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Aga Khan I, also Āghā Khān I and Āqā Khān I (Persian: آغا خان اوّل or, less commonly but more correctly آقا خان اوّل), was the title accorded to Ḥasan ‘Alī Shāh (Persian: حسن علی شاه, b. 1804 in Kahak; d. 1881), the 46th Imam of the Qāsim-Shāhī Nizari Ismailis.
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Early life and family
Aga Khan I was born in 1219/1804 in Kahak to Shāh Khalīl Allāh, the 45th Qāsim-Shāhī Nizari Imam, and Bībī Sarkāra, the daughter of Muḥammad Ṣādiq Maḥallātī (d. 1230/1815). Muḥammad Ṣādiq Maḥallātī was a poet and a Ni‘mat Allāhī Sufi. When Shāh Khalīl Allāh moved to Yazd in 1230/1815 (probably out of a desire to be closer to his Indian followers, who used to travel to Persia to see the Imam), he left his wife and children in Kahak to live on the revenues obtained from the family holdings in the Maḥallāt region. Two years later, in 1232/1817, Shāh Khalīl Allāh was killed during a conflict between some of his followers and local shopkeepers. He was succeeded by his eldest son Ḥasan ‘Alī Shāh, also known as Muḥammad Ḥasan, who became the 46th Imam. The family was left unprovided for after a conflict between the local Nizaris and Ḥasan ‘Alī Shāh's son-in-law Īmānī Khān Farāhānī, who had been in charge of Ḥasan ‘Alī Shāh's land holdings. The young Imam and his mother moved to Qumm, but their financial situation worsened. Ḥasan ‘Alī Shāh's mother decided to go to the Qājār court in Tehran to obtain justice for her husband and son and was eventually successful. Those who had been involved in the Shāh Khalīl Allāh's murder were punished and the Persian king Fatḥ ‘Alī Shāh increased Ḥasan ‘Alī Shāh's land holdings in the Maḥallāt region and gave him one of his daughters, Sarv-i Jahān Khānum, in marriage. Fatḥ ‘Alī Shāh also appointed Ḥasan ‘Alī Shāh as governor of Qumm and bestowed upon him the honorific of Āghā Khān. Ḥasan ‘Alī Shāh thus become known as Āghā Khān Maḥallātī, and the title of Āghā Khān was inherited by his successors. Āghā Khān I's mother later moved to India where she died in 1267/1851.
Governorship of Kirman
Before the Aga Khan emigrated from Persia, he was appointed by the Persian ruler, Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar, to be governor-general of the important province of Kerman. His rule was noted for firmness, moderation and high political sagacity, and he succeeded for a long time in retaining the friendship and confidence of his master the Shah, although his career was beset with political intrigues and jealousy on the part of rival and court favourites, and with internal turbulence. He was sentenced to death when the Shah of Iran discovered Aga Khan's claim to be God's Mazar on Earth, the title was also cancelled by the Shah. At last, however, the fate usual to statesmen in oriental countries overtook him, and he incurred the mortal displeasure of Fateh. He fled from Persia and sought protection in British territory, preferring to settle down eventually in India, making Mumbai his headquarters. At that period the First Anglo-Afghan War was at its height, and in crossing over from Persia through Afghanistan the Aga Khan supported the British army. Some years later he rendered similar conspicuous services in the course of the Sindh campaign, when his help was utilized by Charles James Napier in the process of subduing the frontier tribes, many of whom acknowledged the Aga's authority as their spiritual head. Napier held his Muslim ally in great esteem, and entertained a very high opinion of his political acumen and chivalry. The Aga Khan reciprocated the British commander's confidence and friendship by giving repeated proofs of his devotion and attachment to the British government, and when he finally settled down in India, his position as the leader of the large Ismaili section of Muslim British subjects was recognized by the government, and the title of His Highness was conferred on him, with a large pension.
Final years
From that time until his death in 1881, Aga Khan I led the life of a peaceful and peacemaking citizen, under the protection of British rule, continued to discharge his sacerdotal functions, not only among his followers in India, but towards the more numerous communities which acknowledged his religious sway in distant countries, such as Afghanistan, Khorasan, Persia, Arabia, Central Asia, and even distant Syria and Morocco. He remained throughout unflinchingly loyal to the British Raj, and by his vast and unquestioned influence among the frontier tribes on the northern borders of India he exercised a control over their unruly passions in times of trouble, which proved of invaluable service in the several expeditions led by British arms on the northwest frontier of India. He was also the means of checking the fanaticism of the more turbulent Muslims in British India, which in times of internal troubles and misunderstandings finds vent in the shape of religious or political riots. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Aga Khan II.
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| Preceded by ' |
Aga Khan I –1881 |
Succeeded by Aga Khan II |
