Aga Khan

Persian Agha Khan

Title of the imams of the Nizari Ism sect of Sh Islam. The title was first granted in 1818 to Hasan 'Ali Shah (1800–81) by the shah of Iran. As Aga Khan I, he later revolted against Iran (1838) and, defeated, fled to India. His eldest son, 'Ali Shah (d. 1885), was briefly Aga Khan II. 'Ali Shah's son Sultan Sir Mohammed Shah (1877–1957) became Aga Khan III. He acquired a leading position among India's Muslims, served as president of the All-India Muslim League, and played an important part in the Round Table conferences on Indian constitutional reform (1930–32); in 1937 he was appointed president of the League of Nations. He chose as his successor his grandson Karim al-Husayn Shah (b. 1937), who, as Aga Khan IV, became a strong leader; he founded the Aga Khan Foundation, an international philanthropic organization, and other agencies offering educational and other services.

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