This conference seeks to explore Ismaili Muslim communities – in their regional, political, and cultural diversity – since the nineteenth century, focusing on their experiences under modern empires and in the post-colonial world. While much is known about the contributions of the IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d. 765), as his successor. to empire- and state-building in earlier periods, there has been less research on their history, culture and identity in the context of modern imperial rule and its lasting effects. This conference aims to fill that gap by bringing together scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds to discuss Ismaili communities, their history, religious and cultural traditions, identity and institution-building in relation to modern empires and the post-colonial world.
Panels and Speakers
Welcome remarks
Introductory Remarks Faisal Devji, University of Oxford
The British Empire’s First Afghan War (1838–42) and the Ismaili Imamate: The Untold Story of the Ismailis of Afghanistan amid Invasion and Resistance Yahia Baiza, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
The Challenges of Interaction of the Central Asian Ismailis with their Imam during the Colonisation Period Hakim Elnazarov, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Transimperial Ismaili Struggle and Resistance: Communities at the Nexus of Empires and States (Late 19th–Early 20th Centuries) Murid Shah Nadiri, University of Oxford
Between Empire and Peace: Religious Renewal and Identity Formation in Gorno-Badakhshān Zamira Dildorbekova, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Chair: Alex Henley, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Heritage as Branding a Consciousness: Transforming the Khoja into Omani Citizens
Amal Sachedina, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley (USA)
Delusions of Grandeur: The Political Ecology of Mountains, Land Rights and Social Protest in Gilgit-Baltistan
Nosheen Ali, Raachi (Pakistan)
Ismailis after Empire: Decolonisation without Sovereignty? Taushif Kara, King’s College London
Chair: Nosheen Ali, Raachi (Pakistan)
Allama Iqbal and (Re)Tracing the Lineages of a ‘Persian Metaphysics’ in an Age of Empire Soumen Mukherjee, Presidency University (India)
The Shangri La Diaries: Foreign Travellers in Hunza Valley Shafqat Hussain, Trinity College, Hartford (USA)
Dilemmas in M.G. Vassanji’s Novels: Examining Coloniality in Shaping the Identities of East African Khoja Ismaili Muslim Communities
Farouk Mitha, University of Victoria (Canada)
Land, Law, Loyalty: Syrian Ismaili Settlers and the Limits of Ottoman Colonialism Amaan Merali, Berlin Graduate School of Muslim Cultures and Societies (Germany)
Female Empowerment: ‘Khoja’ Engagement with Their Imam’s (Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate. III) Vision as Reflected in the Community’s Rules and Regulations Laila Halani, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
The Constitutional Form in Ismaili Law: Modernity and Continuity Arif Jamal, National University of Singapore (Singapore)
‘Greater Khurāsān’ during the Period of British and Russian Imperial Rivalries and the Fate of the Ismaili Community Dagikhudo Dagiev, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
An Exploration of Bohra-Ottoman Interactions across Empires, c. 1880–1924 Michael O’Sullivan, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (USA)
The Ismailis of China: At the Crossroads of Empires Amier Saidula, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Muslim Cosmopolitanism in the Colonial and Post-colonial Eras as reflected in a BohraIndian community of Mustaʿli Ismailis, now found primarily in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, Yemen, Egypt and other parts of the world. Personal Archive Sumaiya Hamdani, George Mason University (USA)
Concluding Reflections: Ismailis and Empire Farid Panjwani, Aga Khan University (Pakistan)
