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Noorani family

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Noorani family is a term used to refer to the immediate family of the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shia Muslims, commonly known by the title of Aga Khan.[1]

The title of 'His Highness' was initially granted by the British Monarch to the Ismaili Imams dating back in mid 1800s, to the first Aga Khan, in recognition as a religious leader and his role as spiritual head of the Ismaili community.[2] The style of His Highness was formally granted to the Aga Khan IV by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957 upon the death of his grandfather the Aga Khan III.[a] It has continued to this day, being reconfirmed after each succession.[3]

The titles Prince and Princess are used by the Aga Khans and their children by virtue of their descent from Shah Fath Ali Shah of the Persian Qajar dynasty. The title was officially recognised by the British government in 1938.[4]

The Qajar monarch Fath Ali Shah granted the title "Agha Khan" (also spelled "Aqa Khan," meaning "lord and master") to Hasan Ali Shah, later known as Aga Khan I, when he was thirteen. Hasan Ali Shah, then the Nizari Isma'ili Imam, traveled to the Qajar court in Tehran with his mother to seek legal redress following his father's death. The title became hereditary among his successors. Fath Ali Shah also arranged a marriage between Hasan Ali Shah and his daughter, Sarv-i-Jahan Khanum, providing land in the Mahallat region as part of the dowry.[5] The current titleholder, Rahim Al-Hussaini, is the fifth Nizari Imam to hold the title Aga Khan.[6]

Members

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Recently deceased members

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Living former members

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  • Salimah Aga Khan, b. 1941, former wife of the Aga Khan IV (m. 1969; div. 1995)
  • Inaara Aga Khan, b. 1963, former wife of the Aga Khan IV (m. 1998; div. 2011)
  • Khaliya Aga Khan, b. 1977, former wife of Hussain Aga Khan (m. 2006; div. 2013)
  • Salwa Aga Khan, b. 1988, former wife of Aga Khan V (m. 2013; div. 2022)

References

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  1. ^ Najibullah, Farangis (24 August 2012). "Five Things To Know About The Aga Khan". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  2. ^ "The King is pleased to grant the new Aga Khan the title "His Highness"". Royal.UK. 10 February 2025. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  3. ^ "The King is pleased to grant the new Aga Khan the title "His Highness"". Royal.UK. 10 February 2025. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  4. ^ Edwards, Anne (1996). Throne of Gold: The Lives of the Aga Khans, New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-00-215196-0
  5. ^ Daftary, Farhad (1990). The Ismā'īlīs: Their History and Doctrines. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 503–516. ISBN 0-521-42974-9.
  6. ^ "Aga Khan", Wikipedia, 2025-03-05, retrieved 2025-03-11
  7. ^ a b "Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, U. N. Commissioner, and Mrs. Sursock Married". The New York Times. 28 November 1972. Retrieved 31 May 2023.

Notes

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  1. ^ This style has been continually recognized, on a personal basis, by the British monarch, to whom the Aga Khans were previously temporal subjects — the incumbent is a British citizen — since 1866. In 1959, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran — whose Qajar predecessors first awarded Imam Hasan Ali Shah the title of Aga Khan in 1818 — bestowed upon the Aga Khan IV the higher style of Royal Highness in 1959, but that style fell into disuse following the Iranian Revolution of 1979.