This thesis is concerned with providing a perspective on the total heritage - oral, written as well as that observed in a continuing tradition of religious practice - among the Nizari Ismailis of the Sub-continent

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This thesis is concerned with tracing the rise and spread of that section of the Nizari Ismaili Da'wa which eventually gave rise to what has come to be known as Satpanth Ismailism. The spread in turn involves studying the activities and identifying the various da'is or pirs who came to India and spread the Satpanth doctrine. It is fundamental to the study of movements like Ismailism, that the historical context in which they spread be understood clearly and it is only in this way that one can hope to understand the intellectual assumptions of the movement, in relation to the technique of propagation adopted by the da'wa. Hence the thesis is also concerned, as far as possible, to set out systematically the historical context within which Satpanth Ismailism spread, in order to establish some sort of an identity for it.

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Isma'ilism, one of the most colourful and dynamic sects of Islam, boasts a rich and fascinating history. This thesis studies the life and works of Nur Muhammad Shah, a gifted exponent of the Isma'ili Sat Panth movement in Indo-Pakistan during the 15th/16th centuries. Sat Panth, the Path of Truth, is the highly mystical form of Isma'ilism which resulted from conversion efforts in the Subcontinent during the eleventh and subsequent centuries. The legacy of the order which was fostered is to be found in its corpus of sacred religious literature known as Ginans, an appellation that suggests supreme, gnostic knowledge. The Sat Panthi Isma'ilis consider the Ginans to be the embodiment, par excellence, of the Qur'an's esoteric dimension. Nur Muhammad Shah is the last of the Sat Panth authors for whom a large body of Ginanas has been preserved. / This work gives a historical background of the Isma'ili movement in Indo-Pakistan, examines the career of Nur Muhammad Shah from the earliest available primary sources and disproves suggestions by previous scholars that he forsook his allegiance to the Isma'ili Imam and became the founder of his own rival sect. In addition, it provides for the first time a scholarly translation of a significant portion of the Nur Muhammad Shah's Sat Veni Moti or Tale of Truth (Larger), an important Sat Panthi mystical text.

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