Against that background, this article explores the writings and institutional initiatives of the forty-eighth Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III, with reference to women’s education. In the history of Muslim India, the late nineteenth and early twentieth century formed a period that witnessed intense public contestation over the role of women in society. Particularly the Khoja Ismailis, loyals to the Aga Khan, were rapidly pressured to position their believes towards a new narrative of Islam, this shift in identity and new status, seems to have had a direct impact in the disuse of Khojki. The new Imam secured the majority of the followers after the famous Aga Khan Case in 1866, after which a fractured Khoja community was inevitably aligned towards new identities. The consolidation of the printing business coincides with a major split among the Khojas, triggered by the arrival of the Aga Khan to Bombay, who claim to be their Shia leader.

Through analysis of printed samples, this paper also questions the official Ismaili version of how the presses were established and presents the possibility of that many of them were discourage and probably taken out of business because of their detachment of any particular group. The Khoja Sindhi Printing Press, the official Ismaili press run by Lalji Devraj, was the most active. This paper aims to overview the history and decline of Khojki, but mostly to delve onto the affairs of the printing presses, which were in business using different technologies first lithography and then movable metal types. This flourishment was only possible due to the need for presses to disseminate religious and institutional printed material. Being used to record the Satpanthi literature, commonly in the form of gināns, flourished and strengthen due to a great typographic development in the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th, but perished in a short period of time.

The Khojki script, the ancient alphabet of the Khojas, was born in a conested area, the region of Sindh.

Creed 2 subtitle script