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Route 2 of 3: The Prophet's family: descent and imamate lines

≠Sources differ on 7 links of this route.

1. The Prophet Muhammadمحمد632
2. Show all 12 names (8 not shown)
3. ʿUbaydallāh al-Mahdīعبيد الله المهدي934
4. ✓two sourcesin The Prophet's family: descent and imamate linesomits: al-Qāʾim, al-Manṣūr, al-Muʿizz, al-ʿAzīz, al-Ḥākim, al-Ẓāhir, al-Mustanṣir; Daftary's table (p. 508) names the same seven caliph-imams (II–VIII) between ʿUbaydallāh and Nizār≠sources differ

   successor of · ʿUbaydallāh al-Mahdī to Nizār b. al-Mustanṣir · Two independent sources

   The Nizārī line is traced to al-Mustanṣir's elder son Nizār. TDV Nizâriyye: Nizār was seized and killed in prison in Alexandria (488/1095); Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ and the Ismāʿīlīs of the east accepted Nizār and his descendants and broke with the Cairo daʿwa.

   TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, İsmâiliyyeTDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Fatımîler

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   Checked against

   • Ibn ʿInaba, ʿUmdat al-ṭālib (OpenITI), umda#L4499-4502 · agreesNizār b. al-Mustanṣir, 'ṣāḥib daʿwat al-Ismāʿīliyya', ancestor of the Alamūt lords.
   • Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (OpenITI), wafayat#L3018-3020 · agreesNizār, the elder son, fled to Alexandria under al-Mustaʿlī; called ancestor of the Alamūt daʿwa.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 5, pp. 241–242 · agreesAl-Mustanṣir first designated his eldest son Nizār; Nizār rose in Alexandria in 488/1095 and took the title al-Muṣṭafā li-Dīn Allāh.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 5, p. 242 · differsNizār surrendered, was taken to Cairo, imprisoned and immured (end of 488/1095); TDV has him killed in prison in Alexandria.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 6, pp. 325–326; genealogical table, p. 509 · agreesḤasan-i Ṣabbāḥ and all Persian Ismāʿīlīs upheld Nizār's right and broke with Cairo; Nizār is the nineteenth imam in the Nizārī list.

   Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.

   • Mustaʿlī account: al-Mustaʿlī was the rightful successor. TDV İsmâiliyye and Müsta‘liyye describe him as declaring his imamate with al-Afḍal's support.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, İsmâiliyyeTDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Müsta‘liyye
   • Nizārī account, as TDV Nizâriyye gives it: the imamate was Nizār's right; after Nizār and his son were killed, a young grandson was brought to Iran by Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ and raised there.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)
   • Nizārī account, as Daftary reports it: the Persian Ismāʿīlīs defended al-Mustanṣir's original naṣṣ to Nizār. Nizār himself named no successor; Nizārī coins at Alamūt continued to carry his name for about seventy years, blessing his progeny anonymously. Persian historians report that a son or grandson of Nizār was brought secretly to Alamūt, in versions naming the qāḍī Abū l-Ḥasan Saʿīdī and a grandson al-Muhtadī. Daftary notes that Nizār's descendants launched revolts in Egypt, the last in 556/1161. (ch. 6, pp. 325–326, 363)Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007)
   Nizār b. al-Mustanṣirنزار1095
5. ✓two sourcesin The Prophet's family: descent and imamate linesomits: the Alamūt imams from Nizār to Rukn al-Dīn Khurshāh (Ibn ʿInaba), and the imams after 654/1256, for which TDV reports no reliable information; Daftary's Qāsim-Shāhī table (p. 509) names the omitted imams 20–48: al-Hādī, al-Muhtadī, al-Qāhir, Ḥasan II, Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad II, Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥasan III, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad III, Rukn al-Dīn Khurshāh, Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad, Qāsim Shāh, Islām Shāh, Muḥammad b. Islām Shāh, Mustanṣir bi'llāh II, ʿAbd al-Salām Shāh, Gharīb Mīrzā (Mustanṣir bi'llāh III), Abū Dharr ʿAlī, Murād Mīrzā, Dhu l-Faqār ʿAlī, Nūr al-Dahr ʿAlī, Khalīl Allāh II, Shāh Nizār II, Sayyid ʿAlī, Ḥasan ʿAlī, Qāsim ʿAlī, Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī, Shāh Khalīl Allāh III, Ḥasan ʿAlī Shāh (Aga Khan I), Āqā ʿAlī Shāh (Aga Khan II), Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh (Aga Khan III)≠sources differ

   successor of · Nizār b. al-Mustanṣir to Karīm Aga Khan IV · Two independent sources

   TDV Nizâriyye: in Nizārī tradition Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ and his two successors at Alamūt were the imam's representatives, not imams; Ḥasan ʿalā dhikrihi l-salām declared in 559/1164 that he was the imam of Nizār's line and proclaimed the qiyāma; his grandson Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥasan (r. 607-618/1210-1221) set the qiyāma doctrine aside. The line continues to the Aga Khans: the 46th Imam, Ḥasan ʿAlī Shāh, received the title Aga Khan; Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh (Aga Khan III) held the imamate 1885-1957; TDV (2007) names Karīm Aga Khan as the 49th Imam.

   TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, İsmâiliyye

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   • Ibn ʿInaba, ʿUmdat al-ṭālib (OpenITI), umda#L4499-4504 · agreesAlamūt's ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn descends from Nizār through Ḥusayn, Muḥammad and Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥasan; Rukn al-Dīn Khurshāh was killed by the Mongols.
   • Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (OpenITI), wafayat#L3018-3020 · silentNotes Nizār as forefather of the Alamūt daʿwa; nothing on later imams.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 6, pp. 325–326, 359, 363, 375 · agreesAlamūt lords were first Nizār's ḥujjas; Ḥasan II proclaimed the qiyāma in 559/1164; Muḥammad II claimed imamate and Nizārid descent; Ḥasan III (from 607/1210) reversed it.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), genealogical table, p. 509; ch. 7, pp. 405, 411, 479, 495 · agreesQāsim-Shāhī list: Rukn al-Dīn Khurshāh (d. 655/1257), Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad (d. c. 710/1310), through Aga Khan III (48th) to Karīm, 49th.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 6, p. 363 · differsDaftary has the Nizārid-descent claim made explicitly by Muḥammad II for his father Ḥasan II, who had hinted at being the imam himself; TDV attributes it to Ḥasan.

   Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.

   • Community's own account: an unbroken line of Imams from ʿAlī and Fāṭima to the present Imam.the community's own account: The Ismaili (Ismaili Imamat / Ismaili community site), our heritage: imamat lineage page (community's own account; page not read: URL unconfirmed)
   • TDV Nizâriyye: after Alamūt fell (654/1256) there is no reliable information on the following imams and the lists differ; the list accepted by the Aga Khan branch was adopted in the late 19th century. After Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad (d. 710/1310) the Nizārīs divided into the Qāsim-Shāhī majority and the Muḥammad-Shāhī (Muʾmin-Shāhī) minority.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)
   • Daftary on the line after Alamūt: the first two centuries after the fall of Alamūt (654/1256) remain obscure; a succession dispute then divided the Nizārīs into Muḥammad-Shāhīs and Qāsim-Shāhīs. Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad apparently lived in concealment in Ādharbayjān (Tabrīz, 679/1280). Daftary's list of the Qāsim-Shāhī imams numbers Ḥasan ʿAlī Shāh (Aga Khan I) 46th, Aga Khan II 47th, Aga Khan III 48th and Karīm Aga Khan IV 49th; the Muḥammad-Shāhī (Muʾmin-Shāhī) list ends with its 40th imam, Amīr Muḥammad al-Bāqir. (ch. 7, pp. 405, 411; table, pp. 509–510)Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007)
   • Accession of the present line, public record only, as Daftary reports it: Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh Aga Khan III was installed in 1885 as the 48th imam, and his grandson Karīm succeeded as 49th under Aga Khan III's will of 1955, being acclaimed in Switzerland. (ch. 7, pp. 479, 495)Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007)
   Karīm Aga Khan IVالآغا خان الرابع2025
6. one sourcein The Prophet's family: descent and imamate lines≠sources differ

   successor of · Karīm Aga Khan IV to Aga Khan V (Prince Rahim al-Ḥusaynī) · One source

   Community's own account: Aga Khan IV, the 49th Imam (TDV Nizâriyye confirms the numbering up to him), was succeeded in February 2025 by Aga Khan V as 50th Imam. The Imamat's own announcement was not read.

   the community's own account: The Ismaili (Ismaili Imamat / Ismaili community site), our heritage: imamat lineage page (community's own account; page not read: URL unconfirmed)TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)Dawn, 'Prince Rahim becomes the new Aga Khan', 12 Feb 2025

   Suggest a correction

   Checked against

   • classical sources (Ibn ʿInaba, al-Dhahabī, Ibn Khallikān), n/a#not applicable · silentModern accession; needs the official community or AKDN statement.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 7, pp. 495, 509 · silent2007 edition ends with Karīm Aga Khan IV as the 49th, present imam; it cannot speak to his 2025 successor.
   • Dawn, 12 Feb 2025, article text · agreesIndependent press: Rahim al-Hussaini named 50th hereditary Imam after his father's will was unsealed; installed 11 Feb 2025 in Lisbon.

   Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.

   • Nizārī Ismāʿīlī position as the Imamat states it (relayed by Dawn): succession is by designation (naṣṣ) in his father's will; the Imam holds the imamate by that designation. The official page itself was not read.Dawn, 'Prince Rahim becomes the new Aga Khan', 12 Feb 2025
   Aga Khan V (Prince Rahim al-Ḥusaynī)Living, as of Oct 2026الآغا خان الخامس

Route 3 of 3: The Prophet's family: descent and imamate lines

≠Sources differ on 6 links of this route.

1. The Prophet Muhammadمحمد632
2. Show all 11 names (7 not shown)
3. ʿUbaydallāh al-Mahdīعبيد الله المهدي934
4. ✓two sourcesin The Prophet's family: descent and imamate linesomits: al-Qāʾim, al-Manṣūr, al-Muʿizz, al-ʿAzīz, al-Ḥākim, al-Ẓāhir, al-Mustanṣir; Daftary's table (p. 508) names the same seven caliph-imams (II–VIII) between ʿUbaydallāh and Nizār≠sources differ

   successor of · ʿUbaydallāh al-Mahdī to Nizār b. al-Mustanṣir · Two independent sources

   The Nizārī line is traced to al-Mustanṣir's elder son Nizār. TDV Nizâriyye: Nizār was seized and killed in prison in Alexandria (488/1095); Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ and the Ismāʿīlīs of the east accepted Nizār and his descendants and broke with the Cairo daʿwa.

   TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, İsmâiliyyeTDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Fatımîler

   Suggest a correction

   Checked against

   • Ibn ʿInaba, ʿUmdat al-ṭālib (OpenITI), umda#L4499-4502 · agreesNizār b. al-Mustanṣir, 'ṣāḥib daʿwat al-Ismāʿīliyya', ancestor of the Alamūt lords.
   • Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (OpenITI), wafayat#L3018-3020 · agreesNizār, the elder son, fled to Alexandria under al-Mustaʿlī; called ancestor of the Alamūt daʿwa.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 5, pp. 241–242 · agreesAl-Mustanṣir first designated his eldest son Nizār; Nizār rose in Alexandria in 488/1095 and took the title al-Muṣṭafā li-Dīn Allāh.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 5, p. 242 · differsNizār surrendered, was taken to Cairo, imprisoned and immured (end of 488/1095); TDV has him killed in prison in Alexandria.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 6, pp. 325–326; genealogical table, p. 509 · agreesḤasan-i Ṣabbāḥ and all Persian Ismāʿīlīs upheld Nizār's right and broke with Cairo; Nizār is the nineteenth imam in the Nizārī list.

   Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.

   • Mustaʿlī account: al-Mustaʿlī was the rightful successor. TDV İsmâiliyye and Müsta‘liyye describe him as declaring his imamate with al-Afḍal's support.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, İsmâiliyyeTDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Müsta‘liyye
   • Nizārī account, as TDV Nizâriyye gives it: the imamate was Nizār's right; after Nizār and his son were killed, a young grandson was brought to Iran by Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ and raised there.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)
   • Nizārī account, as Daftary reports it: the Persian Ismāʿīlīs defended al-Mustanṣir's original naṣṣ to Nizār. Nizār himself named no successor; Nizārī coins at Alamūt continued to carry his name for about seventy years, blessing his progeny anonymously. Persian historians report that a son or grandson of Nizār was brought secretly to Alamūt, in versions naming the qāḍī Abū l-Ḥasan Saʿīdī and a grandson al-Muhtadī. Daftary notes that Nizār's descendants launched revolts in Egypt, the last in 556/1161. (ch. 6, pp. 325–326, 363)Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007)
   Nizār b. al-Mustanṣirنزار1095
5. ✓two sourcesin The Prophet's family: descent and imamate linesomits: the Alamūt imams from Nizār to Rukn al-Dīn Khurshāh (Ibn ʿInaba), and the imams after 654/1256, for which TDV reports no reliable information; Daftary's Qāsim-Shāhī table (p. 509) names the omitted imams 20–48: al-Hādī, al-Muhtadī, al-Qāhir, Ḥasan II, Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad II, Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥasan III, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad III, Rukn al-Dīn Khurshāh, Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad, Qāsim Shāh, Islām Shāh, Muḥammad b. Islām Shāh, Mustanṣir bi'llāh II, ʿAbd al-Salām Shāh, Gharīb Mīrzā (Mustanṣir bi'llāh III), Abū Dharr ʿAlī, Murād Mīrzā, Dhu l-Faqār ʿAlī, Nūr al-Dahr ʿAlī, Khalīl Allāh II, Shāh Nizār II, Sayyid ʿAlī, Ḥasan ʿAlī, Qāsim ʿAlī, Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī, Shāh Khalīl Allāh III, Ḥasan ʿAlī Shāh (Aga Khan I), Āqā ʿAlī Shāh (Aga Khan II), Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh (Aga Khan III)≠sources differ

   successor of · Nizār b. al-Mustanṣir to Karīm Aga Khan IV · Two independent sources

   TDV Nizâriyye: in Nizārī tradition Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ and his two successors at Alamūt were the imam's representatives, not imams; Ḥasan ʿalā dhikrihi l-salām declared in 559/1164 that he was the imam of Nizār's line and proclaimed the qiyāma; his grandson Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥasan (r. 607-618/1210-1221) set the qiyāma doctrine aside. The line continues to the Aga Khans: the 46th Imam, Ḥasan ʿAlī Shāh, received the title Aga Khan; Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh (Aga Khan III) held the imamate 1885-1957; TDV (2007) names Karīm Aga Khan as the 49th Imam.

   TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, İsmâiliyye

   Suggest a correction

   Checked against

   • Ibn ʿInaba, ʿUmdat al-ṭālib (OpenITI), umda#L4499-4504 · agreesAlamūt's ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn descends from Nizār through Ḥusayn, Muḥammad and Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥasan; Rukn al-Dīn Khurshāh was killed by the Mongols.
   • Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (OpenITI), wafayat#L3018-3020 · silentNotes Nizār as forefather of the Alamūt daʿwa; nothing on later imams.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 6, pp. 325–326, 359, 363, 375 · agreesAlamūt lords were first Nizār's ḥujjas; Ḥasan II proclaimed the qiyāma in 559/1164; Muḥammad II claimed imamate and Nizārid descent; Ḥasan III (from 607/1210) reversed it.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), genealogical table, p. 509; ch. 7, pp. 405, 411, 479, 495 · agreesQāsim-Shāhī list: Rukn al-Dīn Khurshāh (d. 655/1257), Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad (d. c. 710/1310), through Aga Khan III (48th) to Karīm, 49th.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 6, p. 363 · differsDaftary has the Nizārid-descent claim made explicitly by Muḥammad II for his father Ḥasan II, who had hinted at being the imam himself; TDV attributes it to Ḥasan.

   Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.

   • Community's own account: an unbroken line of Imams from ʿAlī and Fāṭima to the present Imam.the community's own account: The Ismaili (Ismaili Imamat / Ismaili community site), our heritage: imamat lineage page (community's own account; page not read: URL unconfirmed)
   • TDV Nizâriyye: after Alamūt fell (654/1256) there is no reliable information on the following imams and the lists differ; the list accepted by the Aga Khan branch was adopted in the late 19th century. After Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad (d. 710/1310) the Nizārīs divided into the Qāsim-Shāhī majority and the Muḥammad-Shāhī (Muʾmin-Shāhī) minority.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)
   • Daftary on the line after Alamūt: the first two centuries after the fall of Alamūt (654/1256) remain obscure; a succession dispute then divided the Nizārīs into Muḥammad-Shāhīs and Qāsim-Shāhīs. Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad apparently lived in concealment in Ādharbayjān (Tabrīz, 679/1280). Daftary's list of the Qāsim-Shāhī imams numbers Ḥasan ʿAlī Shāh (Aga Khan I) 46th, Aga Khan II 47th, Aga Khan III 48th and Karīm Aga Khan IV 49th; the Muḥammad-Shāhī (Muʾmin-Shāhī) list ends with its 40th imam, Amīr Muḥammad al-Bāqir. (ch. 7, pp. 405, 411; table, pp. 509–510)Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007)
   • Accession of the present line, public record only, as Daftary reports it: Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh Aga Khan III was installed in 1885 as the 48th imam, and his grandson Karīm succeeded as 49th under Aga Khan III's will of 1955, being acclaimed in Switzerland. (ch. 7, pp. 479, 495)Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007)
   Karīm Aga Khan IVالآغا خان الرابع2025
6. one sourcein The Prophet's family: descent and imamate lines≠sources differ

   successor of · Karīm Aga Khan IV to Aga Khan V (Prince Rahim al-Ḥusaynī) · One source

   Community's own account: Aga Khan IV, the 49th Imam (TDV Nizâriyye confirms the numbering up to him), was succeeded in February 2025 by Aga Khan V as 50th Imam. The Imamat's own announcement was not read.

   the community's own account: The Ismaili (Ismaili Imamat / Ismaili community site), our heritage: imamat lineage page (community's own account; page not read: URL unconfirmed)TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Nizâriyye (Mustafa Öz, 2007)Dawn, 'Prince Rahim becomes the new Aga Khan', 12 Feb 2025

   Suggest a correction

   Checked against

   • classical sources (Ibn ʿInaba, al-Dhahabī, Ibn Khallikān), n/a#not applicable · silentModern accession; needs the official community or AKDN statement.
   • Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed. 2007), ch. 7, pp. 495, 509 · silent2007 edition ends with Karīm Aga Khan IV as the 49th, present imam; it cannot speak to his 2025 successor.
   • Dawn, 12 Feb 2025, article text · agreesIndependent press: Rahim al-Hussaini named 50th hereditary Imam after his father's will was unsealed; installed 11 Feb 2025 in Lisbon.

   Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.

   • Nizārī Ismāʿīlī position as the Imamat states it (relayed by Dawn): succession is by designation (naṣṣ) in his father's will; the Imam holds the imamate by that designation. The official page itself was not read.Dawn, 'Prince Rahim becomes the new Aga Khan', 12 Feb 2025
   Aga Khan V (Prince Rahim al-Ḥusaynī)Living, as of Oct 2026الآغا خان الخامس