Iskander Mirza

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4th Governor-General
Iskander Mirza

1st President of Pakistan
In office March 23, 1956 – October 27, 1958
Preceded by	Ghulam Muhammad as Governor General of Pakistan
Succeeded by	Ayub Khan
In office 1955 – 1956
Preceded by	Ghulam Muhammad
Succeeded by	Ayub Khan President of Pakistan

Born	November 13, 1899
Died	November 13, 1969

Iskander Ali Mirza (Urdu: اسکندر مرزا) (November 13, 1899 – November 13, 1969) was the first President of Pakistan and held that position from 1956 until 1958. He was also the fourth Governor-General of Pakistan before it was replaced by the Presidency.

Iskander Mirza was born in Murshidabad, Bengal in 1899 and grew up in Bombay. After completing his early education, he was educated at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, becoming the first graduate from the Indian subcontinent at the academy, and commissioned into the British Indian Army in 1920. Mirza only served in the army for six years, after which he was the first Indian to be accepted in the elite Indian Political Service, eventually becoming a joint secretary in the Ministry of Defense of British India. In this position he was responsible for dividing the British Indian Army into the future armies of Pakistan and India.

Upon the formation of Pakistan, Mirza was made the Defense Secretary of the new nation, this appointment owed to Mirza's ranking as the highest Muslim civil servant in India at the time. In 1954 he was made governor of East Pakistan to bring order to a politically distressed region. This position was followed by his being appointed Minister of Interior and Frontier Regions in Prime Minister Bogra's cabinet. In 1955 he became acting Governor-General, before becoming the last Governor-General of Pakistan. Iskander Mirza was also a great advocate of the One Unit scheme and believed in the separation of state and religion. When Mirza succeeded the ailing Ghulam Mohammad as Governor-General, he was married to his second wife, Mrs Nahid Mirza, an Iranian lady. Coincidentally he was her second husband. Nahid Mirza was previously the wife of the Military Attache of Iran in Pakistan.

In 1956, Pakistan established its first constitution, and the position of Governor-General was replaced by that of President. The two were essentially the same, but Mirza was officially elected as President by the Assembly. During his presidency, Pakistan was politically unstable, this was marked by four different prime ministers in two years.

By 1958, realising that the 1956 Constitution was contributing to political instability, Mirza declared martial law on October 7th with the view to introducing a new constitution "more suited to the genious of the Pakistani people" in November. However, it is disputed that even though, he became the first President of Pakistan under the new constitution, he was not very fond of it. He is quoted in the book Shahabnama [1], holding the constitution in his hand, and referring it as a "trashy book." Mirza's efforts and energies, as Shahab relates, were geared to one principal purpose, his continuation in office. Mirza was apprehensive that general elections could lead to a change in the Office of President and so elections had to be deferred under some pretext or other, which lead to his declaration of Martial Law on October 7, 1958. He appointed the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, Ayub Khan as the martial law administrator. Once the deed was done he realized that he forfeited his own political legitimacy. Less than three weeks into Martial Law he was ushered out of the Presidential Palace, first to Quetta and then to exile in London. He thus precipitated his departure from the Office of President rather than prolong his tenure. Ayub Khan declared himself President on October 27th after a bloodless coup d'état.

Mirza lived in exile in London till his death in 1969. His life in exile is believed to be of misery and he died penniless [2]. After Yahya Khan's military government refused to allow him to be buried in his own country, his body was flown to Tehran where the Shah of Iran gave him a State Funeral befitting a Head of State.

Preceded by: Ghulam Muhammad	Governor-General of Pakistan 1955–1956	Succeeded by: —
Preceded by: —	President of Pakistan 1956–1958	Succeeded by: Ayub Khan