Nawab Iftikhar Hussain Khan Mamdot

Nawab Iftikhar Hussain Khan of Mamdot was the leading Muslim League politician of Punjab in the last years of British rule and the first Chief Minister of West Punjab after Partition. He was born at Lahore on 31 December 1906 and educated at Government College, Lahore. He succeeded his father, Sir Shah Nawaz Khan Mamdot, as Nawab in 1942 and became one of the largest landowners in Punjab, with an estate and constituency in Ferozepur district, which he gave up when he migrated to Pakistan in 1947.

Key moments

• 1942 to 1944: president of the Punjab Muslim League. Story of Pakistan says he worked to build the League into a rival to the Unionists, and that many large landlords joined it as a result.
• February 1946: the League won 79 seats in the provincial election, and Mamdot became Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. The Unionist premier, Khizar Hayat Tiwana, then formed a coalition with Congress and the Akali Dal.
• 1946 to 1947: Story of Pakistan says Mamdot led a civil disobedience movement against the Unionist government. Tiwana resigned on 2 March 1947 amid boycotts, and Governor Evan Jenkins took direct control of the province until Partition on 14 August 1947.
• 15 August 1947: became the first Chief Minister of West Punjab. Story of Pakistan says he served until 6 November 1948 and again from 15 November 1948 until 25 January 1949.
• January 1949: his ministry ended. Accounts differ: Wikipedia says he resigned during an official inquiry into maladministration, while Story of Pakistan says the central government dismissed his ministry. The Governor then ruled the province directly from 1949 to 1951.
• 1950 onward: left the Muslim League and formed the Jinnah Muslim League, rejoined the League in 1953, and was Governor of Sind in 1954 and 1955.
• 16 October 1969: died at Lahore.

What he is remembered for. In this history he is remembered as the League leader who fought the Unionist coalition that Sikhs and Hindus had joined, and who led West Punjab in the months when the province was divided. Wikipedia and Story of Pakistan also record his rivalry with Mumtaz Daultana, which weakened the League, and Wikipedia reports accusations of corruption against him.