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Introduction

A major Shi鈥檌 Muslim community, the IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja士far al-峁⒛乨iq (d. 765), as his successor. have had a long and eventful history dating to the middle of the 2nd/8th century. After obscure beginnings in southern Iraq, the Ismili聽诲补鈥檞补听or mission spread rapidly to eastern Arabia, Yemen, Syria, and other Arab lands as well as North Africa where the Ismailis founded their own state, the Fatimid聽caliphateThe Muslim political institution or state centred around the caliph, which came to an end, historically, in 1924 with the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire., in 297/909. Meanwhile, the Ismaili聽诲补’飞补听had been extended to many regions of the Iranian lands, from聽Khuzistan聽in southwestern Persia and聽Daylam聽in the southern shores of the Caspian Sea to聽Khurasan聽and聽Transoxania聽in Central Asia. Belonging to a variety of ethnic groupings and socio-cultural milieux, the Ismailis in time elaborated diverse intellectual and literary traditions in Arabic, Persian and Indic languages. At present, the Ismailis are scattered in more than twenty-five countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America.

Of all the Ismaili communities which have survived to our own times, those of the Iranian lands and Yemen have had the longest continuous histories. This study, presented respectfully to Professor C Edmund Bosworth who has so meticulously studied over several decades the history and cultures of the peoples of the Iranian lands, aims to provide a historical overview of the medieval Ismaili communities of these lands and their prominent聽诲补’颈蝉听or missionaries, who were also their community’s scholars and authors. The Iranian Ismailis are primarily Persian-speaking and, since 487/1094 have belonged to the majoritarian Nizari community of Ismailism. The Iranian Ismailis, now situated mainly within the borders of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as in Hunza and other northern areas of Pakistan, along with the Khoja Ismailis of Indian origins and other Nizari Ismailis of the world, currently acknowledge HH Prince Karim聽Aga Khan聽IV as their forty-ninth聽imam聽or spiritual leader.

On聽Imam聽Ja’far al-Sadiq’s death in 148/765, the Imami Shi’is who had acquired their prominence in his聽imamate, split into various groups. Later Imami heresiographers identify two of these Kufan-based splinter groups as the earliest Ismailis. One group, the so-called 鈥減ure聽Isma’iliyya鈥�, denied the death of Isma’il, Ja’far al-Sadiq鈥檚 eldest son and original heir-designate, and awaited his return as the聽Mahdi聽or聽qa’im. A second group, acknowledging Isma’il鈥檚 death in his father’s lifetime, now recognized Isma’il’s son Muhammad as their new imamIn general usage, a leader of prayers or religious leader. The Shi’i restrict the term to their spiritual leaders descended from 士Al墨 b. Ab墨 峁乴ib and the Prophet’s daughter, Fatima.; this group became known as the聽MubarakiyyaAdherents of an early Shi鈥榠 group who upheld the Imamate of Mu岣mmad b. Ism膩士墨l after the death of Ism膩士墨l b. Ja士far al-峁⒛乨iq, representing the nascent Ismaili community…., named after Isma’il ‘s epithet of al-Mubarak (the Blessed One).¹聽Few details are known about the subsequent history of the early Ismailis until the middle of the 3rd/9th century. Soon after 148/765, when the bulk of the聽Imamiyya聽recognized the聽imamate聽of Isma’il’s half-brother Musa al-Kazim (d. 183/799, later counted as the seventh聽imam聽of the Twelver Shi’is, Muhammad b. Isma’il left the permanent residence of the ‘AlidsDescendants of 士Al墨 b. Ab墨 峁乴ib. in Medina and went into hiding to avoid ‘Abbasid persecution, initiating the聽dawr al-satrLit. 鈥榩eriod of concealment鈥�. Al-Q膩岣嵞� al-Nu士m膩n (d. 974) uses the term dawr al-satr to refer to the period of around 150 years in which the Isma鈥榠li imams were hidden from…聽or period of concealment in early Ismaili history. It is certain that Muhammad b. Isma’il spent the latter part of his life 颈苍听KhuzistanA province in southwestern mediaeval Persia and Iraq bordering the Persian Gulf in the south., where he had some following in addition to the bulk of the聽Mubarakiyya聽who lived clandestinely in Kufa. In fact,听Khuzistan聽in southwestern Persia remained the scene of the activities of early Ismaili leadership for several decades.

On the death of Muhammad b. Isma’il, not long after 179/795, the聽Mubarakiyya聽themselves split into two groups. A majority, refusing to accept his death, now acknowledged him as the聽Mahdi, while an obscure group traced the聽imamate聽in his progeny. Modern scholarship has revealed that for almost a century after Muhammad b. Isma’il, a group of his descendants worked secretly and systematically as the central leaders of the earliest Ismailis to create a unified and expanding Ismaili revolutionary movement. These leaders, whose Fatimid 鈥楢lid genealogy was in due course acknowledged by the Ismailis, did not for three generations claim the Ismaili聽imamate聽openly in order to safeguard themselves against ‘Abbasid persecution. The first of these leaders, Muhammad b. Isma’il ‘s son ‘Abd Allah, had in fact organized a reinvigorated Ismaili聽诲补’飞补听around the central doctrine of the bulk of the earliest Ismailis, viz., the Mahdiship of Muhammad b. Isma’il. Leading an anti-‘Abbasid revolutionary movement in the name of a hidden聽imam聽who could not be tracked down by the ‘Abbasid agents did indeed hold obvious advantages for 鈥楢bd Allah and his next two successors, who took every precaution to hide their own true identities as the central leaders of the Ismailiyya. 鈥楢bd Allah, a capable organizer and strategist, spent his youth in the vicinity of聽Ahwaz聽颈苍听Khuzistan. He eventually settled down in ‘Askar Mukram, then an economically flourishing town situated some forty kilometres to the north of聽AhwazCity in the province of Khuzistan, south鈥搘estern region of present鈥揹ay Iran.. Today the ruins of ‘Askar Mukram, to the south of Shushtar, are known as Band-i Qir. ‘Abd Allah lived as a wealthy merchant in ‘Askar Mukram, from where he decided to organize an expanding Ismaili movement with a network of聽da’is operating in different regions. Thus,听Khuzistan聽represented the original base of operations for what was to become the successful Ismaili聽da’wa聽of the 3rd/9th century. Subsequently, ‘Abd Allah was forced to flee from ‘Askar Mukram due to the hostilities of his enemies; he eventually settled down 颈苍听Salamiyya, in central Syria, where the secret headquarters of the early Ismaili da’wa now came to be located for several decades.

Emergence of the Qaramita

The efforts of ‘Abd Allah to reorganize the Ismaili movement began to bear concrete results from around 260/873 when numerous聽诲补’颈蝉听appeared simultaneously in southern Iraq and in different parts of Persia. Al-Husayn al-Ahwazi, who converted Hamdan Qarmat in the Sawad of Kufa, was a Persian聽da’i聽and a close associate of ‘Abd Allah. Hamdan Qarmat, then, organized the聽da’wa聽in southern Iraq, where the Ismailis became known as the Qaramita, named after their first local leader. Hamdan’s chief assistant, and one of the most learned聽诲补鈥檌蝉听of the early Ismailis, was his brother-in-law ‘Abdan who himself hailed from聽Khuzistan. ‘Abdan recruited and trained numerous聽da’is, who were dispatched in due course to various regions around the Persian Gulf. Amongst such聽da’is, who were of Persian origins and operated in different parts of Persia, particular mention may be made of Abu Sa’id Hasan b. Bahram al-Jannabi, a native of the port of Jannaba (Persian, Ganava) on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf. Abu Sa’id was initially active with much success in southern Persia, before being dispatched to Bahrayn in eastern Arabia, where he spread the聽诲补’飞补听successfully among the indigenous聽bedou颈苍听tribesmen and the Persians residing there. He eventually founded the independent Qarmati state of Bahrayn which lasted for almost two centuries. There was also 鈥楢bdan ‘s own brother al-Ma鈥檓un, who was appointed as聽诲补’颈听颈苍听FarsA province in southwestern Persia, the capital of which is Shiraz., where the Ismailis were evidently called the Ma鈥檓uniyy’a after him.²

The initiation of the聽诲补’飞补听in the west-central and northwestern parts of Persia, the region designated as the聽Jibal聽by the Arabs, also dates to the early 260s /870s, or possibly earlier, as the Imami scholar al-Fadl b. Shadhan who died in 260/873 had already written a refutation of the Ismailiyya (Qaramita) in Persia. 罢丑别听诲补’飞补听in the聽Jibal聽was initiated by a certa颈苍听诲补’颈听called Khalaf al-pallaj, who was sent there by the central leader of the Ismaili movement. Khalaf established himself in the village of Kulayn, in the district of Pashapuya near Rayy (to the south of modern-day Tehran), where an important Imami community already existed; and the area of Rayy continued to serve as the base of operations for the聽诲补’飞补听in the聽JibalNorthwest and west-central Persia.. The earliest Ismailis of Rayy became known as the聽KhalafiyyaA sub-sect of the Ibadiyya branch of the Kharijis, founded at the beginning of 9th century CE., named after their first local leader. Khalaf was succeeded as the chief聽诲补’颈听of Rayy by his son Ahmad and then by the latter’s chief disciple Ghiyath, a native of Kulayn. Ghiyath extended the聽诲补’飞补听to Qumm, another important Imami centre in Persia, Kashan, Hamadan and other towns of the聽Jibal. Ghiyath also initiated the聽诲补’飞补听颈苍听Khurasan. However, the efforts of these early聽诲补’颈蝉听of Rayy to mobilize rural support for insurrectional purposes, as attempted by Hamdan and ‘Abdan in Iraq, proved futile. The Persian聽da’is soon adopted a new policy, addressing their message to the ruling classes. After its initial success in the聽Jibal, this policy was also implemented 颈苍听Khurasan聽and聽Transoxania. It was in accordance with this policy that Ghiyath converted聽al-Husayn b. 鈥楢li聽al-Marwazi, a prominent聽补尘颈谤听in the service of the聽Samanids聽颈苍听Khurasan. As a result, large numbers in the districts of Taliqan, Maymana, Harat, Gharjistan and Ghur, under the influence of this聽补尘颈谤听who later became a聽诲补’颈听himself, also converted to Ismailism. Ghiyath’s chief deputy was the learned theologian Abu Hatim al-Razi, a native of Rayy, who in time became the fifth聽诲补’颈听of the聽Jibal.³

Al-da’wa al-Hadiya

As a result of the efforts of ‘Abd Allah, later designated in the Fatimid sources as al-Akbar (the Elder), and his successors, a unified and dynamic Ismaili movement had by the early 280s/890s completely replaced the earlier Kufan-based splinter groups. This movement was centrally and secretly directed from聽SalamiyyaA city in central Syria, which was the residence of several early Ismaili imams in the pre-Fatimid period.. The Ismaili now referred to their religio-political campaign and movement as a聽诲补’飞补听al-hadiya (the rightly guiding mission), or simply as the聽诲补’飞补听(the mission), in addition to using expressions such as the聽诲补’飞补迟听补濒-丑补辩辩听(the summons to the truth). The Ismailis were then united around the doctrine of the Mahdiship of Muhammad b. Isma’il whose imminent return was expected. Centred on the advent of the聽Mahdi, the restorer of true Islam who would establish the rule of justice in the world, the Ismaili movement of the second half of the 3rd/9th century had much messianic appeal for different under-privileged groups. Indeed, Ismailism now appeared as a movement of social protest against the oppressive rule of the ‘Abbasids and their social order. The early Ismaili movement achieved particular success among the Imami Shi’is of Iraq and Persia who were left without an聽imam聽and in a state of disarray on the death of their eleventh聽imam, al-Hasan al-鈥楢skari, in 260/873-874. At the same time, the fragmentation of the ‘Abbasid state and the various peripheral challenges posed to the authority of the ‘Abbasid聽caliph聽by number of new dynasties, such as the Saffarids of聽Sistan, had made it possible for the Ismailis and others to launch their own insurrectional activities.

鈥楢bd Allah al-Mahdi claims Imamate

The Ismaili movement was rent by a major schism in 286/899. In that year, the then central leader of the movement, the future founder of the Fatimid state 鈥楢bd Allah al-Mahdi, claimed the聽imamate聽openly for himself and his ancestors, the same individuals who had actually led the Ismaili movement after Muhammad b. Isma’il. 鈥楢bd Allah al-Mahdi had now in effect introduced continuity in the Ismaili聽imamate. He also explained that the same leaders had always regarded themselves as the true imams, but as a form of聽迟补辩颈测测补听or dissimulation they had not divulged their true status in order to safeguard themselves against ‘Abbasid persecution. In other words, the propagation of the Mahdiship of Muhammad b. Isma’il had been, we are told, no more than a decoy adopted by the central leaders of early Ismailism, who evidently also used various pseudonyms and posed as the聽hujjas or chief representatives of the hidden聽Mahdi.⁴

The reform of 鈥楢bd Allah al-聽Mahdi聽split the unified Ismaili movement of the time into two rival factions in 286/899. The loyal Ismailis, later known as Fatimid Ismailis, accepted the reform and maintained continuity in the聽imamate. This loyalist camp included the bulk of the Ismailis of Yemen, as well as those of North Africa and Egypt. On the other hand, a dissident camp rejected 鈥楢bd Allah al-Mahdi鈥檚 declarations, and retained their original belief in the Mahdiship of Muhammad b. Isma’il. Henceforth, the term Qarmati came to be applied specifically to the dissident Ismailis, who did not acknowledge 鈥楢bd Allah al-Mahdi and his predecessors, as well as his successors in the Fatimid dynasty, as their imams. Centred in Bahrayn, the dissident Qarmati faction initially also comprised the communities of Iraq and most of those situated in the聽Jibal,听Khurasan聽and聽Transoxania.⁵

The Fatimid Period

The foundation of the Fatimid聽caliphate聽in 297/909 in North Africa marked the crowning success of the early Ismailis. The religio-political聽诲补’飞补听of the Ismailiyya had finally led to the establishment of a state or聽dawlaA state or dynasty. Also used to refer to the domain of politics (siyasa)., which lasted for more than two centuries until 567/1171. The Fatimid victory, indeed, represented the long-awaited fulfillment of a Shi’i ideal which had been frustrated by numerous defeats after the brief rule of 鈥楢li b. Abi Talib (d. 40/661), the first Shi’i聽imam. In line with their universal aspirations, the Fatimid caliph-imams did not discontinue their聽诲补’飞补听upon assuming power. But it was not until the second half of the 5th/11th century that the Fatimid聽da’is working in the central and eastern lands of Islam succeeded in winning a growing number of converts within the dominions of the ‘AbbasidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Sunni caliphs that ruled in Baghdad (750-1258)., and their Buyid and Seljuq overlords, as well as in territories ruled by the Saffarids,听Ghaznawids聽and other dynasties emerging in the eastern Iranian lands. These converts acknowledged the Fatimid聽caliph聽as the rightful Shi’i聽imam聽of the time. All the surviving Qarmati communities, outside of Bahrayn, too, had by then either disintegrated or switched their allegiance to the Fatimid Ismaili聽da’wa, whose central headquarters were located in the royal city of Cairo founded by the聽Fatimids聽themselves.

Educated as theologians at special institutions of learning in Cairo the Fatimid聽da’is were at the same time the scholars and authors of their community. They produced the classical texts of the Ismaili literature on a multitude of exoteric (zahiri) and esoteric (batini) subjects, also developing the Ismaili聽迟补’飞颈濒听or esoteric exegesis to its fullest extent. 罢丑别听da’is of the Fatimid period, especially those operating secretly in the Iranian lands, also elaborated distinctive intellectual traditions, and made important contributions to Islamic civilization.

Consolidating the聽Da’wa

鈥楢bd Allah al-Mahdi (d. 322/930) and his next two successors in the Fatimid dynasty were preoccupied with establishing and consolidating the Fatimid state in North Africa. It was only with the fourth caliph-imam al-Mu’izz, who conquered Egypt in 358/969 and transferred the seat of the Fatimid state there, that the聽Fatimids聽could begin to concern themselves effectively with their聽诲补’飞补听activities. At any rate, before leaving聽Salamiyya聽permanently in 289/902, al-Mahdi had already dispatched a certain Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Khadim to聽Khurasan聽as the first chief聽诲补’颈听there. 罢丑别听诲补’颈听al-Khadim established his secret headquarters at Nishapur sometime during 290-300/903-913. He propagated the聽诲补’飞补听on behalf of ‘Abd Allah al-Mahdi, while Ghiyath had earlier introduced Ismailism to聽Khurasan聽on behalf of the hidden聽Mahdi聽Muhammad b. Isma’il. It was under such confusing circumstances that both factions of Ismailism came to be represented 颈苍听Khurasan. Be that as it may, al-Khadim was succeeded, around 307/919, by the听诲补’颈聽Abu Sa’id al-Sha’rani who converted several notables of the province. The next chief聽诲补’颈听of聽Khurasan聽was the already-noted聽al-Husayn b. 鈥楢li聽al-Marwazi, who is a well-known聽补尘颈谤听in the annals of the Samanid dynasty.⁶聽In his time, the provincial seat of the聽da’wa聽was transferred from Nishapur to Marw al-Rudh (present-day Bala Murghab in northern Afghanistan).

罢丑别听da’i聽al-Marwazi appointed as his successor Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Nasafi, a learned theologian and philosopher who hailed from the vicinity of Nakhshab (Arabicized, Nasaf), a town in Central Asia. 罢丑别听da’i聽al-Nasafi, who is generally credited with having introduced a form of Neoplatonic philosophy into Ismaili thought, transferred the seat of the聽诲补’飞补听to聽Transoxania, where he had been advised to go by his predecessor in order to convert the dignitaries of the Samanid court. After a brief period 颈苍听BukharaA city in modern-day Uzbekistan, Central Asia, known for its Islamic artistic and architectural heritage., the Samanid capital (in present-day Uzbekistan), al-Nasafi retreated to his native Nakhshab, from where he was more successful in penetrating the inner circles of the Samanid regime. Subsequently, al-Nasafi settled down 颈苍听Bukhara聽and, with the help of his influential converts at the court, including Ash’ath, the private secretary, won over the young 厂补尘补苍颈诲听补尘颈谤听Nasr II b. Ahmad (301-331 /914-943). Encouraged by his successes, al-Nasafi now began to preach openly 颈苍听Bukhara, while extending the聽诲补’飞补听also to聽Sistan听(Arabicized, Sijistan) through one of his subordinate聽da’is. 罢丑别听诲补’颈听al-Nasafi reaffirmed the Mahdiship of Muhammad b. Isma’il in his聽Kitab al-mahsul, which also contained a new emanational cosmological doctrine based on Neoplatonic philosophy. It seems that al-Nasafi’s聽al-mahsul聽gained widespread acceptance within the various Qarmati circles and it played a major part in unifying the聽Qarmatis聽of the Iranian lands who, by contrast to the聽Qarmatis聽of Bahrayn, lacked central leadership.

厂补尘补苍颈诲听Jihad聽against the Qaramita

The fortunes of the聽诲补’颈听al-Nasafi and the聽诲补’飞补听颈苍听Khurasan聽and聽Transoxania聽were reversed in the aftermath of the revolt of the Turkish soldiers who were in alliance with the Sunni聽‘耻濒补尘补鈥櫬�of the Samanid state. Under the聽补尘颈谤听Nasr II’s son and successor, Nuh I b. Nasr (331-343/943-954), al-Nasafi and his close associates were executed 颈苍听Bukhara聽in 332/943, and their co-religionists were severely persecuted. The Sunni聽‘耻濒补尘补鈥櫬�of the Samanid state had now in fact declared a聽箩颈丑补诲听or holy war against the Qarmati 鈥渉eretics鈥�. Despite these setbacks, however, the聽诲补’飞补听survived 颈苍听Khurasan聽and聽Transoxania聽under the leadership of al-Nasafi’s son Mas’ud, nicknamed聽Dihqan, and then other chief da’is, notably Abu Ya’qub al-Sijistani.

In the meantime, Abu Hatim al-Razi had assumed office during 300-310/912-923 as the fifth聽诲补’颈听of Rayy. He extended the聽诲补’飞补听to Adharbayjan and聽DaylamThe highlands in the province of Gilan, near the Caspian Sea in northern Iran., which in medieval times referred to a number of Caspian provinces including Daylaman, Gilan, Tabaristan (Mazandaran) and Gurgan. Abu Hatim was particularly successful in converting several local rulers, starting with Ahmad b. ‘Ali, the governor of Rayy during 307-311/919-924. In the aftermath of the conquest of Rayy by the Sunni聽Samanids, however, Abu Hatim went to Tabaristan where he sided with Asfar b. Shirawayh (d. 319/931) against the local Zaydi聽Imam聽al-Da’i聽al-Saghir. Abu Hatim converted Asfar and soon acquired many followers in Tabaristan and other regions of northern Persia which were then ruled by this Daylami聽amir. Abu Hatim also converted Asfar’s chief lieutenant Mardawij b. Ziyar (d. 323/930), who later rebelled against his master and founded the Ziyarid dynasty of Tabaristan and Gurgan. The famous disputations between the聽诲补’颈听Abu Hatim and the physician-philosopher Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Zakariyya al-Razi reportedly took place in the presence of Mardawij.⁷

Abu Hatim, like al-Nasafi, evidently belonged to the dissident Qarmati branch and did not recognize the聽imamate聽of his contemporary 鈥� 鈥楢bd Allah al-Mahdi. Indeed, he corresponded with Abu Tahir al-Jannabi, the leader of the Qarmati state of Bahrayn, and like the latter was expecting the appearance of the聽Mahdi聽in the year 316/928. Abu Hatim may even have claimed to have been the lieutenant of the hidden聽Mahdi. At any rate, as Abu Hatim’s date for the emergence of the聽Mahdi聽proved wrong, Mardawij turned against the聽诲补’颈听and his community. Subsequently, Abu Hatim sought refuge with Mufli, a local ruler, in Adharbayjan, and died in that northwestern region of Persia in 322/934. On Abu Hatim’s death, the聽Qarmatis听(Ismailis) of the聽Jibal聽were thrown into disarray and their leadership eventually passed to ‘Abd al-Malik al-Kawkabi who resided in Girdkuh, near Damghan, the future Nizari Ismaili stronghold, and a certain Ishaq residing in Rayy. The latter聽诲补’颈听may perhaps be identified with Abu Ya’qub Ishaq b. Ahmad al-Sijistani, the聽诲补’颈听al-Nasafi’s disciple and successor 颈苍听Khurasan.

顿补’飞补听Spreads to the Rudbar of Alamut

It was due to Abu Hatim al-Razi’s successes 颈苍听Daylam聽that the聽诲补’飞补听also spread to the Rudbar of聽Alamut聽or Daylaman, the traditional seat of the obscure聽Justanid聽dynasty. One of the earlier聽Justanid聽rulers, Wahsudan b. Marzuban had built around the middle of the 3rd/9th century the fortress of聽Alamut, which was to become the central headquarters of the Nizari Ismaili da’wa and state. The Justanids traditionally supported the Shi’ism of the Zaydi ‘Alid rulers of Tabaristan.聽Mahdi聽b. Khusraw Firuz, known as Siyahchashm, who succeeded his father at聽Alamut聽soon after 307/919, was the first聽Justanid聽to embrace Ismailism of the dissident Qarmati kind.⁸聽After being defeated by Muhammad b. l Musafir, the founder of the powerful Musafirid dynasty of聽Daylam, Siyahchashm sought refuge in 316/928 with his co-religionist Asfar b. Shirawayh. But he was soon murdered by Asfar who aspired to add Rudbar to his own dominions. After Siyahchashm the Justanids came to be eclipsed by the vigorous dynasty of the聽Musafirids聽or Sallarids, who ruled over parts of聽Daylam聽as well as Adharbayjan and Arran.

In 330/941, the founder of the Musafirid dynasty, Muhammad b. Musafir who had held the castle of聽Shamiran聽颈苍听TarumA region of Persia along the middle course of the river Safidrud before its confluence with the river Shahrud., was deposed by his sons Wahsudan and Marzuban. Both of these聽Musafirids聽were converted by the聽da’is of Rayy, and numismatic evidence from the year 343/954-955 confirms that they adhered to Qarmatism and acknowledged the Mahdiship of Muhammad b. Isma’il rather than the聽imamate聽of their contemporary Fatimid caliph-imam, al-Mu’izz.⁹聽Wahsudan b. Muhammad (330-35/941-966) remained at聽Shamiran聽and governed聽Tarum, while his more influential brother Marzuban (330-346/941-957) soon conquered Adharbayjan and Arran, as well as Armenia and other parts of Transcaucasia as far as Darband, and began to rule over the expanding Musafirid dominions from his own seat at Ardabil in northwestern Persia.

After the demise of the聽Sajids聽in 317/929, who governed on behalf of the ‘Abbasids, Adharbayjan had become the scene of rivalries among various independent local rulers, including Mufli, a former Sajid officer who gave refuge to Abu Hatim al-Razi and who may have been one of the聽da’is converts. By 326/938, the Khariji Daysam b. Ibrahim al-Kurdi had established his own control over Adharbayjan. In the aftermath of a rupture between Daysam and his聽vizier聽Abu’l-Qasim 鈥楢li b. Ja’far, the latter fled to聽Tarum聽in 330/941 and entered the service of the聽MusafiridsA Muslim dynasty which ruled Daylam, Azerbaijan, Arran and Armenia in the 10th and 11th centuries CE, succeeded in Daylam by the Ismailis.. Originally serving the聽Sajids聽as a financial administrator, Abu’l-Qasim had also been active secretly as a Batini (Qarmati)聽诲补’颈听in northwestern Persia. He was instrumental in encouraging his co-religionist Marzuban b. Muhammad’s conquest of Adharbayjan, where he had earlier converted numerous Daylami notables and army officers in the service of Daysam. It was also at Abu’l- Qasim ‘s instigation that the bulk of Daysam’s army, including many Qarmati converts, deserted him and switched their allegiance to Marzuban. Soon, Marzuban appointed the聽诲补’颈听Abu’l-Qasim as his own vizierA high officer of state, equivalent of a chief minister.; and he was now permitted to preach the聽诲补’飞补听openly with much success throughout the Musafirid dominions. The well-informed Ibn Hawqal, who may himself have been a secret Fatimid聽诲补’颈听and who visited Adharbayjan around the year 344/955, reports on the existence of a large Batini (Qarmati) community there.¹⁰聽Qarmatism evidently survived under the later聽Musafirids, who were eventually obliged to withdraw to聽Tarum. After submitting to the Saljuqs, the Musafirid dynasty was finally overthrown by the聽Nizaris聽of聽Alamut聽who incorporated聽Shamiran聽and other fortresses of聽Tarum聽into their own network of mountain strongholds in Rudbar.

Qarmatism in Khurasan and Transoxania

In the meantime, Qarmatism had persisted 颈苍听Khurasan聽and聽Transoxania聽in the dominions of the later聽Samanids. The sources have preserved some fragmentary information on the聽da’i-authors operating secretly in the eastern Iranian lands after al-Nasafi and his son. There were the聽da’is Abu’l-Fadl Zangurz and ‘Atiq, as well as Abu’l-Haytham Ahmad b. al-Hasan al-Jurjani, an Ismaili philosopher and poet from Gurgan, and his disciple Muhammad b. Surkh al-Nisaburi. There was also Abu Tammam, an obscure聽诲补’颈听from聽Khurasan聽who belonged to al-Nasafi’s dissident school. Paul Walker in his recent studies has shown that Abu Tammam, in fact, produced what may well be the only Ismaili heresiography on Muslim sects.¹¹聽Above all, mention should be made of Abu Ya’qub Ishaq b. Ahmad al-Sijistani who led the聽诲补’飞补听颈苍听Khurasan, and聽SistanA province in eastern Iran., his original base of operations.¹²聽He may also have headed the聽诲补’飞补听in the聽Jibal, in succession to Abu Hatim al-Razi, as well as in Iraq.¹³

A contemporary of the Fatimid caliph-imam al-Mu’izz, the聽诲补’颈听al-Sijistani was executed as a heretic by the order of the Saffarid聽补尘颈谤听of聽Sistan, Khalaf b. Ahmad (352-393/963-1003),¹⁴聽not long after 361 /971, the date of completion of one of his last books.

Al-Sijistani

A learned theologian and philosopher, the聽诲补’颈听al-Sijistani was also a prolific writer; and it is mainly on the basis of his numerous extant works that modern scholars have now begun to study an important tradition of philosophical theology developed by the聽da’is of the Iranian lands, particularly 颈苍听Khurasan, during the 4th/10th century.¹⁵聽This tradition of learning, which in fact represented a distinctive “Iranian school” of philosophical Ismailism, was evidently initiated by al-Nasafi. 罢丑别听诲补’颈听al-Nasafi, and his successors, wrote for the ruling elite and the educated strata of Muslim society 颈苍听Khurasan, and this may explain why they attempted to express their theology in terms of the then most modern and intellectually fashionable philosophical terminologies and themes, without however compromising the Shi’i essence of their religious message. Drawing on a type of Neoplatonism then current among the educated circles of聽Khurasan, these聽da’is of the Iranian lands elaborated complex metaphysical systems of thought, amalgamating in an original manner their Shi’i theology with a Hellenized system of emanational Neoplatonic philosophy. A Neoplatonic cosmology, with the universal intellect (‘aql) and soul (nafsUsed in the Quran more than 300 times, where its primary meaning is the human self or person. In post-Qur’anic religious literature it came to mean the human ‘soul’ or…) as the first and the second originated beings created by the command of an unknowable God, was an important part of their systems; and this new cosmological doctrine gradually superseded the earlier mythological cosmogony of the pre-Fatimid Ismailis. Al-Sijistani was perhaps the foremost Shi’i Neoplatonist of his time, and his writings are extremely valuable not only for understanding philosophical Ismailism but also for discovering how Neoplatonic themes came to be originally adopted by Muslim thinkers.

It is interesting to note that the leading Iranian聽da’is of the early Fatimid times wrote on a multitude of theological issues; they also disagreed among themselves and engaged in a long-drawn disputation over certain aspects of their doctrines. Abu Hatim al-Razi, who himself adopted Neoplatonism, wrote his聽Kitab al-islah听(Book of the Correction) to correct certain ideas found in al-Nasafi’s聽Kitab al-mahsul听(Book of the Yield), while al-Sijistani wrote his聽Kitab al-nusra听(Book of the Defence) to defend al-Nasafi against Abu Hatim’s criticisms. Subsequently, Hamid聽al-D颈苍听al-Kirmani, another learned聽诲补’颈听belonging to the same “Iranian school” of philosophical Ismailism, acted as an arbiter in this disputation in his聽Kitab al-riyad听(Book of the Meadows).¹⁶

The Fatimid caliph-imam al-Mu’izz (341-365/953-975), as noted, was the first member of his dynasty who found it possible to concern himself with the affairs of the Fatimid Ismaili聽诲补’飞补听outside the Fatimid dominions, where Qarmati communities had continued to flourish with their own聽da’is undermining the success of the Fatimid聽da’is. In this connection, and in order to win the support of the eastern聽Qarmatis, al-Mu’izz also attempted a limited doctrinal rapprochement with the聽Qarmatis, including a partial endorsement of the Neoplatonic cosmological doctrine propounded by the Iranian聽da’is. As a result of these efforts, al-Sijistani was won over to the side of the Fatimid聽da’wa, which henceforth began to preserve his books. At the same time, the dissident communities under the leadership or influence of al-Sijistani also switched their allegiance to the Fatimid al-Mu’izz, recognizing him as the rightful聽imam聽of the time. These developments marked a turning point in the stagnating fortunes of the Fatimid聽诲补’飞补听throughout聽Khurasan,听Sistan,听Makran聽and other eastern parts of the Iranian world.

Ismaili State of Sind 347/958

Al-Mu’izz won an important victory also 颈苍听Sind, where through the conversion of a local ruler an Ismaili state was established around the year 347/98. The rulers of this state, centred at聽MultanA major city in the province of Sind (today in Pakistan) where the seat of a Fatimid principality was founded in around 958., recognized the suzerainty of the Fatimid聽caliph聽and recited the聽办丑耻迟产补听in his name rather than for the ‘Abbasid聽caliphIn Arabic khal墨fa, the head of the Muslim community. See caliphate.. Large numbers of Hindus converted to Ismailism in this state which was effectively uprooted in 396/1005, when Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna invaded聽Multan聽and made its Ismaili ruler a tributary. Soon afterwards, Sultan Mahmud began to massacre the Ismailis of聽Multan聽and other parts of his domains, also frustrating renewed Ismaili attempts to re-establish their local rule 颈苍听Sind.¹⁷

However, Ismailism survived clandestinely the Ghaznawid persecutions in northern India, where the Ismailis later received the protection of the聽SumrasAn Ismaili dynasty in Sind based in the city of Thatta that ruled from 1051 for about three centuries., an Ismaili dynasty which ruled independently 颈苍听Sind聽from聽Thatta聽for almost three centuries. Despite the efforts of al-Mu’izz and the Fatimid聽da’wa, Qarmatism persisted for a while longer in certain parts of the Iranian lands, notably聽Daylam, Adharbayjan, and western Persia, as well as in Iraq. Above all, al-Mu’izz failed to win the support of the聽Qarmatis聽of Bahrayn, who were to pose a serious obstacle to the extension of Fatimid rule to the central and eastern lands of Islam, beyond Syria and Palestine.

The Fatimid聽诲补’飞补听was systematically intensified in the Iranian lands under al-Mu’izz’s next two successors in the Fatimid dynasty, al-Aziz (365-386/975-996) and al-Hakim (386-411/996-1021). By this time, the聽Fatimids聽had realized the difficulty of extending their rule over the eastern regions of the Muslim world, and in fact a stalemate had by then developed between them and the聽Buyids, who were still the real masters of the ‘Abbasid state. Nevertheless, the聽Fatimids聽did not abandon their universal aspirations, aiming to be acknowledged as imams by all Muslims. It was in the pursuit of this objective that the聽Fatimids聽retained and, indeed, intensified their聽诲补’飞补听activities in the Iranian lands, especially under al-Hakim who also concerned himself with the organization of the聽诲补’飞补听as well as the training of the聽da’is. The Fatimid聽da’is, including many from Persia and other eastern lands, now received elaborate instructions at the “House of Knowledge” (Dar al-‘Ilm), founded by al-Hakim in a section of the Fatimid palace in 395/1005, and other institutions of learning in Cairo. Among the lesser known Iranian聽da’is of this period mention may be made of Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Nisaburi who wrote the only known Ismaili treatise of the genre of聽补诲补产听补濒-诲补’颈聽on the ideal聽诲补’颈听and his attributes.¹⁸

Al-Kirmani

By far the most eminent Ismaili theologian and聽诲补’颈听of this period was Hamid聽al-D颈苍听Ahmad b. ‘Abd Allah al-Kirmani, who was also the most accomplished Ismaili philosopher of the entire Fatimid period. As his聽苍颈蝉产补听indicates, al-Kirmani was probably born in the Persian province of聽KirmanA city and province in central Iran.. He later maintained his contacts with the Ismaili community of聽Kirman, addressing at least one of his treatises to a subordinate聽诲补’颈听in Jiruft in that province. In time, al-Kirmani became the chief聽诲补’颈听in Iraq, in addition to heading the聽诲补’飞补听in central and western parts of Persia, known as the 鈥業raq-i 鈥楢jam; hence his honorific title of聽丑耻箩箩补迟听补濒-‘滨谤补辩补测苍, the聽丑耻箩箩补听or chief聽诲补’颈听of both Iraqs. As the most learned theologian of the time, al-Kirmani was called to Cairo in 405/1014 to refute on behalf of the Fatimid聽诲补’飞补听the extremist doctrines propounded by the founders of the聽Druze聽movement and religion. Later, he returned to Iraq where he composed his principal work, the聽Rahat al-‘aql听(Quietude of the Intellect), in 411/1020 and where he died soon afterwards. It was mainly due to al-Kirmani’s efforts that several influential local聽amirs of Iraq were won over to the side of the聽Fatimids, preparing the ground for later successes of the Fatimid聽诲补’飞补听in the East.¹⁹

A prolific writer, al-Kirmani produced some forty treatises.²⁰聽He expounded the Ismaili Shi’i doctrine of the聽imamate聽in several of his works. He also defended the聽Fatimids聽against the polemical attacks of the聽Zaydis聽of Persia and other adversaries. As a philosopher, al-Kirmani was fully acquainted with Aristotelian and Neoplatonic philosophies as well as the metaphysical systems of the Muslim philosophers (falasifa), notably al-Farabi and his own contemporary Ibn Sina (Avicenna), whose father and brother had converted to Ismailism in their native聽Transoxania. It was in al-Kirmani’s metaphysical system that philosophical Ismailism attained its summit, reflecting a distinctive synthesis of Shi’i theology, Hellenistic traditions and gnostic doctrines. In his system, fully elaborated in the聽Rahat al-‘aql, al-Kirmani also propounded what may be regarded as the third stage in the development of Ismaili cosmology in medieval times.²¹聽In his cosmogonic doctrine, al-Kirmani replaced the Neoplatonic dyad of the intellect and soul in the spiritual world, which had been adopted by his predecessors in the Iranian school of philosophical Ismailism, by a series of ten separate intellects in partial adoption of al-Farabi’s Aristotelian cosmic system.

Seljuqs replace Buyids 447/1055

The Fatimid聽da’wa聽continued to be propagated successfully in the eastern lands, even after the ardently Sunni Seljuqs had replaced the Shi’i聽Buyids聽in 447/1055 as the effective rulers of the ‘Abbasid state. Indeed, by the early decades of the reign of the Fatimid caliph-imam al-Mustansir (427-487/1036-1094), Fatimid Ismailism had been established in many parts of the Iranian world, where Qarmati communities had almost completely ceased to exist. The Fatimid聽da’is were now particularly active in Iraq and various parts of Persia, notably聽Fars, Isfahan, Rayy, and other areas of the聽Jibal. In聽Khurasan聽and聽Transoxania, too, the聽诲补’飞补听had become more successful after the downfall of the聽Samanids聽in 395/1005, when the Turkish Qarakhanids and聽Ghaznawids聽divided the former Samanid dominions between themselves. This is attested by the fact that in 436/1044 Bughra Khan, the ruler of the eastern Qarakhanid kingdom established over the lands of the middle Syr Darya valley, ordered the massacre of a large number of Ismailis who had been converted by the Fatimid聽da’is operating in his territories. The Fatimid聽诲补’飞补听had been active also in the western territories of the Qarakhanids, 颈苍听Bukhara, Samarqand, Farghana and elsewhere 颈苍听Transoxania. There, Ahmad b. Khidr, the local Qarakhanid ruler, was executed in Samarqand in 488/1095 (or earlier in 482/1089) on the accusation of having converted to Ismailism.²²

Successes of al-Shiraz

The most prominent Fatimid聽诲补’颈听of al-Mustansir’s time was al-Mu’ayyad fi’l-Din al-Shirazi. He was born around 390/1000 in Shiraz, in the province of聽Fars, into a Daylami Ismaili family. His father had acquired some influence in the Buyid circles of聽Fars聽where he eventually seems to have headed the聽da’wa. Al-Mu鈥檃yyad succeeded his father, and in 429/1037 entered the service of the Buyid Abu Kalijar Marzuban (415-440/1024-1048), who ruled over聽Fars聽and聽Khuzistan聽from his capital at Shiraz. The subsequent decades until 451/1059 in al-Mu鈥檃yyad鈥檚 career are well-documented in his autobiography.²³聽At any rate, he soon converted Abu Kalijar himself and many of his courtiers as well as a large number of the Daylami troops in, the service of the聽Buyids. Al-Mu’ayyad’s success 颈苍听Fars聽brought about hostile reactions spurred on by the聽caliph聽at Baghdad, obliging the聽诲补’颈听to emigrate permanently from Shiraz in 435/1043. He arrived in Cairo in 439/1047, and soon began to play an active part in the affairs of the Fatimid state and聽da’wa. Later, al-Mu鈥檃yyad played a key role as an intermediary between the聽Fatimids聽and Arslan al-Basasiri, the Turkish military commander who briefly led the Fatimid cause in Iraq against the Seljuqs. Al-Mu鈥檃yyad delivered the crucial material and financial support of the聽Fatimids聽to al-Basasiri who, in 450/1058, succeeded to seize Baghdad, where he had the聽办丑耻迟产补听read for one full year in the name of al-Mustansir while the 鈥�’Abbasid聽caliph聽remained a captive in his own capital. In the same eventful year 450/1058, al-Mu鈥檃yyad was appointed as the chief聽诲补’颈听(da’i al-du鈥檃t), the administrative head of the Fatimid聽诲补’飞补听organization in Cairo, a post he held with the exception of one brief period until shortly before his death in 470/1078. Al-Mu鈥檃yyad鈥檚 principal work, the聽Majalis聽al Mu鈥檃yyadiyya, eight volumes containing a hundred 鈥渟essions鈥� (majalis) each and representing the apogee of Ismaili thought, is based on the lectures he had delivered at the 鈥渟essions of wisdom鈥� (尘补箩补濒颈蝉听补濒-丑颈办尘补) for the instruction of da’is and other Ismailis.²⁴

Nasir-i Khusraw

Another prominent Iranian聽诲补’颈听of al-Mustansir鈥檚 time was Nasir-i Khusraw. A learned theologian, a traveler, and a renowned poet of the Persian language, Nasir-i Khusraw was also the last major proponent of philosophical Ismailism in the Iranian lands. Nasir was born in 394/1004 near Balkh, which at the time was a part of the district of Marw 颈苍听Khurasan. In his youth, Nasir held administrative posts at Marw (now in Turkmenistan) under the聽Ghaznawids聽and their Seljuq successors. At the age of forty-two, however, Nasir experienced a spiritual upheaval which may have been connected to his conversion to Ismailism. Soon afterwards in 437/1045, he resigned from his post and set off on a long journey for the apparent reason of making pilgrimage to Mecca. But this seven-year journey, described vividly in his聽厂补蹿补谤-苍补尘补听(Travelogue), took Nasir to the Fatimid capital where he arrived in 439/1047, the same year in which the聽诲补’颈听al-Mu鈥檃yyad had arrived there. Nasir stayed in Cairo for three years and received intensive training as a聽da’i. During this period, he saw al-Mustansir and also established close relations with al-Mu鈥檃yyad, who was to remain his mentor at the central headquarters of the Fatimid聽诲补’飞补听and to whom he later dedicated several of his poems. In 444/1052 Nasir-i Khusraw returned to Balkh (near today鈥檚 Mazar-i聽Sharif聽in northern Afghanistan), and began his career as a Fatimid聽da’i, or according to himself as the聽丑耻箩箩补听or chief聽诲补’颈听辞蹿听碍丑耻谤补蝉补苍.²⁵聽At any rate, he established his secret headquarters at Balkh, from where he extended the聽诲补’飞补听to Nishapur and other districts of聽Khurasan聽as well as to Tabaristan (Mazandaran) in northern Persia. By 452/1060, however, the hostility of the Sunni聽‘耻濒补尘补鈥櫬�who denounced Nasir as a heretic (mulhid) and an irreligious person (Persian,听bad-din) and destroyed his house²⁶聽had obliged the聽诲补’颈听to flee to the valley of Yumgan, in the region of Badakhshan in the Pamirs. There, he sought refuge with his friend Abu’l-Ma’ali ‘Ali b. al-Asad, an autonomous Ismaili聽补尘颈谤听of Badakhshan. This obscure Yumgan period in Nasir’s life lasted until his death, sometime after 465/1072.

Extension of the Da’wa to Badakhshan by Nasir

Like other Fatimid dais of the Iranian lands and elsewhere, Nasir-i Khusraw maintained his contacts with the聽诲补’飞补听headquarters in Cairo, receiving books and his general instructions from there. Even in the remote Yumgan, Nasir had ready access to earlier Ismaili literature; and he was particularly influenced by al-Sijistani, many of whose ideas are paraphrased in Nasir’s writings. It was probably during this period of exile, if not earlier, that Nasir extended the聽诲补’飞补听throughout Badakhshan (divided in modern times by the Oxus or Amu Darya between Afghanistan and Tajikistan). At any event, the Ismailis of Badakhshan, and their offshoot community in the Hindukush region (now situated in Hunza and other northern areas of Pakistan) regard Nasir as the founder of their communities, and they still revere him under the name of聽Pir聽or Shah聽Sayyid聽Nasir. It was also in Yumgan that Nasir produced the bulk of his poetry and philosophico-theological works, including the聽Zad al-musafirin聽written in 453/1061 and the聽Jami’ al-hikmatayn, his last known work completed in 462/1070 at the request of his Ismaili protector in Badakhshan.²⁷聽The Ismailis of Badakhshan have continued to pre serve Nasir-i Khusraw’s genuine and spurious works, all written in the Persian language. Nasir-i Khusraw’s mausoleum is still in existence on a hillock near the village of Jarm in the vicinity of Faydabad, the capital of Afghan Badakhshan.

By the early 460s/1070s, the Ismailis of Persia in the Seljuq dominions had come to own the authority of a single chief聽da’i, ‘Abd al-Malik b. 鈥楢ttash, who had his secret headquarters at Isfahan, the main Seljuq capital. A learned聽da’i, Ibn ‘Attash seems to have been the first聽诲补’颈听to have centrally organized the聽诲补’飞补听and the various Ismaili communities of the Seljuq territories in Persia, from聽Kirman聽to Adharbayjan. He may have been responsible for the聽诲补’飞补听activities in Iraq as well; but his central supervision does not seem to have been extended to northern聽Khurasan, Badakhshan and adjacent regions in Central Asia. Ibn ‘Attash, who received his own instructions from Cairo, was also responsible for launching the career of Hasan-i Sabbah, his successor and the future founder of the independent Nizari Ismaili聽诲补’飞补听and state centred at聽Alamut.

Split between Nizaris and Musta’lis 487/1094

Al-Mustansir died after a long reign in 487/1094. The dispute over his succession split the then unified Ismaili聽诲补’飞补听and community into the rival Nizari and Musta’li branches. By that time, Hasan-i Sabbah was already following an independent revolutionary policy as the leader of the Persian Ismailis; and he did not hesitate to support the cause of Nizar, al-Mustansir’s original heir-designate who had been deprived of his succession rights through the machinations of the all-powerful Fatimid聽vizier聽al-Afdal. 罢丑别听vizier聽had swiftly installed Nizar’s younger brother to the Fatimid聽caliphate聽with the title of al-Musta’li. However, Hasan recognized Nizar as al-Mustansir’s successor to the Ismaili聽imamate聽and severed his relations with the Fatimid聽诲补’飞补听headquarters in Cairo, which had transferred their own allegiance to al-Musta’li, recognizing him and, later, some of his descendants as their imams after al-Mustansir. Henceforth, the Ismailis of the Iranian lands, who recognized the聽imamate聽of Nizar and his progeny and became known as the Nizaryya, developed independently of the Ismailis of Egypt and the communities in Yemen and Gujarat dependent on the Fatimid regime; the latter communities comprised the Musta’liyya branch of Ismailism.

The Alamut Period

During the聽Alamut聽period of their history (488-654/1090-1256), the Ismailis of Persia came to possess a state of their own, with a subsidiary in Syria. This state, with its central headquarters at the mountain fortress of聽Alamut, was founded in the midst of the Seljuq聽sultanate聽by Hasan-i Sabbah, and it lasted for some 166 years until it collapsed under the onslaught of the Mongol hordes in 654/1256. The Persian Ismailis themselves produced official chronicles recording the events of their state, starting with the聽Sargudhasht-i Sayyidna听(Biography of our Master), which covered the life and career of Hasan-i Sabbah as the first lord of聽Alamut.²⁸聽These chronicles, as well as the bulk of the meagre religious literature produced by the Nizari Ismailis of the聽Alamut聽period, have not survived. However, the Nizari chronicles were seen and utilized by three Persian historians of the Ilkhanid period, namely, Juwayni (d. 681/1283), Rashid聽al-D颈苍听Fadl Allah (d. 718/1318) and Abu’l Qasim Kashani (d. ca. 738/1337), who are our primary sources on the history of the Persian Ismailis during the period.²⁹

The mission of Hasan-i Sabbah

Hasan-i Sabbah was born in the mid-440s/1050s into a Twelver Shi’i Family in Qumm, a traditionally Shi’i town in central Persia. Subsequently, the Sabbah family moved to the nearby town of Rayy, another important centre of Shi’i learning and an area of Ismaili activity. Soon after the age of seventeen, Hasan was introduced to Ismaili doctrines and was converted through the efforts of some local聽da’is. In 464/1072, the newly initiated Hasan was brought to the attention of Ibn ‘Attash, who was then staying in Rayy. Ibn ‘Attash recognized Hasan’s talents and appointed him to a post in the聽da’wa, also instructing him to go to Cairo to further his Ismaili education. Hasan finally arrived in Fatimid Egypt in 471/1078, and spent some three years in Cairo and Alexandria. In Egypt, Hasan seems to have come into conflict with Badr al-Jamali (d. 487/1094), the all-powerful Fatimid聽Vizier聽and “commander of the armies”, who had shortly earlier also succeeded al-Mu’ayyad al-Shirazi as the聽da’i al-du’at. At any rate, Hasan seems to have been banished under obscure circumstances from Egypt: he returned to the Persian聽诲补’飞补听headquarters at Isfahan in 473/1081. He seems to have learned important lessons in Fatimid Egypt. Beset by numerous difficulties, the Fatimid regime was by then well embarked on its rapid decline. Hasan was now fully aware of the inability of the Fatimid state to support the Persian Ismailis, taking this reality into account in his own subsequent revolutionary strategy.

In Persia, Hasan traveled for nine years in the service of the聽诲补’飞补听to different localities, 颈苍听Kirman,听Khuzistan, Qumis, as well as the Caspian provinces 颈苍听Daylam. It was during this period that Hasan formulated his revolutionary strategy against the Seljuqs, also evaluating Seljuq military strength in different parts of Persia. By 480/1087, he seems to have chosen the inaccessible mountain fortress of聽Alamut, in the region of Rudbar 颈苍听Daylam, as a suitable site to establish his headquarters. Hasan, who was later appointed聽诲补’颈听of聽Daylam, now began to reinvigorate the聽诲补’飞补听activities throughout Rudbar. Hasan ‘s activities were soon brought to the attention of Nizam al-Mulk (d. 485/1092), who remained聽vizier聽for thirty years under the Great Seljuq Sultans Alp Arslan and Malik Shah. However, Nizam al-Mulk failed to capture Hasan, who in due time arrived in Rudbar. In 483/1090, with his supporters infiltrating聽Alamut聽and its surroundings, Hasan seized that impregnable fortress in the Alborz mountains according to a clever plan, signaling the open revolt of the Persian Ismailis against the Seljuqs. The seizure of聽Alamut聽also marked the foundation of what was to become the Nizari Ismaili state in Persia. It is certain that Cairo had played no part in the organization or direction of this revolt, which was planned and carried out by Hasan on his own initiative.

Reaffirmation of Persian identity

Hasan-i Sabbah seems to have had a complex set of religio-political motives for his revolt against the Seljuq Turks. As an Ismaili, he could not have tolerated the anti-Shi’i policies of the Seljuqs, who as the new champions of Sunni “orthodoxy” had sworn to uproot Fatimid Shi’i rule from the Muslim world. Less conspicuously, Hasan’s revolt was also an expression of Persian “national” sentiments, which accounts for its early popular appeal and success in Persia. By the opening decades of the 5th/11th century, a number of Turkish dynasties had established their rule over the Iranian lands, starting with the聽Ghaznawids聽and the Qarakhanids. A new alien age, with the Turks replacing the Arabs, in the Islamic history of the Iranian world was definitely initiated by the coming of the Seljuqs, who threatened the revival of Persian culture and national sentiments. This renaissance of a specifically Irano-Islamic culture had been based on the sentiments of the Islamicized Persians who had continued to be consciously aware of their Persian identity and cultural heritage during the centuries of Arab domination. This process, pioneered by the Saffarids and maintained under the聽Samanids聽and the聽Buyids, had become quite irreversible by the time of the Turkish domination of the region.³⁰聽At any rate, the Turkish Seljuqs were aliens in Persia and their rule was intensely detested by the Persians of different social classes. The anti-Turkish sentiments of the Persians were further aggravated due to the depredation caused in towns and villages by the Turks and their unruly soldiery, who were continuously attracted in new waves to Persia from the steppes of Central Asia by the successes of the Seljuqs. Hasan himself is reported to have expressed his resentment of the Turks and their rule over Persia.³¹聽It was, indeed, to the ultimate goal of uprooting Seljuq rule in Persia that Hasan dedicated himself and organized the Persian Ismailis into a revolutionary force. In this connection, it is also significant to note that Hasan, as an expression of his Persian awareness and in spite of his uncompromising Islamic piety, substituted Persian for Arabic as the religious language of the Ismailis of Persia. This was the first time that a major Muslim community had adapted Persian as its religious language; it also explains why the Ismaili literature of all the Persian-speaking (Nizari) Ismaili communities of the聽Alamut聽period and subsequent times was produced entirely in the Persian language.

Extension of Alamut influence

After firmly establishing himself at聽Alamut, Hasan-i Sabbah extended his influence throughout Rudbar and adjacent areas 颈苍听Daylam, by winning converts and gaining possession of more strongholds which he fortified systematically for withstanding long sieges. There is evidence suggesting that Hasan also attracted at least some of the remnants of the聽Khurramiyya聽in Adharbayjan and elsewhere who, as an expression of their own Persian sentiments, referred to themselves as Parsiyan.³²

Seljuq-Ismaili clashes begin 484/1091

Soon,听Alamut聽came to be raided by the forces of the nearest Seljuq聽amir, marking the initiation of an endless series of Seljuq-Ismaili military encounters in Persia. In 484/1091, Hasan sent the聽诲补’颈听Husayn-i Qa鈥檌ni to his native Quhistan to mobilize support there. This capable聽诲补’颈听met with immediate success in Quhistan, a barren region in southeastern聽Khurasan, where the Ismailis soon rose in open revolt against the Seljuqs and seized numerous castles as well as several major towns, including Tun, Tabas, Qa’in and Zuzan. As a result, Quhistan became the second major territory, after Rudbar, for the activities of the Persian Ismailis.

By 485/1092, Hasan had founded an independent territorial state for the Persian Ismailis. Having become aware of the growing power of the Ismailis, Sultan Malik Shah had meanwhile sent major Seljuq expeditions against the Ismailis of both Rudbar and Quhistan. However, on Malik Shah’s death in 485/1092, the Seljuq forces dispersed, and the聽sultanate聽was thrown into civil war for more than a decade until 498/1105, when Muhammad Tapar emerged victorious as the undisputed sultan while his brother Sanjar remained at Balkh as his viceroy in the East. During this period of strife in the Seljuq camp, Hasan-i Sabbah readily consolidated and extended his power to other parts of Persia, including especially the medieval province of Qumis where the Ismailis seized Girdkuh and a number of other strongholds near Damghan. The Ismailis also captured several fortresses in Arrajan, in the border region between the provinces of聽Khuzistan聽and聽Fars. The Ismaili leader in Arrajan was the聽诲补’颈听Abu Hamza, who like Hasan, had spent some time in Egypt to further his Ismaili education. In聽Daylam聽itself the Ismailis had repelled intermittent Seljuq offensives;³³聽they had also acquired more strongholds in northern Persia, including the key fortress of Lamasar (or Lanbasar) to the west of聽Alamut. Kiya Buzurg-Ummid, who had seized Lamasar by assault, stayed there as commander for more than twenty years until he was called to聽Alamut聽to succeed Hasan-i Sabbah. In addition, the Ismailis were now spreading their activities to numerous towns throughout Persia, also directing their attention closer to the seat of Seljuq power, Isfahan. In this area, the Ismailis, under the leadership of Ibn ‘Attash’s son Ahmad, attained a major political success by seizing in 494/1100 the fortress of聽ShahdizThe name of a Nizari Ismaili fortress near Isfahan in the 13th century CE., which guarded the main routes to the Seljuq capital. It is reported that the聽诲补’颈听‘Ahmad succeeded in converting some 30,000 persons in the Isfahan area, where he also collected taxes in the districts around聽Shahdiz. There is no evidence suggesting that the activities of Hasan and his immediate successors at聽Alamut聽extended to Badakhshan and elsewhere 颈苍听Transoxania. The remote and small Ismaili communities of these regions in Central Asia seem to have developed independently of聽Alamut聽until sometime in the 7th/13th century. By the early years of the 6th/12th century, Hasan-i Sabbah had also extended his activities into Syria by dispatching a number of Persian聽da’is there. However, almost half a century of efforts were required before the Ismailis could finally acquire a network of strongholds in Syria. Other than Hasan himself, the leading Persian Ismaili personalities of the early聽Alamut聽period, such as Buzurg-Ummid, Husayn-i Qauini and Ra’is Muzaffar, the governor of Girdkuh, were all capable commanders and military strategists suited to the task at hand, rather than learned theologians and philosophers like the earlier Iranian聽da’is of the Fatimid times.

Anti-Seljuq strategy of Hasan-i Sabbah

Soon, the anti-Seljuq revolt of the Persian Ismailis acquired its distinctive pattern and methods of struggle, which were appropriate to the times. Hasan-i Sabbah had recognized the decentralized nature of Seljuq rule as well as their vastly superior military power. As a result, he designed an appropriate vastly superior aiming to subdue the Seljuqs locality by locality through acquiring a multiplicity of impregnable strongholds. He also resorted to the technique of assassinating prominent adversaries for attaining military and political objectives. In subsequent times, this policy became identified in a highly exaggerated manner with the Nizari Ismailis to the extent that almost any assassination of any significance in the central and eastern Islamic lands during the聽Alamut聽period was attributed to the daggers of the Ismaili聽蹿颈诲补鈥檌s, the young self-sacrificing devotees who carried out the actual sectarian missions. And in time, a number of myths came to be fabricated and disseminated regarding the recruitment and training of these聽蹿颈诲补鈥檌s.³⁴聽From early on, the assassinations led to the massacres of Ismailis, and the massacres in turn provoked further assassinations of their instigators.

Consequences of the Nizari-Musta’li split

In the meantime, the Nizari-.Musta’li schism of 487/1094 had split the Ismailis into two rival factions. By that time, Hasan-i Sabbah had emerged as the undisputed leader of the Persian Ismailis, and perhaps of the Ismailis of the entire Seljuq realm. He had already been following an independent revolutionary policy for several years, and now he supported Nizar’s cause and broke off his relations with Cairo. Hasan had now in effect founded the independent Nizari聽da’wa. In this decision, he was supported by the entire Ismaili community of Persia, while the Ismailis of Central Asia seem to have remained uninformed about this schism for quite some time. Nizar, who had led an abortive revolt in Egypt, was captured and executed by the Fatimid regime in 488/1095. Nizar did have male progeny and some of them revolted against the later聽Fatimids. But Hasan-i Sabbah did not divulge the name of Nizar’s successor to the聽imamate. Numismatic evidence shows that Nizar’s own name had continued to be mentioned on the coins minted at聽Alamut聽for some seventy years after his death until the Nizari Ismaili imams emerged at聽Alamut聽and took charge of the affairs of their community and State.³⁵聽In the absence of a manifest聽imam, Hasan continued to be obeyed as the supreme leader of the Nizari Ismaili movement. Soon after 487/1094, Hasan was also acknowledged as the聽丑耻箩箩补听or chief representative of the inaccessible聽imam, in the same manner that the central leaders of the early Ismaili movement had been recognized as the聽hujjas of the hidden聽imam.

It was under such circumstances that the outsiders from early on had acquired the impression that the movement of the (Nizari) Ismailis of Persia represented a “new preaching” (al-da’wa al-jadida), by contrast to the “old preaching” (al-da’wa al-qadima) of the Fatimid Ismailis. Be that as it may, the “new preaching”, expressed in the Persian language, was essentially the reformulation of an old Shi’i doctrine of long standing among the Ismailis, viz., the doctrine of聽迟补’濒颈尘听or authoritative teaching by the聽imam. Hasan restated this doctrine rigorously in a treatise which has not survived, but it has been preserved fragmentarily by our Persian historians as well as the contemporary theologian al Shahrastani (d. 548/1153) who may have been an Ismaili himself.³⁶聽The doctrine of聽ta’lim, emphasizing the autonomous guiding authority of each聽imam聽in his time, provided the foundation of the Nizari teachings of the聽Alamut聽period and subsequent times. The intellectual challenge posed by the doctrine of聽ta’lim, which also refuted the legitimacy of ‘Abbasid rule, called forth the official reaction of the Sunni establishment, led by al-Ghazali who attacked the Ismailis in several polemical works.

Nizari setback then consolidation

Alarmed by the Nizari successes, Sultan Barkiyaruq in western Persia and Sanjar 颈苍听Khurasan聽agreed in 494/1101 to deal more effectively, in their respective territories, with the Nizari Ismailis who were then posing a general threat to the Seljuqs. Despite new Seljuq offensives and massacres, however, the聽Nizaris聽managed to retain all their strongholds. But the Nizari fortunes began to be reversed with the accession of Muhammad Tapar (498-511/1105-1118) to the聽sultanate, which marked the termination of dynastic disputes and factional rivalries among the Seljuqs. During his reign, the Persian聽Nizaris聽lost most of their fortresses in the Zagros mountains; with the loss of聽Shahdiz聽in 500/1107, the聽Nizaris聽also lost their influence in the Isfahan region. Despite their superior military power and a prolonged war of attrition, the Seljuqs did not succeed in seizing聽Alamut, where Hasan-i Sabbah had continued to stay; and, the Persian Ismailis by and large retained their regional positions in Rudbar, Qumis, and Quhistan. Nevertheless, by the time of Hasan’s death in 518/1124, the armed revolt of the Persian Ismailis against the Seljuqs had lost its effectiveness, much in the same way that Muhammad Tapar’s offensive against them had failed to realize its objectives. The Seljuq- Ismaili relations had now entered a new phase of “stalemate”.

Kiya Buzurg-Ummid (518-532/1124-1138), the second lord of聽Alamut, maintained the policies of his predecessor and further strengthened the Nizari state, despite renewed Seljuq offensives against Rudbar and Quhistan. Meanwhile, the Nizari聽诲补’飞补听was revived in southern Syria through the efforts of Bahram (d. 522/1128) and other Persian聽诲补’颈听sent from聽Alamut, and by 527/1132, they began to acquire their permanent strongholds in central Syria. The scattered territories of the Nizari state now stretched from Syria to eastern Persia, and possibly parts of adjacent areas in Afghanistan, and yet this state maintained a remarkable cohesion and sense of unity amidst extremely hostile surroundings and despite suffering uninterrupted persecution. Indeed, the stability of this state and the unwavering obedience of the聽Nizaris聽towards their leaders never ceased to amaze the Seljuqs and other Nizari adversaries, including the European聽CrusadersA term applied to Christian invaders who carried out numerous campaigns to capture Jerusalem and Palestine from the Muslims in the 11th and 14th centuries CE.. Comprised of mountain dwellers, villagers, and inhabitants of small towns, the Persian聽Nizaris聽also maintained a sophisticated outlook and encouraged learning. They established impressive libraries at聽Alamut聽and their other major strongholds in Persia, as well as Syria. In later聽Alamut聽times, numerous Muslim scholars availed themselves of the Nizari libraries and patronage of learning.

Buzurg-Ummid was succeeded by his son Muhammad (532-557/1138-1162). In his time, the Persian聽Nizaris聽extended their activities to Georgia (Gurjistan). They also made a major effort through their聽da’is to penetrate a new region, Ghur, to the east of Quhistan, in present-day central Afghanistan. The Nizari Ismaili聽诲补’飞补听seems to have been established in that region around 550/1155 at the request of the Ghurid ruler ‘Ala鈥櫬燼l-D颈苍听Husayn Jahansuz. In聽Daylam, the聽Nizaris聽had continued to confront the enmity of the聽Zaydis聽as well as other local dynasties such as the Bawandids of Tabaristan and Gilan.

Proclamation of the Qiyama 559/1164

The fourth lord of聽Alamut, Hasan II聽‘ala鈥� dhikrihiul-salam听(557-561/1162-1166), proclaimed the聽辩颈测补尘补听or the Great Resurrection, the long-awaited Last Day, in 559/1164 at special ceremonies held at聽Alamut聽and Quhistan. Relying heavily on Ismaili聽迟补鈥檞颈濒听or esoteric exegesis however, the聽辩颈测补尘补听was interpreted spiritually to mean the manifestation of unveiled truth in the person of the Nizari Ismaili聽imam. Accordingly, for the聽NizarisAdherents of a branch of the Ismailis who gave allegiance to Nizar, the eldest son of the Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Mustansir (d. 1094) as his successor., who alone were capable of understanding the spiritual reality of the immutable religious truths (丑补辩补鈥檌辩), hidden in the聽bat颈苍听of the positive laws, Paradise had now been actualized in this world. As a corollary, the outside world, comprised of non- Ismailis, was relegated to the realm of spiritual non-existence. The declaration of the聽辩颈测补尘补听was tantamount to the Nizari declaration of independence from the “other”. 罢丑别听Nizaris聽of the聽辩颈测补尘补听times did in fact practically ignore the outside world, refraining from any major campaign against their adversaries. As the person who had declared the聽qiyama. Hasan II was also acknowledged by the Nizari community as the聽辩补鈥檌尘听and the rightful聽imam聽from the progeny of Nizar b. al-Mustansir. Hasan II’s son and successor,听Nur聽al-D颈苍听Muhammad II (561-607/1166-1210), devoted his own long reign to a systematic elaboration of the doctrine of the聽qiyama.³⁷聽This period also coincided with the career of Rashid聽al-D颈苍听Sinan, the original “Old Man of the Mountain” of the聽Crusaders. Sinan had spent his youth at聽Alamut, where he had furthered his Ismaili education before being sent by Hasan II to Syria soon after 557/1162. He led the Syrian聽Nizaris聽for thirty years to the peak of their power and glory, until his death in 589/1193.

Decline of the Seljuqs

Meanwhile, the Great Seljuq聽sultanate聽had been disintegrating in Persia and elsewhere after Sanjar’s death in 552/1157. The Seljuqs were replaced by a number of Turkish dynasties in different regions. At the same time, a new power based on Khwarazm, the region on the lower Oxus, had emerged in the East. The hereditary rule of this region had passed earlier into the hands of a Turkish dynasty acting as vassals of the Seljuqs and carrying the region’s traditional regnal title of Khwarazm Shah. After Sanjar, the Khwarazm Shahs began to assert their independence and expanded their territories into聽Khurasan聽and other Iranian lands. Subsequently, the Khwarazm Shahs expanded their empire westward across Persia, clearing away the remnants of Seljuq rule. As the successors of the Seljuqs, the Khwarazm Shahs developed their own hostile relations with the聽Nizaris聽of Rudbar and elsewhere in Persia. In Quhistan, the聽Nizaris聽had continued to have military encounters with the Ghurids and the Maliks in the neighbouring聽Sistan聽or Nimruz.³⁸聽It was in the aftermath of the decline of the Seljuqs that the ‘Abbasid聽caliph聽al-Nasir (575-622/1180-1225) found the long-awaited opportunity to revive the power and prestige of his dynasty. During this period, the new ruler of聽Alamut, Jalal聽al-D颈苍听Hasan, III (607-618/1210-1221), attempted a daring rapprochement with the Sunni establishment, ordering his followers to observe the聽蝉丑补谤颈’补听in its Sunni form. Later, this policy was explained as having represented a form of聽迟补辩颈测测补听or dissimulation to safeguard the survival of the community and improve its relations with the rest of the Muslim society. At any rate, by contrast to the聽辩颈测补尘补听times, the Nizari Ismaili聽imam聽had now boldly accommodated his community to the outside world. The new Nizari policy proved very successful; Jalal聽al-D颈苍听Hasan was acknowledged by the聽caliph聽al-Nasir and other leading Sunni rulers as an聽补尘颈谤听in the Muslim world, and his rights to the Nizari territories were officially recognized. Jalal聽al-D颈苍听Hasan also participated in the聽caliph聽al-Nasir’s intricate alliances. As a result of these developments, the Ghurid attacks against the聽Nizaris聽of Quhistan ceased, while the聽Nizaris聽of Syria received timely help from the聽Ayyubids聽in their conflicts with the Crusaders; and many聽SunnisAdherents of the majority branch of Islam, Sunnism; from the term sunn墨 which means a follower of the sunna of the Prophet Muhammad., including scholars, who were then fleeing from the first Mongol invasions of聽Khurasan, began to find refuge in the Nizari towns and strongholds of Quhistan. Later in the 7th/13th century, the Nizari聽诲补’飞补听began to be actively propagated in Badakhshan where the Ismailis had survived in small Pamiri communities. At the same time, Nizari聽da’is, later also called pirs, were dispatched from聽Alamut聽to spread the da’wa 颈苍听Multan聽and other areas of聽Sind.

Chingiz Khan and the impact of the Mongol invasions

The final decades of the Nizari state in Persia, under ‘Ala鈥櫬燼l-D颈苍听Muhammad III (618-653/ 1221-125), coincided with a most turbulent period in the history of the Iranian, and indeed Islamic, lands. By 617/1220, Chingiz Khan, ruler of the new Mongol empire, had captured聽Bukhara聽and Samarqand. In the following year, he crossed the Oxus and seized Balkh. Then, the Mongols conquered聽Khurasan, destroying Marw and Nishapur. It was in the early years of 鈥楢la鈥櫬燼l-D颈苍听Muhammad ‘s reign that an increasing number of Muslims, both Sunni and Shi’i, found refuge among the聽Nizaris聽of Quhistan who were still enjoying their stability and prosperity. The enviable contemporary conditions of the Quhistani聽Nizaris聽are described vividly by Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani, the Ghurid historian and ambassador who visited Quhistan several times during 621-623/ 1224-1226 and met with the muhtasham or chief of the Ismailis there.³⁹

The most prominent of the outside scholars who now availed themselves of the Nizaris’ patronage of learning was the Shi’i philosopher, theologian and scientist Nasir聽al-D颈苍听al-Tusi, (597-672/ 1201-1274). It was around 624/1227 that al-Tusi entered the service of Nasir聽al-D颈苍听‘Abd al-Rahim b. Abi Mansur (d. 655/1257), the learned muhtasham of the聽Nizaris聽of Quhistan. Al-Tusi developed a close friendship with Nasir聽al-Din, to whom he dedicated his great work on ethics, the聽Akhlaq-i Nasiri. The period of his Ismaili connection, lasting some thirty years until 654/1256, was particularly productive for al-Tusi, who also embraced Ismailism.⁴⁰聽During this period, spent first in the Nizari strongholds of Quhistan and later at聽Alamut聽and Maymundiz fortresses in Rudbar, al-Tusi also wrote a number of Ismaili works, including the聽Rawdat al-taslim听(Meadow of Submission) which is the most comprehensive extant treatise on the Nizari Ismaili teachings of the聽Alamut聽period after the declaration of the qiyama.⁴¹

With the demise of Jalal聽al-D颈苍听Mingubirti (617-628/1220-1231), the last of the Khwarazm Shahs who had also been engaged in war and diplomacy with聽Alamut, the聽Nizaris聽of Persia came to be confronted directly by the Mongols. The efforts of the聽Imam聽‘Ala鈥櫬燼l-D颈苍听Muhammad to forge an alliance with the kings of France and England, in collaboration with the ‘Abbasid聽caliph, against the Mongols proved futile; and all the Nizari attempts to reach a peaceful accord with the Mongols themselves proved equally ineffective. At any event, when the Great Khan Mongke (649-657/1251-1259) decided to complete the Mongol conquest of western Asia, he assigned first priority to the destruction of the Nizari state in Persia, entrusting the mission to his brother Hulegu.

The Fall of Alamut 654/1256

The Mongol hordes had already started to exert constant pressures on the聽Nizaris聽of Quhistan and Qumis when ‘Ala鈥櫬燼l-D颈苍听Muhammad was succeeded by his youthful son, Rukn聽al-D颈苍听Khurshah, 颈苍听Shawwal聽653/December 1256; he would be the last lord of聽Alamut. A few months later, in the spring of 654/1256, the main Mongol expedition led by Hulegu himself entered Persia through聽Khurasan. In the final year of the Nizari state, Khurshah and Hulegu exchanged countless embassies and negotiated endlessly in vain.⁴²聽Vacillating between resistance and surrender, Khurshah seems to have hoped to save at least the major Nizari strongholds of Persia from Mongol destruction, while Hulegu demanded nothing less than total Nizari submission. Finally, Khurshah surrendered on 29聽Shawwal聽654/19 November 1256, after the main Mongol armies had converged on Maymundiz, where the聽imam聽was then staying, and engaged the聽Nizaris聽in fierce fighting. This marked the end of the聽Alamut聽period in the Ismaili history of the Iranian lands.聽Alamut聽itself was surrendered to the Mongols a month later, while Lamasar held out for another year, and Girdkuh, as the last Nizari outpost in Persia, resisted its Mongol besiegers until 669/1270. Early in the following year, 655/1257, Mongke sanctioned a general massacre of the聽Nizaris聽of Persia. Rukn聽al-D颈苍听Khurshah’s own tragic end came in the spring of 655/1257 when he was murdered by his Mongol guards somewhere in central Mongolia, whither he had gone in vain to see the Great Khan.

The Early Post-Alamut Centuries

The collapse of the Nizari state in 654/1256 marked the initiation of a new phase in the medieval history of the Iranian Ismailis, who had now permanently lost their political prominence. Henceforth, the Ismailis of the Iranian lands, all belonging to the Nizari branch, survived as minority religious communities in Persia, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The first two centuries in the post-Alamut history of these communities remain rather obscure. Only the major developments of this period have been recently clarified by modern scholarship on the basis of numerous regional histories and other primary sources as well as the oral traditions and the meagre writings of the聽Nizaris聽themselves.⁴³

In Persia, the聽Nizaris聽were left in an utterly confused and devastated state in the aftermath of the Mongol catastrophe. Large numbers were put to the Mongol swords in Rudbar and Quhistan; and in both regions the surviving groups were displaced from their traditional abodes, the mountain strongholds and their surrounding villages and a few towns. Many of the聽Nizaris聽who had survived the Mongol massacres migrated to adjacent regions in Afghanistan and Badakhshan as well as聽Sind, while numerous groups, isolated in remote places or towns, soon began to disintegrate or gradually assimilated themselves into the religiously dominant communities of their surroundings. 罢丑别听Nizaris聽were now also deprived of any form of central leadership, provided earlier from聽Alamut. It was under such circumstances that the highly disorganized and scattered Nizari communities were once again obliged to observe聽迟补辩颈测测补听very strictly. For about two centuries after the fall of聽Alamut, the Nizari communities of Persia, Afghanistan and Badakhshan, and elsewhere in Syria and India, developed on a local basis and independently of one another under the local leadership of their own聽da’is.

Meanwhile, a group of Nizari dignitaries had managed to hide Rukn聽al-D颈苍听Khurshah’s minor son Shams聽al-D颈苍听Muhammad, who had succeeded to the Nizari聽imamate. He was evidently taken to Adharbayjan where he spent the rest of his life disguising himself as an embroiderer. These facts are attested by certain allusions in the unpublished versified聽Safar-nama聽of Sa’d聽al-D颈苍听b. Shams聽al-D颈苍听Nizari Quhistani (d. 720/1320). A native of聽Birjand聽in Quhistan, and the first post-聽Alamut聽Nizari poet, Nizari Quhistani served for a while at the court of the Kart rulers of Harat. Nizari Quhistani travelled widely, and he seems to have seen the聽Imam聽Shams聽al-D颈苍听Muhammad around 678/ 1280 in Adharbayjan, possibly at Tabriz. Practically nothing is known about the imams who succeeded Shams聽al-D颈苍听Muhammad in Persia until the second half of the 9th /15th century.

Split between Muhammad-Shahi and Qasim-Shahi branches

Shams聽al-D颈苍听Muhammad, the twenty-eighth-Nizari聽imam, died around 710/1310. An obscure dispute over his succession split the line of the Nizari imams and their following into what became known as the Muhammad-Shahi and Qasim-Shahi branches. The Muhammad-Shahi line of Nizari imams, who initially had numerous followers 颈苍听Daylam聽and Badakhshan, was discontinued soon after 1201/1786. On the other hand, the Qasim-Shahi line has persisted to our times, and since the early decades of the 13th/19th century, the imams of this line have become better known under their hereditary title of聽Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate.. At any rate, this schism provided another serious blow to the already devastated Nizari da’wa of the early post-Alamut period.

Meanwhile, the聽Nizaris聽had managed to regroup 颈苍听Daylam, where they remained active throughout the Ilkhanid and Timurid periods. At the time,听Daylam聽was ruled by different local dynasties, and the political fragmentation of the region permitted the聽Nizaris聽there to make periodic attempts to rega颈苍听Alamut聽and Lamasar, which had not been completely demolished by the Mongols. They also succeeded in winning several local rulers of northern Persia to their side. For instance, some of the Kushayji聽amirs, including Kiya Sayf聽al-Din, who by 770/1368 controlled much of聽Daylam, adhered to Nizari Ismailism.⁴⁴聽A certain Nizari leader known as Khudawand Muhammad, who may perhaps be identified with the Muhammad-Shahi Nizari聽Imam聽Muhammad b. Muumin Shah (d. 807/1404), had also appeared 颈苍听Daylam, where he played an active part in local conflicts and alliances. Khudawand Muhammad established himself at聽Alamut聽for a while, but was eventually obliged to seek refuge with Timur who exiled him to Sultaniyya.⁴⁵聽Later, the Banu Iskandar who ruled over parts of Mazandaran supported the Nizari cause 颈苍听Daylam.⁴⁶聽罢丑别听Nizaris聽retained some importance in northern Persia until the end of the 10th/ 16th century, when the Caspian provinces were annexed to the Safawid dominions. It is interesting to note that the聽Safawids聽themselves used聽Alamut聽as a royal prison for the rebellious members of their own household before the fortress was permanently abandoned.

Nizaris of Quhistan and Badakhshan

罢丑别听Nizaris聽of Quhistan never really recovered from the Mongol onslaught, which left all of聽Khurasan聽with its great cities in ruins. Subsequently, they survived in scattered villages around some of their former towns 颈苍听Khurasan, without acquiring any political prominence. 罢丑别听Nizaris聽of Badakhshan, who were particularly devoted to Nasir-i Khusraw, had essentially remained outside of the confines of the Nizari state. But, as noted, the Nizari聽诲补’飞补听had been propagated actively there during the later聽Alamut聽period. According to the local tradition of the聽Nizaris聽of Badakhshan, the Nizari da’wa was introduced to Shughnan by two聽da’is sent from聽Alamut. These聽da’is,听Sayyid聽Shah Malang and聽Sayyid聽Shah Khamush, founded dynasties of mirs and pirs who ruled on a hereditary basis over Shughnan, Rushan and adjacent districts of Badakhshan in the upper Oxus region.⁴⁷

Subsequently, Badakhshan was fortunate to escape the Mongol debacle. The region was eventually annexed to the Timurid empire in the middle of the 9th/15th century. Early in the 10th/16th century, Badakhshan was briefly conquered by the Ozbegs, whose hegemony was persistently resisted by different local rulers. It was under such chaotic conditions that Shah Radi聽al-Din, a Muhammad-Shahi Nizari聽imam, came from his original base of operations in Quhistan and聽Sistan聽to Badakhshan, where he established his own rule with the help of the local聽Nizaris. Shah Radi聽al-D颈苍听was, however, killed in battle in 915/1509, and, subsequently, Mirza Khan, a local Timurid聽补尘颈谤听severely persecuted the聽Nizaris聽of Badakhshan.

The Anjudan Revival

Meanwhile, the Nizari imams of the Qasim-Shahi line had emerged at Anjudan, a large village in central Persia near Qumm and Mahallat, initiating the Anjudan revival in the post-Alamut history of the Nizari Ismailis.⁴⁸聽Imam聽Mustansir bi’llah, who died in 885/1480, is the first聽imam聽of his line to have definitely established himself at Anjudan, where a Nizari community already existed. By that time, Nizari Ismailism had become infused in Persia with Sufi teachings and terminology, while Sufi pirs themselves had begun to use ideas which had been more widely attributed to the Ismailis. As a part of this coalescence between Nizari Ismailism and聽Sufism聽in Persia, the聽Nizaris聽had also adopted certain external features of the Sufi orders (tariqas), referring to their imams and themselves as聽pirLit. 鈥榚lder.鈥� (like the Arabic shaykh). Spiritual director (=murshid), who may be the founder of a Sufi 峁璦r墨qa. The earliest Qasim Shahi Imams were referred to as pirs. In the…s (or聽murshidLit. 鈥榞uide.鈥� Spiritual master (see mur墨d). It is the word used for Imam in the Pandiy膩t-i Jaw膩nmard墨, authored by Imam Mustan峁r bi鈥檒l膩h II (d. 1480).s) and聽murids. This disguise was partly adopted for the purposes of聽迟补辩颈测测补听to ensure the safety of the聽Nizaris聽in predominantly Sunni surroundings. However, the esoteric nature of the teachings of both communities, too, had made its own important contribution to bringing about this coalescence which left permanent imprints on the Nizari community. This also explains why the聽Nizaris聽of the Iranian lands, especially in Badakhshan, have continued to regard some of the great mystic poets of Persia, such as Farid聽al-D颈苍听‘Attar and Jalal聽al-D颈苍听Rumi, as their co-religionists. Later in Safawid times, the Persian聽Nizaris聽also adopted the guise of Twelver Shi’ism, then the official religion of the Safawid realm, as another聽迟补辩颈测测补听practice.

Anjudan served as the residence of the Qasim-Shahi Nizari imams and the headquarters of their聽诲补’飞补听for some two centuries, coinciding with the period of Safawid rule over Persia. The tombs of the聽Imam聽Mustansir bi’llah, who carried the Sufi name of Shah Qalandar, and several of his successors are still preserved in Anjudan.⁴⁹聽The Anjudan period ushered a revival in the聽诲补’飞补听activities of the聽Nizaris聽of the Iranian lands. This revival also resulted in the assertion of Anjudan’s control over the various Nizari communities which had hitherto developed on a local basis. The ground for the Anjudan revival had already been prepared by the spread of Shi’i tendencies in Persia mainly through the activities of a number of Sufi orders; and this process eventually culminated in the adoption of Twelver Shi’ism as the religion of Safawid Persia in 907/1501. 罢丑别听Safawiyya聽themselves represented one of the most militant Sufi orders through which Shi’i tendencies and ‘Alid loyalism had permeated Persia.

Reorganization of the聽Da’wa聽of Qasim-Shahis

During the Anjudan period, the Qasim-Shahi Nizari聽诲补’飞补听was reorganized and reinvigorated under the direct leadership of the imams at Anjudan, not only to win new converts but also to gain the allegiance of those Iranian聽Nizaris, especially in Badakhshan, who had hitherto supported the Muhammad-Shahi line of imams. By asserting their own leadership, the imams also succeeded in undermining the position of the hereditary dynasties of聽da’is,听mirs, or聽pirs, which had emerged in different Iranian Ismaili communities. The imams now began to appoint their own trusted representatives to administer the affairs of these communities, especially 颈苍听Khurasan, Afghanistan and Badakhshan. These agents visited Anjudan on a regular basis, to report on the affairs of their community and to deliver the much needed religious dues they had collected.

By the second half of the 11th/17th century, the Anjudan revival had led to significant achievements. Rapidly expanding and reorganized Nizari communities had now emerged throughout the Iranian world, in central Persia,听Kirman,听Khurasan, Afghanistan, and Badakhshan. The Nizari聽da’wa聽directed from Anjudan had been particularly successful also 颈苍听Sind, Gujarat and other regions of the Indian subcontinent. At the same time, the bulk of the Muhammad-Shahi聽Nizaris聽had switched their allegiance to the imams residing at Anjudan. The literary activities of the Iranian聽Nizaris, too, were revived during the Anjudan period, starting with the writings of Abu Ishaq Quhistani, and Khayrkhwah-i Harati who died after 960/1553.⁵⁰聽罢丑别听Nizaris聽of the Iranian lands, especially in Badakhshan, also preserved a substantial portion of the literary heritage of their community, produced in the Persian language during the聽Alamut聽and post-Alamut centuries.

The Ismailis of the Iranian lands were not destined to regain the prominence they had acquired during the聽Alamut period of their history, a religio-political prominence that was abruptly ended by the all-conquering Mongols. Nevertheless, by the end of the Middle Ages the Anjudan revival had already started to compensate at least partially for the Mongol debacle, permitting the Nizari Ismailis to survive in Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, as well as in many other regions of the world, as peaceful and prosperous religious communities.

Footnotes

1. See Nawbakhti.聽Kitab firaq al-Shi’a, 57-58. (60-61) al-Qummi,听Kitab al-maqalat聽80-81. 83, and Daftary, “The Earliest Ismailis”, 214-245
2. Al-Daylami,听Bayan, 21.
3. The most detailed account of the initiation of’ the Ismaili da’wa in the聽Jibal,听Khurasan, and聽Transoxania聽is contained in Nizam al-Mulk,听Siyar. ed. Darke, 282-295, 297-305: English trans., Drake, 208-218, 220-226. See also Stern. “The Early Ismaili Missionaries”, 56-90, reprinted in Stern,听Studies in Early Isma’ilism, 189-233.
4. On 鈥楢bd Allah al-Mahdi鈥檚 reform and its consequences, see Madelung, “Das Imamat”, 43-65, 69 ff., and Daftary 鈥淎 Major Schism”, 123-139.
5. On the early history of these Qarmati communities, and their relations with the聽Fatimids, see Madelung, “罢丑别听Fatimids聽and the Qarmati s of Ba颅rayn “, 21-73; Madelung, 鈥淜armati”. El2, vol. 4, 660-665, and Daftary, “Carmatians”, 823-831.
6. Gardizi,听Zayn al-akhbar, 148-149;聽罢补鈥檙颈办丑-颈听厂颈蝉迟补苍, ed. Bahar, 290-294, 300-302; ed. Sadiqi, 158-160, 165-166; English trans.,听The Tarikh-e聽Sistan, tr. M. Gold, 233-237., 243-244; Mirkhwand, Rawdat al-safa鈥�, vol. 4, 40-42, and Barthold, Turkestan, 241-245.
7. Al-Kirmani,听al-Aqwal, 2-3.
8. On the Justanids, who are variously treated by a few medieval chroniclers of the Caspian provinces, including lbn Isfandiyar, Awliya’ Allah Amuli and聽Zahir聽al-D颈苍听Mar’ashi, see Madelung, 鈥淎bu Is颅aq al-Sabi”, especially 52-57 reprinted in his聽Religious and Ethnic Movements, article VII, and Bosworth, the聽New Islamic Dynasties, 145-146.
9. See Stern, “Early Ismaili Missionaries”, 70-74. On the聽Musafirids, see the following works by Minorsky:听Studies in Caucasian History, 159-166;聽History of Sharvan and Darband, 27, 60-62, 71, 76, 85, l l2, and “Musafirids”. El2, vol. 7, 655-657. See also Madelung, “The Minor Dynasties”, 224-225, 231 ff., and Bosworth,听New Islamic Dynasties, 148-149.
10. Ibn Hawqal.聽Surat al-ard, 348-349, 354. See also Miskawayh,听Tajarib, ed. and trans. Amrdroz and Margoliouth, Arabic text, vol. 2, 31-37, 62-67, 115, 135-136, 148-154, 166-167, 177-180, 219-220, English translation, vol. 5. 33-41, 67-74, 118, 140-142, 156-164, 178-180, 192-195, 233.
11. See Walker, 鈥淎bu Tammam”, 343-352, and his 鈥淎n Isma’ili Version”, 161-177. See also Bosworth,听The History of the Saffarids, 292-293
12. For the most comprehensive modern studies of al-Sijistani’s thought and intellectual contributions, see Walker,听Early Philosophical Shiism, and his聽Abu Yaqub al-Sijistani.
13. Ibn al-Nadim,听Kitab al-fihrist, 240-241; English trans. 472.
14. See Bosworth,听Saffarids, 301, 337.
15. For al-Sijistani’s writings, see Poonawala,听Biobibliography, 82-89, and Walker,听al-Sijistani. 104-118. Only one of al-Sijistani’s books, the聽Kitab al-yanabi’, containing the major components and themes of his metaphysical system, has been translated into English; see Walker,听Wellsprings, 37-111; for the Arabic text and partial French translation of this work, see Corbin,听Trilogie isma茅lienne. text 1-97, translation 5-127.
16. See Corbin,听Cyclical Time, l51-193; Madelung, 鈥淎spects of Ismaili Theology”. 53-65, reprinted in Madelung,听Religious Schools, article XVII, and Daftary,听The Ismailis. 234-246.
17. See Stern, 鈥淚sma’il i Propaganda”, 298-307, reprinted in his聽Studies, 177-188: Hamdani,听The Beginnings, 3 ff.; Bosworth,听罢丑别听Ghaznavids, 52-53, 76, 199-200, 235, and Haim聽The Empire of the聽Mahdi, 385-392.
18. Al Nisaburi’s treatise entitled聽al-Risala al-mujaza al-kafiya fi聽adab聽al-du’at聽has not survived directly, but it has been preserved in full in later Ismaili sources; see Poonawala, Biobibliography, 91-92
19. See Daftary,听The Ismailis, 186-197; Walker, “The Ismaili Da’wa “, 161-182, and Halm,听罢丑别听Fatimids聽and their Traditions, 35 ff., 53-54, 71-78.
20. Poonawala,听Biobibliography, 94-102 and van Ess, 鈥淏ibliographische Notizen”, 255-261.
21. For a comprehensive study of al-Kirmani’s thought, as expounded mainly in his聽Rah颅at al-‘aql, see De Smet,听La Qui茅tude de l’Intellect.
22. Al-Maqrizi,听Itti’az al-颅unafa鈥�, vol. 2, 191-192; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil,vol. 9, 211, 358, and vol. 10. 112 ff., 165-166, and Barthold,听Turkestan, 251, 304-305, 316-318.
23. See al-Mu鈥檃yyad fi’l-Din al-Shirazi,听Sirat al-Mu鈥檃yyad fi鈥檒-Din. See also Idris ‘Imad聽al-D颈苍听b. al-Hasan,听鈥楿yun al-akhbar, vol. 6, 329-359. For a modern study based on al-Mu’ayyad鈥檚聽SiraFrom Arabic, lit. way of life, way of acting, conduct; as a literary genre, sira means a biography and times of an individual. In the Muslim context, the sira typically…, see Klemm,听Die Mission des fatimidischen Agenten.
24. For a list of al-Mu鈥檃yyad鈥檚 writings, see Poonawala,听Biobibliography, 103-109. See also Halm, 鈥淭he Oath of Allegiance (‘ahd)鈥�, in Daftary, ed.,听Mediaeval Isma鈥檌li History, especially 99, 115.
25. See for instance, Nasir-i Khusraw,听Zad al-musafirin, 397, and his聽Diwan, 8, 10, 17, 51, 56, 86, 92, 366, 416, 459, 490.
26. Nasir-i Khusraw,听Zad al-musafirin, 3, 402, and his聽Diwan, l62, 234, 287, 436.
27. Nasir-i Khusraw,听Kitab jami’ al-hikmatayn, 16-17; trench trans.,听Le Livre r茅unissant les deux Sagesses, 48. On Nasir-i Khusraw鈥檚 life and writings, see Ivanow,听Problems in Nasir-i Khusraw鈥檚 Biography; Corbin, 鈥淣asir-i Khusrau and Iranian Isma’ilism鈥�, 520-542; Bertle鈥檚,听Nasir-i Khosrov i ismailizm听148-264;听Nasir-i Khusraw va Isma’iliyan, 149-256, and Poonawala,听Biobibliography, 111-125, 430-436.
28. F. Daftary, 鈥淧ersian Historiography鈥�, 91-97.
29. Juwayni,听Ta’rikh-i jahan-gushay, vol. 3, 186-278: English trans., vol. 2, 666-725: Rashid聽al-Din,听Jami’ al-tawarikh, 97-195; Kashani,听Zubat al-tawarikh, 133-233. For modern studies on the Persian Ismailis and their state during the Alumut period, see Hodgson,听Order, 37-278, and his “The Ismaili State”, 422-482; Lewis,聽The Assassins, 38-124; Daftary,听The Ismailis, 324-434, 669-699, and his “Hasan-i Sabbah and the Origins of the Nizari Isma鈥檌li Movement”, in his聽Mediaeval Isma鈥檌li History, 181-204
30. Professor Bosworth has studied the Persian revival under Arab and Turkish rule in numerous studies; see, for instance, his “The Development of Persian Culture”, 33-34, reprinted in his聽The Medieval History, article XVIII; 鈥淚nteraction of Arabic and Persian Literature and Culture”, 59-73, reprinted in his聽Medieval Arabic Culture, article VIII, and his聽Saffarids, 168-180. See also Stern, 鈥淵a’qub the Coppersmith”, 535-353.
31. See Rashid聽al-Din, 112, and the anonymous Nizari treatise from the聽Alamut聽period entitled聽Haft bab-i Baba Sayyidna, 30; English trans., in Hodgson.聽Order, 314.
32. See Rashid聽al-Din. 149, 153: Kashani, 186-190, and Madelung,听Religious Trends, 9-12. On the聽Khurramiyya, who were active in different parts of the Iranian world throughout the ‘Abbasid times, and manifested anti-Arab, anti-Turkish or even anti-Islamic sentiments, see Madelung, “Khurramiya”, El2, vol. 3. 63-65.
33. For a detailed analysis of these campaigns and the biased reports of the chroniclers favouring the Seljuqs, see Hillenbrand, “The Power Struggle鈥�, 203-220.
34. For the origins and early development of these legends, which found their culmination in the tales recounted by Marco Polo, see Daftary,听The Assassin Legends, especially 88-127.
35. See, for instance, Miles, “Coins of the Assassins of聽Alamut聽“,155-162.
36. Al-Shahrastani,听Kitab al-milal, 150-152; partial English trans., 167-170, English trans. also in Hodgson,听Order, 325-328. See also G. Monnot, “al-Shahrastani”, El2, vol. 9, 214-216.
37. The doctrine of the聽qiyama, as elaborated under Muhammad II, is expounded in the聽Haft bab-i Baba Sayyidna, 4-42; English trans., with commentary, in Hodgson,听Order, 279-324. For the best modern exposition of this doctrine, see Hodgson,听Order. 162-170, while an interesting phenomenological account is contained in Jambet,听La grande r茅surrection.
38. See Bosworth, “The Isma鈥檌lis of Quhistan”, in Daftary, ed.,听Mediaeval Isma’ili History, 221-229, and his聽Saffarids, 387- 410, 418 ff.
39. Juzjani,听Tabaqat-i Nasiri, 182-183; English trans., vol. 2, 1197-1205, 1212-1214
40. On the controversy surrounding al-Tusi鈥檚 religious affiliation, see Dabashi, 鈥淭he Philosopher/Vizier”, 231-245, and also Madelung, “Nasir ad-Din Tusi’s Ethics鈥�, 85-101.
41. Al-Tusi,听Rawdat al-taslim; French trans.,听La Convocation d鈥櫬燗lamut. For al-Tusi’s Ismaili writings, see Poonawala,听Biobibliography, 260-263.
42. See Boyle, “The Ismailis and the Mongol Invasion”, 7-22; Daftary,听The Ismailis, 416-430 and his “Rukn聽al-D颈苍听Khurshah”, El2, vol. 8. 598-599.
43. For the details and the relevant sources, see Daftary,听The Ismailis, 435-451.
44. See Mar鈥檃shi,听Ta鈥檙ikh-i Gilan, 66-68.
45. Mar’ashi,听Ta鈥檙ikh-i Gilan, 52-66, 123-124.
46. See Gilani,听Ta鈥檙ikh-i Mazandaran, 88-89, 100, and Fumani,听Ta鈥檙ikh-i Gilan, ed. Dorn, 127-129, 192-195; ed. Sutuda, 164- 166, 241-244
47. Badakhshi,听Ta鈥檙ikh-i Badakhshan, ed. Boldyrev, 227-253 and Semenov, 鈥淪hughnanskikh Ismailitov鈥�, 523-561
48. Daftary,听The Ismailis, 451-478
49. See Ivanow, “Tombs”, 49-62, and Daftany, “Anjedan”,听Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol.2, 77.
50. See Poonawala,听Biobibliography, 268-277.

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