Throne of Gold: The Lives of the Aga Khans

Rating:
Summary: THRONE OF GOLD REPLETE WITH ERRORS & MISCONCEPTIONS
Review: Throne of Gold opens with a historical section on Islam and Isma ilism which is replete with errors and misconceptions and reveals the author' s less than full knowledge of these matters. A few examples will suffice. The Abbasids did not descend from the Prophet's brother, but from his uncle; the author's discussion of the beliefs of the early Isma ilis reflects the stance of the medieval anti-Isma ili polemicists; the Nizari Isma ilis did not use hashish as reported in the Assassin legends of the European sources; and the term Assassin did not enter European languages via the writings of Marco Polo. The author's carelessness also finds expression in many of the less technical and more biographical and descriptive aspects of her book. For instance, the birth dates of Aga Khan IV and that of his brother Amyn are both incorrect (pp. 137, 148). Aga Khan III did not visit Cairo in 1937 to see his Egyptian followers (pp. 157-58); he never had followers there and, in fact, Isma ilism had disappeared from Egypt soon after the collapse of the Fatimid dynasty in 1171. The Aga Khan Foundation, responsible for promoting and financing projects in the areas of health, education, rural development, social welfare and humanitarian aid, was not established by Aga Khan III (pp. 262-63); it was founded in 1967 by Aga Khan IV. Indeed, Anne Edwards' book is permeated throughout with factual errors and inaccuracies.

Like the Crusaders, who, though ignorant of the basic facts of Islam, yet claimed to possess reliable information about the secret practices of the Isma ilis, Anne Edwards, too, readily resorts to her imagination in order to enhance the "sensational" appeal of her book - which is, of course, also filled with details about the secret, anonymous mistresses of Aga Khan III and his generous gifts to them. The author is truly in her own element in describing the romantic activities of Aga Khan III's son, Aly Khan (1911-60), devoting a large part of her book to him. However, Edwards adds nothing to the several biographies of this popular figure. Needless to recall that Aly Khan was bypassed by his father in the succession to the imamate and never acquired the title of Aga Khan. In the final chapters of the book (pp. 217-314), the author deals in a superficial, though more sympathetic, way with the activities of Aga Khan IV.

Anne Edwards's Throne of Gold is a poorly researched and ill-conceived book that almost completely ignores the Isma ili context within which the Aga Khans as imams have unified and led several million Isma ili Muslims in turbulent times. This is perhaps the book's most serious shortcoming. The last two Aga Khans have indeed been very successful in combining their spiritual leadership with numerous modernizing policies of a secular nature. As a result, the Nizari Isma ilis have entered the modern world as a progressive and prosperous community with very high standards of education. The same Isma ili context would also explain the strong devotion of the Isma ilis to their imam and their extraordinary communal solidarity. Anne Edwards, of course, misses all of this and, therefore, implicitly portrays the Isma ilis as a group of naive sectarians who somehow share a blind obedience toward their leaders, very much reminiscent of the earlier Assassin legends and the curious hold of the Old Man of the Mountain on his followers.