Akbar Khan is a recipient of India's National Award for The Welfare of Persons with Disability in 1989[1][2][3] and the Limca Book of Records People of the Year 2016.

[4][5] Akbar Khan was born on 16 August 1962[6] in a Muslim family to Kistoor Khan, a farmer and Rahmat Begum, a housewife, at Bangasar, located in the Indian state of Rajasthan with Leber's congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited eye disease that appears at birth or in the first few months of life, and occurs in 2 to 3 per 100,000 newborns of the population.

[3] In 1978, at the age of 16, Khan was selected by Government of India under the National Scholarship Scheme for securing high position in the list of meritorious candidates qualifying for award in Rajasthan state.

[10][12] Khan was the first visually impaired candidate in India to qualify in the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) of India[4][13] and the first blind person to join Punjab National Bank as steno-typist in Punjab region.

[17][18] Khan served as the chair of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), Bikaner division from 1993 to 1998,[19][failed verification] working as an activist for the welfare of visually challenged people.