Ismaili Imams

Farhad Daftary received his early education in Iran, Italy and England, and then undertook his university studies during 1958-1971 in the United States. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Subsequently, he held various academic and governmental posts in Iran, before in 1988 joining the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, where he is currently Director and Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications. Dr Daftary is a consulting editor of the Encyclopaedia Iranica, co-editor (with W. Madelung) of the Encyclopaedia Islamica, as well as the general editor of the Ismaili Heritage Series, the Ismaili Texts and Translations Series and the Shi‘i Heritage Series. An authority on Ismaili studies, he has written and edited 20 books in this field, including The Isma‘ilis: Their History and Doctrines (1990; 2nd ed., 2007); The Assassin Legends (1994); A Short History of the Ismailis (1998); Ismaili Literature: A Bibliography of Sources and Studies (2004); A History of Shi‘i Islam (2013); and (with Z. Hirji), Islam: An Illustrated Journey (2018). He has also written more than 50 articles and book chapters and some 150 encyclopaedia entries. Dr Daftary’s books have been translated into Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Gujarati and numerous European languages.

• List of maps and tablesPrefaceI: The Ismaili Imamate in HistoryII: The Early Imams'Ali b. Abi Talib Husayn b. 'Ali 'Ali b. Husayn Zayn al-'Abidin Muhammad al-Baqir Jafar al-Sadiq Isma'il b. Ja'far al-Sadiq Muhammad b. Isma'il al-Maymun III: The Concealed Imams'Abd Allah b. Muhammad, also known as Wafi Ahmad Ahmad b. 'Abd Allah, also known as Taqi Muhammad Husayn b. Ahmad, also known as Radi al-Din Abd AllahIV: The Early Fatimid Imam-caliphsal-Mahdi al-Qa'im al-Mansur al-Mu'izz al-'Aziz al-Hakim al-Zahir al-Mustansir Nizar V: The Imams at AlamutConcealed Imams: al-Hadi, al-Muhtadi, al-Qahir Hasan ala dhikrihi’l-salam Nur al-Din Muhammad, also known as A?la Muhammad Jalal al-Din Hasan 'Ala al-Din Muhammad Rukn al-Din Khurshah VI: The Early Imams after AlamutShams al-Din Muhammad Qasim Shah Islam ShahMuhammad b. Islam ShahVII: The Imams of the Anjudan PeriodMustansir bi’llah 'Abd al-Salam ShahGharib Mirza, also known as Mustansir bi’llahAbu Dharr 'Ali Murad MirzaDhu’l-Faqar 'Ali Nur al-Din (al-Dahr) 'AliKhalil Allah 'AliVIII: The Imams in the Eighteenth CenturyShah Nizar Sayyid 'Ali Hasan 'AliQasim 'AliAbu’l-Hasan 'Ali Shah Khalil Allah IX: The Imams in the Modern AgeHasan 'Ali Shah, Aga Khan I Agha 'Ali Shah, Aga Khan II Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III Shah Karim al-Husayni, Aga Khan IV Glossary Select Bibliography Picture credits Index