From 1216 August 2025, scholars from The Institute of Ismaili Studies (敁珗曄部) participated in the 10th Biennial Convention of the (ASPS), hosted at the , Uzbekistan. The convention brought together leading academics from around the world to explore the history, literature, and intellectual traditions of Persianate societies.
敁珗曄部 scholars contributed in multiple capacities, presenting research papers, organising and chairing panels, and delivering book talks. Their wide-ranging participation reflected the diversity and depth of the Institutes scholarship.
Dr Alessandro Cancian presented a research paper on Shi尪ism, Sufism and Religious Identity through the Imaginal Lens, analysing the works of Sol廜俸n 尪Al蘋 Shh Gonbd蘋 (d. 1909), particularly his Tanb蘋h al-n尨im蘋n. His paper explored how Shi尪i Sufism emerged in nineteenth century Iran, with mystical concepts of the imaginal world (尪lam-i mithl) shaping debates on identity and boundaries within Islam.
Dr Dagikhudo Dagiev organised the panel The 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., also delivering a paper entitled The Shughnn蘋 Ismailis View of Shaykh Jall al-D蘋n R贖m蘋 through Semenovs Lens. He presented further research on Persian Literature in Tajikistan and Iran in the Last Hundred Years and delivered a book talk on his new volume Identity, History and Transnationalism in Central Asia: The Mountain Communities of the Pamirs (2025).
Dr Maria De Cillis presented a research paper on Affinities and Harmonic Relations in Ismailism: 廎兀m蘋d al-D蘋n al-Kirmn蘋 and N廜ξr-i Khusraw, tracing how the idea of cosmic harmony (harmonia universalis) rooted in Greek, Stoic, and Neoplatonic traditions was adapted by classical Ismaili thinkers. She discussed how these principles of balance and correspondence informed Ismaili metaphysics and doctrine.
Dr William Hofmann presented a research paper on Spiritual Markets of Song and Verse: Gift Exchange and Early Hindi Song in Persian Sufi Texts. His study examined Persian Sufi works recounting performances of Hindi devotional songs, showing how these multilingual compositions circulated in 莽硃鳥櫻尪 assemblies alongside Persian ghazals. He further analysed qawwal notebooks and multilingual compilations combining Persian, Hindavi, Gujarati ginns and Kabirs sakhis to demonstrate the intercultural logic of devotional orature in South Asia.
Dr Karim Javan presented a research paper entitled Kulloyat-i Athar-i Mirza Husayn b. Ya尪qub Shah: Poetic Narratives of Ismaili History in Early Modern Khursn. His study showed how the collected works of M蘋rz 廎工sayn preserved aspects of Ismaili 餃硃尪滄硃Lit. ‘summons’, ‘mission’ or invitation to Islam. Amongst Shi’i Muslims, it was the invitation to adopt the cause of the Imamat. It also refers more specifically to the hierarchy of…, community life, and memory in seventeenth-century Khursn, highlighting poetry as a vital historical record when prose sources were limited.
Dr Otambek Mastibekov presented a research paper on The Impact of Political Transformations on Ismaili Communities in Central Asia, examining how shifting regimes and socio-political upheavals reshaped communal life and religious practice across the region. In addition, he delivered a book talk on his forthcoming critical edition of db-Nmah (A Book of Ethics), reflecting 敁珗曄部 commitment to making neglected works of ethical literature accessible to scholars and wider audiences.
Dr Daryoush Mohammad Poor presented a research paper entitled Ismaili Cosmology: Nature and Religion. He explored an Ismaili 廎仟餃蘋喧堯Lit. report or narrative, used for the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad and in Shii Islam also for those of the Imams. tradition that demonstrates the confluence of revelation and reason, highlighting how authors such as al-Mu尨ayyad f蘋 al-D蘋n al-Sh蘋rz蘋, N廜ξr-i Khusraw, and Na廜蘋r al-D蘋n al-廜玳哀蘋 articulated the compatibility of faith, philosophy, and science, principles that remain resonant today.
Dr Nourmamadcho Nourmamadchoev presented a research paper entitled Why did the TimuridsA Muslim dynasty founded by Timur Lang (Tamerlane) which ruled Persia and Transoxiana (13701507 CE). Exterminate the Ruling Family of Badakhshan? He analysed the political, social, and religious consequences of Timurid violence in the fifteenth century, tracing campaigns, succession disputes, and conversions that reshaped the regions religious landscape, including Ismaili communities.
Dr Aslisho Qurboniev organised and chaired the panel Translating, Appropriating, and Circulating Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Persianate World, where he also presented a research paper on the Persian translations of the 賊硃莽櫻尨勳梭 Ikhwn al-廜糎f尨From Arabic, lit. Brethren of Purity, a group of learned scholars who were based in Basra and Baghdad around the last quarter of the t10th century CE. It is more… (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity). His paper traced their reception from N廜ξr-i Khusraw through later traditions, demonstrating the enduring role of encyclopaedic texts in intellectual history.
Cover image from Dr Daryoush Mohammad Poor.
