Benazir Bhutto

Early Life

Benazir Bhutto was born on 21 June 1953 in Karachi, Pakistan, the eldest child of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, later president and prime minister of Pakistan, and Nusrat Bhutto. She was educated at convent schools in Pakistan, then at Radcliffe College, Harvard University, from 1969 to 1973, where she studied comparative government and graduated with a bachelor's degree. In the autumn of 1973 she moved to Britain to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, taking a second bachelor's degree and further courses in international law and diplomacy at St Catherine's College. In 1977 she became the first Asian woman to be elected president of the Oxford Union debating society.

Education

Bhutto studied comparative government at Radcliffe College, Harvard University, from 1969 to 1973, graduating with a bachelor's degree. She then studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, from 1973 to 1977, and took further courses in international law and diplomacy at St Catherine's College, Oxford.

Career

Bhutto returned to Pakistan in June 1977, weeks before her father, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was overthrown in a military coup led by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. After her father's execution in 1979, she and her mother Nusrat Bhutto took charge of the Pakistan People's Party — Benazir became its chairperson in November 1982 — and she spent nearly six years in prison or under house arrest. She lived in exile in London from 1984 and returned to a mass welcome in 1986. After Zia's death in a plane crash in August 1988, she led the PPP to victory in the November elections and was sworn in as prime minister on 2 December 1988, heading a coalition government. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed her government in August 1990. She returned as prime minister after the October 1993 elections and served until President Farooq Leghari dismissed her government in November 1996. She left Pakistan in 1999 and lived in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London. In May 2006 she and her old rival Nawaz Sharif signed the Charter of Democracy in London. Under an amnesty from President Pervez Musharraf she returned to Karachi on 18 October 2007; a bombing of her convoy that day killed some 139 people, though she survived. On 27 December 2007, after addressing a rally at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi, she was assassinated by a gunman and a suicide bomber.

Achievements

Bhutto's central achievement was to become the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority country, serving as prime minister of Pakistan in 1988-1990 and again in 1993-1996. She took office at 35, leading the Pakistan People's Party to victory in the 1988 elections after eleven years of military rule under General Zia-ul-Haq, and headed Pakistan's first civilian government since her father's government was overthrown in 1977. She was the first Asian woman elected president of the Oxford Union, in 1977, and she chaired the PPP from the early 1980s until her death. After eight years in self-imposed exile she returned to Pakistan in October 2007 to contest the 2008 elections, and in 2008 she was posthumously awarded the United Nations Human Rights Prize.

Legacy

Bhutto remains a defining figure in Pakistan's democratic history and a symbol for women in politics across the Muslim world. Her supporters credit her with restoring civilian rule, reopening political space after military government, and giving Pakistan its first elected woman head of government; her critics point to the corruption allegations that ended both her governments and to the failure of her administrations to deliver on their promises. She is buried in the family mausoleum at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Sindh, beside her father, and the PPP she led went on to win the February 2008 elections in the aftermath of her assassination, with her husband Asif Ali Zardari later becoming president and her son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari later becoming foreign minister.

Major Achievements

• Became the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority country, serving as prime minister of Pakistan in 1988-1990 and 1993-1996
• Led the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) from the early 1980s until her assassination in 2007
• Became the first Asian woman elected president of the Oxford Union, in 1977
• Chaired the PPP's return to power in the 1988 elections after eleven years of military rule
• Signed the Charter of Democracy with Nawaz Sharif in London in May 2006
• Received the United Nations Human Rights Prize posthumously in 2008

Contributions

Bhutto's contribution was to carry a democratic party through dictatorship and back into government. As head of the PPP after her father's execution, she kept the party alive through imprisonment, house arrest and exile, and in 1988 she turned it into the vehicle of Pakistan's return to civilian rule. In office she reopened political freedoms, restored trade unions and student organisations banned under military rule, and promoted women's welfare measures. Her career also showed the limits of that restoration: both her governments were cut short by presidential dismissal, and the corruption cases brought against her and her husband dominated her later years, shaping the debate about accountability and political victimisation in Pakistan that continues today.

Notable Works

• Daughter of the East (autobiography, 1988; also published as Daughter of Destiny, 1989)
• Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West (published posthumously, 2008)
• Pakistan People's Party (chair, 1980s-2007)

Milestones

• 1953 — Born on 21 June in Karachi, Pakistan Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1977 — Became the first Asian woman elected president of the Oxford Union Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1979 — Her father was overthrown in a military coup and later executed; she and her mother Nusrat Bhutto took charge of the Pakistan People's Party (Benazir became its chairperson in November 1982) Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1986 — Returned to Pakistan from exile Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1988 — Sworn in as prime minister, the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority country Source: EBSCO Research Starters; Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1990 — Dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1993 — Returned as prime minister after the October elections Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1996 — Dismissed by President Farooq Leghari Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 2006 — Signed the Charter of Democracy with Nawaz Sharif Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 2007 — Returned to Pakistan after eight years in exile; survived a bombing of her convoy in Karachi Source: EBSCO Research Starters
• 2007 — Assassinated in Rawalpindi while campaigning for the 2008 elections Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica; EBSCO Research Starters

Timeline

1. 21 June 1953

   Born in Karachi, Pakistan, eldest child of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nusrat Bhutto

   Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
2. 1969

   Began studying comparative government at Radcliffe College, Harvard University

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica; EBSCO Research Starters
3. 1973

   Graduated from Harvard; moved to Britain to study at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
4. 1977

   Became the first Asian woman elected president of the Oxford Union; returned to Pakistan in June

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica; EBSCO Research Starters
5. 5 July 1977

   Her father was overthrown in a military coup led by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

   Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
6. 1979

   Her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed; she and her mother Nusrat Bhutto took charge of the Pakistan People's Party (Benazir became its chairperson in November 1982)

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
7. 1986

   Returned to Pakistan from exile in London to a mass welcome

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
8. 2 December 1988

   Sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan, the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority country

   Source: EBSCO Research Starters; Encyclopaedia Britannica
9. 1990-08

   Dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan

   Approximate date Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
10. 1993-10

    Returned as prime minister after the PPP won the October elections

    Approximate date Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
11. 1996-11

    Dismissed by President Farooq Leghari

    Approximate date Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
12. 1999

    Left Pakistan for self-imposed exile

    Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
13. 2006-05

    Signed the Charter of Democracy with Nawaz Sharif in London

    Approximate date Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
14. 18 October 2007

    Returned to Karachi; a bombing of her convoy killed some 139 people, though she survived

    Source: EBSCO Research Starters
15. 27 December 2007

    Assassinated in Rawalpindi after addressing a rally at Liaquat Bagh while campaigning for the 2008 elections

    Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica; EBSCO Research Starters

Related Personalities

• Muhammad Ali Jinnah Barrister and statesman · 1876–1948
• Imran Khan Cricketer and politician · b. 1952
• Muhammad Iqbal Poet and philosopher · 1877–1938

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources & References

1. Benazir Bhutto — Encyclopaedia Britannica — Encyclopaedia Britannica (accessed 12 November 2026)
2. Benazir Bhutto — EBSCO Research Starters biography — EBSCO (accessed 12 November 2026)
3. Benazir Bhutto's mixed legacy — OUPblog — Oxford University Press (accessed 12 November 2026)
4. File:Benazir bhutto 1989.jpg — Wikimedia Commons (portrait file page) — Wikimedia Commons (accessed 12 November 2026)

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