Liaquat Ali Khan was born on 1st October 1896 in Karnal (Punjab) India. He graduated in 1918 from the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College (later Aligarh Muslim University), Aligarh, and married his cousin, Jehangira Begum, in 1918.[5] After the death of his father, Khan went to England and was awarded a Master's degree from Oxford University's Exeter College in 1921. While a student at Oxford, he was elected Honorary Treasurer of the Indian Majlis.

Thereafter he joined the Inner Temple, one of the Inns of Court in London. He was called to the Bar in 1922.

On his return from Britain in 1923, Khan entered politics. In his early life, Liaquat believed in Indian nationalism. His views gradually changed. The Congress leaders asked him to join their party, but he refused and joined the Muslim League in 1923. Under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Muslim League held its annual session in May 1924 in Lahore. The aim of this session was to revive the League. Khan was among those who attended this conference.

When Muhammad Ali Jinnah returned to India, he started to reorganise the Muslim League. In 1936, the annual session of the League met in Bombay. In the open session on 12 April 1936, Jinnah moved a resolution proposing Khan as the Honorary General Secretary. The resolution was unanimously adopted and he held the office till the establishment of Pakistan in 1947. In 1940, Khan was made the deputy leader of the Muslim League Parliamentary party.

After independence, Khan was appointed the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. Pakistan faced a number of difficulties in its early days. He also took steps towards the formulation of the constitution. He presented The Objectives Resolution, a prelude to future constitutions, in the Legislative Assembly. The house passed it on 12 March 1949.

On 16 October 1951, Liaquat Ali Khan was shot twice in the chest during a public meeting of the Muslim City League at Company Bagh (Company Gardens), Rawalpindi.