Colonel Muhammad Khan

Colonel Muhammad Khan (Urdu: کرنل محمد خان) (b.1919 d. October 23, 1999) was a Pakistani Army veteran, humorist and writer. He also served in the army of British India and was a veteran of World War II. While serving in Pakistan Army, he wrote his first book Bajung Aamad (Urdu: بجنگ آمد) which was a humorous autobiography‎. This book became extremely popular and became one of the most famous books in Urdu literature. The success of his first book earned him critically acclaimed prominence among Urdu humorists. He is considered one of the most influential authors of this genre.

He was born as Muhammad Khan (Urdu: محمد خان) in the village of Balkasar which is a part of city of Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan. He studied in Islamia College Civil lines and when World War II broke out, he joined the British Indian Army. He served in Iraq, Egypt and Palestine. In the Libyan Desert, he valourously fought against the Germans.

He rose to fame when he surprised the literary circles through his book Bajung Aamad. It was an autobiographical account of his life as a soldier in World War II. In 1974, he went on a tour of the UK. He published his account of the UK tour in Basalamat Ravi. Later he published another book, Bazam Arayan, a collection of semi autobiographical short stories.

This eminent humourist & satirist of Urdu Literature died on 23 October 1999 in Rawalpindi on Saturday. He was about eighty. His body has been taken to his native town Balkasar in Chakwal District.

Colonel Muhammad Khan attained prominence as a humourist and he was author of several best-sellers including ‘Bajung Amad’. He was the fellow of Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi, Syed Zameer Jafferi, Shafique-ur-Rehman, Hakim Mohammed Said . His Biography has been written by his sincere friend “Brigadier Muhammad Ismail Siddiqui” namely “Kernal Muhammad Khan, Mizah Ka General Ro Meal” and published by “Dost Publications” before his death. (Daily Jung, 24 October 1999)

Other Books are: “Bajung Aamad” “Basalamat Ravi”, “Bazam Araiyan”, “Badesi Mazah”, “Tasneefat-e-Kernal Muhammad Khan”.

* Despite his efforts to be recognised by his birth name, he is mostly known as Colonel Muhammad Khan among fans and circles of Urdu literature. Later editions of his books show his name as just Muhammad Khan, however, Colonel Muhammad Khan is still used to refer to him in order to avoid the confusion caused by the commonness of his birth name.