We were all gathered in the village of Níyálá and were resting at the foot of a mountain, when, at the hour of dawn, we were suddenly awakened by the stones which the people of the neighbourhood were hurling upon us from the top of the mountain. The fierceness of their attack induced our companions to flee in terror and consternation. I clothed Quddús in my own garments and despatched him to a place of safety, where I intended to join him. When I arrived, I found that he had gone. None of our companions had remained in Níyálá except Ṭáhirih and a young man from Shíráz, Mírzá `Abdu'lláh. The violence with which we were assailed had brought desolation into our camp. I found no one into whose custody I could deliver Ṭáhirih except that young man, who displayed on that occasion a courage and determination that were truly surprising. Sword in hand, undaunted by the savage assault of the inhabitants of the village, who had rushed to plunder our property, he sprang forward to stay the hand of the assailants. Though himself wounded in several parts of his body, he risked his life to protect our property. I bade him desist from his act. When the tumult had subsided, I approached a number of the inhabitants of the village and was able to convince them of the cruelty and shamefulness of their behaviour. I subsequently succeeded in restoring a part of our plundered property.[5]
The Episode of Shaykh Ṭabarsí
It was mid-July 1848 when the Bábís were scattered by the assault of the villagers of Níyálá. They took different routes, but many of them came together again. Bahá'u'lláh travelled to Núr, His home in Mázindarán. Quddús was arrested and taken to the town of Sárí, also in Mázindarán, where he was lodged, under restraint, in the home of Mírzá Muḥammad-Taqí, the leading divine. Ṭáhirih also went to the same province, and she too was arrested. Later, she was sent to the capital and was given into the charge of Maḥmúd Khán, the Kalántar (Mayor) of Ṭihrán, who detained her until the hour of her martyrdom in August 1852.
Mullá Ḥusayn, whose visit to the camp of Ḥamzih Mírzá had prevented him from attending the conference of Badasht, had in the meantime returned to Mashhad, and intended to go to Karbilá. But an emissary of the Báb overtook him with an urgent message. The Báb had conferred on him the name of Siyyid `Alí, had sent him a green turban of His own to wear, and had instructed him to go to the aid of Quddús with the Black Standard unfurled before him—the Standard of which the Prophet Muḥammad had said:
Should your eyes behold the Black Standards proceeding from Khurásán, hasten ye towards them, even though ye should have to crawl over the snow, inasmuch as they proclaim the advent of the promised Mihdí, the Vicegerent of God.[6]
Mullá Ḥusayn began his long march to Mázindarán to rescue Quddús, accompanied by many of the Bábís who had scattered after the incident in Níyálá, and some of the newly-converted who ranged themselves behind the Black Standard. Their numbers, on that journey, swelled into hundreds. On their way they raised the call of the New Day, finding eager supporters, but also such venomous hostility that they could not take residence in any town or village. Yet they did not intend to engage in combat with anyone, let alone the forces of the State. They were only demonstrating their belief and their vision.
As they approached Bárfurúsh, its leading divine, Sa`ídu'l-`Ulamá, was so vituperative in denouncing Mullá Ḥusayn that the whole town rose up to oppose the Bábís. Clashes and casualties were inevitable. Mullá Ḥusayn himself, in the fray, cut through the trunk of a tree and the barrel of a gun, in one stroke of his sword, to fell an adversary.[FA] The people of Bárfurúsh were worsted and asked for a truce, and because of their unrest, their leaders begged Mullá Ḥusayn to leave on the morrow for Ámul. `Abbás-Qulí Khán-i-Láríjání, whom Nicolas names as 'the chief military personage of the province,'[7] gave Mullá Ḥusayn a solemn promise, fortified by an oath on the Qur'án, that Khusraw-i-Qádí-Kalá'í and his horsemen would escort the Bábís to safety through the forests. This military chief impressed on Khusraw the need to do his duty by Mullá Ḥusayn, and to show him respect and consideration. But Sa`ídu'l-`Ulamá corrupted Khusraw by telling him that he personally would accept responsibility before God and man for any injury, or even death, that might be inflicted on the Bábís. Once in the depths of the forest, Khusraw and his hundred men treacherously attacked the Bábís. He received his desert at the hands of a man[FB] of learning, not a hardened trooper, who at the first opportunity stabbed and killed Khusraw with a dagger.
The Grand Vizier was particularly irked and infuriated that the Bábís could defeat and put to flight his force, although, for the most part, they were untrained in the arts of war. True, one could find in their ranks men such as Riḍá Khán-i-Turkamán,[FC] an accomplished young courtier, whose father was the Master of the Horse in the royal establishment. But these were exceptions. The vast majority were artisans, small traders, merchants, students of theology, divines.
Khusraw's treachery and death, and raids by hostile villagers on the exposed flanks of the Bábí camp, forced Mullá Ḥusayn to seek a place where the Bábís could be safely lodged. Arriving on October 12th 1848 at the shrine of Shaykh Aḥmad ibn-i-Abí-Ṭálib-i-Ṭabarsí, about fourteen miles south-east of Bárfurúsh, he gave orders for the construction of a fortress round the shrine, under the supervision of the builder of the Bábíyyih in Mashhad (see p. [56]). They were harassed at every stage by neighbouring villagers and had often to defend themselves. No sooner was their work finished than they received a visit from Bahá'u'lláh, who advised Mullá Ḥusayn to seek the release of Quddús, that he might be with them. This mission was soon accomplished and, towards the end of that year, Quddús joined them in the newly-built fortress, to be acknowledged by Mullá Ḥusayn as above him in rank.
On January 30th 1849, Lt.-Col. Farrant, then chargé d'affaires in Ṭihrán, reported to Lord Palmerston that some five hundred persons, 'disciples of a Fanatic, who calls himself the door, or gate of the true Mahomedan Religion', had assembled in Mázindarán, that fighting had broken out, and that `Abbás-Qulí Khán-i-Láríjání had been ordered to proceed to that province and arrest the leaders.[9]