In an international chess career of less than five years (1929–33), he won the British Championship three times in four attempts (1929, 1932, 1933), and had tournament and match results that placed him among the top ten players in the world.

Sir Umar then brought him back to his homeland, where he gave up chess and returned to cultivate his ancestral farmlands in the area which became Pakistan.

[6] Sultan Khan was born in 1903 in Mitha Tiwana, Khushab, Sargodha (then British India, today Pakistan), to a Muslim Awan family of pirs and landlords.

[5][10] Due to his inexperience and lack of theoretical knowledge, he did poorly, tying for last place with H. G. Conde, behind William Winter and Frederick Yates.

[5][10] Returning to Europe in May 1930, Sultan Khan began an international chess career that included wins over many of the world's leading players.

[16][18] This included wins against Flohr and Akiba Rubinstein and draws with Alekhine, Kashdan, Ernst Grünfeld, Gideon Ståhlberg, and Efim Bogolyubov.

[19][20] Once again, his opponents included the world's best players, such as Alekhine, Flohr, Kashdan, Tartakower, Grünfeld, Ståhlberg, and Lajos Steiner.

[5][10][23] Miss Fatima, also a servant of Sir Umar, had won the British Ladies Championship in 1933 by a remarkable three-point margin, scoring ten wins, one draw, and no losses.

[26] In the damp English climate, he had been continually afflicted with malaria, colds, influenza, and throat infections, often arriving to play with his neck swathed in bandages.

However, FIDE made a practice of awarding titles to some long-retired players who had distinguished careers earlier in their lives, such as Rubinstein and Carlos Torre.

This achievement brought admiration from Capablanca who called him a genius, an accolade he rarely bestowed.FIDE awarded the title of Honorary Grandmaster to Khan posthumously on February 2, 2024.

FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich presented the award to Caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan Anwaar ul Haq Kakar.