Image adapted from Dave Ray Photography & Photo Tours.
Population: 1.3 billion
Number of Ismailis: 400 000
Key Areas: Gujarat, Mumbai
Chances are if you're an Ismaili, you're of Indian descent. Chances are, if your friend is an Ismaili, her family is from India.
Indian Ismailis are numerous (although quite how many is unclear) and the Ismaili diaspora in the West is a largely Indian one.
The story of the Indian Ismailis is the story of the Khojas. Khoja is a Gujarati term, derived from Persian, meaning 'master'. It refers to the Hindu population of South Asia that converted to Islam in the 14th and 15th century and is probably a title that was given to the Lohani (which also means 'master') Hindu caste (who made up the majority of converts) in order to give the converts an identity and a way to continue to fit into Hindu Indian society.
The vast majority of Khojas are Aga Khani/Nizari Ismaili, although some follow a different path of Ismailism and others to Sunni Islam.
Ismailism arrived in India via Persia in the 14th and 15th centuries in the wake of the final death of the Ismaili empire. It was carried by missionaries who became revered in Indian Ismaili folklore at the 'Pirs', the representatives of the concealed Imam.
Ismaili expression in India developed along substantially different lines than in Persia and Central Asia and incorporated some curiously Hindu themes and theology. Much of this was captured in the Ginans, a collection of songs rather like the Christian Psalms which are sung in the jamatkhanas to this day.
Since the vast majority of western Ismailis trace their heritage back to India (either directly or via East Africa), it is the Indian expression of Ismailis that is taking the lead in today's theological renaissance.
Originally published October 2015