For 11 July, which marks 65 years since our founder, His Highness the泭Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate., acceded to the泭Imamat, we are launching a new泭online timeline泭tracing 45 years of The Institute of Ismaili Studies (敁珗曄部).
At the 1975 Ismailia Association Conference in Paris His Highness took the decision to establish the 敁珗曄部 in London following a consultation process with leaders of the global泭JamatAssembly or religious congregation; also a term used by the Nizari Ismailis for their individual communities., and on 25 November 1977 the Institute was officially inaugurated.
Since its establishmentwith just six members of staffthe 敁珗曄部 has seen significant growth, and we now employ around 120 people, including researchers and lecturers in Islamic studies, editors, librarians, cataloguers, educationalists and professional support staff.
The 敁珗曄部 library was one of our first initiatives, and has established itself as a significant repository and resource for Ismaili and Islamic studies. In 2014 it merged with the library of the泭Aga Khan泭University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (ISMC), later becoming the泭. The collection now holds over 54,000 volumes in more than 50 languages.
To date, we have produced over 150 publications and translated many titles into Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Urdu. We now have ten publication series, including the泭Ismaili Heritage Series泭and the泭Qur’anic Studies Series, as well as our more recent accessible泭World of Islam泭硃紳餃泭Living Ismaili Traditions泭莽梗娶勳梗莽.
We have also developed and published a泭religious education curriculum泭for the Ismaili communityfor pre-school to secondary school aged children. This year we launched the泭敁珗曄部 Digital Curriculum e-book platform, which will eventually be available in ten languages.
Preservation and study of Ismaili heritage泭is another core component of our work. Among our Special Collections is one of the most significant repositories of materials related to Ismaili communities in the world. These collections include nearly 3,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Indic and other languages, as well as coins, glass weights, medals and other historical artefacts, photographs and audio-visual materials, rare and special printed materials (including periodicals and magazines) and archival collections.
Another aspect of our mandate is the development of people. Since 2001, over 3,000 people have participated in our professional development and泭education programmes, such as Leadership Orientation Programmes for the泭Jamat, Waezeen Training and the Summer Programme on Islam. In addition, 731 people have graduated from our graduate programmes, including 368 students from the Secondary Teacher Education Programme泭(STEP)泭and 267 from the Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities泭(GPISH). We have awarded 53 doctoral scholarships since 1997.
Looking forward, alongside building on our research, publications and education programmes, we will seek to maintain a strong digital focus. The past six months alone have seen the launch of a new 敁珗曄部 website, the泭, and the e-book platform previously mentioned. We have also published our first Open Access titles,泭Central Asian IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja尪far al-廜〢diq (d. 765), as his successor.泭by Dr Dagikhudo Dagiev and泭Texts, Scribes and Transmission泭by Dr Wafi Momin. Alongside its print collections, the AKL holds over 90,000 e-books and millions of articles, and continues to develop its泭. This way, we aim to make our research and scholarship accessible to members of the泭Jamat泭globally and to have greater impact within the academic community and among those interested in the study of Islam.
Thank you to all our staff, students, supporters and donors for sustaining a remarkable 45 years of expansion and development for the Instituteand to our founder for planting the seed of this growth.
