Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Book Review: The Ismaili Imams: A Biographical History by Farhad Daftary

 

This is the latest book of Daftary in which he tries to present a concise biographical history of all the Nizari Ismaili Imams. Some of them include those living in the formative period of Islam, through to the hidden Imams of the first ‘period of concealment’ when their public identities remained guarded, to the Imam-caliphs of the illustrious Fatimid dynasty, and those of the Alamut period, up to the Aga Khans of the modern times.

Some Imams have very little information while others have relatively detailed accounts. For me some of the information was new. For instance, the prophet’s son Hasan was removed from the list of Imams acknowledged by Nizari Ismailis. According to the author Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni persecuted Ismailis.  Creation of the Druze religion during Al-Hakim’s rein is also covered in the book (p. 95). Imam al-Mustansir’s mother was a Sudani who acted as a regent when he was young.

Daftary also provides images and description of various coins found during the time of different Imams. Some of them are in the possession of Ismaili Special Collections Unit. Imam Nizar was killed by his brother. Daftary writes about how Hasan Bin Sabah found the independent Nizari Ismaili da’wa. Throughout the book the divisions and splits within the Ismailis are also highlighted. During Imam Nur al-Din Muhammad’s rein that the Nizari Ismailis of Syria came in contact with the Crusaders who made them famous as Assassins in Europe.

During a later time, the Mongols destroyed the Ismaili strongholds. The castle of Alamut fell into the Mongol hands in December 1256. A year later, Rukn al-Din Khurshah, the Ismaili Imam and the last lord of Alamut who had ruled for exactly one year, was murdered in Mongolia, where he had been taken to see the great Khan (p. 10). Rukh al-Din Khurshah’s young son Shams al-Din Muhammad who had succeeded to the Imamate in 1257 was taken to Adharbayjan in northwestern Persia, where he and his immediate successors to the Imamate lived secretly (p. 11). Imam Mirza Murad fled to the vicinity of Qandahar in Afghanistan after escaping from prison assisted by a high Safawid Official who was a secret convert to Ismailism (p. 173).

The part nine of the book is titled ‘The Imams in the Modern Age’. The last four Aga Khans are covered in this part. Daftary covers the close association between Aga Khan I and the British after Aga Khan went to Afghanistan. The development programs of Aga Khan III and Aga Khan IV are also covered in the book.

This book provides a concise series of concise narratives recounting the lives, legacies and actions of all the forty-nine Ismaili Imams of the Ismaili community.

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