In India, after the death of emperor Aurengzeb in 1707, the next Mughal rulers who followed him one after another were Bahadur Shah (1707-1712), Jahandar Shah (1712-1713), Farukh Siyar (1713-1719) and Muhammad Shah (1719-1748), in whose time, Nadir had conducted his expedition to India. Nadir set out from Nadirabad for Ghazna on May 21, 1738 and crossed the Indian frontiers with a gigantic army. He crossed Khyber Pass and reached Peshawer, and left it on January 6, 1739 for Lahore after passing through Wazirabad and Jhelum. He set off from Lahore on February 6, 1739 and proceeded to Sirhind, where he heard that the Mughal king Muhammad Shah had reached Karnal with 3 lac soldiers and 2000 elephants with a large deposit of cannon. Nadir ordered Nasrullah Mirza on February 24, 1739 to march from Jamna for Karnal, and he himself advanced in between Jamna and Ali Mardan Canal.
The tradition relates that Imam Abul Hasan Ali had also accompanied Nadir during the operations, but it cannot be substantiated in the Indian sources. We may safely infer that Abul Hasan Ali would have joined the regiment of Nasrullah Mirza in the operations of Karnal, had he accompanied.

The Khokar tribe in Punjab were originally the Ismailis, who thickly resided in Hazara, Rawalpindi, Attock and Jhelum districts at that time. Marikala, modern Marigala, situated in a pass of the low hills between Attock and Rawalpindi, a few miles to the east of Hasan Abdal, was the main foothold of the Khokars. Mukarrab Khan, the chief of Khokar tribe did not fight with the army of Nasrullah Mirza, and joined him in the battle of Karnal in 1152/1739. As a reward of his useful services, Mukarrab Khan had been confirmed with the hold of the fort of Pharwala, and upon his return to Kabul on November 24, 1739, Nadir had invested him the title of Nawab.

Nadir finally entered Delhi without opposition on March 20, 1739 and pillaged the accumulated treasure of the Mughal empire till it depleted. He took away huge money, jewels, diamonds and gold for the worth of about 70 crore of rupees, including the famous pea-cock throne and Koh'i Noor diamond. James Fraser in 'History of Nadir Shah' (London, 1742, p. 193) and Abdul Aziz in 'The Imperial Treasury of the Indian Mughals' (Lahore, 1942, p. 554) write that, 'Nadir carried away the treasure to the value of 70 crores (87,500,000 sterlings) in jewels and other effects; and his officers and soldiers 10 crores (12,500,000 sterlings).' He departed from Delhi on May 16, 1739 and reached Kabul on December 2, 1739. The Delhi was attacked in its archilles heel and collapsed as thoroughly as a heap of cards. Thus, Nadir left the Mughal empire bleeding and prostrate under his heels. Sir Alfred Lyall writes in 'History of India' (1893, 8th vol., p. 78) that, 'Nadir Shah added one more massacre to the blood-strained annals of that ill- fated city, wrenched away from the imperial crown all its possession west of the Indus and departed home leaving the Mughal empire which had received its death blow in a state of mortal collapse.'

Nadir quitted Kabul on December 9, 1739 and entered India once again to plunder Sind. He reached Dera Ismail Khan on January 5, 1740 and at Larkana on February 12, 1740 and pillaged gold, jewels and pearls amounting over one crore rupees from the ruler of Sind. Nadir left Sind on April 10, 1740. To this we must add the likelihood that Abul Hasan Ali had availed chance to see his followers privily in Sind, provided the tradition of his company is genuine. If so, he should have seen his followers when Nadir was hunting booty between January and April, 1740.

Nadir thus dominated Iran, Afghanistan and India. In Iran, he tried to solve differences of Usuli and Akhbari groups and also endeavoured to have the Jafari fiqah accepted as a fifth fiqah in the Sunni framework of the four schools of law. He also tried to overcome the Sunni theologians. Nadir was a brave campaigner, and so was cruel and proud, and had executed a large number of innocent people. He was at last killed in his tent near Mashhad in 1160/1747.

Immediately after the murder of Nadir, the Afghan and Turkoman leaders in Afsharid military collided each other for the treasures pillaged in India. Ahmad Shah Abdali (1747-1773) lastly succeeded to take away the whole lot to Kandhar and established the Dhurrani rule in Afghanistan in 1160/1747. In Iran, the southern Caucasus and Azerbaijan had been captured by the Afghan general called, Azad Khan. Another leader, Ali Mardan Khan occupied Ispahan, and Karim Khan Zand took Fars and Laristan.

Ali Quli Khan was the second Afsharid ruler, known as Adil Shah (1747-1748), the nephew of Nadir Shah; who ruled Khorasan. His brother Ibrahim (d.1161/1748) became the third ruler for few months. Shah Rukh, the son of Nadir escaped from prison at that time, and attacked on Khorasan, and became the fourth ruler for few months. He was deprived of his sight by his own Khorasani chiefs, and Murad Khan had been proclaimed as the fifth ruler. Murad Khan was also blinded, and once again the blind Shah Rukh was placed on the throne, who ruled till 1210/1795.

He was a famous Ismaili poet, and his name was Imam Quli (slave of Imam), with a pen-name Khaki. Being a native of Khorasan, he became known as Khaki Khorasani. He was born in Dizbad in Khorasan. His parents were small land-owners in Dizbad, and most probably possessed some flock of goats and cows. He received his religious education at home. His biography is also shrouded in mist like others. It is however probable that he had composed his poems between 1037/1627 and 1056/1645, making description of Imam Zulfikar Ali (d. 922/1516) and Imam Nuruddin Ali (d. 975/1550).

His extant Diwan is still familiar among the Iranian Ismailis. His 'Tulu-us-Shams' or 'Tawali-us-Shams' in a mathnavi form is comprised of 1300 poems in seven parts. His two qasida, 'Nigaristan' and 'Baharistan' are also accessible. It ensues from his works that he also studied Holy Koran, having good command on Arabic and Turkish. He had identified himself as an old and sad, and described the trouble he faced during the Uzbek raids in Khorasan. He has shown the Ismaili doctrines very watchfully in his works. His works contain the mention of Anjudan, Sultanabad, Iraq etc. He however names Anjudan the place where he had an audience of the Imams. He also describes the influence of the Ismailis in Khorasan, Irak-i Ajam as well as Multan and Hind. About the Imamate, he says:-

Dar har zamano waqt badanid bud'east, zaati ke hast jailun fil arz wa sama. (verse: 1507)

'In all ages and all times, one Dhat is present. Be it known that his (Imam) designation has been made in the earth and heavens.'

The Safavids did not spare Khaki Khorasani and imprisoned him till death. His date of death cannot be ascertained, but it seems that he died most probably around 1056/1646. His tomb is in Dizbad which stands in white amidst the green orchards, bearing no inscription.

Khaki Khorasani left a son, Ali Quli (slave of Ali), poet as himself, but of lesser talent, and is better known under the pen-name of Raqqami. His 'Qasidat-i Dhurriat' is well known among the Iranian Ismailis, giving the list of the Nizari Ismaili Imams. It was published at Leningrad in the Journal of the Russian Oriental Society (L'Academie des Sciences De'Urs), Iran, 2nd vol., pp. 8-13 by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Semenov (1873-1958). It must be noted that A.A. Semenov was a Russian pioneer in Ismaili studies from Tashkant and had acquired a small collection of Ismaili manuscripts from the western Pamir district of Shagnan and Rushan in 1901 for the Asiatic Museum like Ivan I. Zarubin (1887-1964).

The Ismaili mission in India was continued in peace, and the appointed vakils were in close contact with the Imams in Iran. Sarah F.D. Ansari writes in 'Sufi Saints and State Power' (Cambridge, 1992, p. 17) that, 'Many of the dais were continuing a trend developed by Nizari Ismaili Imams in Iran during the later Safavid period of cautiously expressing their ideas within a Sufi framework, and so entered the subcontinent already carrying within their repertoire a strain of mysticism rooted in Ismailism but tinged with the Sufi terminology of the time. Also important in relation to bridging the gap was the legacy of love and respect for the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad left by the Ismailis.'

Mir Amir was an Ismaili ruler of Navahi, the district of Shagnan in Upper Oxus. He was also a scholar and well steeped in Ismaili history and doctrines, and was one of the sources of Mohsin Fani (1615-1670), the author of 'Dabistan al-Mazahib' (comp. in 1064/1653). It is also said that Mir Amir had desired to see the Imam, but died on his way to Iran due to illness. His father, Mir Shah Amir Beg was a powerful ruler of Shagnan.

Imam Sayed Ali was made the governor of Shahr-i Babak by the Safavids because of his popularity. He had also a small army of Ataullahis. He died in 1071/1660 in Kirman after bequeathing the Imamate to his son, Hasan Ali.

Yazd in early times had been known as Kathah, and this name, when the town came to be called more particularly Yazd, had passed to its district, otherwise known as the Hawmah, or Jumah (of Yazd). It is situated between Ispahan and Kirman on the route leading to Baluchistan and Sind. It was well fortified city, with two gates.
In 1230/1815, Khalilullah Ali moved to Yazd. On moving to Yazd, he left behind his wife and children in Kahek to live on the proceeds from the lands in the Mahallat. In 1231/1816, Khalilullah Ali betrothed to the sister of Aga Imam Khan Farahani. Khalilullah Ali also tied his close relation with Haji Zaman Khan, the governor of Yazd. The Ismaili pilgrims henceforward began to trek in Yazd to behold their Imam.

In 1233/1817, a dispute took place between the Ismailis and the local shopkeeper at the main market, and the latter violently lodged complaint to Nawab Mirza Sayed Jafar, the chief of Yazd, who summoned the Ismailis for punishment. These handful Ismailis had taken shelter in Imam's residence. In pursuit, Nawab Mirza demanded to arrest them, but Imam refused, saying, 'They have sought asylum at my residence, therefore I cannot remove them from my protection.'

Mulla Hussain Yazdi was a cruel and fanatical Shia in Yazd. His friends had created chaotic conditions in Tehran. They had made a mosque in Tehran as a centre of their evil activities. Their objective was to harass the innocent citizens, and relieved through bribes, had they arrested. It seems that Fateh Ali Shah was in need of funds through different means, therefore, he had given liberty to these elements. Many eminent persons had become the victims of the gang of Hussain Yazdi and the event of Yazd also reflects a part of his derogatory activities.

Hussain Yazdi instigated the people and stormed the Imam's residence with a terrorist gang, who pelted stones heavily and broke down its walls. They managed to enter the residence and fought with Imam's handful followers and servants. In the collision, Khalilullah Ali was seriously wounded, resulting his immediate death. The terrorists also gutted the house and took flight.

The news of the death of the Ismaili Imam rapidly spread all over the country within couple of days. In reprisal, the Ismailis took arms and the country was likely being blanketed with the darkest hour, but the emperor Fateh Ali Shah turned the tide. He at once ordered Haji Zaman Khan, the governor of Yazd to arrest Hussain Yazdi and his partisans. The governor soon afterwards arrested them while they were about to flee from the city, and sent them chained in Tehran. Hussain Yazdi was whipped and his friends were imprisoned, who relieved themselves through bribes after restoration of peace.

Khalilullah Ali's body had been taken to Mahallat under the protection of the Qajarid soldiers. His bier was soon taken to Najaf for interment. He had four sons, viz. Hasan Ali Shah, Taki Khan, Sardar Abul Hasan Khan and Sardar Muhammad Bakir Khan; and two daughters, viz. Shah Bibi and Gohar Taj.

With the death of Khalilullah Ali II in 1233/1817, the taqiya practice in the Iranian Ismailis being in force for over five hundred years came to an end, and they came up as a leading Shiite branch of Islam in Iran.

Khalilullah Ali resided in Mahallat. He came to live in Kahek after assumption of the Imamate in 1206/1792 where he stayed for about 23 years. The Ismailis of Syria, Iran and India flocked in Mahallat, and then in Kahek. His uncle Mirza Muhammad Bakir also lived in Mahallat.
Some contemporary European travellers have reported the whereabouts of Khalilullah. L.J. Rousseau (1780-1831), a French Consul in Aleppo from 1809 to 1816, was the first person to draw the attention of the Europeans to the existence of the contemporary Ismailis and their living Imam. He writes in 'Memoire sur les Ismaelis et les Nosairis de Syrie', (Vol. XIV, 1811, Paris, pp. 279-80) that, 'There were still many Ismailis in the country who owed allegiance to an Imam of the line of Ismail. His name was Shah Khalilullah, and he resided in a village called Kehk near Qumm, half-way between Tehran and Isfahan.'

Sir John Macdonnell Kinneir (1728-1830) about the year 1813 also described in his 'Topographical History of Persia' that, 'In the district of the Persian highlands especially near the ruins of Alamut, are still to be found a remnant of the Ismailis, who go by the name of Hooseinis ... the Ismailis of Persia recognize (Shah Khalilullah) as their chief and Imam, dwelling near Kehkt whose descent they deduce from Ismail, the son of Jaffir Sadick.'

The Scottish tourist, James Baillie Fraser (1783-1856), who in the course of his journey through Iran had seen the Ismailis. 'Shah Khuleel Oollah', he writes in his 'Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan' (London, 1825, p. 376), 'was a person of high respectability and great influence, keeping an hundred gholaums of his own in pay; but he was put to death by the inhabitants of Yezd, in a riot....'

Silvestre de Sacy (1758-1838), an eminent orientalist of the 19th century in his 'Memoir sur la dynastie des Assassins' (Paris, 1818, p. 84) quotes an exerpt of a letter of Rousseau's son wrote to him from Tehran on June 1, 1808. It reads: 'The Ismailis even today have their Imam, or pontiff, descending, as they claim, from Jafar Sadiq, the chief of their sect, and residing at Kehek, a village in the districts of Qom. He is called Sheikh Khalil Allah.....This person, whom his people grace with the pompous title of caliph, enjoys a great reputation and is considered to have the gift of performing miracles.'

In Syria, the Ismailis faced certain local troubles around 1209/1795 due to the constant raids of the bigoted Nusairis of Raslan. Most of the Ismaili families led by the chief dai, Suleman bin Hyder (1143-1212/1731-1798) were obliged to leave Masiyaf and settled down in Hims, Hammah, Aleppo and Damascus. In 1222/1808, the Nusairis at the command of Shaikh Mahmud also killed an Ismaili chief of Masiyaf, Mustapha Mulhim and his son, alongwith 300 inhabitants, and their inroads continued till 1223/1809. This event also reflects in the hyperbolic writings of Simone Assemani (1752-1821) in the year 1214/1806. L.J. Rousseau (1780-1831) had also underlined the miserable conditions of the Syrian Ismailis in his 'Memoirs' (Paris, 1811). The inhabitants, who had sought refuge in flight, applied for protection to Yousuf Pasha, the governor of Damascus. He sent a punitive expedition of 5000 soldiers against the Nusairis. At length, Masiyaf had to be surrendered by the Nusairis after three months' stubborn resistance, and the Ismailis returned to the town after restoration of peace in the beginning of 1224/1810.

Sayed Ghulam Ali Shah, or Ghulmali Shah from the Kadiwal family was a prominent missionary in Sind, Kutchh and Kathiawar. He had converted many Hindus. He composed few ginans, and died in Karachi in 1207/1792 and was buried in Kera in Kutchh. He was followed by Sayed Muhammad Shah in Kutchh, who died in 1228/1813 and was buried in Bombay. He was the last vakil in India to be sent from Iran. He was not married, therefore, he was honoured the epithet of dullah (bridegroom).

It appears that two persons, called Mehr Ali and Saniya in Kutchh had claimed as the incarnations of Chandraban and Surban, the famous dais during the time of Pir Shams. They preached the doctrines of Imam-Shahi sect. Khalilullah Ali is said to have summoned them in Mahallat and warned to refrain from their activities. Few years after their return from Iran, they once again misguided the Ismailis in Kutchh and pretended as dumbs. They started to talk after few months, claiming to have been granted the vocal power by Sayed Imam Shah. The Ismailis of Kutchh sent a report of their activities to the Imam, and as a result, they had been ex-communicated.

Sayed Fateh Ali Shah (1733-1798) was an eminent dai, whose grave exists near Jiraq in Sind. His pen-name was Shamsi, also known as Sayed Shamsi. He was hailed from Kadiwal family. Imam Abul Hasan Ali had given him mantle of vakil for India. He seems to have visited Iran for two times, and lastly in 1210/1795 during the time of Khalilullah Ali, where he stayed about for eight months. He arrived in Mahallat on the day of Navroz and his mind became forlorn when he learnt that the Imam had gone on a hunting expedition in the woods to the north of Mahallat. He relates his quest for the Imam which ultimately led to his meeting. His two ginans are accessible, wherein he makes mention of the Imam that:-

'Shah Khalilullah enjoys his stay in the fort of Mahallat, and mercifully summoned Sayed Fateh Ali, and accomplished his immense desires, where Mawla Ali appeared in an absolute glory.'

The most marked instance of the political involvement of the Shia ulema during this period was in the case of the first Perso-Russian War (1804-1813) in the Caucasus, which had been intermittent from about 1804, and resumed in 1811. Abbas Mirza, the son of Fateh Ali Shah was conducting the campaign, turned to the ulema of Iraq and Ispahan to issue fatwa, declaring the encounter against Russia to be holy war (jihad). Many of the prominent ulema, such as Shaikh Jafar Kashiful Gitta (d. 1227/1812) and Ahmad Naraqi (d. 1245/1829), responded to this appeal and stirred up hootest agitation. In 1812, the Iranian army defeated the Russians at Qarabagh. Russian forces were reinforced, crossed the Aras river, and defeated the Iranians at Aslanduz.
The first Perso-Russian War was consequently ended in defeat of Iran, and the Treaty of Gulistan in 1228/1813 stripped Iran of all the Caucasian provinces, such as Georgia, Darband, Baku, Shirwan, Shaki, Ganja, Qarabagh, Mughan and part of Talish. This war had considerably depleted the resources of Iran. A number of disorders broke out; and the Afghans also engineered a rebellion in Khorasan in 1813. There was also repeated chaotic condition on the Turkish frontier, but war did not break out until 1821. It however lasted until 1823 when it was concluded by the treaty of Erzurum.

The ulema class however continued to employ effectively the tactics of obstructionism in the Iranian politics, and emphatically agitated for another holy war against Russia. In 1825, the Russian governor-general of Georgia occupied Gokcheh, the principal disputed district with a military force. Fateh Ali Shah was reluctant but when in 1826 he set out for his summer residence in Sultaniyya, he was followed there by Aqa Sayed Muhammad Tabataba, Ahmad Naraqi (d. 1245/1829), Muhammad Taqi Baraghani (d.1230/1847) and other prominent ulema; demanded that Fateh Ali Shah should declare war on Russia. They threatened to take control of the affairs of government if Fateh Ali Shah would refuse to declare holy war. They issued fatwas, declaring the war to be obligatory and opposition to it a sign of unbelief (kufr).

The king was pressed into acquiescing, and the war broke out in 1826. Iran gained initial success, recovering most of the territories ceded by the treaty of Gulistan. The Russian forces were reinforced with latest weapons. The ulema imparted to the Iranian soldiers, who had inferior weapons, to recite Sura Yasin of Holy Koran in the battlefield, to cause their enemies blind. The Russians inflicted a series of severe defeats on the Iranian army. They advanced rapidly and Tabriz was first to be fallen, and various discontented leaders in Azerbaijan went over to the Russian side. The outcome of this second Perso-Russian War was as disastrous as the first. Negotiations for peace began in November, 1827, and a treaty was signed on February 21, 1828 at Turkomanchay. As the result of the Treaty of Turkomanchay, Erivan and Nakhchivan and a large indemnity were ceded by Iran. Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi writes in 'Iran - Royalty, Religion and Revolution' (Canberra, 1980, p. 95) that, 'Thus the war-mongering bureaucrates forced upon Iran a war with Russia which ended with the even more humiliating treaty of Turkomanchay in 1828.'

The state over which Fateh Ali reigned had much in common with the earliest kingdoms of the Seljuqs, the Ilkhanids, the Taymurids and the Safavids. After the Perso-Russian Wars, Fateh Ali lost large part of the Iranian territories.

In India, the Mughal empire was declining, and the British dominated the whole country. After Shah Alam II (1759-1806), the next rulers were Akbar Shah (1807-1837) and Bahadur Shah II (1837-1857), the last ruler, who had taken part in the Independence War of 1273/1857, the last struggle on the part of the masses in India to throw off the foreign yoke. But it failed miserably and, on the charge of engineering revolt, the last Mughal ruler was exiled by the British to Rangoon, where he died in extreme penury on 1278/1862. Neither the Muslims nor the Hindus were destined in India to build lasting kingdom on the ruins of the Mughal empire

In 1157/1744, a daughter Bibi Marium Khatoon, was born at his uncle's home, known as Bibi Sarcar Mata Salamat, with whom the marriage of Khalilullah Ali was solemnized, who gave birth of Hasan Ali Shah. She was a good orator and visited India about at the age of 85 years in 1245/1829 with Mirza Abul Kassim to remove the internal strifes of the community. She went to live at Kera in Kutchh in 1246/1830, where she breathed her last in 1248/1832. She had been interred in Najaf, but her memorial still exists in Kera. It must be known that during his visit to Kera on December 2, 1903, the Aga Khan III had told to his followers to perpetuate the memory of the place where she laid her feet and breathed her last.
The second marriage of Khalilullah Ali had been actualized in Yazd with the sister of Aga Imam Khan Farahani in 1231/1816.

Khalilullah Ali ascended in 1206/1792, which he intimated in writing to his Indian followers. E.I. Howard had delivered his speech in the Bombay High Court in June, 1866, where he presented a few letters of Imam Khalilullah Ali, vide 'The Shia School of Islam and its Branches' (Bombay, 1906, p. 85). In pursuant, on 23rd May, 1792, when asssumed the Imamate, he wrote a letter, addressed to the community of Bhavnagar, stating that he had been so fortunate as to have assumed his seat on the throne of the Imamate, and directed them to remit the religious dues to him to the care of the jamat at Muscat. Another letter dated July, 1794 also addressed to the jamats of Sind, Kutchh, Surat, Bombay, Mahim, Bhavnagar etc.

Khalilullah Ali was a brave and generous. It is related in 'Athar-i Muhammadi' (pp 76-77) that a darwish asked something from Imam, and he was given a costly horse. Hunting was a favourite pastime of the noblemen in Iran. Khalilullah Ali also used to go out on regular hunting trips in the woods with his retainers and pages, preferably during the festives of Navroz and Eid-i Ghadir. He had many lands in Mahallat, Kahek and Shahr-i Babak, procuring large earnings. His followers from India, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Central Asia used to flock at Mahallat, whom he granted the title of darwish. Sometimes, he gave them the letters for the jamat. Some pilgrims are reported to have died in Iran, whose graves exist in Kahek. For instance, Kamadia Datardina Wandani of the darkhana jamat died in 1217/1803 and a certain Rai Pareo Janguani died in 1224/1810. Khalilullah Ali had acquired few pieces of land in Yazd for the Iranian Ismailis, and himself also moved to Yazd in 1230/1815.

Sayed Karamali Shah was an Iranian Ismaili, who lived in Mahallat. He mostly remained in the company of Mirza Muhammad Bakir, who taught him the esoteric doctrines of Ismailism. Sayed Karamali had been sent to Badakhshan and Chitral, where he launched pervasive mission. He also went to Yasin, whose ruler was Raja Khushwaqt I (1640-1700), the founder of Khushwawaqt dynasty. Sayed Karamali had devoted his life in the Ismaili mission and died in Yasin.

Aga Muhammad Khan Qajar had founded the Qajarid dynasty in Iran and made Tehran as his capital in 1210/1796. He concluded a truce with the Russians, and accordingly, the Qajarid retained the occupation of Jurjan and Taghlas. In 1206/1792, Aga Muhammad Khan seized Shiraz and sent his nephew, Fateh Ali to conquer Kirman. Fateh Ali replaced Mirza Sadik, the cousin of Imam Abul Hasan Ali, and himself became the governor of the provinces of Fars, Kirman and Yazd.

Aga Muhammad Khan then turned to the Afsharids of Khorasan, and invaded Mashhad in 1210/1796 and defeated them. Meanwhile, the Russians once again attacked the northern region of Iran, therefore, Aga Muhammad Khan had to take field, where he was killed by his own two slaves in 1211/1797, when he was about 57 years old. He ruled over a great part of Iran for a period of 18 years and 10 months, and was succeeded by his nephew, Fateh Ali Shah, who was engaged in expelling his enemies at that time, such as Russia, Turkey, the Uzbeks and Afghans. France and England had also attacked the Iranian ports and borders for extending their influences.

Khalilullah Ali II was born in 1153/1740 in the city of Kirman. His upbringing in Mahallat began under the care of his uncle, Mirza Muhammad Bakir at the age of two years, and got rudiments of his formal education at home.

Abul Hasan Ali was also known as Sayed Shah Muhammad Hasan Shah, Hasan Beg and Abul Hasan Ali Shah. He was born in Shahr-i Babak in Kirman. The Iranian sources named him, Abul Hasan Kaheki, a name mostly was popular among the inhabitants of Kahek, whom he generously helped for about two times. One of the ways he utalised his wealth was to serve delicious dishes strewn with ample varities of food to the hungry and needy while he himself would seldom taste it.
Abul Hasan was the governor of Kirman during the Afsharid and Zand periods. It seems almost appropriate to mention that Abul Hasan Ali was the first Ismaili Imam after the fall of Alamut in emerging slowly from obscurity. He was highly learned and a friend of the local Sufis. He had also patronized the local artists. Few chambers of the Imam's residence are reported to have been decorated with the rare collection of the Iranian paintings.

He was a prominent land-owner (Sahib amlak wa raqabat) in Kirman. According to 'Athar-i Muhammadi' (p. 70), 'When the Afghans had launched terrible raids in Iran, Imam Abul Hasan Ali had laid the foundation of a strong edifice of the fort in Kiab on the shore of Hibala and Depine, lying between Rugan and Jinjan, where he lodged after its completion.'

The rise of the Afsharids in Iran

Nadir, the last great Asiatic conqueror was born in 1102/1688 in Afshar tribe of Khorasan. The word afshar (derived from Turkish awshar) means 'one who promptly finishes an affair.' He was the son of a certain Imam Quli, and was tending flocks after his father's death. He and his mother were carried off by a raiding band of Uzbek of Khiva in 1114/1702, where four years later, his mother died in slavery. Nadir escaped and returned to Khorasan, and became a leader of the plundering band. He entered into the service of Baba Ali Beg, the chief of Abivard, and married to his daughter. After the death of Baba Ali Beg, Nadir became the chief of Abivard. In 1138/1726, the Safavid Shah Tahmasp II learnt his valour, and acquired his help to repel the Gilzay Afghans from Iran. Nadir readily responded the call and came with his troop of 5000 Kurd and Afshar warriors. He was hailed and honored, and was granted the title of Tahmasp Quli Khan. Nadir took field against the Gilzay Afghans by commanding the Safavid army, and inflicted them a defeat. Shah Tahmasp II rejoiced on Nadir's role, and appointed him a chief commander (qurchi-bashi). In 1144/1732, Nadir deposed Shah Tahmasp II and crowned the latter's son Shah Abbas III. In 1148/1736, Nadir also deposed Shah Abbas III, and assumed the power, and thus he got the declination of the Safavid empire. He established the Afsharid rule in Iran, and fought with the Afghans and dominated Iran like Taymurlame. He also fought with the Turks and captured Iraq and Azerbaijan. Nadir was a brave and so was cruel and fierce like Chinghiz Khan and Taymurlame. Sayyid Athar Abbas Rizvi writes in 'A Socio-Intellectual History of the Isna Ashari' (Lucknow, 1986, 2nd vol., p. 51) that, 'Nadir Shah, as a fierce fighter and ruthless restorer of law and order, can be compared with Jinghiz and Timur.'

It appears that Abul Hasan Ali had also maintained his best of ties with Nadir, and the seat of his governorship in Kirman coming from the period of the Safavids, remained intact during the Afsharid rule. When Nadir had been in Kirman in 1160/1747, according to 'Athar-i Muhammadi' (p. 73), 'Imam invited him at his residence and presented many valuable gifts.' After Nadir, his successor Shah Rukh also retained his relation with Imam. John R. Perry writes in 'Karim Khan Zand' (Chicago, 1979, pp. 135-6) that, 'Abu'l-Hasan enjoyed the respect of all the leading citizens and even the provincial warlords and would seem the perfect choice for beglerbegi (governor-general) now that Kirman was relatively settled. On his appointment, therefore, Mirza Hosayn, Mortaza Qoli Khan, and the other local rulers meekly handed over their provinces to him. No details of his administration are recorded; he probably re-allocated the regions to several local khans and used his moral rather than military authority to check injustice. He remained on good terms with the leading men of the bureaucratic class, consulting them readily in matters of government.' John R. Perry also adds, 'After Nader's death, Sayyed Abu'l Hasan took a winter residence in Kirman itself, retaining his house at Babak for the summer. Shahrokh Khan accorded him great respect, even marrying his son Lotf Ali Khan to the Sayyed's (Imam's) daughter.' (Ibid. p. 135)

Nadir, as previously stated, was a fierce ruler, grinding the people in the millstone of cruelty, which can be judged from his massacres in Kirman in 1160/1747. L. Lockhart writes in 'Nadir Shah' (London, 1938, p. 259) that, 'On 10th Moharram, 1160/ January 23, 1747, Nadir left Ispahan for Yazd and Kirman; wherever he halted, he had many people tortured and put to death, and had towers of their heads erected. He was particularly severe in Kirman, because of the revolt that had occurred there in the previous summer. Captain Passiet, a member of Prince Mikhail Mikhailvich Golitzin's mission to Persia, who had travelled on in advance and was in Kirman at that time, saw two lofty towers of heads there.'

Kassim Ali was born most probably in 1086/1675. He was also known as Sayed Aga Jafar, or Sayed Jafar. His mother related to a Safavid amir of Kirman. According to the later sources, Imam had married to one of the daughters of Shah Tahmasp II (d. 1145/1732).
His period of Imamate witnessed several vital cataclysm in Iranian kingdom, therefore, the Ismaili mission exercised great care. It seems that Kassim Ali also took part in the politics like his father, and was also the governor of Kirman. He had however come to reside in Mahallat during the ending period of his Imamate.

It is known that in 1115/1703, the Nusairis tribe of Raslan, known as al-Rasalina fiercely attacked on the Ismaili villages in Syria, and took hold of Masiyaf for about eight years. The Ottoman authorities at Latakia, finally assisted the Ismailis to recover their castle. One Syrian Ismaili caravan is however reported to have repaired to Kirman in this context between 1117/1705 and 1120/1708.

It also appears from the fragment of the traditions that during the occupation of Masiyaf by the Nusairis for eight years, some Ismaili families moved towards the northern Syria and began to live in the mantles of the Druzes at Jabal al-A'la, the mountain of Keftin, where their number increased considerably after few decades. Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815), the famous German traveller had been invited in 1760 to join the Arabian expedition being sent out by Frederick V of Denmark. He writes in 'Voyage en Arabie et en d' austres pays circonvoisins' (tr. from German, Amsterdam, 1870, 2nd vol., p. 348) that he was not certain whether the inhabitants of this district were indeed the Druzes. He was reportedly told that there were more than forty villages populated by Druzes; however, he suspected their veracity because, he said, the people looked like the Ismailis.

In Syria, the Ismailis also resided in peace in the town of Masiyaf. Abdul Ghani al-Nabulusi, a famous mystic and traveller had passed through Masiyaf in 1106/1693-4, and describes in his 'al-Hakika wa'l majaz fi rihlat al-Sham wa Misr wa'l Hijaz' about a certain Ismaili, called Suleman Tanukhi as a chief of the town.

The Ismailis lived in peace in India, but the Ismailis of Kashmir had to follow precaution because of a curious religious tendency. Khwaja Muhammad Azam Didah-mari writes in 'Waqi'at-i Kashmir' (comp. 1160/1747) that the Shaikh al-Islam of Kashmir, Muhtavi Khan, alias Mulla Abdul Nabi, demanded in Kashmir that the Hindus should not ride on horses, put on caste-marks on their foreheads and not wear turbans. He made an attempt to prevail upon Mir Ahmad Khan, the deputy governor of the province, to support him in this mission. Mir Ahmad Khan did not agree, whereupon the Mulla incited the Muslims and created a communal commotion in Srinagar in 1130/1720. A year later Mulla Muhtavi Khan was put to death by Khwaja Abdullah Khan Deb Bedi.

The Safavid Shah Suleman died in 1105/1693, and was succeeded by his son Shah Hussain, who ruled till 1135/1722. Shah Hussain soon abandoned his austere way of life and, like his father took to drink. He became so luxurious that the size and magnificence of his harem was a serious drain of the exchequer. Like his father, he had no interest in state affairs, which was distressing and ultimately disastrous aspect of the empire. Within the empire, this lack of interest signalled increasing corruption and inefficiency in provincial government. Insecurity on the highways was widespread. Often travellers were robbed by the very officials who were supposed to protect them.

According to Rida Quli Khan in 'Raudat al-Safa'i Nasiri' (Tehran, 1853) that, 'After the accession of Shah Hussain in 1105/1693, the signs of decline (inhitat), nay, rather, of extinction (inqirad) of the life of the dynasty became from day to day manifest.' By the time of Shah Hussain, the bureaucratic centralization of the state structure was weakened through incompetence, and cloven by bigoted in high places. The military weakness of the state was thrown into sharp relief in 1110/1698 when a band of Baluchi tribesmen raided Kirman, almost reached Yazd and threatened Port Abbas. Shah Hussain turned to the Georgian prince Giorgi XI, who happened to be at the Safavid court, for help in repelling the Baluchis. Giorgi was made governor of Kirman in 1111/1699 and defeated the invaders. Ten years after the Baluchis incursion, the military feebleness of the Safavid empire and, in particular, the defenseless state of the eastern frontier, was demonstrated again, and this time with more serious consequences for the state. In 1121/1709, the Gilzay Afghans under their leader, Mir Vays, seized Kandhar and killed Giorgi. After Mir Vays's death in 1127/1715, his brother Abul Aziz succeeded him as chief of the Gilzay Afghans. In 1128/1716, Mehmud, the eldest son of Mir Vays, became the chief of Gilzay Afghans and attacked Kirman. Shah Hussain had to leave Ispahan for Qazwin, therefore, Mehmud took chance to march ahead, and subdued a small military unit and occupied Ispahan in 1134/1722.

In 1127/1715, the Tzar Peter the Great, sent Artemii Petrovich Volynsky as an ambassador to Shah Hussain; he was to conclude a commercial treaty with Iran. He also collected secrecy of Iranian resources and important communication. Volynsky reported that the general situation in Iran was so disturbed, and the army so demoralized and inefficient, that the country could easily be conquered by a small Russian army. By 1133/1721, if not before, the Tzar had decided to invade Iran. He showing of the flag in the Caspian coastal provinces in 1134/1722 had occasioned great alarm in Istanbul, and there was a flurry of diplomatic activity as the possibility of war between Russia and Turkey became stronger or receded. The outcome was the Russo-Ottoman Treaty for the partition of Iran's north-west provinces, dated June 24, 1724. The dismemberment of Iran was short-lived. Six Russian battalions landed in Gilan in 1135/1723, and another Russian forces captured Baku. Hence, Iran's Caspian provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad had gone in the Russian pocket. On the other side, the European merchants started their dominion on the principal sea-ports of the Muslim countries.

Imam Kassim Ali was made the governor of Kirman in 1106/1694, but when the Baluchi tribesmen had raided Kirman in 1110/1698, the military control was assigned to the Georgian prince Giorgi XI by making him the governor of those parts of Kirman which had been affected by the invaders.

In Kirman, the village land was factorized into six shares (dang), each of which comprised one-sixth of the village water supply together with the land watered thereby. Imam Kassim Ali was the governor of the three villages, viz. Shahr-i Babak, Kahek and Mahallat. The Safavid authority accorded him due permission to create an Ataullahi regiment in the Safavid military for security against the Baluchi invaders.

In 1134/1722, an appaling drought reduced the inhabitants of Kirman and Ispahan to the last extremity. It was so severe that hundreds of rotting corpses clogged the streets. At least 80,000 people are said to have perished from starvation and disease. It is learnt that a bulk of the Ismaili from Fars with the governor started from Ispahan to help the affected persons, but Mehmud, the chief of Gilzay Afghans had occupied Ispahan on December 25, 1722 and was proclaimed as a ruler, therefore, the Ismailis could not enter the city.

Hasan Ali I, also known in Iranian orbits as Bakir Shah, was born in Kahek. He had also gone to the city of Kirman with his father, but returned to Kahek after assuming the Imamate. In 1085/1674, he betrothed to a Safavid lady, and soon afterwards, there is a likelihood that the Imam had taken certain interest in the political arena. In 1105/1693, he was made the governor of Kirman. The cursory glance of the Iranian empire reveals that Shah Abbas II had died in 1077/1666. John Malcolm writes in 'History of Persia' (London, 1815, 1st vol., p. 582) that, 'The love of wine, in which this prince often indulged to excess, was the cause of all the evils of his reign. It was in his moments of intoxication alone that he was capricious, cruel and unjust.' Shah Abbas II was succeeded by Shah Suleman. Henceforward, the Safavid kingdom took a rapid march towards decline. Under weak and ineffective king, the ulema tended to reassert their independence of the political institution, and were at the height of their power. The mujtahids fully reasserted their independence of the Shah, and reclaimed their prerogative to be the representatives of their hidden Imam. The mujtahids moved gradually towards a position of actually controlling the king. Some sources suggest a direct religious rule by means of a concourse of mujtahids above the monarch. The ulema consequently pressed forward to obtain a dominant position in the state, heedless of the fact that by so doing they were helping to destroy it. The foreign observer, such as Sir John Chardin had noted in his 'Voyages du Chevalier Chardin en Perse' (Paris, 1811, 5th vol., p. 249) that, 'The ulema were saying that these immortal Safavid kings were not worthy of kinship and that the mujtahid is the real ruler as representative of the hidden Imam.'

The Russian ambassador visited Iran during the period under review to conclude a truce, and as a result, Mazandaran, Jurjan etc,. went into the pocket of Russia. The Ottoman sultans in Turkey were also so weak that the whole empire had been isolated in different states. They however marched in Europe, near Vienna, but the Russians were devouring the Turkish territories behind the door.

In India, after the reign of Shah Jehan (1627-1658), the Mughal princes fought for the throne. Finally, Aurengzeb (1658-1707) ascended and ruled till 1118/1707. He fought with prince Dara Shikou, who was associated with the Qadri Sufi order. Aurengzeb was strict orthodox, intending for the Islamic rule in India. After his death, the Mughal empire was torn apart by the incessant strugglers of rival claimants to the throne.

Imam Hasan Ali directed the Ismaili mission in view of the changing situation of Iran. The names of few Ismaili dais, viz., Pir Mihrab Beg, Pir Ali Asghar Beg and Pir Ali Akbar Beg are however located, but nothing is known about them. The Turkish word beg in their names however sounds that they should have preached in the Iranian regions inhabited by the Turkomans, or more possibly, had come into the close contact of the Kizilbash circle in Iran.

It is learnt that in 1868 at Bombay, an unknown Ismaili scholar had composed a long poem to glorify the Ismaili Imams, tinged with brief accounts and advices of the Imams. It tells that Imam Hasan Ali I, had warned the Indian jamats the coming of a storm of foreign religious dogma that would convulse the poor people. He also emphasised his followers to adhere strictly to the faith of their forbears. It appears that the above unknown scholar would have derived his informations from the old manuscripts. The timely guidance of Hasan Ali however may be verified from the fast moving activities of the Christian missionaries hovering over India in the poor class. W.H. Sharp writes in 'Selections from Educational Records' (1st vol., p. 3) that, 'In 1659, the Court of Directors in England stated that it was their earnest desire by all possible means to spread Christianity amongst the people of India and allowed missionaries to embark on their ships.' Thus, the evangelical zeal found due support in England, and steps had been taken for the propagation of the Gospel in India in the poor class. The British East India Company was primarily a commercial concern, but it also launched in the campaign in fostering proselytising and educational activities in India. In 1698, the famous missionary clause was included in the Charter of the Company by British Parliament, directing the Company to maintain ministers of religion at their factories in India, and to take a Chaplain in every ship of 500 tons or more. It was not the Company's educational enterprise as stated by some, but a systematic campaign to the activities of the Christian missionaries. On that juncture, it is possible that Imam Hasan Ali I had appropriately warned his Indian followers about the incoming storm of the Christian dogma from Europe.

In the flourishing liberty of the Shiite mujtahids in Iran, the latent differences came readily to the fore. Two major schools of theological thought emerged in Shiite society. The majority stressed constant reference to the first principles, to all the sources (usul) of law: these were Holy Koran, reports about the Prophet and the Imams. They became known as the Usuli. But a vigorously protesting movement arose, which threw doubt on the validity of reason as an independent basis of law; it stressed the massive use of reports (akhbar) were available from Prophet and the Imams, and they were known as the Akhbari. One of the most important features of this period is the greatly enhanced influence of the religious classes as a whole, as they freed themselves from political control apart from the internal differences of the Usuli and Akhbari groups. Powerful theologians emerged, of whom a typical example is Muhammad Bakir Majlisi (1037-1110/1628-1699), who held the office of Shaikh al-Islam from 1687, and then as Mulla-bashi (head of the mullas) until his death.

It is a significant point that the Usuli and Akhbari Shiite groups jointly made the Sufis as their victims. Under these circumstances, the Ismailis had to change their Sufic mantles to the Shiite. It appears that Imam Hasan Ali also followed the similar taqiya in Kirman, and adopted the Shiite sounding name, Bakir Shah few years before becoming the governor of Kirman in 1105/1693. It is also said that he had purchased some estates in Baghdad, Basra and Kazamain Sharif. The last will of the Imam, indicating his burial in Najaf also suggests a sort of taqiya in Shiite garb.

The Safavid Shah Suleman is reported to have used the fortress of Alamut as a state prison for the rebellious persons from among his courtiers, amirsand relatives. At that time, only a few Ismaili families resided in the lower Caspian region.

Imam Hasan Ali I executed the governorship of Kirman for one year, and died in 1106/1694, and his body had been taken to Najaf for interment.