Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Founder of Pakistan

December 25, 1876 Karachi, Bombay Presidency, British India (present-day Sindh, Pakistan)

September 11, 1948 Karachi, Federal Capital Territory, Dominion of Pakistan (present-day Sindh, Pakistan)

Emibai Jinnah (m. 1892–1893), Rattanbai Petit (1918-1929)

The founder and first Governor General of the state of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was one of the most influential political leaders in the Indian subcontinent during the British rule. A lawyer by profession, this eminent politician and statesman held several important positions in his lifetime and gradually became instrumental in the creation of Pakistan. An intellectual and eloquent orator, Jinnah’s life was shrouded in several controversies. During the first half of his political career, he was hailed as an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity by prominent leaders, such as Tilak and Nehru. Even as the demand for a separate country for Indian Muslims started to surface, Jinnah advocated a unified India as he believed that the traditions and rights of the Muslim would be safe in a unified India. During the 1930s and 1940s, there was a fundamental shift in his thinking and differences started arising between Jinnah and the Congress leaders. He began to drift towards the demand for a separate country for Muslims and successfully negotiated the creation of Pakistan with the British.