Muhammed Zafar Khan

Who is Muhammed Zafar Khan?

Brigadier General Muhammed Zafar Khan was the first South Asian Commander in the British Cavalry.

Khan belongs to the Minhas Rajput clan of Chakwal. His father Sirdar Bahadur, Raja Fazal Dad Khan was a hereditary Landlord and was commissioned with a British Army cavalry unit.

Five of Brig Muhammed Zafar Khan's brothers joined the Army and became officers. His elder brother, Muhammed Akbar Khan was the first Indian Muslim to become a General in the British Indian Army. His brother, General Muhammad Anwar Khan was the first Engineer in Chief of the Pakistan Army and his brother Major General Muhammed Iftikhar Khan was an officer inherited by the Pakistan Army from British India. He had been nominated to become the first local Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Army after General Douglas David Gracey's retirement. However, his death in a tragic plane crash in 1949 was a disaster for the newly formed country.