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Early Imams
Ali · Ḥassan · Ḥusain as-Sajjad · al-Baqir · aṣ-Ṣādiq Ismā‘īl · Muḥammad Abdullah /Wafi Ahmed / at-Taqī Husain/ az-Zakī/Rabi  · al-Mahdī al-Qā'im · al-Manṣūr al-Mu‘izz · al-‘Azīz · al-Ḥākim az-Zāhir · al-Mustansir · Nizār al-Musta′lī · al-Amīr · al-Qāṣim
Groups and Present leaders
Nizārī · Aga Khan IV Dawūdī  · Dr. Burhanuddin Sulaimanī  · Al-Fakhri Abdullah Alavī  · Ṭayyib Ziyā'u d-Dīn
v t e

Aga Khan (Persian: آغا خان‎; also transliterated as Aqa Khan and Agha Khan^[1]) is the hereditary title of the Imam of the largest branch of the Ismā'īlī followers of the Shī‘a faith. They affirm the Imamat of the descendants of Ismail ibn Jafar, eldest son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, while the larger Twelver branch of Shi`ism follows Ismail's younger brother Musa al-Kazim and his descendants.

Abdullah Jafar bin Muhammad As-Sadiq's sons, Ismail bin Jaffar and Abul Hassan Musa bin Jaffar, are followed by Twelver Shiites.^{[citation needed]}A third son, Ismail bin Jafar, died during childhood.

The Fatimid kingdom was ruled by seven successors, after which a dispute developed between two princes – Nizar and Mustali – which resulted in the defeat of the Nizaris, many of whom left Egypt for the region of Iran.

In the 1st half of the 19th century when the Nizārī Imams still lived in Iran the honorific title of "Aga Khan" was bestowed upon Aga Hasan Ali Shah, the 46th Imam of the Ismailis, by Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar, the Shah of Persia. Etymologically the title combines the Turkish military title Agha, meaning a "noble" or "lord", with the Turko-Mongol title Khan for a local ruler, so the combination means roughly "Commanding Chief". In Persia's Qajar court protocol, Khan (and Amir) was commonly part of commanders of armed forces and provincial tribal leaders which ranked fourth in precedence amongst the eight title classes for non-members of the dynasty...

In 1887, the colonial rulers of India, the Secretary of State for India acting through the Viceroy of India, formally recognized the Aga Khan's rank and nobility. During the latter stages of the First Anglo-Afghan War (in 1841 and 1842), Aga Khan I and his cavalry officers provided assistance to General Nott in Kandahar Province and also to General England in his advance from Sindh to join Nott. For these services, and others which Aga Khan I was enabled to render to Sir Charles Napier in his conquest of Sindh in 1843–44, the Aga Khan received a pension from the British Government of India. He was awarded his 'princely' status by the British government's representatives in India and became the only religious or community leader in British India granted a personal gun salute; all other salute dynasties were either rulers of Princely States, or Political Pensioners holding ancestral princely titles in states abolished by the British.

When Hassan Ali Shah, the first Aga Khan, came to Sindh from Afghanistan, he and his army were welcomed by Mir Nasir Khan of Sindh.

Incumbent[link]

Karīm al-Hussainī became the present Aga Khan IV upon assuming the Imamat of the Ismailis on July 11, 1957, at the age of 20, succeeding his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan (Aga Khan III). In his will, his grandfather stated the conditions that led him to select his grandson as successor to the Ismaili Imamat:

In view of the fundamentally altered conditions in the world in very recent years due to the great changes that have taken place, including the discoveries of atomic science, I am convinced that it is in the best interests of the Ismaili community that I should be succeeded by a young man who has been brought up and developed during recent years and in the midst of the new age, and who brings a new outlook on life to his office.^[2]

Prince Karim Aga Khan IV is the 49th Ismaili Imam, claiming lineage to Ali, cousin of Muhammad, and his wife Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter.^[3] The title His Highness was granted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1957,^[4] and His Royal Highness by the Shah of Iran in 1959.^[5] On July 11, 2007, Aga Khan IV completed 50 years of the imamat of the Ismaili community.

His Highness the Aga Khan has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa for his service to humanity during a special Convocation ceremony on Friday, January 13, 2012 in the Desmarais Building. ^[6]

The Aga Khan, heir to the family fortune and a society figure, is founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, one of the largest private development networks in the world. AKDN continues to work with a variety of African and Asian countries to improve living conditions and promote education. For instance, in Afghanistan the AKDN has mobilised over $750 million in development projects.^[7] In 1979, the Aga Khan also established the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to promote the study of Islamic art, architecture, urbanism, landscape design, and conservation – and the application of that knowledge to contemporary design projects.^[8] The program engages in research at both institutions and students can graduate with a Master of Science of Architectural Studies specializing in the Aga Khan program from MIT's Department of Architecture.

List of those who have held the title[link]

1. Aga Khan I — Hasan Ali Shah Mehalatee Aga Khan I (1800–1881), 46th Imam (1817–1881)
2. Aga Khan II — Ali Shah Aga Khan II (about 1830–1885), 47th Imam (April 12, 1881–1885)
3. Aga Khan III — Sir Sultan Mohammed Shah (1877–1957), 48th Imam (August 17, 1885–1957)
4. Aga Khan IV — Prince Karim Al Husseini (b. 1936), 49th Imam of the Ismailis (July 11, 1957–present)

References[link]

7. "Les Agas Khans", Yann Kerlau, Perrin 2004

External links[link]

• Aga Khan and the Ismailis – FILM
• Aga Khan article at SIPA (Columbia University)
• Brown University President Vartan Gregorian's introduction of the Aga Khan (1996 baccalaureate address)
• Interview on NPR, September 25, 2006: "Aga Khan Speaks Out on Understanding of Ismailis not Muslims"
• Speech at University of Alberta on June 9, 2009 – Honorary Degree recipient and speech to 2009 graduands

Look up aga in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The abbreviation AGA and the word Aga may refer to:

Medicine[link]

• Adequate, Appropriate or Average for Gestational Age, referring to prenatal growth rate
• Anti-gliadin antibodies
• Androgenetic alopecia
• Aspartylglucosaminidase

Technology[link]

• Amiga Advanced Graphics Architecture, a Commodore Amiga graphics chipset

Business[link]

• AGA (automobile), Autogen Gasaccumulator AG, 1920's German car company
• AGA AB, Aktiebolaget Svenska Gasaccumulator, a Swedish company, the originator of the AGA Cooker.
• Aga Rangemaster Group
  • AGA cooker, a cooker currently manufactured by Aga Rangemaster Group
• Abellio Greater Anglia, a train company in the United Kingdom

People[link]

• Alemu Aga, Ethopian musician
• Aga, diminutive of the name Agnieszka, the Polish form of Agnes (name)
• Aga of Kish, Ensi of Kish and King of Sumer
• Ağa (disambiguation), Turkish surname
• Agha (Ottoman Empire), Aga, Agha, or Ağa, an Ottoman Turkish military and administrative rank
• Aga Khan IV, Imam of the Ismaili Muslims, and Founder & Chairman of the AKDN

Groups[link]

• American Gaming Association
• American Gas Association
• American Gastroenterological Association
• American Go Association
• American Grandprix Association
• Assemblies of God in Australia, a Pentecostal denomination
• Association of Government Accountants, government accounting professional organization, that administers the CGFM certification

Places[link]

• Aga, Niigata, Japan
• Aga, the Hungarian name for Brestovăţ Commune, Timiş County, Romania
• Monte Aga, mountain in Italy

Other[link]

• AGA, the IATA airport code for Al Massira Airport, Agadir, Morocco
• Alcohol and Gaming Authority, government body in Nova Scotia, Canada
• Art Gallery of Alberta, formery called the Edmonton Art Gallery
• Aga (bird), Corvus kubaryi - the Mariana Crow

See also[link]

• Agga (disambiguation)
• Agatunet, a place in Hordaland, Norway
• Aegea

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up khan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Khan may refer to:

• a caravanserai
• Khan (band), an English progressive rock band in the 70s
• Khan (comics), a Marvel Comics character
• Khan!, a 1975 US television series
• Khan (Cambodia), a municipal subdivision of the administrative divisions of Cambodia
• Khan River, an ephemeral river in Namibia
• Khan Academy, a non-for-profit educational organization
• Khan, former ring name of retired professional wrester Batista

People[link]

• Khan (title), a title for a ruler in Turkic and Mongolian languages and also used by Afghans/Pashtuns for chiefs and noblemen.
• Khan (surname), a family name (and list of people with the name).

See also[link]

• Orhan or Orkhan
• My Name Is Khan is a asperger film.
• Azmat Khan, the patronymic used by the descendants of Sayyid Abd al-Malik Azmat Khan
• Khanum, the female form of the title Khan
• Khanzada or Khan Zadeh, son of Khan, a title and surname used in Pakistan as well as two Muslim Rajput communities found in North India
• Khan Bahadur, a title of honour issued by British India to Muslims who performed any significant deeds of service to the nation or community.
• Sahara Khan, a cultural center in the suburbs of Cairo, Egypt.
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which refers to Khan Noonien Singh.
• Tian Kehan, title addressed to emperors of China's Tang Dynasty
• Kan (disambiguation)
• Kaan (disambiguation)
• Caan (disambiguation)
• Kahn (disambiguation)
• Han (disambiguation) - Orhan I
• Xan

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Princess Zahra Aga Khan (born 18 September 1970 in Geneva, Switzerland) is the eldest child of Aga Khan IV. She attended Institut Le Rosey and Harvard University, from where she graduated in 1994 with a degree in Development Studies. She married British businessman and former model Mark Boyden, an Anglican, in a civil ceremony on 21 June 1997. Their union ended in 2005. They had a daughter, Sara, and a son, Iliyan.

After her graduation, from Harvard University with a BA (Honors) in 1994, Princess Zahra joined the Secretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan at Aiglemont estate, France.

She is Director of the Social Welfare Department at the Secretariat,^[1] and is also responsible for specific social development institutions of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). These include Aga Khan Education Services, Aga Khan Health Services and Aga Khan Planning and Building Services. Princess Zahra also works with institutions supported by the Ismaili community in the areas of social welfare, women's activities and youth programs.

She chairs the International Social Development and Sports Foundation (ISDSF) which seeks to act as a catalyst for replicable, short-term programs addressing issues facing youth, women and the elderly in developed and developing countries alike. Princess Zahra is also a member of the Aga Khan Development Network Committee.

Like her father, Princess Zahra is a fan of Thoroughbred horse racing and has begun racing horses in her own name.^[2]

References[link]