandar Ali Iskander Mirza was born in Murshidabad, Bengal, in India on 13 November 1899, into an elite and wealthy aristocrat family who were titled as Nawab of Bengal and later after 1880, Nawab of Murshidabad.
Iskander Mirza was the eldest child of Nawab Fateh Ali Iskander Mirza and Dilshad Begum.
Iskander Mirza grew up and completed his schooling in Bombay, attending the Elphinstone College of the University of Bombay, but left the university to attend the Royal Military College in Sandhurst when he was selected by the British Governor-General for the King's Commission.
Iskander Mirza was the first Indian graduate of the military college, and gained his commission in the British Indian Army as a 2nd Lt.
Iskander Mirza's first assignment was a posting in Aligarh in what is Uttar Pradesh as an assistant commissioner before posting as a political agent in Hazara in the North West Frontier Province.
Iskander Mirza received his promotion to captain on 17 October 1927.
From 1928 to 1933, Iskander Mirza spent time as a political agent in the troubled Tribal Belt, having served as an assistant commissioner in the districts of Dera Ismail Khan in April 1928, Tonk in May 1928, Bannu in April 1930, and Nowshera in April 1931.
In 1931, Captain Iskander Mirza was appointed a district officer and was later posted as deputy commissioner at Hazara in May 1933, where he served for three years until a posting to Mardan as assistant commissioner from October 1936.
Iskander Mirza was appointed and served as the political agent of Odisha and North West Frontier Province from 1945 until 1946.
Iskander Mirza was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 16 July 1946.
Iskander Mirza went to the extent of poisoning vegetables in a Khudai Khidmatgar camp.
Iskander Mirza was appointed as the first Defence Secretary in the Liaquat administration by the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, who relied on running the government on the British viceregal model with the close coordination of the civilian bureaucracy, the police, and the military.
In 1950, Iskander Mirza was promoted to two-star rank, having skipped the one-star promotion as brigadier, and upgraded his rank to major-general in the Pakistan Army by the promotion papers approved by Prime Minister Ali Khan.
Iskander Mirza was appointed as colonel commandant of the Military Police while serving as the Defence secretary in the Liaquat administration.
All three remaining major-generals were bypassed including the recommended senior-most Major-General Akbar Khan and Major-General Ishfakul Majid due to Major-General Iskander Mirza's lobbying for the army selection when he presented convincing arguments to Prime Minister Ali Khan to promote the junior-most Major-General Ayub Khan to the post despite the fact that his name was not included in the nomination list.
Iskander Mirza imposed martial law, backed by the East Pakistan Rifles, and dismissed the East Bengal Legislative Assembly.
Amid criticism at the public level in Pakistan, Iskander Mirza was relieved from the post of the Governorship to East Bengal to Muhammad Shahabuddin in October 1954.
President Iskander Mirza demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Suhrawardy and turned down his request to seek a motion of confidence at the National Assembly.
President Iskander Mirza had widely lacked the parliamentary spirit, distrusting the civilians to ensure the integrity and sovereignty of the country.
Iskander Mirza appointed then-Army Commander of the Pakistan Army, General Ayub Khan, as the Chief Martial Law Administrator, which proved his undoing within three weeks.
President Iskander Mirza had not envisaged any change in his previous powers; he wanted to retain the ability to maneuver things in keeping with his own whims.
General Ayub Khan came to an understanding that the real political power rested with the support of the military, and within a week of enforcing martial law, President Iskander Mirza realized the delicate position he got himself into.
Iskander Mirza unilaterally made Ayub Khan Prime Minister and appointed a new cabinet of technocrats for him.
Iskander Mirza died of a heart attack on 13 November 1969, his 70th birthday.
The funeral ceremony was marred by the absence of Iskander Mirza's relatives living in Pakistan.
Iskander Mirza was married twice: his first marriage took place on 24 November 1922, when he married an Iranian woman, Rifaat Begum.
Iskander Mirza was born in Poona, India, and was educated at Doon School.
Iskander Mirza studied in the UK, before moving to the US, where he earned his MBA from Harvard.
Iskander Mirza married Josephine Hildreth, the daughter of Horace Hildreth, the US ambassador to Pakistan.
Iskander Mirza was a close friend of Begum Nusrat Bhutto.
Iskandar Ali Iskander Mirza is often criticized by Pakistani historians for imposing martial law.
Historians have noted that Iskander Mirza held that Pakistanis "lacked the parliamentary spirit and because of the lack of training in the field of democracy and the low literacy rate among the masses, democratic institutions cannot flourish in Pakistan".
Iskander Mirza believed that the judicial authorities should be given the same powers which they used to enjoy during the British Indian Empire.
Iskander Mirza was well known for his conviction that the politicians were destroying the country.
Iskander Mirza felt that in order to work towards real and responsible democracy, the country must have what he called "controlled democracy".
Iskander Mirza took full advantage of the weaknesses of politicians and played them against each other, first offsetting the influence of the Muslim League by creating the Republican Party.
Iskander Mirza is thus widely held responsible for the instability that brought the active role of Pakistan armed forces into politics.