Lieutenant Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmood was a brave Pakistani officer who went missing in December 1971 during the war between Pakistan and India in Bangladesh. He was originally commanding the 22nd Baloch Regiment but relinquished command due to a disagreement with his GOC. He was then assigned to command the 32nd Baloch Regiment. While leading the 32nd Baloch Regiment at night, his group ran into an Indian ambush. Lieutenant Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmood was martyred with many bullets in his chest, while the 32nd Baloch Regiment fled the battlefield, abandoning his body. The Indian forces buried him but his body was never recovered by Pakistan. He is remembered as a heroic officer by both Pakistani and Indian accounts of

1. Lieutenant Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmood remains a brave but forgotten warrior
of 1971.
Major Agha H Amin (Retired)

2. My personal association with him goes back to 1969 while my fathers personal
association with him goes back to 1949 when he was my fathers class fellow at
the Gordon College Rawalpindi in 1949-51.
I met him for the first time when he was brigade major of 1 AK Brigade at
Muzaffarabad in 1969 while my father was commanding a field engineer
company at Chehla Bandi in Neelum Valley.In the same year my father was
posted as GSO 2 Operations , 16 Division Quetta.Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmud
joined us in Quetta in late 1970 as CO 22 Baloch.In March 1971 16 Division
moved to East Pakistan in a record time of six days.The GSO 1 Colonel Ghulam
Dastagir was wisely left behind by the thoughtful GOC Nazar Hussain Shah
since he was a Bengali.Both my father and Colonel Sultan moved to East
Pakistan.In September 1971 my father was promoted to command 6Engineer
Battalion which was moved back to West Pakistan in October 1971 to lay the
famous triple layer minefield of Shakargarh Bulge.
Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmud went missing in December 1971 and it was only
later that we learnt that he had been killed in action.

3. His son Imran was my class fellow and good friend at Muzaffarabad, Quetta
and later Pindi where his family settled after the war.Our association with the
family was deep and continuous from 1969 till to date and my father made it a
point that we visited them twice or thrice a week all the time that we were in
Pindi and later in Islamabad.The gap that was left with his absence was dark
and sad.It is difficult to describe the depression that dominates the family of a
man who was killed in action and whose body was never found.
Originally commanding 22 Baloch , Lieuternant Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmood
Shaheed , relinquished command over a matter of professional disagreement
with his GOC Major General Qazi who being ultra ambitious wanted to launch
22 Baluch into an absolutely suicidal attack in East Pakistan.This fact was
confirmed by Colonel Kardar a respected member of this group sometimes back
on face book in another thread.
He was then re-assigned to command 32 Baloch .
Colonel Sahib landed with another very pushing commander Brigadier
Tajammul Hussain Malik who was very harsh with him in a conversation as
reported by Siddiq Salik in his book .
Following this unfair exchange of words he ran into an Indian ambush while
leading 32 Baloch in a pitch dark night.Lieuternant Colonel Raja Sultan

4. Mahmood Shaheed embraced martyrdom with many bullets in his chest while
32 Baluch fled the battle field abandoning their brave commanding officers
body which was never recovered. Interestingly the Indians buried him but
Pakistani state made no effort to locate or bring back his body .My father
reminiscenced that many proposals were made to bring back the dead bodies of
those killed in action in East Pakistan but those in the highest positions showed
no interest.
Lieuternant Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmood Shaheeds gallantry was
acknowledged by the opposing Indian commanders and also acknowledged in
Indian newspapers.
He is survived by two sons and a daughter.His younger son Brigadier Nauman
Mahmood ably commanded a brigade in FATA in action and is now Chief
Instructor at the Command and staff College Quetta.He rose to the tank of
Major general and commanded 7 Division.
Interestingly those officers who survived this action wrote their own citations
and some got gallantry awards like SJ etc.
Noman joined 22 Baloch his fathers real battalion and not 32 Baloch.

5. His younger brother Brigadier Raja Aftab rose to brigadier rank and is an
outstanding gentleman.We served together in Okara in 1994 in the 14 Division
and discussed the above mentioned details countless times.
I met Brigadier Nauman Mahmood in December 2011 while he was serving in
staff college and he most kindly shared some photographs to help me with my
historical research.
May Allah bless the brave soul of Lieuternant Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmood
Shaheed
Major Agha.H.Amin (Retired) ,Armoured Corps
Tribute To Lt Col Raja Sultan Mahmood
BY INDIAN PRESS ON HIS HEROIC
MARTYRDOM
“THE HINDU”

6. DURING THE BANGLADESH LIBERATION WAR, (1971) ONE
INTREPID PAKISTANI OFFICER LEADING A BAYONET CHARGE INTO
THE GUTS OF 2/5 GR (FF), WAS SLASHED WITH “KUKRI” BY AN
EQUALLY BRAVE OFFICER CAPT JATANDAR NATH SOOD. THE
PAKISTANI OFFICER’S BODY AND IDENTITY WAS COMPLETELY
SMEARED WITH BLOOD AND HE WAS MISTAKEN FOR BRIG
TAJJMAL HUSSAIN MALIK, COMD OF 205 PAKISTAN INFANTRY
BRIGADE. IT WAS AT HIS FUNERAL THAT THE DOCUMENTS FOUND
WITH HIM AS WELL AS HIS BLOOD SOAKED EPAULETTES
CORRECTLY IDENTIFIED HIM AS PA-4863 LT COL RAJA SULTAM
MAHMOOD, CO OF BALOCH REGT. AS HIS BODY WAS LOWERED
INTO THE GRAVE, ONE GORKHA JCO THREW IN SULTAN’S BADGES
OF RANK, LOOKED UP TOWARDS THE HEAVEN AND MUTTERED,
“LET HIM ALSO KNOW THIS SULTAN BAHADUR WAS A
LIEUTENANT COLONEL. RAJA SULTAN MAHMOOD IS CALLED BY
ALL FRIENDS AND FOES AS
“SULTAN OF LIEUTENANT COLONELS”
IN THIS ACTION THE CO DIED A HEROIC DEATH IN A HAND TO
HAND FIGHT WITH THE ENEMY. 60 ORS WERE ALSO LOST IN THIS
ACTION. HIS VALOUR WAS ALSO RECOGNIZED BY THE INDIANS.
“THE STATES MAN”

7. OLD DAYS HAND TO HAND FIGHT’S MEMORIES COME TO MIND
ONCE CO OF ONE OF THE BALOCH REGTS OF PAKISTAN ARMY HAD
A HAND TO HAND FIGHT WITH AN INDIAN CAPT. LT COL GOT
MARTYRDOM AT THE SPOT WHERE AS THE INDIAN CAPT DIED IN
THE HOSPITAL, WHO COULD NOT BEAR THE WOUNDS SLASHED BY
THE COL. THE COL WAS EQUIPPED WITH A PISTOL AND THE
INDIAN CAPT WITH A STEN. A JCO SAID.
“HE WAS SULTAN OF KINGS AND KING OF SULTANS”