Khawaja Nazimuddin

Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin KCIE
খাজা নাজিমুদ্দিন خواجہ ناظِمُ الدّین
Nazimuddin in 1948
2nd Governor-General of Pakistan
In office 14 September 1948 – 17 October 1951
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Liaquat Ali Khan
Preceded by	Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Succeeded by	Malik Ghulam Muhammad
2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan
In office 17 October 1951 – 17 April 1953
Monarchs	George VI Elizabeth II
Governor General	Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad
Preceded by	Liaquat Ali Khan
Succeeded by	Mohammad Ali Bogra
Chief Minister of East Bengal
In office 15 August 1947 – 14 September 1948
Monarch	George VI
Governor General	Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Prime Minister	Liaquat Ali Khan
Governor	Sir Fredrick Chalmers Bourne
Preceded by	Huseyn Suhrawardy (as Prime minister of Bengal)
Succeeded by	Nurul Amin
Prime Minister of Bengal
In office 29 April 1943 – 31 March 1945
Monarch	George VI
Governors General	Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell
Governor	Richard Casey, Baron Casey
Preceded by	Fazlul Haq
Succeeded by	Huseyn Suhrawardy
President of Muslim League
In office 17 October 1951 – 17 April 1953
Preceded by	Liaquat Ali Khan
Succeeded by	Mohammad Ali of Bogra
Personal details
Born	(1894-07-19)19 July 1894 Dacca, Bengal, British India
Died	22 October 1964(1964-10-22) (aged 70) Dacca, East Pakistan, Pakistan
Resting place	Mausoleum of Three Leaders, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Citizenship	British Indian (1894–1947) Pakistani (1947–1964)
Political party	Muslim League (1947–1958)
Other political affiliations	All-India Muslim League (1922–1947) Pakistan Muslim League (1947–1964)
Spouse	Shahbano Ashraf
Relations	Khwaja Shahabuddin (brother)
Alma mater	Cambridge University (MA) Aligarh Muslim University (BA)
Profession	Barrister, politician

Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin^[a] KCIE (19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the second governor-general of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951, and later as the second prime minister of Pakistan from 1951 to 1953.

Born into an aristocratic Nawab family in Bengal in 1894, he was educated at the Aligarh Muslim University before pursuing his post-graduation studies at the Cambridge University. Upon returning, he embarked on his journey as a politician on the platform of All-India Muslim League. Initially, his political career revolved around advocating for educational reforms and development in Bengal. Later on he started supporting the cause for a separate Muslim homeland, rising to become the party's principal Bengali leader and a close associate of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He served as Prime Minister of Bengal in British India from 1943 to 1945, and later as the 1st Chief Minister of East Bengal in independent Pakistan.

Nazimuddin ascended to Governor-General in 1948 after the death of Jinnah, before becoming Prime Minister in 1951 following the assassination of his predecessor, Liaquat Ali Khan.^[1] His term was marked by constant power struggles with his own successor as Governor-General, Ghulam Muhammad, as law and order deteriorated amid the rise of the Bengali language movement and protests in his native Dhaka in 1952, and religious riots in Lahore a year later. The latter crisis saw the first instance of martial law, limited to the city, and led to Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad dismissing Nazimuddin on 17 April 1953.

Nazimuddin's ministry was the first federal government to be dismissed in Pakistan's history, though his former ministers Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, Abdul Sattar Pirzada, and Mahmud Husain refused to take the oath of office in the new cabinet.^[2] He retired from national politics, passing away after a brief illness in 1964. He is buried at the Mausoleum of Three Leaders in Dhaka.^[3] He was one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan and the first Bengali to have governed Pakistan.

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