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| Pakistan Army Chiefs who led the nation's military forces since independence. |
Pakistan got a super important job called Chief of Army Staff. This is like being the biggest army boss you can be. Think of it like being the captain of a really big team. The job started in 1972. Before that time they called it something else, it was Commander-in-Chief of the Army what they used to say. The Prime Minister is very powerful too but this army boss job is maybe just as strong or even more stronger sometimes.
Some real big names have held this job over the years. These men they changed how Pakistan works in so many ways. The army in Pakistan sometimes acts like it's own little country inside the country. This is why the Chief of Army Staff has been used by different governments to do what they want done. Sometimes it's about keeping things calm and sometimes its about other stuff too.
Tikka Khan - The First One With This Title
He was born in 1915 and passed away in 2002. Tikka Khan was the very first person to get called Chief of Army Staff. He got the job on March 3 in 1972 and kept it until March 1 of 1976. That's almost four whole years if you count it up. His unit was 2 Fd Regt Arty which is like his army family group he belonged to.
Tikka Khan had some really fancy letters after his name. He got HJ, HQA, and SPk which are like special awards the army gives to people who do good work. Being the first COAS was a big deal because someone had to figure out how to do this new job right.
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq - The Longest One Before Musharraf
Born in 1924 and died in 1988 was Zia-ul-Haq. He became army boss on March 1 in 1976 right when Tikka Khan left. This man stayed in the job for more than twelve years which is super long. His unit was 13 Lancers. He held the position until August 17 of 1988, that's 12 years and 169 days if you want to be exact about it.
Zia changed Pakistan in ways that people still talk about today. His time as army chief was full of big moments. Some people liked what he did and others they did not like it at all.
Mirza Aslam Beg - Coming After Zia
This general was born in 1931 and he is still alive today. Mirza Aslam Beg became the third army boss starting on August 17 of 1988. He stayed until August 16 of 1991 which makes it almost exactly three years. The 16 Baloch was his unit. He got NI(M) and SBt as his special awards which showed he did well in his army work.
After Zia died Beg had to step up and take over. This was not easy because Zia left behind a lot of complicated things to deal with.
Asif Nawaz Janjua - A Short Time in Charge
Born in 1937 and dying in 1993, Asif Nawaz Janjua had the shortest time as army boss on this list. He started on August 16 of 1991 but then he passed away on January 8 of 1993. That's only 1 year and 145 days. His unit was 5 Punjab. The little cross mark next to his end date shows he died while still in the job which is very sad.
His awards were NI(M) and SBt same like the person before him. Nobody expected him to leave so soon and it made things very hard for the country.
Abdul Waheed Kakar - Stepping In When Needed
Abdul Waheed Kakar was born in 1937 and is alive still. He got the army boss job on January 11 in 1993 just three days after Janjua passed. He held on to the position until January 12 of 1996 making it 3 years and 1 day exactly. The 5 FF was his army unit family.
Kakar had to come in during a tough time. The last army chief had died suddenly and someone needed to take control fast. He had the same awards as the chiefs before him with NI(M) and SBt.
Jehangir Karamat - The Smart One Who Saw Things Coming
Here is a man who really knew how to think ahead. Jehangir Karamat was born on February 20 in 1941 and he's still with us today. He became the sixth person to hold this big job. Starting January 12 of 1996 he stayed until October 6 of 1998 which is 2 years and 267 days. His army family was 13 Lancers just like Zia-ul-Haq had been.
Karamat was really really smart about seeing what problems would come later. He told people about issues that Pakistan would face in the future. Some of his ideas for making things safer got turned down at first, but later on they became actual laws. He joined up with the army back in 1958 and went through the PMA which is where officers learn to be officers.
This general fought in the wars between India and Pakistan. He was also the one who found out about a secret plan to remove Benazir Bhutto from power. When Kakar retired Benazir picked Karamat to be the next big army boss. As COAS he tried super hard to make the President and Prime Minister work together better. He also helped democracy become stronger in the country.
One interesting thing is he guessed that Benazir's government would get dismissed and he was right about that. They also made him Chairman of the Joint Chiefs committee which is another big honor. When Nawaz Sharif wanted to test nuclear bombs Karamat supported him and this made Pakistan a country with nuclear power.
But in that same year some disagreements happened. These were about keeping the country safe and about the spy agencies needing changes. So Jehangir stepped down from the job. But he didn't just disappear from important work. From 2004 to 2006 he was Pakistan's ambassador to America which meant he represented his country in the United States.
He worried a lot about the army getting too mixed up with regular government stuff. He also worried about terrorist attacks that were being paid for by other countries. These worries turned out to be real when Musharraf took over the government and after 2000 terror attacks became very common in Pakistan.
Pervez Musharraf - The One Who Changed Everything
Born on August 11 in 1943 and passing in 2023, Musharraf is one of the most talked about people in Pakistan history. What he did in politics goes way beyond just being army chief. We gonna focus on his time as COAS before he left the country and got charged with very serious crimes against the state.
Before becoming the top army boss Musharraf fought in the India-Pakistan wars. He also went to learn at the Royal College of Defense studies over in Britain which is a very fancy school. He was in charge of operations during the Bosnia war and his last job in the field was in the Mangla area of Kashmir.
During that period he got close to Benazir and saw her like a teacher to him. He even worked on her staff and helped give her advice when politics got messy. Then in 1998 General Karamat got removed from the Joint Chiefs committee and he quit as army chief after that. Four people were being considered for the job and Nawaz Sharif personally picked Musharraf to become the 7th COAS.
But just one year into his new role Musharraf did something very dangerous. He started the Kargil war with India all on his own decision. This could have turned into a nuclear war which would have been terrible for everyone. After that he did a military takeover and stopped the constitution from working. He got rid of the government that was in charge.
Calling himself Chief Executive, Musharraf changed the constitution many times trying to take power away from the Prime Minister position. He said democracy would come back and it did in 2002 when they held elections. He got the XVII amendment passed which let him end the parliament whenever he wanted. Before those elections happened though he had already made himself President of Pakistan.
As President, his liberal ideas and what Benazir taught him showed up in the changes he made. But troubles came from many directions. The nuclear issue made people upset. The Lal Masjid thing made things worse. His help with the war on terror made regular citizens angry at him. By 2007 lots of people wanted him removed from power.
Other countries were also very mad at him by then. To keep being President for five more years he announced another emergency which was a really bad use of his power. Finally in November 2007 he quit as COAS. Then in August of the next year he ran away to London where he lived in exile. Out of all army chiefs ever he held the job longest at 9 years and 53 days.
Ashfaq Pervez Kayani - Cleaning Up After Musharraf
Born April 20 in 1952 and still alive, Ashfaq was second in command before he took the top spot. After Musharraf quit in 2007 Ashfaq moved up. But before this job he was the 17th Director General of ISI which handles spy stuff. He ran ISI operations when nuclear weapons were spreading and when terror attacks were happening all over the country.
He successfully figured out who tried to kill Musharraf twice. Musharraf trusted him and wanted him around during talks with Bhutto and when the Chief Justice got suspended. Right before becoming COAS he got moved to a different position. In his soldier days he fought in the 1971 war with India and did important work in the war on terror.
As army boss Ashfaq worked to undo what Musharraf had changed. He pulled the army out of politics and city departments where they didn't belong. He also made sure the army fully supported the new government after the 2008 elections.
Things with America got bad after their drones bombed FATA and killed tribal leaders. Kayani knew regular Pakistanis were now really angry at America but he still set up a meeting between CIA and ISI people. He talked the CIA into stopping their drones and taking out extra American workers from Pakistan. This helped fix a very bad situation. When his term was almost over people thought he might join the Joint Chiefs committee and stay longer but that didn't happen. He retired in November 2013 after exactly 6 years on the job.
Raheel Sharif - The People's Favorite
Born June 16 in 1956 and still living, Raheel Sharif is someone Pakistani people really love. What he did against terrorism in the 2010s made the country way safer. Compared to 2006 terror attacks dropped by 80 percent while he was in charge. He basically saved Pakistan from its worst time and because of this he's one of the most respected army people ever.
It made sense he would join the military because his family had a strong army background already. His brother is one of the most decorated soldiers in Pakistan and even got the Nishan-e-Haider which is the biggest honor. Everything about his military service was outstanding and he became a very experienced soldier.
In November 2013 Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he wanted to make Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif the 9th Chief of Army Staff. As army boss he changed where the army focused its attention. Instead of worrying about India all the time he made them concentrate on the Taliban. He watched over how troops got trained and changed how the military worked.
But fighting terror wasn't all he did. Raheel Sharif helped make Karachi less violent. He worked on fixing problems with the Balochi people. He made the military stronger in national security and foreign policy matters. Even after retiring in 2016 he kept serving Pakistan and Muslims everywhere. In 2017 he became Commander in Chief of a group called the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition which has 41 countries in it.
Qamar Javed Bajwa - Six Full Years at the Top
Born November 11 in 1960 and alive today, Qamar Javed Bajwa is often just called Bajwa. He served as the 10th army chief for exactly 6 years ending on November 29 of 2022. His father was a soldier who died for his country so Bajwa grew up with only his mother and brothers and sisters. He decided to be a soldier like his dad and got trained in the US and Canada.
Like many army chiefs before him he studied at NDU and the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul. Just ten years into being a soldier Bajwa was already a one-star general and Chief of Staff of X Corps. He also led Pakistan Armed Forces in Africa during UN peacekeeping work in Congo. His most famous job was being field Commander of X Corps which is the biggest and strongest in Pakistan and watches the Kashmir Line of Control.
After Raheel Sharif said no to staying longer Bajwa got picked as the next army chief even though two other generals were ahead of him. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif liked that Bajwa believed in democracy and seemed relaxed about things. As army boss Bajwa kept fighting terrorism like Raheel had started. He promised to catch the people who attacked Chinese workers and suggested security changes for Islamabad to depend less on China.
His biggest drama was the 2018 elections when for the first time in many years neither PPP nor PMLN got the most votes. PTI won and Imran Khan became Prime Minister. All the other parties especially Nawaz Sharif said General Bajwa messed with the votes so PTI would win.
Even now Nawaz Sharif blames Bajwa for his party losing and tried to get the Supreme Court to look into the elections. A plan called the Bajwa Doctrine also got named after him which was about making Pakistan safer and working better with America's military. He retired on November 27 of 2022.
Asim Munir - The Current Army Chief
Born in 1968 and still serving, Asim Munir Ahmed Shah is a four-star general. Before becoming army chief he was quartermaster general at GHQ. From June 17 of 2019 until October 6 of 2021 he was in charge of XXX Corps in Gujranwala. Before that he was the 23rd Director-General of ISI until Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed replaced him on June 16 of 2019.
He has won the sword of honor award. On November 24 of 2022 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Asim Munir would be the 11th Chief of Army Staff. He went through the 17th course at Officers Training School in Mangla. The 23rd Battalion of Frontier Force Regiment is where he got commissioned. He's been in the military since 1986.
Before ISI he was Director General of Military Intelligence until September 2018. In March 2018 he received the Hilal-i-Imtiaz award. He also led troops in Pakistan's northern areas before that. On December 8 of 2022 at a ceremony in Aiwan-e-Sadr they gave him the Nishan-i-Imtiaz Military award. Diplomats and lawmakers and federal ministers all came to watch and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was there to see it happen.
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