Youth and World War II Early days Mohammad Yaqub Ali Khan was born into
Indian nobility into the
Rohilla branch of the
Kheshgi family (a Pashtun Clan in
Rampur),
United Provinces,
British Indian Empire on 23 December 1920. He had also been a close relative of the family of the
Nawabs of Kasur, of
Punjab. His father, Sir Abdus Samad Khan was an aristocrat and politician who served as chief minister of Rampur, and as
British India's representative to the
League of Nations.
Participation in WWII and POW In his military career he saw action during
World War II and served in the
North African campaign where he was attached to 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry from April 1942. He was taken
prisoner of war in North Africa in May 1942. In September 1943 he escaped from the Italian prisoner of war camp P. G. 91 in Avezzano (with two other Indian officers) and was out for four to five months attempting to move south to Allied lines, but they were subsequently re-captured by German forces who put him in a prisoner of war camp in Germany until April 1945 when he was released by the
U.S. Army soldiers. During his time in German custody, he learnt languages by interacting with fellow prisoners and reading literature in those languages.
Return to India and Partition Upon returning to India in 1945, he was selected as an
adjutant to Field Marshal
Lord Wavell with an army rank of
major. After hearing the news of
partition of India and
creation of Pakistan, he decided to
opt for Pakistan, In 1951, he served in the
Military Intelligence (MI) as
lieutenant-colonel, and directed initiatives to analytical branch of the
ISI for the whereabouts of the
Indian Army but he reportedly struggled with providing factual intelligence that was provided to ISI. He commanded the
11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force),
Armoured Corps from December 1952 to October 1953. He was promoted to
colonel in 1953 and went to Paris in France to attend the famed
École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr where he graduated in 1954. Upon returning to Pakistan, he was promoted to
brigadier in 1955 where he served as a chief instructor at the Command and Staff College.
Staff and war appointments: 1960–69 In 1958, he was appointed as the vice
chief of general staff at the
army GHQ and later becoming the
commandant of the Command and Staff College in Quetta in 1960. In 1960,he was promoted to
major-general and commanded the 1st Armoured Division of Armoured Corps and was said to have a portrait of Field Marshal
Erwin Rommel in his office. As an armored commander, he arranged a course on philosophy on the
panzer doctrine to educate the armoured division on the
tank battles and strategies. He helped develop the operational planning of the
armoured vehicular warfare deployments against the Indian Army advances in Punjab and presented his views at the Army GHQ. Soon after, he was appointed as director-general military operations (DGMO) by General
Musa Khan and directed all formats of ground operations during the 1965 war against India.
East Pakistan: military advisor and governorship (1969–71) In 1969, Lieutenant-General Yaqub Khan was posted to
East Pakistan as the commander of
Eastern Command in
Dacca by President Yahya Khan and helped evaluate the
command rotation of the eastern military. Soon, he was appointed as
governor of East Pakistan where he began learning the
Bengali language and became accustomed to
Bengali culture. He was known to be an unusual military officer who knew very well about "limits of force", and did not believe in the use of brute force to settle political disputes. At the cabinet meeting, he was often fierce and strictly resisted the usage of military option but was respected in the military due to his understanding of Bengali issues and whose colleagues often labeled him as "Bingos". In 1970, he notably coordinated the relief operations when the
disastrous cyclone had hit the state and gained prestige for his efforts in the country. In 1971, he participated in the
area contingency and fact-finding mission, which was known as the
Ahsan–Yaqub Mission, to resolve the political deadlock between East Pakistan and Pakistan as both men argued that "military measures would not change the political situations". In March 1971, he became aware of the rumors of a military action against East Pakistanis and delivered desperate
military signals to President Yahya Khan in
Islamabad to not use military solution as he feared Indian intervention. After the resignation of Admiral Ahsan, he was ordered to use military force against the civil agitation led by the
Awami League but refused to take this order and tendered his resignation to be posted back to Pakistan. Commenting on the situation, Yaqub maintained that: "[President] Yahya was also keen to impose the "open sword" martial law to roll back the situation as it was in 1969." He lodged a strong protest against the
military solution and maintained that the "central government had failed to listen to the voices of their co-citizens in the East." To many authors, Yaqub Khan had become a "
conscientious objector" in the military. He was posted back to Pakistan, joined the Army GHQ staff and participated in
winter war against India in 1971 without commanding an assignment and retired from the military after the war, also in 1971. ==Foreign service==