Ayub Khan
(1907–1974), president of Pakistan. General Muhammad Ayub Khan (1907–1974) was president of Pakistan from 1958 to 1969. Born in Rehanna, which was at that time in British India, Ayub Khan rose to power within the Pakistani Army, becoming commander in chief in 1951. He served as minister of defense as well for one year beginning in 1954. In 1958, Ayub Khan was appointed chief martial law administrator by President Iskander Mirza during a time of political turmoil when martial law was declared. Eventually, Ayub Khan took over the role of president, which was confirmed by a referendum in 1960. Five years later, he was reelected. However, he did not complete his term. He started to lose support due to events arising from the war with India in 1965. People believed he was wrong to accept a cease-fire and to agree to the Tashkent Agreement. Political unrest directed at him resulted in his resignation in 1969.
During his presidency, however, Ayub Khan was responsible for several significant reforms and developments. For instance, he was architect of the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), an organization devoted to economic cooperation and cultural exchanges among its members—Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan. Although the organization did not reach the status envisioned by its creators, it nonetheless enhanced relations between its member states in a nonthreatening and beneficial manner. After the Iranian revolution, RCD was abandoned in 1979, but it was reestablished as the Economic CooperationOrganization (ECO) by Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran in 1985, when the three nations realized the need for a regional organization to promote trade. In 1992, ECO was expanded almost overnight when six former Caspian-region Soviet republics and Afghanistan joined. The expansion of the organization highlighted the necessity of regional cooperation, which was a dream of Ayub Khan.
Ayub Khan with Jacqueline Kennedy at the Kennedy estate in Virginia in September 1962. (BETTMANN/COPRBIS)Further Reading
Burki, Shahid Javed. (1991) Historical Dictionary of Pakistan. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
Cleveland, William L. (1994) A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Haynes, Jeff, ed. (1999) Religion, Globalization, and Political Culture in the Third World. New York: St. Martin's.
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