For some years, things went well. But in approximately 1838 A.D., friction developed between the Imam and the Prime Minister Mirza Aghashi, who took every opportunity to discredit the Imam in the eyes of the king. He also deliberately insulted the Imam by asking the hand of Imam's daughter in marriage for a low-bred person. The Imam not only gave a sharp refusal to this request but, upon further inappropriate demands by the Prime Minister, raised a revolt in Kirman. A truce was made, but the Prime Minister broke his promise and had the Imam arrested. However, the Imam was released by Muhammad Shah; but as the pressure continued, the Imam renewed his rebellion. Soon after, he left for Sind, via Afghanistan. There he was enthusiastically welcomed by the Talpur Amirs of Sind, who had long been Imam's zealous supporters.
Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali, the First Aga Khan, came to India in 1840. Upon arriving in Sind, the Imam placed himself and his followers in the hands of the British. Sir Charles Napier who was the Governor General in Sind, wrote this in 1844 A.D., "The old Persian Prince (Aga Khan) is my great crony (old companion); living not under my care, but paid by me 2,000 sterling a year. He is a god, his income immense...... He is clever, a brave man. I speak truly when saying that his followers do not refuse him anything he asks...... He could kill me if he pleased. He only has to say the word and one of his people can do the job in a twinkling of an eye and go straight to heaven for the same."
The services rendered by Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali in Sind also proved his staunch attachment to the British cause. For these services, rendered at personal risk and danger, he was awarded the hereditary title of "His Highness" by the British.
Imam had lost huge properties in the land of his birth owing to the treachery of the Persian Prime Minister, Mirza Aghashi. At the time he was compelled to leave Persia, it was his intention to secure aid in Afghanistan or India and return to his country to demand what rightfully belonged tohim. He did make an effort to re-establish himself in Persia,but the opposition was too strong for him to do this.
He then gave up the idea and went to live in Bombay. There again, the Persian influence was strong enough to make him move to Calcutta, from where he returned to Bombay after the death of the Persian ruler, Muhammad Shah. Except for a brief period at Bangalore, his headquarters or Darkhana remained in Bombay.
Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali spent the last years of his life in the peaceful enjoyment of his large income and hereditary honours at Poona, Bombay and Bangalore. He devoted the last 30 years of his life to the upliftment of the Ismaili community in India. One of his great passions in life was horses. He had in his stables some of the best breeds of Arabian horses. His fondness for horses made him one of the prominent supporters of the turf. There are many cups won by him on the racecourses which are still preserved in the family.
The Duke of Edinburgh and King Edward VII, who was Prince of Wales at that time, visited Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali at his residence during their visit to India. It was an honour which, with the exception of the leading ruling princes, was accorded to no other nobleman; this was an acknowledgement of Imam's princely birth and of the great and loyal services he had rendered to the British government.
Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali died in April 1881 A.D., leaving three sons -Aga Ali Shah, who succeeded him to the Imamat, Aga Jangi Shah and Aga Akbar Shah. Before Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali's death there was reconciliation between him and the ruling family in Persia. The last resting place of this great Persian nobleman, warrior, statesman, sportsman and Spiritual Leader, is at Mazagon in Bombay. This place is called Hasanabad after the Imam, where Ismailis have erected a mausoleum, visited to this day, by thousands of Ismailis.
THE KHOJA CASE
Among the followers of Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali, there were a
handful of people who refused to
acknowledge him as their Spiritual Leader. They tried to
withhold from him the properties
dedicated
to him by his pious and devout followers. These "seceders"
argued that Pir Sadruddin who was
responsible for converting Hindus into Khojas, was a Muslim of
Sunni persuasion and, therefore,
the
Khojas converted by him and the descendants of the converts,
could not be considered Shia
Imami
Ismailis. The argument which started with religious dues and
properties held in trust for the
Spiritual
Head of the community, Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali, had its trial in
the Bombay High Court before
Sir
Joseph Arnould in April and June 1866 A.D. This trial is
popularly known as the "Khoja Case" or
"Aga
Khan Case".
Sir Joseph Arnould, the Chief Judge, tried the case; the best
advocates available were briefed on
both
sides. Neither the plaintiffs, nor the defendants spared any
expense in obtaining evidence, which
was
valuable from the viewpoints of the historian, the research
scholar, the theologian and the student
of
philosophy. Sir Joseph had indeed a difficult task examining the
evidence. The result was a
lengthy
and well argued judgement, which decided, once and for all, that
the Khoja community "is a sect
of
people whose ancestors were Hindu in origin, which was converted
to, and has throughout abided
in,
the fait;li of the Shia Imami Ismailis, which has always been and
still is bound by ties of spiritual
allegiance to the hereditary Imams of Ismailis".
As a result of this judgement, the rights of Mowlana Shah Hasan
Ali as the Spiritual Head of the
Shia Imami Ismailis were firmly and legally established.
Mowlana Shah Ali Shah was married to Marium Sultan, the daughter
of an Iraqi tribal chief and
had
two sons by her, Badin Shah and Noor Shah. When Mowlana Shah
Hasan Ali took up permanent
residence in India, he sent for his son, Shah Ali Shah, and his
family. After coming to India,
Mowlana
Shah Ali Shah lost his wife. He married the daughter of a
Shirazi family and settled in Bombay.
After
the death of his second wife, he married Nawab A'lia
Shamsul-Muluk, a grand-daughter of Fateh
Ali
Shah and the daughter of Nizamud-dowlah, a noted Persian scholar,
philosopher, diplomat and
statesman, who was Prime Minister to Fateh Ali Shah. After their
marriage, they lived in
Baghdad for
some time and then moved to Karachi, where their son Mowlana
Sultan Muhammad Shah was
born.
Mowlana Ali Shah's two sons by his first wife died in Mowlana
Shah Ali Shah's lifetime. The
eldest
son died at the age of 33. He was greatly loved by the Khoja
community and respected by others
as
well. It was this Prince, Pir Shahbudin Shah Al-Husayni, who
wrote the treatise, "Risala dar
Haqiqati
Din" (The True Meaning of Religion).
The younger son, aged 30, who was a good sportsman, fell from his
horse one day and sustained
serious injuries which proved fatal. These two deaths, coming
one after the other, grieved
Mowlana
Shah Ali Shah to such an extent that he died nine months later.
He died in Poona in 1885 A.D.,
after
a brief Imamat of four years. When he died, his successor to the
Imamat, Mowlana Sultan
Muhammad
Shah was not even eight years of age.
Under Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali's guidance, and the tutorship of
learned and pious Mullahs, who
were
specially brought from Persia and Arabia, Mowlana Shah Ali Shah
had received a perfect training.
He
was so intelligent and quick at learning, that within a short
period of time, he had mastered the
oriental
languages.
During the lifetime of his father, Mowlana Shah Ali Shah had
earned the respect as a Pir (Spiritual
Man). However, his interests were not confined to religion only.
He was the President of the
Muhammadan National Association until his death, and rendered
valuable service to the Muslim
community. He was also, for some time, a member of the Bombay
Council for Making Laws and
Regulations.
With regards to his followers, he spared nothing to raise them
socially; he freely helped the
destitute Khojas and opened a school for Khoja children in
Bombay.
Mowlana Shah Ali Shah was a splendid sportsman and a skilful
rider. He had an adventurous
spirit;
when he went hunting, he never made use of shelters in
trees but always shot the tigers
standing on the
ground, with a sure and steady aim. He had bagged no less than
40 tigers in this way.
Lady Ali Shah, whose maiden name was Nawab A'lia Shamsul-Muluk,
was the daughter of
Nizamud-dowlah, the Prime Minister to Fateh Ali Shah, the
greatest of Persian Monarchs of
Kajjar dynasty. The
mother of Lady Ali Shah, Kurshid Kulah, was the daughter of King
Fateh Ali Shah by one of his
queens, named Tajud-dowlah. Lady Ali Shah was thus related to
the Persian Royal Family
through
her mother.
Nawab A'lia Shamsul-Muluk was married at Kirman to Mowlana Shah
Ali Shah in 1867 A.D. She
was
24 years old at that time. Later, she came to India with her
husband and while living in Karachi,
gave
birth to His Highness Sultan Muhammad Shah at "Honeymoon Lodge",
a charming residence on
top
of a hillock.
Eight years after this happy event, on August 17, 1885, Lady Ali
Shah was stricken with grief at
the
death of her dear husband, Mowlana Shah Ali Shah. However, she
submitted herself to the divine
will
and devoted her life to the
education and upbringing of her young son, Mowlana Sultan
Muhammad Shah, who had inherited
vast
fortune and heavy responsibilities.
When Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah was hardly 19 years old, public
life claimed his attention.
His
inborn virtues and talents, fostered by careful training,
impressed all those who came into contact
with
him. Before long, he became the accepted leader of a vast
majority of people, and his life became
one
of constant travelling.
In 1896, Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah went to England for the
first time. After that, his
association with Western Europe increased and he continued to
remain away from India for
longer
periods of time. Lady Ali Shah, as a mother, felt the pangs of
this separation and once said to her
son,
"Death is inevitable, but if it comes to me in your absence, it
will be unendurable." Mowlana
Sultan
Muhammad Shah's reply was a remarkable one. "Do not worry", he
said, "You will breathe your
last
with your head on my lap." The words were to prove prophetic
decades after they were
uttered.
Lady Ali Shah was a brave woman and a born leader. When her son
had to remain in Europe for
long
periods to work for his country, his community and the world in
general, Lady Ali Shah helped
the
leaders of the Jamat in their administrative duties by offering
her advice and guidance. Many a
time
she was called upon to settle problems and arguments of the
Jamat, and she did so to the
satisfaction
of all.
She was like a loving mother to the Ismailis, who sought her
guidance, inspiration and help in
times
of difficulty. People visited her every day, seeking her advice
on important domestic, business,
communal and health matters. Ismailis, not only from India, but
also fron distant parts of the
world,
came to see her. They were looked after by Lady Ali Shah at her
own expense until their affairs
were
settled. So keenly was she interested in the welfare of the
Jamat, that whenever anyone
connected with
the Jamat came to visit her, her first inquiry invariably was,
"How is the Jamat?" Good news of
the
Jamat made her happy; bad news pained her.
Lady Ali Shah had a dynamic personality. She was intensely pious
and spent most of her time in
prayer, or in discussions of holy matters. Although belonging to
the older generation and to the
old
school of thought, she was liberal in her views and adaptive in
her ways. In 1896, when the
plague
broke out in Bombay, and the orthodox public opinion was opposed
to the inoculation, she
allowed
her only son, Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah, to be injected with
the antiplague serum, as an
example to the others, thus breaking down the barriers of public
antipathy towards medical
reforms.
In 1932, she visited England. Large crowds of people came out to
see "The Mother of a Great
and
Distinguished Man". She was given audience by His Late Majesty,
King George V and Queen
Mary
in the Buckingham Palace. One of the coveted honours, the title
of the Imperial Order of the
Crown
of India, was bestowed upon her.
The end of 1937 found her weak and frail. Reports of her
ill-health brought Prince and Princess
Aly
Khan and Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah hurrying to her bedside.
Under expert medical
treatment,
she rallied, for a while, however, and left for Mesopotamia in
January 1938. Before her
departure,
Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah had gone to Aligarh to attend the
convocation of the Muslim
University. He received a rousing reception there; however, he
ordered all the floral tributes
offered
to him to be taken immediately to his mother. Mowlana Sultan
Muhammad Shah, who had
dedicated
his book, "India in Transition" as a token of gratitude to his
mother, again paid his mother the
tribute
of a grateful son.
Lady Ali Shah travelled to Basra by sea, while Mowlana Sultan
Muhammad Shah, after fulfilling
his
many engagements, flew to Basra by plane, and made arrangements
for a comfortable landing for
his
mother, Lady Ali Shah. He then proceeded to Cairo. When Lady
Ali Shah arrived in Baghdad,
she
sent a telegram to Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah. The Imam flew
to Baghdad immediately.
On
his arrival, he found that his mother was getting worse. Two
hours later, the Grand Old Lady
breathed
her last in the lap of her son. Lady Ali Shah was buried at
Najaf, next to the tomb of her husband,
Mowlana Shah Ali Shah.
Early Life:
The Third Aga Khan known as the Right Honourable Sir Sultan
Muhammed Shah, was born
at
Karachi on Friday, November 2, 1877 at Honeymoon Lodge.
He was only eight years of age when his father, Mowlana Ali Shah,
died, leaving to him the
responsibility of the Imamat. He owed much to the training he
received from his capable mother,
Lady
Ali Shah. His uncle, Aga Jangi Shah, acted as his guardian, but
it was his mother who helped the
most
to shape his character and to develop his education. It was a
pleasure for Lady Ali Shah to see
the son
towards whose development she had contributed so much, rise in
honours not just within his own
community, but throughout the world.
Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah devoted his whole life to the
betterment of the Ismaili
community
and of the Muslim community at large.
The Multi-Sided Life:
Various biographies of Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah have
described the multi-sided life he
lived.
They write of his statesmanship which led him upwards to the
Presidency of the Assembly of the
League of Nations in 1937; of his love for sport that made his
name known on the Racecourses of
the
world; of his efforts for peace between communities and between
nations; of his zeal for
education and
his share in the establishment of the Muslim University in
Aligarh; of his interest in the Muslim
League;
of his service to his own community, the Ismaili Khojas; and of
the honours that had been
conferred
upon him. We will not essay so broad an account of his
achievements, but briefly record his
Leadership
of the Ismaili community through the 72 years that he had been
the Imam.
Ithna Ashari Khojas:
Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah succeeded to the throne of Imamat
while yet a child. It was
some
years before the Imam could assume the full responsibility. The
Council did well to hold the
community together. However, in 1901, while Mowlana Sultan
Muhammad Shah was abroad, a
group
of people withdrew from the Jamat, erected their own mosque and
made their separate burial
ground
in Bombay which they called Aram Bagh. They announced the fact
of their separation in the
newspapers and became known as Ithna Ashari Khojas. On the day
of Imam's return to Bombay,
some
of his followers attacked and killed one of the trustees of the
new mosque and wounded another.
Representatives of the seceding group placed their case before
Lord Northcote, the then
Governor of
Bombay. The Imam called his followers together and severely
condemned their violent
conduct.
Haji Bibi Case:
Haji Bibi, a widow of Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah's cousin,
along with 13 other persons,
filed
a case against the Imam, demanding a share of his property and
income. Various leaders of the
community, including Mukhi and Kamadia, gave evidence in favour
of the Imam. The case lasted
several months and at last the wise and learned judge, Justice
Russell, gave the following
judgement:
"Whatever offerings are made to His Highness the Aga Khan by his
followers in the form of
religious
dues or gifts, belong to His Highness the Aga Khan. He is the
sole master of such income, as well
as
of all the properties of the community. I have found enough
proof which has convinced me to
give this
judgement. I declare the case in favour of the defendant,
ordering the plaintiffs to pay all the
expenses
of the case."
The Jubilees:
The Ismailis have had three special opportunities to manifest
their love for their Imam; first at his
Golden Jubilee, then at his Diamond Jubilee, and lastly at his
Platinum Jubilee. On the first
occasion,
he was weighed against gold in Bombay, and later in Nairobi.
Ismailis pride themselves over the
fact
that although weighing a person against gold is not something
new, Sultan Muhammad Shah was
the
first person to have been weighed twice in this way. They take
more pride in the knowledge that
never
before had anybody been weighed against diamonds, or platinum.
As early as in January 1943, the Aga Khan Legion had 40,000
members on its roll and had
collected
20 lakh (one lakh = 100,000) rupees to purchase diamonds. On
March 10, 1946, the remarkable
ceremony was performed in Bombay. The Imam is said to have
weighed 243.5 pounds; the value
of
the diamonds has been given as approximately 2 million dollars.
The ceremony was repeated in
Dar
es Salaam in August 1946. Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah was
weighed against Platinum in
Karachi, Pakistan on February 17, 1954.
Sincere Devotion of the Ismailis:
While there was pomp and pageantry in these celebrations, there
was much more than just that;
there
was evidence of the deep affection and sincere devotion of the
Ismailis for their Imam. The Imam
had
filled a unique place in their lives; he had thought and planned
for the improvement of their lot; he
had
used large sums of his own property for their upliftment and
betterment. The delight the Ismailis
felt
at seeing their Spiritual Leader was incomparable. They showed
extraordinary devotion and
genuine
affection towards their revered leader, and displayed wonderful
discipline.
The Family:
In 1898, Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah married his cousin Shahzadi
Begum, the daughter of
his
uncle Aga Jangi Shah. In 1908, he married Theresa Magliano, an
Italian artist, whose works of
art had
been exhibited in the Royal Academy of several different
countries. She had two sons, one of
whom,
called Mahdi,died as an infant. The second was Prince Aly Khan.
Princess Theresa died in 1926.
In
1929, Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah married Mademoiselle Andree
Carron, to whom a son
was
born at Paris on January 17,1933, who bears the name Prince
Sadrud-Din. The Begum Aga Khan
took
keen interest in her husband's work; she accompanied him on his
tours and organized social and
welfare
activities for Ismaili women. This marriage was later dissolved
at their mutual request. In
October
1944, Mowlana Sultan Muhammad shah married Mademoiselle Yvette
Labrousse of Cannes, who
had
prev1iously converted to Islam and had taken the Muslim name of
Umme-Habiba. The wedding
took
place in Switzerland.
In May 1936, he married the Honourable Mrs. Noel Guiness. She
took keen interest in Islamic
literature and in the affairs of the Ismaili community. She had
two sons, Prince Karim, the present
Imam, and Prince Amyn Muhammad.
Among Ismailis, Prince Aly was known as His Serene Highness
Prince Aly Khan. During last
years
of his life, he toured among the followers of his father and won
his way into the hearts of the
people.
His wife, Princess Tajuddowlah Aly Khan took special interest in
the education and general
welfare
work of the community.
Prince Aly Khan was in active service during the war years,
rising to the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel.
It pleased Prince Aly Khan very much if his father's followers
took an active part in the religious
affairs.
He once said, "A man without religious education is like a dry
tree doomed to destruction."
MOWLANA SHAH ALI SHAH - AGA KHAN 11
47th Imam - (1881 A.D. - 1885 A.D.)
Mowlana Shah Ali Shah was in Karbala with his mother, the Persian
Princess, when Mowlana
Shah
Hasan Ali, his father was forced to leave Persia. Born and
raised in Persia, Mowlana Shah Ali
Shah developed a liking for hunting. From his noble father, he
had inherited a daring spirit and
love
for adventure.LADY ALI SHAH
MOWLANA SULTAN MUHAMMAD SHAH
48th Imam - (1885 A.D. - 1957 A.D.)
Prince Aly Soloman Khan:
Prince Aly S. Khan was born at Turin in Italy on June 13, 1910.
Most of his childhood was spent
in
Europe with his mother. Later years of his life were divided
between England and the Continent.
He
was tutored by Mr. C.W. Waddington, once Principal of the Mayo
College in India. He was
accomplished in horsemanship, yachting, motoring and aviation.Prince Karim:
The annual birthday celebration of Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah
was a joint celebration of
Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah's and Prince Aly Khan's birthdays.
In 1943, Mowlana Sultan
Muhammad Shah ordered the joint celebration to include "one
grandson, Prince Karim only".
Therefore, when Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah passed away from
this world on July 11,
1957, he
was succeeded to the Imamat by his grandson, Prince Karim, the
present Imam.Back to Index Top
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