EPILOGUE
I am the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things.... I am the Countenance of God Whose splendour can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose radiance can never fade.... I am one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God. Whosoever hath recognised Me, hath known all that is true and right, and hath attained all that is good and seemly.
—The Báb
On the third day after the martyrdom of the Báb, His remains, inextricably united with those of His heroic, faithful disciple, were placed in a casket and taken to a locality which was safe and secure.
What happened, during the next fifty years, to the remains of the Báb cannot be better summarized than in the words of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith:
Subsequently, according to Bahá'u'lláh's instructions, they were transported to Ṭihrán and placed in the shrine of Imám-Zádih Ḥasan. They were later removed to the residence of Ḥájí Sulaymán Khán[FN] himself in the Sar-Chashmih quarter of the city, and from his house were taken to the shrine of Imám-Zádih Ma`ṣúm, where they remained concealed until the year 1284 A.H. (1867-1868), when a Tablet, revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in Adrianople, directed Mullá `Alí-Akbar-i-Shahmírzádí[FO] and Jamál-i-Burújirdí to transfer them without delay to some other spot, an instruction which, in view of the subsequent reconstruction of that shrine, proved to have been providential.
Unable to find a suitable place in the suburb of Sháh `Abdu'l-`Aẓím, Mullá `Alí-Akbar and his companion continued their search until, on the road leading to Chashmih-`Alí [the `Alí Springs], they came upon the abandoned and dilapidated Masjíd-i-Mashá'u'lláh, where they deposited, within one of its walls, after dark, their precious burden, having first re-wrapt the remains in a silken shroud brought by them for that purpose. Finding the next day to their consternation that the hiding-place had been discovered,[FP] they clandestinely carried the casket through the gate of the capital direct to the house of Mírzá Ḥasan-i-Vazír, a believer and son-in-law of Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alíy-i-Tafrishí, the Majdu'l-Ashráf, where it remained for no less than fourteen months.[FQ] The long-guarded secret of its whereabouts becoming known to the believers, they began to visit the house in such numbers that a communication had to be addressed by Mullá `Alí-Akbar to Bahá'u'lláh, begging for guidance in the matter. Ḥájí Sháh Muḥammad-i-Manshádí, surnamed Amínu'l-Bayán, was accordingly commissioned to receive the Trust from him, and bidden to exercise the utmost secrecy as to its disposal.
Assisted by another believer, Ḥájí Sháh Muḥammad buried the casket beneath the floor of the inner sanctuary of the shrine of Imám-Zádih Zayd, where it lay undetected until Mírzá Asadu'lláh-i-Iṣfahání was informed of its exact location through a chart forwarded to him by Bahá'u'lláh. Instructed by Bahá'u'lláh to conceal it elsewhere, he first removed the remains to his own house in Ṭihrán, after which they were deposited in several other localities such as the house of Ḥusayn-`Alíy-i-Iṣfahání and that of Muḥammad-Karím-i-`Aṭṭár, where they remained hidden until the year 1316 (1899) A.H., when, in pursuance of directions issued by `Abdu'l-Bahá, this same Mírzá Asadu'lláh, together with a number of other believers, transported them by way of Iṣfahán, Kirmánsháh, Baghdád and Damascus, to Beirut and thence by sea to `Akká, arriving at their destination on the 19th of the month of Ramaḍán 1316 A.H. (January 31, 1899), fifty lunar years after the Báb's execution in Tabríz.[1]
Forty years after the martyrdom of the Báb, on a day in spring, Bahá'u'lláh was standing under the shade of a cluster of cypress trees on the slopes of Mount Carmel. In front of Him stretched the curve of the Bay of Haifa, beyond which loomed a sinister sight, the grim citadel of `Akká—His first abode when He was brought, a Prisoner and an Exile, to the Holy Land. In darkest days He had told His people not to grieve, the prison gates would open and He would raise His tent on the fair mountain across the bay.
He it was Whose advent the Báb had come to herald. For Him—He Whom God shall make manifest—the young Martyr-Prophet had suffered tribulations, had sacrificed His life. In His Dispensation, the Dispensation of His Forerunner had found its fulfilment, regained its splendour. And now as Bahá'u'lláh—the Lord of Hosts—looked at the expanse of rock below those cypress trees (which today still stand, firm and proud), He told His Son, `Abdu'l-Bahá, who would shortly wield authority in His Name, that a mausoleum should be raised on that mountain-mass to receive the remains of the Báb.
A decade went by before `Abdu'l-Bahá could carry out that command. The sons of Bahá'u'lláh, who had strayed away from His Covenant, strove hard to block the enterprise. But at last the land was secured, the access route was obtained, the foundation-stone was laid, and construction work had begun. Then the mischief wrought by those violators of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh led to the incarceration of `Abdu'l-Bahá within the walls of `Akká. His life was in peril, but though, for a while, all His activities were either curtailed or stopped, the work of constructing that mausoleum on Mount Carmel was never allowed to lapse.
In the year 1908, the despotism of the Ottoman rulers came to an end, and `Abdu'l-Bahá found His freedom. The next year on Naw-Rúz Day—March 21st—in a vault beneath the building which He had raised with undaunted resolution and with heart-ache, He deposited the casket containing the remains of the Báb within a marble sarcophagus, the gift of the Bahá'ís of Rangoon. Nearly forty years later, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, undertook to adorn the Shrine of the Báb with a superstructure, both strong and beautiful, crowned with a golden dome. Today it shines dazzlingly in the heart of Mount Carmel—the Mountain of God—a spiritual home for a flourishing world community and a beacon of hope for the whole of mankind.
APPENDIX I
THE SIEGE OF KARBILÁ
The best and fullest account of the upheavals in Karbilá is contained in a sixty-six-page dispatch from Lt.-Col. Farrant, the British Special Commissioner, to Sir Stratford Canning (later Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe), the British Ambassador in Istanbul.[1] His description of the position and the condition of Karbilá is particularly worthy of note:
"The town of Kerbella is situated about four hours distance from the right bank of the Euphrates on the confines of the Syrian desert, south south west of Bagdad about 55 miles distant, and is about 1-3/4 miles in circumference, surrounded by a brick wall about 24 feet high with twenty nine bastions each of which is capable of containing one gun—it contains 3400 houses of a very inferior description; the houses closely crowded together approach within three yards of the wall—the streets are very narrow, the tops of the houses are surrounded by a brick parapet and can be fired from without exposure, it has six gates three of which are very small—The tomb of Imaum Hossein is a fine building and stands nearly in the centre of the town, that of his brother Abbas in the South East quarter about two hundred and fifty yards from the Najif gate. The town is surrounded by gardens which approach close to the walls, leaving only a small footpath. The gardens are filled with huge date trees, intersected with numerous ditches, and extend to some distance from the town which is not perceptible until you are close under the walls. Its strength consists in its situation, but it appeared to me that a few good troops ought to be able to take it in a short time. The houses mostly belonged to Persians who have left their country and settled there for generations. Many of the rich men in Persia have houses and land there, that in time of need they may have a safe place of refuge, or wishing in their old age to retire to a place held in such veneration by them—
'The population varies from ten thousand to twenty thousand and eighty thousand, it is always fluctuating, and I was informed that during the time the pilgrims arrive, the streets are almost impassable—The houses are mostly divided into several small courts, occasionally one hundred persons are crowded into one of these houses, which to outward appearance could with difficulty contain half that number—The poorer pilgrims take up their abodes in the Courts of the Mosques—
'The working classes at Kerbella viz Bakers small shopkeepers day labourers &c. were all Persians.'
Najíb Páshá had warned the Persian, the British and the French Agents that he intended to attack Karbilá. In a long letter addressed to the Persian Agent in Baghdád dated Shavvál 16th 1258 (November 18th 1842), he had, after detailing the history of the rebellion in Karbilá and its consequences, uttered this clear warning:
'Being, however, near the shrines of Ali & Hoosein [Ḥusayn] I thought it my duty to visit them; with this auspicious determination I proceeded thither, when the rebel above named [Ibráhím Za`farání][FR] declared that if I came with troops he would not permit my entrance; and I ascertained that he had also prepared the means of opposition. To withdraw in this position of affairs from my publickly announced purpose was a difficult step; & should the report of it spread abroad, it might, God forbid, affect the whole order of government, the rejection, too, of the petitions of loyal & suffering subjects, who are the most sacred charge of the deity to us, is contrary to all the rules & requirements of justice; I therefore, determined to proceed, under the Imperial shadow, and the aid of the Almighty to the punishment of the rebels, as a warning example to his equals; & if, as I hear, he is prepared for resistance he shall submit to my entrance by force. There are many subjects of Iran in the town alluded to; let there hereafter be no claims, on the part of that high power, in behalf of these persons; let them come out with their children, families and property ... in fact they must not be in that town in the hour of hostility, as this is quite inconsistent with the state of the town & place. You must therefore in compliance with your duty in such cases, without delay, inform, all those whom it may concern, of these facts; for which friendly aid this letter is written and despatched; and, please God you will doubtless thus act on the receipt thereof, & without delay favour me with a reply to the same.'[2]
However, no warning was given to the Persians to quit Karbilá as Farrant's report makes clear: 'The Mollahs also excited the religious feelings of the peoples, making them believe it was a common cause, a religious war, a Persian seyd who was present, stated to me that many of the Persians fought or gave assistance, that he amongst many did not leave the town, thinking it would not be taken, and rumours were spread that the Shah was sending a large force to their assistance, he also stated that those Persians who were unfitted or refused to bear arms were obliged to give money ... likewise they considered themselves safe, as their Consul did not come to order them away.'
Instead, Farrant reports: 'The Persian Consul in reply to the Pacha begged him to postpone his intended attack, that if the town was taken by assault many innocent people (Persian subjects) would suffer, who at present were unable to come away ... that if he would delay his expedition for four or six months to give the Persians time to arrange their affairs, he would proceed to Kerbella, and bring the Persians away, and arrange everything for him.
'Three days before receiving the Pacha's letter, the Consul asserts he wrote privately to the Chief Priest Hajee Seid Kausem saying "we hear the Pacha will move on Kerbella, and if he is determined, he will certainly come, he is not an Ali Pacha—tell the Persians they had better come out—" After the receipt of the Pacha's official letter he again wrote to the Chief Priest [Siyyid Káẓim] of the Pacha's fixed determination, and requested him to tell all the Persians to quit the town—This letter he sent by a confidential person, but it appears it never reached, as the Chief Priest declares he never wrote to him, although he requested him to come to Kerbella—'
Farrant goes on to say: 'The Pacha would not listen to the propositions of the Consul—H.R.H. The Zel-i Sultan (son of the late Shah of Persia, a refugee) accompanied by Hajee Seid Kausem Chief Priest, Seid Wahab Governor[FS] of Kerbella, Seid Hossainee and Seid Nasseroola [Siyyid Naṣru'lláh], influential people of Kerbella, came to the Pacha's camp at Mossaib and remained four days—The Pacha told them he did not wish to injure the people, that Kerbella was in rebellion and belonged to the Sultan...' However, he was willing to make concessions, should the people of Karbilá submit to his rule and let soldiers be stationed in their city.
Farrant further relates: 'The Pacha told His R.H. the Zel i Sultan and Chief Priest before leaving his camp to warn all Persians to separate themselves from the Geramees (and gave the Prince a paper to that effect) that if they could not leave the town, they should retire altogether to one quarter of it, or else with their families and property seek protection in the Courts of the tombs of Hoossein and Abbas, for he was determined to proceed to extremities if the Kerbellai's refused to submit to his orders...'
Farrant reports a second excursion by Ḥájí Siyyid Káẓim and `Alí-Sháh, the Ẓillu's-Sulṭán, on behalf of the people of Karbilá, this time to the camp of Sa`du'lláh Páshá, the Colonel commissioned by Najíb Páshá to invest the city. 'About the 1st January [1843],' writes Farrant, 'the Persian Consul accompanied by Seid Ibrahim Kasveenee[FT] arrived at Najib Pacha's camp at Mossaib from Bagdad—The army had now been eleven days before Kerbella and much fighting had taken place, and many on both sides had been killed.' The talks which Mullá `Abdu'l-`Azíz (Persian Consul) and Siyyid Ibráhím had with Najíb Páshá bore no result, and as Farrant reports: 'The Consul and Chief Priest returned to Bagdad, they had been four or five days in the Pacha's camp—The Chief Priest in Kerbella Hajee Seid Kausem it is said (he told me also the same thing) wrote to the Persian Consul and Seid Ibrahim Kasveenee begging the former to come on to Kerbella, that "his presence was necessary, it was the hour of danger"—This letter was received by them after they had quitted the Pacha's camp about two hours. Rumours in the town were very prevalent, that the Shah of Persia was sending an army of twenty thousand men to their assistance, which gave great confidence to the Persians inside—Persians have informed me that they heard these reports and many believed them, also they have most positively assured me that their Consul never wrote or communicated with them, and on learning, that he had returned to Bagdad, did not consider there was any danger. The Consul asserts he wrote to the Chief Priest Hajee Seid Kausem, which the latter most positively denies....
'... The walls were daily crowded,' Farrant writes, 'by the inhabitants who vented the grossest abuse on the Sultan, and cursed the soldiers and their religion. The chief people in Kerbella did all in their power to excite the religious feelings of the Sheeahs against the Soonies, the Priests also were most active, I have been told, and as they could not fight, repaired any damages the walls might receive. They prayed also in the Mosques encouraging and exciting the people by telling them it was a religious war.'
And then came the final assault. Farrant reports: 'Before daylight on the 13 January the storming party moved from Camp accompanied by the main body which halted at the battery, a soldier advanced and clambered up the breach, observing that the guards had left their posts, and the few who remained were asleep at the bottom of the wall round a fire—he returned to the Seraskier and reported what he had seen—
'The storming party was then ordered to move forward...'
There was panic and slaughter. Farrant states that the sanctuary of the tomb of `Abbás was violated, but Sa`du'lláh Páshá personally intervened to prevent the desecration of the Shrine of Imám Ḥusayn. The boastful leaders fled the city and as Farrant puts it: 'The principal cause of the late affair at Kerbella may be ascribed to the chiefs of that place who supported the Geramees in opposition to the Government, and in the time of danger withdrew from the contest and left the innocent and helpless to the fury of the soldiers.' 'Many flung themselves over the walls and were dashed to pieces,' Farrant reports, 'whilst others sought shelter in the houses of H.R.H. The Zil i Sultan and Hajee Seid Kausem [Siyyid Káẓim] Chief Priest, the latter shewed me a court in his house where 66 persons of all ages and sexes were suffocated, or crushed to death flying from the fury of the soldiers...'
Farrant further reports: 'No Prince of the Royal blood nor any Persian of rank were [sic] killed, the sufferers were all of the poorer classes, small shopkeepers and labourers, also a few learned men—The wife of Prince Holakoo Meerza [Hulákú Mírzá] was severely wounded by a soldier (she is closely connected with the Shah of Persia being a daughter of the late Hoossein Ali Meerza Prince Governor of Fars).... The Secretary of Seid Ibrahim Kasveenee Chief Priest; Seid Mahomed Ali Moosvee [Siyyid Muḥammad-`Alíy-i-Músaví] was seized by the soldiers and forced to carry outside the walls some plunder for them, he stated who he was, but it was of no avail, on arriving outside the gate, they cut off his head and took it to the cashier of the Seraskier Pacha for a reward—he was a young man much respected.... The house of Alee Werdee Khan [`Alí-Virdí Khán] (an uncle of the present Shah) was also entered by the soldiers, this house was defended by the Arabs. The Khan jumped into a well to save his life, one of his servants went and informed the Seraskier who immediately sent some men to his relief—The Khan was taken to the Seraskier nearly dead with cold, who sent him into the haram [Shrine] of Hoossein for safety—Why the Khan did not leave the town before the siege is a mystery, it is said that he was very active in advising the Persians to remain in the town—'
The exaggerated reports from Mullá `Abdu'l-`Azíz, the Persian Agent in Baghdád, had served to heighten the crisis. He had apparently been slack in the exercise of his duties and when the siege was over, alarmed by the magnitude of the disaster, he endeavoured to make a quick getaway from Baghdád. Although the following report which he made to the Prime Minister of Írán, Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí, is unreliable and highly-coloured, it is of sufficient interest to reproduce.
'In short,' he wrote, 'there is no one left in Kerbelah, and of those who are alive, they are either wounded, naked or destitute of property. According to what is described, about 5,000 persons were killed in the shrine of Abbass,[FU] and property pillaged is beyond estimate—no one has anything left. Whatever the people of Persia possessed was brought to this place; afterwards it will become known, what quantity of Persian property was there.... Whatever Ali Nakee Meerza [`Alí-Naqí Mírzá] and Imam Verdee Meerza [Imám-Virdí Mírzá] (sons of Fatteh Ali Shah [Fatḥ-`Alí Sháh]) possessed was plundered even to the stripping naked their wives.... The wives of the people who were not killed were made captives.... Moollah Ali a person belonging to Ali Pasha, who is at present in the service of Mahomed Nejeeb Pasha, interceded for the women—Sadoollah Pasha (Colonel) replied, that "the troops being without women, they must remain some nights with them, after which we will dismiss them"...
'Besides what I have related, the two shrines were converted into barracks, and all the troops which are in Kerbelah have been quartered in the two shrines with their horses and cattle—They have tied their cattle in the apartments of the shrine and the college, and the troops have made their own quarters in the corridor and private apartments, and twice a day their drums and band play within the shrine—On whatever persons they wish to inflict punishment, it is done within the shrine of Imam Hoossein.... The remainder of the Sheeahs, who are in Nejeff, Hillah, Kazimeyn and Bagdad are dispirited to such a degree, that they have not the courage to weep at this calamity—
'All those who were in the private apartments of Hajee Syed Kazim (Chief Priest) and in the house of Ali Shah (Zil.e.Sultan) remained in safety—at the most about 200 persons were killed in the outer apartments of Hajee Syed Kazim....
'From the commencement to the close of the siege occupied 24 days—and from the day that the Pasha informed me, he would send troops against Kerbelah until they arrived there occupied 15 days, and notwithstanding my wishes that he would delay, until the people of Persia should quit Kerbelah, he neither gave any delay nor opportunity for their doing so....
'On account of these circumstances, the stay of your devoted servant in Bagdad is needless—As yet I have received no money from Kermanshah, if you were graciously pleased to grant it, and wrote to the Shoojah ood. dowleh [Shujá`u'd-Dawlih], to send some money speedily to me your devoted servant, to pay some of my debts,[FV] it is possible that I might be able to bring the Zil.i.Sultan[FW] along with me.'[3]
'The latest accounts from Kerbella,' wrote Lt.-Col. Farrant at the end of his long report on the siege, 'state the town to be perfectly quiet and its population daily increasing.'
APPENDIX 2
THE MARTYRDOM OF THE BÁB
The martyrdom of the Báb was reported by Lt.-Col. Sheil to Lord Palmerston, the British Foreign Secretary, on July 22nd 1850:
'The founder of this sect has been executed at Tabreez—He was killed by a volley of musketry, and his death was on the point of giving his religion a lustre which would have largely increased its proselytes. When the smoke and dust cleared away after the volley, Báb was not to be seen, and the populace proclaimed that he had ascended to the skies—The balls had broken the ropes by which he was bound, but he was dragged from the recess where after some search, he was discovered, and shot.
'His death according to the belief of his disciples will make no difference, as Bâb must always exist.'[1]
At the time of the martyrdom of the Báb, R. W. Stevens, the British Consul, was absent from Tabríz, and his brother, George, was left in charge of the Consulate. The latter had failed to report the event to Sheil. On July 24th, R. W. Stevens, back at his post, rectified that omission and added that the body of the Báb and His disciple had been 'thrown into the Town ditch where they were devoured by dogs.'[2] Sheil wrote to Palmerston, on August 15th, that 'Although the advice and opinions of foreign agents are generally unpalatable to the Persian Minister, I nevertheless think it my duty to bring under his observation any flagrant abuse or outrage that reaches my knowledge. I persuade myself that on such occasions notwithstanding the absence of acknowledgement on the part of the Ameer-i-Nizam [Mírzá Taqí Khán, the Grand Vizier], he may perhaps privately take steps for applying a remedy.' He went on to say that the Consul at Tabríz had reported that the body of the Báb, 'by order of the Ameer-i-Nizam's brother, was thrown into the ditch of the town to be devoured by dogs, which actually happened.'[3] He enclosed the copy of the letter he had written to the Grand Vizier on this subject. This is what he wrote to Mírzá Taqí Khán:
'Your Excellency is aware of the warm interest taken by the British Government in all that concerns the honor, respectability and credit of this Government, and it is on this account I make you acquainted with a recent occurrence in Tabreez which perhaps has not been brought to Your Excellency's knowledge—The execution of the Pretender Bab in that city was accompanied by a circumstance which if published in the Gazettes of Europe would throw the utmost discredit on the Persian Ministers. After that person was put to death, his body by orders of the Vezeer.i.Nizam was thrown into the ditch of the town to be devoured by dogs, which actually happened—This act resembles the deeds of bye gone ages, and could not I believe now occur in any country between China and England—Feeling satisfied that it did not receive Your Excellency's sanction, and knowing what sentiments it would excite in Europe, I have thought it proper to write this friendly communication, not to let you remain in ignorance of the occurrence.'[4]
Palmerston wrote back on October 8th: '... Her Majesty's Government approve of your having called the attention of the Ameer-i-Nizam ... to the manner in which the corpse of the Pretender Bâb was treated after his execution at Tabreez.'[5]
APPENDIX 3
PRELUDE TO THE EPISODE OF NAYRÍZ
On February 12th 1850, Lt.-Col. Sheil, back at his post in Ṭihrán after a long leave of absence, reported to Lord Palmerston:
'... a serious outbreak lately took place at Yezd, which however the Governor of that city with the assistance of the priesthood succeeded in quelling—
'The exciters of the insurrection were the partizans of the new Sect called Babee, who assembled in such numbers as to force the Governor to take refuge in the citadel, to which they laid siege—The Moollas conscious that the progress of Babeeism is the decay of their own supremacy determined to rescue the Governor, and summoning the populace in the name of religion to attack this new Sect of infidels, the Babees were overthrown and forced to take flight to the adjoining province of Kerman....
'The tenets of this new religion seem to be spreading in Persia—Bab the founder, a native of Sheeraz, who has assumed this fictitious name, is imprisoned in Azerbijan, but in every large town he has disciples, who with the fanaticism or fortitude so often seen among the adherents of new doctrines, are ready to meet death.... Bab declares himself to be Imam Mehdee, the last Imam, who disappeared from human sight but is to reappear on earth—His decrees supersede the Koran among his disciples, who not only revere him as the head of their faith, but also obey him as the temporal Sovereign of the world, to whom all other monarchs must submit—Besides this inconvenient doctrine, they have adopted other tenets pernicious to society....
'Conversion by the sword is not yet avowed, argument and inspiration from heaven being the present means of instilling or attaining faith in the Mission of Bab—If left to their own merits the not novel doctrines of this Preacher will doubtless sink into insignificancy, it is persecution only which can save them from neglect and contempt, and unluckily the proselytes are all of the Mahommedan faith, which is inflexible in the punishment of a relapsed Mussulman—Thus both the temporal and religious authorities have an interest in the extermination of this Sect.
'It is conjectured that in Teheran this religion has acquired votaries in every class, not even excluding the artillery and regular Infantry—Their numbers in this city, it is supposed, may amount to about two thousand.'[1][FX]
The incident at Yazd, which the British Minister was reporting to the Foreign Secretary, concerned the activities of a man named Muḥammad-`Abdu'lláh, who professed belief in the new Revelation. Vaḥíd was in Yazd at the time, fearlessly proclaiming the advent of the Qá'im. Navváb-i-Raḍaví, an influential man of the city, who hated Vaḥíd as much as Sa`ídu'l-`Ulamá had hated Quddús,[FY] was plotting to destroy him. Despite Vaḥíd's injunction, Muḥammad-`Abdu'lláh went ahead with his own schemes which resulted in clashes with the civil authority, and his own death. Vaḥíd was forced to leave Yazd in the dead of night, on foot. His house in Yazd was pillaged, and his servant Ḥasan was seized and put to death. While horsemen sent by his adversaries were searching for him, he hid in the mountains; and by mountain tracks made his way to Bavánát in the province of Fárs. There were many in that area who gave him whole-hearted support, among them the renowned Ḥájí Siyyid Ismá`íl, the Shaykhu'l-Islám of Bavánát. Then by way of Fasá he approached the city of Nayríz.
APPENDIX 4
THE SEVEN MARTYRS OF ṬIHRÁN
In the course of 1849, Prince Dolgorukov, the Russian Minister in Ṭihrán, had protested to the Persian Government that while going into the presence of the Sháh he had been forced to witness the dragging away of the writhing corpses of eight criminals, executed in front of the Sháh. Dolgorukov considered it an affront to him, the envoy of the Tsar, to be presented with such a spectacle. Sheil had backed Dolgorukov's protest.[1] Palmerston had, in turn, approved Sheil's action. On February 12th 1850, Prince Dolgorukov sent this report to Count Nesselrode in St. Petersburg:
'Minds are in an extraordinarily excited state due to the execution which has just taken place in the great square of Tihran. I have already once expressed my opinion that the method by which last year the troops of the Shah under the command of Prince Mahdi Quli Mirza exterminated the Babis will not lessen their fanaticism.
'From that time on the Government has learned that Tihran is full of these dangerous sectaries who do not recognize civil statutes and preach the partitioning of the property of those who do not join their doctrine. Becoming fearful for the social peace, the ministers of Persia decided to arrest some of these sectaries and, according to the common version, having received during the interrogation their confession of their faith, executed them. These persons, numbering seven, and arrested at random, since the Babis are counted already by thousands within the very capital, would by no means deny their faith and met death with an exultation which could only be explained as fanaticism brought to its extreme limit. The Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mirza Muhammad Ali, on the contrary affirms that those people have confessed nothing and that their silence was interpreted as a sufficient proof of their guilt.
'One can only regret the blindness of the Shah's authorities who imagine that such measures could extinguish religious fanaticism, as well as the injustice which guides their actions when examples of cruelty, with which they are trying to frighten the people, are committed without distinction against the first passer-by who falls into their hands...'[2]
Ten days later (February 22nd 1850), Sheil wrote to Palmerston that apparently the advice tendered by Her Majesty's Government that criminals should not be executed in the presence of the Sovereign had had some effect, because a few days before, seven Bábís, accused of conspiring to assassinate the Grand Vizier, had been put to death in public with no untoward incident. Sheil asserted that this fact proved the feasibility of public executions. Mírzá Taqí Khán had earlier stated that with executions in public there was the risk of a malefactor being snatched and spirited away. Sheil felt, however, that on this occasion there was sympathy for the executed, because the story of a conspiracy to murder the Grand Vizier was not generally believed. He further observed that the Bábís had been offered their lives, were they to recant, and they had firmly refused to do so. His own comment to the Grand Vizier had been that executing the Bábís was the surest way of propagating their doctrines.[3]
Lord Palmerston in answer to Sheil stated that Her Majesty's Government was pleased to learn that Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh had agreed with the advice not to have executions carried out in his presence, but added, 'the punishment of men for religious belief, besides being unjust and cruel, is also an erroneous practice, and tends to encourage and propagate the belief which it is intended to suppress.'[4]
APPENDIX 5
THE EPISODE OF ZANJÁN
The episode of Zanján covered the period from May to December 1850, and much engaged the attention of the British and Russian envoys. On May 25th Sheil reported to Palmerston: 'At Zenjan ... an attempt at insurrection was made by the Sect of the Babees whose leader is the chief priest of the town—Five hours after the receipt of this intelligence a Battalion of Infantry 400 horse and three guns marched towards Zenjan—This is an instance unexampled in Persia of military celerity, which perhaps would not be surpassed in many countries of Europe.'[1] A month later, Sheil reported: 'The insurrection at Zenjan has not yet been quelled. The Bâbees of that city continue to defend themselves with the zeal of proselytes and the contempt of life inculcated by their faith...'[2]
Prince Dolgorukov, the Russian Minister, commented on July 31st: 'The Government has exhausted all possible means to compel the Babis to submit voluntarily. Muhammad Ali who heads the two or three hundred of these fanatics in Zanjan, has fortified himself in one of the quarters of the said town and terrifies the inhabitants. The Amir was finally forced to take energetic measures, and the former beglerbegi of Tabriz, Muhammad Khan, has just been sent against them with an army of 2000 men and four cannons.'[3] Dolgorukov had grossly underestimated the number of the Bábís. (See pp. [185]-[6].)
Sheil wrote on August 22nd: 'The Bâbees of Zenjan still continue to maintain that nearly defenceless city against the Shah's troops.'[4] On September 5th he reported: '... these fanatics are reduced to a few hundred fighting men, they continue to maintain a hopeless contest, with undaunted resolution, refusing submission on any terms...'[5]
Dolgorukov reported on September 14th: 'The Babis, who are engaged there in a life and death struggle against the troops of the Shah, are still resisting the attacks of Muhammad Khan, and one can only wonder at the fierceness with which they meet the danger of their situation. Their leader Mulla Muhammad Ali, has appealed to the Turkish Minister, Sami Effendi, and also to Colonel Sheil for their mediation. However, my English colleague is of the opinion that it would be very difficult to force the Persian Government to consent to foreign intervention in favor of the above mentioned sectaries.'[6] On October 6th, the Russian Minister was in a petulant mood: 'I think it would have been better if they [the Persian Government] had given more serious attention to the affairs of Zanjan. The Babis have been fighting against 6000 of the Shah's best troops for almost five months now, and Muhammad Khan, who is already master of three quarters of the city, cannot take the quarter which they have fortified themselves and are defending ... with a heroism and a fury worthy of a better application.'[7] In his dispatch of November 9th, Dolgorukov wrote: 'New military units have just been dispatched against the Babis of Zanjan. This time the Governor of that city, a brother of the Shah's mother, Amir Aslan Khan, is accused of provoking the resistance, which the Babis offer the Shah's army, by his incautious behavior.'[8] And, at last, on December 26th Dolgorukov could report: 'The Zanjan disturbances have ended. After a siege which lasted for almost six months the Shah's troops have destroyed the center of the rebellion. The Babis who defended themselves to the last, and whose numbers were finally reduced to twenty men, who sought refuge in a cellar, were torn to pieces. In addition to monetary expenditures, this struggle has cost Persia 1500 in killed and disabled.'[9]
Meanwhile Sheil had been reporting on September 25th: 'The disciples of Bâb have barricaded a portion of that town, from which they cannot be expelled without a greater loss of life than the assailants seem willing to encounter.'[10] And he wrote on October 25th: 'Contrary to all rational expectation the small portion of Zenjan occupied by the Bâbees continues to set at defiance the efforts of the Shah's troops to expel that sect from the City.' In the same dispatch he stated that 'General Sir Henry Bethune who visited the scene of operations, expressed a conviction that three hours with ordinary troops would finish the affair...'[11] Bethune was the man who had helped Muḥammad Sháh to his throne. Sheil seems to have become wearied of reporting on Zanján, for on November 23rd he wrote: 'I continue unable to make any variation in my reports relative to Zenjan—The same feeble ineffectual attempts at assault, the same repulses still mark the progress of the siege.' Then he made the extraordinary assertion that it had been affirmed that the defenders of Zanján were not Bábís at all, that they had been heard to 'proclaim from the walls in hearing of the troops, the creed that "there is no God but God, and Mahomed is his prophet."' Those men were fighting, it was said, because of the enormities perpetrated by the troops. Even more extraordinary is this fantastic and incredibly false statement in that same dispatch of November 23rd: 'Moolla Mahomed Ali, their chief, has the reputation of having proclaimed himself to be the true Bâb, and his predecessor to have been an impostor.'[12] On December 16th Sheil wrote to Palmerston: 'Her Majesty's Consul at Tabreez having informed me that great atrocities are committed at Zenjan by the soldiery particularly by their shocking treatment of such women as have been captured, I brought the circumstances to the knowledge of the Persian Minister—The Ameer-i.Nizam thanked me for the information, and said he would take immediate steps for preventing such barbarous proceedings, which are entirely opposed to his sentiments and feelings—' '... the mode in which my communication was received by the Ameer. i. Nizam shows an improvement in his tone, and in the temper with which he listens to suggestions of the above nature.'[13]
On December 24th, Sheil reported to Palmerston: 'This protracted siege, if siege it can be called, is inexplicable—An English gentleman who lately passed through Zenjan informed me a few days ago that the portion of the town occupied by the Bâbees is confined to three or four houses, and that their numbers are utterly insignificant—They have adopted a mode of defence which seems to exceed the military skill of the Persian commanders—The entire of the space included within these houses is mined or excavated and connected by passages. Here the Bâbees live in safety from the shot and shells of the assailants, who evidently have no predilection for underground warfare.'[14]
Lord Palmerston on February 11th 1851 wrote to Sheil that '... Her Majesty's Government approve of your having called the attention of the Ameer-i-Nizam ... to the acts of violence committed by the Persian Troops against Zenjan.'[15]
And finally, here is the last report of Sheil on the episode of Zanján. It is dated January 6th 1851. 'I have the honor to report to Your Lordship that Zenjan has been at length captured—Moolla Mahomed Ali, the leader of the insurgents, had received a wound in the arm, which terminated in his death—His followers dismayed by the loss of their chief, yielded to an assault which their relaxation in the energy of their defence encouraged the commander of the Shah's troops to make—This success was followed by a great atrocity—The pusillanimity of the troops, which the events of this siege had rendered so notorious, was equalled by their ferocity—All the captives were bayonetted by the soldiers in cold blood, to avenge ... the slaughter of their comrades—Religious hatred may have conspired with the feelings excited by a blood feud, which among the tribes are very strong, to cause this ruthless act—Four hundred persons are said to have perished in this way, among whom it is believed were some women and children—Of the fact itself there can be no doubt, as it is admitted by the Government in its notification of the reduction of the city, though it may be presumed that in the number there is exaggeration.'[16]
APPENDIX 6
LORD PALMERSTON'S ENQUIRY
Lord Palmerston wrote to Sheil on May 2nd 1850:
'I have to instruct you to furnish me with a more detailed account than that contained in your despatch No. 20, of the 12th of February, of the difference between the tenets of the new sect of Bab, and those of the established religion of Persia.'[1]
Sheil answered Lord Palmerston on June 21st:
'In conformity with Your Lordship's instructions I have the honor to enclose an account of the new Sect of Bab—The statement contained in the enclosure numbered No. 1 is taken from an account given to me by a disciple of Bab, and which I have no doubt is correct. The other is extracted from a letter from a chief Priest in Yezd, and cannot be trusted—
'This is the simplest of religions. Its tenets are summed up in materialism, communism, and the absolute indifference of good and evil, and of all human actions.'[2]
Unfortunately both accounts sent to Palmerston are highly inaccurate. Moreover, Sheil's own comments indicate that he himself did not have an open mind. Plainly the account given to him, as he had stated, 'by a disciple of Bab', was not a verbatim rendering into English, but a reconstruction with interpolations, as witnessed by these two sentences: 'They believe in Mahomed as a Prophet and in the divine origin of the Koran: but Bâb contends that until this moment only the apparent meaning of the Koran was understood and that he has come to explain the real secret and divine essence of God's word. But it will be seen in a subsequent part of this account that the words Prophet and Divine origin have no signification.' Further evidence is provided by Sheil's rough notes with marginal additions[3] from which the account by a Bábí is drawn.
What disciple of the Báb would say: 'The intercourse of the sexes is very nearly promiscuous—There is no form of marriage; a man and woman live together as long as they please and no longer, and if another man desires to have possession of that woman, it rests with her, not with the man who has been her husband, if he can be so termed:—A man may have wives without limit; a woman has a similar licence.' This Bábí, unless his account was garnished, was either a nihilist of sorts, or totally ignorant of what the teaching of the Báb was.
Equally extraordinary, confused and contrary to the Writings of the Báb in the Persian and Arabic Bayán are the following lines in that account by a Bábí: 'There is no hell or heaven, therefore there is no hereafter—annihilation is man's doom in fact—he with every living and vegetable thing, in short everything whatever, will be absorbed in the Divinity—Everything is God, and therefore absorbed, which is the phrase of the Soofees, who consider every thing is a reflection of God—Hell is suffered and heaven is enjoyed in this world; but there is no such thing as crime, nor of course virtue, only as they concern the relations of man and man in this world. A man's will is his Law in all things....
'The most absolute materialism seems to form the essence of their belief—God is one—Every individual substance and particle, living or not, is God, and the whole is God—and every individual thing, always was, always is, and always will be.'[4]
The account by the Chief Priest of Yazd, which was a vitriolic attack on the Báb and Vaḥíd, and which Sheil had ruled out in his letter to the Foreign Secretary as 'cannot be trusted', was not dissimilar, in some respects, to the account by 'a disciple of Bab'.
These extracts make it clear how misinformed was Lord Palmerston, the British Foreign Secretary, by the reports of his representative in Ṭihrán.
APPENDIX 7
MYTH-MAKING
The volume of writing in the West about the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths is not insignificant. There are copious scholarly works on the subject in Russian, French and English. We have the works of Alexander Toumansky, Baron Rosen, Mírzá Kazem-Beg, Count Gobineau, A.-L.-M. Nicolas, and Edward Granville Browne. We also have attacks and refutations, but these latter categories belong to more recent years, when the Bahá'í Faith has been making considerable headway in the Western world.
There is another genre of writing which merits attention, if only for a negative reason. These writings do not enlighten; they create myths. Generally speaking, remarks by travellers and casual visitors to Írán fall within this category, but are by no means confined to such writers.
A sizable book could be compiled of the remarks and observations which are myth-making. Here we must be content with only a few extracts. Some of these solemn pronunciations are highly amusing, as with the following which is taken from a book by Arthur Arnold:[FZ]
'The measure of injustice and oppression which these courts of the Koran inflict upon the Christians may seem mild, in comparison with the treatment by which they suppress nonconformity within the pale of their own community. We have seen an example in the sentence of "a hundred sticks", which the incautious expression of liberal views brought upon the friend of the Zil-i-Sultan [Ẓillu's-Sulṭán],[GA] who added to free speech the wickedness of wearing trousers of European cut. There is, however, in Ispahan a surviving heresy, the most notable in Persia, which, when proved against a man, is almost a death warrant.[GB]
'Early in the present century, a boy was born at Shiraz, the son of a grocer, whose name has not been preserved. Arrived at manhood, this grocer's son expounded his idea of a religion even more indulgent than that of Mahommed. He is known by the name of Bāb (the gate), and his followers are called Bābis. In 1850, Bāb had established some reputation as a prophet, and was surrounded by followers as ready to shed their blood in his defence as any who formed the body-guard of Mahommed in those early days at Medina, when he had gained no fame in battle, and had not conceived the plan of the Koran. Bāb was attacked as an enemy of God and man, and at last taken prisoner by the Persian Government, and sentenced to death. He was to be shot. Tied to a stake in Tabriz, he confronted the firing party and awaited death. The report of the muskets was heard, and Bāb felt himself wounded, but at liberty. He was not seriously hurt, and the bullets had cut the cord which bound him. Clouds of smoke hung about the spot where he stood, and probably he felt a gleam of hope that he might escape when he rushed from the stake into a neighbouring guardhouse. He had a great reputation, and very little was necessary to make soldiers and people believe that his life had been spared by a genuine miracle. Half the population of Persia would perhaps have become Bābis, had that guardhouse contained the entrance to a safe hiding place. But there was nothing of the sort. The poor wretch was only a man, and the soldiers saw he had no supernatural powers whatever. He was dragged again to the firing place and killed. But dissent is not to be suppressed by punishment, and of course Bābism did not die with him. Two years afterwards, when the present Shah was enjoying his favourite sport, and was somewhat in advance of his followers, three men rushed upon his Majesty and wounded him in an attempted assassination. The life of Nazr-ed-deen [Náṣiri'd-Dín] Shah, Kajar, was saved by his own quickness and by the arrival of his followers, who made prisoners of the assassins. They declared themselves Bābis, and gloried in their attempt to avenge the death of their leader and to propagate their doctrines by the murder of the Shah. The baffled criminals were put to death with the cruelty which the offences of this sect always meet with. Lighted candles were inserted in slits cut in their living bodies, and, after lingering long in agony, their tortured frames were hewn in pieces with hatchets.
'In most countries, the theory of punishment is, that the State, on behalf of the community, must take vengeance upon the offender. But in Persia it is otherwise. There, in accordance with the teaching of the Koran, the theory and basis of punishment is, that the relations of the victim must take revenge upon the actual or would-be murderers. In conformity with this idea, the Shah's chamberlain executed on his Majesty's behalf, and with his own hand, one of the conspirators. Yet the Bābis remain the terror and trouble of the Government of Ispahan, where the sect is reputed to number more followers than anywhere else in Persia. But many of them have, in the present day, transferred their allegiance from Bāb to Behar, a man who was lately, and may be at present, imprisoned at Acca, in Arabia, by the Turkish Government. Behar represents himself as God the Father in human form, and declares that Bāb occupies the same position, in regard to himself, that John the Baptist held to Jesus Christ. We were assured that there were respectable families in Ispahan who worship this imprisoned fanatic, who endanger their property and their lives by a secret devotion, which, if known, would bring them to destitution, and probably to a cruel death.'[1]
Our second extract is from a much weightier book written by an American diplomat, Mr. S. G. W. Benjamin, the first United States Minister accredited to Írán:[GC]
'But the most remarkable sect now in Persia is probably that of the Bâbees, or followers of the Bâb. Their importance is not so much due to their numbers or political influence, as to the fact that the sect is of recent origin, full of proselyting zeal, and gaining converts every day in all parts of Persia, and latterly also in Turkey. The Bâbees present one of the most important religious phenomena of the age. It must be admitted, however, that they very strongly resemble in their communistic views the doctrines enounced [sic] by the famous Mazdâk [Mazdak], who was executed by Chosroes I after bringing the empire to the verge of destruction by the spread of his anarchical tenets.
'In 1810 was born Seyed Alee Mohammed, at Shirâz.... Like all the founders of oriental religions, he began his career with a period of seclusion and meditation. He accepted Mahomet and Alee in the creed which he considered himself predestined to proclaim; but he added to this the declaration that their spirits had in turn entered into his own soul, and that he was therefore a great prophet,—the Bâb, who was to bring their gospel to a legitimate conclusion. It became his mission, therefore, to announce that all things were divine, and that he, the Bâb, was the incarnate presentment of the universal life. To this doctrine was added a socialism which formulated the equality of all, sweeping away social classes and distinctions, and ordaining a community of property, and also, at first, of wives. The new doctrines took hold of the heart of the masses; men and women of all ranks hastened to proclaim their yearning for something that promised to better their condition, by embracing the wild teachings of the Bâb ... the Government could not long remain blind to the possible results if the movement were allowed to spread unchecked. Therefore, after several serious tumults, the Bâb was seized and executed at Tabreez. This only served to add fuel to the fire. A fierce persecution broke forth; but the Bâbees were not willing to submit tamely to suppression.... The Bâbees are now obliged to practise their faith in secret, all of those in Persia being outwardly of the Sheäh sect. But their activity does not cease, and their numbers are increasing rapidly. The sect has also extended to Turkey. The leader of the Turkish branch resides at Constantinople.
'In Persia the title of the present head of the sect is Sob-e-Azêl [Ṣubḥ-i-Azal]. As his belief in the Bâb is a secret, his name is not mentioned in this connection.... Just now there seems to be unusual activity among the Bâbees, emissaries or missionaries are secretly pervading the country, not only seeking to make proselytes but also presenting modifications in belief. The community in wives is no longer a practised tenet of the Bâb sect, while it is proclaimed with increasing emphasis that the Bâb is none other than God himself made manifest in the flesh.'[3]
The next extract is by another diplomat, General Sir Thomas Edward Gordon, who had once been the Military Attaché and Oriental Secretary of Queen Victoria's Legation in Ṭihrán, and wrote his book after a second visit to Írán:
'The Babi sect of Mohammedans, regarded as seceders from Islam, but who assert their claim to be only the advocates for Mohammedan Church reform, are at last better understood and more leniently treated—certainly at Tehran. They have long been persecuted and punished in the cruellest fashion, even to torture and death, under the belief that they were a dangerous body which aimed at the subversion of the State as well as the Church. But better counsels now prevail, to show that the time has come to cease from persecuting these sectarians, who, at all events in the present day, show no hostility to the Government; and the Government has probably discovered the truth of the Babi saying, that one martyr makes many proselytes....
'An acknowledged authority on the Bab, the founder of this creed, has written that he "directed the thoughts and hopes of his disciples to this world, not to an unseen world." From this it was inferred he did not believe in a future state, nor in anything beyond this life. Of course, among the followers of a new faith, liberal and broad in its views, continued fresh developments of belief must be expected; and with reference to the idea that the Babis think not of a hereafter, I was told that they believe in the reincarnation of the soul, the good after death returning to life and happiness, the bad to unhappiness. A Babi, in speaking of individual pre-existence, said to me, "You believe in a future state; why, then, should you not believe in a pre-existent state? Eternity is without beginning and without end." This idea of re-incarnation, generally affecting all Babis, is, of course, an extension of the original belief regarding the re-incarnation of the Bab, and the eighteen disciple-prophets who compose the sacred college of the sect....
'The Babi reform manifests an important advance upon all previous modern Oriental systems in its treatment of woman. Polygamy and concubinage are forbidden, the use of the veil is discouraged, and the equality of the sexes is so thoroughly recognised that one, at least, of the nineteen sovereign prophets must always be a female. This is a return to the position of woman in early Persia, of which Malcolm speaks when he says that Quintus Curtius told of Alexander not seating himself in the presence of Sisygambis till told to do so by that matron, because it was not the custom in Persia for sons to sit in presence of their mother.'[4]
It must be said that Sir Thomas Gordon's long account of the Bábís (from which only a few passages are taken) is good in many respects; nevertheless, it perpetuates myths.
Finally, here are two extracts from a book[GD] so highly rated that, when it was published in 1915, it was put on the 'Secret List' of the British Foreign Office, and kept there for more than a decade:
'A religious heresy which was destined to produce serious political consequences in Persia made its appearance during the later years of Muhammad Shāh: this was Bābism, the creed of the Bābis or followers of the Bāb. The founder was Saiyid `Ali Muhammad, the son of a grocer of Shīrāz, who, being sent as a youth to represent his father at Būshehr, soon left that place on pilgrimage to Makkah and afterwards sat as a student at the feet of Hāji Saiyid Kāzim, the greatest Mujtahid of the day at Karbala. On the death of his teacher he returned to Būshehr, where he proclaimed himself a prophet, the 23rd May 1844 being accounted the date of his manifestation in that character.
'"He now assumed the title of the Bāb, or gate, through whom knowledge of the Twelfth Imam Mahdi could alone be attained. His pretensions undoubtedly became more extravagant as time proceeded, and he successfully announced himself as the Mahdi, as a re-incarnation of the prophet, and as a Revelation or Incarnation of God himself."[GE] The Bābi faith was ecclesiastically proscribed throughout Persia; and massacres of its adherents, with counter-assassinations of leading persecutors, became the order of the day.'
'The new Bābi religion in Persia, of which the institution may be dated from 1844, the year in which Mīrza `Ali Muhammad, commonly known as the Bāb, declared his mission, does not appear to have obtained as yet much hold on the coast of the Persian Gulf, notwithstanding that the Bāb visited Būshehr at an early stage in his public career. It was reported that at Būshehr there were in 1905 only about 50 Bābis, chiefly employed in the Customs Department or in the Artillery; a very few others were found at the ports of Bandar `Abbas and Lingeh, and possibly at Shehr-i-Vīrān in the Līrāvi district; but at Baghdād, which was the headquarters of the Bābi religion from 1853 to 1864, it did not appear that there are any. It is probable, however, that Bābis are to be found in places where their existence has not been ascertained.'[5]