Family of Imran Khan

The Khan family
Imran Khan
Ethnicity Pashtun
Current region Islamabad, Pakistan
Place of origin Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan
Connected families Burki, Goldsmith

The family of Imran Khan (Urdu: خاندان عمران خان‎), a Pakistani politician, former captain of Pakistan cricket team and public figure, includes immediate family members and distant relatives from both the paternal and maternal sides. Khan was born on 25 November 1952 in Lahore to father Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, and mother Shaukat Khanum.[1] He grew up as the only son in the family, with four sisters. The family are ethnically of Pashtun origin. Paternally, Khan belongs to the Niazi Pashtun tribe which has long been settled in Mianwali in northwestern Punjab.[2][3] Khan's mother hailed from the Punjabi branch of the Burki Pashtun tribe of Basti Ghuzan, Jalandhar (now Indian Punjab) that had emigrated a few centuries ago from the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan.[1] Khan's maternal family has produced several great cricketers, the most prominent of whom are Javed Burki and Majid Khan.[2]

From 1995 to 2004, Imran Khan was married to Jemima Khan, a British writer and activist, and member of the influential Goldsmith family of England. They have two sons from the marriage, Sulaiman Khan (born 1996) and Qasim Khan (born 1999). In late 2014, Khan announced his marriage to the British Pakistani journalist Reham Khan.

Immediate family

Parents

Khan was born in Lahore, the only son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, and his wife Shaukat Khanum.[1] A quiet and shy boy in his youth, Khan grew up with his four sisters in relatively affluent (upper middle-class) circumstances[4] and received a privileged education. Khan's parents were moderate and practicing Muslims.[5]

Khan's father, Ikramullah Khan Niazi, was a civil engineer who graduated from the Imperial College London in 1946.[1] Ikramullah was a staunch supporter of the Pakistan Movement during the days of the British Raj and was "fiercely anti-colonial"; he would tell off local waiters at the Lahore Gymkhana Club who would speak to him in English.[6] He was also a philanthropist, founding a charity called the Pakistan Educational Society which "funded the university education of underprivileged but talented children."[5] He served as a board member of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre during his later years.[7]

Khan's mother, Shaukat Khanum, was a housewife. She died in 1985 of cancer. The personal experience of seeing his mother diagnosed with cancer, which became the cause of her death, motivated Khan to build a cancer hospital in Pakistan where those who could not afford expensive care could be treated. In 1994, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre was founded by Khan in Lahore, and named in memory of his mother.[8][9]

Siblings

Khan has four sisters, namely Rubina Khanum, Aleema Khanum, Uzma Khanum and Rani Khanum.[10]

Khan's elder sister, Rubina Khanum, is an alumnus of the Lahore School of Economics and held a senior post with the United Nations.[7][10]

Aleema Khanum[11] is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who is the founder of a Lahore-based textile buying house, CotCom Sourcing (Pvt.) Ltd.[12][13] She graduated with an MBA from the Lahore University of Management Sciences in 1989.[12] Her textile buying house has served textile retailers and agents across the globe, and maintains representative offices in Karachi and New York.[14][15] Aleema served as marketing director for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, and played an instrumental role in fundraising efforts for the hospital.[12] She is a member of the board of governors of the hospital.[16] She is also a member of the board of the Imran Khan Foundation and Namal Education Foundation,[17] and several charitable and social welfare organisations including the Hameed Muggo Trust and the SAARC Association of Home-Based Workers.[12]

Of Khan's other sisters, Uzma Khanum is a qualified surgeon based in Lahore while Rani Khanum is a university graduate who coordinates charity activities.[10]

Shortly after her marriage to Imran Khan, Jemima acknowledged the support she received from Khan's sisters while adjusting to life in Lahore and described them as "educated, strong women, with lives of their own."[7]

Marriage

Jemima Khan in 2011.

Jemima Khan

On 16 May 1995, Khan married Jemima Khan, in a traditional Pakistani wedding ceremony in Paris. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a civil ceremony at the Richmond registry office in England, followed by a reception at the Goldsmiths' house in Surrey which was attended by London's elite.[18] The marriage, described as "tough" by Khan,[2] ended in 2004 after nine years. Shortly after their marriage, Imran and Jemima arrived at Zaman Park in Lahore from their honeymoon at one of the Goldsmiths' farms in Spain, and were greeted by international and local reporters. It was also announced that Jemima had converted to Islam and she would use 'Khan' as her last name.

As an agreement of his marriage, Khan spent four months a year in England and the rest in Lahore. The marriage produced two sons, Sulaiman Isa (born 18 November 1996) and Kasim (born 10 April 1999).[19] During the marriage Jemima actively participated in a Khan led charity drive for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre and also supported her husband in starting his initial political career.

Rumours circulated that the couples marriage was in crisis. Jemima placed an advertisement in Pakistan newspapers to deny them. It read: "Whilst it is true that I am currently studying for a masters degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, it is certainly not true to say that Imran and I are having difficulties in our marriage. This is a temporary arrangement." [20] On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the Khan had divorced ending the nine-year marriage because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan".[21]

The marriage ended amicably. Khan described the six months leading to the divorce and the six months after as the hardest years of his life. After the divorce Jemima returned to Britain with the boys. According to the divorce settlement, Khan's sons visit him in Pakistan during their school holidays while he stays with his former mother-in-law, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, when he comes to London to see them. According to Jemima, Imran and she have remained on very good terms even after the divorce.[22]

Reham Khan

Main article: Reham Khan

In January 2015, Imran Khan married British Pakistani journalist and television anchor Reham Khan, after months of speculation. The marriage was conducted via a simple nikah ceremony at Khan's residence in Bani Gala.[23] Imran is a step-father to Reham's three children from her previous marriage with psychiatrist Ijaz Rehman, which include a son, Sahir Rehman (b. 1993) and two daughters, Ridha Rehman (b. 1997) and Inaya Rehman (b. 2003).[24]

Reham's parents, Dr. Nayyar Ramzan and his wife, moved to Libya in the late 1960s, where Reham was born in Ajdabiya in 1973. She is an ethnic Pashtun, belonging to the Lughmani, a sub-clan of the Swati tribe,[25] and hails from Mansehra in the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[25] Reham has two sisters and a brother.[25]

Paternal relations

See also: Niazi

Khan's father belonged to the Niazi Pashtun tribe, who were long settled in Mianwali in northwestern Punjab.[2][26] His paternal family hail from the Shermankhel sub-clan of the Niazis.[27] The Niazis had come to the subcontinent with invading Pashtun tribes during the fifteenth century.[5] Most Niazis are Saraiki-speaking and based in Mianwali, where family and tribal networks are strong and, according to Khan, where "even third cousins know each other".[5]

Khan's paternal cousin Inamullah Niazi is a politician and former parliamentarian who was originally a member of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), before becoming senior vice-president of Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf in Punjab.[28][29] Inamullah's brother and occasional columnist Hafizullah Niazi is also Imran's brother-in-law.[30][31] Their youngest brother, the late Najibullah Khan Niazi, was a PML (N) politician and former member of the Punjab provincial assembly.[31][32] Another cousin, Saeedullah Khan Niazi was the president of the PTI in Punjab.[27] Muslim League politician Amanullah Khan Niazi was an uncle of Imran and his Niazi cousins.[33]

Maternal relations

Khan's maternal family belonged to the Punjabi branch of the Burki Pashtun tribe from Jalandhar (Now Indian Punjab).[5] Maternally, Khan is a descendant of the Sufi warrior-poet and inventor of the Pashto alphabet, Pir Roshan, who hailed from his maternal family's ancestral Kaniguram town.[34] Some members of the Burki tribe emigrated from Kaniguram centuries ago and formed a settlement in the city of Jalandhar (southeast of Amritsar and 40 miles from Lahore; now in Punjab, India), where Khan's mother was born.[5] Khan's maternal family lived in twelve fortresses in an area in Jalandhar founded by the Burkis known as the Basti Pathan (lit. Pathan Colony). Khan's maternal grandfather, Ahmed Hasan Khan, was known to have hosted Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, at Basti Pathan.[5] Following the partition of India and the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the entire family migrated to Lahore in Pakistan, escaping the carnage and violence that ensued during the partition.[5]

Ahmad Hasan Khan was born in 1883 and was the son of a civil servant. He entered the Government College Lahore in 1900, and was reputed in sport, captaining the cricket and football teams at the college.[35] After completing his studies, Ahmed entered the government service. At the height of his career in civil service, he served as the census commissioner of Punjab.[36] He was posted in various areas, including a posting as a District Commissioner in Mianwali (the hometown of Imran Khan's paternal family).[35]

Imran Khan's maternal family is known for its sporting tradition; the Burki clan has produced a long line of cricketers and played an influential role in Pakistan's cricket history.[6] Eight of his cousins played first-class cricket.[37] The most prominent of them are Javed Burki and Majid Khan, who went on to represent the national team and served as captains. Two of Imran's mother's cousins also captained the Pakistan national field hockey team.[38]

Uncle and aunts

Ahmed Hasan Khan had four daughters: the eldest, Iqbal Bano, followed by Mubarak and Shaukat (Imran's mother). The fourth sister is said to have died early.[35] Ahmed Raza Khan (Imran's maternal uncle) was the only son. Ahmed Raza was known affectionately by his friends as "Aghajan", and like his father and grandfather, entered the civil service. He also played fifteen first-class cricket matches in India and Pakistan, playing for Northern India followed by Punjab.[35] He later served as a national selector at the Pakistan Cricket Board.[35]

Imran's eldest maternal aunt, Iqbal Bano, was married to General Wajid Ali Khan Burki, a high-ranking military official and physician in the Pakistan Army.[1] Imran's second aunt, Mubarak, was married to Jahangir Khan. Jahangir was a cricketer during the British Raj era who played for India and later served as a cricket administrator in Pakistan post-independence.[39]

Cousins

Wajid Burki and Iqbal Bano's son Nausherwan Burki was a US-based physician and pulmonologist who played an instrumental role in setting up Imran's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital and serves in its board of governors;[5] he was also among the original founders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 1996.[40] Wajid and Iqbal Bano's second son, Javed Burki briefly played cricket for Pakistan during the 1960s and also captained the national side. After retiring from cricket, Javed served as secretary to the Ministry of Water and Power of the Government of Pakistan.[41] Their third son Jamshed Burki, was a retired army major and civil servant who served as a political agent in the Khyber Agency of the tribal areas, among many other important posts, and went on to become the Interior Secretary of Pakistan.

Jahangir Khan and Mubarak's eldest son Asad Jahangir Khan won an Oxford Blue in cricket and was a first-class cricketer in Pakistan.[35] Their second son, Majid Khan became a cricket legend who captained the national side of Pakistan during the 1970s.[2][42] Majid's son Bazid Khan is also a cricketer who has played at the national level.[43]

Extended relatives

Imran's nephew Hassan Niazi headed the Insaf Students Federation, the student wing of the PTI.[44] PTI’s Additional General Secretary Saifullah Niazi belongs to the Niazi clan and is a distant relative.[44] Pakistani cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq also belongs to the Niazi tribe in Mianwali and shares blood relations with Imran Khan paternally.[45] Imran's uncle Jahangir's brother-in-law Baqa Jilani also played cricket for India. Jilani's nephew, Sherandaz Khan, was a first-class cricketer, and another distant cousin of Imran from the Burki tribe. He was also "the first bowler to dismiss Imran in first-class cricket".[35] The Pakistani economist Shahid Javed Burki is a nephew of Wajid Ali Khan Burki and an extended relative of Imran.[46]

Imran Khan is said to be a distant cousin of the British-Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, who had a relationship with Lady Diana.[47] He is also a cousin of one of Pakistan's leading English-language columnists, Khaled Ahmed, who belongs to the Burki tribe.[48] Lawyer and PTI member Hamid Khan is also a relative.[44]

Imran's great-uncle Khan Salamuddin and many members of Salamuddin's extended family also made a name in cricket.[49]

Many family relatives of Imran, from both the paternal and maternal sides, have served in the Pakistan Armed Forces. Major-General Bilal Omar Khan, who died in the 2009 Rawalpindi mosque attack[50] was from Khan's maternal family.[51] Another extended relative, General Zahid Ali Akbar Khan, was an engineering officer in the Pakistan Army, director of the nuclear Project-706, and later chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.[38]

In-laws

Main article: Goldschmidt family

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Khan, Imran (1993). Warrior Race. London: Butler & Tanner Ltd. ISBN 0-7011-3890-4.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Adams, Tim (2 July 2006). "The path of Khan". The Observer (UK). Retrieved 5 November 2007.
  3. ↑ Ekbal, Nikhat (2009). Undivided India. Gyan Publishing House. p. 224. ISBN 978-8178357560.
  4. ↑ Ali, Syed Hamad (23 July 2008). "Pakistan's Dreamer". New Statesman (UK). Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Khan, Imran (2012). Pakistan: A Personal History. Random House. p. 22. ISBN 9780857500649.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/pakistan/10966660/How-Imran-Khan-and-Javed-Miandad-turned-Pakistan-into-world-beaters.html
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Hyat, Kamila (22 November 1995). "Knot For Long?". Outlook India. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  8. ↑ Nauright, John (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 232. ISBN 978-1598843002.
  9. ↑ "Imran Khan". Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Biography of Imran Khan". Angelfire. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "Friends and foes pray for Imran Khan alike". The News. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "The IKF Board". Imran Khan Foundation. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "Home page". CotCom Sourcing. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  14. ↑ "About us". CotCom Sourcing. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  15. ↑ "Contact details". CotCom Sourcing. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  16. ↑ "Board of governors". Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "Board of governors". Namal College. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  18. ↑ "Profiles:Jemima Khan". Hello!. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
  19. ↑ Goldsmith, Annabel (2004). Annabel: An Unconventional Life: The Memoirs of Lady Annabel Goldsmith. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-82966-1.
  20. ↑ "Jemima Khan: Just don't take her at face value". The Guardian (London). 10 April 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  21. ↑ "Imran Khan and Jemima divorce". BBC. 22 June 2004. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  22. ↑ MacKenzie, Craig (26 November 2011). "'I almost lost the will to live': Imran Khan reveals torment over break-up of his marriage to Jemima Goldsmith". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  23. ↑ "Imran and Reham Khan tie the knot in Bani Gala". Dawn. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  24. ↑ "Who is Imran Khan's new wife? Everything you need to know about Reham Khan". The Mirror. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 "Reham Khan: From Hazara to Bani Gala". Express Tribune. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  26. ↑ Encyclopaedia Asiatica, Comprising Indian Subcontinent, Eastern and Southern Asia: H. Jangtang By Edward Balfour Published by Cosmo Publications, 1976 Item notes: v. 4 Original from the University of Michigan Page 188
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/03/30/national/pti-appearing-invincible-in-mianwali/
  28. ↑ "PTI leaders entangled in controversial home deal". The News. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  29. ↑ "PTI appearing invincible in Mianwali". Pakistan Today. 30 March 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  30. ↑ http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-38463-Political-parties-or-family-limited-cos
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 http://www.dawn.com/news/1136729/action-against-do-for-poor-dengue-work
  32. ↑ "PML-N MPA Najibullah Khan Niazi passes away". The Express Tribune.
  33. ↑ http://www.dawn.com/news/1025542/a-family-dominated-contest
  34. ↑ Will Imran Khan go to Kaniguram? The Express Tribune. 8 September 2012.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 35.5 35.6 Oborne, Peter (2015). Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781849832489.
  36. ↑ Ahmed, Khaled. "Imran Khan from the heart". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  37. ↑ McGirk, Tim (21 April 1996). "Profile: Imran Khan: Mogul on the stump". Independent (London). Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/544758.html
  39. ↑ "Jahangir Khan". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  40. ↑ http://tribune.com.pk/story/559727/fauzia-kasuri-was-never-a-founding-member-imran-khan/
  41. ↑ "Javed Burki". Cricinfo. 15 May 2013.
  42. ↑ "Majid Khan". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  43. ↑ "Bazid Khan". Cricinfo. 15 May 2013.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 "PTI contradicts The News story;Umar Cheema issues rejoinder to clarification". The News. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  45. ↑ "Like Imran, Misbah is a Niazi" The Telegraph. 2 January 2013.
  46. ↑ http://www.livemint.com/Politics/HKePkBolnEyGNsqDQ5ggRJ/Time-to-reset-IndoPak-ties-Shahid-Javed-Burki.html
  47. ↑ "The Grandmother Prince George Never Knew: Revisiting Diana and the True Love of Her Life". Vanity Fair. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  48. ↑ "Khaled Ahmed, Imran Khan's cousin, on their common Burki heritage in Kaniguram, Waziristan". 8 September 2012.
  49. ↑ "A.K. Salamuddin". PTV Sports. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  50. ↑ http://www.dawn.com/news/943000/maj-gen-bilal-showed-bravery-till-his-last-breath
  51. ↑ "Interview with Kashif Abbasi (in Urdu)".