Download or read book Central Asian Ismailis written by Dagikhudo Dagiev and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Shi'iIsmaili Muslims of Central Asia have a complex political history. This open access book is the first English-language study of the Ismaili Muslims in this region, based on analysis of the Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet scholarship about them. It sheds new light on their history and heritage, and also shows how the Ismailis of Central Asia have been understood and presented in the academic literature. Divided into three parts, the first covers the spread of the Ismaili da'wa (mission) throughout Central Asia - known as Khurasan - from the 3rd/9th century until modern times. This part examines the prominent poet da'iNasir-iKhusraw, who played an instrumental role in the expansion and development of Ismailism in Badakhshan in the eleventh century and reveals the impact of his religio-philosophical legacy in the life of the contemporary community. The second part examines the initial interest in Ismaili Studies engendered by Russian imperial rule. It also shows how approaches to the study of Ismailism were affected by 70 years of Communist atheist rule and the demise of the Communist political and ideological system. The third part presents an annotated bibliography of books, articles, and published and unpublished materials, including documents and oral materials on the history, thought and practices of the Ismailis of Central Asia, most of which has not been hitherto easily accessible to Western scholarship. The comprehensive survey and rich bibliography aims to illuminate the history and historiography of the Ismailis in Central Asia and facilitate further study on the subject by experts around the world.".

Download or read book Leadership and Authority in Central Asia written by Otambek Mastibekov and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-05-16 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the unfolding of world history in a remote corner of Central Asia: the region of Badakhshan. The history of this region has commonly been explored through the lens of the major superpowers who competed over its territory in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including Britain, Russia, and China. Here, we are offered a comprehensive overview of the history of the Ismaili community in Tajikistan. Leadership and Authority in Central Asia identifies traditional forms of religious authority within the network of religious functionaries at a range of levels and discusses the functions of Ismaili political leaders as they have evolved through time. Skilfully applying an interdisciplinary approach – drawing on historical sources, including unpublished materials, and ethnographic fieldwork data collected through interviews – and a perceptive analysis of political theories of leadership in communist and post-communist societies, this book challenges the ways religious and secular categories have been distinguished in recent scholarship Developing a structural explanation for the survival and evolution of religious and political authorities of Badakhshani Ismailis in times of radical social and political upheaval, this book will be of interest to scholars of Muslim societies, Political Science and Central Asian Studies.

Download or read book Central Asian Ismailis written by Dagikhudo Dagiev and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-02-24 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Shi'i Ismaili Muslims of Central Asia have a complex political history. This open access book is the first English-language study of the Ismaili Muslims in this region, based on analysis of the Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet scholarship about them. It sheds new light on their history and heritage, and also shows how the Ismailis of Central Asia have been understood and presented in the academic literature. Divided into three parts, the first covers the spread of the Ismaili da'wa (mission) throughout Central Asia - known as Khurasan - from the 3rd/9th century until modern times. This part examines the prominent poet da'i Nasir-i Khusraw, who played an instrumental role in the expansion and development of Ismailism in Badakhshan in the eleventh century and reveals the impact of his religio-philosophical legacy in the life of the contemporary community. The second part examines the initial interest in Ismaili Studies engendered by Russian imperial rule. It also shows how approaches to the study of Ismailism were affected by 70 years of Communist atheist rule and the demise of the Communist political and ideological system. The third part presents an annotated bibliography of books, articles, and published and unpublished materials, including documents and oral materials on the history, thought and practices of the Ismailis of Central Asia, most of which has not been hitherto easily accessible to Western scholarship. The comprehensive survey and rich bibliography aims to illuminate the history and historiography of the Ismailis in Central Asia and facilitate further study on the subject by experts around the world.

Download or read book A Modern History of the Ismailis written by Farhad Daftary and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-04-15 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies 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.

Download or read book Ismailism and Islam in Modern South Asia written by Soumen Mukherjee and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the evolution of a Shia Ismaili identity in late colonial South Asia.

Download or read book Isma ili Modern written by Jonah Steinberg and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Isma'ili Muslims, a major sect of Shi'i Islam, form a community that is intriguing in its deterritorialized social organization. Informed by the richness of Isma'ili history, theories of transnationalism and globalization, and firsthand ethnographic f

Download or read book Ismaili Hymns from South Asia written by Zawahir Moir and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-07-04 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Aga Khans have long played a prominent part on the international stage, but much less tends to be understood about the most important group of their followers, the Khoja Ismailis of South Asia, who are now also settled in many other parts of the world. Even less is generally known about the hymns, called ginans, which have historically formed so central an element in the religious life and rituals of the Ismaili community. The principal aim of this anthology is to fill this gap by providing a sympathetic introduction to this still largely unexplored tradition of South Asian devotional literature, and to draw attention to the many features of remarkable interest which it contains.

Download or read book Children of Time written by Malise Ruthven and published by I.B. Tauris. This book was released on 2026-04-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From highland peasant farmers in Central Asia to Canadian industrialists, South Asian buisinessmen and Europe-based scholars, the Nizari Ismailis are one of the Muslim world's most diverse Shi'a communities. With adherents living in more than twenty-five countries in Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America, they embrace peoples of widely different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. The spiritual leadership of this highly dynamic community has in recent generations come to be known as the 'Aga Khan'.This book, which coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the present Aga Khan's succession as Imam, or spiritual leader, of the Ismailis, assesses the achievements of his 'Imamat' in modernising the communities' institutions and creating one of the world's leading development agencies, the Aga Khan Development Network. In the process the book explores how the present Harvard-educated Aga Khan has attempted to preserve and build on a religious tradition rooted in medieval theology while at the same time embracing the modern world without loss of faith or cultural identity.

Download or read book The Ismailis in the Middle Ages written by Shafique N. Virani and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-04-19 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "None of that people should be spared, not even the babe in its cradle." With these chilling words, the Mongol warlord Genghis Khan declared his intention to destroy the Ismailis, one of the most intellectually and politically significant Muslim communities of medieval Islamdom. The massacres that followed convinced observers that this powerful voice of Shi'i Islam had been forever silenced. Little was heard of these people for centuries, until their recent and dramatic emergence from obscurity. Today they exist as a dynamic and thriving community established in over twenty-five countries. Yet the interval between what appeared to have been their total annihilation, and their modern, seemingly phoenix-like renaissance, has remained shrouded in mystery. Drawing on an astonishing array of sources gathered from many countries around the globe, The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation is a richly nuanced and compelling study of the murkiest portion of this era. In probing the period from the dark days when the Ismaili fortresses in Iran fell before the marauding Mongol hordes, to the emergence at Anjudan of the Ismaili Imams who provided a spiritual centre to a scattered community, this work explores the motivations, passions and presumptions of historical actors. With penetrating insight, Shafique N. Virani examines the rich esoteric thought that animated the Ismailis and enabled them to persevere. A work of remarkable erudition, this landmark book is essential reading for scholars of Islamic history and spirituality, Shi'ism and Iran. Both specialists and informed lay readers will take pleasure not only in its scholarly perception, but in its lively anecdotes, quotations of delightful poetry, and gripping narrative style. This is an extraordinary book of historical beauty and spiritual vision.

Download or read book Islam in South Asia in Practice written by Barbara D. Metcalf and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-09-08 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume of Princeton Readings in Religions brings together the work of more than thirty scholars of Islam and Muslim societies in South Asia to create a rich anthology of primary texts that contributes to a new appreciation of the lived religious and cultural experiences of the world's largest population of Muslims. The thirty-four selections--translated from Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Hindavi, Dakhani, and other languages--highlight a wide variety of genres, many rarely found in standard accounts of Islamic practice, from oral narratives to elite guidance manuals, from devotional songs to secular judicial decisions arbitrating Islamic law, and from political posters to a discussion among college women affiliated with an "Islamist" organization. Drawn from premodern texts, modern pamphlets, government and organizational archives, new media, and contemporary fieldwork, the selections reflect the rich diversity of Islamic belief and practice in South Asia. Each reading is introduced with a brief contextual note from its scholar-translator, and Barbara Metcalf introduces the whole volume with a substantial historical overview.

Download or read book Short History of the Ismailis written by Farhad Daftary and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite being one of the key Shi'i Muslim communities, the Ismailis were until recently studied primarily on the basis of the accounts of their enemies. This new introduction is the first to be based on modern scholarship, taking account of recently recovered Ismaili texts. It covers all the main developments in the major phases of Ismaili history, from the early formative period, through the Fatamid golden age and the Alamut and post-Alamut periods, to more recent history. Dealing only with the most important historical developments, this is a comprehensive and accessible survey for all newcomers to the subject.

Download or read book Lost Enlightenment written by S. Frederick Starr and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 694 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The forgotten story of Central Asia's enlightenment—its rise, fall, and enduring legacy In this sweeping and richly illustrated history, S. Frederick Starr tells the fascinating but largely unknown story of Central Asia's medieval enlightenment through the eventful lives and astonishing accomplishments of its greatest minds—remarkable figures who built a bridge to the modern world. Because nearly all of these figures wrote in Arabic, they were long assumed to have been Arabs. In fact, they were from Central Asia—drawn from the Persianate and Turkic peoples of a region that today extends from Kazakhstan southward through Afghanistan, and from the easternmost province of Iran through Xinjiang, China. Lost Enlightenment recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects. They gave algebra its name, calculated the earth's diameter with unprecedented precision, wrote the books that later defined European medicine, and penned some of the world's greatest poetry. One scholar, working in Afghanistan, even predicted the existence of North and South America—five centuries before Columbus. Rarely in history has a more impressive group of polymaths appeared at one place and time. No wonder that their writings influenced European culture from the time of St. Thomas Aquinas down to the scientific revolution, and had a similarly deep impact in India and much of Asia. Lost Enlightenment chronicles this forgotten age of achievement, seeks to explain its rise, and explores the competing theories about the cause of its eventual demise. Informed by the latest scholarship yet written in a lively and accessible style, this is a book that will surprise general readers and specialists alike.

Download or read book The Ismaili Imams written by Farhad Daftary and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-29 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ismailis are the second-largest Shi'i community in the world today, settled in over 25 countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America. They are the only Muslims to follow a living spiritual guide of their community, the Nizari Ismaili Imam. This book is the first collection of biographies of all the Ismaili Imams, from the seminal Imams of early Shi'i Islam, through to those of the first 'period of concealment' when their public identities remained hidden, to the Imam-caliphs of the illustrious Fatimid dynasty, and those of the Alamut period, up to the Aga Khans of the modern period. The Ismaili Imams mines the rich scholarship of the developing field of Ismaili Studies, providing a simple and clear resource for the general reader, as well as a handy reference guide for scholars. This copiously illustrated book offers a snapshot of the lives, events, and legacies of all 49 Imams, and through them, of the Ismaili community's storied past.

Download or read book The Eastern Frontier written by Robert Haug and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-06-27 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Transoxania, Khurasan, and ?ukharistan – which comprise large parts of today's Central Asia – have long been an important frontier zone. In the late antique and early medieval periods, the region was both an eastern political boundary for Persian and Islamic empires and a cultural border separating communities of sedentary farmers from pastoral-nomads. Given its peripheral location, the history of the 'eastern frontier' in this period has often been shown through the lens of expanding empires. However, in this book, Robert Haug argues for a pre-modern Central Asia with a discrete identity, a region that is not just a transitory space or the far-flung corner of empires, but its own historical entity. From this locally specific perspective, the book takes the reader on a 900-year tour of the area, from Sasanian control, through the Umayyads and Abbasids, to the quasi-independent dynasties of the Tahirids and the Samanids. Drawing on an impressive array of literary, numismatic and archaeological sources, Haug reveals the unique and varied challenges the eastern frontier presented to imperial powers that strove to integrate the area into their greater systems. This is essential reading for all scholars working on early Islamic, Iranian and Central Asian history, as well as those with an interest in the dynamics of frontier regions.

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of the Ismailis written by Farhad Daftary and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2011-12-30 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ismaili Muslims, who belong to the Shia branch of Islam, live in over 25 different countries around the world, mainly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Their history has typically been linked to the history of the various countries in which they live, but the worldwide community is united under Prince Karim Aga Khan, the spiritual leader and 49th Imam of the Ismaili Muslims. Few fields of Islamic studies have witnessed as drastic a change as Ismaili studies, due in part to the recent discovery of numerous historical texts, and author Farhad Daftary makes extensive use of these new sources in the Historical Dictionary of the Ismailis. This comprehensive new reference work is the first of its kind on the Ismailis and presents a summary of the findings of modern scholarship on the Ismaili Shia Muslims and different facets of their heritage. The dictionary covers all phases of Ismaili history as well as the main doctrines of the community. It includes an introductory chapter, which provides a broad historical survey of the Ismailis, followed by alphabetical entries on all major aspects of the community, such as key figures, institutions, traditions, and doctrines. It also contains a chronology, genealogical tables, a glossary, and a substantial bibliography. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Ismailis.

Download or read book The Aga Khan Case written by Teena Purohit and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-10-31 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An overwhelmingly Arab-centric perspective dominates the West’s understanding of Islam and leads to a view of this religion as exclusively Middle Eastern and monolithic. Teena Purohit presses for a reorientation that would conceptualize Islam instead as a heterogeneous religion that has found a variety of expressions in local contexts throughout history. The story she tells of an Ismaili community in colonial India illustrates how much more complex Muslim identity is, and always has been, than the media would have us believe. The Aga Khan Case focuses on a nineteenth-century court case in Bombay that influenced how religious identity was defined in India and subsequently the British Empire. The case arose when a group of Indians known as the Khojas refused to pay tithes to the Aga Khan, a Persian nobleman and hereditary spiritual leader of the Ismailis. The Khojas abided by both Hindu and Muslim customs and did not identify with a single religion prior to the court’s ruling in 1866, when the judge declared them to be converts to Ismaili Islam beholden to the Aga Khan. In her analysis of the ginans, the religious texts of the Khojas that formed the basis of the judge’s decision, Purohit reveals that the religious practices they describe are not derivations of a Middle Eastern Islam but manifestations of a local vernacular one. Purohit suggests that only when we understand Islam as inseparable from the specific cultural milieus in which it flourishes do we fully grasp the meaning of this global religion.

Download or read book The Temptations of Tyranny in Central Asia written by David Lewis and published by Hurst & Company. This book was released on 2008 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explains why the US alliance with Uzbekistan failed to produce reform and instead ended with the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Andijan. This book provides an account of the 2005 revolution in Kyrgyzstan, investigates the bizarre dictatorship in Turkmenistan that threatens to be the next North Korea, and examines the Islamic militant groups.