The Ismaili Imams A Biographical History
I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies
The Ismailis, the second-largest Shi‘i community in the world today, are settled in over 25 countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America. They are the only Muslims to follow a living spiritual guide of their community, the Nizari Ismaili Imam. For Ismailis, since the Prophet Muhammad first designated Ali as his successor, the hereditary lineage of the present Imam, Prince Karim al-Hussaini (Aga Khan IV), has remained unbroken.
This book is the first collection of pithy biographies of each of the Ismaili Imams, from the seminal Imams of early Shi‘i Islam, through to those of the first ‘period of concealment’ when their public identities remained hidden, to the Imam-caliphs of the illustrious Fatimid dynasty, and those of the Alamut period, popularised in history through the so-called Assassin legends, up to the Aga Khans of the modern period. The Ismaili Imams mines the rich scholarship of the developing field of Ismaili Studies, providing a simple and clear resource for the general reader, as well as a handy reference guide for scholars.
Published on the occasion of the Aga Khan’s Diamond Jubilee, this illustrated book offers a snapshot of the lives, events, and legacies of all 49 Imams, and through them, of the Ismaili community’s storied past.
List of maps and tables
Preface
I: The Ismaili Imamate in History
II: The Early Imams
ʿAli b. Abi Talib
Husayn b. ʿAli
ʿAli b. Husayn Zayn al-ʿAbidin
Muhammad al-Baqir
Jaʿfar al-Sadiq
Ismaʿil b. Jaʿfar al-Sadiq
Muhammad b. Ismaʿil al-Maymun
III: The Concealed Imams
ʿAbd Allah b. Muhammad, also known as Wafi Ahmad
Ahmad b. ʿAbd Allah, also known as Taqi Muhammad
Husayn b. Ahmad, also known as Radi al-Din ʿAbd Allah
IV: The Early Fatimid Imam-caliphs
al-Mahdi
al-Qaʾim
al-Mansur
al-Muʿizz
al-'Aziz
al-Hakim
al-Zahir
al-Mustansir
Nizar
V: The Imams at Alamut
Concealed Imams: al-Hadi, al-Muhtadi, al-Qahir
Hasan ʿala dhikrihi'l-salam
Nur al-Din Muhammad, also known as Aʿla Muhammad
Jalal al-Din Hasan
ʿAla al-Din Muhammad
Rukn al-Din Khurshah
VI: The Early Imams after Alamut
Shams al-Din Muhammad
Qasim Shah
Islam Shah
Muhammad b. Islam Shah
VII: The Imams of the Anjudan Period
Mustansir bi’llah
ʿAbd al-Salam Shah
Gharib Mirza, also known as Mustansir bi'llah
Abu Dharr ʿAli
Murad Mirza
Dhu’l-Faqar ʿAli
Nur al-Din (al-Dahr) ʿAli
Khalil Allah ʿAli
VIII: The Imams in the Eighteenth Century
Shah Nizar
Sayyid ʿAli
Hasan ʿAli
Qasim ʿAli
Abu'l-Hasan ʿAli
Shah Khalil Allah
IX: The Imams in the Modern Age
Hasan ʿAli Shah, Aga Khan I
Agha ʿAli Shah, Aga Khan II
Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III
Shah Karim al-Husayni, Aga Khan IV
Glossary
Select Bibliography
Picture credits
Index
Farhad Daftary received his early education in Iran, Italy and England, and then undertook his university studies during 1958–1971 in the United States. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Subsequently, he held various academic and governmental posts in Iran, before in 1988 joining the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, where he is currently Director and Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications. Dr Daftary is a consulting editor of the Encyclopaedia Iranica, co-editor (with W. Madelung) of the Encyclopaedia Islamica, as well as the general editor of the Ismaili Heritage Series, the Ismaili Texts and Translations Series and the Shi‘i Heritage Series. An authority on Ismaili studies, he has written and edited 20 books in this field, including The Ismā‘īlīs: Their History and Doctrines (1990; 2nd ed., 2007); The Assassin Legends (1994); A Short History of the Ismailis (1998); Ismaili Literature: A Bibliography of Sources and Studies (2004); A History of Shi‘i Islam (2013); and (with Z. Hirji) Islam: An Illustrated Journey (2018). He has also written more than 50 articles and book chapters and some 150 encyclopaedia entries. Dr Daftary’s books have been translated into Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Gujarati and numerous European languages.