| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper examines the role of politico-religious leaders of smaller sectarian and sub-sectarian Muslim sects in the broader politics of Muslim community consciousness in colonial South Asia. The case of Aga Khan III, the Imam of the Shiite sub-sect of the Khojas, provides our example. This complex process, whereby the Khoja sub-sect increasingly came to identify with the broader Muslim community in colonial South Asia-albeit preserving certain sub-sectarian particularities-is examined with reference to the paradigmatic model of 'path dependence'. The balance that Aga Khan III struck between the socio-religious and political worlds-hinging upon his dual role as a spiritual and a political leader-is deconstructed with the qualified employment of the analytical tool of 'strategic syncretism'. The paper shows how specific socio-religious sub-sectarian traits were effectively retained at the same time as an overarching political consensus forged links between different Muslim sectarian traditions.
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