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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