Sultan Muhammad Khan

Chaudhry Sultan Muhammad Khan (c. 1860 – 1931) was a barrister, author and statesman from Punjab Province, British India, who on various occasions served as an official for Emir Abdur Rahman Khan of Afghanistan, first as chief secretary (mir munshi-e-aala) to the emir and later as ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Kingdom.

He was the father of Pakistani poet and author Faiz Ahmad Faiz.

Early life

Early biographical details of Sultan Muhammad Khan are scanty. Between 1905 and 1907 he practiced as a barrister in London. He also met a number of Muslim dignitaries and leaders, including Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, Sir Fazl-i-Hussain, and Sir Abdul Qadir. He was granted vast lands in Sargodha by the British government, as well as the title of Khan Bahadur. He died in Sialkot in 1931.

Personal life Sultan Muhammad married Sayra Jan, a niece of Emir Abdur Rahman Khan. She died two years later and was buried near Kabul. He had a daughter with her named Bibi Gul. After his arrival from London in 1908 his other Afghan wives joined him at Sialkot. His fifth wife, Sultan Fatima was a daughter of a landlord from a village named Jessar. He had following sons from her: Tufail Ahmed, judge Faiz Ahmad Faiz, teacher and poet Inayat, Major in British Indian Army Bashir, disabled from birth

Published works The Constitution and Laws of Afghanistan, comprising 164 pages, published in London, in 1900 by Jon Marry Printing Press The Life of Amir Abdur Rahman, Volumes I & II, printed in 1900, by John Murray, Albemarle Street London, reprinted, in 1980, by Oxford University Press, Karachi