Muhammad Hayat Khan

Nawab Muhammad Hayat Khan CSI (1833–1901) was an Indian Muslim who served the Government of British India and rose to considerable distinction.

Muhammad Hayat Khan was born a son of Sardar Karam Khan, a Khattar chieftain, in the village of Wah, Punjab during the Sikh Empire

At the end of the First Anglo-Sikh War, his father Karam Khan, cultivated a favourable relationship with officers of the East India Company, appointed to administer the Punjab under Sir Henry Lawrence. In June-July 1848, he accompanied John Nicholson to the Margalla pass in a mission to capture a strategic tower near Taxila following an uprising of Sikh soldiers. During the course of the fight, he gained recognition for daringly rescuing Nicholson when he became trapped in a hazardous situation. Thereafter, Nicholson and Karam Khan became close friends.

In late 1848, Karam Khan was killed whilst asleep, by his half-brother Fatteh Khan. His wife and children fled their ancestral village and sought refuge in the nearby Hazara region where they met James Abbott, the then Deputy Commissioner of Hazara. Abbott in turn sent them to Nicholson, whon affected the restitution of the family to their estate and secured the education of Karam Khan's orphaned children.

After attaining some basic education, especially a fluency in the Persian language, young Muhammad Hayat was appointed by Nicholson as his personal native orderly officer and Persian interpreter, since he felt a responsibility towards the son of his late friend. Thereafter, Muhammad Hyat served as a close companion and aide to Nicholson throughout his campaigns and expeditions in Punjab and the 'Punjab Frontier' (areas that would later become part of the North West Frontier Province) and until his death in Delhi, during the Indian War of Independence (or Indian Mutiny) in September 1857.

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