Leadership and Authority in Central Asia

This book explores the unfolding of world history in a remote corner of Central Asia: the region of Badakhshan. It offers a comprehensive overview of the history of the Ismaili community in Tajikistan and analyses the ways in which expressions of political and religious authority have evolved and how they have been adapted to different political contexts and radical social upheaval. Skilfully applying an interdisciplinary approach, this book challenges the ways religious and secular categories have been distinguished in recent scholarship