SIR SULTAN MUHAMMAD SHAH
(H.H. SIR AGHA KHAN III)

He was the hereditary spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect. He was born at Karachi and succeeded to the Imammate in 1885. He was a member of the imperial legislative council from 1902 to 1904. In 1903 he became the president of the reception committee of the All-India Muslim Education Conference and presided over its Delhi[Dehli] session in 1904. In a meeting with the Viceroy Lord Rippon in 1906 at Simla he, as the leader of the Muslim delegation, suggested a seperate electorate for Muslims.

From 1906 to 1912 he was the President of the All-India Muslim League. He also convened a Hindu-Muslim unity conference at Allahabad[U.P.]. In 1911 he raised three million rupees for the Aligarh Muslim University. In 1921 he was appointed the Vice Chancellor of this University[A.M.U.]. He was president of the All Parties Muslim Conference 1928-9.

In 1930-33, he was chairman of the British Indian delegation to the round table conferences. In 1932 he suggested a pact of minorities which facilitated the announcement of the communal award. He became a privy counciller in 1934. He represented India in the assembly of the League of Nations in 1932 and in 1934-37. He ws the first Asian to have been elected the president of the League of Nations in 1937. The Aga Khan died in Switzerland and was burried in Egypt.