Early Life
Yahya Khan was born on 4 February 1917 near Peshawar, in what is now Pakistan. His family descended from the elite soldier class of Nader Shah of Khorasan. Khan is described as an ethnic Pashtun.
Few Pakistanis knew anything about Yahya Khan when he was vaulted into the presidency two years ago. The stocky, bushy-browed Pathan had been army chief of staff since 1966. —Time MagazineIt is unknown if his family was Persian and became Pashtunized or if they belonged to the Abdali Pashtun tribe, who were led by Ahmad Shah Durrani during their 1738 occupation of Peshawar.
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