{{Distinguish|Malik Sher Bahadur}} {{Short description|Pakistani general (1922–1983)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Lieutenant General | honorific_suffix = SPk MC | name = Bahadur Sher | native_name = {{nq|بہادر شیر}} | image = | caption = | office = Corps Commander Lahore | term_start = March 1971 | term_end = 10 January 1972 | predecessor = Tikka Khan | office1 = 7th Inspector General<br>Frontier Corps | term_start1 = 1964 | term_end1 = 1966 | birth_name = Bahadur Sher Khan | birth_date = 20 February 1922 | birth_place = Mardan, North-West Frontier Province | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1983|10|31|1922|2|20}} | death_place = Pakistan | education = Lawrence College, Ghora Gali<br>Indian Military Academy<br>Staff College, Camberley<br>Imperial Defence College | branch = {{army|British Raj}} {{small|(1941-1947)}}<br>{{army|PAK}} {{small|(1947-1972)}} | service_years = 1941–1972 | rank = Lieutenant General | unit = 13th Frontier Force Rifles | commands = IV Corps<br>Frontier Corps | battles = {{Tree list}} *World War II **Italian campaign **Moro River campaign **Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 *Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 {{Tree list/end}} }}

'''Bahadur Sher Khan'''{{efn|Urdu: {{nq|بہادر شیر خان}}}} (20 February 1922 – 31 October 1983) nicknamed '''"One Spud Two Gravy"'''{{efn|According to the Alumni magazine of Lawrence College, Ghora Gali: "Being a Pathan for whom Palau, Chicken Tikka, Lamb roasts and Naan ‘Kawab’ were the order of the day, his nickname came from his distaste of Ghora Gali food. He would take one look at the ‘jhits’ which passed for meat and say, "I'll have one spud and two spoons of gravy."<ref name="f102"/>}} was a Pakistani retired lieutenant general. He commanded the IV Corps during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971.

==Early life== Bahadur Sher Khan was born on 20 February 1922 in Mardan into a Pashtun family belonging to the Yusufzai tribe.<ref name="f102">{{cite news|author=Major General Syed Ali Hamid|title=One Spud Two Gravy|website=The Friday Times|date=3 July 2020|url=https://thefridaytimes.com/03-Jul-2020/one-spud-two-gravy|access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref> His father, Subedar Major Khanezaman Khan, served in the British Indian Army during World War I.<ref name="f102"/>

Sher received his education at Lawrence College, Ghora Gali. He joined the British Indian Army during World War II, receiving an emergency commission in December 1941 after graduating from the Indian Military Academy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285003/page/n1065/mode/2up?q=%22Bahadur+Sher%22|title=Indian Army List For July|year=1942|page=1066}}</ref> He also graduated from Staff College, Camberley.<ref name="f102"/>

==Personal life== Sher's elder half-brother, Brigadier (approved Major General) Mohammad Sher Khan, was among the early Indians commissioned from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.<ref name="f102"/>

==Military career== ===British Indian Army=== Sher began his career with the 6th Royal Battalion, Scinde and the 13th Frontier Force Rifles, a unit of the British Indian Army. During the Italian Campaign of World War II, he participated in operations with the 8th Indian Division. As a company commander, he led an assault across the Moro River in December 1943, earning the Military Cross for his role.<ref name="f102"/><ref name="k134">{{cite web | title=Lieutenant General Bahadur Sher MC | website=Lawrence College Ghora Gali | url=https://lawrencecollege.edu.pk/lieutenant-general-bahadur-sher-mc/ | access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="w348">{{cite web|author=M Saeed Khalid|title=The testimony of a general|website=The News International|date=21 June 2016 |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/129439-The-testimony-of-a-general|access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref>

===Pakistan Army=== Following the partition of India in 1947, Sher continued his service in the Pakistan Army. He commanded the 7th Frontier Force Regiment (originally known as 55th Coke's Rifles) in the early 1950s and later held positions including brigade commander, commandant of the Infantry School, and inspector general of the Frontier Corps.<ref name="f102"/>

He held various roles in the Pakistan Army, including command of a brigade, the Infantry School in Quetta, and the Frontier Corps in Peshawar. After the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, he commanded an infantry division. He later attended the Imperial Defence College in the United Kingdom before assuming his final appointment as a lieutenant general.<ref name="f102"/>

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Sher commanded the IV Corps at Lahore, where his forces captured the Hussainiwala, including Qaisar-e-Hind Fort.

On 10 January 1972, President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto retired two more Pakistani generals in his purge of the army. These were Lieutenant Generals Irshad Ahmed Khan and Bahadur Sher Khan. This brought the list to 30 total number of army and navy officers retired since 20 December 1971.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Asian_Recorder/xYGUGhfd6NIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Irshad%20Ahmed%22|title=More Generals Retired|publisher=Asian Recorder|volume=18|page=10628|year=1972}}</ref>

==Later life== Bahadur Sher later became an investor and had shares in the Khyber Tobacco Company.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arac.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Dividend-2014.pdf#page=8|title=Khyber Tobacco Company Limited|year=2014|page=8}}</ref>

==Death== Bahadur Sher died in 1983.<ref name="f102"/>

==Awards and decorations== 80px Military Cross, 1944<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36497/page/2044/data.pdf|title=Supplement|newspaper=The London Gazette|date=4 May 1944}}</ref>

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Bahadur Sher}} Category:1922 births Category:1983 deaths Category:People from Mardan District Category:Lawrence College Ghora Gali alumni Category:Indian Military Academy alumni Category:Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Category:Frontier Force Regiment officers Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Category:Pakistan Army lieutenant generals Category:Military personnel of the India–Pakistan war of 1965 Category:Pakistani military personnel of the India–Pakistan war of 1971 Category:Recipients of the Sitara-e-Pakistan Category:Indian recipients of the Military Cross