As part of its Diamond Jubilee series of publications, the 敁珗曄部 has released the first English translation and a new Persian edition of thememoirs of Aga Khan I. The Persian text has been edited using the original manuscript and previously published editions in Persian, and translated into English byDr Daniel Beben泭硃紳餃泭Dr Daryoush Mohammad Poor. The book has an insightful foreword byDr Farhad Daftaryand a comprehensive introduction byDr Daniel Beben, providing a detailed historical background and analysis of the events relevant to the life ofAga KhanI.
The text of theIbrat-afzas a primary source is particularly significant in terms of three distinct contexts: the Nizr蘋 Ismaili Imamat; power politics at the contemporary Qjr court of Persia with its strong Sufi underpinnings; and the evolving relations betweenAga KhanI and the British in India. The memoir provides insights into the Aga Khans move from Persia to India and details the journey he and his companions made in the middle of the 19th century. It begins with a brief account of his childhood and the relationship the IsmailiImamathad with the Qajar dynasty, before exploring the tensions that arose between the two, and the final departure ofAga KhanI from Persia. The book details the subsequent settlement ofAga KhanI in India, which effectively moved the Seat of the Nizr蘋 IsmailiImamatthere in 1851, after being in Persia for more than seven centuries.
The introduction to the memoir provides audiences with valuable contextualisation on the relations between the IsmailiImamatand the Qajar kings and the Nimatullahi Sufi order. Closer ties were established between theImamatand the Qajars as a result of the marriage ofAga KhanI with Fath Ali Shahs daughter, after the murder of Shah Khalilullah, the 45th IsmailiImamat, in Yazd. Upon the submission of the grievances of the Imams widow to the Qajar monarch, the next IsmailiImam, Muhammad Hasan al-Husayni, also known as Hasan Ali Shah, was given the title Aga Khan by the king. The king then gave his daughter in marriage to the IsmailiImamand returned the estates of Mahallat andQumto theImamat.
Speaking about the significance of the book, co-editor and co-translator, Dr Daryoush Mohammad Poor said:
The Ibrat-afz is particularly important because it is one of the first pieces of primary literature about the modern period in Ismaili history. Moreover, the text of the memoirs captures some of the key doctrinal aspects of the Ismaili community, namely the foundations of the authority of the Imam as it is anchored in prophetic traditions and verses from the Quran. It also gives historical details about the interactions of the Ismaili Imamat with his contemporaries among political figures of Persia and India. If we take into account the purpose of the writing of this book, it is evident that it is not a comprehensive narrative of the departure of Imamat from Persia to India and the subsequent events in India, even though it provides valuable details from the perspective of the Ismaili Imam.
The Ibrat-afz also enables readers to better understand the intimate relations of the IsmailiImamatwith the Nimatullahi Sufi order of the time. At various points throughout the narrative there are paragraphs which speak about the spiritual authority of the IsmailiImam, contextualising the role of theAga Khannot simply as a Qajar prince, the son-in-law of the Qajar monarch, but also as a descendant of the Prophet through his daughter,Fatimaand his son-in-law, Ali. In the opening of the memoir, theAga Khanalludes to his lineage and the grounds of his authority in the following terms:
Blessings be on the rightful executors and the true saints, generation after generation, who are in every one of the ages and eras, the referents of this blessed verse: Oh you who believe! Obey God, and obey the Apostle, and those among you who possess authority. And the content of the hadith: Verily I am leaving among you two weighty things, and if you hold on to them you will not go astray after me: the book of God and my progeny/household. They are two outstretched ropes and they will not break and will not be cut until the Day of Judgment, until the two join me at the pond in the hereafter, is a tradition that applies specifically to their generous existence. (p. 77).
This Diamond Jubilee publication which sheds light on the life ofAga KhanI will be of interest to both a general reader and the scholarly community. It is an integral part of the scholarship on Ismaili studies in modern times and the history of theImamatand the Ismaili community in the modern period
