:Ayub Khan

Ayub Khan was born on 14 May 1904 in Rehana, a village in the Haripur district of the North-West Frontier Province of British India into a Hindko-speaking Hazarewal family of Pashtun descent, belonging to the Tareen tribe.{{cite book |last=Gauhar |first=Altaf |author-link=Altaf Gauhar|url=https://books.google.com/books?newbks=0&id=ouRtAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Rehana+|title=Ayub Khan: Pakistan's First Military Ruler |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |location=Lahore |year=1993 |page=35 |isbn=978-969-35-0295-4}}{{cite book |last=Hussain |first=Rizwan |title=Pakistan and the emergence of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TRW_M_xybyYC&pg=PA74 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Limited |year=2005 |page=74 |access-date=22 August 2010 |isbn=978-0-7546-4434-7}}{{cite news|last=Amir |first=Intikhab|title=Where pragmatism holds sway (Haripur District politics and Tareen clan)|url=https://www.dawn.com/2013/04/23/where-pragmatism-holds-sway/|newspaper=Dawn newspaper|date=23 April 2013 |access-date=13 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407083216/https://www.dawn.com/news/1025073/where-pragmatism-holds-sway|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 April 2023|quote=When it comes to Haripur's significance to the national political scene, one can't help but refer to the country's first military dictator, Field Marshal Ayub Khan. A member of the politically significant Tareen clan of Haripur, General Ayub's heirs are known for not shying away from changing loyalties in their pursuit for a prolonged stay in the corridors of power.}}Sir Olaf Caroe, "The Pathans, With An Epilogue On Russia (Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints) 550 B.C.-A.D. 1957". Oxford University Press {{ISBN|978-0-19-577221-0}}. Retrieved 3 May 2023. p.453: NOTES "13a. President Ayub is one of these Tarins."{{cite book |last=Jaffrelot |first=Christophe |title=A history of Pakistan and its origins |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9sI_Y2CKAcC&pg=PA69 |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2004 |page=69 |access-date=5 April 2023 |isbn=978-1-84331-149-2 |quote=Ayub Khan, who had been army commander-in-chief since 1951, embodied this military institution better than anyone. His ethnic origin was Pashtun, he was born in the Punjab--like Ghulam Muhammad--and he believed in a centralized state dominated by the Punjab, to which he was keen to rally members of his community. |quote-page=69}}

He was the first child of the second wife of Mir Dad Khan, a Risaldar-Major (an armoured corps JCO which was then known as VCO) in the 9th Hodson's Horse which was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army.{{cite news |date=4 June 2015|title=Forming the govt : PML-N seeks Haripur tehsil triumph through bloodlines|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/897889/forming-the-govt-pml-n-seeks-haripur-tehsil-triumph-through-bloodlines|work=The Express Tribune|access-date=19 September 2020}} For his basic education, he was enrolled in a school in Sarai Saleh, which was about 4 miles from his village. He used to go to school on a mule's back and was shifted to a school in Haripur, where he started living with his grandmother.

He went on to study at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and while pursuing his college education, he was accepted into the Royal Military College, Sandhurst on the recommendation of General Andrew Skeen; he trained first in India and then departed for Great Britain.{{cite book |last=Malik |first=Iftikhar Haider |title=The History of Pakistan |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-313-34137-3 |page=146}} Ayub Khan was fluent in Urdu, Pashto, English, and his regional Hindko dialect.{{cite book |last1=Rizvi |first1=Gowher |author-link=Gowher Rizvi |editor-last1=Clapham |editor-first1=Christopher S. |editor1-link=Christopher Clapham (Africanist) |editor-last2=Philip |editor-first2=George D. E. |chapter=Riding the Tiger: Institutionalising the Military Regimes in Pakistan and Bangladesh |title=The Political Dilemmas of Military Regimes |year=1985 |publisher=Croom Helm |page=203 |isbn=978-0-7099-3416-5}}

Ayub Khan was admitted to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1926. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 2 February 1928 in the 19th Punjabis of the 14th Punjab Regiment (better known as 1/14th Punjab Regiment) of the British Indian Army – before this he was attached to the Royal Fusiliers.Indian Army List, 1928 Dec Amongst those who passed out with him was Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri, who served as Chief of the Army Staff of India from 1962 to 1966 while Ayub was the president of Pakistan.{{London Gazette|issue=33353|page=766|date=3 February 1928}} After the standard probationary period of service in the British Army, he was appointed to the British Indian Army on 10 April 1929, joining the 1/14th Punjab Regiment Sherdils, now known as the 5th Punjab Regiment.{{London Gazette|issue=33510|page=4274|date=28 June 1929}}

He was promoted to lieutenant on 2 May 1930 and to captain on 2 February 1937.{{London Gazette|issue=33613|page=3572|date=6 June 1930}}{{London Gazette|issue=34381|page=1827|date=19 March 1937}} During World War II, he was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1942 and was posted in Burma to participate in the first phase of the Burma Campaign in 1942–43. He was promoted to the permanent rank of major on 2 February 1945.{{London Gazette|issue=37085|page=2577|date=18 May 1945}} Later that year, he was promoted to temporary colonel and assumed the command of his own regiment in which he was commissioned to direct operations in the second phase of the Burma Campaign; however, he was soon temporarily suspended without pay from that command for visible cowardice under fire.See accounts of Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan The Nation that Lost its Soul: Memoirs, Lahore: Jang Publications, 1992, p 187; and Lt Col (r) HE Empson 'Hard Times- The Burmese Campaign 1942–1945' Aldershot: Gale and Polden, 1952

In 1946, he was posted back to British India and was stationed in the North-West Frontier Province. In 1947, he was promoted to brigadier and commanded a brigade in South Waziristan.

File:Ayub khan wih quaid.PNG Muhammad Ali Jinnah, {{circa}} 1947]]

When the United Kingdom announced the Partition of British India into India and Pakistan, he was one of the most senior serving officers in the British Indian Army who opted for Pakistan in 1947.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Kassim |first=Husain |editor-last=Leonard |editor-first=Thomas M. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Developing World |title=Ayub Khan, Muhammad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mE04D9PMpAC&pg=PA125 |access-date=8 December 2023 |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |volume=1 |isbn=978-1-57958-388-0 |page=125}} At the time of his joining, he was the tenth ranking officer in terms of seniority with service number PA-010.{{sfn|Nawaz|2008|p=33}}

In the early part of 1948, he was given the command of the 14th Infantry Division in the rank of acting major-general stationed in Dacca, East Pakistan.{{sfn|Nawaz|2008|p=79}} In 1949, he was decorated with the Hilal-i-Jurat (HJ) by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan for non-combatant service and called back to General Headquarters as the Adjutant General of the army on November of the same year.

File:PAFWorldRecordLoop1958.webm arrives at PAF Station Mauripur with President Iskandar Mirza and Nahid Mirza, greeted by C-in-C of the PAF Asghar Khan and Nur Khan. In attendance were chiefs from the Iraqi, Turkish, and Iran Air Force. General Ayub Khan is seen in the footage from 0:37–0:39. The World record loop is showcased towards the end of the video. (2 February 1958)]]

As the tenure of General Gracey was nearing its end at the close of 1949, the Pakistan government had called for appointing native commanders-in-chief of the army, air force, and navy and dismissed deputation appointments from the British military. {{cite book |last1=Cheema |first1=Pervaiz I. |last2=Riemer |first2=Manuel |title=Pakistan's Defence Policy 1947–58 |publisher=Springer, Reimer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CX6xCwAAQBAJ&q=Admiral+Choudhri&pg=PA82 |date=22 August 1990 |page=82|isbn=978-1-349-20942-2}}{{cite book |last=Tudor |first=Maya |title=The Promise of Power: The Origins of Democracy in India and Autocracy in Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N2-9ahosP94C&q=commander+in+chief+pakistan+ayub+1953&pg=PA30 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |page=30|isbn=978-1-107-03296-5}} The General Headquarters sent the nomination papers to the Prime Minister's Secretariat for the appointment of commander-in-chief. There were four major generals in the race: Muhammed Akbar Khan, Iftikhar Khan, Ishfakul Majid, and Nawabzada Agha Mohammad Raza. Among these officers Akbar was the senior, having been commissioned in 1920.{{cite news|last=Siddiqui|first=A.R.|date=25 April 2004|title=Army's top slot: the seniority factor (scroll down to this title in the article)|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1065891|newspaper=Dawn newspaper|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240926122141/https://www.dawn.com/news/1065891|archive-date=26 September 2024|url-status=dead|access-date=13 January 2025}}{{cite web |title=Ayub Khan in US Country Studies |url=http://www.countrystudies.us/pakistan/18.htm|publisher=US State Department}}{{cite web |title=Muhammad Ayub Khan profile |url=http://storyofpakistan.com/muhammad-ayub-khan |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107041804/http://storyofpakistan.com/muhammad-ayub-khan |archive-date=7 November 2014 |access-date=14 April 2023|website=Story of Pakistan website}}{{cite web|date=1 June 2003|title=Ouster of President Iskander Mirza|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/ouster-of-president-iskander-mirza/|publisher=Story of Pakistan website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205133011/http://storyofpakistan.com/ouster-of-president-iskander-mirza/|archive-date=5 December 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=13 January 2025}}{{cite web |title=Kal Tak – 25 May 2011 | Pakistan Politics|url=http://pkpolitics.com/2011/05/25/kal-tak-25-may-2011/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509011515/http://pkpolitics.com/2011/05/25/kal-tak-25-may-2011/|archive-date=9 May 2013|access-date=14 January 2025|publisher=Pkpolitics.com}}

That year, Gracey approached Akbar Khan to succeed him. However, Akbar declined, citing that the position was beyond his competence. The next candidate in line was Akbar's younger brother, Iftikhar Khan. However, Iftikhar died in an air crash in December 1949 before he could take office, resulting in Gracey's extension. On 23 January 1951, General Ayub Khan succeeded him.{{citation |last=Ankit |first=Rakesh |title=The Defiant Douglas |newspaper=Epilogue |volume=4 |number=1 |pages=46–47 |date=January 2010 |url=https://issuu.com/epilogue/docs/january_10 |quote=Deeply concerned about shepherding the Pakistan army through its early years, General Douglas Gracey wanted to continue till 1953 but had to relinquish his post two years earlier on 23 January 1951 bowing down to the rising chorus for 'nationalisation' of the army to which the Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, had to acquiesce.}}{{cite book |last1=Abbas |first1=Hassan |author-link=Hassan Abbas (scholar) |title=Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism: Allah, the Army, and America's War on Terror |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/GiKm-ahTpS8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA33 |year=2005 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=0-7656-1496-0 |page=33}}

Defence Secretary Iskandar Mirza at that time played a crucial role in lobbying for the army post selection, by presenting convincing arguments to Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan to promote the most junior major-general, Ayub Khan (commissioned in 1928), to the post despite the fact that his name was not included in the nomination list. Ayub's papers of promotion were approved and he was appointed the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army on 17 January 1951 by Prime Minister Ali Khan.{{sfn|Nawaz|2008|p=80}} This ended the transitional role of British military officers.{{Sfn|Haqqani|2010|p=34}} Although the Pakistani government announced the appointment of the navy's native commander in chief in 1951, it was Ayub Khan who helped Vice-Admiral HMS Choudri to be appointed as the first native navy commander in chief, also in 1953.{{cite book |last1=Cheema |first1=Pervaiz Iqbal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cw_gduyRv5oC&q=Vice+Admiral+choudri+1953&pg=PA93 |title=The Armed Forces of Pakistan |publisher=NYU Press, Cheema |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8147-1633-5 |pages=93–94 |language=en |access-date=3 November 2016}} The events surrounding Ayub's appointment set the precedent for a native general being promoted out of turn, ostensibly because he was the least ambitious of the generals in the line of promotion and the most loyal to civil government at that time.{{cite news|title=The rule of seniority (in the Pakistan Armed Forces)|author=Kamal Azfar|date=5 March 2006 |url=http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/mar-2006/5/columns5.php|newspaper=The Nation newspaper|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311040129/http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/mar-2006/5/columns5.php|archive-date=11 March 2007|access-date=14 January 2025|url-status=dead}}

In 1953, Ayub visited Turkey, his first foreign visit as an army commander in chief, and was said to have been impressed with Turkish military tradition; he met only with the Turkish defence minister during his visit. Thereafter, he went to the United States and visited the US State Department and Pentagon to lobby for forging military relations.{{Cite book |last=Yesilbursa |first=Behcet Kemal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZKRAgAAQBAJ&q=Ayub+Khan+medical+visit&pg=PA26 |title=The Baghdad Pact: Anglo-American Defence Policies in the Middle East, 1950–59 |year=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-76686-3 |pages=26 |language=en}} He termed this visit as a "medical visit" but made a strong plea for military aid which was not considered due to India's opposition.{{cite book |last1=Yesilbursa |first1=Behcet Kemal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZKRAgAAQBAJ&q=Ayub+Khan+medical+visit&pg=PA26 |title=The Baghdad Pact: Anglo-American Defence Policies in the Middle East, 1950–59 |year=2005 |publisher=Routledge, Yesilbursa |isbn=978-1-135-76686-3 |pages=27 |language=en |access-date=3 November 2016}}

{{further|Ministry of Talents|One Unit|Interservice rivalry}}

On 24 February 1954, Ayub signed the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) pact for Pakistan and his role in national politics, along with that of Defense Minister Mirza, began to grow{{Cite book |last=Bahadur |first=Kalim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ND9yNyTpntYC&pg=PA191 |title=Democracy in Pakistan: Crises and Conflicts |year=1998 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=978-81-241-0083-7 |pages=192–193 |language=en}}

In 1954, Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra's relations with the military and Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad deteriorated on issues of the economy.{{Cite book |last=Bahadur |first=Kalim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ND9yNyTpntYC&pg=PA191 |title=Democracy in Pakistan: Crises and Conflicts |year=1998 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=978-81-241-0083-7 |pages=191 |language=en}} Pressure built up to reconstruct the cabinet which eventually witnessed General Ayub Khan becoming the defence minister and Iskander Mirza as home minister in October 1954.{{cite book |last1=Bahadur |first1=Kalim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ND9yNyTpntYC&pg=PA191 |title=Democracy in Pakistan: Crises and Conflicts |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |year=1998 |isbn=978-81-241-0083-7 |pages=191–192}}{{cite book |last1=Dixit |first1=J. N. |year=2003 |title=India-Pakistan in War and Peace |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mdWCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA124 |publisher=Routledge |page=124 |isbn=978-1-134-40758-3}} Ayub Khan disdained civilian politicians, whose factional infighting had for years prevented adoption of a constitution. He wrote that he reluctantly joined the cabinet as defence minister with "two clear objectives: to save the armed forces from the interference of the politicians, and to unify the provinces of West Pakistan into one unit."{{cite book |last1=Jaffrelot |first1=Christophe |author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot |year=2015 |title=The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5GMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PG302 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=302–303 |isbn=978-0-19-023518-5}}

The controversial One Unit Scheme integrated the four western provinces into one political entity, West Pakistan, as a counterbalance against the numerically superior population of East Bengal, which was renamed East Pakistan. The province of Punjab supported the project, but all the other provinces protested against it and its centralisation of power. Opposition was particularly strong in East Bengal, where it was seen as an attack on the democratic principle of political egalitarianism.{{cite book |last1=Jaffrelot |first1=Christophe |author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot |year=2015 |title=The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5GMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PG124 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=124, 211 |isbn=978-0-19-023518-5}}

In 1955, Prime Minister Bogra was dismissed by Governor-General Malik Ghulam Muhammad and he was succeeded by the new Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali as the Defence Minister.{{Sfn|Shah|2014|p=167}}

After the 1954 provincial elections in East Pakistan, the Awami League formed the government there while West Pakistan was governed by the PML, but the PML government collapsed in 1956.{{Cite journal|last1=Rizvi|first1=Hasan Askari|last2=Shah|first2=Aqil|last3=Paul|first3=T.V.|last4=Fair|first4=C. Christine|year=2015|title=The Military and Pakistan's Political and Security Disposition|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24905306|journal=Asia Policy|issue=19|pages=147–151|jstor=24905306|issn=1559-0968}} He was called on to join the Cabinet as Defence Minister by Prime Minister H.S. Suhrawardy and maintained closer relations with Iskander Mirza who now had become the first President of the country after the successful promulgation of the Constitution in 1956. In 1957, President Mirza promoted him from acting full general to the substantive rank of full general.{{cite book|last1=Sridharan|first1=E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cIM8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT128|title=International Relations Theory and South Asia (OIP): Volume I: Security, Political Economy, Domestic Politics, Identities, and Images|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-908939-0|pages=232}}{{cite book |last1=Ahmad |first1=Syed Sami |year=2004 |title=History of Pakistan and Role of the Army |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvBtAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Royal Book Company |location=Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |isbn=978-969-407-306-4}}

Around this time, the MoD, led by General Ayub Khan, began to see the serious interservice rivalry between the General Headquarters staff and the Naval Headquarters staff.{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Ravi Shekhar Narain Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wCm2DFZblOYC&q=Admiral+Choudhri&pg=PA382|title=The Military Factor in Pakistan|date=2008|publisher=Lancer Publishers|isbn=978-0-9815378-9-4|pages=381–382|language=en}} Commander in Chief of Navy Vice-Admiral HMS Choudri and his NHQ staff had been fighting with the Finance ministry and the MoD over the issues of rearmament and contingency plans.{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Ravi Shekhar Narain Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wCm2DFZblOYC&q=Admiral+Choudhri&pg=PA382|title=The Military Factor in Pakistan|publisher=Lancer Publishers, Singh|year=2008|isbn=978-0-9815378-9-4|pages=383|language=en|access-date=3 November 2016}}

He reportedly complained about Admiral HMS Choudri to President Mirza and criticized Admiral Choudri for "neither having the brain, imagination, or depth of thought to understand such (defence) problems nor the vision or the ability to make any contribution."{{cite news |last1=Ghani |first1=Nadia |title=NON-FICTION: The narcissist |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/826646 |access-date=15 January 2025|work=Dawn |date=11 July 2010}} The impasse was broken with Admiral Choudri resigning from the navy in protest as a result of having differences with the navy's plans of expansion and modernization.{{Cite book |last=Cheema |first=Pervaiz Iqbal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cw_gduyRv5oC&q=Vice+Admiral+choudri+1953&pg=PA93 |title=The Armed Forces of Pakistan |date=2002 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-1633-5 |pages=381 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Ravi Shekhar Narain Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wCm2DFZblOYC&q=Admiral+Choudhri&pg=PA382 |title=The Military Factor in Pakistan |date=2008 |publisher=Lancer Publishers |isbn=978-0-9815378-9-4 |pages=94 |language=en}}

{{Main|1958 Pakistani military coup}}

File:Mr. and Mrs. S.N. Bakar with General Ayub Khan and Mr. H.S. Suhrawardy (1958)..jpg and Mr. and Mrs. Shaikh Nazrul Bakar]]

File:Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth Nations, at Windsor Castle (1960 Commonwealth Prime Minister's Conference).jpg, former Queen of Pakistan at the 1960 Commonwealth Prime Minister's Conference, Windsor Castle]]

Suhrawardy and Feroz began campaigning to become prime minister and president in the upcoming general elections. Meanwhile, the conservative Pakistan Muslim League, led by its President Abdul Qayyum Khan, was threatening to engage in civil disobedience.{{Cite book|last=Rizvi|first=Hasan-Askari|author-link=Hasan Askari Rizvi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwGIDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA83|title=Military, State and Society in Pakistan|year=2000|publisher=Macmillan Press|isbn=978-0-230-59904-8|page=83|language=en}} These events were against President Mirza hence he was willing to dissolve even Pakistan's One Unit for his advantage.

On 7 October 1958, President Iskandar Ali Mirza abrogated the Constitution of Pakistan of 1956 after sending a letter to Prime Minister Feroz announcing a coup d'état and appointed General Ayub Khan as Chief Martial Law Administrator.

On 13 October, General Ayub Khan assigned Lt. General Wajid Ali Khan Burki the task of improving the efficiency of hospitals and health agencies. Within days, Karachi hospitals showed significant improvement, and the medical services took on a new outlook.{{cite news|title=Pakistan Times|date=28 November 1958}}{{cite book|title=News In Brief|publisher=Pakistan Affairs|volume=10–12|year=1959|pages=140, 141|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Pakistan_Affairs/p1AdAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=+ayub+khan+assigned&pg=PP140}}

Two weeks later, on 27 October 1958, Ayub Khan carried out his own coup d'état against Mirza. Most of the country's politicians only became aware of the coup the next morning;{{Cite book|last=Rizvi|first=Hasan-Askari|author-link=Hasan Askari Rizvi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwGIDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|title=Military, State and Society in Pakistan|year=2000|publisher=Macmillan Press|isbn=978-0-230-59904-8|pages=82–83|language=en}} only U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan James M. Langley was kept fully informed of political developments in the country.{{cite book |last1=Oborne |first1=Peter |author-link=Peter Oborne |title=Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXXGBwAAQBAJ&q=iskander+mirza+martial+law&pg=PA157 |access-date=3 November 2016 |year=2014 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=157 |isbn=978-0-85720-074-7 |language=en }}

Ayub justified his part by declaring that: "History would never have forgiven us if the present chaotic conditions were allowed to go on any further," and that his goal was to restore a democracy that the "people can understand and work", not to rule indefinitely.{{Cite book|last=Jalal|first=Ayesha|title=The Struggle for Pakistan: A Muslim Homeland and Global Politics|publisher=Belknap Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-674-05289-5|pages=98–100}} When the public was informed, public reactions were mixed. The immediate crackdown on smuggling, corruption, and trafficking won Ayub plenty of support from the commoners. The middle-class and the upper-middle class were more apprehensive.

President Mirza himself was apprehensive, though for a different reason. He had been contemplating replacing Ayub Khan, and it seems that Ayub knew. Immediately after the Supreme Court's Chief Justice Munir justified the coup under the doctrine of necessity, Ayub sent the military into the presidential palace and exiled Mirza to England.{{Cite book|last=Jalal|first=Ayesha|title=The Struggle for Pakistan: A Muslim Homeland and Global Politics|publisher=Belknap Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-674-05289-5|page=101|quote=The joint authority of president and commander-in-chief was untenable and did not last more than a few weeks. Even before the coup, Mirza had been conspiring to replace Ayub as commander-in-chief. By appearing to go along with the president, Ayub bought precious time. Once the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Munir dignified the coup as a revolutionary necessity, Ayub sprang into action to establish himself as the undisputed leader of Pakistan. With the backing of his top military commanders, he packed off Mirza to permanent exile.}} This was largely done with the support of: Admiral A. R. Khan, General Azam Khan, Nawab of Kalabagh Amir Khan, General Dr. Wajid Khan, General K. M. Sheikh, and General Sher Bahadur. Air Vice Marshal Asghar Khan was asked by General Ayub Khan to join the Generals to demand Mirza's resignation, but Asghar Khan declined the request, stating that he "found the whole exercise distasteful."{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jKyfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Asghar%20Khan%20recalls%22|title=Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within|year=2008|first=Shuja|last=Nawaz|page=161|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-547660-6 }}

The regime came to power with the intent of instituting widespread reform and 'to bring the country back to sanity'. Like Mirza, Ayub advocated for greater centralization of power, and his ruling style was more American than British. He "vowed to give people access to speedier justice, curb the crippling birth rate, and take appropriate steps, including land reforms and technological innovation, to develop agriculture so that the country could feed itself."

Ayub finally "restored civil administration", although he maintained the Presidency and relied on an intricate web of spy agencies to maintain supremacy over the bureaucracy, including calling upon civilian intelligence agencies.

In 1960, a referendum, that functioned as the Electoral College, was held that asked the general public: "Do you have confidence in Muhammad Ayub Khan?" The voter turnout was recorded at 95.6% and such confirmation was used as impetus to formalise the new system – a presidential system.{{cite web|date=1 June 2003|title=Martial Law Under Field Marshal Ayub Khan Provincial Assemblies were dissolved and all political activities were banned|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/martial-law-under-field-marshal-ayub-khan|website=Story Of Pakistan, Martial law}} Ayub Khan was elected president for the next five years and decided to pay his first state visit to the United States with his wife and also daughter Begum Naseem Aurangzeb in July 1961. Highlights of his visit included a state dinner at Mount Vernon, a visit to the Islamic Center of Washington, and a ticker tape parade in New York City.{{cite web|title=America Welcomes President Ayub|url=http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=America_Welcomes_President_Ayub&gsearch=ayub|website=Gordon Wilkison Collection|publisher=Texas Archive of the Moving Image|access-date=28 July 2011|date=July 1961|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120163452/http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=America_Welcomes_President_Ayub&gsearch=ayub|archive-date=20 January 2012|url-status=dead}}

{{further|Constitution of Pakistan of 1962}}

A constitutional commission was set-up under the Supreme Court to implement the work on the constitution that was led by Chief Justice Muhammad Shahabuddin and Supreme Court justices. The commission reported in 1961 with its recommendations but President Ayub remained unsatisfied; he eventually altered the constitution so that it was entirely different from the one recommended by the Shahabuddin Commission. The constitution reflected his personal views of politicians and the restriction of using religions in politics. His presidency restored the writ of government through the promulgated constitution and restored political freedom by lifting the martial law enforced since 1958.{{cite web |date=1 June 2003|title=The Constitution of 1962 Provided for a unicameral legislature|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/the-constitution-of-1962|access-date=15 January 2025|website=Story Of Pakistan website}}

The new constitution respected Islam, but did not declare Islam as the state religion and was viewed as a liberal constitution. It also provided for election of the president by 80,000 (later raised to 120,000) Basic Democrats who could theoretically make their own choice but who were essentially under his control. He justified this as analogous to the American Electoral College and cited Thomas Jefferson as his inspiration.{{cite book|last1=Jackson|first1=Roy|title=Mawlana Mawdudi and Political Islam: Authority and the Islamic State|year=2010|publisher=Routledge, Jackson|isbn=978-1-136-95036-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sMotCgAAQBAJ&q=Ayub+Khan+thomas+jefferson&pg=PA75 |page=75|language=en}} The Ayub administration "guided" the print newspapers through his takeover of key opposition papers and, while Ayub Khan permitted a National Assembly, it had only limited powers.{{cite web|title=Islamic Pakistan|url=http://ghazali.net/book1/chapter_4.htm|access-date=5 October 2020|website=ghazali.net}}

In 1961, he promulgated the "Muslim Family Law Ordinance."{{cite book |last=Haq |first=Farhat |editor-last=Moghissi |editor-first=Haideh |chapter=Women, Islam and the State in Pakistan |title=Women and Islam: Critical Concepts in Sociology |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ln19FcDV7wC&q=Muslim+family+law+ayub&pg=PA204 |year=2005 |volume=3 |publisher=Routledge |page=204 |isbn=978-0-415-32421-2}} Through this ordinance, unmitigated polygamy was abolished. Consent of the current wife was made mandatory for a second marriage, and brakes were placed on the practice of instant divorce under Islamic tradition, where men could divorce women by saying: "I divorce you" three times.

The Arbitration Councils were set up under the law in the urban and rural areas to deal with cases of: (a) grant of sanction to a person to contract a second marriage during the subsistence of a marriage; (b) reconciliation of a dispute between a husband and a wife; (c) grant of a maintenance allowance to the wife and children.{{cite web |last=Ghazali |first=Abdul Sattar|url=http://ghazali.net/book1/chapter_4.htm|title=Islamic Pakistan: Illusions & Reality (Chapter IV – The First Martial Law)|publisher=Ghazali.net website|access-date=15 January 2025}}

File:Kaptai dam in East Pakistan being visited by Ayub Khan.jpg in East Pakistan, 1962]]

Industrialization and rural development through constructing modern national freeways are considered his greatest achievements and his era is remembered for successful industrialization in the impoverished country. Strong emphasis on capitalism and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the industry is often regarded as the "Great Decade" in the history of the country (both economical and political history).{{cite web |url= http://storyofpakistan.com/field-marshal-ayub-khan-becomes-president/|title=Field Marshal Ayub Khan Becomes President|website=Story of Pakistan website|date=1 June 2003|access-date=14 January 2025|archive-date=29 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129062752/http://storyofpakistan.com/field-marshal-ayub-khan-becomes-president/}}

The "Decade of Development" was celebrated, which highlighted the development plans executed during the years of Ayub's rule, the private consortium companies and industries, and is credited with creating an environment where the private sector was encouraged to establish medium and small-scale industries in Pakistan. This opened up avenues for new job opportunities and thus the economic graph of the country started rising.{{Cite news |date=4 December 2015|title=Democratising Pakistan?|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/97215/democratising-pakistan-ii/|work=Daily Times newspaper|language=en-US|access-date=5 October 2020}} He oversaw the development and completion of mega projects such as hydroelectric dams, power stations, and barrages all over the country.{{Cite book |last=Mason |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Mason |title=A Short History of Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCRHEAAAQBAJ&q=Ayub+Khan++hydroelectric+dams&pg=PA181 |year=2014 |orig-year=First published 2000 |edition=3rd |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-34061-0 |pages=181 |language=en}} During 1960–66, the annual GDP growth was recorded at 6.8%.{{cite book|last1=Kukreja|first1=Veena|title=Contemporary Pakistan: Political Processes, Conflicts and Crises|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-0-7619-9683-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdVNL2_DUtYC&q=Ayub+Khan+economy&pg=PA304 |page=304|language=en|year=2003}}

Several hydroelectric projects were completed, including the Mangla Dam (one of the world's largest dams), several small dams and water reservoirs in West Pakistan, and one dam in East Pakistan, the Kaptai Dam. President Ayub authorized planning of nuclear power plants.{{cite book|last1=Khan|first1=Feroz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGgrNAsKZjEC&q=ayub+khan+nuclear+grass&pg=PA33|title=Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb|year=2012|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-8480-1|pages=54|language=en}} Dr. Abdus Salam, supported by the President, personally approved the project in Karachi while the project in East Pakistan never materialized.Shahid-ur-Rehman, "Z.A. Bhutto, A Man in Hurry for the Bomb," Long Road To Chagai, p. 21.

Extensive education reforms were supposedly carried out and 'scientific development efforts' were also supposedly made during his years. These policies could not be sustained after 1965, when the economy collapsed and led to economic declines which he was unable to control.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1293604|title=What they never tell us about Ayub Khan's regime|first=Murtaza|last=Haider|date=1 November 2016|website=DAWN.COM}}

Ayub introduced new curricula and textbooks for universities and schools. Many public-sector universities and schools were built during his era.{{cite book |last1=Lall |first1=Marie |last2=Vickers |first2=Edward |year=2010 |title=Education as a Political Tool in Asia |publisher=Taylor & Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aAI-G2EuBr0C&pg=PA183 |page=183 |isbn=978-0-415-59536-0}} He also introduced agricultural reforms preventing anyone from occupying more than 500 acres of irrigated and 1000 acres of unirrigated land. His administration, redistributed approximately 23 percent of the country's farmland to onetime tenant farmers.{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/archive/6809901/pakistan-ayub-s-acid-test/|title=Pakistan: Ayub 's Acid Test|date=14 April 1961|magazine=TIME}} In Karachi, around 100,000 refugees displaced by the partition of India were moved from slums to new housing colonies. His administration also eliminated the need for bribes, known as "tea money" in Pakistan, to access government officials, contributing to a reduction in corruption within Pakistan's government relative to other Asian nations during his tenure.

An oil refinery was established in Karachi. These reforms led to 15% GNP growth of the country that was three times greater than that of India. Despite the increase in the GNP growth, the profit and revenue was gained by the famous 22 families of the time that controlled 66% of the industries and land of the country and 80% of the banking and insurance companies of Pakistan.{{Cite web|title=CONSTITUTION (THIRD AMENDMENT) ACT, 1974|url=http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/amendments/3amendment.html|access-date=5 October 2020|website=pakistani.org}}

During the Ayub era, the navy was able to introduce submarines and slowly modified itself by acquiring warships. However, Ayub drastically reduced funding of the military in the 1950s and de-prioritized nuclear weapons in the 1960s.{{Cite book|last=Khan|first=Zafar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XW8KBAAAQBAJ&q=ayub+khan+nuclear&pg=PA22|title=Pakistan's Nuclear Policy: A Minimum Credible Deterrence|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-67601-0|pages=55|language=en}} The military relied on donations from the United States for major weapons procurements.{{cite book|last1=Khan|first1=Zafar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XW8KBAAAQBAJ&q=ayub+khan+nuclear&pg=PA22|title=Pakistan's Nuclear Policy: A Minimum Credible Deterrence|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-67601-0|page=22|language=en|access-date=4 November 2016}} Major funding was made available for military acquisitions and procurement towards conventional weaponry for conventional defence. In the 1960s, the Pakistani military acquired American{{nbh}}produced conventional weapons such as Jeep CJs, M48 Patton and M24 Chaffee tanks, M16 rifles, F-86 fighter airplanes, and the submarine PNS Ghazi; all through the US Foreign Military Sales program. In 1961, President Ayub started the nation's full{{nbh}}fledged space program in cooperation with the air force, and created the Suparco civilian space agency that launched sounding rockets throughout the 1960s.{{Cite book|last=Khan|first=Feroz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGgrNAsKZjEC&q=ayub+khan+nuclear+grass&pg=PA33|title=Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb|year=2012|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-8480-1|pages=235–236|language=en}}

Ayub prioritized nuclear power generation over the use of nuclear technology for military purposes. He reportedly spent ₨. 724 million on the civilian Karachi Nuclear Power Plant and related education of engineers and scientists.{{Cite book|last=Khan|first=Feroz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGgrNAsKZjEC&q=ayub+khan+nuclear+grass&pg=PA33|title=Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb|year=2012|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-8480-1|pages=53, 60|language=en}}

Ayub Khan filled more and more civil administrative positions with army officers, increasing the military's influence over the bureaucracy. He expanded the size of the army by more than half from the early 1960s to 1969, and maintained a high level of military spending as a percentage of GDP during that period, peaking in the immediate aftermath of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.{{cite book |last1=Jaffrelot |first1=Christophe |author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot |year=2015 |title=The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5GMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PG309 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=309–310 |isbn=978-0-19-023518-5}}

File:Motorcade in Arrival Ceremonies for Muhammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan use.jpg in Washington D.C., 1961]]

The main feature of Ayub Khan's foreign policy was prioritized relations with the United States and Europe. Foreign relations with the Soviet Union were downplayed. He enjoyed support from President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s and, working with Prime Minister Ali Khan, forged a military alliance with the United States against regional communism. His obsession towards modernization of the armed forces in the shortest time possible saw relations with the United States as the only way to achieve his organizational and personal objectives as he argued against civilian supremacy that would affect American interests in the region as a result of an election.

File:President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with President Ayub Khan.jpg in Karachi, 1967]]

The Central Intelligence Agency leased Peshawar Air Station in the 1950s and spying into the Soviet Union from the air station grew immensely, with Ayub's full knowledge, during his presidency. When these activities were exposed in 1960 after a U-2 flying out of the air station was shot down and its pilot captured by the USSR,{{Cite news|date=4 July 2012|title=Timeline: History of US-Pakistan relations |url=https://www.dawn.com/2012/07/04/timeline-history-of-us-pakistan-relations/|newspaper=Dawn newspaper|language=en |access-date=14 January 2025|archive-date=24 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224163754/https://www.dawn.com/news/731670/timeline-history-of-us-pakistan-relations}} President Ayub was in the United Kingdom on a state visit. When the local CIA station chief briefed President Ayub on the incident, Ayub shrugged his shoulders and said that he had expected this would happen at some point.{{Cite web|date=4 March 2012|title=Tale of a love affair that never was: United States-Pakistan Defence Relations|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2002/june/loveaffair.htm |access-date=14 January 2025|website=Defencejournal.com website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304115412/http://www.defencejournal.com/2002/june/loveaffair.htm |archive-date=4 March 2012|url-status=dead|author=Hamid Hussain}}

Soviet Secretary General Nikita Khrushchev threatened to bomb Peshawar if the United States continued to operate aircraft from there against the Soviet Union. Ayub Khan apologised for the incident when he visited the Soviet Union five years later.{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Feroz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGgrNAsKZjEC&q=ayub+khan+nuclear+grass&pg=PA33 |title=Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb |year=2012 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-8480-1 |pages=37, 43 |language=en}}

File:Muhammed Ayub Khan and Alexei Kosygin.jpg in the 1960s]]

President Ayub directed his Foreign Office to reduce tensions with the Soviet Union by facilitating state visits by Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and agreeing to downplay relations with the United States.

In 1963, Ayub signed the historic Sino-Pakistan Frontier Agreement with China despite US opposition.{{cite book |last1=Shah |first1=Sayed Wiqar Ali |editor1-last=Mitra |editor1-first=Subrata K. |editor2-last=Enskat |editor2-first=Mike |editor3-last=Spiess |editor3-first=Clement |year=2004 |chapter=Pakistan People's Party: The Twin Legacies of Socialism and Dynastic Rule |title=Political Parties in South Asia |publisher=Praeger |page=157 |isbn=0-275-96832-4}}

During 1961–65, Ayub lost much of his support from President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson as they sought closer relations with India. President Johnson placed an embargo on both nations during the war in 1965.{{Sfn|Haqqani|2010|pp=44–45}} Relations with the Soviet Union were eventually normalized when the Soviets facilitated a peace treaty between Pakistan and India in 1965, and reached a trade treaty with Pakistan the following year.{{cite book |last1=Malik |first1=Hafeez |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oliwCwAAQBAJ&q=ayub+khan+Soviet+union&pg=PA171 |title=Domestic Determinants of Soviet Foreign Policy towards South Asia and the Middle East |year=1990 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-11318-7 |pages=171–175 |language=en |access-date=6 November 2016}} In 1966–67, Ayub wrestled with the United States' attempt to dictate Pakistan's foreign policy, while he strengthened relations with the Soviet Union and China.{{cite book |last1=McGarr |first1=Paul M. |title=The Cold War in South Asia: Britain, the United States and the Indian Subcontinent, 1945–1965 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-29226-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYkYAAAAQBAJ&q=ayub+khan+china&pg=RA1-PT286 |access-date=6 November 2016 |language=en |year=2013}} Despite initiatives to normalize relations with the Soviet Union, Ayub Khan remained inclined towards the United States and the western world, receiving President Johnson in Karachi in 1967.{{Cite book |last=Malik |first=Hafeez |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oliwCwAAQBAJ&q=ayub+khan+Soviet+union&pg=PA171 |title=Domestic Determinants of Soviet Foreign Policy towards South Asia and the Middle East |year=1990 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-11318-7 |pages=174 |language=en}}

In 1961–62, Ayub paid a state visit to the United Kingdom. He attracted much attention from the British public when his involvement in the Christine Keeler affair was revealed.{{cite news |last=von Tunzelmann |first=Alex |author-link=Alex von Tunzelmann |date=11 July 2012 |title=Scandal: someone was taking notes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jul/11/scandal-keeler-profumo |work=The Guardian |access-date=15 December 2015}}[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n01/tariq-ali/the-general-in-his-labyrinth Tariq Ali on Ayub Khan 4 January 2007] Retrieved December 2015

{{Main|Indo-Pakistani War of 1965}}

{{See also|Operation Gibraltar}}

In 1959, Ayub Khan's interest in building defence forces had already diminished when he made an offer of joint defense with India during the Sino-Indo clashes in October 1959 in Ladakh, in a move seen as a result of American pressure and a lack of understanding of foreign affairs{{cite news |last=Iqbal Ahmad Khan |title=Bhutto's foreign policy legacy |url=http://archives.dawn.com/archives/31374 |access-date=11 February 2012 |newspaper=Dawn |date=5 April 2009}} Upon hearing this proposal, India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru reportedly countered, "Defence Minister Ayub: Joint Defence on what?"{{Rp|84–86}} India remained uninterested in such proposals and Prime Minister Nehru decided to push his country's role in the Non-Aligned Movement.{{Cite book |last=McGarr |first=Paul M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYkYAAAAQBAJ&q=ayub+khan+china&pg=RA1-PT286 |title=The Cold War in South Asia: Britain, the United States and the Indian Subcontinent, 1945–1965 |year=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-29226-0 |pages=85 |language=en}} In 1960, President Ayub, together with Prime Minister Nehru, signed the Indus Waters Treaty brokered by the World Bank.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/jun/03/kashmir.india1 War over water] The Guardian, Monday 3 June 2002 01.06 BST In 1962, after India was defeated by China, Ayub Khan disguised a few thousand soldiers as guerillas and sent them to Indian Kashmir to incite the people to rebel.{{cite book |last1=Rashid |first1=Ahmed |title=Pakistan in the Brink |year=2012 |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-1-84614-585-8 |page=47}} In 1964, the Pakistan Army engaged with the Indian Army in several skirmishes, and clandestine operations began.

The war with India in 1965 was a turning point in his presidency, and it ended in a settlement reached by Ayub Khan at Tashkent, called the Tashkent Declaration, which was facilitated by the Soviet Union. The settlement was perceived negatively by many Pakistanis and led Foreign Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to resign his post and take up opposition to Ayub Khan. According to Morrice James, "For them (Pakistanis) Ayub had betrayed the nation and had inexcusably lost face before the Indians."{{cite book |last1=Schofield |first1=Victoria |author-link=Victoria Schofield |title=Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War |year=2003 |publisher=I. B. Tauris |page=112 |isbn=1-86064-898-3}}

According to Sartaj Aziz, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, it was Foreign Minister Bhutto who had inadvertently set Pakistan on the road to war with India. During a cabinet meeting, Bhutto had gone on a populist anti-Indian and anti-American binge and succeeded in spellbinding President Ayub into thinking he was becoming a world statesman fawned upon by the enemies of the United States. When Ayub authorized Operation Gibraltar, the fomenting of a Kashmiri insurgency against India, Aziz famously told the President: "Sir, I hope you realize that our foreign policy and our economic requirements are not fully consistent, in fact they are rapidly falling out of line." Aziz opposed Operation Gibraltar, fearing the economical turmoil that would jolt the country's economy, but was in turn opposed by his own senior bureaucrats. In that meeting, Foreign Minister Bhutto convinced the president and the finance minister Muhammad Shoaib that India would not attack Pakistan due to Kashmir being a disputed territory, and per Bhutto's remarks: "Pakistan's incursion into Indian-occupied Kashmir, at [A]khnoor, would not provide [India] with the justification for attacking Pakistan across the international boundary because Kashmir was a disputed territory." This theory proved wrong, when India launched a full-scale war against West Pakistan in 1965.{{cite news|last=Ahmed|first=Khaled|date=9 August 2009|title=Book Review: Sartaj Aziz on 'excessive' leaders|newspaper=Pakistan Times|url=http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/09-Aug-2009/book-review-sartaj-aziz-on-excessive-leaders-by-khaled-ahmed|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063953/http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/09-Aug-2009/book-review-sartaj-aziz-on-excessive-leaders-by-khaled-ahmed|archive-date=4 March 2016}}

Chief of the Army Staff General Musa Khan held off launching Operation Grand Slam, waiting for President Ayub Khan's go ahead. The operation didn't get underway until after the Indian Army had captured Haji Pir pass in Kashmir.{{Cite book |last=Hiro |first=Dilip |author-link=Dilip Hiro |title=The Longest August: The Unflinching Rivalry Between India and Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PpPCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA182 |year=2015 |publisher=Nation Books |isbn=978-1-56858-503-1 |pages=182–183 |language=en}} He faced serious altercations with, and public criticism from, air chief Air Marshal Asghar Khan for hiding the details of the war. The Air Headquarters began fighting the president over the contingency plans, and this inter-services rivalry ended with Asghar Khan's resignation.{{cite news |date=6 September 2005|title=Nur Khan reminisces '65 war|work=Dawn|location=Pakistan|type=Editorial|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/155474/nur-khan-reminisces|access-date=31 October 2016}}

About the 1965 war's contingency plans, Air Marshal Nur Khan briefly wrote that "Rumours about an impending operation were rife but the army had not shared the plans with other forces."

Ayub Khan's main sponsor, the United States, did not welcome the move and the Johnson administration placed an economic embargo that caused Pakistan to lose US$500 million in aid and grants that had been received through consortium. Ayub Khan could not politically survive in the aftermath of the 1965 war with India and fell from the presidency after surrendering presidential power to Army Commander General Yahya in 1969.

Afghanistan: Afghanistan-Pakistan Confederation Plan

In the 1950s, partly due to the complicated bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the Durand Line dispute, Ayub Khan along with the Royal family of Afghanistan under King Zahir Shah proposed the Afghanistan-Pakistan Confederation Plan to merge Afghanistan with Pakistan under a single confederation.{{Cite web |title=Reality or Paranoia: Why is Pakistan afraid of India – Afghanistan ties? |url=https://www.hudson.org/foreign-policy/reality-or-paranoia-why-is-pakistan-afraid-of-india-afghanistan-ties- |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Hudson Institute |language=en}} This merger was proposed on the basis of mutual distrust and fears of security threats by the Indian government and the Soviets, which wasn't able to amount to fruition due to the eventual Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the formation of a new communist Afghan regime.{{Cite news |date=2020-09-10 |title=Afghanistan and Pakistan's oft-ignored history – 1947–1978 |url=https://tribune.com.pk/article/97165/afghanistan-and-pakistans-oft-ignored-history-1947-1978 |access-date=2023-02-20 |work=The Express Tribune |language=en}}

{{Main|1965 Pakistani presidential election}}

In 1964, President Ayub Khan was confident in his apparent popularity and saw the deep divisions within the political opposition which ultimately led him to announce presidential elections in 1965. He earned the nomination of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and was shocked when Fatima Jinnah was nominated by the Combined Opposition Parties.{{cite web|date=25 October 2013|title=Presidential Election were held on 2 January 1965|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/presidential-election#prettyPhoto|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127023305/https://storyofpakistan.com/presidential-election/#prettyPhoto|access-date=14 January 2025|website=Story Of Pakistan website|archive-date=27 November 2024|url-status=dead}}

Ayub Khan's son, Gohar Ayub Khan, launched attacks on Fatima Jinnah supporters.{{cite journal |last1=Ahmar |first1=Moonis |title=Ethnicity and State Power in Pakistan: The Karachi crisis |year=1996 |journal=Asian Survey |volume=36 |issue=10 |page=1032 |doi=10.2307/2645632 |jstor=2645632}} During this time, Ayub Khan used the Pakistani intelligence community for his own advantage. Military Intelligence actively monitored politicians and political gatherings and the Intelligence Bureau taped politicians' telephone conversations. This was the first departure of the intelligence community from national defence and security to direct interference with national politics, an interference which continued in succeeding years.{{cite web|last1=Pike|first1=John|title=Military Intelligence – Pakistan Intelligence Agencies|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/pakistan/mi.htm|access-date=5 November 2016|website=globalsecurity.org|publisher=global security}}

It was reported that the elections were widely rigged by the state authorities and machinery under the control of Ayub Khan and it is believed that had the elections been held via direct ballot, Fatima Jinnah would have won. The Electoral College consisted of only 80,000 Basic Democrats. They were easily manipulated by President Ayub Khan, who won the bitterly contested elections with 64% of the Electoral College vote.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830952,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029212804/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830952,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 October 2007 |title=Trouble with Mother |magazine=Time |date=25 December 1964 |access-date=29 April 2010}} According to journalists of the time, the election did not conform to international standards; many viewed the election results with great suspicion.

{{Main|1969 East Pakistan uprising}}

File:Sheikh Mujib and Ayub Khan.jpg after the Round Table Conference in Islamabad, January 1969]]

The controversial victory over Fatima Jinnah in the 1965 presidential election and the outcome of the war with India in the same year brought devastating results for Ayub Khan's image and his presidency. Khan's foreign minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto believed the Tashkent Declaration was a "political surrender" which turned a military victory into defeat.{{Sfn|Haqqani|2010|p=49}} Bhutto began criticizing Ayub Khan openly and resigned in June 1966. In Karachi, public resentment towards Ayub had been rising since the 1965 elections and his policies were widely disapproved.{{cite book |last=Rath |first=Saroj Kumar |title=Fragile Frontiers: The Secret History of Mumbai Terror Attacks |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-56251-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dh7ICQAAQBAJ&q=ayub+khan+tashkent+agreement&pg=PT51 |access-date=4 November 2016 |year=2015}}

In 1967, Bhutto formed the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and embarked on a nationwide tour where he attacked the Ayub administration's economic, religious, and social policies. Bhutto was arrested for these activities.{{cite book |last=Wynbrandt |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQGwgJnCPZgC&pg=PA196 |title=A Brief History of Pakistan |date=2009 |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=978-0-8160-6184-6 |pages=196}} His detention further inflamed the opposition, and demonstrations were sparked all over the country. The East Pakistani Awami League charged the Ayub administration with discriminatory policies towards the East. Labour unions called for strikes against Ayub Khan's administration, and dissatisfaction was widespread in the country's middle class by the end of 1968. When Ayub Khan was confronted with the Six point movement led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and with the criticism by Bhutto's PPP, he responded by imprisoning both leaders but that made matters worse for Ayub's administration.{{cite book |last=Wynbrandt |first=James |title=A Brief History of Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQGwgJnCPZgC&pg=PA196 |date=2009 |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=978-0-8160-6184-6 |page=197}}

In 1969, Ayub Khan opened negotiations with the opposition parties in what was termed as a "Round Table Conference" where he held talks with all major opposition parties. However, these discussions yielded no results and strong anti-Ayub demonstrations calling for his resignation were sparked all over the country. During this time, Ayub Khan survived a near-fatal cardiac arrest that put him out of the office, and later survived a paralysis attack that put him in a wheelchair.{{cite book |last=Akbar |first=M.K. |title=Pakistan from Jinnah to Sharif |year=1997 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=9788170996743 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcIniHQAHfUC&q=ayub+khan+1965+war&pg=PA37 |pages=43–47}} The police were unable to maintain Law and order in Pakistan, especially in East Pakistan where riots and a serious uprising were quelled. At one point, Home and Defence Minister Vice-Admiral Rahman told journalists that the "country was under the mob rule and that police were not strong enough to tackle the situation."{{cite book |last=Siddiqui |first=Kalim |title=Conflict, Crisis and War in Pakistan |year=1972 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-01339-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f86uCwAAQBAJ&q=AR+Khan+minister+resigned&pg=PA130 |page=130}}

The PPP also led very strong protests, street demonstrations, and riots against the Ayub Khan's administration when the prices of food consumer products such as sugar, tea, and wheat, hiked up. Disapproval of Ayub Khan was widely expressed by chanted slogans and insults referring to him.{{cite book |last=Constable |first=Pamela |author-link=Pamela Constable |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-wU1aVyM9IC&q=ayub+khan+price+hike&pg=PA39 |title=Playing with Fire: Pakistan at War with Itself |year=2011 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-679-60345-0 |pages=39–40}} On the streets of major cities of West Pakistan, massive wall chalkings that employed derogatory and pejorative terms for Ayub made headlines in the print and broadcast media.{{cite book |last=Constable |first=Pamela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-wU1aVyM9IC&q=ayub+khan+price+hike&pg=PA39 |title=Playing with Fire: Pakistan at War with Itself |year=2011 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-679-60345-0 |pages=41}}

Elements in the military began supporting the opposition political parties; it was this that finally brought about the demise of Ayub Khan's era. On 25 March 1969, President Ayub Khan, after consulting Advocate Raja Muhammad Qalib Ali Khan (the last person to meet the president before resignation) resigned from office and invited commander-in-chief of the army General Yahya Khan to take over control of the country.{{cite web |title=Pakistan – AYUB KHAN |url=http://www.countrystudies.us/pakistan/18.htm |access-date=5 October 2020 |website=countrystudies.us}}{{cite book |last=Akbar |first=M.K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcIniHQAHfUC&q=ayub+khan+1965+war&pg=PA37 |title=Pakistan from Jinnah to Sharif |year=1997 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-674-3 |pages=48}}

Asghar Khan and Khyber Khan were considered among the likely successors to President Ayub Khan during the collapse of his regime. Khyber was described as "a young, energetic, and popular air force officer in his early forties – who happens to look very much like a younger Ayub Khan."{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O_MuAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Khyber%20Khan%22|title=Reports Service: South Asia Series|publisher=American Universities Field Staff|year=1968|volume=12–13}}

Ayub Khan did not comment on the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. He died of a heart attack on 19 April 1974 at his villa near Islamabad at age 66.{{cite news|title=Ex President of Pakistan Ayub Khan, Dies|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19740419&id=kJxjAAAAIBAJ&pg=4149,2977014|access-date=21 August 2016|work=Lawrence Journal-World|agency=Associated Press|issue=95|date=20 April 1974| volume=116 |location=Islamabad, Pakistan|pages=13}}{{cite news|title=Ayub Khan dead at 67|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19740420&id=tmE0AAAAIBAJ&pg=3105,5096342|access-date=21 August 2016|work=Star-News|agency=United Press International|issue=28|date=20 April 1974|volume=44}}

Ayub Khan's presidency allied Pakistan with the American-led military alliance against the Soviet Union which helped Pakistan develop its strong economic background and its long-term political and strategic relations with the United States. Major economic aid and trade from the United States and European Communities ultimately led Pakistan's industrial sector to develop rapidly but the consequences of cartelization included increased inequality in the distribution of wealth. After 1965, he became extremely concerned about the arrogance and bossiness of the US over the direction of Pakistan's foreign policy when the US publicly criticized Pakistan for building ties with China and the Soviet Union; he authored a book over this issue known as Friends not Masters.{{cite book|last=Khan|first=Mohammad Ayub|title=Friends Not Masters: A Political Autobiography|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z9K6AAAAIAAJ|access-date=5 November 2016|year=1967|isbn=978-0-19-211178-4 }}{{cite news|author=Megasthenes |title=The Field Marshal from Beyond the Grave|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2011/December/revolution.htm|access-date=5 November 2016|work=Daily Star|year=2011}}

Ayub Khan began his diary in September 1966, and ended his recordings in October 1972 due to his failing health. The diary covers events such as his resignation from office, the assumption of power by Yahya Khan, the independence of Bangladesh, and the replacement of Yahya by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. After his death in 1972, the diary was not released to the public for thirty years due to opinions which would have been detrimental to the reputation of powerful individuals at the time. Ayub Khan wanted his diary to be edited by his close associate Altaf Gauhar, but after Ayub Khan's death the six-year-long diary was entrusted to Oxford University Press (OUP) to edit and publish. At OUP, Diaries of Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, 1966–1972 was edited and annotated by American historian Craig Baxter.The power of US in Pakistan

The federal capital was relocated under the Ayub administration from the port city of Karachi to the new and carefully planned city of Islamabad in the mountains in 1965. Facilitated by the World Bank, the Ayub administration became a party to the Indus Waters Treaty with archrival India to resolve disputes regarding the sharing of the waters of the six rivers in the Punjab Doab that flow between the two countries. Khan's administration also built a major network of irrigation canals, high-water dams, and thermal and hydroelectric power stations.Khan, Muhammad Ayub, Friends Not Masters, Oxford University Press, 1967.

He subsidized fertilizers and modernized agriculture through irrigation development and spurred industrial growth with liberal tax benefits. In the decade of his rule, the GNP rose by 45% and manufactured goods began to overtake such traditional exports as jute and cotton. However, the economists in the Planning Commission alleged that his policies were tailored to reward the elite families and major landowners in the country. In 1968, his administration celebrated the so-called "Decade of Development" when the mass protests erupted all over the country due to an increasingly greater divide between the rich and the poor.{{cite news |date=8 June 2012 |title=Pakistan's first rocket soars 80 miles high |url=https://www.dawn.com/2012/06/08/pakistans-first-rocket-soars-80-miles-high/ |access-date=7 September 2022 |work=Dawn |location=Pakistan}}

He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution.{{Cite web |title=Letters from Thane Read asking Helen Keller to sign the World Constitution for world peace. 1961 |url=https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK01-07-B149-F04-022.1.8 |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=Helen Keller Archive |publisher=American Foundation for the Blind}}{{Cite web |title=Letter from World Constitution Coordinating Committee to Helen, enclosing current materials |url=https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK01-07-B154-F05-028.1.6 |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=Helen Keller Archive |publisher=American Foundation for the Blind}} As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt a Constitution for the Federation of Earth.{{Cite web |title=Preparing earth constitution: Global Strategies & Solutions |url=http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/strategy/193465 |url-status= |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=The Encyclopedia of World Problems {{!}} Union of International Associations (UIA)}}

After 1965, the corruption in government, nepotism, and suppression of free speech, thought, and press increased unrest and turmoil in the country against the Ayub administration. The 1965 presidential election, where Ayub Khan was opposed by Fatima Jinnah, was allegedly rigged. In 2003, the nephew of the Quaid-i-Azam, Akbar Pirbhai, re-ignited the controversy by suggesting that Fatima Jinnah's death in 1967 was an assassination by the Ayub Khan establishment.{{cite web |url=http://www.pakistanherald.com/profile/fatima-jinnah-1174 |title=Fatima Jinnah | Mother Of Nation (Mader-e Millat) |work=Pakistan Herald |access-date=9 August 2021 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809194823/http://www.pakistanherald.com/profile/fatima-jinnah-1174 |url-status=dead}} Sherbaz Khan Mazari criticised Gohar Ayub Khan for leading a victory parade after the 1965 election into the heart of opposition territory in Karachi, despite the prohibition, under Section 144, of holding processions there. Fierce clashes ensued, resulting in many deaths.{{cite book |last1=Mazari |first1=Sherbaz Khan |author1-link=Sherbaz Khan Mazari |title=A journey to Disillusionment |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-579076-6 |pages=124-125, 618}} He was faced with allegations of widespread intentional vote riggings, organizing political murders in Karachi. His peace with India was considered by many Pakistanis an embarrassing compromise.

Gohar Ayub Khan also faced criticisms during that time on questions of family corruption and cronyism through his business links with his father-in-law, retired Lieutenant General Habibullah Khan Khattak. One Western commentator in 1969 estimated Gohar Ayub's personal wealth at the time at $4 million, while his family's wealth was put in the range of $10–20 million.(Pick April 1969). Public criticism of Gohar's personal wealth and that of the President increased. All these criticisms harmed President Ayub Khan's image.

He is also blamed for not doing enough to tackle the significant economic disparity between East and West Pakistan. Whilst he was aware of the acute grievances of East Pakistan, he did try to address the situation. However, the Ayub Khan regime was so highly centralized that, in the absence of democratic institutions, densely populated and politicized East Pakistan province continued to feel it was being slighted.{{cite web |title=Pakistan-THE AYUB KHAN ERA |url=http://www.mongabay.com/history/pakistan/pakistan-the_ayub_khan_era.html |access-date=9 December 2012 |publisher=Mongabay.com}}

During his presidency, differences between West and East Pakistan arose to an enormous degree, that ultimately led to the independence of Bangladesh following the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Historian Yasmin Saikia argues that the Islamization that is often blamed on Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq has its roots in the policies of Ayub Khan, who injected a "jihadi" rhetoric into the Pakistan Army, his re-writing of Pakistan's history from a purely Islamic viewpoint and his categorization of Bengali Muslims as being too influenced by Hinduism.{{cite journal |last1=Saikia |first1=Yasmin |title=Ayub Khan and Modern Islam: Transforming Citizens and the Nation in Pakistan |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |date=3 April 2014 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=292–305 |doi=10.1080/00856401.2014.889590 |s2cid=143774121}}

On 13 May 2024, Minister of Defence Khawaja Asif delivered a speech on the floor of the National Assembly of Pakistan in which he stated that Ayub was the first dictator who violated the Constitution of Pakistan and overthrew a democratically elected government; hence, Ayub was the root cause of all the confusion and chaos which ensued.{{Cite news |date=2024-05-13 |title=Dig up Ayub Khan's body and hang it for constitutional violations: Asif |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2466420/dig-up-ayub-khans-body-and-hang-it-for-constitutional-violations-asif |access-date=2024-05-13 |work=The Express Tribune |language=en}} Minister Asif supported the demand(s) for Article 6 proceedings against violators of the Constitution of Pakistan.{{Cite news |date=13 May 2024 |title=Ex-dictator Ayub Khan's body should be exhumed, hanged for Constitution violation |url=https://www.samaa.tv/2087314664-ex-dictator-ayub-khan-s-body-should-be-exhumed-hanged-for-constitution-violation-asif |publisher=Samaa TV}} Consequently, Minister Asif called for the corpse of dictator Ayub to be dug out of his grave and be hung for the offence of high treason in accordance with Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan.{{Cite news |date=2024-05-13 |title=Heated NA session as govt, opposition advocate Article 6 from different perspectives |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1833276 |access-date=2024-05-13 |work=Dawn |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Part I: "Introductory" |url=https://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part1.html |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=www.pakistani.org}}

After his death, his descendants became active in national politics in the 1990s until the present; however, these family members have been controversial. His son Gohar was an active member of the conservative PML(N) and was the Foreign Minister in the Sharif ministry in the 1990s but was removed due to his controversial and unauthorized statements about India. Ayub's daughter Nasim did not enter politics and married Miangul Aurangzeb, the Wali of Swat.{{cite news|url=http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta2/tft/article.php?issue=20110916&page=30|title=Photo Archive: Ayub Khan visits the US (1961)|work=The Friday Times newspaper|date=16 September 2011|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-date=25 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925185823/http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta2/tft/article.php?issue=20110916&page=30|url-status=dead}}

His son Shaukat was a successful businessman and had four children: three sons and one daughter. All three sons went into business and politics, with Akbar, Arshad, and Yousaf Ayub Khan becoming successful members of the provincial and national assemblies.

His grandson, Omar, served in the Aziz ministry as a Finance Minister in the 2000s but joined the PML(N) in 2010; he was declared ineligible for the 2013 general election after allegations of vote rigging were proved. In 2018, he joined PTI. Another grandson, Yousaf, who is a party worker of the PTI, was also declared ineligible for submitting fake documents to the Election Commission.

• {{flag|Pakistan}}:
• {{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Nishan-e-Pakistan (1957-86).png|width=60}} Recipient of the Nishan-e-Pakistan (NPk)
• {{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Hilal-e-Jurat.png|width=60}} Recipient of the Hilal-e-Jurat (HJ)
• {{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Hilal-e-Pakistan (1957-86).png|width=60}} Recipient of the Hilal-e-Pakistan (HPk)

• {{flag|British India}}:
• {{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Order of the British Empire (Military).png|width=60}} Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)
• {{flag|Nepal}}:
• 60px Order of Ojaswi Rajanya
• {{flag|Indonesia}}:
• 60px First Class of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia (1960){{cite journal |date=December 1960 |title=Dasar-Dasar Persahabatan dan Kerdjasama Indonesia-Pakistan |trans-title=Foundations of the Friendship and Cooperation between Indonesia-Pakistan |language=id |journal=Mimbar Penerangan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmEdAQAAIAAJ | publisher=Departemen Penerangan Republik Indonesia |volume=11 |issue=12 |page=796 |access-date=11 January 2021}}
• {{flag|United Kingdom}}:
• 60x60px Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) (1961)
• 60x60px Recipient of the Royal Victorian Chain (1966)
• {{flag|Malaya}}:
• 60x60px Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm (D.M.N.(K)) (1962){{cite web|url=http://www.istiadat.gov.my/v8/images/stories/1962.pdf|title=Senarai Penuh Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 1962}}

Among the books Ayub Khan authored or which were based on his speeches, talks and other output, are:{{Cite web |title=34 Works authored by Ayub Khan|url=https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL4168A/Mohammad_Ayub_Khan|access-date=14 January 2025|website=Open Library website}}

• Friends Not Masters: A Political Autobiography, Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1967.
• Ideology and Objectives, Rawalpindi: Ferozesons, 1968.
• Agricultural Revolution in Pakistan, Karachi: Rana Tractors & Equipment, 1968.

• Diaries of Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, 1966–1972, Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2007. Edited by Craig Baxter.
• Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan: A Selection of Talks and Interviews, 1964–1967, Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2010. Edited by Nadia Ghani.

• Cold War
• Ayub National Park
• Ayub Medical College
• Americanism
• American cultural influence in Pakistan

Footnotes

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Cloughly |first=Brian |chapter=Chapter 2, "Ayub Khan, Adjutant General to President" |title=A History of the Pakistan Army |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-57607-712-2}}
• {{cite book|last1=Haqqani|first1=Husain|author-link1=Husain Haqqani|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC|title=Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military|publisher=Carnegie Endowment|year=2010|isbn=978-0-87003-285-1|access-date=18 July 2024}}
• {{cite book |last=Khan |first=Muhammad Ayub |title=Diaries of Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Karachi |year=1966 |pages=599 |isbn=978-0-19-547442-8}}
• {{cite book |last=Khan |first=Muhammad Ayub |title=Friends Not Masters |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=1967 |pages=290 |isbn=0-19-211178-7}}
• {{cite book |last=Shah |first=Aqil |title=Military and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-134-40758-3}}

{{Commons category|Muhammad Ayub Khan}}

• [http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P017 Ayub Khan Bio]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100824193937/http://www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/AWPReview/TextContent.aspx?pId=145 Official profile at Pakistan Army website]
• [http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=CAF97045354 Video clip of Ayub Khan in Paris]----use QuickTime Player.
• [http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=CAF97045361 Video clip of Ayub Khan with General De Gaulle]
• [http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=AFE86000182 Video clip in Rawalpindi]
• {{London Gazette|issue=42035 |date=17 May 1960 |page=3465}} Creation as an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George on 26 April 1960

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