1947

Dominion of Pakistan

Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan take Pakistan’s first national offices

Pakistan's celebrated independence date and the date its first officeholders actually swore in are not the same day.

The 14th and the 15th

Pakistan celebrates Independence Day on 14 August 1947, the date of the Karachi transfer-of-power ceremony. The Indian Independence Act took legal effect on the 15th, and Pakistan's National Assembly records the oaths on that date.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was sworn in at Karachi as the first governor-general of Pakistan. Mian Sir Abdur Rashid, the senior Muslim judge who became Pakistan's first chief justice, administered the oath.

Liaquat Ali Khan was sworn in the same day as the first prime minister, with the other members of the first cabinet.

Two offices, not one

Governor-general and prime minister were distinct posts. Jinnah represented the monarch, George VI, as head of state of the new Dominion; Liaquat headed the cabinet, which Jinnah had appointed.

Jinnah also remained president of the Constituent Assembly — simultaneously head of state and head of the body charged with writing the constitution.

He took an oath of allegiance to George VI while becoming governor-general of the Dominion he had campaigned to create.

A day fixed by statute

The appointments fell on the date the Indian Independence Act had set for the creation of the independent Dominions of Pakistan and India.

Pakistan ended its first legal day with its first governor-general, prime minister and federal cabinet formally in office at Karachi.

Jinnah served as governor-general until his death on 11 September 1948; Liaquat Ali Khan remained prime minister until his assassination on 16 October 1951.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 8 sources not yet audited Date corrected

How this was checked

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Date corrected. The research places this at 1947-08-15.

What the sources leave uncertain

Pakistan celebrates Independence Day on 14 August, the date of the Karachi transfer-of-power ceremony. The Indian Independence Act took legal effect on 15 August, and Pakistan’s National Assembly records Jinnah’s oath and Liaquat Ali Khan’s term as beginning on 15 August.