The Qajar dynasty lasted until 1925. [Wikipedia]

Birth of Muhammad Husayn-i-Bushrú'í (Mullá Husayn).
• See Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p20-29.

Early history of the House of the Báb
• RoB4p240 states that the Báb's father, Áqá Mírzá Muhammad Ridá bought the House, however, the family records show that it was an inheritance. [MBBA162]
• The Báb (Alí Muhammad) was born there 20th of October, 1819.
• With the passing of His father He and his mother, Fatimah Bagum, relocated to the home of her brother Hájí Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí, possibly about 1824 or later.

The birth of Fátimih Umm-Salamih, Táhirih (the Pure One), Qurratu'l-'Ayn (Solace of the Eyes), Zarrín-Táj (Crown of Gold). [BBD220; GPB7, 73, 75; DB81note2]
• In BBRSM16 her name was given as Fátimih Bigum Baragháni and birth year is 1814.
• See Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p67-78.

Birth of Mírzá Husayn `Alíy-i-Núrí (Bahá'u'lláh) in Tehran, called by Him the "Land of Tá" (Ard-i-Tá). [Bahá'í Encyclopedia Project]
• He was of royal Persian blood, a descendant of Zoroaster and the Sásáníyán kings of Persia through Yazdigird III, the last king of that dynasty. Through His mother He was a descendant of Abraham through Katurah and Jesse. [BW8:874; GPB94; RB1:305]
• He was born in Tihrán in the district t know as Darvázih-Shimran (Shimran Gate). This district has become know as Mahalyih Arabhá (the Arab quarter.) His father was Mírzá `Abbás whose ancestral home is Tákur in the province of Núr. His father was also known as Mírzá Buzurg in royal circles. [BKG13; RB1:7]
• His mother was Khadíjih Khánum. [BBD127; BBRSM57–8]
• He was born at dawn. [LOG353; DB12]
• For biblical reference see LOG378.
• RB1:304 for extracts from Shoghi Effendi re: His station.
• BBD39, GPB157–8 for a condensed history.
• See GPB93-99 for the significance of Bahá'u'lláh's station.

Birth of Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad (The Báb), before dawn, in Shíráz. [B32; GH13; DB14, 72]
• The Primal Point (Nuqtiy-i-Úlá). [BBD185]
• The Promised One of Islam, the Qá'im. [BBD188]
• Siyyid-i-dhikr (Lord of Remembrance). [BBD212]
• His mother was Fátimih-Bagum. [Bab33, 46; KBWB20; RB2:382]
  • In the latter years of her life while she was living in Iraq, Bahá'u'lláh instructed two of His devoted followers, Hájí Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'í and the wife of Hájí 'Abdu'l-Majíd-i-Shírází, to acquaint her in the principles of the Faith and she became aware of the bountiful gifts which God had conferred upon her. [DB191]
• His father was Mírzá Muhammad Ridá. [BW4:234–5; LOG351; SE206; TN4]
• He was a direct heir of the House of Háshim and descended thus from Muhammad and through Him from Abraham. [BW8:874]
• Designations of the Báb include `Abdu'dh-dhikr (Servant of the Remembrance), Bábu'lláh (the Gate of God) and Hadrat-i-A`lá (His Holiness the Most Exalted One). [BBD1, 30, 93]
• For biblical reference see LOG378. See RB1:304 for extracts from Shoghi Effendi re: His station.
• See BBD39, GPB157–8 for a condensed history.
• See Bab32 and TN4 for discussion of the date of His father's death
• See DB28–30. See DB75 for the extent of His schooling. See DB75 n1 for his education.
• Also see Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p15-18.

Passing of Mírzá Muhammad Ridá, the father of the Báb.
• The Báb was placed in the care of His maternal uncle, Hájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí, Khál-i-A`zam (the Most Great Uncle). He was a leading merchant of Shíráz and was the first, after the Letters of the Living, to embrace the new Cause in that city. He was one of the Seven Martyrs of Tihrán. [BBD14]
• In the household was an Ethiopian servant named Mubarak who nurtured and tutored Him throughout His later childhood and adolescence. "the Bab, in fact, places Mubarak on the same plane as his father." [The Ethiopian King by Nader Saiedi translated by Omid Ghaemmaghami Baha'i Studies Review, Volume 17 p181-186] This servant was not, in fact, the Hají Mubarak who later accompanied Him to Mecca.
• According to Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl-i-Gulpáygání, the Báb was still an infant and had not yet been weaned when His father passed away. [DB72]

The end of the reign of Fath-`Alí Sháh and the accession of his grandson, Muhammad Sháh. [B7; BBD83, 164; BBR153, 482]
• Fifty–three sons and 46 daughters survived Fath-`Alí Sháh. [B7]
• After his accession Muhammad Sháh executed the Grand Vizier, the Qá'im Máqám, the man who had raised him to the throne. He then installed his tutor, Hájí Mírzá Áqásí, to the position (1835). During his first year in office Hájí Mírzá Áqásí succeeded in removing most of the supporters of the previous prime minister from power, filling their positions with his own appointees from Máh-Kú. Among those removed from power was Mírzá Buzurg Núrí, Bahá'u'lláh's father. [B10–11]
• See BBD164 for picture.
• See B11–122 for the relationship between the Sháh and his new Grand Vizier, Hájí Mírzá Áqásí.
• For details on the life of Hájí Mírzá Áqásí see BBD19.
• For an example of Hájí Mírzá Áqásí's machinations against Bahá'u'lláh and others see DB120-122.

Hájí Mírzá Áqásí, the former tutor of the Shah became the Prime Minister of Persia. His inexperience in administration and finance combined with entrenched corruption, incompetence and a soaring budget deficit in the government nearly bankrupted the country making it ripe for revolution.
• Seefor a brief history of this man.

One of His first acts as the head of the family was to free the slaves who were engaged in serving the household. All took the liberty to leave but Isfandíyár and one woman elected to remain in service. [SoW Vol IX, April 28, 1918 p38-39, CH41]

The marriage of Siyyid `Alí Muhammad (the Báb) in Shíráz to Khadíjih-Bagum (b. 1821) the daughter of Mirzá 'Ali, a merchant of Shiraz. She had been a childhood friend and sometimes playmate. Their family homes were adjacent. [Bab46; BBD28, 127; BKG402; RB2:382; DoH107; DB76note3]
• See Bab80 for a reproduction of the marriage certificate.
• He returned to live in the House after His marriage. [RoB4429]

Birth of Ahmad, son of the Báb. He passed away shortly after he was born (or was still-born). [Bab46-47; DB76note4; 77; KBWB6-9]
• DB74 for a picture of his resting-place. Also see KBWB7.

The Báb dreamed that He drank a few drops of blood from the wounds of the martyred Imám Husayn. After this dream He felt that the Spirit of God had taken possession of His soul. At this moment He received intimation that He was to be a Manifestation of God. [GPB92; BBRSM14; DB253, HotD23-24]
• Khadíjih Bagum apparently recognized her Husband as the promised Qá'im `sometime before the Báb declared His mission after having seen Him wrapt in prayer during the night. He bade her to keep this knowledge concealed. He entrusted her with a special prayer to be used before she went to sleep, the reading of which would remove her difficulties and lighten the burden of her woes. [DB191–192; HotD27; KBWB9-14; The Genesis of the Bábi-Bahá'í Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs p21-22 by A. Rabbani]
• There are several such prayers among the Bábí and Bahá'í Writings, one of them has become informally known as "the Remover of Difficulties Prayer": There is no evidence that the pray mentioned above was this prayer. Please see The Invocation 'Is There Any Remover of Difficulties Save God...' by Muhammad Afnan and translated by Adib Masumian.
• See as well Joycean Modernism in a Nineteenth- Century Qur'an Commentary? A Comparison of the Bab's Qayyūm al- asmā' with Joyce's Ulysses p113 by Todd Lawson.

Mullá Husayn returned to Karbilá after a journey of two years in Persia. He had been on a mission in Isfahán and Mashhad where he had successfully defended the views of his master, Siyyid Kázim, before the leading clerics of those cities. [MH49]
• Mulla Husayn, as the leading representative of the Siyyid's disciples, received mourners for three days in Karbilá. [DB47]
• After a period of mourning and 40 days of prayer and fasting, Mulla Husayn in the company of his brother and his nephew, set out for Najaf where he visited the shrine and then proceeded to Persia following the last wishes of Siyyid Kázim that his followers quit Karbalá and search for the Promised One. The party went to Búshihr and then on to Shíráz. [MH50–55, HotD28; DB51]
• See SI dust-jacket for a photo of the Shrine of Imam 'Ali.

Declaration of the Báb's Mission

Two hours and eleven minutes after sunset Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad made His declaration to Mullá Husayn-i-Bushrú'í in the upper room of His House. [DB52-65]

"I am, I am, I am, the promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and to pledge allegiance to My person." [DB315-316]

• See SI231 for information on the anticipated return of the Hidden Imam. See BBR2pg42-3 and DB57 for a list of signs by which the Promised One would be known.
• See BW5p600-4 for a brief biography of William Miller the founder of the Adventist sect who, after intense study of the Bible, had predicted the return of Christ on March 21, 1844. See BW5p604 for mention of other Christians who made similar predictions.
• See DB383 and BBR2pg25 for information on Mulla Husayn-i-Bushru'i. See CoB110 for the significance of the first believer.
• See SBBH1:14 for a possible explanation for Mullá Husayn's presence in Shíráz at this time.
• Nabíl-i-A`zam relates that Mullá Husayn was welcomed at the Báb's mansion by Mubárak, His Ethiopian servant. Others resident in this house at the time were Fiddih (f), responsible for the preparation of the food and the mother of Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad, Zahrá Bagum. [DB53; KBWB5]
• For more information about Mubarack see Black Pearls: Servants in the Household of the Bab and Baha'U'Llah p21-22.
• He revealed the first chapter of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá' (the Commentary on the Súrih of Joseph. The entire text would later be translated from the original Arabic by Táhirih. [B19–21; BBD190–1; BBRSM14–15; BKG28; BW12:85–8; BWMF16; DB52–65, 264, 216, BBR2pg14-15, GPB23, 73; MH56–71; SBBH17, HotD30]
  • Bahá'u'lláh has described this book as being `the first, the greatest, and mightiest of all books' in the Bábí Dispensation. [GPB23]
  • See SBBH5pg1 for discussion on the Qayyumu'l-Asma'.
  • This text was the most widely circulated of all the Báb's writings and came to be regarded as the Bábí Qur'an for almost the entirety of His mission. [BBRSM32]
  • Images of the Qayyum al-asma' ('Maintainer of the names') can be see at the website of the British Library, Discovering Sacred Texts.
• This date marks the end of the Adamic Cycle of approximately six thousand years and the beginning of the Bahá'í Cycle or Cycle of Fulfilment. [BBD9, 35, 72; GPB100] Shoghi Effendi is quoted as saying that this is the second most important anniversary on the Bahá'í calendar. [ZK320]
• The beginning of the Apostolic, Heroic or Primitive Age. [BBD35, 67]
• See MH86–7 for an explanation of the implication of the word `Báb' to the Shí'í Muslims.
• Three stages of the Báb's Revelation:
  1. He chose the title `Báb' and Mullá Husayn was given the title Bábu'l-Báb (the gate of the Gate).
  2. In the second year of the Revelation (from His confinement in the house of His uncle in Shíráz) He took the title of Siyyid-i-dhikr (dhikr means `remembrance of God') and gave the title `Báb' to Mullá Husayn. At Fort Tabarsí Mullá Husayn was called `Jináb-i Báb' by his companions.
  3. At His public declaration the Báb declared Himself to be the promised Qá'im. [MH87–8]

The birth of `Abdu'l-Bahá in a rented house near the Shimrán Gate in Tihrán. He was born at midnight. [AB9, SoG3-4]
• He was known as `Abbás Effendi outside the Bahá'í community.
• Bahá'u'lláh gave Him the titles Ghusn-i-A`zam (the Most Great Branch), Sirru'lláh (Mystery of God) and Áqá (the Master). [BBD2, 19, 87, 89]
• Sarkár-i-Áqá (the Honourable Master) was a title of `Abdu'l-Bahá. [BBD201]
• He Himself chose the title `Abdu'l-Bahá (Servant of Bahá) after the passing of Bahá'u'lláh. [BBD2]

Forty days after the Declaration of the Báb, the second Letter of the Living, Mullá `Alíy-i-Bastámí, had a vision that led him to Mullá Husayn and he accepted the Báb. It is said that he became a believer upon hear one word from the Báb.
During this period of waiting for the second person to recognize the Báb, He called Mulla Husayn to His house several times. He always came at night and stayed until dawn. [HotD41; Bahá'í Encyclopedia].
• Sixteen others recognized Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad as the Promised One. The 18 were later designated `Letters of the Living'. [BBD138, B21–7; DB63–71, 80–2; MH73–81, MH121, SBBH1:16–17, GPB7-8]
• See RB2:145–6 for the fate of the Letters of the Living.
• See Bab26–7, BBD138, DB80–1, MH81 ; Letters of the Living (Hurúf-i-Hayy) for a list of the Letters of the Living.
• See BBRSM24–5 for more on the Letters of the Living.
• See BBRSM24–5 for a discussion of the special places occupied by Quddús, Mullá Husayn and Táhirih. See DB81-82 for the story of how Tahirih was recognized as a Letter of the Living by the Báb.
• The Báb was the 19th Letter of the Living. [LW5.2]

The intention of the Báb was to introduce the new Revelation slowly so as not to cause estrangement. He instructed the Letters of the Living to spread out and teach His Faith and to this end He assigned each one a special task, most often to their own native provinces. This is analogous to Christ's instructions to His disciples. He instructed them to record the name of every believer who embraced the Faith and to send their lists to His uncle, Hájí Mírzá 'Alí in Shíráz in a sealed envelope. His intention was to classify these lists once received into 18 sets of names with 19 names each (one Vahid meaning "Unity"). A list with the names of 18 Letters of the Living plus His own name would constitute the 19th set making one Kull-i-Shay (meaning "all things" with a value of 361). Thus fourteen Letters of the Living were dispatched; only Mullá Husayn and Quddús remained with Him. [BBRSM14–16, 36; SWB119; BBR2p36; DB92–4, 123; MH82–6; SBBH1:19]
• To Mullá Husayn He had given the task of delivering a Tablet to Bahá'u'lláh in Tihrán and going to the court of the Sháh to apprise him of the Báb's cause. Mullá Husayn was not able to gain access to the Sháh. [B48–57; BBRSM15 BKG32–3; CH22–3; DB85-87, 96, 97; MH90–2, 102] He was also directed to send Him a written report on the nature and progress of his activities in Isfáhán, Tehran and in Khurásán. Not until He received this letter from Khurásán would He depart on pilgrimage. [DB123]
• Mullá Husayn carried a Tablet revealed by the Báb for Muhammad Sháh to Tihrán . This was the first of a number of unsuccessful attempts to make him aware of the Revelation. [BBRSM20–1; MH102; SWB13]
• Note: MH118-119 and DB127-128 indicate that Mullá Husayn had been in Tehran "between the months of Jámádí and Rajab". The first day of Jámádí, 1260 corresponds to 18 June, and the last day of Rajab to 15 August, 1844.
• See RB2:303, `The Báb … sent Tablets to only two monarchs of His day — Muhammad Sháh of Persia and Sultán `Abdu'l-Majíd of Turkey.'
• From Shiraz Mullá Husayn journeyed north to Isfahán where his message was rejected by the 'ulamás. Mullá Ja'far, the sifter of wheat, was the first and only one to embrace the Cause of the Báb in that city. There was however, a disciple of Siyyid Kazim, Mírzá Muhammad-'Alíy-i-Nahrí, who had been instructed to go to Isfahan some five years earlier to prepare the way for the advent of the new Revelation, who was receptive to the message of Mulla Husayn. He was instructed to go to Kirmán and acquaint Hájí Mírzá Karím Khán with the Message and then to travel to Shiraz. (This man's daughter was subsequently joined in wedlock with 'Abdu'l-Bahá.)[DB100]
• Mullá Husayn then traveled to Káshán, about 130 miles from Isfahán. He had great success in that city but news of his conversion brought the wrath of the official clergy down upon him. [DB101note1; DB123-125]
• He then went to Qum, another 100 miles from Káshán where he met with no success. After Qum he went to Tihrán. [MH98–101, DB101]
• In Tihrán he took residence in a madrisih and first met with the leader of the shaykhí community, Hájí Mírzá Muhammad, but he failed to win him over. He did, however, manage to convince a number of souls in private conversations. [DB103note1] This same reference seems to indicate that his well-wishers assisted in delivering the Tablet to Muhammad Sháh and his minister, Hájí Mírzá Àqásí but they did not receive it. " the book was not submitted to thy presence, through the intervention of such as regard themselves the well-wishers of the government." [Selections from the Writings of the Báb page 13]
• See Bab53–6; DB104–7, MH104–110 for the delivery of the Báb's Tablet to Bahá'u'lláh by the young student, Mullá Huhammad-i-Mu'allim, a native of Núr. Mullá Husayn did not meet Bahá'u'lláh on this occasion.
• On receiving the Tablet of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh accepted His Cause and asked that a gift of a loaf of Russian sugar and a package of tea be given to Mulla Husayn for delivery to the Báb. [DB106-107] See DB123-125 for his activities in Khán.
• Mullá Husayn left for Khurásán, as he had been instructed, winning supporters for the Báb's Cause while there he wrote to the Báb regarding these new believers and Bahá'u'lláh's immediate response to the Báb's Revelation. [Bab56, DB128–9, MH118]
• After Khurásán he travelled to Najaf and Karbilá where he was to wait for further instructions from the Báb. [DB86]
• See MH121–2 for a discussion of the speed of Mullá Husayn's journey before the letter was dispatched to the Báb. It assumes that Mullá Husayn departed after the Báb met with all the Letters of the Living (date not before 2 July, 1844.) In fact both Mullá Husayn and Mullá 'Alíy-Bastámí had been dispatched before this meeting. [DB85-86, 92, HotD46]

The Báb received the letter from Mullá Husayn giving Him details of his journey and meeting with Bahá'u'lláh and others he had contacted. See DB126-128 for information on the letter and the affect it had on the Báb.
• Nabíl indicated that the Báb received the letter on 9 October (26 Ramadan) and that it was a deciding factor in His decision to undertake the pilgrimage. [DB126–7, 129]
• Balyuzi says soon after the Báb received the letter, `in the month of September' He left Shíráz'. [Bab57]
• GPB8-9 says He received the letter in the month of Sha'bán, 1260 (16 August to 13 September, 1844).
• See MH119 where the author speculates that if the letter arrived on 16 Ramadan (29 September) and the Báb departed from the port of Búshihr on the 19th of Ramadan (2 October, 1844), He had to have been in Búshihr when He received the letter. IIII

Pigrimage of the Báb

The Báb, Quddús (Hájí Mullá Muhammad-`Alíy-i-Barfurúshí) and the Báb's Ethiopian servant, Mubarak, left Shíráz for Búshihr en route to Mecca. The journey took ten days. [Bab57; DB129; MH119]
• DB129 says He left Shíráz during the month of Shavvál, 1260 (14 October to 11 November, 1844).
• SBBH1 xxviii shows the departure date as 12 November, 1844.
• Balyuzi, Bab57 says "in the month of September.
• The Genesis of the Bábi-Bahá'í Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs p35 by A. Rabbani says He left port on the 2nd of October.

The Báb returned to Búshihr. He sent Quddús to Shíráz with a letter addressed to His uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí who, upon receiving it, embraced his Nephew's Cause, the first, after the Letters of the Living, to do so in Shíráz. The Báb also entrusted Quddús with a treatise for him entitled Khasá'il-i-Sab`ih (`the Seven Qualifications') and promised him his impending martyrdom. Later he gave his life as one of the Seven Martyrs of Tehran, see 1850 19 or 20 Feb. [Bab77–8; DB142–3; MS2, GPB9-10; provisional translation.]
• To the departing Quddus He promised intense suffering in Shíráz and eventual martyrdom. [DB142-143]
• Bab77 and GPB10 say the Báb arrived in Búshihr in February - March.
• SSBH1p23 and BBRSM216 say 15 May, 1845.
• Before leaving on pilgrimage the Báb had stated that He would return to Karbalá and asked His followers to congregate there. An explanation in part for the large following that had gathered there is the messianic expectation associated with the year 1261, a thousand years after the Twelfth Imám's disappearance in 260 A.H.. This gathering was perceived as a threat by the authorities. [BBRSM15, 45, 216; DB157–8; SBBH1p23, 32]
• The Báb changed His plan to meet His followers in Karbalá and instructed them to go to Isfahán instead. A number abandon Him, regarding this as badá', `alteration of divine will'. [BBRSM16; DB158; MH125; SBBH23]
• Some speculate that He did not go to Karbalá to avoid conflict and sedition. Many Bábís had gone to Karbalá armed in preparation for holy war, `jihád'. [BBRSM21–2; SBBH1:23]

Prince Dolgorukov was appointed Russian ambassador to Tihrán. He was previously first secretary of the Russian legation at Constantinople. He arrived in Tihrán in January 1846.
• See Conspiracies and Forgeries: The Attack upon the Bahá'í Community in Iran by Moojan Momen where it says "Prince Dolgoruki....was Russian Minister in Tehran from 1845 to 1854".

At Dálakí, some 40 miles northeast of the Búshíhr, the Báb met the soldiers of the governor of Fárs who had been sent to arrest Him. He was escorted to Shíráz. [Bab84, 105; BBR170; BBRSM216; DB148–9; GPB11; TN6, SBBH1pxxv111; The Genesis of the Bábi-Bahá'í Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs p35-36 by A. Rabbani]
• DB150 says the Báb travelled `free and unfettered', `before His escort'.
• BBRSM16 implies the Báb returned to Shíráz by Himself in July and that He was placed under house arrest upon arrival.

The Báb arrived in Shíráz.
• Note: Other estimates for the time of His arrival in Shíráz are from about the 8th to 16th of August based on the fact that Husayn Khán ordered His arrest after the beating of Mullá Sádiq and Quddús. "According to A. L. M. Nicolas' "Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad dit le Báb" (footnote 175, p. 225), this meeting took place on August 6, 1845 A.D." [DB146n2]
• Bab105 says it must have taken the Báb another week at least to reach Shíráz;
• SBBH1:24 says He arrived in Shíráz in early July.
• Upon arrival in Shíráz the Báb was taken to the governor who publicly interrogated Him, rebuked Him and ordered his attendant to strike Him across the face. He was struck such a violent blow that His turban fell to the ground. Due to the intervention of Shay Abú-Turáb, the head ímam of the region He was released into the custody of His maternal uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí. [Bab85–9; BBRSM216; DB150–1; GPB11]
• Note: DB155 states that after He was released and "regained His home" He was able to celebrate Naw-Rúz that fell on 10 Rabí'u'l-Avval, 1261 (19 March, 1945). This is an error. GPB11 says He was able to "celebrate the Naw-Rúz of that and the succeeding year in an atmosphere of relative tranquillity in the company of His mother, His wife and His uncle.'' This too appears to be in error. If He left Shíráz in September of 1846 He would not have been present In March of 1847.
• Three of the divines of Shíráz passed a verdict of death upon The Báb. But for the intercession of Zahrá Bagum, the sister of the wife of The Báb, Khadíjih-Bagum, the mother of The Báb, Fátimih Bagum, with Shay Abú-Turáb, the Imám-Jum'ih of Shíráz, the Báb would have been executed. [LTDT12]

The Báb was released to the custody of His uncle, Hájí Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí. [DB151, LTDT13]
• Báb was asked by Mírzá Abu'l-Qásim to attend a Friday gathering at the Mosque of Vakíl to appease the hostility and the curiosity of some of the residents of Shíráz and to clarify His position. The exact date of His attendance is unknown. He made a public pronouncement that He was neither the representative of the Hidden Imám nor the gate to him, that is, His station was higher. Many of those who witnessed His address became partisans. [Bab94–8; DB153–157]
• see DB152 for pictures of the above mosque.
• This time has been described by Shoghi Effendi as the `most fecund period' of the Báb's ministry. It marks the birth of the Bábí community. [Bab89–90]
• During this time He was asked to speak in mosques and in colleges and He addressed gatherings in His home. The clergy sent their most able mullas to refute and humiliate Him without success. He never attacked the government or Islam but rather called out the corrupt clergy and the abuses of all classes of society. His fame and acceptance among the population grew. [DB157note1]
• A considerable number of the Báb's followers had congregated in Isfahan at His instruction when He informed them He would not go to Karbilá when He returned from Mecca as He had previously stated. Upon hearing the news of the confinement of the Báb, Mullá Husayn and his companions, his brother and nephew, left Isfahán where they have been awaiting further instructions. They travelled to Shíráz in disguise. Mullá Husayn was able to meet secretly with the Báb several times in the house of His uncle. The Báb sent word to the remainder of His followers in Isfahán to leave and to travel to Shíráz in small, inconspicuous numbers. Among those gathered were some who were jealous of Múllá Husayn and the attention he received from the Báb. They threw their lot in with the detractors and were eventually expelled from the city for the unrest they caused. [DB160-162; Bab102–3; MH128–9]
• After a time the presence of Mullá Husayn in Shíráz threatened to cause civil unrest. The Báb instructed him to go to Khurásán via Yazd and Kirmán and told the rest of the companions to return to Isfahán. He retained Mullá 'Abdu'l-Karím to transcribe His Writings. [Bab90, 102–3; DB170; MH130]
• The Sháh sent one of the most learned men in Persia, Siyyid Yahyáy-i-Dárábí, (a town near Nayriz) surnamed Vahíd, (the peerless one) to investigate the claims of the Báb. He became an adherent of the Cause of the Báb. To him He revealed some 2,000 verses at one sitting of five hours and among them a commentary on the Surih of Kawthar. Vahíd and 'Abdu'l-Karím spent three days and three nights transcribing this Tablet. Siyyid Yahyáy-i-Dárábí wrote to the Sháh and resigned his post. On the instructions of the Báb he journeyed home to acquaint his father with the new Message. As a result of his conversion most of the inhabitants of the town of Nayríz later became Bábís. [Bab90–4; BBD216; BBRSM41; CH21; DB171–7; GPB11–12; TN7–8; DB171-172note 2; Tablet of Patience (Surih Sabr): Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh and Selected Topics by Foad Seddigh p370; RoB1p325-331] iiiii
  • See as well Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p34-37.
• Another learned scholar, Muhammad-`Alíy-i-Zanjání, surnamed Hujjat, became a believer after reading only one page of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá'. Several thousand of his fellow townspeople in Zanján became Bábís. [Bab100–2; BBD111; BBRSM16; GPB12; DB177-179]
• Mírzá Ahmad-i-Azghandí, yet another learned man, who had compiled traditions and prophecies concerning the expected Revelation, became a believer as well. [GPB12–13]

The Times of London carried an item on the arrest and torture of Quddús, Mullá Sádiq-i-Khurásání, Mullá `Alí-Akbar-i-Ardistání and Mullá Abú-Tálib in Shíráz in June. This was the first known printed reference to the Revelation in the Western press. A similar article was reprinted on 19 November. [First newspaper story of the events of the Bábí Faith compiled by Steven Kolins; B76–7; BBR4, 69]
• See It was in the news.... In this blog by SMK, he has provided an extensive list of English newspaper articles on the persecution of the Báb and the Bábís in 1845 and 1846.

The birth of Bahíyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf, eldest daughter of Bahá'u'lláh and Navváb, and sister of `Abdu'l-Bahá, in Tihrán. She was later designated by Shoghi Effendi `the outstanding heroine of the Bahá'í Dispensation'. [BBD42; GPB108]
• For a description of her nature see BK42–3.
• See The Utterance Project by Violetta Zein.

The Báb bequeathed all His possessions to His mother and His wife and revealed a special prayer for His wife to help her in times of sorrow. He told His wife of His impending martyrdom. He moved to the house of His uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí. He told the Bábís in Shíráz to go to Isfahán. [GPB14; KB21–2; TB103–5, LTDT13; DB190-192]
• See KBWB.

Quddús met Mullá Sádiq-i-Muqaddas in Shíráz to whom he entrusted a copy of Khasá'il-i-Sab`ih (`the Seven Qualifications'). Following instructions received in a Tablet from the Báb, Mullá Sádiq sounded the call to prayer using the additional words provided by the Báb. This, along with their teaching of the Cause, provoked a public commotion. [Bab78; DB144-145; BBRSM16]
• The governor of Fárs, Husayn Khán Nizámu'd-Dawlih, had Quddús, Mullá Sádiq-i-Khurásání, Mullá `Alí-Akbar-i-Ardistání and Mullá Abú-Tálib arrested, tortured and expelled from Shíráz. [Bab78; BBR69; BW18:380; DB145–148; GPB11, BBR1pxxviii]
• The governor's punishment was particularly cruel. He commanded that the beards of both Quddús and Mullá Sádiq be burned, their noses pierced and that a cord should be passed which and used to led them through the city. The men were then beaten. Mullá Sádiq was a frail man of about 50 years but in spite of this took some 900 strokes and still remained calm and serene. When questioned later he said the first seven lashes were severely painful but then he became indifferent to the rest. It was as though the strokes were not being applied to his own body. [DB146-148]
• The London Times of November 1st and November 19, 1845 reported that this took place on the 23rd of June. As far as can be determined, this is the first reporting of the Bábi Faith in the West. The story would have been picked up by other Western newspapers and publications and given extensive coverage. [Bab76, BBR1p69, 82]
• Note: Bab78 says that Mullá Abú-Tálib was not among the group. DB145 says that only Mulla Husayn and Mulla Sádiq were arrested.
• Note: DB146 note2 says "According to A. L. M. Nicolas' "Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad dit le Báb" (footnote 175, p. 225), this meeting took place on August 6, 1845 A.D."
• Upon departing Shíráz Quddús made his way to Kirmán to interview Hájí Mírzá Karím Khán. The ambitious and seditious Karím Khán remained unconvinced buy Quddús had earned an ally in his host during his stay in Kirmán, Hájí Siyyid Javád, someone he had known from his day in Karbilá. From Kirmán Quddús travelled to Yazd and then to Ardikán, Náyin, Ardistán, Isfáhán, Káshán, Qum and to Tihrán. There he met with Bahá'u'lláh and after which proceeded to Mázindarán and to his native town of Bárfurúsh where he lived in the home of his father for two years. [DB180-183]
• Mullá Sádiq travelled to Yazd with the intention of spreading news of the Cause among the 'ulamás of that province. There they encountered opposition from Hájí Mírzá Karím Khán. [DB180, 183-187]
• Mullá Sádiq and Mullá Yúsuf-i-Ardibílí moved on to Kirmán where they received the same treatment then they travelled to Khurásán {DB187-188]

Up to this point the Báb had not been critical of the civil government but considering that His denunciations of the intellectually dishonest and plundering clergy were so unrelenting, could they expect to escape His scrutiny? The governor, Husayn Khán, was thus threatened by the Báb's rising popularity and ordered His arrest. The chief constable, `Abdu'l-Hamíd Khán, took the Báb into custody and escorted Him to the governor's home but found it abandoned. He took the Báb to his own home where he learned that a cholera epidemic had swept the city and that his sons have been stricken. At the chief constable's insistence the Báb cured the boys by requesting they drink some of the water with which He had washed His own face. `Abdu'l-Hamíd resigned his post and begged the governor to release the Báb who agreed on condition the Báb leave Shíráz. The incident proved to be Husayn Khán's undoing: the Sháh dismissed him from office shortly after. [B104–5; BBRSM55; DB194–7; DB194note1; GPB13; TN9]
• This cholera outbreak was evidently a sign of the coming Manifestation. The outbreak raged for four years. [DB196note2)
• See BBR170–1 and DB197 for the fate of Husayn Khán who was immediately dismissed by the Sháh.
• DB196–7 says `Abdu'l-Hamíd Khán had only one ill son.
• DB195Note1 gives this date as 1845. If this were the case how could the Báb have celebrated "The second Naw-Rúz after the declaration..." [DB190] MBBA165n237 says that it took place on the 10th of September 1846 and that He was in His own house at the time.

The Báb departed for Isfahán after a sojourn in Shíráz of less than 15 months. [B105–6; BBRSM216; BW18:380; TN9, SBBR1pxxviii]
• TN9 says that the Báb left Shíráz `the morning after' the night He saved the children from cholera.
• Bab105 says he left `in the last days of September.

On His approach to Isfahan the Báb wrote to Manúchihr Khán, the governor-general of Isfahán, and asked him where He should take shelter. The governor requested that Siyyid Muhammad, the Imám-Jum`ih of Isfahán, accommodate Him. During His stay of 40 days the Báb impressed His host as well as many of the clerics. [Bab109–10, 13; DB199–202, 208]
• See Bab108–9 for information on Manúchihr Khán.
• It was during His six-month stay in Isfahán that the Báb took a second wife, Fátimih, the sister of a Bábí from that city. She was the sister of Mulla Rajab-`Alí Isfahání. [RB1:249]
  • She became the 6th wife of Mírzá Yahyá in 1854 - 1856. He married her in Baghdad during Bahá'u'lláh's absence in Sulaymaniyah, and divorced her about a month later, giving her in marriage to Sayyid Muhammad Isfahani. [The Cyprus Exiles by Moojan Momen] iiiii
• See Light of the World: Selected Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Section 28 para 6 for information on this and additional marriages of Mírzá Yahyá while in Baghdad.

The governor offered all of his resources to try to win the Sháh over to His Cause but the Báb declined his offer saying that the Cause will triumph through the `poor and lowly'. [Bab115–16; DB212–213]

The passing of Manúchihr Khán. His death had been predicted by the Báb 87 days earlier. The governor had made the Báb the beneficiary of his vast holdings, estimated to be 40 million francs, but his nephew Gurgín Khán appropriated everything after his death. [Bab116; DB212Note1, 213–214]
• Before the death of Manúchihr Khán the Báb instructed His followers to disperse throughout Káshán, Qum and Tihrán. [B115; DB213–14] Gurgín Khán, in his role as the new governor, informed the Sháh that the Báb wss in Isfahán and had been sheltered by Manúchihr Khán. The Sháh ordered that the Báb be taken to Tihrán incognito. The Báb, escorted by Nusayrí horsemen, set out for Tihrán soon after midnight. [Bab116, 118; DB215–116; TN11]

En route to Tihrán Hájí Mírzá Áqásí instructed the Báb to break His journey by stopping in the village of Káshán some 50km (31 miles) from the capital. He spent three nights in the home of Hájí Mírzá Jání, a noted resident of that city who had realized in a dream that the Báb would be his guest. After some time the Báb wrote to the Sháh requesting a meeting. Hájí Mírzá Áqási, determined that the meeting not take place, instilled fear in the sovereign and persuaded him that the best plan would be to send him to Máh-Kú. [Bab118; DB8, 217–22]
• In Kashan at this time and a friend of Hájí Mírzá Jání, was Ahmad-i-Yazdi, the recipient of the famous Tablet from Bahá'u'lláh in 1865. He had the opportunity to spend a few hours with the Báb. [C3mTp13]
• The Faith grew rapidly after the visit of the Báb and with it the persecution from the local authorities and from the clergy. Homes and businesses were looted and a number of followers were killed. To avoid detection Ahmad hid in a wind ventilator (a "badgir") for 40 days and nights. He was secretly fed by friends. [C3mTp13]

Táhirih's activities in Iraq so alarm some Bábís of Kázimayn that they agitated against her. Siyyid `Alí Bishr wrote to the Báb in Máh-Kú on their behalf. The Báb replied praising Táhirih, causing the Kázimayn Bábís to withdraw from the Faith. [Bab163]
• Among those Táhirih met in Baghdád was Hakím Masíh, a Jewish doctor who years later becomes the first Bahá'í of Jewish background. [Bab165]
• Táhirih was sent back to Persia by Najíb Páshá. She was accompanied by a number of Bábís; they made a number of stops along the way, enrolling supporters for the Cause of the Báb. [Bab163–4; BBRSM216]
• Ma'ani says Táhirih left Baghdád early in 1847.
• In Kirand 1,200 people are reported to have volunteered to follow her. [Bab164 DB272; TN20]
• B164 says the number is 12,000; DB272 says it was 1,200.
• In Kirmánsháh she was respectfully received by the `ulamá. [Bab164; DB272]
• Táhirih arrived in Hamadán. Her father had sent her brothers here to persuade her to return to her native city of Qazvín. She agreed on condition that she may remain in Hamadán long enough to tell people about the Báb. [Bab165; DB273]
• MF180 says Táhirih remained in Hamadán for two months.

One night the Báb disappeared and was found the next morning on the road coming from the direction of Tihrán. A look of confidence had settled on Him and His words have a new power. [B120–1; DB228–9]
• Had He and Bahá'u'lláh met secretly? See SLH51 para96.
• Also see Indications in the Writings and Historical Records Relative to the Question Whether Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb Met from the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. Also published in 'Andalib Magazine, vol. V, no. 17, pp. 20-21.
• See DB461 where it is recorded that Bahá'u'lláh told the leading mullá in Amul that He had never met the Báb face-to-face.
• 'Abdu'l-Bahá stated that They did not meet. [Bahá'í Org website]

The Báb sent a letter to the Sháh requesting an audience. [B121; DB229; TN11]

Some accounts maintain that the prime minister intervened in the correspondence between the Báb and the Sháh. En route to Tabríz the Báb wrote to various people, including the Grand Vizier, the father and uncle of Táhirih, and Hájí Sulaymán Khán. Hujjat learned of this last letter and sent a message to the Bábís of Zanján to rescue the Báb. The Báb declined their assistance. [Bab124–5; DB235–6]

• See B126 for an account of the Báb's demonstration to His guards that He could have escaped had He so wished.

Birth of Fátimih (Munírih) Khánum, wife of `Abdu'l-Bahá, in Isfahán.
• Daughter of Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí. [DB208]
• See MKML2-14 and DB208-209 for the story of her family and her conception.
• See MH96 for information on Munírih, future wife of `Abdu'l-Bahá.
• See CH84 for her account of a dream she had as a young child.
• She was first cousin to the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs. [CH86]
• See MKML22-24 for the story of her first marriage to the younger brother of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs.
• See MKML26-44 for the story of her trip from Iran to Mecca and then to the Holy Land in the company of Shaykh Salman.

The Báb arrived in Tabríz en route to Máh-Kú and was handed over to the officials of Nasir al-Din Mirza, to be imprisoned for forty days in the citadel of Tabriz, called the Ark. [BBR76; Connections by Vincent Flannery] He was well received by the general populace. He spent His time in seclusion, being allowed only two visitors. [Bab127–8; DB237–40; GPB18; TN12]
• "A tumultuous concourse of people had gathered to witness His entry into the city … desirous of ascertaining the veracity of the wild reports that were current about Him … the acclamations of the multitude resounded on every side… Such was the clamour that a crier was ordered to warn the population of the danger that awaited those who ventured to seek His presence?" [DB237]

The Báb in Máh-Kú

The Báb arrived at the prison fortress of Máh-Kú (the Open Mountain). [Bab128; BW18:380]
• See Bab128, BBD142 and DB243–4 for descriptions of Máh-Kú, its environs, fortress and inhabitants.
• See Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p51-53.

The people of Máh-Kú show markeded hostility to the Báb on His arrival. Later they were won over by His gentle manners and His love. They congregated at the foot of the mountain hoping to catch a glimpse of Him. [Bab129; DB244–5]

At the beginning of the Báb's incarceration the warden `Alí Khán kept the Báb strictly confined and allowed no visitors. He had a vision of the Báb engaged in prayer outside of the prison gates, knowing that the Báb is inside. He became humble and permitted the Bábís to visit the Báb. [Bab129–31; DB245–8]

The winter the Báb spent in Máh-Kú was exceptionally cold. [DB252]

Many of the Báb's writings were revealed in this period. [GPB24–5]

• It was probably at this time that He addressed all the divines in Persia and Najaf and Karbalá, detailing the errors committed by each one of them. [GPB24]
• He revealed nine commentaries on the whole of the Qur'an, the fate of which is unknown. [DB31; GPB24]
• He revealed the "Mother Book" of the Bábí Revelation, the Persian Bayán, containing the laws and precepts of the new Revelation in some 8,000 verses. It is primarily a eulogy of the Promised One. [BBD44–5; BBRSM32; BW12:91 GPB24–5; ESW165; SWB102, 159] It is possible that the latter part of the Persian Bayán was revealed while He was confined in Chihríq.
• The Báb began the composition of the `smaller and less weighty' Arabic Bayán. [Bab132; BBD45; GPB25]
• He stated in the Bayán that, to date, He had revealed some 500,000 verses, 100,000 of which had been circulated. [BBRSM32, GPB22]
• In the Dalá'il-i-Sab'ih (Seven Proofs) the Báb assigned blame to the seven powerful sovereigns then ruling the world and censured the conduct of the Christian divines who, had they recognized Muhammad, would have been followed by the greater part of their co-religionists. [BBD63; BW12:96; GPB26]
• The Báb wrote His `most detailed and illuminating' Tablet to Muhammad Sháh. [GPB26]

Upon arriving in Qazvín, Táhirih refused her estranged husband's attempts at reconciliation and lived with her father. Her father-in-law Hájí Mullá Taqí, felt insulted and denounced the Shaykhís and Bábís. [B166; DB2736]

The murder of Hájí Mullá Muhammad Taqí, the powerful uncle of Táhirih, by Mullá `Abdu'lláh of Shíráz. [B166; BBRSM216; DB276–8]
• BBRSM22 says the murder took place towards the end of October.
• Mullá `Abdu'lláh indicated that he was `never a convinced Bábí'. [DB276]

Bahá'u'lláh, who was living in Tihrán, visited the detainees from Qazvin and gave them money. [BKG41; DB278–9; GPB68]
• Mullá `Abdu'lláh confessed to the murder of Hájí Mullá Muhammad Taqí and was helped to escape. [BKG41–2; DB278]
• See BKG42 for why Bahá'u'lláh was thought to have engineered his escape. Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned for a few days for having assisted in Mullá `Abdu'lláh's escape.
• This was Bahá'u'lláh's first imprisonment. [BKG41; BW18:380; DB585]
• Shaykh Salib-i-Karímí, one of the imprisoned Bábís, was publicly executed in Tihrán.
• He was the first to suffer martyrdom on Persian soil. His remains were interred in the courtyard of the shrine of the Imám-Zádih Zayd in Tihrán. [B166; BW18:380; DB280]
• The remaining captives were returned to Qazvín. Hájí Asadu'lláh-i-Farhádí was secretly put to death in prison. Mullá Táhir-i-Shírází and Mullá Ibrahím-i-Maballátí were also put to death. [B166; BW18:380; DB280–3]
• DB280–3 says `the rest of' the detainees were put to death by the relatives of Hájí Mullá Muhammad Taqí.

The birth of Mírzá Mihdí, `the Purest Branch', the son of Bahá'u'lláh and His wife Ásíyih Khánum (Navváb) in the family's rented house near the Shemiran Gate (Darvázih Shimrán) in northern Tehran. [BBD155]
• He was named after Mihdí, Bahá'u'lláh's elder full brother, who was dear to Him and who had recently died. In later years Bahá'u'lláh gave Mírzá Mihdí the title "the Purest Branch."
• In January of 1853 Bahá'u'lláh and His family left Tehran on the first stage of their exile. Mírzá Mihdí, who was unwell at the time and unfit to undertake three months of hard travel across the Iranian Plateau and the Zagros Mountains in severe winter weather, had to be left behind in the care of relatives. The Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, which has no definitive information on the topic, suggests that it is possible that more than one relative may have cared for Mírzá Mihdí over the seven years before he rejoined his parents in Baghdad. RoL165 says that he was left with his maternal grandmother, CH45 says it was his maternal great-grandmother, BKG13 says it was his paternal aunt, Hadrat-i-Ukht, identified as Sárih Khánum.
• He was reunited with his parents in 1860 after Bahá'u'lláh's return from the mountains of Sulaymaniyah and the family remained in Baghdad for another three years, until April 1863.
• Mírzá Mihdí accompanied Bahá'u'lláh in His successive exiles to Istanbul, Edirne, and, finally, to Akka.
• Despite his youth, Mírzá Mihdí was accustomed to hardship and was recognized as "a pillar of strength" among the exiles during the difficult period after their departure from Baghdad. He resembled 'Abdu'l-Bahá in appearance and character and was noted for his piety, gentleness, dignity, courtesy, and patience. Throughout his brief adult life, Mírzá Mihdí was Bahá'u'lláh's companion and served as one of His secretaries, recording the sacred tablets that He revealed. Many such manuscripts in Mírzá Mihdí's excellent handwriting are extant." [Bahá'í Encyclopedia]
• See also Mírzá Mihdí: The Purest Branch by Boris Handal published by George Ronald Publisher, 2017
• See 22 June 1870 and 23 June 1870

Bahá'u'lláh planed Táhirih's escape, giving the task to Mírzá Hádíy-i-Farhádí, the nephew of Hájí Asadu'lláh-i-Farhádí. Táhirih was rescued and escorted from Qazvín to Bahá'u'lláh's home in Tihrán. [B167; BKG42; DB284–5; MF199]
• While she was in Bahá'u'lláh's home she was visited by Vahíd and challenged him by saying `Let deeds, not words, be our adorning!' [DB285; MF200]
• After a few days Bahá'u'lláh sent Táhirih to a place of safety before sending her on to Khurásán. [DB286–7; GPB68]
• Note: Ma'ani says this was the house of Mírzá Áqá Khán-i Núrí, who was then living in Káshán as an exile. His sister acted as Táhirih's hostess until she left for Badasht.

Mullá Husayn and his companion, walking from Mashhad, arrived at Máh-Kú on the eve of Naw-Rúz. The Báb met them at the gate and together they celebrated Naw-Rúz, the fourth after the declaration of the Báb. Mullá Husayn stayed the night at the fortress. He remained with the Báb for nine days. [Bab131; DB257, 262; MH138, 143]
• MH137 says Mullá Husayn arrived in Tabríz on 21 March.
• See DB255–7 for story of the dream of `Alí Khán, the prison warden, preceding the arrival of Mullá Husayn at Máh-Kú. From this time on the pilgrims were allowed unrestricted access to the Báb. [DB258]
• The warden requested that the Báb marry his daughter. [DB259; MH143]

Mullá Husayn departed for Mázindarán, setting out on foot as the Báb has directed. [DB260; MH144]
• The Báb told him to visit the Bábís in Khuy, Urúmíyyih, Marághih, Mílán, Tabríz, Zanján, Qazvín and Tihrán before proceeding to Mázindarán. In Mázindarán he was to find `God's hidden treasure'. [DB260; MH144]
• In Tihrán he again met Bahá'u'lláh. [DB261; MH148]

The Báb was removed from Máh-Kú. Prior to this He had communicated His higher claims to His followers.
• Hájí Mírzá Áqásí was alarmed by the developments at Máh-Kú and ordered that the Báb be moved to Chihríq. [Bab131; DB259; GPB1920]
• The Báb's presence in Máh-Kú, so close to the Russian frontier, was also a cause for concern for the Russian government. Prince Dolgorukov, the Russian Minister in Tihrán, asked that He be removed. It is likely that this request was made in 1847 but not carried out until this time. [Bab131; BBR72; TN13]
• The Báb had been in Máh-Kú for nine months. [DB259]

The Báb in Chihríq

The Báb was transferred to the fortress of Chihríq, `Jabal-i-Shadíd' (the Grievous Mountain) into the custody of Yahyá Khán, a brother-in-law of Muhammad Sháh. [BR72; BBRSM216; GPB19]
• He remained there for two years. [BBD55; BBR73; GPB27]
• He was subjected to a more rigorous confinement than He had been at Máh-Kú and the warden was harsh and unpredictable. [Bab135; DB302]
• See Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p50, 54-55, 59-60.

The presence of the Báb in Chihríq attracted much notice. Eventually Yahyá Khán softened his attitude to the Báb. [Bab135; DB303]
• Excitement among local people eclipsed that of Máh-Kú. [GPB20]
• Many priests and government officials became followers, among them Mírzá Asadu'lláh of Khuy, surnamed Dayyán. [Bab136; DB303; GPB20]
• So many Bábís came to Chihríq that they could not all be housed. [Bab135]
• See B136 and DB303 for story of the inferior honey.
• A dervish, a former navváb, arrived from India after having seen the Báb in a vision. [Bab137; DB305; GPB20]
• The Báb revealed the Lawh-i-Hurúfát (Tablet of the Letters) in honour of Dayyán. [DB304; GPB27]

Mullá Husayn went to the house of Quddús in Bárfurúsh (now called Babol), Mázindarán, and realized that the `hidden treasure' was his recognition of the station of Quddús. [DB261–5; MH148–54]

Mullá Husayn proceeded to Mashhad and built a `Bábíyyih', a centre for the Bábís, as instructed by Quddús. He and Quddús took up residence in it and began to teach the Bábí religion.

• See DB288–90 and MH158–68 for the result of this effort.
• Among those who come to the Bábíyyih was Sám Khán, the chief of police. [MH158]
• See MH156 for a picture of the Bábíyyih.

Quddús left Mashhad for Badasht. Mullá Husayn was prevented from attending. He was invited to stay in the camp of the soldiers garrisoned in the area to control a local revolt. The invitation amounted to a confinement but he was able to teach the soldiers while so confined. [BKG50; DB290; MH165–6]
• MH160 says that it was at this time that the Báb wrote to all the believers in Persia and Iraq instructing them to go to the aid of Mullá Husayn and Quddús in the `Land of Khá (Khurásán). DB269ff implies this letter was written in 1845.

The Conference of Badasht

Bahá'u'lláh, who hosted and directed the event, rented three gardens, one for Quddús, another for Táhirih and the third for Himself. [Bab168; GPB31, 68; MF200]

The conference coincided with the removal of the Báb to Tabríz for interrogation in July. It was held near the village of Sháhrúd in Semnan province. [BBRSM23; DB292]

• `The primary purpose of that gathering was to implement the revelation of the Bayán by a sudden, a complete and dramatic break with the past — with its order, its ecclesiasticism, its traditions, and ceremonials. The subsidiary purpose of the conference was to consider the means of emancipating the Báb from His cruel confinement in Chihríq.' [BBRSM23; BKG43; DB297–8; GPB31, 157]
• From the beginning of His ministry the Báb had implicitly claimed some higher spiritual station than merely that of being the "bábu'l-imám" and in the early months of 1848 while still in prison in Máh-Kú He put forward these claims to his companions. He proclaimed HImself to be the Imam Mahdi, the promised Q´'im (He who will arise), the inaugurator of the Resurrection and the abrogator of the Islamic holy law. [BBRSM23]
• Bab167 says that the Bábís did not come to Badasht to make plans to rescue the Báb.
• It was attended by 81 believers and lasted 22 days. [BKG43–4, 46; DB292–3; GPB312]
• Each day Bahá'u'lláh revealed a Tablet, and on each believer He conferred a new name. Each day an Islamic law was abrogated. Henceforth, when the Báb was addressing the believers, He used the new name that Bahá'u'lláh had bestowed upon them. [DB293; GPB32]
• See BKG44–5; DB293 and MF201 for the story of the central event, Táhirih's confrontation with Quddús and removal of her veil.
  Ṭáhirih, seizing upon the opportunity, arose and, unveiled, came forth from the garden. She proceeded towards the tent of Bahá'u'lláh crying out and proclaiming: "I am the Trumpet-blast; I am the Bugle-call!"—which are two of the signs of the Day of Resurrection mentioned in the Qur'án. Calling out in this fashion, she entered the tent of Bahá'u'lláh. No sooner had she entered than Bahá'u'lláh instructed the believers to recite the Súrih of the Event from the Qur'án, a Súrih that describes the upheaval of the Day of Resurrection.
  [Twelve Table Talks given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká, no. 9, "Ṭáhirih and the Conference of Badasht"]
• Also see Bab167–9; BBD31–2; BBRSM46; BKG43–7; DB292–8; RB2:353.
• See The World-Wide Influence of Qurratul-'Ayn by Standwood Cobb.

After three months in Chihríq, the Báb, on the order of Háji Mírzá Áqási was taken under escort to Tabríz. He was to be tried for apostasy before a gathering of high-ranking religious leaders (Mujtahid) in the presence of the young crown prince Másiri'd-Dín Mírzá . [Bab137; BW18:380; TN14]
• Just prior to His leaving, in June of 1848 He was seen in public discourse with His followers by a Russian student named Mochenin from St. Petersburg University. It is believed that he and Dr William Cormick were the only Westerners to have seen the Báb. [BBR75]
• En route He stopped in Urúmíyyih for ten days where the governor, Malik-Qásim Mírzá, tested the Báb by offering Him an unruly horse to ride to the public bath. The horse remained docile under the Bab's control and was the same when He came out and rode him on the return. The local people were certain that they had witnessed a miracle and broke into the bath to procure His bath water. [Bab138; BBR74; DB309–11, EB86-87; For73]
• A sketch of the Báb was made by local artist Aqa Bala Bayg from which he made a full-scale black and white portrait. Later Bahá'u'lláh directed that Aqa Bala Bayg make two copies of the portrait in water colour. The sketch and one of the water colours are now in the International Archives. [For73; EB87; Bab138–9, Juhúrú'l-Haqq by Asadu'lláh Fádil-i-Mázindarání p.48 quoted in World Order Winter 1974-95 p41]
• See "The Báb in the World of Images" by Bijan Masumian and Adib Masumian. [Bahá'í Studies Review, Volume 19, Number 1, 1 June 2013, pp. 171-190(20)]

Táhirih was arrested and was later taken to Tihrán where she was held in the home of Mahmúd Khán, the Kalántar of Tihrán, until her martyrdom in August 1852.

Mullá Husayn left the army camp near Mashhad where he had been a guest of a brother of the Sháh. He planned to make a pilgrimage to Karbalá. While making preparations for the journey he received a Tablet from the Báb instructing him to go to Mázindarán to help Quddús, carrying a Black Standard before him. He was also instructed to wear the Báb's own green turban and to take the new name Siyyid `Alí. [Bab171; BKG50; DB324; MH174]

The Bábís left Badasht for Mázindarán. They were attacked by a mob of more than 500 outside the village of Níyálá. [B170–1; BKG46–7; BW18:380; DB298; GPB68]
• Bahá'u'lláh travelled to Núr with Táhirih. He entrusted her into the care of Shaykh Abú-Turáb-i-Ishtahárdí, to be taken to a place of safety. [BKG48; DB299]
• Bahá'u'lláh travelled to Núr `in easy stages'. By September He was in Bandar-Jaz. [BKG48]

The Women's Rights Convention was held in the Wesleyan Chapel at Seneca Falls, NY. The principle organizer was Lucretia Mott, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as its driving intellect. A significant role was played by an African-American man, an abolitionist and a recently freed slave, Frederick Douglass. The convention adopted a Declaration of Rights and Sentiments that consisted of 11 resolutions including the right for women to vote. The signatories were the 68 women and 32 men in attendance. The right for women to vote became part of the United States Constitution in 1920. [The Calling: Tahirih of Persia and her American Contemporaries p114-160, "Seneca Falls First Woman's Rights Convention of 1848: The Sacred Rites of the Nation" by Bradford W. Miller (Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 8.3, 1998)]
• This conference has been compared to the Conference of Badasht with respect to the emancipation of women and entrenched prejudices.
• Tahirih and Women's Suffrage written by / on behalf of Universal House of Justice in which they deal with the question of the relationship between Táhirih and women's sufferage as well as the station of Táhirih herself.

Trial of the Báb

The Báb arrived in Tabríz and was brought before a panel of which the 17-year-old Crown Prince Násiri'd-Dín Mírzá was the president. The Báb publicly made His claim that He was the Qá'im. This claim had also been announced to those gathered at Badasht. [Bab140–7; BBR157; BBRSM23, 216; BW18:380; DB314–20; GPB21–2; TN14]
• The purpose of the public forum was to force the Báb to recant His views; instead He took control of the hearing and embarrassed the clergy. After considerable argument and discussion, they decided He was devoid of reason. [GPB22; BBRSM216]
• The Báb was bastinadoed. [B145; BBD44; DB320; GPB22; TN14–15] This is the first formal punishment He received. [BBRSM20]
• This constituted the formal declaration of His mission. [GPB22]
• The clergy issued a fatwa or legal pronouncement against the Báb condemning Him to death for heresy, but to no purpose as the civil authorities were unwilling to take action against Him. [BBRSM19–20]
• See Trial of the Báb: Shi'ite Orthodoxy Confronts its Mirror Image by Denis MacEoin.
• He was first attended by an Irish physician, Dr William Cormick, to ascertain His sanity and later to treat Him for a blow to the face that occurred during the bastinado. Cormick is the only Westerner to have met and conversed with Him. [Bab145; BBR74–5, 497–8 DBXXXIL–XXXIII; Bahá'í Council website]
• For an account of the life of Dr. William Cormick see Connections by Brendan McNamara.
• See the YouTube video The Irish Physician Who Met The Báb.

Mullá Husayn and his companions, marching to Mázindarán, were joined by Bábís who had been at Badasht as well as newly-converted Bábís. [B171–2]
• Their numbers rose to 300 and possibly beyond. [B172; BKG50]
• The Black Standard was raised on the plain of Khurásán on the 21st of July. [B171, 176–7; BBD46; BBRSM52; MH175]
• The Black Standard flew for some 11 months. [B176–7; DB351]
• See DB326 and MH177–83 for details of the journey.
• See MH182 for Mullá Husayn's prophecy of the death of Muhammad Sháh.

The Báb was taken back to Chihríq, where He remained until June/July 1850. [Bab147; DB322; TN15]
• Bab147 says He must have arrived in the first days of August.
• On His return the Báb wrote a denunciatory letter to Hájí Mírzá Áqásí. The epistle was given the name Khutbiy-i-Qahríyyih (Sermon of Wrath). He sent it to Hujjat in Tihrán, who delivered it personally. [Bab147; DB323; GPB27]
• The Báb completed the Arabic Bayán. [BBR45; GBP25]

The death of the chronically ill Muhammad Sháh whom Shoghi Effendi described as bigoted, sickly and vacillating. [BBR153–4; GPB4; Encyclopædia Iranica]
• This precipitated the downfall of the Grand Vizier, Hájí Mírzá Áqásí because many of Tehran's elite arose against him. [Bab147; BBD19; BBR156]
• For details of his life, fall and death in Karbila on the 1st of August, 1849, see BBR154–6 and BKG52–5.
• The edict for Bahá'u'lláh's arrest was rendered null. [BKG50; BW18:381; DB298-300] iiiii
• See Aqasi, Haji Mirza ('Abbas Iravani)

The accession of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh at Tabríz. [BBR482]
• He was 17 years old. [BBR158; GPB37]
• He ruled from 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated on the eve of his jubilee. [BBD168; BBR482]
• The first four years of his reign were marked by the `fiercest and bloodiest of the persecutions of the religion of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh'. During the whole of his reign there were `sporadic persecutions and, in at least some cases, he himself was directly responsible for the death of the martyrs'. [BBR157]
• For the first time in the Faith's history the civil and ecclesiastical powers banded together in a systematic campaign against it, one that was to `culminate in the horrors experienced by Bahá'u'lláh in the Síyáh-Chál' and `His subsequent banishment to Iraq'. [GPB37]
• See BBRSM25 for an explanation of why the Bábí religion was a challenge to the secular regime.
• See SB86 for a reason for Násiri'd-Dín Sháh's cruelty towards the Bábís and Bahá'ís.
• See RB3:201 for an explanation of his lengthy reign.
• He chose as his prime minister Mírzá Taqí Khán-i-Faráhání, known as a great reformer and a founder of modern Iran. [BBD221; BBR160]
• It was not until the spring of 1849 that the new regime was in firm control.
• His reform antagonized many and a coalition was formed against him. One of the most active proponents was the queen mother. She convinced the Shah that the prime minister wanted his throne. In October of 1851 the Shah dismissed him and exiled him to Kashan where he was murdered on the Shah's orders.

Mullá Husayn and his company from Mashhad arrived near Bárfurúsh (now called Babol). [DB345] MH188 says that the journey from Mashhad had taken 83 days.
• The Sa`ídu'l-`Ulamá, threatened by their presence, stirred up the townspeople, who went out to meet them. Some three or four miles from the city they clashed and seven of Mullá Husayn's companions were killed. [Bab172; BW18:381; DB329–31; MH192–3; BW19p381]
• In the ensuing battle, the townspeople were worsted. They begged for peace and a truce was agreed. [Bab172; DB336; MH197]
• It was during this skirmish that Mullá Husayn cut a man, a musket and a tree with one blow from his sword. [Bab172; DB 330–1; MH193]
• Mullá Husayn and his companions took shelter in a caravanserai. Three young men in succession mounted the roof to raise the new call to prayer were each met with a bullet and killed. Mullá Husayn gave the command to attack the townspeople, who were again routed. [BW18:381; DB337–8; MH201–5]
• Mullá Husayn and his companions were offered safe passage by the town's leaders if they would leave Bárfurúsh. They agreed but were attacked by their escort, Khusraw-i-Qádí-Kalá'í and his hundred men. [Bab172; DB338–42; MH206–9]

Entry of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh into Tihrán. [BBR482]
• MH240 says it took him 45 days to travel to Tihrán to occupy his father's throne.
• Hájí Mírzá Áaqsí Khán-i-Faráhání took up post as his prime minister. [BBR482]
• By the end of 1848 the governmental opposition to the Báb continued and intensified. Encouraged by the ulama (religious leaders), the public increasingly turned against the Báb and His followers and the Bábis "were held responsible for the country's general state of turmoil." [RR395]

Bahá'u'lláh set out from Tihrán with 11 companions to reinforce the Bábís at Shaykh Tabarsí. Nine miles from the fort they were arrested and taken to the town of Ámul, where they were held prisoner in the home of the deputy governor. This was Bahá'u'lláh's second imprisonment. He intervened to spare His companions the bastinado and He alone received it. See Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p82-83.
• When the governor returned to his home he ordered that Bahá'u'lláh and His companions be released and arranged a safe conduct for them to Tihrán. [Bab174; BBD44; BKG56–60; BW18:381; DB369–376; GPB68; SB7]
• See BKG57 and DB70 for pictures.

The siege of the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí began in earnest with the arrival of `Abdu'lláh Khán's forces. [BW18:381]
• DB361 says this was 1 December.
• There were about 12,000 troops. [MH245]
• The supply of bread and water to the fort was cut. A rainfall replenished the water supply and ruined the munitions of the government forces. Snow further hampered the army's movement. [DB361, MH243]

The Bábís, led by Quddús, made a mounted attack on the army. All of the officers were killed including `Abdu'lláh Khán. A number of soldiers were drowned as they retreated into the Tálár River. About 430 soldiers were killed but no Bábís; one Bábí was wounded. [BW18:381; DB361–3; MH243–6]
• For the next 19 days the defenders dug a moat. [DB363]

Bahá'u'lláh married his second wife, Fátimih Khánum Mahd-i-'Ulyá (1828–1904), His cousin, the daughter of Malik-Nisá Khánum (Mírzá Buzurg's sister) and Mírzá Karím-i-Namadsáb. She was 21 and he was 32.
• Note: According to one source, she was married to the famous cleric Mírzá Muhammad Taqí 'Allámi-yi-Núrí and widowed before Bahá'u'lláh married her.

Arrival of Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá and 3,000 royal troops in the vicinity of the shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí. [B173–4; BW18:381; DB363]
• He set up camp and his headquarters in the village of Vás-Kas. [DB363]

Quddús and Mullá Husayn led a night attack on the encamped army. Two hundred and two Bábís dispersed the camp. [BW18:381; BD365; MH254]
• DB 368 says this occurred on 21 December 1848.
• Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá fled barefoot. [DB366]
• Mullá Husayn's sword was broken in the attack and he used that of Quddús. His companions brought him the abandoned sword of Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá. [DB367; MH257]
• At daybreak the soldiers mounted a counter-attack. [DB367; MH258–9]
• In this encounter Quddús was wounded in the mouth and was rescued by Mullá Husayn who dispersed the enemy using the sword of Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá in one hand and that of Quddús in the other. [B174; DB367; MH258–9]

Reinforcements arrived for the besiegers under the leadership of 'Abbás-Qulí Khán-i-Láríjání. [BW18:381; DB378–9; MH263]
• This was the third army to be mustered.
• The water supply was again cut off and Mullá Husayn ordered that a well be dug and a bath constructed. [DB379; MH263]

Soon after midnight, Mullá Husayn led a charge of 313 men that again routed the king's army. He was struck in the chest by a bullet and died. His body was carried back to the fort and buried. Ninety other Bábís were also wounded, about 40 of whom died. [B174; BW18:381; DB379–82; MH266–70]
• Mullá Husayn was 36 years old at the time of his death. [DB383; MH272]
• See DB382–3 for an account of his life.
• See DB415–16 for an account of the heroics of Mullá Husayn.
• See DB381–2 and MH265–70 for an account of the death and burial of Mullá Husayn.
• See SDH13–14 for an account of his death by Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá.
• Seventy–two of the original 313 inhabitants of the fort had been martyred by this time. [DB382]
• It took the army 45 days to re-assemble its forces. [DB384; MH277]

On learning through a traitor of the death of Mullá Husayn, 'Abbás-Qulí Khán launched a fresh attack on the fort. [DB384–6]
• DB386 says this was 10 days before Naw-Rúz.
• Nineteen Bábís led by Mírzá Muhammad-Báqir overcame the attackers. [DB386–8]

Renewed forces under Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá encamped in the neighbourhood of the fort, built fortifications and began to bombard the shrine. [BW18:381; DB390–3]
• DB391 says this was the ninth day after Naw-Rúz.

A charge by the forces of Sulaymán Khán was repulsed by 37 Bábís led by Mírzá Muhammad-Báqir. [BW18:381; DB3956]
• A few days later some of the Bábís left the fort on the promise of Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá that they will be returned to their homes. As soon as they are outside the fort they were put to death. [DB396–9]

The end of the siege of the fort at Shaykh Tabarsí. Two hundred and two Bábís were tricked into leaving the shrine. [BW18:381]
• DB400 says they accompanied Quddús.
• They were not conducted to their homes as promised but were set upon by the Prince's soldiers. Some are killed, others sold into slavery. The fortifications around the shrine were razed to the ground. [DB403–4; MH283]
• See DB414–29 for a list of the martyrs of Tabarsí.
• Among those who gave their lives at Fort Tabarsi was Mullá Ja'far, the sifter of wheat and the first to embrace the Faith in Isfahan. [AY58]
• See The Babi-State Conflict at Shaykh Tabarsi by Siyamak Zabihi-Moghaddam.

Quddús was tortured and, in the public square, he was struck down with an axe, dismembered and burnt. [Bab176; BBD191; BW18:381; DB409–13; MH283–4]
"When the procession reached the public square, where the execution was to take place, Quddús, this youth of only twenty-seven years, cried out, "Would that my mother were with me, and could see with her own eyes the splendour of my nuptials!" As these words were being spoken the wild multitude fell upon him, tearing him limb from limb and throwing the scattered pieces into a fire which they had kindled for that purpose. Another account states that the Sa'ídu'l-'Ulamá had himself cut of Quddús' ears and struck him on the head with an axe." [TtP92]
• As he died he begged God's forgiveness for his foes. [DB411; MH284]
• His remains were gathered and buried by a friend. [Bab176; DB413]
• See GPB49–50 for the rank and titles of Quddús.
• See Quddus, Companion of the Bab by Harriet Pettibone.
• See Quddús:The First in Rank by Boris Handal at Bahá'í Library Online. The book was published by the author and is also available at Amazon.

  The book presents the fascinating, real-life story of Quddús, the son of a poor Persian rice farmer who rose to become the most illustrious disciple of the Báb. Thoroughly researched and broad in scope, it is a story of the rugged journey, filled with pathos and exhilarating triumph at every turn, during the five short, eventful years he spent in absolute servitude to the Báb. We experience the vivid details of a life which left no room for settling down, as he valiantly approached the centre of an intense, ever-increasing maelstrom at the very inception and birth of a new world religion, fraught with opposition and intrigue, yet filled with spiritual confirmations culminating in an unprecedented climax.
  This work also features new translations of select Tablets by Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb, as well as previously unpublished writings of Quddús. The book spans 605 pages and includes 87 illustrations.

• In the Light of the World p11 it states:
  The Báb Himself is among the Váḥid of the Bayán: There are the eighteen Letters of the Living, and He Himself is the nineteenth. One of the Letters of the Living is Quddús, of whom He hath said that Mirrors to the number of thirteen Váḥids abide beneath his shadow.
• See Quddús: A Twenty-first Century Bahá’í Looks at the Life of a Nineteenth Century Bábí Hero a Master's thesis by Karen Webb, 2023.

The Báb, in prison in the castle of Chihríq, learned of the massacre at Shaykh Tabarsí and the martyrdom of Quddús. He was so overcome with grief that He was unable to write or dictate for a period of five or six months. [DB411, 430]
• See the Tablet of Visitation for Mulla Muhammad 'Ali-i-Barfurushi (Quddús) revealed by the Báb.

Death of Hájí Mírzá Áqásí at Karbalá. [Bab147; BBD19; BBR156]
• The Báb, in a letter to the Sháh called him "manifest darkness" and "the devil whom thou hast appointed as thy Chancellor". [SWB26]
• Shoghi Effendi designated him as the "Antichrist of the Bábí Revelation" and called him a "vulgar, false-hearted and fickle-minded schemer". [GPB164, 4]

• B204–5 says Lt-Col Sheil reported it to London in February; BBRSM28, 216 says it was January or February; DB466 sets it at Naw-Rúz 1850 and DB468 says that the siege carried on for 40 days.
• See BBR106–9 for the various dates assigned to this event and for the difficulties in dating it.

Birth of Mírzá `Alí-Muhammad-i-Khurásání, (b. 1850-1851 Mashad, d. 2 April 1928 in Tehran) later known as Ibn-i-Asdaq, Hand of the Cause.
• His father, Mullá Sádiq-i-Muqaddas had left his native Khurasan and travelled to the city of Karbila where he saw the Báb. Subsequently he went to Isfahan where he encountered Mullá Husayn Bushrui who led him to the recognition of the Promised One. He and Quddús were later dragged through the streets of Shiraz and expelled from the city. [PG108; Bahá'í Encylopedia Project]

Martyrdom of the Seven Martyrs of Tihrán. Seven of the Bábís were executed in Tihrán on the false charge of having plotted to kill the Grand Vizier. [B182–5; BBD225; BBR100–5; BBRSM28, 216; BKG71; BW18:381; DB462; GPB47–8; BW19p381]
• See BBD225, BBR100 and BW18:381 for a list of their names.
• Three of the victims were so eager to be martyrs that they asked the executioner if they could be the first to die. [Bab183; BBD225; GPB47]
• Their bodies were left in the public square for three days. [BBD225; GPB47]
• See GPB478 for the chief features of the episode.
• The martyrs are the 'Seven Goats' referred to in Islamic traditions that were to 'walk in front' of the promised Qá'im. [GPB47–8]
• See Bab206–7 and BBR100–5 for the accounts of the event and responses of Prince Dolgorukov and Lt-Col Sheil.
• The were: Haji Mirzá Siyyid 'Ali (uncle of the Báb, the middle brother, known as "The Greatest Uncle"), Mirzá Qurban-'Ali, Haji Mullá Isma'il-i-Qumi, Sayyid Husayn-i-Turshizi, Háji Muhammad-Taqiy-i-Kirmani, Muhammad—Husayn-i-Maraghi'i. [BW19p381]
• See Bahá'í Chronicles for the story of the three uncles of the Báb, Haji Mirza Siyyid Ali (the Greatest Uncle - he was the middle brother), Haji Mirza Siyyid Muhammad (the Greater Uncle, the eldest) and Haji Mirza Hassan Ali, the younger Uncle.

The start of the Zanján upheaval. Hujjat had converted a sizeable proportion of the town and tension mounted between the Bábís and the 'ulamá. [DB540–1, 527–81; Bab185–8, 209–13; BBD111, 245; BBR114–26; BBRSM28, 216; GPB44–5; TN245]
• See BW19p381 for this chronicle of events by Moojan Momen.
  • 19 May: Mir Salah dispersed a mob sent against Hujjat by the Governor; the Governor sent to Ṭihrán for reinforcements; the town divided into two.
  • 1, 13 and 16 June: Arrival of troop reinforce ments.
  • 1 July: Capture of an important Bábi position.
  • 25 July: Capture of an important Bábi' position.
  • 4 August: Fierce fighting ending in Bábi victory and recapture of lost positions.
  • 17 August: General assault on Bábi positions repelled, but Bábi's lost ground.
  • 25 August: Arrival of 'Aziz Khan-i-Mukri, commander-in-chief of 1ran's army.
  • 3 September: General assault ordered by 'Aziz Khan repelled.
  • 11 September: Arrival of troop reinforcements.
  • early October: Bombardment and assault took several Bábi' positions, leaving the Bábis confined to a small number of houses.
  • mid-November: Arrival of further reinforcements.
  • 29 December: Martyrdom of Hujjat.
  • about 2 January 1851: General assault resulted in capture of remaining Bábi' positions and killing of several hundred Bábi men and women. End of Zanjan upheaval.

The Governor sent a mob against Hujjat, (Mulla Muhammad-Ali) which was dispersed by Mír Saláh. The Governor sent to Tihrán for reinforcements and the town Zanján was split into two camps. [BW18:381]
• See BBD245 and GPB45 for the story of Zaynab, the Bábí woman who dressed as a man and defended the barricades.
• Zaynab and the Women of Zanjan.
• The first episode of a podcast about Zaynab.

First Nayríz upheaval.

Vahíd traveled from Yazd towards Shíráz, eventually coming to Nayríz. He went to the Mosque of Jum'ih where he ascended the pulpit and proclaimed the Cause of God. The governor moved against him and Vahíd ordered his companions to occupy the fort of Khájih. The siege that followed lasted a month. [B178, 204–5; BBR109–13; BW18:381; For23]

• See RB1:325–31 for the story of Vahíd. See also GPB50, KI223.
• See also B178–82; BBD171; BBR109–13; BBRSM28, 216; DB485–99; GPB42–4; RB1:264; TN245.
• See BW19p381 for a chronicle of events.
  The main events were:
  • 27 May: Entry of Vahid into Nayriz; his address at the Jum'ih mosque; the Governor made moves against him; Vahid ordered his companions to occupy the fort of Khájih..
  • about 6 June: Arrival of Mihr-'Ali Khan-i-Nuri with troops from Shiraz.
  • about 8 June: Night sortie by Bábis routed troops.
  • about 9 June: Prolonged fighting on this day led to many deaths on both sides.
  • 17 June: Vahid, having received a promise of safety written on the Qur'án, left the fort for Mihr-'Ali Khan's camp.
  • 21 June: The Bábis were, through treachery, induced to leave the fort, then set upon and killed.
  • 24 June: The arrival in Shiraz of thirteen severed heads of Bábfs which were paraded through the town.
  • 29 June: Martyrdom of Vahfd.
  • 11 July: Mihr-'Ali Khan arrived in Shiraz with Bábi' prisoners and decapitated heads.

The Amír-Nizám, Mírzá Taqí Khán was determined to execute the Báb to halt the progress of His religion. On his orders the Báb was taken from Chihríq to Tabríz. [Bab152; BBR76–7; GPB51]
• His guard took Him on a circuitous, much longer route through Urúmíyyih where His presence was noted by American missionaries. [Bab152; BBR73, 76]
• Forty days before the Báb was to leave Chihríq He collected all His documents, Tablets, pen cases, seals, His agate rings, and His last Tablets to Mírzá 'Abdu'l-Karím Qazvíní, and put them in a coffer. He entrusted it to Mullá Báqir, one of the Letters of the Living, and instructed him to deliver it to His secretary. In the event that something should happen to Himself, the secretary was to proceed to Tihrán to deliver the box to 'Jináb-i-Bahá', that is, Bahá'u'lláh. In His last Tablets, Mírzá Husayn-'Alí Núrí was referred to again and again as "Him Whom God shall make Manifest" also, He was referred to as "Bahá'u'lláh". [CH49; Bab151–2; DB504–5; TN25–6]
• When the box was opened they found a Tablet in the form of a pentacle with 500 verses consisting of derivatives of the word 'Bahá'. [Bab151–2; DB504–5; TN25–6]
• This Blessed Tablet of the Bab was obtained in Cyprus by the Larnaca District Commissioner Claude Delaval Cobham, and he donated it to the British Library. It had been in the possession of Mirza Yayha in Famagusta. Mishkin-Qalam served Cobham toward the end of his 18 year exile in Cyprus, as a translator, which has nothing to do with this Tablet but it is interesting Baha'i history in Cyprus. [from an message from Anita Graves, National Bahá'í Archivist, Cyprus to Janis Zrudlo 25 April 2021.
  • Here is a link to a similar tablet at the British Libary website.
  • See Gate of the Heart 329-330 for a further explanation of the symbol of the pentagram and the circle.

End of the first Nayríz upheaval. [BBRXXIX, 112]
• Vahíd was forced to write to his companions in the fortress to assure them that a settlement had been reached. The Bábís left the fort, were set upon and killed. [Bab181; BW18;381]

Vahíd was martyred in Nayríz. [Bab182; BW18:381; DB495, 499; GPB42; RB1:265]
• See DB494 for details of his martyrdom.
• His body was dragged through the streets to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. [RB1:265; For24]
• See SDH13 for a respectful opinion of Vahíd expressed by an enemy of the Cause, one of the army chiefs who had fought against Vahíd.
• See PG109-110 for the story of Jenabeh Vahid's show of reverence towards the Báb.

The Báb arrived in Tabríz. [BBR76]
• BBRXXIX says He arrived on 19 June.
• RR397 says He arrived two days after the government troops succeeded in suppressing the first Nayríz uprising.

The Báb, divested of His turban and sash, was taken on foot to the barracks in Tabríz. Mírzá Muhammad-'Alíy-i-Zunúzí, Anís, threw himself at the feet of the Báb and asked to go with Him. [Bab153; DB507]
• That night the Báb asked that one of His companions kill Him, rather than let Him die at the hands of His enemies. Anís offered to do this but was restrained by the others. The Báb promised that Anís will be martyred with Him. [Bab154–5; DB507–8]

Martyrdom of the Báb

In the morning the Báb was taken to the homes of the leading clerics to obtain the death-warrants. [Bab155; DB508]

• The warrants were already prepared. [Bab155–6; DB510]
• Anís's stepfather tried to persuade him to change his mind. Anís's young son was also brought to 'soften his heart' but Anís's resolve remained unshaken. [Bab156–7; DB509–10]
  See The Story of Anis Zunuzi, a film by Houri Skuce.
• At noon the Báb and Mirza Muhammad-Ali Zunuzi, known as Anis were suspended on a wall in the square in front of the citadel of Tabríz in Sarbazkhaneh Square. They were shot by 750 soldiers in three ranks of 250 men in succession. [Bab157; DB512]
• When the smoke cleared the Báb was gone and Anís was standing, unharmed, under the nail from which they were suspended. The Báb, also unhurt, was found back in his cell completing His dictation to His secretary. [Bab157–8; DB512–13]
• See BBD200–1 and DB510–12, 514 for the story of Sám Khán, the Christian colonel of the Armenian regiment which was ordered to execute the Báb.
• The Báb and Anís were suspended a second time. A new regiment, the Násirí, was found to undertake the execution. After the volleys, the bodies of the Báb and Anís were shattered and melded together. [Bab158; DB514]
• See BBR77–82 for Western accounts of the event.
• The face of the Báb was untouched. [Bab158]
• At the moment the shots were fired, a gale sweeps the city, stirring up so much dust that the city remained in darkness from noon until night. [Bab158; DB515]
• See CH239 and DH197 for the story of the phenomenon of the two sunsets.
• During the night, the bodies were thrown onto the edge of the moat surrounding the city. Four companies of soldiers, each consisting of ten sentinels, were ordered to keep watch in turn over them. Nearby; two Bábís, feigning madness, keep vigil. After paying bribes to the guards, tIhe bodies were removed and hidden under cover of darkness. [Bab159; TN27; LWS147; DB518]
• See David Merrick's Outline for Researchers.
• See Sen McGlinn's blog 750 Muskets.
• See It was in the news.... In this blog SMK points out the parallel between the history of early Christianity and that of the Bábí-Bahá'í Faith.
• There is a possibility that the Martyrdom took place on the 8th of July. See BBR78.
• See Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia Chapter 11 by Lady Mary Sheil published in 1856. It contains sketchy details of the circumstances and martyrdom of the Báb and the insurrection at Zanjan. [Collins 10.1327-10.1328]

The Russian Consul had an artist make a sketch of the body of the Báb. [Bab159; DB518; TN28; Sunburst P128-129]
• See BBR43 for details of the drawing made by Consul Bakulin.
• See as well Efforts to preserve the remains of the Bab: Four historical accounts by Ahang Rabbani. The four accounts were from: Hand of the Cause of God Mirza Hasan Adib Taliqani, Hand of the Cause of God Mirza Asadu’llah Fadil Mazandarani, ‘Abdu’l-Husayn Avarih, and Aqa Husayn ‘Ali Nur.

During the evening the bodies were wrapped in a cloak and removed to a silk factory owned by one of the believers, Haji Ahmad Milani, where the remains were concealed under a bale of silk. The next day they Haji Sulayman Khan and Husain-i-Mílání built a casket and placed it in the wall cavity, covering it with mortar. Before closing it the casket Sulayman Khan placed a bouquet of flowers commonly found in the homes of Tabrizis next to the sanctified countenance of the Bab. [B159–60; DB519]
• Sulayman Khan sent a messenger to Tehran to advise Bahá'u'lláh that the remains had been secured and He had a messenger sent back telling them to deliver the remains to Tehran. They travelled by night along the rocky pathway through the hills and mountains out of fear for both robbers and the authorities and probably arrived about a week later. [JtaM3]
• See B159–60, DB518–22 and TN27–8, The Bahá'í Faith 1844-1952 Information Statistical & Comparative p20-22 for the story of the recovery of the bodies and eventual arrival in Haifa.
• The soldiers reported that the bodies had been eaten by dogs. [B160; DB519]
  • Shi'is believe that dogs would not eat the flesh of 'holy imams' as their bodies are not composed of the same substance as that of ordinary people. [TN27-28]
• See as well Efforts to preserve the remains of the Bab: Four historical accounts by Ahang Rabbani

The Faith of the Báb had spread to two countries at this point, Iran and Iraq. [MBW147]
• Bab148–60, 202–3; BBD147; BBR77–82; DB510–17; GPB49–55; TN26–7.
• By this time "there was no province in the entire country in which from a few up to ten Bábí communities had not been established. These early Bábí communities of Muslim converts, who were generally from Shaikhi background, had come from various strata of Persian society, although a few Jews and Zoroastrians had also joined the movement (Māzandarānī, 1943, p. 395; Samandar, p. 348)". [BAHAISM v. The Bahai Community in Iran by V. Rafati]

The arrival of 'Azíz Khán-i-Mukrí, commander-in-chief of Iran's army, in Zanján where the fighting began in May continues. He took charge of the operation. [BBR119; BW18:382; DB556]
• For the story of Ashraf and his mother see DB562–3.

Hujjat was wounded in the arm. His companions laid down their arms and rushed to his assistance. The royal forces took advantage of the lull to breach the fortifications. [B187; BBR121; DB569]
• About 100 women and children were taken captive. They were left exposed in the open for 15 days without food, shelter or appropriate clothing. [BBR121; DB569–70]
• The remaining Bábís, about 140, sheltered in Hujjat's residence under fierce attack. [BBR121]
• The bombardment of the fortress was stepped-up and Hujjat's house was particularly targeted. Hujjat's wife and baby were killed. [B187; DB572–3]

Hujjat died of his wounds. [B187; BRR122; BW18:382]
• DB573 says this was on 8 January 1851.

End of the Zanján upheaval. [BW18:382]
• Hujjat, wounded in the right arm by a bullet 19 days previously, succumbed to his wounds. With the death of Hujjat the Bábí resistance weakens. A general assault by the royal forces ended the siege. [B187; BBR122; BW18:382; DB573–4]
• See Bab187 and DB574–7 for the fate of the survivors.
• See Bab187 and DB577–9 for the fate of Hujjat's body.
• About 1,800 Bábís were killed during the upheaval. [DB580, 598]

Siyyid Basír-Hindí, a blind Indian, was put to death by Ildirím Mírzá. [BW18:382]
• For details of his life see DB588–90.

Mírzá Taqí Khán was killed in the public bath in Káshán by order of the Sháh on the instigation of the Sháh's mother and Mírzá Áqá Khán. [BBR164–5; BKG72]
• He chose to have his veins opened and he bled to death. [BBR164; BKG72]
• Shoghi Effendi described him has being "arbitrary, bloodthirsty and reckless". [GPB4]

Bahá'u'lláh returned to Iran from Karbalá. [DB598]
• He was the guest of the Grand Vizier for one month. [BKG74; DB598–9]

Attempt on the life of the Sháh in Afcha, near Tehran. [BBR128; BBRSM:30; BKG74–5; DB599; ESW20; GPB62; TN2930]
• See BKG74–5 for circumstances of the event.
• See BKG76 for the fate of the perpetrators.
• See BBR128–46 for reporting of the event in the West.
• Ja'far-Qulí Khán wrote immediately to Bahá'u'lláh telling Him of the event and that the mother of the Sháh was denouncing Bahá'u'lláh as the 'would-be murderer'. Ja'far-Qulí Khán offered to hide Bahá'u'lláh. [BKG77; DB602]

Bahá'u'lláh rode out towards the headquarters of the imperial army. At the time, He had been in 'The Abode of the Birds' (MurghMaḥallih), a garden which had been His summer residence. He stopped at Zargandih at the home of Mírzá Majíd Khán-i-Áhí, secretary to the Russian legation. [BKG77; DB603, AY235]
• Bahá'u'lláh was invited to remain in this home. [DB603]
• The Sháh was informed of Bahá'u'lláh's arrival and sent an officer to the legation to demand the delivery of Bahá'u'lláh into his hands. The Russian minister, Prince Dolgorukov, refused and suggested that Bahá'u'lláh be sent to the home of the Grand Vizier. [BKG77; DB603]
• Bahá'u'lláh was arrested. [BKG77; DB603]

The martyrdom of Táhirih (Qurratu'l-'Ayn) in Tihrán. [BBR172–3; BBRSM:30; BW18:382; BKG87; MF203]
• She was martyred in the Ílkhání garden, strangled with her own silk handkerchief which she had provided for the purpose. Her body was lowered into a well which was then filled with stones. [BBD220; DB622–8; GPB75]
• See GPB73–5 for a history of her life.
• See the story of her martyrdom and her life in the article in Radio France International.
• 'Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said:
  She went to that garden with consummate dignity and composure. Everyone said that they were going to kill her, but she continued to cry out just as she had before, declaring, "I am that trumpet-call mentioned in the Gospel!" It was in this state that she was martyred in that garden and cast into a well. [Talk by Abdu'l-Baha Given in Budapest to the Turanian Society on 14 April 1913 (Provisional)
  iiiii

Bahá'u'lláh was then taken on foot and in chains, with bared head and bare feet' to Tihrán, a distance of 15 miles, where He was cast into the Síyáh-Chál. [BKG77; DB606–7, 631-634; ESW20; GPB71]
• See BKG77–8 and DB606–608 for a description of Bahá'u'lláh's journey.
• See CH40–1 for the effect on Bahá'u'lláh's family.
• See Epistle to the Son of the Wolf p20.
• Where He had a dream:
  "Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy Pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Erelong will God raise up the treasures of the earth—men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him." [Epistle to the Son of the Wolf p21]
• In God Passes By p101-102 Shoghi Effendi quotes Bahá'u'lláh's Súrih of the Temple where He describes the moment that He had a vision of the Maiden symbolizing the 'Most Great Spirit" proclaiming His mission.

A large number of Bábís were arrested in Tihrán and its environs following the attempt on the life of the Sháh. A number were executed. [BBR134–5; BW18:382]
• Eighty–one, of whom 38 were leading members of the Bábí community, were thrown into the Síyáh-Chál. [BKG77]

An account of the punishment meted out to those who participated in the attempt on the life of the Sháh and those who happened to be followers of the Báb, was published in the Vaqayi-yi Ittifáqíyyih, a Tihran newspaper. In addition, the newspaper reported that Mírzá Husayn 'Ali-i Nuri (Bahá'u'lláh) and five others who did not participated were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Sháh.
• See Bahá'u'lláh's Prison Sentence: The Official Account translated by Kazem Kazemzadeh and Firuz Kazemzadeh with an introduction by Firuz Kazemzadeh published in World Order Vol 13 Issue 2 Winter 1978-1979 page 11.

In Mílán, Iran, 15 Bábís were arrested and imprisoned. [BW18:382]

Many Bábís were tortured and killed in the weeks following the attempt on the life of the Sháh. [BKG84]

• See BBR171 for the story of Mahmud Khán, the Kalántar of Tihrán, and his role in the arrest and execution of the Bábís.
• See BKG84–93 for a description of the tortures and executions of Bábís. Thirty–eight Bábís were martyred.
• See BKG86–7 and DB616–21 for the torture and martyrdom of Sulaymán Khán. Holes were gouged in his body and nine lighted candles were inserted. He joyfully danced to the place of his execution. His body was hacked in two, each half is then suspended on either side of the gate.
• The persecutions were so severe that the community was nearly annihilated. The Bábí remnant virtually disappeared from view until the 1870s. [BBRSM:30; EB269]

Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment in the Síyáh-Chál
• See AB10–11, BBD211–12, BKG79–83, CH41–2, DB631–3, GPB109 and RB1:9 for a description of the prison and the conditions suffered by the prisoners.
• No food or drink was given to Bahá'u'lláh for three days and nights. [DB608]
• Photo of the entrance to the Siyah-Chal (Black-Pit) where Baha'u'llah was imprisoned in Tehran.
• Bahá'u'lláh remained in the prison for four months. [CH41; ESW20, 77; GPB104; TN31]
• A silent video presentation on Bahá'u'lláh's time in the Síyáh-Chál made for the 150th anniversary of the event.
• "Upon Our arrival We were first conducted along a pitch-black corridor, from whence We descended three steep flights of stairs to the place of confinement assigned to Us. The dungeon was wrapped in thick darkness, and Our fellow prisoners numbered nearly a hundred and fifty souls: thieves, assassins and highwaymen. Though crowded, it had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered. No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell. Most of these men had neither clothes nor bedding to lie on. God alone knoweth what befell Us in that most foul-smelling and gloomy place!" [ESW20-21]
• See CH42–3 for the effect of Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment on His wife and children. Friends and even family were afraid to be associated with His immediate family. During this period Mírzá Músá helped the family surreptitiously and Mírzá Yúsif, who was married to Bahá'u'lláh's cousin, a Russian citizen and a friend of the Russian Consul, was less afraid of repercussions for his support of them.
• They were also assisted by Isfandíyár, the family's black servant that had been emancipated in 1839 on the order of Bahá'u'lláh. This man's life was in great danger. At one time they had 150 policemen looking for him but he managed to evade capture. They thought that if they questioned (tortured) Isfandíyár he would reveal Bahá'u'lláh's nefarious plots. [SoW Vol IX April 28, 1918 p38-39]
• Another who helped the family was Mírzá Muhammad Tabrizi who rented a house for them in Sangelak. [PG122]
• 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as a child of eight, was attacked in the street of Tihrán. [DB616]
• See AB11–12, RB1:9 for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's account of His visit to His father.
• Bahá'u'lláh's properties were plundered. [CH41; RB1:11]
• See BBD4–5; DB663; BKG94–8 and Bahá'í Stories for the story of 'Abdu'l-Vahháb-i-Shírází who was martyred while being held in the Síyáh-Chál.
• See BBD190, 200 and ESW77 about the two chains with which Bahá'u'lláh was burdened while in the Síyáh-Chál. Five other Bábís were chained to Him day and night. [CH41]
• Bahá'u'lláh had some 30 or 40 companions. [BBIC:6, CH41]
• For the story of His faithful follower and his martyrdom, 'Abdu'l-Vahháb see TF116-119.
• An attempt was made to poison Him. The attempt failed but His health was impaired for years following. [BBIC:6; BKG99–100, GPB72]
• Bahá'u'lláh's half-brother Mírzá Yahyá fled to Tákur and went into hiding. He eventually went to Baghdád. [BKG90, 107, CH41]

Bahá'u'lláh had a vision of the Maiden, who announced to Him that He was the Manifestation of God for this Age. [BBD142–3, 212; BKG823 ESW11–12, 21 GPB101–2; KAN62]
• "While engulfed in tribulations I heard a most wondrous, a most sweet voice, calling above My head. Turning My face, I beheld a Maiden-" [SLH5-6]
• This experience compares to the episode of Moses and the Burning Bush, Zoroaster and the Seven Visions, Buddha under the Bodhi tree, the descent of the Dove upon Jesus and the voice of Gabriel commanding Muhammad to 'cry in the name of thy Lord'. [GPB93, 101]
• The Báb repeatedly gave the year nine as the date of the appearance of 'Him Whom God shall make manifest'. The Declaration of the Báb took place in AH 1260; year nine was therefore AH 1269, which began in the middle of October when Bahá'u'lláh had been in prison for about two months. [CB46–7]
• Subsequently in His Writings Bahá'u'lláh declared that He was the "Promised One" of all religions, fulfilling the messianic prophecies found in world religions. He stated that being several messiahs converging one person were the spiritual, rather than material, fulfilment of the messianic and eschatological prophecies found in the literature of the major religions. His eschatological claims constitute six distinctive messianic identifications: from Judaism, the incarnation of the "Everlasting Father" from the Yuletide prophecy of Isaiah 9:6, the "Lord of Hosts"; from Christianity, the "Spirit of Truth" or Comforter predicted by Jesus in His farewell discourse of John 14-17 and the return of Christ "in the glory of the Father"; from Zoroastrianism, the return of Shah Bahram Varjavand, a Zoroastrian messiah predicted in various late Pahlavi texts; from Shi'a Islam the return of the Third Imam, Imam Husayn; from Sunni Islam, the return of Jesus, Isa; and from the Bábí religion, He whom God shall make manifest.
• While Bahá'u'lláh did not explicitly state Himself to be either the Hindu or Buddhist messiah, He did so in principle through His writings. Later, 'Abdu'l-Bahá stated that Bahá'u'lláh was the Kalki avatar, who in the classical Hindu Vaishnavas tradition, is the tenth and final avatar (great incarnation) of Vishnu who will come to end The Age of Darkness and Destruction. Bahá'ís also believe that Bahá'u'lláh is the fulfilment of the prophecy of appearance of the Maitreya Buddha, who is a future Buddha who will eventually appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure Dharma. Bahá'ís believe that the prophecy that Maitreya will usher in a new society of tolerance and love has been fulfilled by Bahá'u'lláh's teachings on world peace. [Bahaipedia]
• See P&M195-196 (1969), 298-299 (1987) where states, "...the First Call gone forth from His lips than the whole creation was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the depths". What was "the First Call"?. See GPB121, "These initial and impassioned outpourings of a Soul struggling to unburden itself, in the solitude of a self-imposed exile (many of them, alas lost to posterity) are, with the Tablet of Kullu't-Tá'am and the poem entitled Rashh-i-'Amá, revealed in Ṭihrán, the first fruits of His Divine Pen."
  "While engulfed in tribulations I heard a most wondrous, a most sweet voice, calling above My head. Turning My face, I beheld a Maiden—the embodiment of the remembrance of the name of My Lord—suspended in the air before Me. So rejoiced was she in her very soul that her countenance shone with the ornament of the good pleasure of God, and her cheeks glowed with the brightness of the All-Merciful. Betwixt earth and heaven she was raising a call which captivated the hearts and minds of men. She was imparting to both My inward and outer being tidings which rejoiced My soul, and the souls of God's honoured servants.

  Pointing with her finger unto My head, she addressed all who are in heaven and all who are on earth, saying: By God! This is the Best-Beloved of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend not. This is the Beauty of God amongst you, and the power of His sovereignty within you, could ye but understand. This is the Mystery of God and His Treasure, the Cause of God and His glory unto all who are in the kingdoms of Revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive. This is He Whose Presence is the ardent desire of the denizens of the Realm of eternity, and of them that dwell within the Tabernacle of glory, and yet from His Beauty do ye turn aside." Súriy-i-Haykal para 6-7; SLH5-6

• See Two Episodes from the Life of Bahá'u'lláh in Iran (2019) pp12-20 by Moojan Momen for an analysis of the provisional translation of a Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh. His interpretation is as follows: As a child Bahá'u'lláh read a story of the sufferings and unjust killing of the Banú Qurayza tribe in the time of Muhammad. It filled Him with such sorrow that He beseeched God to bring about what would be the cause of love and harmony among the people for the world. While imprisoned in the Siyáh Chál, He had an experience that caused great turmoil within Him and elevated His spiritual state. The duration of this state is considered as the beginning of His mission as a Manifestation of God and occurred over a twelve day period from 2 Muharram to 13 Muharram 1269, which equates to 16 October to 27 October 1852 A.D. It was after this that He began to reveal verses. Later He openly manifested Himself in the Garden of Ridván in Baghdad. Finally He revealed the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and then a series of Tablets such as Ishráqát, Tajalliyyát, the Tablet of the World and the Book of the Covenant in which he gave all of the guidance necessary to eliminate the causes of suffering, distress, and discord and to bring about unity and fellowship, thus fulfilling what He had longed for in His childhood.

The revelation of Rashh-i-Ama (The Clouds of the Realms Above) while in the Síyáh-Chál in Tehran. This tablet is considered to be among the first revealed by Bahá'u'lláh after being apprised that He was to be the Manifestation of God.
• See P&M295-196(1969), 298-299(1987) where states, "...the First Call gone forth from His lips than the whole creation was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the depths". What was "the First Call"?. See GPB121, "These initial and impassioned outpourings of a Soul struggling to unburden itself, in the solitude of a self-imposed exile (many of them, alas lost to posterity) are, with the Tablet of Kullu't-Tá'am and the poem entitled Rashh-i-'Amá, revealed in Ṭihrán, the first fruits of His Divine Pen."
• See also RoB1p45-52 for information on "The First Emanations of the Supreme Pen". Taherzadeh explains that this tablet has great significance in Islamic prophecy where it is said that when the Promised One appears He will utter one word that will cause the people to flee Him. Islamic prophecy also holds that the well-known saying, "I am He" will be fulfilled. In this tablet and many that were to follow, Bahá'u'lláh proclaims that "I am God".
  Taherzadeh also states Bahá'u'lláh disclosed for the first time one of the unique features of His Revelation, namely, the advent of the "Day of God".
  "In a language supremely beautiful and soul-stirring, He attributes these energies to Himself. His choice of words, and the beauty, power, depth and mystery of this poem...are such that they may well prove impossible to translate." [RoB1p45]
• In 2019 an authorized translation of this poem was published in the collection The Call of the Divine Beloved.
• See a study outline by Jonah Winters (1999).
• See Clouds and the Hiding God: Observations on some Terms in the Early Writing of Bahá'u'lláh by Moshe Sharon published in Lights of Irfan, Vol 13, 2012,p363-379 for an exploration of the mystical terms found in the Tablet.

Bahá'u'lláh was released from the Síyáh-Chál.
• This was owing to: the efforts of the Russian Minister Prince Dolgorukov; the public confession of the would-be assassin; the testimony of competent tribunals; the efforts of Bahá'u'lláh's own kinsmen; and the sacrifices of those followers imprisoned with Him. [GPB104–5]
• Mírzá Májíd-í-Ahi, the Secretary to the Russian Legation in Tehrán and brother-in-law of Bahá'u'lláh, Prince Dolgorki, the Russian Ambassador, pressured the government of Násirí'd-Din Sháh to either produce evidence against Bahá'u'lláh or to release Him. In absence of any proof, Bahá'u'lláh, Who was initially condemned to life in prison, was forced by the King to choose a place of exile for Himself and His family. The Czar sent and escort of fifty officers to accompany Him to a place of safety from Tehran to the Iraqi border. [BKG99; Sunburst P129]
• See CH43–4 for the role of the Russian Consul in securing His release. He invoked his full power as an envoy of Russia and called out the Sháh and his court for their barbaric behaviour.
• See BKG101–2, CH44 and DB647–8 for the physical condition of Bahá'u'lláh upon release.
• See BKG101, DB648–9 and GPB105 for the words of Bahá'u'lláh to Mírzá Áqá Khán upon His release.
• The Russian minister invited Bahá'u'lláh to go to Russia but He chose instead to go to Iraq. [DB650]
  • It may be that He refused the offer because He knew that acceptance of such help would almost certainly have been misrepresented by others as having political implications. [BBIC:8]

Bahá'u'lláh and His family departed for Baghdád after a one month respite in the home of his half-brother Mírzá Ridá-Qulí. During the three-month journey Bahá'u'lláh was accompanied by His wife Navváb (who was six weeks from giving birth upon departure.) His eldest son 'Abdu'l-Bahá (9), Bahíyyih Khánum (7) and two of His brothers, Mírzá Músá and Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí. Mírzá Mihdí (2), was very delicate and so was left behind with the grandmother of the child, the mother of Àsíyih Khánum. They were escorted by an officer of the Persian imperial bodyguard and an official representing the Russian legation. [BKG102–5; GPB108; MM31; RoL165]
In a letter sent on behalf of the Universal House of Justice dated 1998-10-14 it is stated that there is very little historical information on who took care of Mírzá Mihdí until he was transported to Baghdad to rejoin the Holy Family.
• CH44–5 says the family had ten days after Bahá'u'lláh's release to prepare for the journey to Iraq.
• 'Never had the fortunes of the Faith proclaimed by the Báb sunk to a lower ebb'. [DB651]
• This exile compares to the migration of Muhammad, the exodus of Moses and the banishment of Abraham. [GPB107–8]
• See BKG104 and GPB108–9 for conditions on the journey. During His crossing of the Atlantic on his way from Naples to New York He said the His feet had become frostbitten during the trip to Baghdad. [SYH52; Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p84-86]
• Bahá'u'lláh's black servant, Isfandíyár, who had managed to evade capture during this dark period, after he had paid all the debts to various merchants, went to Mazandaran where he was engaged by the Governor. Years later when his master made a pilgrimage to Iraq Isfandíyár met Bahá'u'lláh and stated his preference to return to His service. Bahá'u'lláh said that he owed his master a debt of gratitude and could not leave his employ without his permission. It was not granted and Isfandíyár returned to Mazandaran and stayed with the Governor until his passing. [PUP428; SoW IX 28 April, 1918 p38-39]
• Also see A Gift of Love Offered to the Greatest Holy Leaf (compiled and edited by Gloria Faizi, 1982), by Hand of the Cause Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, which includes a brief summary of the character of Isfandiyar and his services to the Holy Family on pages 14-16.

Shortly after Bahá'u'lláh's arrival in Baghdad, the first messenger to reach Him was Shaykh Salmán who returned to his native Hindiyan with Tablets addressed to the friends. This became his habit, once a year he would set out on foot to see Bahá'u'lláh bringing letters and leaving wth Tablets, faithfully delivering each on for whom it was intended. He visited Him in Baghdad, Adrianople and Akka, carrying Tablets to many cities, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kashan, Tehran... During the 40 years that he continued this service and never lost a single letter or Tablet.

He always travelled on foot and ate noting but bread and onions. He earned the title "The Bábí's Angel Gabriel". After the passing of Bahá'u'lláh he continued to provide courier service between Persia and the Holy Land.

• See An Illiterate Genius: The Early Baha'i Shaykh Salman.
• See Bahá'í Chronicles.

  He died in Shiraz. [MoF13-16]

Second Nayríz upheaval. [BBR147–51; BBRSM:217; BW18:382; DB642–5;]
• The new governor of Nayríz, Mírzá Na'ím-i-Núrí, arrested a large number of Bábís and pillaged their properties. The Bábís retreated to the hills to take up defensive positions against hundreds and then thousands of troops that had been called in from the region by the governor in Shiraz. [BW18:382; GPB17]
• See BW18:382 for a chronicle of events by Moojan Momen.
  • October: Mirza Na'im-i-Nuri, the new Governor, began to treat the Bábl's harshly, arresting a large number of them and pillaging their property. In response the Bábis fled to the hills and took up defensive positions there.
  • mid—October: Mirzá Na'i'm's troops launched major attack on the Bábl' positions in the hills during the night but were thrown back in much confusion and with great loss of life.
  • 31 October: Bábis asked to negotiate terms.
  • early November: Bábis tricked into leaving their positions then attacked and over a hundred killed. Some 600 women prisoners, 80-180 male prisoners and the heads of some 180 martyrs were taken to Shiraz.
• See BBR147–51 for Western accounts.

The birth of Áqá Mírzá Muhammad-Taqí Abharí, (b. 1853-1854 in Abhar, d. 30 January 1919 in Tehran), also known by the designation Ibn Abhar [Ibn-i-Abhar]. He was appointed a Hand of the Cause in 1886 and was an Apostle of Bahá'u'lláh. [EB268; Bahá'í Encylopedia Project; Bahaipedia; RoB4p304-312]


• On the suggestion of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he married Munírih Khánum Ayádi, the daughter of Hají Ákhúnd (The ‘Ali—Qabl-i-Akbar of Bahá’u’lláh’s tablets). They had a son who became a medical doctor, ‘Abdu’l-Karim Khan Ayadi. [BW6p103]

The dismissal of Mírzá Áqá Khán, the prime minister who had directed the persecution of the Bábís that followed the attempt on the life of the Sháh.
• It was Mírzá Áqá Khán while Prime Minister during the arrest and imprisonment of Bahá'u'lláh in Tehran, who transferred the deeds of some of Bahá'u'lláh's properties in Núr into his own name and plundered some of the riches in His home in Tehran. [RoB1p10-11]

Mírzá Mihdí, the son of Bahá'u'lláh, was taken from Tihrán to join his family in Baghdád. He was about 12 years old. [RB3:205]
• He traveled with the second wife of Bahá'u'lláh, Mahd-i-'Ulyá (Fatimih Khanum). [Mihdí, Mírzá (1848–70)]

Birth of Shaykh Muhammad-'Alíy-i-Qá'iní, Apostle of Bahá'u'lláh, in Naw Firist, near Bírjand. [EB273]
• He was a nephew of Nabil-i-Akbar. He traveled to India and later to Haifa . He was sent to Ishqábád by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to take care of the education of children. Along with other believers he helped to complete the unfinished writings of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl. [Wikipedia]

Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Íqán (The Book of Certitude), 'a comprehensive exposition of the nature and purpose of religion'. In the early days this Tablet was referred to as the Risáliy-i-Khál (Epistle of the Uncle). [BBD134, 162; BKG159; BBD134; BBRSM64–5; GPB138–9; RB1:158]
• Online at bahai.org: Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude.
• The Tablet was revealed in answer to four questions put to Bahá'u'lláh by Hájí Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad, a maternal uncle and caregiver of the Báb (the Greater Uncle, the eldest of the three brothers). He had been persuaded by a devout Bábí, Aqá Mírzá Núru'd-Dín, to make a pilgrimage to the holy Shrines of the Imáms in Iraq and where he could put these questions to Bahá'u'lláh as well as visit his sister, the mother of the Báb, who was not yet herself a Bábí. [BBD134, 162; BKG163–5; RB1:158]
  • See Questions of Haji Mirza Siyyid Ali Muhammad occasioning the Revelation of the Kitab-i-Iqan by Haji Mirza Siyyid Ali Muhammad as translated by Denis MacEoin.
• It was revealed in the course of two days and two nights in early January. [BBS107; BBD 134; BKG165; GPB238; RB1:158]
• The original manuscript, in the handwriting of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, is in the Bahá'í International Archives. See Reflections p149 for the story of the receipt of the original tablet, written in the hand of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Shoghi Effendi in the Holy Land. [BKG165; RB1:159]
• It was probably the first of Bahá'u'lláh's writings to appear in print. [BKG165; EB121]
• For a discussion of the circumstances of its revelation, its content and major themes see RB1:153–97.
• BEL1.77 gives the year of Revelation as 1862.

The following is an example of one such concession: The Telegraph Concession in Iran in 1862 was a significant agreement that allowed a British company to construct and operate a telegraph line in Persain territory. This concession played a crucial role in the development of telecommunication infrastructure and British influence in Iran during the 19th century.

The concession was granted to a British entrepreneur named Charles Morrison by, Nasir al-Din Shah. The agreement gave Morrison the exclusive rights to build a telegraph line across Persia. This line was intended to connect the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea with branches extending to Tehran and other important cities.

The British government supported Morrison in securing the concession as it served British interests in the region. It was not only a means of communication but also had strategic importance as it facilitated the transmission of information and news across the vast Iranian territory and contributed to British control over their interests.

Construction began in 1864 and was completed in several stages over the following years. The concession allowed Morrison's company to operate for 70 years. The telegraph line facilitated communication between Persia and British India, which was also under British control at the time, and it played a role in the coordination of British interests in the region.

The passing of Hájí Mubárak, the servant of the Báb. He was born in 1823 and died at the age of 40. He was buried in the grounds of the Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala, Iraq.
• He had been purchased in Bushir at the age of 5 by Hájí Mírzá Abú'l-Qásím, the great-grandfather of Shoghi Effendi and brother-in-law of the Báb and was sold to the Báb in 1842, just prior to His wedding, at the age of 19 for fourteen tomans. [BP5, 18]

Mírzá Yahyá fled Baghdád, travelling to Mosul in disguise. [BKG158; RB252–5]
• Mírzá Yahyá had, since Bahá'u'lláh's return, concealed himself indoors ore, whenever danger threatened, would withdraw himself to Hillih or Basra where he disguised himself as a Jewish shoe merchant. [BKG224]
• CH59 says that he left Baghdád about two weeks before the larger party.
• Bahá'u'lláh advised him to go to Persia to disseminate the Writings of the Báb. [RB1:252–3]
• Mírzá Yahyá abandoned the Writings of the Báb and travelled surreptitiously to Constantinople, joining the exiles when they passed through Mosul. He had obtained a passport in the name of Mírzá 'Alíh-i-Kirmánsháhí. [ESW167–8; RB1:255; BKG224]
• See ESW167 and RB1:253–4 for Yahyá's movements.

Bahá'u'lláh left the Garden of Ridván.
• This initiated the holy day the Twelfth Day of Ridván, to be celebrated on 2 May. [BBD196]
• As He was about to leave He revealed a Tablet addressed to Áqá Mírzá Áqá in Shíráz. It brought relief and happiness to those who received it. [EB222]
• His leaving was accompanied by symbolic signs of His station: He rode a horse rather than a donkey and wore a tall táj. [BBD221; BKG176]
• See BKG175–6, GPB155 and RB1:281–2 for descriptions of the scenes that accompanied His departure.

  Bahá'u'lláh and His party arrived at Firayját, about three miles away on the banks of the Tigris. [BKG176]

• There they stayed in a borrowed garden for a week while Bahá'u'lláh's brother, Mirza Musa, completed dealing with their affairs in Baghdad and packing the remaining goods. Visitors still came daily. [SA235]
• One of the loyal followers who was left behind was Ahmad-i-Yazdi. He would later make the journey to Constantinople where he received a Tablet from Bahá'u'lláh. [C3MT17]

Upheaval at Najafábád
• Several hundred Bahá'ís were arrested by Shaykh Muhammad-Báqir (later stigmatized as 'the Wolf' by Bahá'u'lláh) and taken to Isfahán to be put to death. He was dissuaded from this plan by other 'ulamá of Isfahán. Two of the prisoners were executed, 18 were sent to Tihrán and the remainder were sent back to Najafábád where they were severely beaten. Those sent to Tihrán were put in a dungeon but released after three months by the Sháh. Two of these were beaten then executed upon their return from Tihrán on the order of Shaykh Muhammad-Báqir. [BBD213; BBR268–9; BW18:382]

French diplomat Joseph Comte de Gobineau published Religions et les Philosophies dans l'Asie Centrale, over half of which is devoted to a study of the Bábí movement. He relied heavily on the Násikhu't-Taváríkh (The History to Abrogate All Previous Histories) written by Lisánu'l-Mulk. Bahá'u'lláh had condemned this account as "a falsification of history, one which even an infidel would not have had the effrontery to produce". [SUR36-37]
• "The Comte de Gobineau's work with its obvious parallels drawn between the life and martyrdom of the Báb with that of Jesus Christ, was the most influential volume in carrying the story to Western minds. The English poet and cultural critic Matthew Arnold, in A Persian Passion Play, wrote that the chief purpose of Gobineau's book was to give a history of the career of Mirza Ali Mahommed…the founder of Bâbism, of which most people in England have at least heard the name. The notion that most people in England, in Arnold's view, were aware of the Báb indicates how deeply His fame had penetrated into far-off societies." [Tales of Magnificent Heroism: The impact of the Báb and His followers on writers and artists by Robert Weinberg.
• Gobineau's work was written when Mírzá Yahyá was still known as the nominal head of the Bábí Faith between 1855 and 1858 when Gobineau was First Secretary and Chargé d'Affaires of the French Legation. Two embassy employees during his time there were ardent supporters of Mírzá Yahyá, one of whom was his brother-in-law. (He served as the Ambassador from March 1862 until September 1863.). iiiii
• This work attracted a number of other European intellectuals, including E. G. Browne of Cambridge, who eventually became the most prolific western writer and researcher of the Bábi religion. [BBR17, MCS483; 500; 512

Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Arabic Tablet of Ahmad (Lawh-i-Ahmad) for Ahmad, a believer from Yazd. [RB2:107]
• The Tablet may have been revealed as early as 1864.
• See RB2:107–66 for the story of Ahmad. He had walked from Baghdad to Constantinople, a distance of 1,600km on his way to visit Bahá'u'lláh in Adrianople. He was some 220km away when he received the Tablet. Upon reading it he understood that Bahá'u'lláh wanted him to proclaim that Bahá'u'lláh was the promised successor to the Báb and so he immediately started his journey to Persia, a 3,200km trip.
• See Bahá'í News No 432 March 1967 pg 1 for A Flame of Fire: The Story of the Tablet of Ahmad by A.Q. Faizi. Part 2 of the story can be found in the April 1967 edition. Alternatively see Blogspot and Bahá'í Library.
• The Ocean of His Words by John Hatcher deals with this Tablet in chapter7.
• See RB2:119–26 for an analysis of the Tablet.
• Shoghi Effendi states that the Tablet has a special potency and significance. [DG60]
• See "Ahmad, The Flame of Fire" by Darius Shahrokh.
• See Commentaries on Three Major Tablets by John Kolstoe pages 1-86.
• See Learn Well This Tablet by H. Richard Gurninsky, published by George Ronald Publisher, Oxford, 2000.
  • See the website.
• See YouTube On the Tablet of Ahmad by Richard Gurinsky.

Nabil Zarandi received a letter from Bahá'u'lláh giving him permission to proclaim the new religion openly and to reveal what he had witnessed in Baghdad of the actions of Azal and Siyyid Muhammad Isfahani. Prior to this time he had been asked to conceal this information. Almost all of the Bábís in Tehran became Bahá'ís upon hearing this news. [BCI1p14]
• At this time number of Bahá'ís in Tehran was constantly being supplemented by those who had fled the persecution in their home towns. [BC1p15]

Three Bahá'ís were executed in Tabríz. Their arrest was precipitated by conflict and rivalry between the Azalís and the Bahá'ís. [BBR252–3; BKG237–8; BW18:382–3; RB2:61]
• BW18:382 says this was 8 January.

Áqá Najaf-'Alíy-i-Zanjání, a disciple of Hujjat, was executed in Tihrán. [BBR254; BW18:383]

In this period the extent of the Faith was enlarged with expansion in the Caucasus, the establishment of the first Egyptian centre and the establishment of the Faith in Syria. [GPB176]
• While Nabil was in Khorasan in spring 1866, at his suggestion, the greeting Alláh-u-Abhá (God is the most Glorious) was adopted by the followers of Bahá'u'lláh, replacing the old salutation of Allāho Akbar (God is the Greatest), which was common among the Bábis. This was a significant action that gave group identity to the Bahá'ís and was a sign of their independence from the Bábís and the Azális, a Bábí faction that considered Mírzá Yaḥyā Ṣobḥ-e Azál as the legitimate successor to the Báb. The greeting Alláh-u-Abhá superseded the Islamic salutation and was simultaneously adopted in Persia and Adrianople. [BKG250; GPB176, "Nabil-e aʿzam Zaranadi, Mollā Mohammad," by Vahid Rafati, Encyclopædia Iranica,]
• The phrase 'the people of the Bayán', which now denotes the followers of Mírzá Yahyá, was discarded and is replaced by the term 'the people of Bahá'. [BKG250; GBP176]

Nabíl-i-A'zam was dispatched to Iraq and Iran to inform the Bábís of the advent of Bahá'u'lláh. He was further instructed to perform the rites of pilgrimage on Bahá'u'lláh's behalf in the House of the Báb and the Most Great House in Baghdad. [BKG250; EB224; GPB176–7]
• For details of his mission see EB224–7.
• On hearing Nabíl's message, the wife of the Báb, Khadíjih Khánum, immediately recognized the station of Bahá'u'lláh. [EB225]
• Nabil was the first Bahá'í to perform pilgrimage to the house of the Báb in Shiraz in fall 1866, in accordance with the rites prescribed in the Surat al-ḥajj revealed by Bahá'u'lláh. He also went to Baghdad and performed the pilgrimage to the House of Bahá'u'lláh in spring 1867, according to another sura, Surat al-damm written by Bahá'u'lláh for that purpose. Nabil's pilgrimage to those two houses marked the inception of pilgrimage laws ordained by Bahá'u'lláh later in his Kitāb-i-Aqdas. For the rites of these two pilgrimages performed by Nabíl see SA113–15. [GPB176-177, "Nabil-e aʿzam Zaranadi, Mollā Mohammad," by Vahid Rafati, Encyclopædia Iranica, DB434-435]
  • Lawh-i-Hajj (Tablet of Pilgrimage) (Note: there were numerous Tablets revealed with this same name. [BW19p584] (Leiden List shows 18 in total.)

Hájí Mullá `Alí-i-Akbar-i-Shahmírzádí (later Hand of the Cause Hájí Ákhúnd) was imprisoned in Tihrán as a Bahá'í on the order of Mullá `Alí Kání. This is the first of many imprisonments. [EB266]
• He was imprisoned so often that `Abdu'l-Bahá later said of him that at the first sign of disturbances, he would `put on his turban, wrap himself in his `abá and sit waiting' to be arrested. [MF11]

The 17-year-old Áqá Buzurg-i-Níshápúrí, Badí`, arrived in `Akká having walked from Mosul. He was able to enter the city unsuspected. [BKG297; RB3:178]
• He was still wearing the simple clothes of a water bearer. [BKG297]
• For the story of his life, see BKG294–297 and RB3:176–179.
• For his transformation see RB3:179–182.

• Badí` asked Bahá'u'lláh for the honour of delivering the Tablet to the Sháh and Bahá'u'lláh bestowed it on him. [BKG297; RB3:182]
• The journey to Tehran took four months; he traveled alone. [BKG298]
• For the story of the journey see BKG297–300 and RB3:184.
• For the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh to Badí` see BKG299 and RB3:175–176.
• Regarding the tablet to the Sháh

  "Bahá'u'lláh's lengthiest epistle to any single sovereign" -- Lawḥ-i-Sulṭán, (the Tablet to Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh) Of the various writings that make up the Súriy-i-Haykal, one requires particular mention. The Lawḥ-i-Sulṭán, the Tablet to Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh, Bahá'u'lláh's lengthiest epistle to any single sovereign, was revealed in the weeks immediately preceding His final banishment to 'Akká. It was eventually delivered to the monarch by Badí', a youth of seventeen, who had entreated Bahá'u'lláh for the honour of rendering some service. His efforts won him the crown of martyrdom and immortalized his name. The Tablet contains the celebrated passage describing the circumstances in which the divine call was communicated to Bahá'u'lláh and the effect it produced. Here, too, we find His unequivocal offer to meet with the Muslim clergy, in the presence of the Sháh, and to provide whatever proofs of the new Revelation they might consider to be definitive, a test of spiritual integrity significantly failed by those who claimed to be the authoritative trustees of the message of the Qur'án. [The Universal House of Justice (Introduction to 'The Summons of the Lord of Hosts')]

• See Three Momentous Years in The Bahá'í World for the story of Badí.

Badí` delivered the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh to the Sháh. He was tortured and executed. [BBRXXXIX; BKG300; BW18:383; RB3:184–6]
• For details of his torture and martyrdom see BKG300, 304–7 and RB3:186–91.
• For the account of the French Minister in Tihrán see BBR254–5.
• He is given the title Fakhru'sh-Shuhadá' (Pride of Martyrs). [BKG300]
• Shoghi Effendi listed him among the Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW3:80–1]
• For the effect on Bahá'u'lláh of the martyrdom of Badí` see BKG300 and GPB199.
• See also BKG293–314; GPB199, RB3:172–203; TN589

Násiri'd-Dín Sháh maded a pilgrimage to the shrines in Iraq. In preparation for his visit the Bahá'ís were rounded up, arrested and exiled. [BBR267; BBRSM90; BKG441]
• See BKG441–3 for details of the exile.

In Zanján, Áqá Siyyid Ashraf was arrested, condemned to death as a Bábí and executed. [BWG470]
• He was the son of Mír Jalíl, one of the companions of Hujjat who was martyred in Tihrán at the end of the Zanján episode. [BKG470]
• He was born during the siege at Zanján. [BKG470]
• His mother was brought to prison to persuade him to recant his faith but she threatened to disown him if he did so. [BBD25; BKG470; ESW73–4; GPB199–200]
• See G135–6 for Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet concerning Ashraf and his mother.

Muhammad-Hasan Khán-i-Káshí died in Burújird, Iran, after being bastinadoed. [BW18:383]
• Three Bahá'ís were executed in Shíráz. [BW18:383]

Restoration of the House of the Báb began at the request of Khadíjih Bigum with the permission and the financial support of Bahá'u'lláh. She requested that the House not be restored to its original configuration to avoid painful memories. Therefore, substantial changes were made to the structure of the House. These included making two of the rooms part of the expanded courtyard and moving the small pool.
• After these changes were made, Khadíjih Bagum took up residence in the Blessed House. She lived there for the next nine years, until her passing in October 1882. [EB232; The Genesis of the Bábi-Bahá'í Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs p93 by A. Rabbani; MBBA172]
• To protect the House further, a small house next to it on the eastern wall was bought. It belonged to a certain Hájí Muhammad- Ja`far-i-Hadíd. The elders of the Afnán family asked Hájí Mírzá `Abdu'l-Hamid to live there. He was one of the early believers in the Báb and married to the daughter of Hujjat-i-Zanjani. From the first day Hujjat's daughter arrived in Shiraz, she was a close companion of Khadíjih Bagum, who had a particular affinity for the families of the Bábí martyrs. An underground passageway was constructed connecting the two homes. It was used as the main entrance for the House of the Báb so that the neighborhood would not take notice of the occupants. [MBBA171-172]
• After her ascension, as instructed by Bahá'u'lláh, her sister, Zahra Bagum, moved her residence to the Sanctified House. She lived there until her passing in 1891. [MBBA172]

  Note: During the early days of the Afnán family, there was considerable competition within certain quarters of the family over the House of the Báb. On several occasions, the issue was brought to Bahá'u'lláh. He consistently reaffirmed the hereditary custodianship of Zahra Bagum and her descendants. By the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá's Ministry, only a few family members questioned the custodianship rights. However, to ensure complete unity, the Master reaffirmed the hereditary right of Núri'd-Dín and, thereafter, Mírzá Habíb. Before his passing, Mírzá Habíb passed the custodianship to his oldest son, Abú'l-Qásim Afnán. [MBBA115n165]

Bahá'u'lláh tasked Shaykh Salmán to escort Munírih Khánum (Fátimih Khánum) to `Akká to marry `Abdu'l-Bahá. She traveled from her home in Isfahan to Shíráz where she stayed with the wife of the Báb then went to Mecca for pilgrimage. From Mecca she traveled to `Akká. [MKBM26-44; RoB2p384-386]
• DH45 says she was called to the Holy Land from December 1871 to January 1872.
• BKG347 says she performed the pilgrimage in February 1873.

The concession met with controversy and criticism and became a symbol of the encroachment of European powers and their control over Iran's resources and infrastructure. This lead to the re-negotiation of the contract and the terms of the concession were revised to be somewhat less favourable to the concessionaire. [Wikipedia]

The passing of Mullá Sádiq-i-Muqaddas-i-Khurásání entitled by Bahá'u'lláh Ism'lláh'l-Asdaq (In the Name of God the Most Truthful) in Hamadán. He was born in Mashhad in around 1800, the son of a cleric, he furthered his own clerical studies in Karbila under the Shaykhi leader Sayyid Qasim Rashti, eventually gaining the rank of mujtahid, and becoming known by the honorific title Muqaddas ('the holy one').
• As a young man he had been a disciple of Siyyid Kázim and had met Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad in Karbilá. He was among the first believers who identified with the Message of the Báb. See DB100 and EB7 for the story of how he independently determined His identity when he met Mullá Husayn in Isfahán on his way to deliver a tablet to Bahá'u'lláh in Tehran. The very next day he left Isfahán for Shíráz on foot arriving 12 days later to find that the Báb had already departed for pilgrimage.
• He took up residence in Shíráz and received a Tablet from the Báb instructing him to change the Call to Prayer. See DB146-148, EB13-14 for the story of how he endured over 900 strokes of the lash on the command of Husayn Khán-i-Írva´ní, the Governor of the province of Fars, and remained indifferent to the pain. (6 August, 1845) He was expelled from the city and proceeded to Yazd. He had similar fate in that city and was banished. He, together with Quddús and Mullá Alí Akbar'-i-Ardistání, were the first three Bábís known to suffer persecution for the Faith on Persian soil.
• On the way to Khurásán he joined Mullá Husayn and those who would participate in the Tabarsí siege where he was on hand for the death of Mullá Husayn. (DB381) After the deception and massacre he was one of the few survivors and, as a prisoner, was taken to Mázindarán to be executed by the family Prince Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá who had commanded the royal troops and had been killed in battle. On route the party called on the clerics to interrogate him and his fellow Bábis and they became convinced that they were not heretics deserving of execution. The prisoners were to be sent to Tehran but escaped and made their way to Míhámí and eventually to Mashad.
• In 1861, after life in that city became impossible, he went to Baghdád where he attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh. After 14 months he returned to his native province of Khurásán.
• He continued in his audacious teaching and as a result was taken to Tehran where he was kept in the Síhåh-Chál. He taught a number of fellow prisoners about the Promised One and converted Hakím Masíh, the Jewish physician assigned to attend to the prisoners. He was the first Bahá'í of Jewish background in Tehran (and was the grandfather of Lutfu'lláh Hakím, a former member of the Universal House of Justice.) After 28 months imprisonment he was pardoned but refuse to leave without his fellow prisoners. The Sháh released 40 of the 43 prisoners. (The remaining three were guilty of actual crimes.)
• After Tehran he went to Khurásán and returned to the capital some three years later to help in changing the hiding place of the remains of the Báb. Then he travelled to Káshán, Isfahán and Yazd where he convinced some of the Afnáns to accept the truth of their Nephew's claims. After returning to Khurásán he was given permission to make a pilgrimage to 'Akká where he remained for some four months, returning by way of Mosul and Baghdád. When he reached Hamadán he was exhausted. Twelve days after his arrival he passed.
• He had been the recipient of many tablets from Bahá'u'lláh including a Tablet of Visitation after his passing. One of the most well-know tablets was the Lawh-i-Ahbáb (Tablet of the Friends). It is thought He revealed this Tablet some time after leaving the barracks in 'Akká, about 1870-1871. [RoB3p258-260, List of the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh]
• He was the father of Ibn-i-Asdaq who Bahá'u'lláh appointed a Hand of the Cause of God. [EB19]
• 'Abdu'l-Baha posthumously referred to him as a Hand of the Cause of God.
• References [LoF32-41, MF5-8, DB381. EB7-23, BBR 69-70]

  Note: Other sources fix his passing, EB23 and LoF32: 1889, but Bahá'í Encyclopedia Project had determine his passing as 1291 A.H or 1874-1875. The source is a letter from the Research Department dated 25 July 2005.

The arrival of the eldest son of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh, Sultán-Mas'úd Mírzá, Zillu's-Sultán, in Isfahán as governor. [BBR269]

Within a few days of the arrival of Zillu's-Sultán in Isfahán, a general persecution of Bahá'ís began. [BBRXXXIX, 269–70]

• This can be traced to Shaykh Muhammad Báqir, the `Wolf'. [BBR270]
• See SDH104 for comment by Bahá'u'lláh on a challenge made by Shaykh Muhammad-Báqir.
• For Western reports of this outburst see BBR270–3.

The wife of Ḥakím Áqá Ján, Ṭúṭí Khánum, was a deeply faithful believer and his son, Mírzá Mihdí Khán, a doctor of medicine like his father, became the personal physician of Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh.

In 1881, on his deathbed, Ḥakím Áqá Ján was reported to have seen Bahá'u'lláh standing in his room although He was in the Holy Land. In a tablet addressed to his son after his passing, Bahá'u'lláh said that He was with him at the moment of his ascension. [An Account of the Life of Ḥakím Áqá Ján translated by Adobe Masumian]

For more information on the enrolment of Persian Jews see Jewish Identities in Iran: Resistance and Conversion to Islam and the Baha'i Faith by Mehrdad Amanat as well as Arsalan Geula's Iranian Bahá'ís from Jewish Background: A Portrait of an Emerging Bahá'í Community.]

At the request of Baha'u'lláh,`Abdu'l-Bahá wrote The Mysterious Forces of Civilization, a treatise on the establishment of a just, progressive and divinely-based government. [SDCv; Baha'u'llah on the Circumstances of the Composition of "The Secret of Divine Civilization" a provisional translation of a Tablet by Bahá'u'lláh by Adib Masumian]
• It was lithographed in Bombay in 1882. It was first published in English under the title The Mysterious Forces of Civilization in London in 1910. [SDCv] It was re-issued in 1918 and later translated as The Secret of Divine Civilization by Marzieh Gail and published by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust in Wilmette in 1957.
• See Marzieh Gail's Summon Up Remembrance pg46-47 for a description of Persia at the time. The nation was ostensibly ruled by a self-serving monarch who had little regard for the county or its people. The government administered the chessboard where Russia and England played out their competing imperialistic designs to increase their respective spheres of influence. Through bribery and intrigue, they contended to raise up ministers who would do their bidding. They thwarted the progress of the nation by manipulating the clergy to oppose any Western ideas, threatening that such would threaten Islam. If required these measures were supplemented with the bribery of the ulamas, accepted eagerly either for their personal gain or for contributions to their communities. Thus Iranians were kept divided, deprived, and ignorant; all the better to exploit them. [SUR62]
• Shoghi Effendi called The Secret of Divine Civilization "`Abdu'l-Bahá's outstanding contribution to the future reorganization of the world". [WOB37]
• See the English translation of the message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of Iran dated 26 November 2003 in which they make reference to this book.
• See a comment about the book.

The conversion of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl Gulpáygání, a leading clerical philosopher. [BBRSM88; EB264]
• See EB263–5 for details of his life.
• See BKG262 for details of his conversion.

The law of the Huqúqu'lláh was put into practice because the work of teaching the Cause began to expand in Persia and in neighbouring countries and there was a need for funds but Bahá'u'lláh put restrictions on its collection. [ESW56]
• The first Trustee of the Huqúqu'lláh was Hájí Sháh-Muhammad-i-Manshádí, or Jináb-i-Sháh Muhammad from Manshád, Yazd who had become a believer in Baghdad. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 25 March, 1985]
• His title was Amínu'l-Bayán (Trustee of the Bayán).
• He made many journeys between Iran and the Holy Land carrying donations and petitions from the friends and returning with Tablets and news.
• See SABF47-48 for the story of the lost coin given as a donation by a very poor woman.
• He was tasked with receiving the casket of the Báb after the location had been discovered by a number of believers. He transferred it to the Mosque of Imámzádih Zayd in Tehran where it was buried beneath the floor of the inner sanctuary of the shrine. It was consequently discovered and moved to a series of private homes in Tehran until 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent for it for the internment. [ISC-1963p32]
• Hájí Sháh-Muhammad was in 'Akká when Áqá Buzurg, entitled Badí', came to confer with Bahá'u'lláh. He and Badí met on Mount Carmel as directed by Bahá'u'lláh.
• He was killed as a result of wounds incurred during an attack during a Kurdish revolt. [RoB3p73]

Mirza Asadu'llah was the first to undertake the organization of a local House of Justice in Iran. He took the initiative to invite eight other prominent believers to form a body, responding to the laws of the Kitáb-i Aqdas , which they referred to as bayt al-'adl (House of Justice) or bayt al-a'zam (the Most Great House).

The organization of this first House of Justice was kept a secret, even from the believers. However, it met sporadically in the home of Mirza Asadu'llah for a couple of years. After consulting with this body, the prominent Bahá'í men who had been invited to attend its meetings would seek to take action as individual Bahá'í teachers that would implement its decisions.

Around 1881, the Tehran House of Justice was reorganized and more members were added. The House adopted a written constitution and pursued its activities with more organization and vigour than before. The constitution mandated, however, that the meetings remain strictly confidential, hidden from the body of the believers. [The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith]

The martyrdom of Hájí Siyyid Muhammad-Hasan, the `King of Martyrs' (Sultánu'sh-Shuhadá), and Hájí Siyyid Muhammad-Husayn, the `Beloved of Martyrs'. [BW18:383]
• Their martyrdom was instigated by Mír Muhammad-Husayn, the Imám-Jum'ih, stigmatized by Bahá'u'lláh as the `she-serpent', who owed the brothers a large sum of money. [GPB200–1, ARG172, SDH104]
• Shaykh Muhammad-Báqir, the `Wolf', pronounced the death sentence on the two brothers and the Zillu's-Sultán ratified the decision. [GPB201]
• The brothers were put in chains, decapitated and dragged to the Maydán-i-Sháh for public viewing. [GPB201]
• For Western accounts of their martyrdom see BBR274–6.
• See SDH112 for the story of the pilgrimage of their families to the Holy Land.
• See BW11:594 for a picture of the memorial to the King and the Beloved of Martyrs.
• See ARG171-173.
• Hájí Siyyid Muhammad-Hasan, the `King of Martyrs' (Sultánu'sh-Shuhadá) was appointed as one of the Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh.

The first Zoroastrians became Bahá'ís, in Persia. [SBBH2:67; RoB3p268]
• For information on these converts see SBBR2:67–93. The revelation of Lawh-i-Haft Pursish (Tablet of Seven Questions) (date unknown) in answer to the questions put to Bahá'u'lláh by Ustád Javán-Mard, the Secretary of the Council of Zoroastrians of Yazd. [RoB3p272]
• See the Tablet of Seven Questions, authorized translation in The Tabernacle of Unity.

Raised in Babol he had studied medicine in Tehran, completed his military service then left for England to study English and then Canada. After completing his studies in which he trained as an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist), he returned to Iran. His Canadian fiancee, Anita, followed and they were married in 1971. She and their three children, all under the age of seven, left Iran after the Revolution on the advice of the Canadian Embassy.

He was 48 years old at the time of his execution and was considered one of the top microscopic ear surgeons in the world. He was an innovator who devised a new method of ear surgery for the treatment of deafness. The method, now used in a modernized form around the world, allows a surgeon to implant a small hearing aid behind the ear of a hearing impaired person in a way that cannot been seen. [Iran Wire]

Canadian Council of Imams is an organization of religious leadership of Imams (Sunni and Shi'ia), representing the Islamic Community in Canada. [Office of Public Information]

More than 40 prominent members of Canada's legal community, including former Supreme Court judges and justice ministers, have penned an open letter to the Chief Justice of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, in order to draw attention to what they call "an alarming new chapter" in Iran's state-sanctioned persecution of its Bahá'í religious minority. Their letter came in response to a series of court rulings in 2020 that sanctioned the confiscation of the properties of dozens Bahá'ís in the village of Ivel in northern Iran justifying the seizure and sale of land on the grounds their religion denies them the right to own property. [Globe & Mail 8Feb21]
• For a complete report see Land confiscation and mass displacement of Bahá'ís in Iran.
• For the letter and the list of signatories see Open Letter to the Chief Justice of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
• Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney included his signature on this open letter. [BWNS1488]
• Australian farmers have released a video message drawing attention to the unjust confiscation of lands belonging to their "farming brothers and sisters" in Iran. [BWNS1492]
• The Collective Statement by Iranian Religious Modernists Condemning Confiscation of Baha'i Property.