British Indian Passport of M. A. Jinnah

Sub title : With French Transit Visa and Governor General's Request

Subject: History | Travel Documents | British India | Pakistan Movement | Jinnah, Muhammad Ali

Date of publication: 1946

Language: English

Page: 35 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 28130

Keyword: Passport -- British India -- Visa -- French Consulate -- London -- Karachi -- Travel -- Governor General of India | Passport Officer -- Sind -- Transit -- M. A. Jinnah -- Emibai Jinnah (spouse) -- 1946 -- Artifact -- Identity Document

Abstract: This collection features scanned pages from the official British Indian Passport (No. 27327) of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, issued in Karachi on 28 November 1946. The documents include the passport's cover, the inner title page bearing Jinnah's name and the notation that he is accompanied by his wife, the formal request "in the Name of the Governor General of India" for safe passage and assistance, and a page containing a French transit visa issued in London in December 1946. Issued just one year before the independence and partition of India, this passport represents Jinnah's official status as a subject of the British Empire during a period of intense political negotiation. The French visa indicates his international travel and diplomatic engagements on the eve of Pakistan's creation. This artifact provides a tangible link to his personal mobility and the transitional nature of his identity from a leader within British India to the founding father of a new nation.

Description: This set consists of four high-resolution scans from the original passport of Quaid-e-Azam M. A. Jinnah. The passport is a standard British Indian Empire passport, bearing the passport number M.27327. The pages shown include the bold front cover, the personal particulars page (noting Jinnah was accompanied by his wife), the eloquent diplomatic text requesting all authorities to afford the bearer assistance and protection, and a page with a French transit visa stamped by the Consulate General in London for travel through France in February 1947. The passport was issued from Karachi in late 1946, a critical moment when Jinnah was leading the final negotiations for Pakistan. As a primary source, this passport is a significant biographical and historical artifact. It serves as a physical record of his official identity at the twilight of the British Raj, evidence of his planned international travel during a pivotal time, and a symbol of the global recognition he commanded. For researchers, it complements the political record by offering a concrete, personal document from the leader's life. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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