[[Image:Aga Khan III.jpg|thumb|left|[[Aga Khan]] III]]
[[Image:Aga Khan00.jpg|thumb|<center>Aga Khan III (1904) by [[Leslie Ward]]</center>]]
'''Sultan Mahommed Shah, Aga Khan III''' [[Order of St Michael and St George|GCMG]] [[Order of the Star of India|GCSI]] [[Order of the Indian Empire|GCIE]] [[Royal Victorian Order|GCVO]] [[Imperial Privy Council|PC]] ([[November 2]], [[1877]] – [[July 11]], [[1957]]) was the 48th [[Shia Imam|Imam]] of the [[Shia]] [[Ismaili]] [[Muslim]]s. He was one of the founders and the first president of the [[All-India Muslim League]], and served as President of the [[League of Nations]] from 1937-38.
==Early life==
He was born in [[Karachi]] (then [[British India]], now [[Pakistan]]) to [[Aga Khan II]] and his third wife,<ref name="Daftary-Ismailis">{{cite book | title=The Ismā‘īlīs: Their History and Doctrines| last=Daftary| first=Farhad| date=1990| pages=518| publisher=Cambridge University Press| location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-42974-9}}</ref> Nawab A'lia Shamsul-Muluk, who was a granddaughter of [[Fath Ali Shah]] of Persia ([[Qajar dynasty]]).
Under the care of his mother, he was given not only that religious and Oriental education which his position as the religious leader of the [[Ismailis]] made indispensable, but a sound [[Europe]]an training, a boon denied to his father and paternal grandfather. This blending of the two systems of education produced the happy result of fitting this [[Muslim]] chief in an eminent degree both for the sacerdotal functions which pertained to his spiritual position, and for those social duties required of a great and enlightened leader which he was called upon to discharge by virtue of his position. He also attended [[Eton College|Eton]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]].<ref>"Aga Khan, Fashionable Londoner, Holds Enormous Power in Islam", The New York Times, [[8 July]] [[1923]], p. XX5.</ref>
==Career==
{{Ismailis}}
In 1885, at the young age of 7
, he succeeded his father as [[Shia Imam|Imam]] of the [[Shi'a]] [[Isma'ili]] [[Muslim]]s.
The Aga Khan travelled in distant parts of the world to receive the homage of his followers, and with the object either of settling differences or of advancing their welfare by pecuniary help and personal advice and guidance. The distinction of a [[Order of the Indian Empire|Knight Commander of the Indian Empire]] was conferred upon him by [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] in 1897 (and later Knight Grand Commander in 1902 by [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]]) and he received like recognition for his public services from the German emperor, the sultan of Turkey, the shah of [[Iran|Persia]] and other potentates.
In 1906, the Aga Khan was a founding member and first president of the [[All India Muslim League]].
In 1934 he was made a member of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] and served as a member of the [[League of Nations]] (1934-37), becoming the President of the League of Nations in 1937.
He was made a Knight of the Indian Empire by Queen Victoria, a Grand Commander of the Indian Empire by Edward VII (1902), and a Knight Grand Commander of the Indian Empire by George V (1912).
==Race horse owner==
He was an owner of thoroughbred racing horses, including a record equalling five winners of the [[Epsom Derby]], and a total of sixteen winners of [[British Classic Races]]. He was [[British flat racing Champion Owner]] thirteen times.
==Marriages and children==
*He married, on [[2 November]] [[1896]], in [[Poona]], [[India]], [[Shahzadi Begum]], his first cousin and a granddaughter of [[Aga Khan I]].
*He married, in 1908 [[Cleope Teresa Magliano]] (1888-1926), a dancer with the Ballet Opera of Monte Carlo. They had two sons: Giuseppe Mahdi Khan (d. February 1911) and [[Prince Aly Khan|Ali Solomone Khan]] (1911-1960) Teresa, who reportedly had converted to Islam prior to the legal wedding in North Africa and was known as Princess Aga Khan, died in 1926, following an operation on [[1 December]] [[1926]] ("Aga Khan's Wife Dies As He Buys Big Gem", The New York Times, [[2 December]] [[1926]], p. 2).</ref>
*He married, on [[7 December]] [[1929]] (civil), in [[Aix-les-Bains]], [[France]], and [[13 December]] [[1929]] (religious), in [[Mumbai|Bombay]], [[India]], [[Andrée Joséphine Carron]] (1898 - 1976). A former saleswoman in a candy store and a co-owner of a hat shop, she became known as Princess Andrée Aga Khan. She did not convert to Islam.<ref>"Aga Khan Marries Former Shopgirl", The New York Times, [[8 December]] [[1929]], p. 3.</ref> By this marriage, he had one son, Prince [[Sadruddin Aga Khan]], in 1933.<ref>"Aga Khan Again a Father", The New York Times, [[18 January]] [[1933]], p. 9.</ref> The couple were divorced in 1943.<ref>"Princess Andrée", The New York Times, [[30 December]] [[1976]], p. 19.</ref>
*He married, on [[9 October]] [[1944]], in [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]], [[Yvonne Blanche Labrousse]] (February 1906 - [[1 July]] [[2000]]). According to an interview she gave to an Egyptian journalist, her first name was Yvonne, though she is referred to as Yvette in most published references. The daughter of a tram conductor and a dressmaker, she was working as the Aga Khan's social secretary at the time of their marriage. She had been "Miss Lyon 1929" and "Miss France 1930".<ref>"The Aga Khan Marries", The New York Times, [[10 October]] [[1944]], p. 20.</ref> She converted to Islam and became known as Umm Habiba (Little Mother of the Beloved). In 1954, her husband named her "Mata Salamat" <ref>"The Begum Aga Khan III", Daily Telegraph, Issue 45115, [[3 July]] [[2000]].</ref>
==Publications==
He wrote a number of books and papers two of which are of immense importance namely (1).'''India in Transition''', about the prepartition politics of India and (2).'''The Memoirs of Aga Khan''', his autobiography.
==Death and succession==
The Aga Khan was succeeded by his grandson [[Aga Khan IV|Karim Aga Khan]], as 'Aga Khan' and is the present [[Shia Imam|Imam]] of the [[Ismaili]] [[Muslim]]s. At the time of his death on [[ July 11]],[[ 1957]], his family members were in [[Versoix]]. A solicitor brought the will of the Aga Khan III from London to Geneva and read it before the family:
<blockquote>"Ever since the time of my ancestor Ali, the first Imam, that is to say over a period of thirteen hundred years, it has always been the tradition of our family that each Imam chooses his successor at his absolute and unfettered discretion from amongst any of his descendants, whether they be sons or remote male issue and in these circumstances and in view of the fundamentally altered conditions in the world in very recent years due to the great changes which have taken place including the discoveries of atomic science, I am convinced that it is in the best interest of the Shia Muslim Ismailia Community that I should be succeeded by a young man who has been brought up and developed during recent years and in the midst of the new age and who brings a new outlook on life to his office as Imam. For these reasons, I appoint my grandson Karim, the son of my own son, Aly Salomone Khan to succeed to the title of Aga Khan and to the Imam and Pir of all Shia Ismailian followers."</blockquote>
He is buried in [[Aswan]], [[Egypt]] at the Mausoleum of Aga Khan.
==See also==
{{wikiquote}}
* [[Fatimids]]
* [[Nizari]]
* [[Aga Khan]]
* [[Aga Khan Palace]]
==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references />
</div>
{{1911}}
==Additional reading==
*Daftary, F., "The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines" Cambridge University Press, 1990.
*Naoroji M. Dumasia, ''A Brief History of the Aga Khan'' (1903).
*Aga Khan III, "Memoirs of Aga Khan: World Enough and Time", London: Cassel & Company, 1954; published same year in the United States by Simon & Schuster.
*Anne Edwards, "Throne of Gold: The Lives of the Aga Khans", NY: William Morrow, 1996
==External links==
* [http://www.history.com/media.do?action=clip&id=tdih_0712 Video Clip] from the [[History Channel]] website
* [http://www.theismaili.org] The Official Ismaili Website
* [http://www.akdn.org] Official Website of Aga Khan Development Network
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{{succession box | before = [[Aga Khan II]] | title = [[Aga Khan]] | years = 1885–1957 | after = [[Aga Khan IV]]}}
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{{LoNPresidents}}
[[Category:Aga Khan Development Network]]
[[Category:British racehorse owners and breeders]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Indian religious leaders]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Ismailis]]
[[Category:Pakistan Movement]]
[[Category:League of Nations]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Old Etonians]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1957 deaths]]
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[[ur:آغا خان سوم]]
[[zh:阿迦汗三世]]