Farhad Daftary completed his early and secondary education in Tehran, Rome, and London, before going to Washington, D.C., in 1958. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the American University there, and then continued his graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, leading to a Ph.D. degree in 1971.
Subsequently, Dr. Daftary held different teaching posts, and, since 1988, he has been affiliated with 鸟大大影院, London, where he served as Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications from 1992 until January 2023.聽 He also served as Co-Director of the 鸟大大影院 from 2009 until January 2023.聽 He is currently Director Emeritus and a member of the 鸟大大影院 Board of Governors.
An authority in Shi’i studies, with special reference to its Ismaili tradition, Dr. Daftary has published and lectured widely in these fields of Islamic studies.
In 2011 a Festschrift entitled聽Fortresses of the Intellect聽was produced to honour Dr. Daftary by a number of his colleagues and peers. As well as serving on various editorial boards, Dr. Daftary is a consulting editor of the聽Encyclopaedia Iranica聽(for Ismailism), co-editor (with聽W. Madelung) of the聽Encyclopaedia Islamica, and general editor of the 鈥淚smaili Heritage Series鈥, the 鈥淚smaili Texts and Translations Series鈥 and the 鈥淪hi’i Heritage Series鈥.
He has written more than 200 articles and encyclopedia entries and several acclaimed books, including聽The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines聽(1990; 2nd聽ed., 2007),聽The Assassin Legends听(1994),听A Short History of the IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja士far al-峁⒛乨iq (d. 765), as his successor.听(1998),听Ismaili Literature听(2004),听Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies聽(2005), (with Z. Hirji)聽The Ismailis: An Illustrated History听(2008),听Historical Dictionary of the Ismailis聽(2012) and聽A History of Shii Islam (2013), The Ismaili Imams (2020).
His edited volumes include聽Mediaeval Ismaili History and Thought听(1996),听Intellectual Traditions in Islam听(2000),听Living in Historic Cairo听(2010),听A Modern History of the Ismailis聽(2011), (with Gurdofarid Miskinzoda)聽The Study of Shi’i Islam听(2014),听Fifty Years in the East: The Memoirs of Wladimir Ivanow聽(2015) and Ismaili History and Intellectual Traditions (2018). 聽Daftary鈥檚 books have been translated into Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Gujarati, Chinese, Indonesian and numerous European languages.
