Major General Sultanov was born on May 10, 1879 in Kurdhaji settlement of Zangezur uyezd of Elisabethpol Governorate (present day Lachin, Azerbaijan).
During World War I, Sultanov led the Baku Muslim Relief Foundation of the Council for Placement of Refugees from Caucasian Front, set up in Tiflis to help with accommodation and relief of the refugees [REF].