Chapter 1B: Two titans fought. One was a merchant of war, one of God. The victory was based on deceipt. And back stabbing from within. Iron is killed most by its own rust.
In this case it was Jawaharlal Nehru.
The dice thrower was the Aga Khan.
Across the table was Basheshar Nath.
The result was the PARTITION
One was the highest tax payer of pre partition India. The source of his wealth was war. He had seen and benefitted from two wars. World War 1 and 2. He had the entire British establishment on the take.
The other wanted to be God. His path was to own a nation. He had no chance against the merchant of war. So he used religion as a weapon. And he found two loosy floosy lawyers who were looking for a deal. One was Jinnah – his devout follower and Bombays most eminent lawyer. The other was Jawaharlal Nehru, a failed lawyer now trying his hand at Golf on Raisina Hill. And chasing skirts.
This is a story untold. But known. Ai will play it for you if you know the key words. It is a story that has been pieced together over forty five years.
Ai will take you to each point on the journey. HDFC took me to Aga Khan III. Work took me to the archives of the Chief Accountant of the East India Company. School took me to the drawing room of the Aga Khan. Research on a documentary took me deep into the opium trade and the rise of the Parsis. Serendipity took me to the partition museum.
And it all suddenly fell into place. Without ai and the internet, it could not have been unravelled like it has been.
And the truth will make anyone sick. Politics is disgusting. Iran being the latest.
But then Iran is where the story started. Is it where it will end. Inbetween is the tomb of Aga Khan in Mumbai. A stones throw away from my alma mater school. Hasanabad where Aga Khan 1 lies buried.
Aga Khan was not God. He was bestowed the title by the Shah of Iran. Prince Hasan Ali Shah (Persian: حسن علی شاه, romanized: Ḥasan ʿAlī Shāh; 1804 – 12 April 1881), known as Aga Khan I was the 46th hereditary imam of the Nizari Isma’ilis. He served as the governor of Kerman and a prominent leader in Iran. He was the first Nizari imam to hold the title Aga Khan. His mother came to India and near the Bombay port set up the Anjuman Ismaili compound on what is now called Nesbit Road. This is where he died.
But before he died, in 1860 two things happened. James Bruce Elgin set up his summer capital in Dharamshala in what is now called McLeidganj. And a group of jesuits set up the St Anne’s Parish and Church across the road from the Anjuman Ismaili compound. The Aga Khan was keen to get into their good books. So he donated part of his estate to the jesuits to set up what is now the St Mary’s School in Byculla. A school I attended till class X. This is where I first met the Aga Khan III. And several times thereafter.
One that will make us hang our head in shame. From the partition to HDFC – it is the same playbook. And the same bad actors.
