Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Date of Birth	:	Dec 25, 1876
Date of Death	:	Sep 11, 1948
Place of Birth	:	Karachi

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was an Indian Muslim politician and statesman who led the All India Muslim League and founded Pakistan, serving as its first Governor-General. He is commonly known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-i-Qaum ("Father of the Nation"); his birth and death anniversaries are national holidays in Pakistan. Jinnah was born as Mahomedali Jinnahbhai in Wazir Mansion, Karachi. The earliest records of his school register suggest he was born on October 20, 1875, but Sarojini Naidu, the author of Jinnah's first biography gives the date December 25, 1876. Jinnah was the eldest of five children born to Jinnahbhai Poonja (1857 - 1901), a prosperous Gujarati merchant from Kathiawar, Gujarat. His family belonged to the Ismaili Khoja branch of Shi'a Islam. Jinnah had a turbulent time at several different schools, but finally found stability at the Christian Missionary Society High School in Karachi.

In 1893, he went to London to work for Graham's Shipping and Trading Company. He had been married to a 16-year old, distant relative named Emibai, but she died shortly after he moved to London. His mother died around this time as well. In 1894, Jinnah quit his job to study law at Lincoln'While celebrated as a great leader in Pakistan, Jinnah remains a controversial figure, provoking intense criticism for his role in the partition of India. Jinnah's life came under considerable pressure when his father's business was ruined. Settling in Mumbai (then Bombay), he became a successful lawyer - gaining particular fame for his skilled handling of the "Caucus Case". Jinnah built a house in Malabar Hill, later known as Jinnah House. He was not an observing Muslim, taking pork and alcohol, dressed throughout his life in European-style clothes, and spoke in English more than his mother tongue, Gujarati. His reputation as a skilled lawyer prompted Indian leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak to hire him as defence attorney for his sedition trial in 1905. Jinnah ably argued that it was not sedition for an Indian to demand freedom and self-government in his own country, but Tilak received a rigorous term of imprisonment. Through the 1940s, Jinnah suffered from tuberculosis - only his sister and a few others close to Jinnah were aware of his condition. In 1948, Jinnah's health began to falter, hindered further by the heavy workload that had fallen upon him following Pakistan's creation. Attempting to recuperate, he spent many months at his official retreat in Ziarat, but died on September 11, 1948 from a combination of tuberculosis and lung cancer. His funeral was followed by the construction of a massive mausoleum - Mazar-e-Quaid - in Karachi to honour him; official and military ceremonies are hosted there on special occasions.