The Aga Khan’s attorneys argued that Dasavatar, as both a uniquely Khoja and uniquely Ismaili work, was evidence of the Aga Khan’s previous connection with the Khojas via Pir Sadruddin. Decision In reaching his decision, Arnould attempted to answer five distinct yet related questions: first, who are the Sunni and Shia Muslims in relation to one another; second, who are the Shia Ismailis; third, who is the Aga Khan; fourth, who are the Khojas in general and what is their relationship to the Aga Khan; and fifth, what is the relationship between the dissident Khojas and the Aga Khan? Arnould’s judgment answered these questions one at a time. First, he argued that Sunnis were the “orthodox Mussulmans,” as the Shia put Ali on almost equal position with Muhammad. Yet, Arnould favored the Shia interpretation of the issue of succession and wrote positively of Shia history in general. Second, Arnould wrote at length about persecution against the Ismailis; the concept of taqiyya, or concealment of religious opinion and identity; and the history of the Assassins and the relationship of Hasan-i Sabbah and the Aga Khan. Third, Arnould asserted that while documentary gaps existed in the Aga Khan's claim to hereditary succession, he nevertheless agreed that the Aga Khan was a descendant, through Ali, of Muhammad. Finally, Arnould turned to the questions of the Aga Khan's relationship to the Khoja community. First, Arnould ruled, the overwhelming majority of the Bombay Khojas had welcomed the Aga Khan and pledged allegiance to him, and that the Khojas had long made payments to him and his ancestors. Second, he said his decision hung on which form of Islam the Khojas had been converted to four hundred years previously. Arnould noted that Pir Sadruddin was an Ismaili missionary sent by one of the Aga Khan's ancestors, and accepted the defense's argument that Dasavatar was both a Khoja and an Ismaili text. Thus, Arnould concluded, the Khojas were Shia Ismaili, and the Aga Khan was their rightful leader. Effect Arnould's judgment had the effect of ending serious challenges to the Aga Khan's rule. The Aga Khan administered the affairs of the Ismaili community, including the Khojas, until his death in 1881, when he was succeeded by his son, Aqa Ali Shah, who served as imam for four years before his death and succession by his son, Sultan Muhammad Shah, the third Aga Khan. During the long imamate