Ismaili Imams

The Ismailis are the second-largest Shi'i community in the world today settled in over 25 countries across Asia Africa the Middle East Europe and North America. They are the only Muslims to follow a living spiritual guide of their community the Nizari Ismaili Imam. This book is the first collection of biographies of all the Ismaili Imams from the seminal Imams of early Shi'i Islam through to those of the first 'period of concealment' when their public identities remained hidden to the Imam-caliphs of the illustrious Fatimid dynasty and those of the Alamut period up to the Aga Khans of the modern period. The Ismaili Imams mines the rich scholarship of the developing field of Ismaili Studies providing a simple and clear resource for the general reader as well as a handy reference guide for scholars. This copiously illustrated book offers a snapshot of the lives events and legacies of all 49 Imams and through them of the Ismaili community's storied past.