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Aga Khan Hassan Ali Shah I Mahallati

Aga Khan Hassan Ali Shah I Mahallati

Male 1804 - 1881  (77 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and 19 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Hassan Ali Shah I Mahallati 
    Prefix Aga Khan 
    Birth 1804  Kahak Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 1881  Mumbai, India Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I77965  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 20 Nov 2009 

    Father Khalil Allah 'Ali   d. 1817 
    Mother Bibi Sarkara   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F32190  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Sarv-i Jahan Khanum   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
    +1. Aga Khan Ali Shah, II,   b. Abt 1830, Mahallat Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1885, Pune Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 55 years)
    +2. NN Khan   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F32189  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 20 Nov 2009 

  • Notes 
    • "Aqa" (also, Agha or Aga) is a word, said to be of Tatar origin, signifying a dignitary or lord. The term was applied by the Turks to the chief of the janissaries. "Khan," now degraded by its overuse, was a title of nobility, and was also used for a local ruler or official. "Aga Khan" is the adopted family name of a hereditary spiritual leader (Imam) of the Shiah Nizari Ismailis. One of the many legends that have circulated about this mysterious religious leader is that the title of "Aga Khan" was conferred by the Emperor of Persia upon the great-great- grandfather of the present Aga Khan, for his dedicated services to the throne. On the contrary, Hassan was an unsuccessful insurgent. A one-time governor of Kirman in Persia, he had "proclaimed an independent government." In the opinion of Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821- 90), a noted orientalist and British spy; the attempt at rebellion against the reigning sovereign was "ridiculous."

      In his autobiography, `Ibrat-afza, written in Persian and published in Bombay, Hassan narrated his several unsuccessful military encounters in Persia, in which he had been aided by the British Raj. According to Sir Richard Burton, he had received weapons in quantity from John Company (British), including at least two heavy field pieces (cannons).
      In 1840, accompanied by a few hundred horsemen, the "adventurous and romantic" Hassan (Aga Khan I), fled Persia. The defeated political refugee, sought and found sanctuary under the protection of the British Raj. Upon his arrival in Afghanistan, Hassan provided the mercenary services of his horsemen to the British army. In his memoirs, Hassan spelled out his reasons for joining the invading army of the British Raj in the conquest of Afghanistan and Sind from Muslim rulers. Hassan (a Muslim mercenary and so called direct descendant of the prophet!) referred to the British as "the people of God" (khalq 'ullah), and to his role of acting as a secret agent for the British general Sir Charles Napier as "for the sake of God's pleasure" (mahd-i rida-yi ilahi).
      Nearly a century later, Hassan's grandson, Aga Khan III, was proud to record in his own Memoirs the mercenary services of his grandfather, which he described as "stout assistance" rendered to the British Raj in their process of imperialistic expansion. "For these services and for others which he rendered to Sir Charles Napier in his conquest of Sind in 1843-4, my grandfather received a pension from the British Government." Hassan's ambitions of recovering his lost territories from the Shah of Persia, with the help of "the people of God" (the British), were never fulfilled. However, he did receive a hereditary title of "Highness" which the present Karim Aga Khan uses with pride.

      1866: A British Court Seals the Fate of a Sunni Muslim Community
      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
      Under the protection of and with aid from the British Raj, Aga Hassan Ali Shah - Aga Khan I, successfully established his religious authority over a small Muslim "Khojah" community of converted Hindus that lived on the west coast of India. The majority of
      these converts had adopted Sunni persuassion, the faith of their orginal converters to Islam. These Sheikhs - the converters, are presently known as "Pirs of Khojahs" by the Ismailis.
      Aga Hassan Ali Shah wrote in his autobiography `Ibrat-afza' that he was himself a `Murid' of a Sufi Master Mast `Ali Shah (Haji Zayn al-`Abidin Shirwani), who was a successor to Majdhub `Ali Shah, the thirty-eighth Qutub of the `Ata Alllah Sufi Order. Hassan Ali Shah initiated a new era in the history of these converted mostly Sunni "Khojah" Muslims. Ismaili history books records that in 1864, he removed the officiating Sunni "Mullah" from the Khojah Mosque in Bombay and replaced him with a Shiah "Maulvi". In 1866, the fate of this "Khojah" Muslim community was sealed when a British judge, Sir Joseph Arnold, passed judgment in favour of the Aga Khan on all points, declaring him the undisputed religious leader of the "Khojah" community giving him the absolute control over all communal property, including prayer houses and burial grounds. This was a turning point in the history of the Khojah community.
      Historical records and the court documents filed by the Aga Khan's counsel show that prior to the arrival of the Aga Khan, the majority of the Khojahs observed Sunni rites and rituals, with religious ceremonies carried out by Sunni Mullahs. After receiving the necessary mandate, Hassan began proselytizing the Khojah community. These documents also record that Hassan guided them to the creed of his ancestors, which was an Ithna'ashriyyah persuasion of the Shiah sect of Islam. Hassan's autobiography records that he himself believed in the Imamat of Musa Kazim (the younger brother of Ismail) and his descendants. Majority of the historians record that Imam Ismail died within the life time of his father Imam Jaffer as Sadiq. Today, the present Aga Khan claims to be the designated hereditary direct descendant of Imam Ismail. This is a major noteworthy glaring shift, within the last four generations of the Aga Khans.
      Ismaili historians have recorded that until as late as 1874 (34 years after his arrival in India), the Aga Khan's authority as a religious leader was sharply opposed by some influential wealthy members of the community. His followers in Bombay objected to "his too great predilection for drinking and intriguing with females," according to Sir Richard Burton.



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