Sultan Muhammad Shah assumed the title of Aga Khan III after the death of his father Aly Shah, the Aga Khan II. He was born in 1877 at Karachi. At an early age, he became the spiritual leader of the Muslims. Aga Khan completed his childhood education from famous teachers, and learnt Arabic and Persian. He also had a very good knowledge in theology, philosophy and Persian poetry. Aga Khan was appointed as a member of the Imperial legislative council in 1902. He was the youngest member of this council.
Aga Khan worked extremely hard to improve the education of Muslims to avoid the backwardness. He was committed to the political cause of the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. In 1906, he led the Muslim delegation to Shimla to forward their demand for a separate electorate. Aga Khan was the first president of the All India Muslim League in 1906. He wrote a book in 1918, 'India in Transition,' on the need of reforms for the Muslims.
Aga Khan played a vital role in the All Parties Muslim Conference held in 1928-29. He was also the chairman of the Muslim delegation to the Round Table Conferences. He was the only Asian selected as a President of the League of Nations. The formation of Pakistan owes a great deal to the hard work of Aga Khan. For his efforts at maintaining peace between Turkey and the western powers, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace in January 1924. He died on July 11, 1957 of a heart attack in Switzerland and was buried in Egypt. After his death, he was succeeded by his grandson Aga khan IV.
