Shah Khalil Allah III (1740 - 1817)

Born 1740 in Kerman, Iran

Ancestors

Husband of Bibi Sarkara — married [date unknown] in Iran

Descendants

Died 1817 at about age 77 in Yazd, Yazd, Iran

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Biography

Shah Khalil Allah III is Notable.

Shah Khalil Allah III was 45th Imam of the Ismailis, a branch or sect of Shia Islam. The Nizari Ismaili recognized Shah Khalil Allah III as the living, hereditary Imam, a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

Birth
Shah Khalil Allah III, also known as Shāh Khalīlullāh III, (Persian: شاه خليل الله سوم‎) was born in 1740 in the city of Kerman in Iran. He was the son of Abu’l-Hasan Ali, the 44th Imam of the Nizari Isma'ili Shia Islam community. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Education
His upbringing in Mahallat, a city in Markazi province, Iran, began under the care of his uncle, Mirza Muhammad Bakir at the age of two years. Thus, he received his formal education at home. ^{[2] [4]}

Imam
In 1792, he succeeded his father as the 45th Imam of the Nizari Ismaili community. ^{[2] [3]}

He moved the seat of the Imamat (or leadership) from Kerman to Kahak, a village in the Central District of Delijan County in Markazi Province, Iran, from where he led for 20 years. In 1815, he moved to Yazd in order to be closer to his Indian followers. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Marriage
Shah Khalil Allah III married Bibi Sarkara, the daughter of Muhammad Sadiq Mahallati (d. 1815), a poet. Their son and his successor, Hasan Ali Shah was born in 1804 in Kahak. ^{[3] [4]}

Shah Khalil Allah III had four sons: ^[4]

1. Hasan Ali Shah
2. Taki Khan
3. Sardar Abul Hasan Khan
4. Muhammad Bakir Khan

and two daughters: ^[4]

1. Shah Bibi, married Imani Khan Farahani ^[5]
2. Gohar Taj

Death
Shah Khalil Allah was killed at the age of 77 in 1817 (along with several followers) as a result of a fanatical Twelver Shia cleric called Mulla Husayn Yazdi inciting a Twelver mob to attack the Imam's house as a follow-up to a dispute between some Nizaris and some Twelver shopkeepers. The Imam's house was also plundered in the attack. Mulla Husayn Yazdi was punished for his actions by Fath 'Ali Shah Qajar (the second Qajar king of Iran), since the king and the Imam had been on good terms. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Burial
Shah Khalil Allah was buried in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, in a mausoleum that also contains the bodies of some of his relatives and descendants. ^{[2] [3] [4] [6]} The Imam was the last to have spent his entire Imamate in Persia. He was succeeded by his eldest son Hasan Ali Shah who was the first Nizari Imam to use the title Aga Khan - a trend which has continued to the present day. ^{[2] [3]}

Following the death of Shah Khalil Allah, the Ismailis of Iran were in a strong enough position to finally come out publicly and cease their use of Taqiyya (concealing their religion), which had been in force for over 500 years. ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "List of Isma'ili imams," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed March 21, 2024).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7} Wikipedia contributors, "Shah Khalil Allah III," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed March 20, 2024).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} Encyclopaedia Iranica: online edition, (https://www.iranicaonline.org/), “ ŠĀH ḴALIL-ALLĀH”, Farhad Daftary, 25 April 2015, (https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shah-khalil-allah), accessed March 21, 2024.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7} Biographical article: Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.(First Ismaili Electronic Library and Database), “KHALILULLAH ALI II, 45TH IMAM” in Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin, http://heritage.ismaili.net/node/10538, (accessed March 21, 2024).
5. ↑ Mentioned in Wikipedia for AGA Khan I: [Wikipedia contributors, "Aga Khan I," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed 36 March 26 2024).
6. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (no image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #237931984 (accessed 25 March 2024)
   Memorial page for Shah Khalil Allah III (1740-1817), citing Shah Khalil Allah III Mausoleum, Najaf, Najaf, Iraq; Maintained by CMWJR (contributor 50059520).

• Biographical content by Ismaili Gnosis: “45. Imam Shah Khalil Allah III (1792-1817)” under “The Aga Khan’s direct descent from Prophet Muhammad: Historical Proof”, posted on 9 July 2016 by Ismaili Gnosis, (accessed 21 March 2024). This is a religious website, but the authors do cite multiple sources for the biographical details of each Ismaili Imam. Among examples, for Shah Khalil Allah III, they cite:
  • Several letters of Imam Khalil Allah III in 1792 and 1794, presented as evidence in the Aga Khan Case of 1866
  • Jean Baptiste L. J. Rouseeau (1780-1831), “Memoire sur la dynastie des Assassin” (1818)
  • Daftary, Farhad (2007). The Ismāʿı̄lı̄s: Their History and Doctrines (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-61636-2.
• Wikidata: Item Q7506064