Many domestic and foreign self-media have written the moving romantic story of the American supermodel Kendra Spears transforming from an American supermodel to a princess of India, and many people have called her Princess Salwa Aga Khan of India. Kendra was born into an ordinary family and later became a member of the royal family after marrying a prince, which makes everything very close to a fairy tale.
Let's take a look at this story of "sparrows turning into phoenixes"
Kendra was born into an ordinary family in Seattle, Washington. She grew up living the life of an ordinary girl, graduating from an ordinary high school and entering an ordinary university to get a sociology degree. She did not show great talent since childhood, but the only thing that impressed her was her height of more than 1.8 meters and her natural purity of beauty.
At the age of 20, she started her modeling career in New York, with innate conditions, her modeling career was smooth, shooting advertising campaigns for various big names, because of a beautiful mole at the corner of the mouth, coupled with similar temperament, she was also praised as the young version of "Cindy Crawford".
Introduced by supermodel "Black Pearl" Naomi, he met Prince Rahim Aga Khan of India. Just a few months after falling in love, the prince proposed to her! The two men held a traditional Muslim wedding in Geneva.
After marrying the prince, Kendra was given a new name: Princess Sava Aga Khan, which means to bring warmth and comfort to the family.
The question is, kendra after marriage is often given the title of "Princess of India", is her husband the Indian royal family? India's last historical dynasty, the Mughals, was overthrown in 1858, and india has no more royalty, no more Indian princes and princesses. Secondly, Kendra and Prince Aga Khan were married to Muslims, why? Here's a glimpse into the life of prince Raheem Aga Khan.
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Origin of the title of Aga Khan
Aga Khan, "Aga Khan", the word "aga" comes from The Old Turkic and Mongolian languages meaning "master" or "lord"; "Khan" means "khan", which means king or ruler in Turkish and Mongolian. All the Aga Khans claim to be descendants of Muhammad, the last Prophet of Islam.
Aga Khan I, whose real name was Hassan Ali Shah, was originally an imāms in Islam. Imam means leader, prayer abbot in Arabic, and is the leader of the worshippers in front of the crowd during the Collective Worship of Islam. Islam is divided into Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims, with Hassan Ali Shah belonging to an Ismaili branch under Shia. In the eyes of Shia Muslims, the imam is the intermediary between man and Allah, which has a special sacred meaning, and the hidden meaning of the Qur'an can only be known to the faithful through the secret transmission of the imam. So the imams were their spiritual leader, with great power.
Hassan Ali Shah was formerly the governor of Iran's Kerman Province and was deeply favored by Iran's then-King, Fat Ali Shah. In 1818, the King of Iran granted him the title of "Aga Khan". However, after Muhammad Shah succeeded to the throne, he felt that the new king had made his family honor despised, so he revolted in 1838 in an attempt to overthrow the ruling Qajar dynasty, but was forced into exile in vain, and he fled to India to avoid government pursuit.
As for why he fled to India, because the Mughal dynasty in India at that time had deep roots with Islam. In the 13th century, the Mongols were a terrible force, and they conquered the west and conquered an extremely large land. Their descendants in Central Asia slowly merged with the local Turks to form a series of Turkic khanates, such as the Timurid Empire. Timur's descendants continued to invade the South Asian subcontinent and establish the Mughal Empire. Under the rule of the Mughal Empire, Islam continued to develop in the South Asian subcontinent.
To this day, there are four Ismaili imams holding the title of "Aga Khan", and the living one today is Aga Khan IV, whose real name is Shah Karim Hussein, who has come into the public spotlight for his love of horse racing and the fact that he was divorced twice, and who is also the imam and supreme spiritual leader of the world's approximately 15 million Ismaili Muslims.
The second from the left is Aga Khan IV
Shah Karim was born into a british nationality, grew up in a castle in France, studied in Switzerland, and graduated from Harvard. When Shah Karim was still a junior at Harvard University, he skipped over his father and succeeded his grandfather, His Highness Aga Khan III, as the 49th Imam of Shia Ismaili Muslims.
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Who are the followers of Aga Khan?
It is estimated that as the current imam of Ismaili Muslims, Aga Khan IV has more than 15 million followers in more than 25 countries.
Distribution map of the various branches of Shia (Yellow is Ismaili)
Most Ismaili Muslims live in African and Asian countries, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Iran; there are also considerable communities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. These Ismaili Muslims were all followers of Aga Khan IV.
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Where did the royal title come from?
Ismaili imams fashioned themselves and their family members as princes and princesses – a title inherited from their royal ancestor, Fat Ali Shah of 18th-century Persia.
Aga Khan IV and Prince Charles of England
Aga Khan I helped the British in the First Anglo-Afghan War, and because he won the favor of the British royal family, and Aga Khan IV had British citizenship, the royal title was officially recognized by the British government. Upon the death of Aga Khan III, Queen Elizabeth II officially conferred the title of "His Highness" on the reigning Aga Khan IV. Although known as the royal family, the family did not rule any country or geographic area, but was only the spiritual leader in the religious world.
Titles such as "Prince Aga Khan of India" often appear in the media in the report of celebrity anecdotes, in fact, they are not the Indian royal family, but only a branch of the Islamist sect in exile in India, and have little to do with Indian roots.
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What is the source of income of Aga Khan?
Forbes magazine ranked Aga Khan as one of the ten richest members of the royal family in the world, with an estimated net worth of $800 million. So where did his huge fortune come from?
Much of his wealth came from cash donations from Ismaili Muslims. Ismaili believers reportedly donated at least 10 percent of their total annual income to the spiritual leader. Of course, it is unclear whether individual imams derived their wealth from donations. Aga Khan's supporters say most of the donated funds are used for philanthropic, development and educational projects in developing countries.
The Aga Khan family's wealth comes from commercial activities, including exclusive hotel chains, horse racing and horse breeding, etc., and is considered one of the main sources of income of the Aga Khan.
The royal family of Aga Khan, as a spiritual leader in religion, is not the same as the royal family in the traditional sense. However, this did not prevent the followers from embracing them, as well as the fame and honor of the Aga Khan royal family in the world. It's no surprise that an ordinary American model joined the Aga Khan royal family and was talked about.