Mawlana Hazar Imam’s father, Prince Aly Khan, as is well known was very much into driving fast cars. He would ask leaders to arrange racing safaris in which he would participate. In one of these races Prince Aly Khan drove a Chevy car supplied by Motor Mart, with Karmali Mohamed as a passenger. The car overturned and suffered extensive damage; both of them were luckily not hurt.
Can we find out the date, I think this was in Tanzania?
General Assembly Continues Middle East Debate
The General Assembly met today to continue the substantive debate of its Third Emergency Special Session.
Among the speakers at this morning's meeting was Prince Aly Khan, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, who is photographed here as he addressed the Assembly.
19 August 1958
United Nations, New York
Photo # 148135
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Pakistan's New Permanent Representative to UN Arrives at UN Headquarters
Ambassador Aly Khan, the new Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, is seen here (right) as he arrived at U.N. Headquarters today to present his credentials to U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld. Prince Aly Khan is accompanied by Agha Shahi, who has been Pakistan's Acting Permanent Representative.
04 March 1958
United Nations, New York
Photo # 148133
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Pakistan's New Permanent Representative to UN Presents Credentials
Ambassador Aly Khan, the new Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, is seen here (righe) as he presented his credentials today to U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold.
04 March 1958
United Nations, New York
Photo # 148134
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Pakistan's Permanent Representative to UN Interviewed for UN-TV
The Prince Aly Khan, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, is seen here (left) as he was interviewed for UN-TV by Mr. John MacVane, Radio and Television Commentator. The Prince is Chairman of Pakistan's delegation to the current (13th) session of the UN General Assembly.
06 November 1958
United Nations, New York
Photo # 148159
Celebrating Prince Aly Salomone Aga Khan’s on his 109th Birth Anniversary
BY ISMAILIMAIL POSTED ON JUNE 13, 2020
“Prince Aly Khan was phenomenally alive,” Begam Mata Salamat once remarked in talking to a reporter.
France Honours Mowlana Hazir Imam and Prince Amyn, and pays tribute to the Noorani Family
In this picture front row (left to right)
Princess Yasmin,
Mowlana Sultan Mohammed Shah – His Highness Aga Khan III – 48th Imam of the Ismaili Muslims
Back row and standing (left to right)
Mowlana Hazar Imam – His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV – 49th Imam of the Ismaili Muslims,
Prince Aly Salomone Khan,
Prince Sadruddin,
Begam Mata Salamat (wife of His Highness Aga Khan III)
Prince Amyn Mohammed
Born in Turin, Italy on Tuesday, June 13th, 1911 to Cleope Teresa Magliano and Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan III, Prince Aly Salomone Aga Khan, is the brother of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, and father of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, Prince Amyn and Princess Yasmin.
Prince Aly Khan as he was popularly to be called, showed exceptional horse riding skills as well as linguistic talent – he spoke perfect Oxford English, fluent French, as well as Arabic.
Prince Aly Khan traveled extensively with Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah to meet Ismailis in the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and East Africa and participated actively in the launch of many programs that targeted improving the quality of life of the Ismailis.
Sports & Racing
28th May 1952: Prince Aly Khan, son of His Highness the Aga Khan III, leads in his horse, Tulyar after it had won the Derby at Epsom. (Photo by Douglas MillerFox Photos/Getty Images)
28th May 1952: Prince Aly Khan, son of His Highness the Aga Khan III, leads in his horse, Tulyar after it had won the Derby at Epsom. (Photo by Douglas MillerFox Photos/Getty Images)
Prince Aly Khan’s adventurous spirit was reflected in his passion for racing horses, motor cars and planes, in addition to his interest in skiing and yachting.
As an amateur jockey he won several prestigious races at the Bar Steeplechase, Chantilly, French Amateur Derby, Le Trambley, Longchamp and Prix des Lions.
He drove and won in famous Grand Prix races in France, Italy and Monaco.
A man of exceptional stamina, in 1932 he flew from Bombay to Singapore via Karachi, Rangoon and Kuala Lumpur, flying over treacherous jungles in a single-engine plane with no radio. In describing the 10,000-mile round-trip flight – the longest civil flight ever out of India, he said:
“It was fabulous fun.
We flew from Bombay to Karachi to Delhi to Calcutta, then across the Bay of Bengal to Akyab and Rangoon, all across Malaya to Penang, Kuala Lumpur and finally to Singapore.
We then flew back again.
Naturally we didn’t have a radio; most planes didn’t in those days, you know, and we were all bundled up in heavy flying gear and wearing goggles. Major Vetch and I took turns at the controls, though at that time.
I didn’t have a flying license and didn’t get one until a couple of years later in Cairo.”
War & Peace
Prince Aly Khan in full regalia
During the second World War in pursuit of global peace and freedom, Prince Aly Khan served with the British, French and American forces in Europe and the Middle East.
A war hero and in recognition of his exceptional military services Prince Aly Khan was awarded two honors by the French Government – the Croix de Guerre (1939) and Legend of Honour (1950).
The United States Government awarded him the Bronze Star Medal for his bravery, heroic achievement and meritorious service in combat zones, especially with regards to the Allied landing in the south of France with the United States Seventh Army.
In addition, in a military ceremony in 1957, Prince Aly Khan was installed as the 1st Colonel of the Regiment of the 4 Cavalry Regiment of Pakistan’s Army.
August 19, 1958, New York. Prince Aly Khan, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, addressing the UN General Assembly. Image credit: Marvin Bolotsky, UN Photo Archive
Known for his cosmopolitan outlook and gift for international diplomacy, following the second world war, Prince Aly Khan served as Pakistan’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations (UN) and represented Pakistan at United Nations Political and Security Committee (1958).
He was also appointed as the Vice-President of the UN General Assembly (1958) and served as Chairman of the UN’s Peace Observation Committee.
In a unique address while honoring His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan and Prince Amyn Mohammed for their contribution to France, it is inspiring to note France’s Minister of Culture and Communication, M. Frédéric Mitterrand remarks about Prince Aly Khan when he said:
“… Prince Ali Khan, Pakistani Ambassador to the United Nations … beloved by all, whom fate did not permit to deploy his extraordinary culture and spirit of civilisation to their full extent.”
Prince Aly Khan passed away in a tragic car accident in Suresnes, near Paris, France on May 12th, 1960. He was initially buried on the grounds of Château de l’Horizon, his home in the south of France, and 12 years later in 1972, he was reinterred in Salamiyah, Syria – the place and people that he loved dearly.
May 12, 1960, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Aly Khan, dies in a Paris car accident – ending a promising diplomatic career. Who was Aly Khan and what distinguished him from other diplomats? Moreover, what relevance does he hold today?
A decorated war hero, champion equestrian, record-breaking aviator, Grand Prix driver, daredevil skier and darling of the glitterati; one could be forgiven for assuming James Bond to be the subject. Not so, for this is the story of Prince Ali Salman Aga Khan, popularly known as Aly Khan. Someone the New York Times described as a “…restless man of the world…”
Born in 1911, Aly Khan was the eldest child of Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, a founder of the All-India Muslim League and spiritual leader to millions of Nizari Ismaili Muslims around the globe. Aly would inherit his father’s passion for horses, achieving renown as the world’s foremost breeder and trader of thoroughbreds.
With the senior Aga Khan serving as a President of the League of Nations and younger brother, Prince Sadruddin, a former UN High Commissioner for Refugees (once tipped to be UN Secretary-General), diplomacy was in the blood. In 1958, Aly was appointed Pakistan’s envoy to the UN (on a salary of Rs.1 per annum). He would go on to be elected Vice-President of the UN General Assembly and serve as chairman of the UN’s Peace Observation Committee.
Ray Cave, former editorial director of Time magazine, characterized Aly Khan as “A Man of Quality”. But which quality of an ideal diplomat did Aly possess? Despite legal training at Lincoln’s Inn, his understanding of international law could not match that of Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Pakistan’s first Foreign Minister and later President of the International Court of Justice. Nor did his interactions with world leaders as a representative of the Ismaili community elevate his grasp of multilateralism or bilateralism to those of ace Pakistani diplomats like Agha Shahi (who incidentally served under Aly at the UN), Jamsheed Marker or Abdul Sattar.
Yet, as if the embodiment of Dale Carnegie’s lessons on “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, there was one quality of Aly Khan, the versatile polyglot, that few diplomats in history have ever acquired; the ability to walk into any room in any country and not only be instantly recognized, but become the adored centre of everyone’s attention. Aly would admit to a journalist inquiring into the interest he regularly received on the streets of New York, “Maybe I shouldn’t mention it, but it doesn’t happen only in New York, you know. It’s the same wherever I go-Turin, Paris, Karachi, even in South America. Most people seem to know me. If they don’t recognize me, they always look twice, and you can tell they are thinking, ‘I’ve seen that fellow somewhere before.’ ”
A friend of Aly Khan once remarked, “When you see Aly in Karachi in Ismaili dress, he looks like a Pakistani. In Paris, he looks like a Frenchman. In Rome, he could pass for any upper-class Italian. Even here in America, Aly doesn’t look foreign.” This adaptability only added to the immense personal charm which had put Aly on a first-name basis with the powerful and influential. He was as likely to have gone on an outing with the Shah of Iran as he was to have had tea with Princess Grace of Monaco. During his tenure at the UN, guest-lists of his self-financed diplomatic receptions would include the most prominent names in politics, industry, media and Hollywood. In fact, so glamorous were these events (featured in LIFE magazine), a black market arose for invitations by the Pakistan House in New York.
Aly Khan’s globetrotting was, in part, necessitated by the need to manage philanthropic ventures. The Aga Khans have long aided global efforts to eliminate poverty, achieving considerable success by facilitating institutional changes in the developing world. Their work has spanned the areas of health, education, culture, economic development and the environment. It includes a network of hospitals and universities operating across Africa and Asia (including Pakistan). Diplomats are expected to enhance their comprehension of foreign establishments. In many cases, Aly and his family helped build them.
While a broad understanding of intellectual disciplines is important, a broad view of life is essential
Foreign policy challenges faced by Pakistan today are even graver than those in 1960. What difference could Aly Khan have made as one of our diplomats today? A major test has been the brutal crackdown in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK). While there is always room for improvement, the efforts of our Foreign Office deserve credit; the UN Security Council discussed Kashmir for the first time in five decades while Imran Khan’s address to the UN General Assembly was gripping.
But if history is a guide, it doesn’t take too long for meeting minutes to start gathering dust on bureaucratic shelves or for stirred emotions to fade. Often the status-quo evolves into the norm and the world’s attention moves on. A sustained campaign is required to continue the galvanization of international public opinion against India’s atrocities and towards finding a resolution to the dispute. Something Aly Khan could have excelled at.
Lobbying decision makers in important capitals can often be a long drawn-out process. For Aly Khan, it would have simply meant a conversation with friends over dinner. Given the public’s fascination with him, Aly was under constant media scrutiny often gracing magazine covers like those of Sports Illustrated (US), Der Spiegel (Germany), Noir et Blanc (France), Tempo (Italy) and De Post (Belgium), just to name a few. A status he could have exploited in the present day to highlight the Kashmir issue.
As senior leader of a wide-spread Islamic sect and given his philanthropic credentials, Aly Khan’s concerns regarding the plight of fellow Muslims in IHK (and by extension Muslims in India proper) would have carried weight. In today’s social media-driven world, just a few posts from influencers can reach hundreds of millions. With Aly’s extensive connections, Pakistan might have been in a unique position to influence the influencers.
Aly Khan is no longer with us, but his legacy remains. What inspiration can the world’s diplomats take from him today? The collective qualifications and backgrounds of diplomats cover the areas of history, politics, economics and law, among others. While a broad understanding of intellectual disciplines is important, a broad view of life is essential. It is what protects against entrapment within dogmatic silos, fuels a flair for conversation and makes one dream of things that never were. How did Aly accomplish this?
The root of Aly Khan’s popularity was his remarkable personality; remarkable, because he pursued diverse roles with distinction. His thorough knowledge of the languages, cultures, traditions, arts, music and cuisines of many countries permitted him unmatched insights into different societies. It is worth mentioning here that Aly, in conjunction with his several aforementioned stations, was an astute collector of art preserving countless pieces from across the globe. These included ceramic plates sculpted by his friend, the artist Pablo Picasso, for Aly as a wedding gift. It is precisely these attributes that made Aly an effective philanthropist; the ability to traverse a wide spectrum of peoples with ease and fully visualize the context of their predicaments.
Rudyard Kipling wrote, “…there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed nor Birth…” Perhaps he had someone like Aly Khan in mind. For at the core of what might have made Aly an indispensable asset for Pakistan now, was substance wrapped in a thick cloak of style; an innate desire to fuse the oriental & occidental, bridge the religious & secular and experience the wonders of the earth in all their glory.
Aly was a highborn, endowed with privileges not afforded to the general populace. Nonetheless, replicating the breadth of his vision asks only for an open mind. All of us, for the sake of this planet, should expand our horizons and aspire to become citizens of the world. Let us endeavour to be, a little bit, like Aly Khan.
A Finland-based engineer and hobby writer with an interest in history, philosophy and current affairs
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