Shams ad-Din Muhammad

Shams ad-Din Muhammad ( Arabic شمس الدين محمد, DMG Šams ad-Dīn Muḥammad ; † 1310 ) was the 28th Imam of the Shia of the Nizari-Ismailis . He was the son and successor of Imam Rukn ad-Din Churschah († 1257).

The Mongols lay siege to Gerdkuh Castle. Illustration from an edition of the Flor des estoires d'Orient by the Armenian chronicler Hethum von Korykos , 14th century.

As a child, Schams received the designation (naṣṣ) from his father to succeed him in the leadership of the Nizarites and was sent to the Hulegü yurt camp in 1256 as a sign of submission . He did not recognize this form of submission and let his invading army march against Alamut .

Contrary to the tradition announced by Juwaini , after the end of Alamut by the Mongols, not the entire imam family was extinguished in the "fire of annihilation" ordered by the Great Khan Möngke . In Gerdkuh Castle (near Damghan ), the Nizarites resisted the Mongolian power until 1270 and were able to continue to exist underground even after its abandonment. Especially in the province of Gilan with the main town Daylaman (near Siahkal ) they were able to establish themselves, which the Mongols could never completely bring under control. In 1275 the Nizarites, led by a son of the Churschah, were even able to take the Alamut, which was rebuilt by the Mongols, but in 1282 they were expelled from there by the Mongolian Ilchan Abaqa . Whether Shams was identical to that son or whether it was a brother cannot be determined with certainty.

Shams resided most of his life in Tabriz , Azerbaijan , which is why he is often confused with the Sufi mystic Shams-e Tabrizi († 1248). In 1280 he was visited by Nizari Quhistani († 1320), who belonged to his Shia and was her first important poet after the fall of Alamut.

With the death of Shams ad-Din ("Sun of Faith") around 1310, the Nizarite imams descended into obscurity for the next three generations, which is mainly due to a poor source of information. In any case, a split in the community occurred on him, which had ignited the question of his successor. Apparently it was controversial between his sons Ala ad-Din Mu'min Shah and Qasim Shah and developed into a permanent state at the latest with the death of the former in the early 14th century. The Shia of Mu'min Shah ( Muʾminiyya , also Muʾminī Nizārīs , or Muḥammad-Shāhī Nizārīs ) was numerically larger and concentrated mainly in Syria, Iraq, central Persia and India. That of Qasim Shah ( al-Qāsimiyya , or Qāsim-Shāhī Nizārīs ) was widespread in northern Persia, Azerbaijan and Central Asia. Mumini-Nizaris continued into the 18th century, when their last imam died with no descendants. What stayed behind were the Qasim Shahi Nizaris who have since been the sole representatives of the Nizarites and are currently represented by the 49th Imam Karim Aga Khan IV (* 1936).

literature

• Farhad Daftary , The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines. Cambridge University Press 1990.
• Farhad Daftary, The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Ismaʿilis. London 1994.
• Farhad Daftary, Ismaili Literature: A Bibliography of Sources and Studies. London 2004.
• Shafique N. Virani, The Eagle Returns: Evidence of Continued Isma'ili Activity at Alamut and in the South Caspian Region Following the Mongol Conquests, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 123 (2003), pp. 351-370 .

swell

• Ata al-Mulk Dschuwaini , "History of the World Conqueror" ( Ta'rīkh-i Jahāngushāy ) : ed. as a translation into English by John Andrew Boyle, Genghis Khan, the history of the world conqueror (1958), pp. 723-724.
• Hamd Allah Mustawfi , "Selected Story" (Ta'rīkh-i-guzīda) : ed. as a translation into English by Edward G. Browne, The Ta'ríkh-i-guzída or "Select history" of Hamdulláh Mustawfí-i-Qazwíní, part 2 (1913), p. 143.

Remarks

1. ↑ In the same year the Syrian fortress of the Nizarites, Masyaf, was conquered by the Mamluks.
2. ↑ According to alternative representations, Qasim Shah was a son of Ala ad-Din Mu'min Shah, but this genealogy was not recognized by the Ismaili historiography of the 19th century.

predecessor	Office	successor
Rukn ad-Din Khurschah	28. Imam of the Nizari-Ismailis 1257-1310	Qasim Shah