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The death on June 19, 1970, of W. Ivanow, at the age of eighty-four takes from our midst an outstanding Orientalist and the greatest modern contributor to Ismadili studies. It is not possible in the limited space available here to give full information on the life and works of this lamented scholar, who was blessed with both longevity and rare productivity. Ivanow had to his credit some 120 publications, excluding book reviews, a list of which, compiled by the present writer, appeared in the January 1971 issue of Islamic Culture. This notice is, therefore, primarily devoted to the highlights of Ivanow's life and scholarly accomplishments. Vladimir Alekseevich Ivanov, as he had been known in his native Russia, was born in 1886. After completing his early education, he took up the study of Arabic and Persian in St Petersburg, mainly under the tutelage of Baron Victor R. Rosen (1849-1908), the famous Orientalist and organizer of Oriental studies in Russia. Subsequently, he specialized in Iranian languages, especially modern Persian dialects, and Suifism. Ivanow first visited Persia in 1910 and lived there from 1912 to 1914, during which time he collected many specimens of the various local dialects. The fruits of these linguistic and related ethnological studies, which he pursued until the 1920s, appeared as some twenty articles. These, aside from a few exceptions, represent Ivanow's earliest published works. In the meantime, Ivanow had become associated with the Asiatic Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg. The Asiatic Museum, which at the time was under the directorship of Carl G. Salemann (1849-1916), the eminent philologist and specialist in Persian dialects, had long ceased to be a museum, however. It had, in effect, become a library, where Ivanow eventually rose to the position of Assistant Keeper of Muhammadan Manuscripts. In that capacity, Ivanow travelled extensively, mostly in Central Asia, and acquired a large number of Arabic and Persian manuscripts for the Asiatic Museum. The Museum was particularly enriched by the so-called Bukhara Collection which consisted of more than 1,100 manuscript volumes and was acquired by Ivanow in 1915. In retrospect, Ivanow's work at the Asiatic Museum had another impact of lasting significance on his life. For it was there, in his official capacity, that he examined in 1916 the Museum's newly acquired collection of Isma"Ili manuscripts which had been collected by I. I. Zarubin, the wellknown Russian specialist in Tajik dialects, in the regions of the Upper Oxus. The so-called Zarubin Collection, although containing only eleven items, was the largest of its kind in any Western library. These manuscripts represented Ivanow's first major contact with genuine Ismacili literature, and it marked the beginning of his devotion to Ismd"ili studies, a devotion which he cultivated with increasing vigour until the end of his life some half a century later. Beginning with his 1917 paper, describing the Zarubin

(1) St. Louis, City Art Museum No. 61:27; 31 x 34 mm (autograph on next page). From Drehem. Dated 111/20, Buir-Sin 2. The tablet records delivery of one goat each e-a-ne-ne-s "for their house" to Puzur-Mama, the "man" of Mari, to IlI-Dagan, the "man" of Ebla,1 and to Nanau, the "man" of Ursu. It is usually assumed that these "men" are the local rulers. However, tablet No. 3 below mentions two "men" of Mari simultaneously. Hence the term by itself takes merely the place of a gentilic; this of course does not preclude the possibility that a man so designated may indeed be a local ruler. Puzur-Mama of Mari2 and Ili-DagSn of Ebla3 occur together on SA 79 (RA 9 59), a tablet very similar to ours and dated to the same year and the 13th day of the same month. Furthermore on the almost identical ba-zi tablets Fish, Catalogue 254 (VI/3, Bir-Sin 2) and Legrain, Temp des rois d'Ur 305 (VI/4, Bir-Sin 2). The three cities Mari, Ebla and Ursu are situated in the west4 and it is not by chance that they occur together.

The pages of Western Asian history during 1370-1300 BC have had little to tell about Assyria or Babylonia since the reigns of Shamshi-Adad I and of his son Ishme-Dagan in the former, and since the end of Hammurabi's last successor in the latter. The moment of destiny for Assyria in its relation with the Human kingdoms which had long oppressed her was undoubtedly the murder of Tushratta, king of Mitanni, by one of his sons. In the south, Ashur-uballit's relations with Babylonia were intimate and dramatic, and are fairly well known. An Assyrian poem, written in a spirit of undisguised chauvinism, presents an epical description of a war between Assyria and Babylonia. Assyria under Enlil-nīrāri was successful in the war; he was succeeded by his son Arik-dēn-ili, whose reign lasted for twelve years. The efforts of Arik-dēn-ili appear more as the usual offensive-defensive operations against the highlands than as moves in a conflict with Kassite Babylonia.

lords, craftsmen, artisans and professionals. They belong to the Musta'lian Isma~ili sect of Islam and were converted from several Hindu castes, some eight hundred years ago. The name Bohra (also Bohora) denotes a "trader, merchant" (from the Gujarati vohorvu, "to trade") and records the occupation of the first converts to Islam 1). Ancestors of the present Bohras came to East Africa in the nineteenth century from Gujarat particularly from the district of Cutch and Kathiawar, though some Yemeni Bohras from Southern Arabia have also settled here. Out of an estimated half a million Bohras scattered all over the world, the majority being in India, East Africa has about 15,0002). Although a small minority, the Bohras have succeeded in preserving their identity, and religious and cultural traditions. Like other minorities in East Africa they are organized into an exclusive endogamous group, locally known as a 'community'. So far very little has been written about this interesting entrepreneurial and religious group. The present study is a survey of the origins and migration of the Bohras to East Africa and their religious beliefs and organization. It is based on the author's lengthly experience of living with the Bohras