How much power does the Aga Khan have, really?

When international delegations attended the European Commission’s conference on Syria on March 17, Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini, or Aga Khan V, attended alongside them. Addressing the conference, he reiterated his community’s more than millennium-long history in Syria and recommitted the Ismaili Imamat and its development arm, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), to “ongoing and permanent support for the Syrian people” and a “determination to help foster peace, hope, and development for a better future.”

The conference, and the pledge, was one of the first prominent public moves for Prince Rahim, who inherited the Aga Khan title from his father, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, who died on Feb. 4. The fourth Aga Khan served as leader of the Nizari Ismaili—or simply Ismaili—community, the second-largest branch of Shiite Muslims, since 1957. As Aga Khan IV’s eldest son, Prince Rahim now leads an estimated 12 to 15 million Ismaili Muslims across more than 35 countries.

Considered a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, the Aga Khan is, first and foremost, a religious leader. But over the last 100 years, the role has also been a consistent, and significant, presence in global affairs.