Famous Punjabis before 1947, Part 2: Sardar Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan

Sardar Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, KBE, KCSI, Doctor of Oriental Lit etc (5 June

1892 in Multan – 25/26 December 1942) was , as we have noted below, a renowned statesman from the Punjab; and the son of late Nawab Muhammad Hayat Khan CSI, of Wah, a close associate of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, and a prominent scion of the Khattar

tribe of Attock, North Punjab.

Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan is chiefly remembered today as he led the Unionist Party, an all-Punjab political party formed to represent the interests of the landed gentry and landlords, as well as farmer agrarian class of Punjab, which included Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Hindus. He had taken over leadership of this group from Sir Fazli Husein. Khan led his party in the 1937 elections, held under the Government of India Act 1935. He governed the Punjab as Premier in coalition with the Sikh Akali Dal and the Indian National Congress. Being basically an all-Punjab party, for and by great Punjabis including (in addition to Sir Sikandar) Sir Chotu Ram, Malik Sir Khizar Hayat Tiwana, and other stalwarts, the Unionists did their utmost to save above all that most important asset of the Punjab, its fertile land, ‘’dharti’’, and tillers of the soil, ‘’zamindars’’, from ruin and utter destruction at the hands of usurers and money-lenders. It passed many ‘golden laws’ to save and salvage the peasants and their agrarian areas, so that these could go on being the bread-basket for all the subcontinent and the nursery of future generations of honest and strong men and women.

Khan opposed the Quit India Movement of 1942, and supported the Allied powers

during World War II. Khan believed in politically cooperating with the British

for the independence of India and the unity of Punjab.

In 1937, Khan signed the famous Sikandar-Jinnah Pact at Lucknow, which led to the

Lahore Resolution of 1940, calling for an autonomous or semi-independent Muslim majority region within the larger Indian confederation-- which demand later after his death, led to the demand for an independent Pakistan. In his lifetime, he controlled the Muslim League too, and with his sagacity, saw that this move of reconciling Muslim interests with Indian and Punjabi unity was paramount. “I am a Punjabi first, and then a Muslim”, he used to say.

Khan died in 1942. He is buried at the footsteps of the Badshahi Masjid in

Lahore, commemorated for his contributions to Islam by having restored and

revitalized the grand mosque, which had been in a very poor state when he became Premier/CM.

 His son, late Shaukat Hayat Khan, continued the family's political role in

post-Independence Pakistan. Among Sir Sikandar's famous grandchildren, are Yawar Hayat Khan, the Pakistani television director/producer and Tariq Ali a British -Pakistani writer and lecturer of international repute. Among his great-grandchildren, is the noted Pakistani poet, writer, research scholar and social activist Omer Tarin.

Main Sources: Wikipedia, Shaukat Hayat Khan’s ‘’Memoirs’’ (1995) and Dr Iftikhar H Malik’s ‘’Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan: A Political Biography’’ (1985).

Punjab

Im  a Punjabi, first and last, of the Dogra tribe/race. In all the vast diversity of India, and the South Asian subcontinent, you will not find anything like this region--my native region--the Punjab: "The Land of  Five Rivers".

Originally, the 'Five Rivers' which made up the 'Punj' (Five) and 'Ab' (water/s) were --the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej;  sadly, after the old (British) Punjab was truncated by the independence/partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, the whole Punjab was riven by chaos and in this chaos our five rivers were also divided.  Most of the headwaters of these rivers spring up from Tibet, or the Himalayas,  and pass through Kashmir (itself sadly truncated too) and Jammu (the homeland of my ancestors) and, by and large, some parts of all five are still flowing through parts of modern/contemporary India; whereas the Pakistani Punjab now only has four of the fiver flowing through its territory i.e. Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej.

The old, pre-British Punjab, although a lingustic entity, roughly speaking, ws not really a geographical teriitory united as one. Later on, between, 1819-1839, the Sikh Maharaja of Lahore, Ranjit Singhji, tried to forge a unity of sorts, which was to an extent achieved; although most of what is 'East Punjab' (Indian) fell under the sway of the Britsih East India Company and areas on the fringes, which had once been also part of the Afghan/Durrani kingdom  of Afghanistan (such as Hazara and the Peshawar valley, now both in NWFP or 'Khyber Pakhtunkhwa' Pakistan, were never properly absorbed into this entity or territory.

It is only after the 2nd Anglo-Sikh War of  1848-49, that in March 1849 finally the whole Punjab was annexed as part of British India and in time developed into a dynamic, rich, prosperous, fertile and highly significant province. So, desite all the 'negatives' of colonialism , the British must get their due credit.

Then population of this Punjab and its topography and lingustic dialectical diversity was simply amazing-- more of that later-- and the ethnic variety of its inhabitants,  of  so many diverse origins, ranging from  Pashtun/Afghan races in the North and North West to the Jatts and Rajputs and a host of other indigenous peoples , was and is astounding. More on that too, sometime. I n terms of creeds and religious belief, Punjabis are Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, primrarily, and although they have fought each other too, they mostly still retain a common 'Punjabi' bond or identity, which transcends many borders.

Of this Punjab, with its many special things and aspects, we shall talk from  time to time and share information from  various sources, too.