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| Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa (Photo credit: NailaJ) |
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| Sven Melkers, Nena Thurman, Bob Thurman, Begum Aga Khan, Regine Sixt (Photo credit: Charity Celebrities) |
The
Aga Khan III was a prolific writer, and compiled '
India in Transition', published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. in 1918, which he dedicated to the loving memory of his mother. It deals the future political affairs of India. According to 'Muslims in India' (
Lahore, 1985, 1st vol., p. 56), 'It contained an elaborate scheme of references for India, urging a federal constitution. He envisaged a great south Asiatic Federation of which Delhi would be the centre.' On October 29, 1952, he declared in an interview with 'New York Herold Tribune',
Paris for compiling his autobiographical work, and began to write it on January 3, 1953. It was published in 1954, entitled 'Memoirs of Aga Khan'. Besides, there is a large collection of his speeches, articles and interviews
Ismaili History 833 -
Marriages of the Aga Khan III
The first marriage of the Aga Khan took place in 1314/1897 with Shahzadi
Begum, the daughter of his uncle Aga Jhangi Shah, at Poona. In 1908, he married to Mlle Theresa Maglioni (d. 1926) in Cairo, who bore Prince Aly Salomone Khan on June 13, 1911 at Turin in Italy. She had visited India with his son in 1923, and died on December 2, 1926 at Paris at the age of 37 years. In 1929, the Aga Khan had married his third wife, Mlle Andree Carron, who bore his second son, Sadruddin on January 17, 1933.
On October 9, 1944, the Aga Khan married his fourth and last wife, Mlle Yvette Labrousse, known as
Umm Habiba, the
Begum Aga Khan. She was the third to be awarded in 1954 a rare title of 'Mata Salamat' during last 13 centuries. 'The Aga Khan wants to sleep in the hot sand overlooking the waters of the Nile,' explained the Begum Aga Khan 40 years ago, 'and when I die I want to lie beside him. We do not want to be parted.' In her interview of 1953, she said, 'I always appreciated beauty, but he (the Aga Khan) taught me how really to enjoy a lovely sunset, moonlight, to know the stars, the colours and scents of flowers, to like music, ballet and opera, to appreciate everything that is beautiful in life. Most important, he taught me to love Islam.'
Recently, the Begum Aga Khan celebrated her 90th birthday at Aswan in
Upper Egypt on February 15, 1996.
