Raja

Raja

Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...

 Ghazanfar Ali Khan Khokhar

Khokhar

The Khokhar or Khokar are a people of Punjab region of Pakistan and north-western India. According to H. A. Rose they are the gotra of Rajput, Jat, Arain, Nai, and Churah. According to Denzil Ibbetson, they are also a gotra of the Tarkhan and Khatri tribes. The Khokhars were designated as an...

(16 August 1895 - 1963) was a leading member of the All India Muslim League who was a politician in British India, a trusted lieutenant of Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....

 who served in the Interim Government of 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...

 of 1946 and later became a minister in the government of Pakistan

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...

 and finally a diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

.

Life

Ghazanfar Ali Khan was born in Jhelum in the Punjab

Punjab (British India)

Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...

 and educated in Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

. Khan was a member of the Imperial Legislative Assembly of British India from 1923 to 1933, serving as Minister of the 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 Alwar from 1928, and was then a member of India's Council of State

Council of State

The Council of State is a unique governmental body in a country or subdivision thereoff, though its nature may range from the formal name for the cabinet to a non-executive advisory body surrounding a head of state. It is sometimes regarded as the equivalent of a privy council.-Modern:*Belgian...

 from 1933 to 1937.

An active member of the All India Muslim League, he became a member of its Council and in 1934 was asked to reorganize the League in the Princely states.

From 1937 to 1945 he was a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Punjab, during which time he served as parliamentary secretary of the Government of Punjab's departments of Revenue and Irrigation.

In October 1946, Khan was one of the five men nominated by Jinnah on behalf of the Muslim League to join the Interim Government of India, and he subsequently took the Health portfolio. The other four nominated by the League were Liaquat Ali Khan

Liaquat Ali Khan

For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...

, I. I. Chundrigar, Abdur Rab Nishtar

Abdur Rab Nishtar

Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar was a Muslim League stalwart, Pakistan movement activist and later Pakistani politician.-Education:...

, and Jogendra Nath Mandal

Jogendra Nath Mandal

Jogendra Nath Mandal was an Indian and later Pakistani statesman who served as the first minister of law and labour in Pakistan. As leader of the Scheduled Castes, Jogendranath had made common cause with the Muslim League in their demand for Pakistan, hoping that the Scheduled Castes would be...

.

After the Partition of India

Partition of India

The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

, Khan became Pakistan's Minister for Food, Agriculture and Health.

In 1948, he became the first president of the newly formed Pakistan Hockey Federation

Pakistan Hockey Federation

The Pakistan Hockey Federation is the national governing body for field hockey in Pakistan. It is affiliated to the International Hockey Federation .The current PHF president is Qasim Zia.- History :...

.

From 1948 to 1957 he took to a new career as a diplomat. He was successively Ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 to Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 (1948-1952), Ambassador to Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 (1952-1953), High Commissioner

High Commissioner (Commonwealth)

In the Commonwealth of Nations, a High Commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another.-History:...

 to India (1954-1956) and finally Ambassador to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (1956-1957).

Khan died in 1963.

In honour of his contribution to Pakistan, a major road in Saddar

Saddar

Saddar is one of the neighbourhoods of Saddar Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Saddar is the central business district of Karachi. 'Saddar' generally means 'centre' and also 'head' ....

, Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

was named after him.