Simerg is an independent platform that focuses on the dissemination of knowledge about the faith, culture and news pertaining to the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims led by their Hereditary Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, through literary readings as well as artistic and textual expressions. It also brings to its readers news, events and programs that are of interest to all readers, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Simerg supports 2 more independent initiatives, Barakah.com and Simergphotos.com
PRELUDE:Thirty years ago, Mbeya Town, situated in the Southern Highland region of Tanzania lost Raibanu Sikina Kanji Lalji. She and her husband Rai Kanji Lalji were one of the pioneers of Mbeya. She was a dedicated person not only to her Lalji Bharmal family by marriage but to all communities of the town. Being her grand nephew, I am humbled to write about her so that she is not forgotten and thus will belong to the pages of history of the Indian contribution in the development of East African countries.
It is a misconception that the people of Indian origin in East Africa are descendants of the labourers who built Kenya-Uganda railway. Almost 32,000 workers from Kutch and Punjab were involved in laying a railway line from Mombasa to Kampala. Between 1896 and 1901, 2,493 workers died and 6,454 became invalid while laying the tracks. After the completions, only about 7,000 workers chose to stay back; the rest of them returned to India.
History indicates that there were trade links between Kutch, Gujarat and African coast for centuries. Modern day migration of Indians (or Asians as they were called in East Africa) to East Africa started in early and middle part 19th century. It was estimated that the number of Indians living in Zanzibar in 1859 was around 2,000.
Before, during and after the completion of laying of railway tracks in East African countries, Indian traders, mostly in the beginning from Kutch and then Kathiawar, had migrated to establish trading posts, called “dukas” along the railway routes. There were however others who were brave enough to venture out and establish trading posts in unexplored and dangerous regions of these countries. This was to provide the needs of indigenous populations and also of German and British administrators, living in the towns where they had established administration centers called “Bomas”. One such part was Southern Highland region of German East Africa (Tanganyika) and one such family was of my great grandfather Lalji Bharmal Rana’s children and grandchildren.
Initially, the Indian settlers in East African countries were male Indians. These men came alone without their spouses, as either they felt that the move to East Africa would be temporary and short lived or would send for their wives later on, when financial means permitted. The other group was young single men.
Women, following their migration to East Africa, either to join their husbands or after becoming brides of young single men who had gone back to get married, have played a very major and important role in the success of Indian settlement in Africa in general and East Africa in particular. They not only minded their homes and looked after the children but they were pillars of support for Indian men. They helped their husbands in the “dukas”, looked after the extended family and also helped other women in the community they were living in.
Mbeya and Tukuyu regions of the Southern Highland Province of Tanganyika was blessed with arrival in the early part of 1923 — after her marriage to Wadabapa Kanji Lalji Bharmal — of a lady, who would play a major role not only in the settlement of Lalji Bharmal family and Indian community of various backgrounds and religion but also the betterment of the general population of Mbeya.
Her name was Sikinabai Kanji Lalji — our Wadima, The Grandma of Mbeya.
Wadima Raibanu Sikina Kanji Lalji. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
Wadima Sikina was the daughter of Hirji Rajpar Kalyan from Nagalpur, Kutch. She was a sister of five brothers who all migrated to Tanganyika. The oldest brother, Jaffer, settled in Zanzibar and the rest, Mollo, Merali, Bandali and Suleman settled in Tukuyu. Wadabapa Kanji Lalji was the second son of Lalji Bharmal and being single, immigrated first in early second decade of 20th century. His older brother, Manji, was a family man and a breadwinner for the Lalji Bharmal family, farming on their small piece of land called “Kundhi Wadi”. Thus he was not able to go first to Tanganyika. Wadabapa Kanji Lalji after succeeding in his business, returned to Kutch in 1922 to get married.
Wadima’s parents, Mr & Mrs Hirji Rajpar Kalyan. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
The 48th Ismaili Imam, Mawlana Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan lll, had instructed the Kutch Kathiawar Ismaili Jamats to go to East Africa for economical betterment. So this newly married couple was given a big task to take some of Wadabapa’s brothers and nephews with them on their trip back to East Africa to settle them and help them to earn their living there. At a young age of seventeen and as a newly married bride, she took this responsibility with her husband and became the “mother” of the family.
The new home of Wadima, as Mrs Sikinabai Kanji Lalji, will be addressed from now on, was in New-Langenburg (presently known as Tukuyu), a small hillside town in the Southern Highland region of Tanganyika (now known as Tanzania).This was the place the German administration, before 1st World War, had established a center called “Boma”. Mr Kanji Lalji had moved to this place from a close by village of Masoko where he had initially settled in 1911.
Mr & Mrs Kanji Lalji. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
In those days, these small villages in East Africa did not have any hotels or restaurants. There were only few Indian families of different backgrounds, i.e. Hindus, Sunni Muslims and Khoja Muslims (mostly Ismailis).They thus had no choice but to look after each other in all ways of life. Any new arrival or visitor would just have to go to any “duka” of an Indian person and he and his family would be taken care of. They would be fed, housed and also would get help so to open their own “dukas” or find them employment, regardless of religious background. This was an old Sindhi, Kutchi and Khatiawadi tradition for generations, practised in India and outside India.
Click on map for enlargement
Shaded relief map of Tanzania. Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas. This is an annotated version prepared by Simerg and locations mentioned in the article have been circled in red.
As very few of the Indian man-folk had wives, Wadimaa played major role in this aspect in Tukuyu, during that time. One such example was an arrival of a Sunni Muslim family of Haji Yusufmia in Tukuyu in late 1920’s or early 1930’s; they had arrived in Tukuyu after crossing Lake Nyassa (Malawi) in a small canoe from Nyasaland. They were on their way to Mbeya region to settle. They stayed with them and Haji Yusufmia made Wadimaa his blood sister. From then on that relationship between these two families continues to exist until the present day and has remained strong among their children and grandchildren. Haji Yusufmia became a prosperous businessman in Mbeya and a respected Muslim community leader in the Southern Highland region. He and his family were officially invited to attend the Diamond Jubilee celebration of Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan in 1946 in Dar es Salaam.
Wadima Sikinabai and Wadabapa Kanji Lalji were matriarch of the Lalji Bharmal family in the settlement of Wadabapa’s older brother Manji’s sons and daughters, his younger brothers Hussein and Karim Lalji. They helped them settle, marry and establish themselves in Tanganyika and some of them became quite successful economically.
In spite of being young, Wadima had an inborn mature quality and accepted a major role in the social aspect of the communities. She learned Swahili language and also local tribal language of Nyakyusa. As there were no doctors or official midwives, women helped each other during deliveries. She was one of the main women involved as a “midwife”. She was self-taught by observing and also from a midwifery medical book for women; she told me that she bought this book in Mumbai for 3 rupees during her first return visit to Kutch after her marriage. She also told me (being an MD myself) during our fireplace talks in her later years, while visiting Vancouver, that she still wanted to learn more. She wanted to know about new procedures involved during deliveries in the present modern day.
In 1935, Wadima and her family relocated to Mbeya. They became one of the pioneers of Mbeya. She continued her involvement in Mbeya community in the same way, and in some respect in more involved way. She was the main lady player in establishment of the Ismaili community of Mbeya. She, with her husband served as Mukhiani and Mukhi of Mbeya Ismaili Jamat in 1938. Their names are embedded on the plaque shown below. She also was instrumental in the establishment of other Ismaili majalis gatherings in Mbeya. In early 1950’s, as per Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah’s instructions, she was one of the first ladies in Mbeya, to adopt the simple western dress and gave up her Indian attire of “pacheri” and saris. She also was instrumental in getting other reluctant Ismaili ladies to do the same.
List of Mukhis and Kamadias of Mbeya Jamat Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
Wadima established the Ismaili Ladies Voluntary corps in Mbeya. The following pictures show her involvement over the decades. She also participated in preparing food during Ismaili functions as part of “Jaman” committee. In spite of her age, she also participated in one of the early Vancouver Partnership Walk during her visit to Vancouver, BC.
Mbeya Aga Khan Women’s Voluntary Corp early 1950s. Photograph: Dr Mohamed Manji collection.
Mbeya Aga Khan Women’s Voluntary Corp late 1950s. Photograph: Dr Mohamed Manji collection.
Mbeya Aga Khan Women’s Voluntary Corp late 1980s. Photograph: Dr Mohamed Manji collection.
Over the years, she earned the respect of all communities of Mbeya, whether they were of native African population or of Indian and European background and came to be known as WADIMA (Grandma). She had a persona of being confidant and in expressing authority. Families would get her involved in settlement of family, marital and financial issues of the community. After Tanganyika’s independence on December 9, 1961, local native political leader would come and greet her as she had known them since they were young. At any Indian wedding, she would be consulted and invited. I remember that my father did consult and inform her about weddings in our family.
In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, members of the Lalji family in Mbeya would visit Wadima’s place once or twice a week after Jamatkhana, for chit-chat. I was very young and my young cousins and young uncles would gather around a “sigree” (charcoal heating utensil), as Mbeya at an altitude of 1,758 metres (5,500 ft) was quite a cold place. The rooms were lit by lanterns; in that period there was no electricity in Mbeya. We would listen to the elders talking about local news, news from Kutch and other family news. Wadima was a very good storyteller. The young ones would sit with her and she would tell to us about our ancestry, about Kutch and their early hard days they went through when she came to Tanganyika and other interesting stories. This was kind of passing on to all of us, our history and informing us, who we were and where we came from.
Her legacy is being remembered and talked about, up to now, by all Lalji Bharmal youngsters, who were sitting around the “sigree” in those early days and also the new Lalji Bharmal generations in the latter days. When we get together here in Canada and talk about Mbeya, we remember her by saying to each other that “Wadima was saying so”.
Wadima during one of her visit to Vancouver in early 1990’s fell sick. Her wish always was to be buried in the African soil. She returned to Mbeya, Tanzania, her “home”. She passed away in Mbeya, surrounded by family, at the age of 88 years, on February 8th, 1994, and she is buried in Mbeya, Tanzania — the place she was a part of in building.
As I reflect on her magnificent life, I pray for the peace of her soul as well as the souls of all the departed members of my family.
Acknowledgements: I would like to first acknowledge my late Wadima Raibanu Sikina Kanji Lalji herself. She over the years provided me her history, which enabled me to pen down the above write up. I would also like to acknowledge my father’s first cousin and Wadimaa’s son Mr Badrudin Kanji Lalji, his daughter Al-Shamsh (Shamshi) Ladha and Wadimaa’s blood bother’s son Haji Satarmia Haji Yusufmia for providing information for this write up.
Date posted: March 16, 2023. Last updated: March 18, 2023 (names, typo corrections.)
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Dr. Mohamed Fazal Manji
Dr Mohamed Fazal Manji, a cancer special and recipient of the 2022 Royal College of Canada M. Andrew Padmos International Collaboration Award, is originally from Mbeya, Tanzania. He is a Consultant Radiation Oncologist at BC Cancer Agency of British Columbia, Canada, and Clinical Associate Professor, University of British Columbia.He graduated in medicine from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda and immigrated to Canada in 1972. Dr. Manji specialised in radiation cancer treatments at Princess Margaret Hospital (Cancer Center as it is called now) in Toronto. He obtained the Canadian Fellowship (FRCPC) and American Board Specialist Certification (DABRT) in Radiation Oncology. He also undertook special courses in Nuclear Medicine and Endocrinology at Harvard Medical School, Boston USA. He became the first Canadian trained Ismaili Radiation Oncologist in Canada and probably in North America.
A plaque from Aga Khan University in appreciation of Dr. Manji’s services and at right Dr. Manji received the 2022 Royal College of Canada M. Andrew Padmos International Collaboration Award
He has been working at BC Cancer agency since 1977. He spent time abroad, working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to help modernize the Radiation Department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center. He spent 12 years at this tertiary hospital for cancer and other diseases. He was also involved in the planning and development of Radiation Oncology Departments at the Aga Khan University Hospitals in Karachi and Nairobi and spent some time working at both places. He has contributed to many peer review publications, abstracts, book chapters and also lecture presentations nationally and internationally. He is the son of Rai Fazal Manji of Mbeya Tanzania, who served as a member of Aga Khan Supreme Council of Tanganyika in 1950’s and Raibanu Rehmat Fazal Manji, daughter of Alijah Mohamed Hamir who, in early 1930’s, built an iconic Jamatkhana in Iringa, Tanzania, and donated it to Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah unconditionally. Dr Manji served as first Member for Health on the first Aga Khan Ismaili Regional Council of Ontario and Quebec in 1973. He has previously contributed an informative piece on Prince Amyn Aga Khan’s visit to Toronto in 1973 on Simerg’s sister website Barakah.
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Before departing this website, please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought-provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos. The editor may be reached via email at mmerchant@simerg.com.
[An extended version of this post can be read on Simerg’s sister blog Barakah which was launched in 2017 as an honour and dedication to the 49th Hereditary Ismaili Imam, Mawlana Shah Karim al Husssaini, His Highness the Aga Khan, on the auspicious and historic occasion of his 60th Imamat anniversary or the Diamond Jubilee — Ed.]
When the 48th Ismaili Imam, Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan, passed away on July 11, 1957 at the age of 79, he chose his 20 year old grandson, Shah Karim al Hussaini, then a student at Harvard University, to succeed him as the 49th Hereditary Imam of the community.
The late Aga Khan who was born on November 2, 1877, succeeded to the throne of Imamat on August 17, 1885, when he was only 7 years old. His Imamat of 71 years is the longest in the 1400 span of Ismaili history that goes back to the origins of Shia Islam when the Prophet Muhammad — may peace be upon him and his family — appointed his son-in-law, Ali, to continue his teachings within the Muslim community. The current 49th Imam said in an interview, that the Ismailis are the only Shia Muslims to have a living Imam, namely himself.
At the death of the 48th Imam in 1957, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (d. September 2022), sent the following message to the new Aga Khan through her Private Secretary:
“His Highness will be remembered by all for the wise guidance and selfless leadership which he has freely given during his many happy and eventful years. His energetic and devoted work for the League of Nations in a life dedicated to the service of his followers and to the welfare of mankind will long be remembered. In the arduous responsibility which you will be called on to bear as leader of your people, Her Majesty extends to you her sincere greetings and prayers that you may long fulfil your role as counsellor to the Ismaili community who owe you their allegiance.”
Aga Khan III had long expressed the wish that his burial should be in Aswan, Egypt. His wife, the Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan, undertook the monumental task of coordinating the construction of the mausoleum near the villa. The mausoleum was completed in about 18 months. In the meanwhile, the body of the late Imam was temporarily buried in the compounds of the Villa. The final burial then took place on February 19, 1959.
We present a selection of photographs of the mausoleum as well as other images from the historical day (for more details and photos see the post in Barakah.)
The successor of Aga Khan III, Mawlana Sha Karim al Hussaini, His Highness the Aga Khan, left, his uncle Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, right, and his younger brotehr Prince Amyn Aga Khan at the back, carrying the shrouded body of the 48th Ismaili Imam, Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, from its temporary resting place to the mausoleum. Photograph: Jehangir Merchant collection.
Mourners watch as the body of the 48th Ismaili Imam, Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan, is carried into the mausoleum, February 19, 1959. Photograph: Jehangir Merchant collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, pictured on October 19, 1957 at his 1st Takhtnashini or ceremonial installation, held in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now Tanzania). He became the 49th Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims,on July 11, 1957 at the age of 20. Photograph: Ilm Magazine, July 1977.
“Today, I am speaking to you in a city and in a country which have a particular meaning to my family and myself. On 2nd November, 1877 my beloved grandfather was born here in Karachi. Through 72 years of Imamat, he guided his spiritual children to happiness and prosperity” — Karachi, August 4, 1957.
“Many many memories come to our minds as we think of him. He achieved in his life, for our community that which could only have been accomplished normally in a period of many generations. The tributes that the world has paid him bear honest testimony to his great life and work” — Takhtnashini, ceremonial installation, Karachi, Pakistan, January 23, 1958.
Date posted: February 21, 2023.
Featured image at top of post: The mausoleum of Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan, overlooking his villa and the Nile. Photograph: Motani Family collection, Ottawa, Canada.
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For an extended version of this post please click HERE.
Before departing this website, please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought-provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos.
“What an absolutely marvelous job you did in creating this work… How very important it was for you to do this because I think it gives a truer picture of what actually happened… Your film should be more widely distributed – especially to schools. To learn that our decisions can have significant repercussions is an important idea to understand” — Jennifer Shelley, Edmonton
Note: The event is now over.
[Simerg is delighted to inform its readers, especially those living in and around the Calgary area, that Edmonton based filmmaker Aleem Karmali is travelling to Calgary for the screening of his highly acclaimed film “Thrown into Canada: The Settlement of Asian Refugees from Uganda”, on Saturday, January 21, 2023, at the Globe Cinema located at 617 8 Ave SW, Calgary. The doors to the cinema will open at 1:00 PM and the film will commence shortly thereafter. At the screening, Aleem will engage in a discussion with Honourable Salma Lakhani, the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, whose appointment to the position was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on June 30, 2020. Salma herself became stateless when Idi Amin announced the expulsion of Asians from Uganda in August 1972. As readers may be aware, Simerg had carried a special article on Salma Lakhani with a link to an interview she gave to the Canadian Geographic magazine. We sincerely hope Calgary residents will fill up the cinema for Karmali’s film. Tickets are only $10.00 and can be purchased by clicking on EVENTBRITE. At Simerg’s invitation, Aleem Karmali has prepared the following short introductory piece about the film he is screening in Calgary — Ed.]
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The Ugandan Asian Refugees: Canada’s First Major Movement of Non-European Refugees
The story of the Ugandan Asian refugees has received a fair amount of coverage in the past year, marking the 50th anniversary of Idi Amin’s expulsion of South Asians from Uganda in 1972. The expulsion targeted around 50 thousand people from a diverse array of ethnic and religious backgrounds, including several thousand Ismaili Muslims.
Often when these stories are told, they focus on the experiences of the refugees during the expulsion, their settlement in the UK, Canada, or other countries, and their contributions to their new societies. Typically, the story begins with Idi Amin’s expulsion order and they rarely engage with the damaging legacy of British colonialism in shaping the tangled historical context leading up to the expulsion.
In Canada specifically, the stories often focus specifically on Ismailis. However, while the Ismailis were the largest group that came to Canada, this was actually a diverse community, including many Goans, Hindus, Sikhs, and other Muslims.
DOCUMENTING AN UNTOLD CANADIAN STORY
When I set out to make a documentary film about the expulsion, I wanted to tell the Canadian story in a slightly different way than others had generally approached it. I approached the expulsion as a key moment in Canadian refugee and immigration history.
The Ugandan Asians were the first major movement of non-European and non-white refugees accepted in Canadian history. We tend to view Canada today as a multicultural, diverse, and pluralistic society. However, it was not always so.
Canada’s early history had very exclusionary immigration policies rooted in Canada’s history as a British colony. Eventually, Canadian immigration policies began to change, laying the foundations for Canada’s decision to accept almost 8,000 Ugandan refugees.
The Uganda movement also left a legacy in Canada. The generally positive perception of the Ugandan refugees opened the door to more, and larger, refugee movements from outside Europe, including the Boat People in the late 1970s, and later movements from Afghanistan and Syria.
Another legacy is that the experiences of Canadian immigration officials on the ground in Uganda led to new policies, particularly the world’s first policy of private sponsorship of refugees.
The film features interviews with historians, Canadian immigration officials, and former Ugandan refugees from the Ismaili, Goan, and Hindu communities. Notable interviews include Dr. Shezan Muhammedi, Prof. Karim H. Karim, Senator Mobina Jaffer, and Her Honour, the Honourable Salma Lakhani, the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.
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Watch Trailer
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CALGARY SCREENING: JANUARY 21, 2023, GLOBE CINEMA, DOORS OPEN 1:00 PM; AND LINK TO PURCHASE TICKETS
An upcoming screening will be held on Saturday, January 21 in Calgary at the Globe Cinema — 617 8 Ave SW, Calgary — followed by a panel discussion with Her Honour Salma Lakhani and myself. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by clicking on EVENTBRITE.
The film is independently-produced with grant funding from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Edmonton Arts Council.
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TESTIMONIALS ON THE FILM
The following is feedback received from previous screenings of the film:
“I want to compliment you on a superb documentary.” — Michael Molloy, Canadian Immigration Official in Kampala in 1972
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“It is beautifully told – written and visual. I love many creative elements you’ve included and I was so happy to hear so many voices.” — Shelley Ayres, Producer/Director of “Expelled: My Roots in Uganda” (CTV)
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“The film was so well made, and I learned so much.” — Ikhlas Hussain, Waterloo Public Library
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“What a wonderful contribution!!” — Dr. Shenila Khoja-Moolji, Associate Professor of Muslim Societies at Georgetown University
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“What an absolutely marvelous job you did in creating this work… How very important it was for you to do this because I think it gives a truer picture of what actually happened… Your film should be more widely distributed – especially to schools. To learn that our decisions can have significant repercussions is an important idea to understand.” — Jennifer Shelley, Edmonton Resident
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PURCHASE TICKETS
Again, tickets for the film can be purchased by clicking on EVENTBRITE.
Date posted: January 17, 2023. Last updated: January 20, 2023 (trailer added.)
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Aleem Karmali
Aleem Karmali is an independent documentary filmmaker, writer and educator based in Edmonton, Canada. Through his company Crescent Productions, his films generally explore the intersections of history, diversity, culture and religion, with a particular focus on the contributions of Muslim civilizations to the world. He is also an alumnus of The Institute of Ismaili Studies and has produced several projects for The.Ismaili and the Aga Khan Development Network over the years. He also contributed The Unveiling at Sijilmasa for Simerg’s acclaimed series I Wish I’d Been There.
REVIEW SIMERG’S TABLE OF CONTENTS AND VISIT ITS SISTER WEBSITES
Before departing this website, please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought-provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos. The editor may be reached via email at mmerchant@simerg.com.
[NOTE: The event is over. We invite you to watch a recording of the event by clicking on https://youtu.be/xPnry0TvCY8. For a background article, see below — Ed.]
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November 6, 2022: Uganda Expulsion at Fifty
The Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board for the United Kingdom (ITREB, UK) is hosting a virtual panel discussion today, Sunday, November 6, 2022, involving five leading members of the Ismaili Muslim Jamat (community) who have been involved in one way or another in the resettlement process since the expulsion of Asians from Uganda 50 years ago. The link for the panel discussion is Watch Zoom: Uganda Expulsion at 50. (Note: Passcode/password not required, as the Zoom link provided is more than sufficient to enter the event.)
The discussion will commence at 7:30 PM GMT (see other local times below). Readers of this website are urged to watch this unique and important session and inform their family members, friends and other contacts to join the session. Please mark it on your calendar.
The session is part of ITREB UK’s Heritage Series and is entitled “The Ugandan Asian Expulsion at 50 — Reflections on the Emergence of a new Ismaili Diaspora in North America and Europe.” The program is an initiative of BUA50 (British Ugandan Asians at 50) which is composed of a Steering Committe with members from the UK and other countries around the world. BUA50 commemorative events have also taken place in South Africa and Australia.
The panelists for this event will include Amin Mawji OBE (Order of the British Empire), who is currently the Diplomatic Representative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Uganda. He will provide the opening remarks. Others in the panel are lawyer and economist as well as author of a recent book, Memories of a Ugandan Refugee: Encounters of Hope from Kampala to Vancouver, Jalal Jaffer, one of the early expellees who has held senior leadership positions in Ismaili institutions, and Arafat Jamal, Diplomat and Senior Representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in South Sudan.
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In August 1972, President Idi Amin decreed that all resident Asians had to leave Uganda within 90 days. Thousands were rendered stateless by this decree and scrambled to the UK, Canada and other countries with the assistance of the United Nations. Photograph: Journey into Hope, A Chronicle of the Ugandan Asian Migration, Published by The Ismaili, Canada, 1994.
The closing remarks will be offered by Mahmood Ahmed of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF, UK), who was the founding Diplomatic Representative of the AKDN, Uganda.
The Ugandan expulsion of 1972 lay at the fault-line of disagreement between the Uganda, British and Indian governments who refused to take responsibility for the fate of the Asian minorities of East Africa at the end of the decolonisation process. In the words of Yash Tandon, a Ugandan policymaker, political activist, professor, author and public intellectual, the Asian minorities became “stepchildren of the colonial empire.”
An event not to be missed, this unique session is open to everyone and requires no prior registration.
Again, the link to the session is Watch Zoom: Uganda Expulsion at 50 ((Note: Passcode/password not required, as the link provided is more than sufficient to enter the event.) The session is on Sunday, November 6, 2022, and the program can be viewed around the world at the following local times:
. 7:30 PM GMT (UK, Portugal)
. 8:30 PM (France, Spain, Germany and many other European countries)
. 2:30 PM (New York, Toronto etc.)
. 11:30 AM (Vancouver, Los Angeles etc.)
. 12:30 PM (Edmonton, Denver etc.)
. 1:30 PM (Chicago, Houston etc.)
. 10:30 PM (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa)
Readers in other worldwide cities in the Middle East, Central and South Asia, the Far East well as Australia and New Zealand, please calibrate your calendar time according to the GMT time of 7:30 PM.
NOTE: When you open the Zoom link and if the ITREB UK event hasn’t begun, the start time of the event that is displayed on your screen is your local time, wherever you may be.
Do not miss this important and unique discussion.
Date posted: November 3, 2022. Last updated: December 17, 2022 (added link to recording of event, see top of page.)
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Before departing this website please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought-provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos.The editor may be reached via email at mmerchant@simerg.com.
[The original version of this piece by Rizwan Mawani was published on Simerg’s sister website Barakah. This reformatted version includes a number of licensed photographs of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, with Prince Charles that were not part of the Barakah article. We have also included excerpts from speeches made by Prince Charles at events where Mawlana Hazar Imam was also present, prior to the Prince of Wales becoming King Charles III upon the death of his mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, on September 8, 2022 — Ed.]
In advance of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee commemorations in January 1887, a 10-year-old Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah (1877-1957), accompanied by his uncle Aga Jungi Shah (d. 1896) addressed the jamat at Bombay’s Darkhana in Persian. His private secretary, Kurrim Khan, translated the speech for the jamat in their native tongue and its English translation was published in the local newspaper. The reign of the sovereign was commemorated across the Empire and a decade earlier, in the same year that Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah was born in Karachi, the Queen was also proclaimed the Empress of India further cementing her relationship to the Subcontinent and its people.
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Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah as a young boy (seated holding a book) with members of his family. His uncle, Aga Jungi Shah, the son of Imam Hassan Ali Shah and the brother of Imam Aga Ali Shah, is likely the person with the cane. Photograph: “H.R.H. Prince Aga Khan’s visit to Iran 1951,” published by the Ismailia Association for Pakistan.
The young Aga Khan III began his speech: “I have great pleasure to inform you, all members of the jamat in and out of Bombay, that her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen Empress of India’s subjects are about to show their loyalty in celebrating the Jubilee year of the reign of her Majesty…”
In his heartfelt oration, the Imam spoke of his gratitude to the Crown. For under its rule, his community was able to practice its faith in relative peace and of the long-standing tradition of the Khoja Ismailis to offer their thanksgiving for this privilege. He continued: “On reference to your prayer books you will find that loyalty to rulers is directed from the foundation of your faith by one of my ancestors, Islam Shah, who instructed Pir Sadr al-Din, the great missionary to the Khojas to teach them to pray daily, ‘God preserve the Raj of the reigning king and grant prosperity to his subjects.’ There are also traditions from his Holiness the Prophet Muhammad to the same effect.”
“I further suppose,” he said, “that many of you present here this morning will remember that my grandfather, Sarkar Aga [Khan I, Imam Hassan Ali Shah], preached in this Jamatkhana to a large assembly of the jamat on the same subject to which I am this day drawing your special attention. I allude to the occasion when public prayer throughout Her Majesty’s dominions was offered up for the recovery of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales from a dangerous illness, and that my grandfather said that he knew of many traditions of his Holiness the Prophet Muhammad, to the effect that it is necessary for all to pray for the safety of the reigning king under whose protection they were living…”
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Painted photograph of Imam Hassan Ali Shah, Aga Khan I (1804–1881). Photograph: The Ismaili Bombay 1936, Golden Jubilee Number.
In this speech, the 48th Imam of the Nizari Ismailis alluded to the relationship of respect that his predecessor, Aga Khan I had with the monarchy, and in hindsight one that would, as we now know, be fostered and strengthened in the coming generations. The Ismaili Imamat, from its early days, has forged relationships with the leadership of international bodies, heads-of-state and religious representatives promoting peace, cooperation and hope. This happened at the state level at times when the Imams also were political rulers. In more recent generations, Ismaili Imams have been concertedly working towards improving the lives of some of the world’s most impoverished and at-risk populations, alongside the betterment of the global Ismaili community through these diplomatic relationships.
The Ismaili Imamat and the British Monarchy share a number of features. They are institutions anchored in history and tradition, both reaching back over a millennium, and yet through their holders-of-office engage with and respond to the challenges of the modern world. They are entrenched in an ethic of service and exemplify this through their many global endeavours aimed at reaching populations regardless of creed or background, despite being associated with Islam and Christianity respectively. Furthermore, they are guided and informed by a duty and responsibility inherent to the position.
The relationship between the Imams and the Queens and Kings of England began to take shape once Imam Hassanali Shah, Aga Khan I, left his native Persia and found himself in the territories under the rule of the British. The aftermath of a political power struggle in the Qajar ruling family, propelled the 46th Ismaili Imam to leave his native home — and the home of at least 25 Ismaili Imams before him. Before settling in Bombay in 1845, the Imam spent time in Afghanistan and Sindh, where he and his retinue rendered his services to the British Crown. In gratitude, Queen Victoria honoured the Aga Khan with the hereditary title of His Highness.
While Imam Hassanali Shah never traveled to London — the metropole and centre of the British Empire — nor spoke English, he was instrumental in forging an important relationship between two long-standing institutions that continues to this day. He regularly corresponded and visited with senior representatives of the monarchy in India, including a number of Viceroys. When the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, visited India in 1875, they visited Aga Khan I at his home, an honour usually only afforded to ruling princes within the Empire. The two leaders also bonded over their love of horses and this common interest and passion drew the two figures, and those of their descendants closer together.
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The SS Laos. The ocean liner taken by Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah on his first trip to Europe in 1898.
It was not until the time of Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah that an Ismaili Imam would meet a British sovereign for the first time. In February 1898, Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah left Bombay for Europe on the French Ocean Liner, the Messageries Maritimes SS Laos. [2] On the same trip, he visited London where he had an audience with Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle and also with Edward VII, the future King of England, who became a close friend. In May of that year, as part of her birthday honours, the Queen conferred on the Ismaili Imam the title of Knight Commander of the Indian Empire (KCIE) for his valuable service in British India during times of riot, famine and plague. [3] A year earlier he worked with Professor Haffkine in developing an inoculation for the plague. In doing so, he helped break down barriers and fears about inoculation and establishing hospitals for the various communities in India to battle the disease.
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Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III, sporting his decorations and honours from the British Monarchy. Photograph: The Ismaili Bombay. Birthday Number, 1932. Thursday 3rd March 1932 (25th Shawwal 1350/Mana Vad II Samvat 1988).
Until Queen Elizabeth II surpassed the milestone, Victoria was the longest reigning British monarch and the longest reigning queen in world history. She died in 1902 and was succeeded by her son, Edward VII. Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah was personally invited to attend the coronation of the new King Emperor and Queen Empress Alexandra. He was further honoured as a personal guest of the royal couple and visited Buckingham Palace and York House outside the formality of the official ceremonies taking place. [4] As a memento of the occasion, the King and Queen sent him two large photos with royal signatures as a souvenir of his visit to England.
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Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah in Garten Robes in London for the Coronation of King George VI, 1936. Photograph: Life Magazine, September 27, 1937 (also republished in Ismaili magazines)
In 1906, before he was King, George V came to India. During his tour, he visited Aligarh University, an institution which Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah was instrumental in establishing with the intent to provide equal opportunities for quality education for Muslims of the Empire. The King was impressed with both the cause and vision of the fledgling institution, and he eulogized the university on his return to England at London’s Guildhall. To return his admiration, Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah set on the process of naming the Academy of Sciences at the school after the then-Prince of Wales. [6]
In May 1910, news reached India of the King Emperor’s death. Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah sent a telegram from Paris as did his mother, Lady Aly Shah, from Mahableshwar relaying the news to the jamat. As with monarchs past, the Jamat conveyed their condolences on behalf of the Ismaili community to the Royal Family and the new King. [7] The Imam, in addition to his condolences sent a wreath comprised of over a thousand lilies. [8] Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah attended the funeral at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor and was only one of three people representing India and its princes.
By this time, the Ismaili Imam had become an important figure not only within the British Empire, but also on the world stage. In addition to holding the office of the Ismaili Imam, he was now also representing and providing a voice for the concerns and priorities of a significant proportion of the world’s Muslim population and in particular was an advocate for their educational uplift. In his role as honorary president of a newly formed body whose seeds were sown at the Muhammadan Educational Conference a quarter-century earlier, he was a champion for the opportunities of Muslims across the Empire.
In the first decade of the new century, there had been an increasing volume in the sentiments against Empire and Empirical rule in various corners of the world. It is likely for this reason that the Reuter’s Agency interviewed Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah on the role and values of the monarchy in the changing world: “Speaking first for myself personally, secondly as president of the All-India Moslem League, representing seventy million Moslems; and thirdly on this question on behalf of all Indians, I gladly pay a tribute to King Edward and to his successor.” In the interview, Sultan Mahomed Shah spoke about the relationships that Britain’s Kings and Queens had with Indians, their values and their service. He also reflected upon the visits of India’s ruling princes to England and the Crown’s regal visits to India. He noted the complexities of rule and that varied sentiments did exist in some quarters and yet noted, “[t]he Thone is the only object in the Empire which unites us with white British fellow-subjects — a common centre of loyalty and love.” [9]
At the time of King George’s ascension to the throne, one half of the world’s Muslim population was still governed by the British monarchy. [10] Many states in which Ismaili Muslims lived were also under British governance, rule or influence. This remained the case for significant parts of the 20th century even as members of the community migrated and relocated from their ancestral lands. These countries where the community’s residence intersected with British rule included the now independent states of Afghanistan (1919), Australia (1901-1986), Bahrain (1971), Canada (1867-1982), Egypt (1922), India (1947), Iraq (1932), Kenya (1963), Kuwait (1961), Malaysia (1957), Myanmar/Burma, New Zealand (1948-1986), Pakistan (1947), Qatar (1971), South Africa (1910-1961), Sri Lanka (1948), Tanzania (1961), Uganda (1962), United Arab Emirates (1971), Yemen (1967), and of course the United Kingdom.
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King George V and Aga Khan III at the Armstice Day Memorial Service in London. Photograph: Souvenir of The All-Africa Celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Hazar Imam, His Highness the Rt. Hon Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, 1946.
In June 1911, Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah was invited as a guest of the nation to attend the coronation of King Edward. On this occasion he also requested from the King a Charter for the Muslim university at Aligarh alongside other champions of Muslim education including the Begum of Bhopal. Later that year, the Aga Khan was decorated with the Star of India from the King during the Coronation Darbar. In 1916, he was further honoured with the status of Chief of the Bombay Presidency for Life which was accompanied by an 11-gun salute, a mark of respect and admiration for his service. From 1914 onwards during his trips to London, the Imam regularly lunched with the King and Queen and also had the opportunity to further their social bonds at Ascot and other racecourses.
In January 1936, due to the illness, and later death, of King George V, Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah muted his own Golden Jubilee commemorations in Bombay and cancelled commemorations in other cities where Ismailis lived. The deep respect and depth of the sentiments of the Imamat to the British Monarchy echoed throughout the Jamat as a result of this gesture.
In 1937, Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah attended the coronation of King George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II, at Westminster Abbey. In his long illustrious career as Imam, Sultan Mahomed Shah was offered 5 titles by 4 different British monarchs: the Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, KCIE by Queen Victoria, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, GCIE by King Edward VII, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India, GCSI and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, GCVO by King George V and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St George, GCMG by Queen Elizabeth II.
Upon Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah’s death in July 1957, Queen Elizabeth wrote a personal note of sympathy to Mata Salamat Om Habibeh, the Imam’s widow. It read:
“It is with deep sorry that I have learned of the death of His Highness, the Aga Khan. I and my predecessors on the Throne have for many years enjoyed the loyalty and devotion of His Highness, and we have been pleased to welcome him on many pleasant occasions when he has visited Britain.” [11]
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A portrait of Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan, and Mata Salamat Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan, in the French edition of the Memoirs of Aga Khan.
Two weeks after the succession of the new Imam, Prince Karim Aga Khan in 1957, Queen Elizabeth bestowed the title of His Highness upon him in the tradition of her predecessors. Although the British Empire had irreparably eroded into an emerging world of nation-states, the reinvestment of the title underscored the continued importance of the Imam on the world stage. Aga Khan IV was to demonstrate over the decades of his Imamat, the office and institution he represented was able to transcend political and geographical ties in a constantly evolving world. This enviable position allowed him to play a unique role in the Muslim world and on the global stage. This was in addition to his transnational community, whose many members continued to live in the independent countries once part of British dominions.
While in the Western world, colonialism was simply an ideology, subjects who experienced this rule first-hand often had very mixed and sometimes devastating experiences. Despite this, one of the greatest legacies of Queen Elizabeth will be the creation of the Commonwealth and the facilitation of the various movements towards independence throughout Asia and Africa. Like the Imamat, the British monarch also was responsible for stewarding and bringing together diverse groups of people under a common cause.
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Mawlana Hazar Imam His Highness the Aga Khan’s support enabled contingents from four Commonwealth countries to participate in a spectacular equestrian event honouring the Queen on her Golden Jubilee in May 2002.
In May 2002, Mawlana Hazar Imam joined ambassadors from Commonwealth nations as well as the United States and France to honour the Queen as part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations. Recognizing the shared history and traditions of these countries and the strength of diplomatic lineages that had been forged, His Highness the Aga Khan remarked, “This event serves to acknowledge the Commonwealth’s importance in maintaining good relations among countries through both good and less good times in their shared history.” He continued, “The event honours the personal attention that Her Majesty the Queen has accorded to that history and the admirable manner in which she has exercised, and continues to exercise, the challenging role of Head of the Commonwealth.” The culmination to her Golden Jubilee celebrations and the crown of this event was the “All the Queen’s Horses” event, the largest of its kind in the world.
In 2020, Mawlana Hazar Imam attended the Annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on special invitation by the Queen. He is currently the Vice-President of the Commonwealth Society which was under the patronage of the Queen until her death with the now-Queen Consort Camilla as its Vice Patron. In March 2022, Prince Rahim Aga Khan, the eldest son of the Ismaili Imam, attended the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey at the Queen’s invitation, representing Mawlana Hazar Imam. In Prince Rahim’s capacity as Vice-President Designate, he led the Loyal Societies and met with Charles, then Prince of Wales, who represented Her Majesty at the service as well as Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. This year’s service had marked the beginning of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
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A section of page 3 of The Commonwealth Service held at Westminster Abbey on Monday March 14, 2022, at which Prince Rahim Aga Khan represented Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan. Please click image to view the complete PDF file of the service.
The Queen, or her representative, were often seen along Mawlana Hazar Imam at events of mutual importance and international significance. These included independence events of a number of countries which were previously under British rule and where the Imam had communal representation or followers. At one of these occasions, on December 12, 1963, the Duke of Edinburgh and Mawlana Hazar Imam were both present in Nairobi, Kenya, to witness and participate in the handover of the instruments of independence to Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta. Representatives of 78 countries were in attendance along with those from the Vatican and the United Nations.
Like his predecessor, the Imam also received honours from the British Monarchy. In 2004, the Imam received the title of Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) from Queen Elizabeth II.
Mawlana Hazar Imam also had warm and friendly relations with the current King Charles III. They shared common interests and a commitment to bettering the world around them and met publicly on numerous occasions while Charles was still Prince of Wales. Their respect extended to each other’s responsibilities and many of these meetings allowed them to better understand the breadth and scope of each other’s work and how it improved the wellbeing of its beneficiaries. Aga Khan IV welcomed the then-Prince Charles to Al-Azhar Park in Egypt’s capital, Cairo in March 2006 and hosted him later that year in Pakistan as they toured development projects in the South Asian country.
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Special Presentation: His Highness the Aga Khan and King Charles III – An Album of Photographs and Speech Excerpts from the Last 30 Years
[IMPORTANT NOTE: A number of images in this section are reproduced under a licensing arrangement with Alamy photos, and may not be reproduced without Alamy’s written permission — Ed.]
OCTOBER 1993: Prince Charles and His Highness Aga Khan at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
“I believe wholeheartedly that the links between these two worlds matter more today than ever before, because the degree of misunderstanding between the Islamic and Western worlds remains dangerously high, and because the need for the two to live and work together in our increasingly interdependent world has never been greater….
“It is odd, in many ways, that misunderstandings between Islam and the West should persist. For that which binds our two worlds together is so much more powerful than that which divides us. Muslims, Christians — and Jews — are all ‘peoples of the Book’. Islam and Christianity share a common monotheistic vision: a belief in one divine God, in the transience of our earthly life, in our accountability for our actions, and in the assurance of life to come.
“We share many key values in common: respect for knowledge, for justice, compassion towards the poor and underprivileged, the importance of family life, respect for parents. ‘Honour thy father and thy mother’ is a Quranic precept too. Our history has been closely bound up together” — Excerpts from speech Islam and the West by Prince Charles, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, October 27, 1993
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, with Prince Charles and the Director of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, Dr. Farham Nizami, at a lecture presented by Prince Charles on “Islam and the West” at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre on October 27, 1993. Photograph: The Ismaili, Canada, March 1994.
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NOVEMBER 1993: Prince Charles and His Highness the Aga Khan at the University of Wales
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, Prince Charles, Chancellor of the University of Wales, and other members of the Chancellor’s procession “doff” their caps following the award of the honorary degree of the Doctor of Laws (LL. D) to Mawlana Hazar Imam on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Wales, November 30, 1993. Photograph: The Ismaili Canada, March 1994.
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Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, in conversation with Prince Charles as President Mary Robinson of Ireland signs the Visitors’ Book at a banquet held on November 30, 1993 at the Cardiff City Hall honouring recipients of Honorary Degrees earlier during the day on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Wales. Photograph: The Ismaili Canada, March 1994.
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DECEMBER 1997: Prince Charles and His Highness the Aga Khan at Asia Society in London
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, greets Prince Charles at a special banquet hosted in July 1997 by the Asia Society to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the independence of India and Pakistan. Photograph: The Ismaili Canada, December 1997.
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MARCH 2006: Prince Charles and His Highness the Aga Khan at Al Azhar Park, Cairo
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, welcomes HRH The Prince of Wales (now King Charless III) and The Duchess of Cornwall (now Queen Consort) to Al-Azhar Park in March 2006 at the beginning of their official 2-week to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India. Photograph: AKDN/Gary Otte.
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NOVEMBER 2006: Prince Charles and His Highness the Aga Khan in Northern Pakistan
“….. if I may say so, [the Ismaili Imamat] is that same leadership and vision which has enabled the Aga Khan Development Network to grow into an organization of international importance, addressing development needs in some thirty-five countries around the World, bridging boundaries of race and religion. My darling wife and I were privileged to see some of this work, towards the end of last year [November 2006], in Altit and Nansoq villages in Northern Pakistan — in fact I was devastated when I had to leave behind the gift I was given, in Altit: a very beautifully shampooed Yak! I got a crate to bring it back, and actually I think a Yak is the only rare breed I haven’t got” — Prince Charles’ reference to the yak (see photo below) was made during his speech at the opening of the Spirit and Life Exhibition on July 12, 2007, at the Ismaili Centre London. Please read the full speech HERE
“Your Highness, Ladies and Gentlemen. I cannot tell you what a pleasure it is for my wife and I to join you this afternoon in celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of His Highness the Aga Khan’s succession to the Imamat. It is, if I may say so, London’s great good fortune that His Highness has chosen to open his Golden Jubilee celebrations with the ‘Spirit and Life’ Exhibition which my wife and I have just seen – we had to drag ourselves away from it! I understand that this is the first time these masterpieces of Islamic art have been seen in London. They are of quite exceptional historical importance and beauty. But, perhaps still more importantly, they also convey the clearest possible message about the close ties between the Abrahamic Faiths. For example, the magnificent Eleventh Century Canon of Medicine, which originated in Iran, was equally indispensable to Western scholars for the better part of five hundred years.” — Excerpt from speech made by Prince Charles at the opening of the Spirit and Life Exhibition on July 12, 2007. Please read the full speech HERE.
JUNE 2018: Prince Charles and His Highness the Aga Khan at the Opening of the Aga Khan Centre, London
“Your Highness, the extraordinary work that you have done throughout your lifetime, in the service of humanity and in the name of Islam, is as remarkable as it is invaluable. For that, you are owed the greatest debt of gratitude and I did just want to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of us all, if I may.
“It is clear to me that in holding dear the values of humility, honour, magnanimity and hospitality, the Ismaili Community takes its inspiration from you, Your Highness, and from your extraordinary ‘Greatness of Soul’.” — Prince Charles, Aga Khan Centre Opening, June 26, 2018. Please read the full speech HERE
On Tuesday, June 26, 2018, King Charles III (then The Prince of Wales opened) The Aga Khan Centre in King’s Cross in the presence of Mawlana Hazar Imam. Situated at the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter, the Aga Khan Centre, designed by Maki and Associates, led by Fumihiko Maki, one of Japan’s most distinguished contemporary architects, provides a new home for a number of UK based organisations founded by His Highness the Aga Khan: The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS), the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) and the Aga Khan Foundation UK (AKF UK).
Prince Charles and Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, discuss the features of the Garden of Life at the new Aga Khan Centre in London with garden designer Madison Coxon during the inauguration of the Centre on June 26, 2018. Photograph: AKDN/Nayyir Damani.
In similarly inspiring this Centre, you have set it on a path to serve the world with great distinction, just as Your Highness has yourself done throughout your remarkable life. My wife and I have been fortunate enough to see just what an inspiration you are to your community when we accompanied you to Altit years ago. Never will we forget that occasion nor, for that matter, the magnificently shampoo-ed bull yak with which I was presented and which, very sadly, I was unable to transport back to Highgrove to graze in my Islamic Garden! — Prince Charles, Aga Khan Centre Opening, June 26, 2018. Please read the full speech HERE.
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MARCH 2019: Prince Charles and His Highness the Aga Khan at Buckingham Palace
Prince Charles named Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, as Global Founding Patron of The Prince’s Trust’s work. They are pictured at a dinner at Buckingham Palace on March 12, 2019. Photograph: Ian Jones/AKDN.
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Rizwan Mawani’s article continues here
During the Imam’s Golden Jubilee, Mawlana Hazar Imam welcomed the Prince of Wales to the Ismaili Centre London on July 12, 2007, to view the Spirit and Life Exhibition showcasing the beauty, diversity and rich legacy of Islamic Art. Many of these artifacts are now on display at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. In June 2018, Prince Charles opened the Aga Khan Centre in London in the presence of Mawlana Hazar Imam. The Aga Khan Centre is the current home of the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilization, The Institute of Ismaili Studies as well as a research library and residences for students. In 2019, Mawlana Hazar Imam was appointed as a Global Founding Partner of the Prince’s Trust UK, then under the patronage of the future King Charles. There have been other occasions when the current King, His Majesty Charles III, as well as members of his family met or honoured Mawlana Hazar Imam that illustrate the bond between the Ismaili Imamat and the British Monarchy.
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Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, is conferred an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature in Education at the University of London by Princess Anne, Chancellor of the University, on October 12, 1989. Photograph: UK Ismaili Newsletter, November/December 1989.
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On June 12, 2009, the University of Cambridge, conferred Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan with a Doctor of Divinity, the first Muslim ever to have received this degree. The Late Duke of Edinburgh was the Chancellor of the University and he is seen in the front row with Mawana Hazar Imam and the University’s Vice Chancellor Professor Alison Richard. Also in the photograph are other Honorary degree recipients. Photograph: University of Cambridge via The Ismaili Canada, December 2009.
The relationship between the Imamat and the British Monarchy has also extended to members of each of the institutions’ families and their representatives. A result of their mutual interests and common dedication to the service of humanity has also meant celebrating milestones and achievements in addition to co-operation on programmes and projects.
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Lady Aly Shah, mother of Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah.
Aga Khan II’s wife and mother of Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah, Shamsul Muluk, more commonly known as Lady Aly Shah, was an important contributor to welfare projects throughout the British Empire. She was a champion for women’s rights, a skilled fundraiser and a force of change for both the Ismaili community as well as for Muslim women in India. For many years she was president of the influential Mohammedan Purdah Ladies Committee which held its first major conference in 1911. As part of this work, she formed strong relationships with a number of the wives of the Viceroys, or Governors-General of India, including Lady Willingdon. For her dedication and service to humanity, she was honoured with the title of the Imperial Order of the Crown of India, membership which is normally reserved for Queens, ruling princesses and the Vicerenes. For the occasion, she travelled to London at the age of 86 where she was personally invested by King George V.
On the occasion of the funeral and Committal Ceremony of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on September 19, 2022, Mawlana Hazar Imam was represented by his son Prince Rahim at the service. Members of the Imam’s family were also present during a dinner hosted by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of Aga Khan IV’s Golden Jubilee in 2008 and at Windsor Castle in 2018 for his Diamond Jubilee.
Likewise, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, met with Mawlana Hazar Imam at the Aga Khan Centre in London on October 2, 2019, for an event that preceded their tour of Pakistan later that month.
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Mawlana Hazar imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, together with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, during a dinner hosted in honour of His Highness the Aga Khan at Buckingham Palace to commemorate his Golden Jubilee, London, July 7, 2008. Photograph: AKDN/Gary Otte
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Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, presents his second son, Prince Hussain, to Her Majesty the Queen. His brother, Prince Amyn, and his oldest son Prince Rahim prepare to be greeted by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and the Duchess of Cornwall, as Princess Yasmin, his sister, looks on. Photo: AKDN/Gary Otte.
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Court Circular
March 8
Buckingham Palace
8th March, 2018
The Queen gave a Dinner Party for The Aga Khan at Windsor Castle this evening to mark His Highness’s Diamond Jubilee at which The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke of York, The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and Members of The Aga Khan’s Family were present.
The Duke of Edinburgh this morning received Mr Martin Palmer (Secretary General, Alliance of Religions and Conservation).
The Prince of Wales, on behalf of The Queen, held an Investiture at Buckingham Palace this morning.
[Note: The Court Circular is the official record of royal engagements and appears daily in the London Times — Ed.]
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Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in conversation with Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, at a dinner hosted on March 8, 2018 by Her Majesty at Windsor Castle on the occasion of his Diamond Jubilee. Photo: AKDN/Gary Otte.
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Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, welcomes Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge at the Aga Khan Centre in London on October 2, 2019. Photo: The Ismaili/Anya Campbell
The article has shown that the relationship of the Ismaili Imamat and the British Monarchy blossomed beginning in the 19th century. Through many monarchs and 4 Ismaili Imams, beginning with Aga Khan I, we have outlined their relationship of respect, cooperation and friendship over the last 150 years from Queen Victoria to King Charles. This relationship is illustrated in the chart shown above at the beginning of this article.
Date posted: October 6, 2022. Last updated: October 7, 2022.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rizwan Mawani
Rizwan Mawani has a background in Anthropology and Religious Studies and is the author of Beyond the Mosque: Diverse Places of Muslim Worship (I. B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2019). Rizwan has written for a wide variety of audiences and his work has appeared in academic publications, encyclopedias as well as the Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post. Rizwan was previously Website Content Editor and Research Coordinator in the Department of Constituency Studies at The Institute of Ismaili Studies. His current research focuses on the past two centuries of global Ismaili history with a focus on the jamatkhana and its development during that period.
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Before departing this website please take a moment to visit Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to almost 2000 pieces published since the website was created in 2009. Also visit Simerg’s two sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos. Barakah’s editor may be reached at mmerchant@simerg.com.
[1] The Times of India, January 24, 1887, p. 7 [2] The Times of India, February 19, 1898, p. 5 [3] The Times of India, May 23, 1898, p. 4 [4] The Times of India, July 7, 1902, p. 6 [5] The Times of India, June 3, 1903, p. 5 [6] The Times of India, May 14, 1910, p. 9 [7] The Times of India, May 9, 1910, p. 5 [8] Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg), May 16, 1910, p. 7 [9] The Times of India, May 28, 1910, p. 10 [10] The Times of India¸ May 30, 1910, p. 6 [11] Times of India, July 13, 1957.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Uganda’s former dictator, Idi Amin, expelling the 80,000-member Asian community. Vancouver’s Salim Rahemtulla, who never set out to be a playwright, is releasing a special play “90 Days” that tells the story of an Ismaili Muslim family’s forced exodus from Uganda in 1972. Salim Rahemtulla’s father waited until two days left before the deadline before getting the remaining family members out of the country. He made this decision after Amin signalled his intention to disperse all Asians left in Kampala to other parts of the country. It was a harrowing experience for his father and mother. “They didn’t even know where they were going,” Rahemtulla says. “They were told on the plane…and they ended up in Malta — my parents and my two younger brothers. One brother ended up in Austria” — PLEASE READ MORE IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT
Poster announcing the world premiere in Vancouver of a new play 90 Days.
A Brief Statement on “90 Days”
By SALIM RAHEMTULLA
“I started writing the play three years ago and my goal was to have it completed and performed for the 50th anniversary of the Uganda Expulsion. The play is set in 1972 in Kampala, and Idi Amin, then President of Uganda, has had a dream he should expel all Asians from the country and give them 90 Days to leave. Yusuf Rahim, a Kampala shopkeeper, is disbelieving of the order and refuses to uproot his wife and two children. He decides to stay. As the family navigates the uncertainties of the ninety days that follow and come into conflict with each other about what to do, the dangers of staying in Kampala become too clear to ignore. As the family makes hard choices about whether to seek asylum in countries that do not want them, the traumatic expulsion is brought to life through the lens of a modest Ismaili family grappling with the pains of separation and tearing themselves away from a country they thought was home.”
Writing to his friends around the world, Salim says:
“I hope you can come to Vancouver and celebrate the play with me and my family and all the wonderful people at Western Gold Theatre and the very talented and experienced cast, the director and all others involved in the staging of this play.”
For more details and to purchase tickets please visit the website: www.westerngoldtheatre.org. The Western Gold Theatre focuses on sharing and celebrating the talents of senior professional theatre artists. In conjunction with the performances, the theatre is also presenting a series of supplementary educational and social activities under the umbrella term, Recounting 90 Days.
Date posted: September 8, 2022.
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As a note to our readers, Salim Rahemtulla and his daughter Zahida worked together to prepare The Aga Khan’s View of the World for our sister website Barakah during the Diamond Jubilee of Mawlana Hazar Imam.
We welcome feedback/letters from our readers. Please click on Leave a comment. Your feedback may be edited for length and brevity, and is subject to moderation. We are unable to acknowledge unpublished letters. Simerg’s editor Malik Merchant may be reached via email at mmerchant@simerg.com
Memories of a Ugandan Refugee: Encounters of Hope from Kampala to Vancouver By Jalal Jaffer, Q.C. 336 pp. FriesenPress, 2022 US$ 29.99 (Hardcover), US$ 19.99 (Paperback) and US$ 6.99 (eBook) as listed on the publisher’s website FriesenPress; also available at Amazon.ca (Hardcover, C$ 33.70; Paperback, C$ 26.57; Kindle C$ 8.91); and at Indigo.ca (as a Kobo Ebook for C$ 8.99). Note: Various formats of the book may sell for less. Please also see Jalal Jaffer’s website for more options to purchase. ________________________________________________
[Nizar Motani’s review of Jalal Jaffer’s Memoirs comes to us for publication close to the 50th anniversary of the announcement on August 4, 1972 by Idi Amin to expel Asians from Uganda; the decree took effect on August 9th. The early major settlement of the first group of Ugandan Asians in Canada has been listed by Carleton University’s special Uganda Asian’s project as follows: Vancouver (1,034); Montreal (480); Toronto (440); Winnipeg (205); and Ottawa (124) — Ed.]
BOOK REVIEW BY NIZAR MOTANI, PhD
Being a diarist since his schooldays; a gifted writer and a poet; a voracious reader; a disciplined life of service, gratitude and contentment with its rewards; and a firm belief that the Divine hand has always been on his shoulder, Jalal Jaffer would be expected to chronicle an exceptional memoir. And he has done it splendidly!
His life story is centered on three overlapping, intertwining, love stories, which beautify and fortify each other. The first love story is about the wonderful family he was born into and his abiding deeply reciprocal love for his parents and eight siblings.
Besides his biological family, he developed a special bond with his spiritual father, the present 49th hereditary Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan IV. However, its foundation was serendipitously laid in his predecessor’s spiritual rein, when the 48th Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan III, named him Jalaluddin, at age sixteen days, during his visit to Kisumu, Kenya, in 1945!
The final love story is about his own biological family, in Vancouver, Canada, after his marriage with Shamshad P.K. Pirani, which remarkably was performed by the 49th Imam, in February 1972, at Kampala, Uganda, Jamatkhana — just six months before Idi Amin’s mass Asian Expulsion order of August 4.
Jalaluddin’s name got shortened to Jalal, who has “tried to traverse through life with prayers and conviction that the Divine hand is, and has always been, on my shoulders to help me, guide me and protect me” (p. 1X). The Divine hand can be seen throughout his autobiography. It came to his rescue when he seriously injured his left hand in an accident, at age six, helping to turn this tragedy into a lifelong triumph, which enabled him to excel at everything; it was at the hotel in Bangkok where two young students he kindly invited into his hotel room to learn about their lives and dreams for the future, instead they drugged and robbed him but could not kidnap or kill him; it was evident at the beach in Karachi where he and his young son, Jamil, could have drowned; and throughout his and his family’s lives.
The Foreword by Dr. Farouk Mitha and The Prologue by the author whet the readers’ appetite for the thirty-three chapters that follow. In the interest of brevity this review will highlight only the most salient aspects of the three love stories, mentioned earlier.
His abiding love for his families (parents’ and his own) is poetically portrayed in Chapter 29: Loving Family and Friends, and Chapter 32: Encounters. ”My encounter with my parents must rank as the most impactful experience and the highest form of learning in my life” (p 299). His biological father passed away at the age of 96. At the lunch after the funeral, Alwaez Sultanali Nazerali delivered a poignant eulogy describing Ali Jaffer Esmail as a saintly person: “an angel in human form”. Jalal has beautifully translated and summarized it in English (p. 297).
“Memories of a Ugandan Refugee” by Jalal Jaffer, 336 pp., FriesenPress, First Edition 2022. Amazon.ca (Hardcover, C$33.70; Paperback, C$ 26.57, Kindle C$ 8.91); and at Indigo.ca (as a Kobo Ebook for C$ 8.99); book may sell for less. Also, visit the website of Jalal Jaffer.
Since their auspicious February 20, 1972 marriage, Shamshad, his beloved “Sham”, and the author, Jalal, have been on many adventurous honeymoons. In a poem titled The Lioness’ Journey, he shares his special love and appreciation for Sham, his bride, wife and partner (p.178-180). Such poetic expressions of his love, for all, appear frequently enhancing the value of this alluring autobiography.
An equivalent of a professional knighthood, Queen’s Counsel (Q.C.), was conferred on him in 2016. It was a great honor and he can and does proudly exhibit it. However, his heart was given to seva (service), in any capacity, at any level, to his murshid (his spiritual leader, the Aga Khan) and to his fellow murids (devotees).
To his amazement, he was blessed with eighteen years of seva at local, national, and international levels (1987-2005). “I was far from exhausted, but my cup was full. I had been blessed to have had these enormously important leadership positions for such a long period…shukar” (p. 210).
For his seva in “these enormously important leadership positions,” which were Imamat-appointed, he reaped enormous “once in a lifetime” meva (reward/blessing, recognition): an invitation to the majestic Diamond Jubilee Homage Ceremony at Aiglemont, France, on July 11, 2017, followed by special seating at the Darbar in Lisbon, Portugal, on July 11, 2018. Both these historic events inevitably moved Jalal to capture his feelings and thoughts in two trademark poems.
Chapter 24: Politics, describes his “insatiable appetite for world affairs and politics” from his childhood days. Of all the conflicts and turmoil engulfing the world, he was sufficiently outraged by the Israeli brutality and inhumanity towards the defenseless Palestinians in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. This led him to chide the “chosen people’ in a “short poem” called I Wonder (p. 220-221). It is a subtle poem but readers will judge its “length” as Jalal’s concept of “short” and “a few words” is uniquely his own!
Two paragraphs to indicate his and his bride’s love, friendship, and respect for their friends will end this not-so-short a review. Chapter 31 captures the astonishing natural beauty of Khorog, Tajikistan, and the surrounding Pamir Mountains and some of its inhabitants. They were guests of Shamim and Iqbal Talib who for almost a decade were engaged in boosting the local economy and had established a spacious second home with ideal accommodation for the rare guests who venture out to Khorog. The Talibs’ unforgettable hospitality competed with the high mountains, and the Jaffers left with fabulous memories and new knowledge of this exotic Ismaili enclave.
However, on another occasion of honoring friendships, he was distinctly derailed when some friends asked him to emcee the wedding of their children. He remembers saying “a few words” that he has recounted over seven meandering pages (271-278)! His captive audience may have endured or even enjoyed his “few words” but his readers could skim through this aberration and enjoy the rest of this memorable memoir.
Date posted: July 30, 2022. Last updated: July 31, 2022.
Correction: In our earlier version of this post, the title of the book was incorrectly referred to as “Memoirs of a Ugandan Refugee….”; the correct title is “Memories of a Ugandan Refugee….” which is now reflected in this latest update of the post.
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Contributor
Nizar A. Motani has a doctorate from the University of London (SOAS) in African history, specializing in British colonial rule in East Africa. He has been a college professor at Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME) and Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI). He was the first Publication Officer at the Institute of Ismaili Studies (London, UK). He now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Motani’s previous pieces on Simerg and its sister website Barakah are:
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Please visit Simerg’s Table of Contents and its Sister Websites
Before departing this website please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos.
Our sister website Barakah is pleased to launch a new series entitled “Historic days in the life of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan”. We commence the series with his visit to Burma (now Myanmar) sixty-two years ago when he celebrated the Iranian New Year or Navroz with his community on March 21, 1960. Why does Barakah consider it to be a historic day? To find out, please CLICK HERE or on the image below, and feel free to submit your feedback through Barakah’s comment box.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th Hereditary Ismaili Imam, pictured in a Burmese traditional dress during his visit to Burma in March 1960. Please click on photo for article.
Date posted: March 20, 2022.
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Before departing this website please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos.
The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection focuses on 16th through 21st century maps of North and and South America, as well as maps of the World, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. Atlases, globes, school geographies, maritime charts, and a variety of separate maps including pocket, wall, children’s and manuscript maps are present on the website. The depth and breath of the digital collection is impressive, and is continuously growing. The website notes that the actual physical map collection is housed at the David Rumsey Map Center at the Stanford University Library.
My search on the website using the term “Fatimid” yielded one result. It is a map produced in 1924 by the Survey of Egypt, which was once regarded as “one of the most professional mapping agencies in the World, predicated upon the synergy of the most authoritative topographical and urban mapping combined with the latest archaeological surveys.”
Simerg is pleased to reproduce the map, along with an interesting narrative that accompanies the map on the David Rumsey Map Center website. We also invite readers to click on the link to enrich their viewing experience of the map, download the map (by using the Export Function) as well as to explore other maps that may be of interest to readers or to provide them with further information in their specific area of research.
Cairo During the Islamic Golden Age
Please click on image for enlargement
Map of Cairo showing Islamic monuments, with the ‘Fatimid and Pre-Fatimid Monuments’ (909 – 1171), shaded in Red; the ‘Aiyubid [Ayyubid] Monuments’ (1171 – 1260), shaded in Green; and the ‘Mameluke Monuments’ (1260 – 1517), shaded in Blue. Credit: David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Cairo was the greatest centre of culture, learning and commerce during the ‘Islamic Golden age’. Commencing in the early 20th Century professional archaeologists as well as art and architectural historians became interested in scientifically recording Cairo’s sensational Islamic buildings and monuments.
The map employs colours to denote sites built across the city during the eras of the three great Islamic empires that controlled Cairo prior to the arrival of the Ottomans in 1517: the ‘Fatimid and Pre-Fatimid Monuments’ (909 – 1171), shaded in Red; the ‘Aiyubid [Ayyubid] Monuments’ (1171 – 1260), shaded in Green; and the ‘Mameluke Monuments’ (1260 – 1517), shaded in Blue.
These mosques, palaces, madrassas, and fortifications appear amidst the otherwise buff-coloured city which generally consisted of buildings built during the subsequent Ottoman and British Protectorate periods.
The map shows that many of the greatest edifices from the periods of the three great Islamic empires have survived, although only traces of the vast Fatimid Place can be found amongst the foundations of newer buildings. Each of the historical sites is named in Gothic script and features a corresponding numeral which refers to that which appears upon the plaques affixed to each building by the civic authorities. The two insets on the left-hand side showcase sites in areas outside of the city proper. We understand that the first edition the map was issued in 1924, while an Arabic language version was published in 1948. The present revised, official edition was issued in 1950-1 (correction, this copy is the first edition, issued in 1924), while several facsimile (unofficial) versions have been issued since then. The Survey of Egypt followed the initial production of the present issue of the map with a small booklet, Index to Mohammedan monuments appearing on the special 1:5000 scale maps of Cairo (Cairo, 1951), that is not present here, but seems to have been issued with the latter-releases of the map.
Cairo during the ‘Islamic Golden Age’ Cairo was traditionally the largest and most culturally and economically important city in the Islamic world. The Muslim conquest of Byzantine Egypt occurred between 639 and 646 AD. While the Cairo area has been settled for thousands of years, with the key Ancient Egyptian cities of Giza and Memphis located nearby, the city proper was not founded until 969, when it became the principal city, and sometimes capital, of the Fatimid Caliphate, a Shia Muslim empire which controlled much of North Africa, the Levant and Hejaz between 909 and 1171.
Cairo rapidly rose to become a centre of great wealth, at the nexus of global trade routes as well as home to some of the world’s foremost centres of education and the arts. Befitting its importance, great monuments of Islamic architecture were built across the city.
The Al-Azhar Madrassa (no. 97 on the map), which later grew into a university, was founded in 970-2 and today remains the world’s most prestigious institute of Islamic learning. The map notes some Islamic monuments made before 969, as the pre-Cairo rural landscape featured some small mosques, houses and fortifications.
The Fatimids were replaced by the Ayyubid Dynasty (1171 – 1260), a regime of Kurdish origin, founded by the legendary conqueror Saladin, whereupon Cairo remained the prosperous centre of an empire spanning much of the Middle East.
The Mamelukes were an elite class of soldier-bureaucrats descended from former Christian slaves. In 1250, they took over Egypt, the Levant and Hejaz, forming the Mameluke Sultanate, with its capital in Cairo. It was during the early part of their regime that Cairo reached its zenith as the principal centre of the Islamic Golden Age.
The epicentre of a global trading network that spanned from India to Spain, Cairo far surpassed all European cities in wealth and cultural sophistication, and many exquisite works of architecture were built to reflect this glorious state. The Mameluke Sultanate was conquered by the Ottomans in 1517 and Cairo ceased to be an imperial capital. However, while technically subject to the Sublime Porte, Egypt maintained a high degree of autonomy and was the wealthiest and most prosperous part of the Ottoman Empire; Cairo remained a highly important centre.
Fortunately, as the repent map reveals, the survival rate of Cairo’s great works of Islamic architecture from the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mameluke periods is impressively high, and many sites can be visited today. References: OCLC: 17543226. (Alexander Johnson, 2020).
Date posted: February 22, 2022.
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Before leaving this website please take a moment to visit Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also, visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos that features photos and videos from around the world.
Malik, the founding publisher and editor of the 3 websites, may be reached at his email address, mmerchant@barakah.com.
We are the tree of Prophethood, the place of descent of Divine revelation, the place of frequenting of the angels, and the mainsprings of knowledge. Those who help us and love us await (God’s) mercy…..Hazrat Ali
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The Tradition of the Ismaili Tariqah is the Tradition of Hazrat Ali
“The closer you come, the more you will see him.” A digital portrait of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and Hazrat Ali, by Toronto’s Akber Kanji. The portrait is composed of several hundred thumbnails representing a cross-section of events during Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Imamat. Photo: Copyright: Akber Kanji.
“This is a time of new freedoms, but it is also one in which new choices must be made wisely. In exercising freedom and making choices, our institutions must be guided, as they have been in the past, by the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace of Allah be upon him), and the tradition of our tariqah, which is the tradition of Hazrat Ali: A thinking Islam and a spiritual Islam — an Islam that teaches compassion, tolerance and the dignity of man — Allah’s noblest creation.” — His Highness the Aga Khan, May 14, 1992, Aga Khan Foundation 25th anniversary.
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The Ant
By God, were I given all the seven heavens with all they contain in order that I may disobey God by depriving an ant from the husk of a grain of barley, I would not do it…..Hazrat Ali
The Prophet’s Household
To them (the Household of the Prophet) pertain the noblest of human virtues described in the Qur’an, and they are the treasures of the Beneficent Allah. When they speak, they speak the truth, but when they keep quiet, no one can out strip them…..Hazrat Ali
Patience
One who perseveres patiently will not be without success, even if it takes a long time…..Hazrat Ali
The Headstrong
One who is headstrong and opinionated perishes, while one who seeks the advice of others becomes a partner in their understanding…..Hazrat Ali
The Blessed
Blessed is one who is humble regarding himself, whose livelihood is good, whose inner thoughts are virtuous, whose character is good, who spends the surplus from his wealth and removes superfluity from his speech, who keeps his evil away from people…Hazrat Ali
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Recitations of Ginanic Verses by Late Shamshu Bandali Haji
Iconic Ismaili Ginan reciter, the Late Shamshu Bandali Haji of Nairobi and Edmonton.
Simerg is pleased to present a selection of verses from the Ginan Muman Chetamni composed by Syed Imam Shah that relate to the birth of Hazrat Ali (a.s.). The recitations are taken from Ginans Central, a truly exceptional website which curates Ginans for “long-term access and preservation to foster research and learning in the digital era.” The inspiration behind this unique project is Karim Tharani (read ARTICLE). Here are recitations of three verses followed by a link to the page containing many more Ginan recitations by Alwaez Shamshu Bandali Haji as well as other reciters from around the world.
Verse Eji te Murtaza Ali….recited by Shamshu Bandali HajiVerse Eji Mataji Gayata Bait…recited by Shamshu Bandali HajiVerse Eji Tare Salaam Kidha…..recited by Shamshu Bandali Haji
Please click HERE for beautiful recitations by Alwaez Shamshu and other great Ismaili reciters from around the world. Also, please visit Ginans Central Home Page, then scroll down the page and see links to Ginan collections as well as tools and resources.
Date Posted: February 11, 2022.
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Before leaving this website please take a moment to visit Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also, visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos.
The editor of the 3 websites, Malik, may be reached at mmerchant@barakah.com.
Simerg - Insights from Around the World 