Farhad Daftary completed his early and secondary education in Tehran, Rome, and London, before going to Washington, D.C., in 1958. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the American University there, and then continued his graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, leading to a Ph.D. degree in 1971.
Subsequently, Dr. Daftary held different teaching posts, and, since 1988, he has been affiliated with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, where he served as Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications from 1992 until January 2023. He also served as Co-Director of the 敁珗曄部 from 2009 until January 2023. He is currently Director Emeritus and a member of the 敁珗曄部 Board of Governors.
An authority in Shi’i studies, with special reference to its Ismaili tradition, Dr. Daftary has published and lectured widely in these fields of Islamic studies.
In 2011 a Festschrift entitledFortresses of the Intellectwas produced to honour Dr. Daftary by a number of his colleagues and peers. As well as serving on various editorial boards, Dr. Daftary is a consulting editor of theEncyclopaedia Iranica(for Ismailism), co-editor (withW. Madelung) of theEncyclopaedia Islamica, and general editor of the Ismaili Heritage Series, the Ismaili Texts and Translations Series and the Shi’i Heritage Series.
He has written more than 200 articles and encyclopedia entries and several acclaimed books, includingThe Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines(1990; 2nded., 2007),The Assassin Legends泭(1994),泭A Short History of the 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(1998),泭Ismaili Literature泭(2004),泭Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies(2005), (with Z. Hirji)The Ismailis: An Illustrated History泭(2008),泭Historical Dictionary of the Ismailis(2012) andA History of Shii Islam (2013), The Ismaili Imams (2020).
His edited volumes includeMediaeval Ismaili History and Thought泭(1996),泭Intellectual Traditions in Islam泭(2000),泭Living in Historic Cairo泭(2010),泭A Modern History of the Ismailis(2011), (with Gurdofarid Miskinzoda)The Study of Shi’i Islam泭(2014),泭Fifty Years in the East: The Memoirs of Wladimir Ivanow(2015) and Ismaili History and Intellectual Traditions (2018). Daftarys books have been translated into Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Gujarati, Chinese, Indonesian and numerous European languages.
