Surviving the Mongols : Nizari Quhistani and the Continuity of Ismaili Tradition in Iran

This lively study examines the poetic writings of Nizårí Quhiståní, one of the few Ismaili authors who survived the Mongol invasion of Iran in the 13th century. The invasion put an end to Ismaili political aspirations and independence until the 16th-century Safavid dynasty. The evidence of Nizårí's writings demonstrates that during the period of the invasion the Ismaili community did not lose their internal organizational structure, and that they continued to operate in different forms through the Mongol period in Persian history.