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Aga Khan III

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Aga Khan III
Shah in 1936
48th Imam of the Nizari Isma'ilism Muslim
In office
17 August 1885 – 11 July 1957
Preceded byAga Khan II
Succeeded byAga Khan IV
Permanent President of the All-India Muslim League
In office
1906–1957
Member of the Assembly of The League of Nations
In office
1934–1937
President of the Assembly of The League of Nations
In office
1937–1938
Preceded byTevfik Rüştü Aras
Succeeded byÉamon de Valera
Personal life
Born(1877-11-02)2 November 1877[1]
Died11 July 1957(1957-07-11) (aged 79)[1]
Versoix, near Geneva, Switzerland
Resting placeMausoleum of Aga Khan, Aswan, Egypt
Spouse
  • Shahzadi Begum
  • Cleope Teresa Magliano
  • Andrée Joséphine Carron
  • Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan (birth name: Yvonne Blanche Labrousse)
Children
Parents
Other namesSultan Mohammad Shah
Religious life
ReligionShia Islam
DenominationIsma'ilism
SchoolNizari Ismaili
LineageFatimid

Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah[a] (2 November 1877 – 11 July 1957), known as Aga Khan III,[b] was the 48th imam of the Nizari Ism'aili branch of Shia Islam. He was one of the founders and the first permanent president of the All-India Muslim League (AIML).

His goal was the advancement of Muslim agendas and the protection of Muslim rights in British India. The League, until the late 1930s, was not a large organisation but represented landed and commercial Muslim interests as well as advocating for British education during the British Raj.[2] Shah advocated for the recognition of Muslims in India as a distinct political and cultural community, a position that would later align with the principles underlying the two-nation theory. Even after he resigned as president of the AIML in 1912, he still exerted a major influence on its policies and agendas. He was nominated to represent India at the League of Nations in 1932 and served as President of the 18th Assembly of The League of Nations (1937–1938).[3]

Early life

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He was born in Karachi, Sindh (now in Pakistan), in 1877 under the British Raj, to Aga Khan II (who had emigrated from Persia) and his third wife,[4] Nawab A'lia Shamsul-Muluk, a granddaughter of Fath Ali Shah of Persia. After attending Eton College, he studied at the University of Cambridge.[5]

Career

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In 1885, at the age of seven, he succeeded his father as Imam of the Shi'a Isma'ili Muslims.[1][6]

Shah in Chicago, 1907.

The title of the Knight Commander of the Indian Empire (KCIE) was conferred upon him by Queen Victoria in 1897, and he was promoted to Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list[7][8] and invested as such by King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on October 24, 1902.[9] He was made a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) by George V (1912) and appointed a GCMG in 1923. He received recognition for his public services from the German Emperor, the Sultan of Turkey, the Shah of Persia, and other potentates.[10]

In 1906, Shah was a founding member and first president of the All India Muslim League, a political party that pushed for the creation of an independent Muslim nation in the north-west regions of India, then under British colonial rule, and later established the country of Pakistan in 1947.

During the three Round Table Conferences (India) in London from 1930 to 1932, he played an important role in bringing about Indian constitutional reforms.[1] In 1934, he was made a member of the Privy Council.

Imamat

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The first half of the 20th century was a period of significant development for the Ismā'īlī community. Numerous institutions for social and economic development were established in the Indian subcontinent and in East Africa.[11] Ismaili communities have marked the jubilees of their Imāms with public commemorations. These events, while not religious observances, have often been accompanied by the establishment or expansion of community institutions in areas such as health, education, and economic development.[11]

Shah commemorated three ceremonial jubilees during his tenure as Imam of the Nizari Ismaili community: the Golden Jubilee in 1937, the Diamond Jubilee in 1946, and the Platinum Jubilee in 1954. These events included ritual weighings of the Imam in gold, diamonds, and platinum (the latter symbolically). The material proceeds were directed toward funding institutions and initiatives, primarily in health, education, and social welfare, in various regions including Asia and Africa.

In India and later in Pakistan, social development institutions were established. They included institutions such as the Diamond Jubilee Trust and Platinum Jubilee Investments Limited, which in turn assisted the growth of various types of cooperative societies. Diamond Jubilee High School for Girls was established throughout the remote northern areas of what is now Pakistan. In addition, scholarship programmes, established at the time of the Golden Jubilee to give assistance to needy students, were progressively expanded. In East Africa, major social welfare and economic development institutions were established. Those involved in social welfare included the accelerated development of schools and community centres and a hospital in Nairobi. Among the economic development institutions established in East Africa were companies such as the Diamond Jubilee Investment Trust (now Diamond Trust of Kenya) and the Jubilee Insurance Company, which are quoted on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and have become major players in national development.

Shah implemented a series of organisational reforms intended to enable Ismāʿīlī communities to administer their own communal affairs through formal structures and regulations.[11] These were built on the Muslim tradition of a communitarian ethic on the one hand and a responsible individual conscience with the freedom to negotiate one's own moral commitment and destiny on the other. In 1905, he ordained the first Ismā'īlī Constitution for the social governance of the community in East Africa. The new administration for the community's affairs was organised into a hierarchy of councils at the local, national, and regional levels. The constitution also set out rules in such matters as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, guidelines for mutual cooperation and support among Ismā'īlīs, and their interface with other communities. Similar constitutions were promulgated in India, and all were periodically revised to address emerging needs and circumstances in diverse settings.[11]

In 1905, Shah was involved in the Haji Bibi case, where he was questioned about the origin of his followers. In his rejoinder, in addition to enumerating his followers in Iran, Russia, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Syria and other places, he also noted that “In Hindustan and Africa there are many Guptis who believe in me… I consider them Shi’i Imami Ismailis; by caste they are Hindus”.[12]

Following the Second World War, far-reaching social, economic and political changes profoundly affected a number of areas where Ismāʿīlīs resided. In 1947, British rule in the Indian Subcontinent was replaced by the sovereign, independent nations of India, Pakistan and later Bangladesh, resulting in the migration of millions people and significant loss of life and property. In the Middle East, the Suez crisis of 1956 as well as the preceding crisis in Iran, demonstrated the sharp upsurge of nationalism, which was as indicative of the region's social and economic aspirations as of its political independence. Africa was also set on its course to decolonisation, swept by what Harold Macmillan, the then British prime minister, termed the "wind of change". By the early 1960s, most of East and Central Africa, where the majority of the Ismāʿīlī population on the continent resided, including Tanganyika, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire, had attained their political independence.

Religious and social views

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Shah was deeply influenced by the views of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan.[13] Sir Khan was the founder of what would eventually become the Aligarh Muslim University. Shah later became a supporter of the institution, contributing funds and advocating for its role in Muslim education.[14] Shah himself can be considered an Islamic modernist and an intellectual of the Aligarh movement.[15]

From a religious perspective, the Aga Khan followed a modernist approach to Islam.[15] He believed there to be no contradiction between religion and modernity, and supported Muslims in their endeavour to embrace modernity.[16] Although he opposed a wholesale replication of Western society by Muslims, Shah did believe increased contact with the West would be overall beneficial to Muslim society.[17] He was intellectually receptive to Western philosophy and ideas, and believed engagement with them could lead to a revival and renaissance within Islamic thought.[17]

Like several other Islamic modernists of his time, Shah was critical of the traditional religious establishment (the Ulamā), particularly their emphasis on formalism, legalism, and literal interpretations of scripture.[18] Instead, he advocated for renewed ijtihād (independent reasoning) and ijmāʿ (consensus), the latter of which he understood in a modernist way to mean consensus-building.[19] According to him, Muslims should go back to the original sources, especially the Qurʾān, in order to discover the true essence and spirit of Islam.[19] Once the principles of the faith were discovered, they would be seen to be universal and modern.[20] Islam, in his view, had an underlying liberal and democratic spirit.[21] He also called for full civil and religious liberties,[22] peace and disarmament, and an end to all wars.[23]

Shah opposed sectarianism, which he believed sapped the strength and unity of the Muslim community.[24] In specific, he called for a rapprochement between Sunnism and Shīʿism.[25] This view did not imply a belief that religious distinctions would disappear; he continued to emphasize the importance of doctrinal commitment, instructing his Ismāʿīlī followers to remain dedicated to their own teachings.[26] However, he believed in unity through accepting diversity, and by respecting differences of opinion.[26][27] On his view, there was strength to be found in the diversity of Muslim traditions.[28]

He called for social reform in Muslim society, and he was able to implement them within his own Ismāʿīlī community.[29] Shah argued that Islamic principles supported social justice and the alleviation of poverty, and he advocated for efforts aimed at reducing economic inequality.[30] Like Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Shah was concerned that Muslims had fallen behind the Hindu community in terms of education.[31] He was an advocate for compulsory and universal primary education,[32] and also for the creation of higher institutions of learning.[33]

In terms of women's rights, Shah was more progressive in his views than Sir Sayyid and many other Islamic modernists of his time.[34] Shah advocated for women's rights not solely on the basis of their roles as mothers or wives, but as a matter of individual empowerment and social equity.[35] He endorsed the spiritual equality of men and women in Islam, and he also called for full political equality.[36] This included the right to vote[36][37] and the right to an education.[38] In regards to the latter issue, he endorsed compulsory primary education for girls.[39] He also encouraged women to pursue higher university-level education,[38] and saw nothing wrong with co-educational institutions.[40] Whereas Sir Sayyid prioritized the education of boys over girls, Shah instructed his followers that if they had a son and daughter, and if they could only afford to send one of them to school, they should send the daughter over the boy.[41]

Shah campaigned against the institution of purda and zenāna, which he felt were oppressive and un-Islamic institutions.[42] He completely banned the purda and the face veil for his Ismāʿīlī followers.[43] Shah also restricted polygamy in his community, encouraged marriage to widows, and banned child marriage.[42] He also made marriage and divorce laws more equitable to women.[42]

Today, the Ismāʿīlī community maintains a network of institutions focused on education, healthcare, and economic development, many of which were established during or after the tenure of Shah.[44]

Racehorse ownership and equestrianism

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Shah and his horse Blenheim, ridden by Wragg, winner of the Epsom Derby (June 4, 1930)

He was an owner of Thoroughbred racing horses, including a record equaling five winners of The Derby (Blenheim, Bahram, Mahmoud, My Love, Tulyar) and a total of sixteen winners of British Classic Races. Shah was a British flat racing Champion Owner thirteen times. According to Ben Pimlott, biographer of Queen Elizabeth II, Shah presented the British monarch with a filly called Astrakhan, who won at Hurst Park Racecourse in 1950.

In 1926, Shah gave a cup (the Aga Khan Trophy) to be awarded to the winners of an international team show jumping competition held at the annual horse show of the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, Ireland, every first week in August.[45] It attracts competitors from all of the main show jumping nations and is carried live on Irish national television.

Marriages and children

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Shah and Begum Yvette, 1954.
  • He married, on November 2, 1896, in Pune, India, Shahzadi Begum, his first cousin and a granddaughter of Aga Khan I.
  • He married in 1908,[46] Cleope Teresa Magliano (1888–1926). They had two sons: Prince Giuseppe Mahdi Khan (d. February 1911) and Prince Aly Khan (1911–1960). She died in 1926, following an operation on December 1, 1926.[47]
  • He married, on 7 December 1929 (civil), in Aix-les-Bains, France, and 13 December 1929 (religious), in Bombay, India, Andrée Joséphine Carron (1898–1976). A co-owner of a dressmaking shop in Paris, she became known as Princess Andrée Aga Khan. By this marriage, he had one son, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (1933–2003).[48] The couple was divorced in 1943.[49]
  • He married, on October 9, 1944, in Geneva, Switzerland, Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan (Yvonne Blanche Labrousse) (15 February 1906 – 1 July 2000). According to an interview she gave to an Egyptian journalist, her first name was Yvonne, though she is referred to as Yvette in most published references. The daughter of a tram conductor and a dressmaker, she was working as Aga Khan's social secretary at the time of their marriage. She converted to Islam and became known as Om Habibeh (Little Mother of the Beloved). In 1954, her husband bestowed upon her the title "Mata Salamat".[50]

Publications

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He authored several books and papers, including India in Transition (1918), which addresses the political conditions in pre-Partition India, and his autobiography, The Memoirs of Aga Khan: World Enough and Time (1954). In his book India in Transition, Shah proposed the idea of a South Asiatic Federation[51] in which India would be reorganized into autonomous states within a federal framework. His proposal was among the early detailed plans advocating federalism in colonial India.

Shah's mausoleum in Aswan, Egypt.
Mausoleum of Shah on the Nile.

Death and succession

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Shah was succeeded by his grandson, Karim al-Husseini, who became the 49th Imam of the Nizari Ismaili Muslims and assumed the title Aga Khan IV. At the time of his death on 11 July 1957, he was surrounded by his family members in Versoix. His last words were repeating the verses of the Quran.[52]

On July 12, a solicitor brought Shah's will from London to Geneva and read it before the family:

"Ever since the time of my ancestor Ali, the first Imam, that is to say over a period of thirteen hundred years, it has always been the tradition of our family that each Imam chooses his successor at his absolute and unfettered discretion from amongst any of his descendants, whether they be sons or remote male issue and in these circumstances and in view of the fundamentally altered conditions in the world in very recent years due to the great changes which have taken place including the discoveries of atomic science, I am convinced that it is in the best interest of the Shia Muslim Ismailia Community that I should be succeeded by a young man who has been brought up and developed during recent years and in the midst of the new age and who brings a new outlook on life to his office as Imam.
For these reasons, I appoint my grandson Karim, the son of my own son, Aly Salomone Khan to succeed to the title of Aga Khan and to the Imam and Pir of all Shia Ismailian followers.
I desire that my successor shall, during the first seven years of his Imamat, be guided on questions of general Imamat Policy, by my said wife, Yvette called Yve Blanche Labrousse Om Habibeh, the Begum Aga Khan, who has been familiar for many years with the problems facing my followers, and in whose wise judgment, I place the greatest confidence. I warn my successor to the Imamat, never to do anything during his Imamat that would reduce the responsibility of the Imam for the maintenance of the true Shia Imami Ismaili faith, as developed historically from the time of my ancestor Ali, the founder until my own."

He is buried in the Mausoleum of Aga Khan, on the Nile in Aswan, Egypt (at 24°05′18″N 32°52′43″E / 24.088254°N 32.878722°E / 24.088254; 32.878722).

Legacy

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Pakistan Post issued a special 'Birth Centenary of Agha Khan III' postage stamp in his honor in 1977.[53] Pakistan Post again issued a postage stamp in his honor in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series in 1990.[6]

Honours

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Notes

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  1. ^ (Arabic: سلطان محمد شاه, romanizedSulṭān Muḥammad Shāh
  2. ^ (Persian: آقا خان سوم, romanizedĀqā Khān Suwwūm)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aga-Khan-III, Biography of Aga Khan III on Encyclopedia Britannica, Updated 18 September 2003, Retrieved 31 March 2017
  2. ^ John Keay (2001). India: A History. Grove Press. p. 468. ISBN 978-0-8021-3797-5.
  3. ^ "Conferencing the International".
  4. ^ Daftary, Farhad (1990). The Ismā'īlīs: Their History and Doctrines. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 518. ISBN 0-521-42974-9.
  5. ^ "Aga Khan, Fashionable Londoner, Holds Enormous Power in Islam", The New York Times,8 July 1923, p. XX5.
  6. ^ a b "Agha Khan III". findpk.com. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  7. ^ "The Coronation Honours". The Times. No. 36804. London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
  8. ^ a b "No. 27448". The London Gazette. 26 June 1902. p. 4197.
  9. ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36908. London. 25 October 1902. p. 8.
  10. ^ Bhownagree 1911.
  11. ^ a b c d Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 199–206. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
  12. ^ Virani, Shafique N. (February 2011). "Taqiyya and Identity in a South Asian Community". The Journal of Asian Studies. 70 (1): 99–139. doi:10.1017/S0021911810002974. ISSN 0021-9118. S2CID 143431047.
  13. ^ Purohit, Teena (2012). The Aga Khan Case: Religion and Identity in Colonial India. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-674-06639-7.
  14. ^ Mukherjee, Soumen (2017). Ismailism and Islam in Modern South Asia: Community and Identity in the Age of Religious Internationals. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-107-15408-7.
  15. ^ a b The Shi'a in modern South Asia : religion, history and politics. Jones, Justin, 1980-, Qasmi, Ali Usman. Delhi, India: Cambridge University Press. 5 May 2015. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-316-25879-8. OCLC 927147288.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ^ Haider, Najam Iftikhar (11 August 2014). Shi'i Islam : an introduction. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-107-03143-2. OCLC 874557726.
  17. ^ a b Aga Khan III (1998). Aga Khan III : selected speeches and writings of Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah. Aziz, Khursheed Kamal. London: Kegan Paul International. p. 1067. ISBN 0-7103-0427-7. OCLC 39678354.
  18. ^ Rattansi, Diamond (August 1981). The Nizari Isma'ilis of Pakistan: Isma'ilism, Islam and Westernism Viewed Through the Firmans: 1936–1980. McGill University (Thesis). p. 65.
  19. ^ a b Aga Khan III 1998, p. 1183
  20. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, pp. 1345–1346
  21. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 211
  22. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 876
  23. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 1415
  24. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, pp. 210, 803
  25. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 1184
  26. ^ a b Aga Khan III 1998, p. 1407
  27. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, pp. 842 & 1063
  28. ^ Rattansi 1981, p. 207
  29. ^ Voices of Islam. Cornell, Vincent J. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers. 2007. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-313-05116-6. OCLC 230345942.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  30. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 216
  31. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 235
  32. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 217
  33. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, pp. 212-213
  34. ^ Khoja-Moolji, Shenila, 1982- (June 2018). Forging the ideal educated girl : the production of desirable subjects in Muslim South Asia. Oakland, California. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-520-97053-3. OCLC 1022084628.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ Khoja-Moolji 2018, p. 31
  36. ^ a b Kaiser, Paul J. (1996). Culture, transnationalism, and civil society : Aga Khan social service initiatives in Tanzania. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. p. 51. ISBN 0-275-95528-1. OCLC 34545670.
  37. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, pp. 593 & 645
  38. ^ a b Aga Khan III 1998, p. 586
  39. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 1117
  40. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 587
  41. ^ Aga Khan III 1998, p. 1211–1212
  42. ^ a b c Leonard, Karen Isaksen, 1939- (2003). Muslims in the United States : the state of research. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. pp. 68. ISBN 978-1-61044-348-7. OCLC 794701243.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  43. ^ Khoja-Moolji 2018, p. 32
  44. ^ Twaddle, Michael (July 1995). "Asians in East Africa Quest for Equality: Asian Politics in East Africa, 1900–1967. By Robert G. Gregory. Hyderabad and London: Orient Longman and Sangam Books (57 London Fruit Exchange, London E1 6EP, UK), 1993. Pp. xvi + 231. £14.95 (ISBN 0-86311-208-0)". The Journal of African History. 36 (2): 335–336. doi:10.1017/s0021853700034289. ISSN 0021-8537. S2CID 142953052.
  45. ^ The Aga Khan Trophy, Dublin Horse Show, accessed 9 July 2007
  46. ^ "Marriages of the Aga Khan III". Ismaili.net. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  47. ^ "Aga Khan's Wife Dies As He Buys Big Gem", The New York Times, 2 December 1926, p. 2
  48. ^ "Aga Khan Again a Father", The New York Times, 18 January 1933, p. 9.
  49. ^ "Princess Andrée", The New York Times, 30 December 1976, p. 19.
  50. ^ "The Begum Aga Khan III", The Daily Telegraph, Issue 45115, 3 July 2000.
  51. ^ The Aga Khan; India in Transition, Bombay,1918, pp.45-46.
  52. ^ https://www.ismaili.net/histoire/history08/history835.html
  53. ^ "Pakistan Philately". pakistanphilately.com. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  54. ^ "No. 26969". The London Gazette. 21 May 1898. p. 3230.
  55. ^ "No. 27291". The London Gazette. 5 March 1901. p. 1576.
  56. ^ "No. 28559". The London Gazette. 12 December 1911. p. 9357.
  57. ^ "No. 32830". The London Gazette. 2 June 1923. p. 3947.
  58. ^ "No. 34010". The London Gazette. 1 January 1934. p. 1.
  59. ^ "No. 40366". The London Gazette. 1 January 1955. p. 4.
  60. ^ "ENTIDADES ESTRANGEIRAS AGRACIADAS COM ORDENS PORTUGUESAS - Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas". www.ordens.presidencia.pt. Retrieved 13 February 2025.

Sources

[edit]
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainBhownagree, Mancherjee Merwanjee (1911). "Aga Khan I. s.v. Aga Khan III.". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 363.
  • Brown, Frank Herbert (1922). "Aga Khan III" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
  • Daftary, F., "The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines", Cambridge University Press, 1990.
  • Khoja-Moolji, Shenila. “Redefining Muslim women: Aga Khan III’s reforms for women’s education.” South Asia Graduate Research Journal 20, no. 1, 2011, 69-94.
  • Khoja-Moolji, Shenila. Forging the Ideal Educated Girl. The Production of Desirable Subjects in Muslim South Asia. Oakland: University of California Press, 2018.
  • Naoroji M. Dumasia, A Brief History of the Aga Khan (1903).
  • Aga Khan III, "The Memoirs of Aga Khan: World Enough and Time", London: Cassel & Company, 1954; published the same year in the United States by Simon & Schuster.
  • Edwards, Anne (1996). "Throne of Gold: The Lives of the Aga Khans", New York: William Morrow, 1996
  • Naoroji M. Dumasia, "The Aga Khan and his ancestors", New Delhi: Readworthy Publications (P) Ltd., 2008
  • Valliani, Amin; "Aga Khan's Role in the Founding and Consolidation of the All India Muslim League", Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society (2007) 55# 1/2, pp 85–95.
[edit]
Aga Khan III
of the Ahl al-Bayt
Clan of the Banu Quraish
Born: 1877 CE Died: 1957 CE
Shia Islam titles
Preceded by 48th Imam of Nizari Ismailism
1885–1957
Succeeded by