One of the Takht Nashini ceremonies to celebrate Mawlana Hazar Imam’s ascension to the throne of Imamat was held in Mumbai (Bombay) in 1958. In his address, Mawlana Hazar Imam said:
“Bombay…has very close associations with my family. It was here, and here alone, that my grandfather was acclaimed as the forty-eighth Imam of the Shia Imami Ismailis.”
Imam Hasan Ali Shah had settled in Mumbai in 1846, from Iran. His presence there was greatly rejoiced by the Nizari Khojas, who had found it difficult to make the hazardous journey to the Imam’s residence in Iran to see him. When the Nizari Khojas found direct access to the Imam in Bombay, they paid homage to him at his durkhana, or chief residence. Imam Hasan Ali Shah attended jamatkhana in Bombay on special religious occasions. Every Saturday, when in Bombay, he also held durbar, giving audience to the jamat. During the three decades of his residency in Bombay, Imam Hasan Ali Shah organized the community through a network of officers called mukhi (treasurer) and kamadia (accountant) that he appointed in all major Khoja centers.
Source: Farhad Daftary, The Ismailis Their history and doctrines (Cambridge University Press, 1990)
Ismailimail 