Institute for Ismaili Studies

Institute for Ismaili Studies
Name	Institute for Ismaili Studies
Formation	1977
Founder	Aga Khan
Headquarters	London
Location	London
Leader title	Director
Leader name	Farhad Daftary

Contents

Institute for Ismaili Studies. The Institute for Ismaili Studies is a London-based independent research and educational institution established by the Aga Khan family with links to the Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili community. It operates within the context of global Islamic studies involving interactions with scholars associated with Oxford University, Cambridge University, SOAS University of London, Harvard University, and Princeton University. The Institute engages with archival collections, manuscript traditions, and contemporary policy debates that also concern institutions such as the British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Middle East Institute (Washington, D.C.), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

History

The Institute traces origins to initiatives by the Aga Khan IV in the 1970s and 1980s, building on earlier networks including the Ismaili Tariqa and patronage patterns comparable to those of the Khanate of Khiva and the Sultanate of Oman in cultural preservation. Its founding years involved collaborations with scholars connected to the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London, the Institute of Ismaili Studies in Tehran (historical centers), and manuscript catalogers from the Bodleian Library, the Vatican Library, and the Süleymaniye Library. Over subsequent decades the Institute hosted visiting fellows from the University of Chicago, the Leiden University, the Columbia University, the McGill University, and formed research partnerships mirroring consortia like the European Research Council and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Institute's mission aligns with cultural and intellectual preservation pursued by entities such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Oriental Institute (Chicago), and the Institute of Ismaili Studies's counterparts in manuscript studies, aiming to support scholarship comparable to programs at Yale University, King's College London, Brown University, and Duke University. Objectives include fostering research on Ismaili history linked to archives of the Ottoman Empire, the Safavid dynasty, the Mughal Empire, and connections with communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and East Africa. The Institute seeks to advance comparative studies resonant with themes addressed by the Royal Asiatic Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the World Bank's cultural heritage initiatives.

Academic programs at the Institute have included postgraduate fellowships, collaborative projects, and seminars with partners such as University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Australian National University, University of California, Berkeley, and SOAS. Research areas encompass Ismaili theology in relation to works like the Alamut period sources, legal traditions touching on texts associated with the Fatimid Caliphate, manuscript studies paralleling cataloging at the Cambridge University Library, and contemporary studies that dialog with policy fora such as the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Development Programme. Visiting scholars and fellows have originally been affiliated with centers like the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Max Planck Society, the Institut du Monde Arabe, and the Getty Research Institute.

The Institute publishes monographs, edited volumes, and periodicals that join the bibliographies of publishers and series linked to Brill, Routledge, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and the Journal of Islamic Studies. Its publication program has issued works by scholars active at Princeton University, Leiden University, University of Edinburgh, University of Michigan, and Columbia University; topics intersect with source editions of texts comparable to those published by the E. J. Brill series, catalogues resembling outputs of the British Museum, and critical studies akin to those from the Islamic Manuscript Association.

The Institute's library and archives hold manuscript collections and printed materials that are referenced by researchers from institutions such as the British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Library of Congress, the National Archives (UK), and the Princeton University Library. Holdings include codices similar to collections at the Süleymaniye Library, correspondence comparable to papers held by the Bodleian Library, and photographic archives paralleling those of the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Institute collaborates on digitization projects with partners like the Endangered Archives Programme, the Qatar Digital Library, and the Digital South Asia Library.

Public engagement programs bring together lecture series, conferences, and outreach modeled on initiatives by the British Council, the Tate Modern, the Royal Albert Hall lecture programs, and the Somerset House cultural events. Educational offerings include seminars for community members and professionals that reflect pedagogical connections to Harvard Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, Humboldt University of Berlin, and museum education units such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Institute convenes symposia attracting participants from the European Parliament, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Council of Europe, and nongovernmental organizations like Amnesty International and International Committee of the Red Cross for cross-disciplinary dialogues.

Governance comprises a board and advisory committees resembling structures at the Wellcome Trust, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, with trustees often having links to the Aga Khan Development Network, private foundations, and academic institutions including Oxford University, Cambridge University, SOAS, and the University of Toronto. Funding streams derive from endowments and grants comparable to support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, philanthropic vehicles like the Gates Foundation model, and partnerships with governmental cultural agencies such as the British Council and international donors active in cultural preservation.

Category:Ismaili studies