Agha Khan (title of the Nizari Imams)

Agha Khan is the title of the Nizari Ismaili Imams. It began as an honorific at the Qajar court in Persia and became the hereditary title of the Imams after Hasan 'Ali Shah settled in India.

The article, signed H. A. R. Gibb, explains that the title was applied to the Imams of the Nizari Ismailis. It was first an honorary title at the court of the Qajar shahs, borne by Hasan 'Ali Shah. After his father Khalil Allah was murdered in 1817, Hasan 'Ali gained the favour of Fath 'Ali Shah and married one of his daughters. After intrigues at the court under Muhammad Shah, he revolted in Kirman in 1838, was defeated and fled in 1840 to Sind, where he gave valuable service to Sir Charles Napier in the Sind campaign. He later tried to establish himself in Persia from the Bunpur district, lived in Bombay, was moved to Calcutta at the Persian government's request, and returned to Bombay in 1848. ¹

Disputes among the Khojas over the leadership of the Imam led to lawsuits. The famous judgment of Sir Joseph Arnould in 1866 went in favour of the Agha Khan. The case brought much information about the sect to light and drew western scholarship's attention to the continued existence of the Nizari Ismailis. ¹

Hasan 'Ali Shah died in 1881 and was succeeded by his son 'Ali Shah (died 1885), who was succeeded by his son Sultan Muhammad Shah (born 2 November 1877), the spiritual head of the Nizari Ismailis in India, Persia, Central Asia, Syria and East Africa. Under him the Nizari community was greatly organised, and he took a prominent part in public life. His heir was 'Ali Khan (born 1910). ¹