"Shamsul Mulk, the daughter of Mirza Ali Muhammad Nizam ad-Dawla, the grandson of Muhammad Hussain Khan Ispahani, the Prime Minister of Shah Fateh Ali Qajar (d. 1250/1834) of Iran; was born in Ispahan. Khurshid Kulah, the mother of Shamsul Mulk was the daughter of Shah Fateh Ali through one of his queens, Tajudawla Ispahani by name. Lady Aly Shah was thus related to the Iranian royal family through her mother. Queen Tajudawla was educated under the care of Motamid ad-Dawla Abdul Wahab Khan Nishat Ispahani, an eminent scholar of her time and her daughter and grand-daughter were equally recipients of a select and high education.

Imam Aga Ali Shah married to Shamsul Mulk in 1867, who became known as Lady Aly Shah. Soon afterwards, they came to Karachi, where their son, Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah was born in 1877. She used to give names to the newly born babies in the Jamatkhana mostly in Karachi. It is worthwhile to illustrate that on December 25, 1876 a child was born in Karachi in Poonja family. The parent took him to Lady Aly Shah, who held court in the Kharadhar Jamatkhana. In keeping with Ismaili norms, Lady Aly Shah blessed the newly born child with the name of Mahomed Ali by alphabetizing the two words in English in the anglicized form. He was Mahomed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, who, throughout his lifetime, adopted the same spelling of his name that was on the record of the Jamatkhana. Lady Aly Shah had been in Bombay in 1881 with her son on the death of Imam Hasan Ali Shah, and then made her residency at Poona.

Lady Aly Shah took the reins of the Ismaili community affairs during the time his son ascended as 48th Imam, and administered the affairs efficiently through a Council, consisting of the prominent members of Kutchh, Kathiawar, Gujrat and Sind, until the Imam attained puberty in 1893.

Lady Aly Shah was indeed a benevolent woman, and famous for her charity and generosity, and her fame reached the fringes of the Muslim lands. In 1880, she established a school in Karbala for the education and welfare of poor orphans of Syed families. She also donated a land of 3000 square meters and constructed a building for the Iranian residents at Kazamain. In 1905, she had gone on pilgrimage to Mecca, and on that occasion, she was lavishly charitable that the people forgot all that they had heard of the charities of persons of high rank.

Lady Aly Shah gave historical evidence in the Bombay High Court during the proceeding of Haji Bibi Case of 1908 before Justice Louis Pitman Russell, who was greatly struck by her evidence. As he observed in his judgment, she displayed an extraordinary memory.

While Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah was away from India during the World War (1914-1919), Lady Aly Shah was tremendously active in his stead. Reference has already been made to her command and ability for organization; she now developed this to the fullest extent by adding to her work of keeping in touch with the Ismaili community. She also placed her services at the disposal of Lord and Lady Willingdon and under her direction, the Ismaili and Iranian ladies rendered great services to the wounded soldiers brought to Bombay from Iraq during the World War I. Under her inspired leadership, the community was able to collect large funds and procured necessary supplies. She kept in constant correspondence with the ruler of Hunza and the influential Iranians, advising them to help the Britain during War. Her nephews and relatives fought on the side of the Allies in Iraq, and one of them notably was Aga Hamid Khan, who was ranked C.I.E.

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