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Show Aga Khan Leads 100,000,000 Moslems I 1 By WILLIAM C. UTLEY HE IS the political leader of 100,000,000 persons in India alone, and the spiritual leader of 70,000,000 persons in central Asia, Africa, Arabia and the Orient yet he has not a kingdom king-dom of a single acre. To his followers he is as holy as the Pope Is to his yet he is one of the most notorious sportsmen of the world. His Income is more than $3,000,-000 $3,000,-000 a year, his houses are veritable palaces, he is able to shower gifts of fine silks, fabulous Jewels and exquisite furs upon whomever he pleases and he is happily married to the daughter of a small-town hotel ho-tel manager in France. He is the direct descendant of a major prophet yet he won't bet on a race horse, even one from his own $5,000,000 string. Such enigmatic sidelights on this phenomenal personality might be re-forded re-forded for column after column. He I C if 1 I V? - . ! -v , r i p . k "" ft LI " The Aga Khan is shown here In the 1936 edition of his annual "weighing "weigh-ing in" ceremony, when his followers present him with his weight in gold. He weighed more than $100,000 worth this year. is the Aga Khan, Sultan, Sir Mohammed Mo-hammed Shah, the religious potentate poten-tate over the followers of the Ish-maill Ish-maill branch of the Mohammedan faith, and as the descendant of the prophet himself, forty-eight times removed, is to them the representative representa-tive of God on earth. Fiftieth Year of Leadership. The year 1930, the fiftieth of such divine ambassadorship by the Aga Khan, Is being made the occasion for elaborate and ceremonious celebrations cele-brations wherever there are believers believ-ers In the Ismaill faith. From the far-flung corners of the world are pouring in voluntary tributes of even greater value and more magnificent mag-nificent splendor than the regular annual tributes which the Koran says must amount to 2 per cent of the income of every Ismaill. They are being stored in the Aga Hall in Bombay, there to await redistribution redis-tribution to charity, educational and social Institutions or the Aga's racing rac-ing stables and palatial villas. Most of the enormous power the Aga Khan owes to his paternal grandfather, Hasan All Shah, Aga Khan I, who was born in Persia In 1800 and died in India in 18S1. Aga Khan I traced his ancestry back into prehistoric Persia and back to the Beni-Fatlmlte caliphs who founded Cairo in Egypt and were the sons of Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed. Hasan All ruled over a province of Persia perhaps too wisely and well, for when he defended his people peo-ple against cruel and oppressive taxes Imposed by Fateh All Shah, he Incurred the mortal wrath of that ruler of nil Persia. Because he had been the Shah's friend, however, how-ever, he was allowed to escape during dur-ing the civil war which followed. Hasan All, by this time an old man, fled through Afghanistan to Bombay, where he settled. He offered of-fered himself in service to the British Brit-ish army In Afghanistan and among the frontier tribes. Ills offers were accepted, but held as of little importance, im-portance, until It became known that this first of the Aga Khans was receiving voluntary tribute year after year from all points over India. And when It was discovered that regular contributions were also pouring in from many other oriental countries and from Africa, John Bull's colonial representatives began be-gan to realize that the holy leader of Ismail! was a rlppln' good man to have on their side. He did them a lot of good before his death, too. Second Aga Dies Early. The first Agu Khan's good work was carried on by his son, Aga Khan II, who lived only four years after his father's death. Aga Khan III was only eight years old when he succeeded to power. Ever since be was a very young man, the present Aga has ruled his followers In their religious and political po-litical affairs wisely and kindly. To them he Is a lit descendant of the prophet. The MohammiNlan religion recognizes recog-nizes many prophets, beginning with Adam. There are three, however, which are of outstanding Impor tance, for the three "books" which they are credited with having handed hand-ed down. Moses Introduced the laws, Jesus the gospel, and Mohammed Moham-med the Koran, or the scriptures as revealed to him by Allah (God). The Ismailis differ from the other branch of Mohammedanism, the Sunis. chiefly In the recognition of certain apostles of Mohammed. His direct descent from the "last of the prophets" was responsible for the most colorful part of-the present semi-centennial celebration of the Aga Khan's reign. This was the recent bath ceremony. A gold coach, drawn by the Aga's magnificent magnifi-cent horses, and climaxing a great parade several miles long, set out from his place to the pearl mosque, the believers prostrating themselves by the thousands along the line of march. The coach contained that holy of holies, the Aga Khan, in his ceremonial bath. The water was scented with priceless attar found In the bath of Mumtaz, the Mogul queen whose memory is perpetuated per-petuated in the wonderful monument monu-ment that is the Taj Mahal. It had been acquired by the Khojas, the fabulously wealthy cotton princes of Bombay. Millions for Bath Water. As the coach hearing the Aga Khan passed solemnly down the processional avenue, he sprinkled water from his bath upon the prostrate pros-trate subjects. In their gratitude they gave him several million dollars dol-lars in tribute that night. This important fellow, who has the portly mien and general appearance appear-ance of a Wall Street broker and yet joins the most humble of his followers In beating his chest until un-til -the blond comes in extremely emotional religious rites. Is a walking walk-ing rejection of the theory that man, he issued another that was far more a test of his power. A plague ravaged India in 1S97. Thousands upon thousands were dying because they refused to be inoculated with protective serum. They revolted at the thought. The young Aga went about among them, explaining the absolute necessity for Inoculation. To their amazement he bared his own body time after time and accepted ac-cepted the prick of the needle to show them he would not ask them to do anything he wouldn't do himself. him-self. Their superstitions were broken bro-ken down, they were Inoculated and the plague was beaten. What was probably the crisis in the establishment of his true power came a few years later in another racial conflict. Certain of his followers fol-lowers deserted the Ismail! sect to to join the Sunis, and three of them were murdered in religious Indignation Indigna-tion of their fellows. At a word all India could have been thrown into mortal Internal combat. The Aga Khan excommunicated the killers from the church, cursed them with denial of the burial rite and announced an-nounced that if any more fighting broke out he would resign as leader of Ismaila on the spot. Peace reigned from that moment. Test of Power Comes. When he was not keeping the peace among his people, the Aga was establishing schools, educational education-al and medical centers, hospitals, libraries and other institutions of learning and culture, often with money out of his own pocket. He personally collected $1,000,000 to raise the college at Aligarh to university uni-versity status. He has tried in every way to abolish the depressed classes, to raise the Indian to a higher Standard of living, and to secure for his country equal freedom free-dom with other British dominions. Repeatedly this leader has appealed ap-pealed to the League of Nations for recognition of his people, Ismailis and others. The Aga Khan was in East Africa Afri-ca when the World war broke out. He directed his followers to support the British, 'and was successful even when Turkey entered the war on the side of the Central powers. The Ismailis were aroused and showed tendencies toward sympathizing with fV,nn fnllrt.n Vfnlamo K,,f lonf thcin support once more to the British when the Aga, in a general order, assured them that the allies had no quarrel with Islam (the Mohammedan Mohamme-dan religion) itself. Aga Khan's Three Wives. The Moslem religion permits a man to have three wives, but he must produce an heir. The Aga Khan is now living with his third Begum, or wife. His first was his cousin, the Sharzada Begum, who never bore him a child, and with whom he was unhappy. They separated sep-arated early, and two years ago she died. Theresa, an Italian princess whose fine sculpture had been exhibited ex-hibited many places in Europe, was his second wife. She had one son which died at birth, but later bore another, who is the Aly Khan and 4X . i Xf . : The Aga Khan, political or spiritual leader of at least 100,000,000 people, pictured with the present Begum Aga Khan and their recently-arrived recently-arrived son. never the twain shall meet, nis Is a tempered combination of oriental and occidental culture and education. educa-tion. He was reared by a strict mother moth-er who had been a member of the Persian royal family. His stern tutoring, his natural aptitude and his real understanding of and Interest In-terest in his people stamped him as a true leader when he was only sixteen. six-teen. Riots broke out between the Hindus and Mohammedans In Bombay. Bom-bay. So fired with emotional hatred were the masses, a first-class race war was In prospect. The young Aga Khan Issued a command to his people that they were not to engage en-gage in such racial fighting. They "bent over backwards" to obey his wish, even to the extent that Moslems Mos-lems were inviting Hindus home to dine with them. In this Instance the Aga's com nianil was something the Ismail! could understand, but four years later, when he was still not a grown the rightful heir to his father. Theresa died In 1926 and was buried in the family vaults at Monaco. The Aga Khan's present wife he married In romantic fashion for a man of such nearly limitless means. Their wedding was like a small town elopement which Indeed It really was, for It happened quietly and secretly In the little town hail of Alx-Ies-Italns, In the French Alps. The Cinderella story of this simple country girl cnlled Andre Carron marrying an oriental potentate gave rise to many fanciful tales about their relationships, but It Is a fact that the new Begum was an old friend of the family. Since his services In the World war, the Aga Khan has become something of a lion In British society, so-ciety, and the presentation of the present Begum at the Court of St-.lames St-.lames was one of the most picturesque pic-turesque social altali-s of recent years. , Westorn Nowspupor Union. |