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The Ismaili Shii Muslims of Central Asia have had a long and eventful history. This book presents a brief survey of their history and heritage and discusses how they have been understood in Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet academic literature.
First, Dagiev examines the history of the 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… in Central Asia from the 3rd/9th century until modern times and, in particular, the instrumental role of the prominent Ismaili 餃硃尪勳 and poet N廜ξr-i Khusraw (d. after 462/1070). He then discusses the interest in Ismaili studies engendered by the Russian takeover of the region and how this field of research was affected by 70 years of Communist rule, as well as by the demise of Communism. Dagiev also presents an annotated bibliography of material in Russian and Tajik on 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. of Central Asia, covering their history society, thought and traditions, most of which has not previously been readily accessible to Western scholarship.
This is an important publication not only for Ismaili studies and Central Asian history, but also for the study of Russian and Soviet scholarship on Islam.
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Note on Transliteration
Illustrations,
Maps and Tables
1. Ismaili History in Central Asia
Early Ismaili History
Toponyms of Badkhshan/Pamir
The Ismaili Da’wa in Central Asia
Nasir-i Khusraw and the Ismailis of Badakhshan
The Badakhshani Ismailis during the AlamutFortress of the Nizari Ismailis in northern Iran, which fell to the Mongols in 654 AH/1256 CE. period
Taqiyya and the Ismailis in the Post-Alamut Era
The Hudud al-Din in the Context of Central Asia
Pir and Pirship in Central Asia
The Political History of Badakhshan
The Russian Revolution and the Panjebhai Movement
The Ismaili Community in the Soviet Era
The Ismaili Community in the Post-Soviet Era
2. Ismaili Studies by Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Scholars
The Ismailis under Russian and Soviet Rule
The Ismailis in Soviet Studies
Review of the Literature on the Ismailis in Soviet Scholarship
Manuscripts Discovered in Badakhshan
Review of the Literature on the Ismailis in Post-Soviet Scholarship
Outline of the Activities and Projects Conducted by the Manuscript Office
Post-Soviet Scholarship on the Ismailis
3. Bibliography of Works by Imperial Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Scholars
References
Index
Dagikhudo Dagiev is a Senior Research Associate at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. He has previously published Regime Transition in Central Asia: Stateness, Nationalism and Political change in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (2014) and, co-edited with Carole Faucher, Identity, History and Trans-Nationality in Central Asia: The Mountain Communities of Pamir (2019).