Origin and Youth
Yaqub Ali Khan's roots can be traced to Nawab Mirza Ghalib who was appointed teacher of Nawab of Rampur in 1857, and also an ethnic Pashtun of Yusufzai tribe of Swabi who long ago migrated to Northern India. He travelled to Rampur twice, in 1860 and 1865. Yaqub Khan is the member of the royal family of the erstwhile Indian princely state of Rampur. His father, Sahibzada Sir Abdus Samad Khan Bahadur, was a statesman and diplomat who at various points in his career served as chief minister of the state of Rampur, and as British India's representative to the League of Nations.
Sahabzada Yaqub Khan studied at the famous Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun. He was comissioned on the 22nd December 1940 and attached to 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry, part of 3rd Indian Motor Brigade. He served in North Africa during World War II with the British Indian Army, taking part in action at El Mechili with A squadron and the Siege of Tobruk. He was promoted lieutenant on the 3rd April 1942. Acting as the regimental Signal officer he was taken prisoner in on the 27th May 1942 at Point 171, and spent the next three years in an Axis prisoner-of-war camp before being released at the end of the war. After independence, he opted for Pakistan, where he went on to enjoy a distinguished career in the Pakistani Army. Rising to the rank Lieutenant General, Yaqub Khan served as Chief of General Staff, Commander Eastern Command, and briefly after the resignation of Vice Admiral S.M. Ahsan, Governor of East Pakistan.
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