Posted by Born in St Petersburg, Russia, on 3 November 1886, Wladimir Ivanow (spelt variously Ivanov and Vladimir), a Russian orientalist and leading pioneer in modern Ismaili studies,) spent his youth in his native city and Moscow, graduating in 1907. He attended the University of St. Petersburg, where he studied Islamic and Central Asian History while specialising in Persian dialects. He subsequently travelled to Persian to work and conduct field research into Persian literature. In 1915, he returned to St. Petersburg, joining the Asiatic Museum of the Russian Academy of the Sciences, collecting and cataloguing manuscripts. It was here at the Museum that Ivanow first came into contact with Ismaili literature, his main research interest in later years.
In 1921, Ivanow went to India, beginning his long residency of some four decades. Shortly after settling n Calcutta (now Kolkata), he worked at the Asiatic Society of Bengal, cataloguing their extensive collection of Persian manuscripts. He completed this task, publishing two annotated volumes and supplements which were published in 1924-1928. In the same decade, his first major Ismaili work (Ismailitica) was published in Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. In 1928, Ivanow went to Persia to collect more manuscripts for the Asiatic Society, making the first of several visits to Alamut and other Nizari Ismaili strongholds.
Ivanow moved to Bombay (now Mumbai), where he devoted his scholarly career exclusively to Ismaili studies. He had already established relations with Nizari Khojas, who introduced him to Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah. Imam employed Ivanow permanently to research into the literature, history, and teachings of the Ismailis. On 1 January 1931, Ivanow began his employment for Imam.
In his autobiography, Fifty Years in the East, Ivanow describes his experience:
“In December, I was informed that His Highness the Aga Khan [III] had consented to my engagement in regular research on the history, literature, and philosophy of Ismailism. Aga Khan III, a man of creative mind and excellent education…realised the harmful effects of retaining traditional secrecy in modern times and therefore abolished it … (Fifty Years in the East p 165).
First of all, I started looking for Ismaili works. The Khojas had some religious books in Gujarati and other languages which I did not know. They had no such works in Arabic, and possessed only two Persian manuscripts… Fortunately, I received money for the purchase of Arabic Ismaili manuscripts from the Bohras, and Persian books from the Badakhshani and Persian (Nizari Ismaili) pilgrims, who came to Bombay for the ceremony of the didar of their Imam.
During my only conversation with the late Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, concerning the programme of my research he emphasised that I should concentrate on the history of his ancestors. He recalled the well-known fact that his grandfather, Hasan Ali Shah [r.1817-1881], the original Aga Khan, was attacked in Sind by Baluchi brigands… He himself escaped almost by miracle. His property, including precious books belonging to the family was pillaged… (Ibid. p 83-88).
I succeeded in finding a number of persons who possessed them [Ismaili manuscripts], among both the Khoja and Bohra Ismailis. The most valuable contact was an old man, a retired servant of the late Aga Khan, Musa Khan Khorasani (d. 1937). [He] was a bibliophile and collector of Ismaili manuscripts, whose Persian ancestors had accompanied Hasan Ali Shah, Aga Khan I, from Persia to India in the early 1840s. The family had remained in the service of the Ismaili Imams… he made his collection accessible to me and allowed me to copy and photograph his books. This Musa Khan wrote a legendary history of Ismailism…
A young and wealthy Khoja businessman, Ismaili Mohammed Jafer, offered to meet the printing costs of the edited versions of Musa Khan’s manuscripts. However, the matter appeared to be rather complicated because of the hostility of some reactionary circles. It was decided that the best way forward would be to offer them for publication to a recognized academic institution, such as the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, which was founded at the beginning of the 19th century. It published a journal, memoirs and a separate series of academic works…. (Ibid. p 90).
My friend Asaf A.A. Fyzee, a young advocate educated at the University of Cambridge, was the secretary of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. We requested that he discuss our proposal at the meeting of their Council. It was submitted, put to vote, and rejected. One of the members of the Council, a retired Hindu official, had assured his colleagues that the proposal should be turned down because if they published the books, the Aga Khan might send his ‘assassins’ to murder them all. This evoked protests and a learned Parsi said although such a things was certainly quite improbable, he advised that the proposal and the grant money for it should be rejected because publication of such books might provoke street riots. All this now seems ridiculous, but it demonstrated what even the most educated people were then capable of believing.” (Ibid. p 91-92).
I suggested founding an entirely new organization under a neutral name, with no mention of Ismailism, that could publish our books under its auspices. So, after some discussion, the ‘Islamic Research Association’ was born.
The Association was formally founded in February 1933 with headquarters in Bombay. … Aga Khan III was the Association’s patron….
Unfortunately, misunderstanding gradually cropped up again. From my point of view, the most important matter was the publication of genuine Ismaili works, but to some members of the organizing group this appeared to be of secondary importance. They were more concerned with public images and all theatricals of meetings, gatherings and speeches. And I remained the only worker [i.e. working scholar]. It was mentioned that the publication of further Ismaili works would turn the [Association’s] series into ‘Ivanow’s Ismaili Series.’ The argument went like this: ‘It was necessary to publish some non-Ismaili works, by another author, especially in Urdu – otherwise God only knows what people would think.’ I felt repelled by this behavior and, from early on, started to distance myself from the newly born body.
Having published five works, I prepared a new book for publication dealing with one of the most cardinal and difficult questions in the study of Ismaili history, namely the real role of Abd Allah ibn Maymun al-Qaddah, a companion of the early Shi’i Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (d. 765) and reporter of numerous hadiths from him. This respected non-Alid personality, who was a Shi’i traditionalist from the Hijaz and died sometime during the second half of the 8th century, is introduced into anti-Ismaili polemics starting with Ibn Rizam, who flourished in Baghdad in the first half of the 10th century and wrote a major work around 951 in refutation of the Ismailis …. As a result, Ismailism was depicted as an arch-heresy designed to destroy Islam from within, and the Alid genealogy of the early Ismaili Imams and the Fatimid Imam-caliphs was also refuted (Ibid. p 93 n. 94).
When the book was ready I gave it for review to two members of the ‘organising group,’ as was stipulated by the home-made ‘constitution,’ and at a subsequent meeting I offered to send the manuscript for printing. But one of the group members, a non-worker himself, suggested giving the book to professor so-and-so for their approval. In fact, none of the suggested scholars had anything to do with Ismailsim, and it would have been a plain formality and waste of time, pure procrastination so dear to the bureaucratic mentality of the Indians. I became furious and told them that either the manuscript should be posted the next day or I would leave their Association.
They tried to change my mind, but I was fed up with all this and left. This Association still exists, but in a state of hibernation. In the last 14 years they have not published anything, although they still have some funds…
I suggested to the President of the Association, Mr Ali Mahomed Mecklai, to start a new and independent organization for the continuation of Ismaili publications, but this time without masking its real purpose and calling it the ‘Ismaili Society.’ Its membership was based on a number of principles, and would be open only to active researchers of Ismailism and not to the general public. Only those who had at least one published study of Ismailism could be eligible for membership. The proposal was approved and on 6 February 1946 the Ismaili Society was born. Invitations to join were circulated among those eligible and 25 scholars were originally elected as members…. Syrian and Egyptians have been the most industrious members, as for them Ismailism is part of their own history and heritage. But this is not the case in Persia and India. Since Arab and Persian Ismailis suffer from the want of literature on Ismailism, they willingly buy the most worthless booklets from commercial publishers…. During the last 22 years, the [Ismaili] Society has published 28 works in three series…
We also experimented with publishing a non-periodical collection of articles… But it was discontinued because of the shortage of contributors. And still the most important task remains the preparation of critical editions of genuine Ismaili texts. The difficulties are almost insurmountable. Ever since the beginning of this work, I have done everything possible to invite and encourage additional contributors from amongst educated Persians and Arabs. But I have failed completely. .. No one wanted to work for the advancement of knowledge, and even for future monetary gain, but everyone demanded cash, and too much cash, which is not so easy to obtain” (Ibid. p 94-95).
In July 1948, I attended the 21st Congress of Orientalists in Paris, representing the Ismaili Society… In April 1954, I was invited by the Persian government to attend the celebrations of the 900th anniversary of the birth of Avicenna [Ibn Sina], in Tehran and Hamdan. … I also took the opportunity to make some arrangements for my planned work in Alamut and Lamasar where I spent two seasons in 1957 and 1958. This was made possible through a generous grant of £350 contributed by the Khojas of East Africa.”
(Fifty Years in the East, The Memoirs of Wladimir Ivanow, Ed. Farhad Daftary, I.B. Tauris, London, 2015)
(More on Ismaili State of Alamut [1090-1256])
Sources:
Farhad Daftary, Vladmir Alekseevich Ivanow, The Institute of Ismailis Studies
Fifty Years in the East, The Memoirs of Wladimir Ivanow, Edited by Farhad Daftary, I.B. Tauris, London, 2015
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