[DU] An undated letter has come to light in the handwriting of Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh, written during the Ministry of Bahá'u'lláh, and addressed to `Aláu'd-Dawlih, a governor of Ṭihrán. The Sháh instructed the Governor to put certain questions to the 'Bábís' arrested by Amínu's-Sulṭán, including Áqá Jamál-i-Burújirdí, the only one he mentions by name. Only Amínu's-Sulṭán and Ḥájí Áqá Muḥammad, a divine, should be present for the questioning, he instructed, and the replies of the Bábís were to be recorded and presented to him. He himself, he said, might then have to meet these 'Bábís', to determine exactly what their aims and purposes were.
Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh's language was abusive, but two points are particularly worth noting in this long tirade: first, his admission that, before the tribunal in Tabríz, the Báb stood firmly by His claim that He was the Qá'im; second, his insistence that he wanted to know what were the beliefs and intentions of the 'Bábís'.
During the governorship of `Aláu'd-Dawlih, Áqá Najaf-`Alí, a Bahá'í of Tabríz, was arrested, resulting in the apprehension of a number of Bahá'ís in Ṭihrán. Áqá Najaf-`Alí had recently returned from `Akká and was the bearer of a number of Tablets. He lost his life but the other Bahá'ís were eventually freed.
[DV] Literally, 'chief-lictor', a Roman officer who executed sentences on offenders.
[DW] This is a mistake. The two brothers, Siyyid Ḥasan and Siyyid Ḥusayn, were not put to death with the Báb, contrary to Browne's note accompanying this account.
[DX] There was a certain Ḥájí Riḍáy-i-Qásí[10] in Shíráz, always ready to start a riot or head a revolt. The present writer recalls being told by his paternal grandmother that one day, at dawn, Ḥájí Qásí came galloping past their door, rattling a long stick (or a lance) in a hole in the wall, shouting: 'O house of the Siyyids, may you rest in safety, Muḥammad Sháh has gone to hell.' She remembered that incident very well, although at the time she was no more than seven or eight years old.
[DY] The father of Sulaymán Khán was an attendant of `Abbás Mírzá, and then of his son, Muḥammad Sháh.
[DZ] Towards the end of June 1849.
[EA] Towards the end of June 1850.
[EB] There were 360 derivatives. (Browne, ed., A Traveller's Narrative, Vol. II, p. 42.)