A Modern History of the Ismailis: Continuity and Change in a Muslim Community (Ismaili Heritage) - Hardcover

Farhad Daftary

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9781845117177: A Modern History of the Ismailis: Continuity and Change in a Muslim Community (Ismaili Heritage)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845117174 ISBN 13: 9781845117177

Publisher: I.B. Tauris, 2010

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Synopsis:

The Ismailis have enjoyed a long, eventful and complex history dating back to the 8th century CE and originating in the Shi'i tradition of Islam. During the medieval period, Ismailis of different regions - especially in central Asia, south Asia, Iran and Syria - developed and elaborated their own distinctive literary and intellectual traditions, which have made an outstanding contribution to the culture of Islam as a whole. At the same time, the Ismailis in the Middle Ages split into two main groups who followed different spiritual leaders. The bulk of the Ismailis came to have a line of imams now represented by the Aga Khans, while a smaller group - known in south Asia as the Bohras - developed their own type of leadership.This collection is the first scholarly attempt to survey the modern history of both Ismaili groupings since the middle of the 19th century. It covers a variety of topical issues and themes, such as the modernising policies of the Aga Khans, and also includes original studies of regional developments in Ismaili communities worldwide.

The contributors focus too on how the Ismailis as a religious community have responded to the twin challenges of modernity and emigration to the West. "A Modern History of the Ismailis" will be welcomed as the most complete assessment yet published of the recent trajectory of this fascinating and influential Shi'i community.

About the Author:

Farhad Daftary is Co-Director and Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications at The Institute of Ismaili Studies. He is a consulting editor of Encyclopaedia Iranica, co-editor of the Encyclopaedia Islamica as well as the general editor of the Ismaili Heritage Series and the Ismaili Texts and Translations Series. An authority on Ismaili studies, Dr Daftary has written several acclaimed books in this field, including The Isma⁽ilis: Their History and Doctrines (1990; 2nd ed., 2007), The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Isma⁽ilis (1994), A Short History of the Ismailis (1998), Ismaili Literature: A Bibliography of Sources and Studies (2004), Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies (2005), and (with Z. Hirji) The Ismailis: An Illustrated History (2008). Dr Daftary's books have been translated into Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Gujarati and numerous European languages.

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