Aga Sultan Mohammad
Shah was born in Karachi on 2 November 1877. He
was the son of Ali Shah, the forty-seventh Imam
of the Ismailis. Is grandfather Mohammad Hasan,
a Persian by birth (forty-sixth Imam of the Ismailis),
was given the title of “Aga Khan” by
the Shah of Persia. After the death of the Shah
he had to leave his hearth and home and to settle
in Sind. Later on he shifted to Bombay.
He was on best of terms with the British and helped
them in consolidating their power in Sind. He
died in 1881 and was succeeded by his son Ali
Shah who ruled only for four years as Imam. His
heir the Aga Khan III was only eight years old
when he succeeded to the Imamate. The Agha Khan
married four times. Two of his wives were French
and one an Italian. He married after the death
or the divorce of the earlier wife. The Aga Khan
had two sons, Ali Khan and Sadruddin Khan (Aga
Khan IV).
He was greatly influenced by his mother as far
as his early religious training was concerned.
He received western education at home from English
tutors. He achieved proficiency in many languages
such as Persian, Arabic, English and French. While
still in his teens, he visited England and received
the hospitality of Queen Victoria whom he impressed
by his understanding of the political and other
problems obtaining in India. He was very much
charmed by the life and society in England.
From London he went to Paris and was equality
enthralled by the gaiety of that brilliant city.
He went to Berlin to meet the Kaiser for pleading
a better deal for his followers in German East
Africa. He also found time to meet Sultan Abdul
Hamie of Turkey and emphasised the need for greater
amity among the Islamic people. The main plank
of his policy and programme as discerned from
his European tour was good relations with Britain,
the welfare of his followers and the interest
of the Islamic people.
He discharged his duty as the religious head of
his people with great devotion and fact. Thus
early in life he became popular among his people.
However, by temperament and training he was not
a person to be satisfied with merely religious
matters. He started taking keen interest in the
political problems facing the country as well
as in the problems facing the Muslims. He was
closely associated with the All-India. Muslim
Education Conference (Chairman, Reception Committee,
1903). He took personal interest in the M. A.
O. College founded by Sir Seed Ahmad Khan and
played a leading role in making it develop into
the Aligarh Muslim University.
He served as Pro-Chancellor from 1920 to 1930
and then again for some time from 1935. He also
took keen interest in the deliberations of the
Muslim League of which he was founder-member and
President from 1907 to 1914. In 1906 he led a
deputation of the Muslim which waited upon the
Viceroy, Lord Minto, for the incorporation of
the principle of separate electorate for the Muslims
in the proposed constitutional reforms (Morley-Minto
Reforms, 1909).
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In 1918 he published
a book under the title ‘India in Transition’,
in which he made an assessment of the political
situation in the country and expressed his views
the future political setup of the country which,
according to him, was dominion Status. His ideas
greatly impressed the British rules. By this time
the British fully realised the potentialities
and powers of the Aga Khan as a politician, diplomat
and leader of the Muslim. It was, therefore, not
surprising that he was sent as an emissary to
various Islamic countries to remove misunderstandings
between them and the British.
He performed the task with great tact and diplomacy.
In 1931-32 he was appointed a leading delegate
to the Round Table Conference. Here he put forward
a scheme for the safeguard of the interest of
the Muslims and other minorities. He was then
appointed leader of the official British Indian
Delegation to the League of Nation (1932, 1934,
1935 and 1936). In 1937 he was appointed the first
Indian President of the League of Nations.
Earlier he represented India at the World Disarmament
Conference in 1934 and was appointed Privy Councillor
in 1937. He was honoured by the British Crown
with the titles of K. C. I. E. (1898), G. C.I.
E. (1902), and G. C. S. I. (1911). In 1916 King
George V granted him the salute of 11 guns and
the rank of a first class ruling prince of Bombay
Presidency.
All this was only one part of his rich variegated
life, though not an insignificant part. He participated
in the western social life to the utmost extent
while in England or on the Continent. It was here
that he developed interest in horse racing in
which pastime he spent a lot of money and time
and won laurels. It was also here that he began
to take interest in western games and started
playing golf and made his make. Not only this,
he was a pioneer in promoting cricket and hockey
in India. The Aga Khan Hockey Tournament is a
reminder of his interest in the game.
The Aga Khan III combined in himself the rare
qualities of a religious leader, a diplomat and
a sportsman. He was catholic in religious outlook
and practice and was on extremely good terms with
people belonging to different religions. In the
political field he always preached the policy
of toleration and moderation. His philosophy of
compromise made him an ideal peace-maker and a
diplomat. The Aga Khan’s fame as an international
figure far exceeded his fame as a politician at
home. This was because of his unbounded love for
the British Empire and the Royal Family which
created misgiving in the minds of a large section
of people in India, both Hindus and Muslims.
In making a final assessment of his personality
one is confronted with a paradox. On the one hand
he was a worshipper of the Muslims all over the
world, most of them groaning under British yoke;
he was steeped in the aristocratic and materialistic
western civilization and yet was the spiritual
head of an orthodox people, the Ismailis; he was
a politician of the first rank but believed in
a policy of status quo and could not adapt himself
to changes in political tempo. |