Liaqat Hayat Khan

Early life

Sir Liaqat was the son of Nawab Muhammad Hayat Khan, CSI, Jatt Khattar, of Wah (now in Pakistan Punjab), and the elder brother of Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan. His son-in-law Shahkur Ullah Durrani was the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, while, his granddaughter, Tehmina Durrani, is an author.

Career

After his early education at Col. Brown Cambridge School and Aligarh Muslim University, Liaqat Hayat found employment as a junior police officer in the Patiala princely state, and in due course, rose to be head of the police in this territory. Later on, he was appointed state minister for Home Affairs and then, finally, as Chief or Prime Minister to the state. In his capacity of loyal representative of the interests of Patiala, he was nominated by the then Maharaja as a delegate to the Round Table Conferences in London, England, and put forward the case for independent princely states in the event of India's eventual freedom from British colonial rule. Liaqat Hayat, unlike his younger brother Sir Sikandar, was neither a supporter of the All India Muslim League nor of the idea of a separate or even autonomous Muslim state, along the lines of Pakistan. However, after Independence/Partition in August 1947, he did settle in the new Pakistani state and accepted the post of the new country's ambassador to France. Sir Liaqat Hayat died in 1948.