RANGRUT | A LIFE OF GRIT, SURVIVAL, AND HISTORY IN MOTION
Major General Muhammad Akbar Khan (PA 1)
Muhammad Akbar Khan (PA-1) came from a long line of soldiers. He was the son of Risaldar Major Fazal Dad Khan (1847–1943), a Minhas Rajput from the Chakwal area. His grandfather had been a general in the Sikh army, and the family’s fortunes were closely tied to the Sikh durbar. The family owned 84 villages (churas). Fazal Dad served with the 12th Cavalry and, after a long career, was granted the title of Khan Bahadur. The family also held large parcels of land in Montgomery (Sahiwal), Chakwal, and Lyallpur (Faisalabad), and established a horse stud farm at Rasilewala, Lyallpur.
Five of Akbar’s brothers served in the army. Major General Iftikhar (PA-3) was nominated to become the first Pakistani Commander-in-Chief but died in a plane crash at Jang Shahi in 1949 before assuming office. His wife and son also perished in the crash. Major General Anwar (PA-48) became the youngest general at the age of 37 and was the first Engineer-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army. Brigadiers Zafar, Yousaf, and Afzal were all polo players.
Two brothers did not join the army and settled in England: Muhammad Tahir Khan became a lawyer, while Muhammad Masood Raza Khan became one of the leading psychoanalysts of his time. He was highly respected by his peers and had extensive connections in aristocratic circles and the worlds of film and theatre. Among Akbar’s nephews who achieved distinction in military service were Air Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Lieutenant General Naek Mohammad Khan, and Lieutenant General Saadat Ali Khan.
Defying his father’s wish that he manage the family estates, Akbar left home with only 250 rupees given to him by his mother and enlisted as a private in May 1914. He earned the title Rustam-i-Hind for his prowess as a horseman, swordsman, and wrestler.
When Germany invaded France in May 1940, Akbar guided his men through enemy-held countryside for six days using hand-drawn maps. They reached Dunkirk on 26 May without losing a single soldier and with all their arms intact. At the beaches, his disciplined troops were the only soldiers still carrying weapons. Under his leadership, they helped enforce order during the chaotic evacuation that Churchill praised as a “miracle of deliverance”.
He served with the 12th Cavalry in the Mesopotamian campaign of the First World War. At Fort Shatra, he rescued his wounded commanding officer, Colonel Wilson, from Turkish captivity while under fire. He later escaped captivity himself by swimming across a river at night and surviving on unripe dates. Although decorated for valour, he was subsequently declared unfit for service and pensioned off. He was reinstated after a British general recognised him as the man who had once carried the general’s wounded brother to safety. Promoted to captain in 1927, he served as quartermaster of the 5th Probyn’s Horse before transferring to the Royal Indian Army Service Corps (RIASC) and deploying to Waziristan.
During the Second World War, Akbar served as second-in-command of No. 25 Animal Transport Company (RIASC), part of Force K6, the first Indian combat support unit sent to Europe. He led 300 Punjabi troops through one of the coldest French winters on record. His unit was praised by Field Marshal Montgomery as a model unit, and he undertook a BBC goodwill tour of England.
Akbar later served in the Burma theatre, was appointed MBE and subsequently OBE, and served as aide-de-camp (ADC) to the Duke of Connaught and the Prince of Wales. When General Gracey’s tenure ended in 1949, Akbar was the expected successor as Commander-in-Chief. However, he declined, telling the leadership that he did not feel suited to the role.
A close confidant of Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Akbar cherished Jinnah’s advice to “keep your mouth shut and your ears to the ground”. He counted Hakim Saeed and Chairman Mao Zedong among his friends and wrote several books on military doctrine under the pen name Rangrut. This was a remarkable achievement for a man who had received no formal schooling and had taught himself Urdu at the mosque and English by reading newspapers in the mess.