Nahid Mirza

The Begum was a descendant of Teymour Lang. Her father, head of the Timurid dynasty, was a wealthy landowner who was elected as a parliamentary deputy over 13 times in Tehran. He served in Mohammad Mosaddegh’s cabinets in the 1950s, first as Labor Minister and then as Minister of Interior. Nahid's mother was a descendant of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. Her brother was one of Iran’s top diplomats, serving as ambassador to Moscow and London. [2]

The Begum married Colonel Mehdi Afkhami at an early age. His father and uncle were generals, and he was on his way to become one. He was assigned as Military Attaché to Karachi, Pakistan's metropolis at the time, in 1951. His wife, on the other hand, would have preferred a divorce. Nonetheless, her father demanded that she accompany him.

She met Iskander Mirza for the first time shortly after they arrived in Karachi, during a reception at the Russian Embassy. He walked past the people and stood before her, simply saying, "You shall be my wife." He was a 52-year-old veteran, and she was a woman more than 20 years her junior. He was married and has six children. She had a daughter and was married. [3]

After barely 18 months in office and with Ayub Khan's (general) full support, Iskander Mirza abolished the constitution and assembly that had elected him president and declared martial law in October 1958. His mentor, Ayub Khan, and he were increasingly at odds about how long and how severe military rule should be. The President appointed him Prime Minister, but rather than pacifying him, it emboldened Ayub Khan. [4]

On his orders, an admiral and four generals stormed the President's bedroom at midnight on October 28th. Iskander Mirza and his wife are believed to have been driven straight to the airport and flown to London the same night.

Born into the Timurid dynasty, Nahid was the daughter of Iranian nobleman Amirteymour Kalali, and the grandaughter of Nuzrat ol-Molk and his wife Ashraf us-Sultana. Through the Timurid dynasty she was a descendant of Timur. [5]

Nahid was first married to an Iranian Lieutenant Colonel Afghamy, a then military-attaché at the Iranian Embassy in Pakistan.[6] At the same time, Iskander Mirza was the secretary of the Defense Ministry in Pakistan.[6][7] During an event at the Russian embassy in Karachi, she met Iskandar Mirza for the first time.[1]

In 1952, the Afghamys left Pakistan for Tehran again. And Nahid joined her daughter in London, who at the time was to enter a boarding school in the town.[1] In December 1953 she divorced Afghamy and in September 1954 she married Mirza[1] who had lost his wife and son in a plane crash.[6]

According to Pakistan Today, she played a major role in the resolution of the border dispute between Pakistan and Iran about Mirjaveh.[7] As in 1956, Iskander Mirza became the President of Pakistan, she became the First Lady of Pakistan[1] Following the military coup in pakistan in 1958, the Mirzas were exiled to London where they lived at South Kensington.[1] Iskander died in November 1969.[1] She died in London on the 23 January 2019.[1]