Book Details

About the Author

Agha Ibrahim Akram was born in Ludhiana (present day India) in 1923. His father was a senior Indian Police Officer. He graduated from Government College Lahore in 1942 and joined the British Indian Army. His military career spanned thirty six years of war and peace, including Burma in World War II, Kashmir in 1948 and other Indo-Pak wars. He retired from the Pakistan Army as a Lieutenant-General in 1978. This was followed by two and a half years as Pakistan's Ambassador to Spain. In 1982 he founded the Institute of Regional Studies at Islamabad and remained its Founder-President till his death in 1989. He left behind three children: daughter Yasmin and sons Hassan and Masood. While teaching military history at Staff College Quetta in 1964, he acutely felt the lack of detailed, clear and objective literature on Muslim military history, replete as it is with great military achievements and glorious feats of arms. He took up the challenge of filling this void and collected an impressive library of historical works in Arabic, while teaching himself the language. His first book, The Sword of Alllah, on the life and campaigns of Khalid bin Al Waleed, was published in 1970 after a five year effort including visits to battle-fields in The Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Kuw,iit. and Saudi Arabia. It has two English editions, and has been translated into Urdu, Arabic and Bahasa.