"Liaquat Ali Khan is one of the unsung heroes of the Pakistan Movement. He became Mohammad Ali Jinnah's most trusted lieutenant, and in 1943 Jinnah called him his 'right hand'. Almost twenty years younger than Jinnah, Liaquat established a closer working relationship with Jinnah than anyone else. Their personal life shared a number of attributes and they both subscribed to modernist views. Jinnah was a Gladstonian liberal, and Liaquat was strongly influenced by the poetry and thoughts of Allama Iqbal. Both had been educated in Law at the Inns of Court in London, and although Jinnah established fame and wealth at the Bar, Liaquat did not practice law. Jinnah chose Liaquat as the General Secretary of the All-India Muslim League in 1936, and over the next decade they worked to establish the League as the political voice of Muslims in South Asia and to create Pakistan. Liaquat's work with the League and in the creation of Pakistan remains largely unappreciated. Liaquat's dedication to the cause of Muslims in India, to serving Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the League are illustrated in the correspondence between these two men and in Liaquat's speeches."--BOOK JACKET.

This Is The First Scholarly Biography Of One Of The Most Important Political Figure Of The Modern World.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah has been both celebrated and reviled for his role in the Partition of India, and the controversies surrounding his actions have only increased in the seven decades and more since his death. Ishtiaq Ahmed places Jinnah's actions under intense scrutiny to ascertain the Quaid-i-Azam's successes and failures and the meaning and significance of his legacy. Using a wealth of contemporary records and archival material, Dr Ahmed traces Jinnah's journey from Indian nationalist to Muslim communitarian, and from a Muslim nationalist to, finally, Pakistan's all-powerful head of state. How did the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity become the inflexible votary of the two-nation theory? Did Jinnah envision Pakistan as a theocratic state? What was his position on Gandhi and federalism? Asking these crucial questions against the backdrop of the turbulent struggle against colonialism, this book is a path-breaking examination of one of the most controversial figures of the twentieth century.

The issues concerning the Partition of India in 1947 have long been debated both by Indian and Pakistani historians, but now a leader directly responsible for the Defence and Foreign Affairs of India has come forward with a historical appraisal that helps both countries come to a better understanding of the contentions between them. Jaswant Singh has not written a hagiography of Jinnah, but focused on him as a key figure in the final deliberations preceding Independence.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah was forty years old, a successful barrister and a rising star in the nationalist movement when he fell in love with pretty, vivacious Ruttie Petit, the daughter of his good friend, the fabulously rich Parsi baronet, Sir Dinshaw Petit. But Ruttie was just sixteen and her outraged father forbade the match. However, when she turned eighteen, they married. Bombay society was scandalized, and Ruttie and Jinnah were ostracized. It was an unlikely union that few thought would last. But Jinnah, in his undemonstrative, reserved way, was unmistakably devoted to his beautiful, wayward child-bride. And Ruttie, on her part, worshipped him, and could tease and cajole the famously unbending Jinnah. But as tumultuous political events increasingly absorbed him, Ruttie felt isolated and alone, cut off from her family, friends and community. She died at twenty-nine, leaving behind her daughter, Dina, and her inconsolable husband, who never married again. Sheela Reddy uses never-before-seen personal letters of Ruttie and her close friends as well as accounts left by contemporaries and friends to portray this marriage that convulsed Indian society. A product of intensive and meticulous research in Delhi, Bombay and Karachi, this is a must-read for all those interested in politics, history, and the power of an unforgettable love story.

'Ayesha Jalal's book is an important scholarly account of ... the partition of India in 1947.' American Historical Review