Education
He was educated at Aitchison College, Lahore, the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
He was educated at Aitchison College, Lahore, the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
He was commissioned into the 7th Light Cavalry of the Indian Army in 1933. He subsequently commanded the 1st battalion of the First Punjab Regiment during the Second World War. After the war, he served as the Defence Attaché of the Indian Armed Forces in Washington, District of Columbia
Having chosen to move to Pakistan at independence, he commanded Pakistan"s 14 (Parachute) Brigade during the 1947 Kashmir War in which action he was awarded the first Hilal-i-Jurat of Pakistan.
He was appointed Adjutant General of the Pakistan Army and later served as the Chief of General Staff. He was superseded along with the former Commandant Command and Staff College Major General Master of Arts Latif Khan when Major General Muhammad Musa and Major General Habibullah Khan Khattak were made Commander-in-Chief and COS respectively in October 1958.
In 1958, on retirement from active service, he was appointed Pakistan"s High Commissioner to Malaysia and in 1963 as Ambassador to Yugoslavia with concurrent accreditation to Bulgaria and Greece. He served in the cabinet of General Yahya Khan as Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting & and National Affairs 1969 – 71.
He also established the Djakarta Riding/Saddle club and was its first elected President.
He taught briefly at Aitchison College and was also Vice Chairman of its Board of Governors. He was the Author of several books and the recipient of the highest civil awards from governments in Malaysia, Yugoslavia and Indonesia, and was a Dato of the State of Pahang in Malaysia. He died 29 May 2002 at Sher Manzil, Lahore.
His great-nephew is Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan.
He was a member of Pakistan"s Polo team for many years, Captain of the All Malaysia Polo team for six years and President of the Malayan Polo Association 1959/1963.