This is a Persian translation of Farhad Daftary, A Short History of the Ismailis.

Description from A Short History of the Ismailis.

A major Shīʿī Muslim community with a long and eventful history, the Ismailis were until recently studied primarily on the basis of the accounts of their enemies, including the Sunni polemicists and the Crusader chroniclers. As a result, a host of legends were disseminated on the teachings and practices of the Ismailis. The study of Ismailism began to be revolutionised from the 1930s, with the recovery of a large number of Ismaili texts preserved in private collections. A Short History of the Ismailis brings together the results of modern scholarship on the highlights of Ismaili history and doctrines within the broader contexts of Islamic history and Shīʿī thought.

Contents from A Short History of the Ismailis

Preface
Note on Transliteration, Dates and Abbreviations

  1. Ismaili History and Historiography: Phases, Sources and Studies
    Phases in Ismaili History
    Evolution of Ismaili Historiography
    Anti–Ismaili Writings of Other Muslims
    The Assassin Legends of Medieval Westerners
    Orientalist Perspectives
    Modern Progress in Ismaili Studies
    Notes

  2. Origins and Early History: Shī‘īs, Ismailis and Qarmaṭīs
    Diversity in Early Islam
    Origins of Shī‘īsm
    Early History of Shi‘ism: The Kaysāniyya and the Imāmiyya
    Ja‘far al–Ṣādiq’s Imamate, Abu’l Khaṭṭāb and Ismā‘īl
    The Earliest Ismailis
    The Da‘wa of the 3rd/9th Century
    The Schism of 286/899 and its Consequences
    Early Ismaili Doctrines
    Notes

  3. The Fatimid Age: Dawla and Da‘wa
    Overview
    Foundation and Consolidation of the Fatimid Caliphate
    Fatimid Achievements under al–Mu‘izz
    Philosophical Ismailism of the Iranian Da‘is
    Fatimid Ismaili Da‘wa and Dā‘īs: Cairo and the “Islands”
    The Nizārī–Musta‘lī Schism of 487/1094
    Later Fatimids and Early Musta‘lī Ismailism
    Notes

  4. The Alamūt Period in Nizari Ismaili History
    Overview
    Ḥasan Ṣabbāh and the Revolt of the Persian Ismailis
    The Doctrine of Ta‘līm and Consolidation of the Nizārī State
    Proclamation of Qiyāma or Resurrection
    Rapprochement with Sunni Islam and al–Ṭūsī’s Interpretations
    The Final Decades
    Notes

  5. Later Developments: Continuity and Modernisation
    Post–Alamūt Patterns and Research Problems
    Early Post–Alamūt Centuries and Nizārī Relations with Sufism
    The Anjudān Revival in Nizārī history
    The Khojas and Satpanth Ismailism
    The Bohras and Ṭayyibi Ismailism
    Modern Developments in the Nizārī Community
    Notes

Glossary
Select Bibliography
Index