The Baha’is of Iran, Transcaspia and The Caucasus Volume 2: Reports and Correspondence of Russian Officials 9780755610952

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ILLUSTRATIONS

1 Nasir al-Din Shah. Photo from a private collection.

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2 Baha’is of Sabzivar, Iran with portraits of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, c. 1890. © Baha’i World Centre.

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3 A page from document 10, in Viktor Rozen’s handwriting. © St Petersburg Branch, Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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4 Muhammad Amin ‘Ali Pasha. Courtesy Baha’i World Centre.

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5 Sultan ‘Abd al-Aziz. Photo from a private collection.

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6 First page of document 17. © St Petersburg Branch, Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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7 First page of document 18, in Vladimir Ignat’ev’s handwriting. © St Petersburg Branch, Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 40 8 Second from left: Aqa Buzurg Nishapuri (Badi‘), who carried Baha’u’llah’s message to Nasir al-Din Shah, 1869. © Baha’i World Centre.

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9 Baha’is of Hisar and Namiq in Khurasan, c. 1900. © Baha’i World Centre.

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10 Mas‘ud Mirza Zill al-Sultan. Courtesy Baha’i World Centre.

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11 Haji Muhammad-Riza Isfahani, killed in Ashgabat in 1889. © Baha’i World Centre.

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viii THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 12 Baha’is in Iran. © Baha’i World Centre.

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13 Ustad ‘Ali-Akbar Banna Yazdi. © Baha’i World Centre.

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14 A group of Baha’is in Isfahan, c. 1880. © Baha’i World Centre.

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15 Some Baha’is of Isfahan, c. 1890. © Baha’i World Centre.

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16 Haji Muhammad Turk, who was killed in Mashhad. © Baha’i World Centre.

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17 Baha’i men and boys of Baku, 1914. © Baha’i World Centre.

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18 Girl students of the moral education classes in Yazd with some of the Baha’i women. © Baha’i World Centre.

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19 Ustad Aqa Bala Badkubih’i (Bala Karimov), of Baku. © Baha’i World Centre.

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20 Baha’is of Azerbaijan with Aqa Sayyid Asadullah and Vahid Kashfi, c. 1918. © Baha’i World Centre.

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21 Baha’is in Baku, 1924. © Baha’i World Centre.

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22 Baha’i children’s class in Ashgabat, c. 1883. © Baha’i World Centre.

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23 Baha’is of Salyan, Azerbaijan, 1920. © Baha’i World Centre.

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24 Baha’i women in Baku. © Baha’i World Centre.

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25 Students and teachers of the seventh grade of the Baha’i girls’ school in Ashgabat, 1927. © Baha’i World Centre.

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26 Baha’i students and teachers in Balakhani, Azerbaijan, 1924. © Baha’i World Centre.

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27 Baha’is of Tashkent, with portrait of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and calligraphic rendering of the Greatest Name, Ya Baha al-Abha (O thou glory of glories), 1927. © Baha’i World Centre.

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28 Five members of a Baha’i committee in Tashkent, 1924. In the background, calligraphic rendering of the Greatest Name, Ya Baha al-Abha (O thou glory of glories). © Baha’i World Centre.

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29 The Mashriq al-Adhkar (House of Worship) in Ashgabat. © Baha’i World Centre.

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30 Baha’i women in Ashgabat, 1925. © Baha’i World Centre.

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31 Baha’is in Ashgabat including Haji Mirza Mahmud Afnan, Shaykh Muhammad-‘Ali Qa’ini, Munir Nabilzadih and Hakim-Ilahi from Qazvin, c. 1910. © Baha’i World Centre.

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32 Spiritual Assembly of Ashgabat including Aqa Sayyid Mahdi Gulpayigani, c. 1922. © Baha’i World Centre.

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33 Baha’is of Baku, c. 1923. © Baha’i World Centre.

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34 Boys with their teachers on the steps of the Mashriq al-Adhkar of Ashgabat. © Baha’i World Centre.

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NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION

The transliteration system used in this book for Persian and Arabic is based on the guidelines set by the International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES), but omitting diacritical marks. Within the translated letters and documents, words transliterated directly from Persian and Arabic are in bold type, while Russian transliterations of Persian and Arabic words have been romanized as written, with the exceptions that, when logical, g and kh are rendered as h and dzh as j. The word babid has been translated as Babi. Editorial interpolations are in square brackets. Ottoman names are transliterated according to the Arabic spelling. Place names with accepted English spellings and personal names of well-known figures are spelled in accordance with English norms, but within the translations, the spelling of names of places and persons used in the original has been retained.

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PREFACE

In contrast to the first volume of this collection, which consists of private letters written by former students and a classmate of Professor Viktor Rozen and related to Babi and Baha’i subjects, the documents in this volume consist of official Russian diplomatic dispatches, correspondence and reports. Not only do they provide a unique insight into the perception of Russian diplomats and officials regarding significant events in Babi and Baha’i history, as well as the role those individuals sometimes played in the events, but they also help us perceive the development of the Russians’ understanding of the Babi and Baha’i religions as well as the formation of Russian attitudes and policy toward the Babis and Baha’is in Iran and Russia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. For a complete list of acknowledgements as well as detailed background information on the history and development of the Babi and Baha’i religions and communities in Iran, Transcaspia and Transcaucasia; the socioeconomic context of the period; and the place of Babi and Baha’i studies in Russian Oriental studies, the reader is directed to the relevant section and introductory essays in Volume 1. For convenience and consistency, the date and place of writing of each document are given at the beginning even if in the original they were at the end. Dates in the Julian calendar have been converted to Gregorian. Notes internal to the documents are rendered

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xiv THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS as footnotes, while annotations and bibliographic citations are given as endnotes. Biographical notes on individuals named in the documents are included in a separate section at the end of the volume as well as a glossary of foreign terms.

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REPORTS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF RUSSIAN OFFICIALS

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1 Tabriz 4 May 18481 No. 258 To the Russian Imperial Minister Plenipotentiary in Persia, Actual State Counsellor,2 Chamberlain and Cavalier Prince Dolgorukov From the Consul-General in Tabriz Dispatch In consequence of the order of Haji Mirza Agasi [Aqasi], in recent days there was brought here from Urmia3 the Mulla,4 already known to Your High Excellency, who founded the new teaching and who calls himself the Bab, i.e., the door (to knowledge). It was ordered to interrogate him, and he was presented to the Veliagd [Vali‘ahd]5 in the presence of several of the clergy. When the question was put to him, who did he consider himself to be, the Bab answered: ‘I am the one whose splendour Moses saw in the burning bush; and I am the Imam whom you have been seeking for a thousand years.’ To the objection that such a declaration of himself as a higher being demands proof or miracles, the Bab answered that he composed Arabic verses, and he read them. But this did

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not produce much effect upon the listeners because the Master of Ceremonies of the Veliahd, Amir Aslan Khan, also read impromptu verses on that very topic, and even rhymed them. Then the Bab said that proof of his divine origin is also the fact that if one counts the numerals of his name (Ali Mohammed [‘Ali-Muhammad]) in the Indian manner6 it comes out the same sum as in the word Rab [Rabb],7 i.e., God. But here there followed an objection, of course very natural, but which he did not expect. Inasmuch as the numerals of the name Ali Mohammed constitute, necessarily, the same as the numerals of the name Mohammed Ali, and during the interrogation there was present the son of Bijan Khan, called by this latter name, therefore it followed that the son of Bijan Khan was also God. This definitely confused the Bab.8 On the next day he was flogged9 and sent back to Urmia. During the flogging he positively renounced all claims to a divine origin and to the right to found a new religion. Generally it was not difficult to notice that the Bab became somewhat demented from immoderate use of opium.10 He, nevertheless retained enough presence of mind to deny any participation in the murder of the chief mushtehid [mujtahid] of Kazvin [Qazvin],11 which, as all think, was carried out precisely on his order. State Counsellor12 Anichkov

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2 Tabriz 5 July 185013 No. 420 To the Russian Imperial Minister Plenipotentiary to the Persian Court From the Russian Imperial Consul-General in Tabriz Dispatch The ‘Bab’, known to Your High Excellency, was brought to Tabriz and imprisoned in the local arsenal. They await the order of the First Minister [Prime Minister, Mirza Taqi Khan] on the decision as to his fate. State Counsellor Anichkov

3 Mariam Abad 15 July 185014 No. 296 To the Consul-General in Tabriz Kind Sir, Nikolai Andrianovich, The Babi teaching, which by the day is gaining more followers in Persia, must attract our exceptional attention, and thus I most humbly beg Your High Honour to utilize all measures at your disposal for the collection of all possible information on the dogmas and progress of this teaching and to communicate it to me for comparison with that which I managed to gather in Teheran. The

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presence of the Bab himself in Tabriz may perhaps offer you, Kind Sir, the opportunity to obtain the most reliable information about this extremely interesting subject. [signed] Dolgorukov

4 Tabriz 18 July 185015 No. 450 To the Russian Imperial Minister Plenipotentiary to the Persian Court From the Russian Imperial Consul-General in Tabriz Dispatch The Bab was executed in Tabriz. One of his chief adherents, Mohammed Ali [Muhammad-‘Ali Zunuzi] was subjected to that same fate. Disorders did not occur during this, thanks to the wellthought-out actions of the local authorities. Both of the condemned met their death bravely, not asking for mercy and not revealing even the least word of their sufferings. Mohammed Ali particularly expressed unusual strength of character. Howeversomuch they tried to save him, proposing that he renounce the Bab, he only asked permission to die at the feet of his teacher and did not want to save his own life. Both were shot by the soldiers, who, for lack of experience in this form of execution, turned it into utter torture. The bodies of the executed were then thrown out of the city gates and were eaten by dogs.16 Concerning the impression produced in Zenjan [Zanjan]17 by the execution of the Bab, it is still unknown. State Counsellor Anichkov

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5 Camp Nemet-Abad [Ni‘matabad] 25 July 185018 No. 456 To the Russian Imperial Minister Plenipotentiary to the Persian Court From the Russian Imperial Consulate-General in Tabriz Dispatch On the instruction of Your High Excellency about the collecting of information regarding the dogmas of the teaching of the ‘Bab’, I am obliged to report that for a long time I have been making efforts in this regard, but the Persians, it seems, intentionally distort this teaching in their stories about it, and therefore until now it was not possible to gather anything positively informative about this subject. Now I hope to obtain from Hamze [Hamzih] Mirza for several days a genuine manuscript of the Bab and will try to extract from it the main points of the teaching. According to the latest news from Zenjan, the disorders occurring in this city are not expected to end soon. The other day the besiegers of the ‘Babis’ blew up or set fire to several of their houses, but the consequence of that was a sortie of the besieged, which ended unhappily for the Shah’s soldiers; up to 60 of them were killed, and the others were forced to retreat. Their leader Mola Mohammed Ali [Mulla Muhammad-‘Ali Zanjani] apparently is despairing, however, of the entirely successful conclusion of the rising which he had initiated, because he had begun to convince the Government, apparently, that he did not share the teaching of the Bab, and was compelled to defence by the circumstances, for, reckoning him to be a Babi, the residents and soldiers began to take hostile action against him, whereupon he was forced to defend

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himself. In a similar vein Mola Muhammed Ali wrote to the brother of the English Consul,19 asking him to take his side. To the pillage taking place in the environs of Zenjan, and which I have already mentioned repeatedly, has now been added, according to the testimony of the guliams [ghulams] of our Mission who have travelled along that road, the brigandage of the very soldiers sent there against the Babis. About the execution of the Bab, nowhere along the Teheran road is it yet known. State Counsellor Anichkov

6 Hamadan 18 August 185220 No. 80 (No. 445 according to general registration) To His Highness, Russian Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Teheran Court, Actual State Counsellor, Chamberlain of the Court of His Imperial Majesty and Cavalier, Prince Dmitrii Ivanovich Dolgorukov From State Counsellor of the Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Khanykov Dispatch Taking advantage of the promise of the Ruler of Hamadan, Prince Seif Ulla [Sayfullah] Mirza to deliver my present dispatch to Your High Excellency by courier, to be sent by him to the Shah [Nasir al-Din Shah] on the 20th of this month, I consider it a duty to respectfully bring to your attention the details which have reached me of the matter which has violently agitated the region here and all its environs. Finding myself in Hamadan en route from Sinna [Sinnih]21 to

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1. Nasir al-Din Shah. Photo from a private collection.

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10 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Tabriz, I wanted to set off on the journey yesterday in the morning. My baggage was already packed and I had only to give the order to load up and leave the city when suddenly the Prince’s Naib ferrash [Na’ib farrash] bashi came to me and said that the Shah Zade [Shahzadih, the Prince] had ordered to request that I delay my departure and, wherever I might be, hasten to meet with him. Having observed from the anxious face of the Naib that the matter was about something important, I asked him if he knew the reason for this sudden and, for me, unexpected invitation, and he answered me that he did not know for certain, but that, it seems, news had been received of the demise of the Shah.22 Immediately then, in my travelling clothes, I set off to the Prince in the house of Behmen [Bahman] Mirza, which he occupied, and on the way I already could observe a certain agitation among the people. Small crowds were continually gathering and dispersing, women were bustling about from one house to another, and constantly horsemen and pedestrians were hurriedly making for the bazaar. When I came to the Prince I learned that he was in the mosque completing his midday namaz; after several minutes he came out and asked me what I intended to do. I answered that he knew that I was planning to leave Hamadan and that only his invitation to meet with him had stopped me. ‘I wanted to ask you’, said he, ‘to delay somewhat your departure and to spend another day or two with us.’ ‘That would give me great pleasure’, I answered, ‘but I would wish to know the reason for such a gracious invitation, all the more unexpected for me since at yesterday’s meeting I had the honour to take my leave of Your Highness.’ ‘Yes’, remarked the Prince, ‘yesterday I myself did not know that the roads around Hamadan were not altogether safe, and that it would be better for you to wait.’ ‘What were the contents of the news received by Your Highness? I hope that the health of His Majesty the Shah is in a good state?’ ‘Praise be to God’, answered the Prince, ‘My man, who left Teheran last Thursday (that is, on 12 August) left His Majesty healthy and issuing orders; but a man sent by me yesterday to

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Teheran had to turn back from the journey by reason of the unrest and disorders which he encountered along the way.’ Seeing that the Shah Zade did not want to, or could not, tell me more, I satisfied myself in the positive conviction that he had no direct information from Teheran and, having taken my leave of him, returned home deliberately by another route, upon which I could ascertain that the indications I had noticed previously, of the agitation of the city’s population, were increasing more and more. Once home, I learned that the man of whom the Shah Zade had spoken to me was Zein el’ Abeddin [Zayn al-‘Abidin] Khan, the Shah’s Naib ferrash khan, who had an order to deliver to Teheran from Kirmanshah23 20 Kurds implicated in brigandage, but was obliged to return to Hamadan from the first or second menzil [manzil]. Wasting no time, I sent my mihmandar to him to find out what had happened, and he told him that along the way he encountered the chervodar [charvadar or charpadar] Ujan Kuli, who had cast off his baggage near Teheran and was riding to Hamadan; the latter recounted to him that Teheran was rioting, that they had assassinated the Shah, that they had cut up into little pieces his adjutant [ajudan] bashi, Aziz Khan, and that to go to Teheran now was impossible, as on the road they were robbing and murdering those passing by. Fearing that the criminals entrusted to him might take advantage of this situation in the area and run off, he had the carelessness to believe the words of this chervodar and returned to Hamadan, where his people and he himself were the first to put out the rumours about the assassination of the Shah. Meanwhile, the agitation grew, out of fear that bread and vital provisions could become more expensive; people were gathering in crowds near the shops of bread-sellers and near the grocery shops with a clamour and demanding the distribution of the available bread and food-stuffs. Speculators immediately raised by one shai [shahi] the price of barley and saman [samn], while malevolent people put out among the crowd the rumour that rich men

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12 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS wanted to buy up all the flour and available grain so that they might sell it later for a dearer price to the poor. To forestall the disorders that might arise out of this, the Prince, with commendable sang-froid and presence of mind, ordered the daroge [darughih] to seal all the private granaries and bread storehouses for one day, to convince the people that neither for money nor without it would they take out of them the supplies of grain and flour. Moreover, guards were posted everywhere, and towards evening the agitation began to subside, when suddenly through the bazaar passed the caravan which, three days before that, had left Hamadan for Teheran, and the people who had been there recounted in great detail that the Shah had ordered to imprison Aziz Khan; that Khan’s people, in revenge for that, had lain in wait for the Shah during the hunt and wounded him fatally with three bullets, of which the first hit the Shah in the head, the second in the chest on the right side, and the third one in the right thigh; that sarbazes and ardals who were near the Shah during the hunt, assuring themselves that this crime had been committed by the people of Aziz Khan, rushed to the house where he was imprisoned, broke down its doors and, after killing the adjutant bashi, cut him up into small pieces; finally that during this event the ferrashbashi of the Shah also died seeking to resist them and that all this they had heard from that same chervodar Ujag [Ujan?] Kuli who was allegedly an eyewitness of the majority of these events. Your High Excellency, knowing the credulity of the Persians, can easily believe that such news, recounted among the agitated crowd with such consistency and in such detail, and later disseminated as rumour by hundreds through all the back streets of the city with considerable exaggeration, could not but arouse the agitation of the mob to a high level all over again. Before sunset, wild shouts rang out all round, people appeared everywhere, and everywhere rifle and pistol shots could be heard. The Shah Zade, meanwhile, dealt with the situation very well; he ordered to seize the chervodar Ujag Kuli, who had finally reached

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Hamadan; from among the city residents, auxiliary guards were formed, posted at all the innumerable gates of the Hamadan streets, and the Prince’s own ferrashes went about everywhere and dispersed the gatherings and crowds. The efficacy of all these orders I personally saw for myself, and I am certain that to them Hamadan owes the preservation of order. Two hours after sunset, the first somewhat reassuring news was received that the Shah was alive, but that the adjutant bashi had actually been killed; at midnight chapars arrived from Teheran, finally calming all with the positive news that although in the capital there had indeed been riots, carried out by the Babis,24 nevertheless, during this, thank God, neither the Shah nor anyone from his retinue lost their lives and were not even exposed to this danger. Today I considered it my duty to congratulate Seif Ulla Mirza and tomorrow I intend to depart for Tabriz. In conclusion, I have only to apologize to Your High Excellency for the length of the present dispatch, in which I did not wish to omit even one detail, which might give you a real conception of this incident, which may not be slow to stir up various rumours at the court of the Shah. State Counsellor Khanykov

7 Mariam Abad 1 September 185225 No. 403 for No. 445 To State Counsellor Khanykov Kind Sir, Nikolai Vladimirovich, I hasten to offer Your High Honour my heartfelt gratitude for your memorandum of August No. 80, in which you, Kind Sir,

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14 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS inform me about the disorders which occurred in Hamadan with regard to the false rumours spread about the attempt of the Babis on the life of His Majesty the Shah, which occurred on the 15th of last month, which memorandum was received by me in good order. I shall not hesitate to inform the Persian Government about it, and, meanwhile, I consider it my duty to inform Your High Honour that His Majesty Nasir Eddin [Nasir al-Din] Shah finds himself in lusty health and that not a single one of the high officials of His Court suffered during the event the rumours mentioned, and that in Teheran itself there did not occur any particularly serious disorders. The criminals and their accomplices, belonging to the sect of Babis, were put to death most brutally.26 Reiterating to you, Kind Sir, my gratitude for your communication mentioned, I most humbly beg you to accept the assurance of my most perfect respect. [signed] Dolgorukov

8 Camp Dizhvizhin 20 September 185227 No. 489 To the Russian Imperial Minister Plenipotentiary to the Persian Court From the Consul-General in Tabriz Dispatch In consequence of the accusation against the Babis in the attempt on the life of the Shah, the Ruler [i.e., governor-general] of Azerbaijan28 received an order again to search for the followers

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2. Baha’is of Sabzivar, Iran, with portraits of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, c. 1890. © Baha’i World Centre.

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16 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS of this sect and seized three people on suspicion of adopting the teaching of the Bab. They were subjected to interrogation and indicated that in the village of Milan,29 50 versts from Tabriz, there were also many Babis. Hamze Mirza immediately sent ghuliams there, who seized and brought to Tabriz 20 Hajis from the most prosperous residents. Nothing has been done against them yet, but this new persecution of the Babis has given rise to a certain agitation in the city, supported by news which has reached Tabriz about unheard-of brutality and executions taking place now in Teheran.30 Upon the death of the Emir [Mirza Taqi Khan Farahani Amir Kabir], the people came to hate the Shah even more because they expected a lessening of the severity and, in general, an improvement in their fate, but saw that oppression and extortion, on the contrary, intensified. Rumours about an attempt on the life of the Shah were therefore received not only indifferently, but even with the hidden hope that the death of His Majesty had been concealed solely to avert disorders, and that in reality he had died from the wounds, as the pistol was apparently loaded not with small shot, but with small case-shot.31 This was a topic of general conversation, and diverse suppositions were made on these grounds. Some said that the throne would be attained by the younger brother of the Shah,32 supported by the English; others were certain that the heir would be Behmen Mirza33 as a result of support on the part of Russia. The rumour was even spread that the son-in-law of this Prince, Sultan Hussein [Husayn] Mirza,34 having obtained a passport from the [Russian] Consulate-General, set off for Behmen Mirza in Shusha,35 and the Tabriz authorities were trying to find out on the quiet whether this was exactly the truth. Nothing of the sort, however, had happened, and Sultan Hussein Mirza did not declare his intention to go to his fatherin-law. After the [matter of] the Milan Babis, a directive was sent to seize a certain Serheng [Sarhang] Abdul Ali Khan,36 who was suspected of adopting the teaching of the Bab, but he found out

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about this in advance and hid in the house of the British Consul [in Tabriz],37 where he later moved all his movable personal property. In order to win him over to leaving his ‘best’ [bast] the Ruler [i.e., governor] of Azerbaijan had to give Mr [Richard White] Stevens a written commitment that they would forgive Abdul Ali Khan and would not persecute him. From Milan there also fled to the home of the British Consul one of the most prosperous residents, by the name of Haji Tagi [Taqi], and for his return after unsuccessful negotiations with Mr Stevens, a certificate is now being drawn up stating that this man is not a Babi at all and he has nothing to fear. After this, another order was received from Teheran to seize Haji Mirza Shefi [Shafi‘],38 a man of noble origin, and two clerics: Mulla Ali and Mirza Riza, nephew of the former Tiflis39 Mushtehid, Mir Fettah [Fattah]. They did not dare, however, to arrest them until now, fearing to arouse too strong a displeasure, all the more so as the adoption by them, as well as by Serheng Abdul Ali Khan, of the Bab’s teaching is very doubtful. All these accusations are being attributed to the intrigues of their enemies in Teheran. In Zenjan 25 men were also seized and sent for execution to Teheran. From Kum [Qum]40 news has been received here that apparently the Shah’s muhassils, sent there to seize Babis, encountered a great obstacle in the execution of the order of His Majesty because the residents began to walk through the city with funeral banners in mournful procession and incited the people to an uprising. Actual State Counsellor Anichkov

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3. A page from document 10, in Viktor Rozen’s handwriting. © St Petersburg Branch, Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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9 Camp Shamaspi [Sham Asbi] 4 October 185241 No. 517 To the Russian Imperial Minister Plenipotentiary to the Persian Court From the Consul-General in Tabriz Dispatch In Tabriz the Government by chance discovered at one gunsmith’s a sort of infernal machine, consisting of 12 pistol barrels, ordered by an unknown man. The latter was almost caught later when he came to the gunsmith, but defended himself with the help of a dagger and escaped. The purpose of this machine remains, for the present, unknown. They think that the order was made by one of the Babis for killing the local Imam Juma [Jum‘ih]. Actual State Counsellor Anichkov

10 Tabriz 27 June 185542 No. 647 Copy of a dispatch43 I had occasion to receive the secret information that one of the most important clerics of Azerbaijan, Aga Seid Ali [Aqa Sayyid ‘Ali], who was in Kerbela [Karbala]44 for the time being, secretly appealed to the Teheran and local authorities, warning them

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20 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS about the extraordinary strengthening and development in Kermanshah of the new religious sect ‘Rukni-rabi’.45 This teaching, in many respects, has a similarity to Babism and what is most unfavourable of all for the Government, it is also directed against the power of the Shah. The Department is not unaware that the Shiites consider that after Muhammed, the 12 Imams, one after another, inherited the spiritual power of the Prophet, and that the thirteenth, the Imam Mehdi [Mahdi]46 went into concealment from view of the people, but up to now is still alive, and that supreme power over everything belongs strictly to him, that even the Shah and other secular authorities only took possession of this advantage by force and, therefore, before the spiritual court, strict submission to them is unnecessary. Four main sects have developed from this teaching, viz.: Mutasharei [Mutasharri‘un],47 Sheikhi [Shaykhi],48 Babi and Rukni-rabi. The first believe that the mushtehids receive the spiritual power of the Imam only while applying the law and in cases regarding private life; the second reckon the mushtehids to be mediators between the people and the Imam and extend this mediation not only to judicial matters, but in general to everything relating to the human race, since according to their beliefs the Imam is the direct mediator between God and all his creatures. Babis recognize the identity of the Bab with the thirteenth [i.e., twelfth] Imam Mehdi and reckon that to him alone is obedience obligatory. Rukni-rabi, i.e., the Fourth Supporters, maintain that the first [illegible, probably ‘support’] of the faith is the Prophet, the second is [Imam] Ali, the third is the thirteenth [twelfth] Imam, and the fourth is that man to whom, alive but hidden from view, Imam Mehdi passed his rights over the people, and that, consequently, only to him alone is obedience obligatory and he can in turn appoint naibs for other places where he personally is not present. Now they believe that this power is in the hands of [illegible] Kerim [Karim] Khan, the son of Kerim Khan Zendi,49 the brother of Jafar Kuli [Ja‘far Quli] Mirza, Khosrow [Khusraw] Khan and Shahrud Khan, who is at the court of the Emir of

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Bukhara. This Kerim Khan is now in Kermanshah; at first he was said to be simply a sufi, i.e., a man who has freer views on religion, but little by little he built his own teaching and now has very numerous and ardent followers. They say that he even found a means of spreading his teaching in India, from whence they not infrequently send him significant capital. Here, a certain Haji Mirza Shefi [Shafi‘] is reckoned to be his naib. This man was originally a follower of the Bab, but fearing the persecution of persons belonging to this sect, after their attempt on the life of the Shah, he withdrew to the countryside and from there, by means of presents sent to Teheran, managed to obtain for himself a firman of safe conduct, by which the Shah attested that Haji Mirza Shefi was a solid official and was considered to be his [illegible]. Aga Seid Ali considers this sect to be extraordinarily dangerous, but taking into consideration that at the same time this cleric solicits from him and sends him money, I am certain that this was not without influence upon his evaluation of the importance of this sect. Nevertheless, I am informed from other sources as well that it exists and that perhaps in the near future the actions of persons belonging to it may be the cause of riots in Persia, hence I quite considered it a duty to most respectfully bring all this to the notice of the Department. Anichkov

11 Tabriz 22 December 186650 No. 36 Telegram from the Head of the Consulate-General in Tabriz (coded) I have just learned of the discovery in Tabriz of a large number of followers of the sect of the Bab. I will report the details by post.

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22 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 12 Tabriz 23 December 186651 No. 992 To the Russian Imperial Chargé d’Affaires in Teheran From the Head of the Consulate-General in Tabriz Dispatch As an addition to my coded telegraphic dispatch, I take the liberty to respectfully report that of late in Tabriz there were discovered a great number of followers of the Babi sect, and in the city numerous arrests were made. The matter became revealed in the following manner: one of the inhabitants of Tabriz, a Seid [Sayyid], the name of whom is not known, was murdered by Sheikh Ahmed, who had come from Khorasan,52 and who was immediately seized and brought to the house of the Mushiri Leshker [Mushir-i Lashkar], Mirza Kahreman [Qahriman Qumshih’i], where in the presence of the Mushtehid Haji Mirza Bagir [Baqir],53 Sheikh Ahmed was interrogated about the reasons that induced him to commit the crime. To this, Sheikh Ahmed answered that due to a failure to carry out the regulations of their shariat, the Seid was deserving of death, that he did kill him and hereupon declared frankly that he was one of the chief heads of the sect. Among the papers found in the apartment of Sheikh Ahmed there were about 90 letters, addressed in the name of various persons living within the confines of Persia as well as even in Turkey, and the delivery of which to the addressees was entrusted to Sheikh Ahmed. Together with these, there were found a great number of copies of the Koran, compiled according to the spirit and tendencies of the sect. All the persons in Tabriz in whose

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names letters were found were immediately arrested, and since among the letters there was also one in the name of the Teheran Bezzaz [Bazzaz] Haji Jafar, this was reported by telegraph to the Serdari Kul’ [Sardar-i Kull], who issued an order for the arrest of Haji Jafar and instructed the Mushiri Leshker to thoroughly search for and arrest all suspicious persons. The number of those arrested, they say, is up to one hundred. As of this time, it is still unknown what fate awaits them but, of course, it will speedily become clear. Most respectfully bringing the foregoing to the notice of Your High Nobleness, I take the liberty to add that I shall not fail to report to the Imperial Mission in good time about the development of this matter. Collegiate Assessor Ivanovskii

13 Tabriz 31 December 186654 No. 1021 To the Russian Imperial Chargé d’Affaires in Teheran From the Head of the Consulate-General in Tabriz Dispatch As an addition to my dispatch of 23 December No. 992, I take the liberty to respectfully submit herewith for the consideration of Your High Nobleness a copy of the instructions, secretly delivered to me, given by the Babi Murshid to the follower of the said sect, Sheikh Ahmed, who was arrested in Tabriz for activity both with regard to his movements within the confines of Persia as well as within the confines of the Ottoman Empire.55

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24 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Arrests on the charge of belonging to the Babi sect are still continuing in Tabriz. Collegiate Assessor Ivanovskii

14 Tabriz 15 January 186756 No. 4 To the Russian Imperial Chargé d’Affaires in Teheran From the Head of the Consulate-General in Tabriz Dispatch In my dispatches of 23 and 31 December of last year Nos. 992 and 1021, I had the honour to respectfully bring to the notice of Your High Nobleness the discovery in Tabriz of a large number of followers of the Babi sect and the arrests conducted as a result of it. Four days ago there were received by telegraph from [‘Aziz Khan Mukri] Serdari Kul’ orders to execute the principals among the arrested Babis, and on that same day three of them, namely: Sheikh Ahmed, Mirza Mustafa and one dervish, whose name was not positively known, subsequent to the aforesaid order, were executed and their corpses were left for three days in the place of execution without burial, and were subjected to all manner of insults from passers-by. Finally the corpses of the executed, partially eaten by dogs, were buried by order of the Mushiri Leshker. I take the liberty to respectfully inform Your High Nobleness about the aforementioned in continuation of the said dispatches. Collegiate Assessor Ivanovskii

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15 Teheran 25 January 186757 No. 1 Copy of a dispatch addressed by the envoy M[onsieur] Zinoview [Zinov’ev] to Prince Gortchakov [Gorchakov] The Director of the Consulate-General in Tauris [Tabriz] will have already notified the Imperial Ministry of the numerous arrests that have been made in this city among individuals who are alleged to share the pernicious doctrines of the Bab. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, whom our foremost Interpreter has had the opportunity to inform about these facts, has told Mr Sévriougine [Sevriugin] that H.M. the Shah, recalling the attempt that had been directed against his person in 1852 by individuals belonging to the same sect, was intensely affected by the news that arrived from Tauris, but that nevertheless He has decided to act with great moderation at the present juncture. The King, as Mirza Said Khan has assured us, could not do otherwise than to condemn to death the three individuals who admitted to have been mourchides [murshids] (spiritual guides) of the Babis, but as for the rest of the accused, His Majesty intends to pardon them and to this effect He has already left the judgement of this case to the ulemas [‘ulama]. The latter, according to the precepts of the Muslim religion, will propose to the Babis to recant their errors, and it is to be assumed that the sectarians will be obedient to the exhortations of the Muslim clergy, which [action] will deliver the Persian Govt from the necessity of taking severe action against the accused, a necessity that it seems to wish to avoid at all costs. It will not perhaps be the same in Khorassan, where presumably the main seat of Babism is to be found, and where consequently

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26 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS the Persian Govt will prove less scrupulous in the choice of means to stop the propagation of the said sect. Meanwhile, under the influence of the anxiety which the recent events in Tauris have caused him, the Shah seems to have abandoned his plan to go to Khorassan.

16 Adrianople 7 September 186858 Babis in Adrianople Dispatch from the Head of the Consulate in Adrianople59 No. 88 It is known to Your Excellency that in 1862 the Turkish Government, in consequence of the insistent demands of the Persian Mission in Constantinople, was constrained to intern Persian emigrants belonging to the sect of the Persian60 poet, Mahammed61 Ali [‘Ali-Muhammad], called the ‘Bab’; with this aim, Adrianople was chosen as the place of residence for the Persian62 schismatics, who did not tarry in arriving here to the number of 5063 from Baghdad, the initial place of their asylum. Among the other ‘Babis’ there was also a certain Husein Ali [Husayn-‘Ali, Baha’u’llah], who played among them the role of great64 sheikh.65 Until lately the ‘Babis’ remained in Adrianople, leading here a quiet and secluded way of life, carrying out with all punctuality their religious rites and engaging in small-scale trade. In the first part of August the local kaimakam66 received a telegram from the Grand Vizier, in which Aali [‘Ali]-Pasha directed him immediately to send all the Persian emigrants to Gallipoli67 under escort, where there would await them the commissioner

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4. Muhammad Amin ‘Ali Pasha. Courtesy Baha’i World Centre.

from the Porte, to whom had been given appropriate instructions for the further journey of the Babis. It goes without saying that the Turkish authorities, out of excessive zeal, were quick to go too far in carrying out the orders of Aali-Pasha, and in this aroused the extreme indignation of the already angry Babis (sic).68 The Adrianople kaimakam69 first of all, and without any need, ordered to put into prison all the Persian emigrants, excluding their sheikh, who found himself under house arrest. This measure so embittered the Babis that one of them even attempted to commit suicide. During the arrest, the kaimakam sold all the property of the Babis and paid off their debts to Turkish as well as to Greek subjects.70 Several days afterwards, all of them were sent as directed by the Porte71 to Gallipoli. The true reason that prompted the Turkish Government to move the Babis from Adrianople to Chios Island72 is unknown, but as far as my information73 about this sect in general permits me to infer, I am ready to suppose that this resettlement of the Babis was done as a

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5. Sultan ‘Abd al-Aziz. Photo from a private collection.

result of the constant requests of the Persian mission, which did not cease to fear74 that the teaching of the ‘Bab’ could somehow infect the Persian Shiites who reside in rather large numbers in Adrianople and its environs;75 people are saying as well that the Porte agreed all the more readily to this concession because not so long ago76 the work of the sheikh here, written generally in an anti-Muslim spirit, began to be spread in the Muslim world. This supposition is further confirmed by the fact that the place of exile of the Babis was fixed as the Island of Chios, where they will be living exclusively among the Greeks and of course will not start to occupy themselves with the propagation of their religious ideas. On the eve of his departure from Adrianople, Sheikh Hussein Ali sent out to the local Consuls protests,77 in which he, in the name of God and humanity, entreated them to bring (sic)78 to the notice of the European governments the injustices committed against them

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by the Porte and asked permission to settle with his disciples in some corner of Europe. The Adrianople population79 followed with great attention the case of the Babis, strongly condemning the Turkish government for its intolerance, while at any opportunity80 it81 likes to boast of its tolerance in the matter of faith and frequently protects even different sects appearing outside of the Muslim religion, hoping to extract from them some sort of benefit for itself.82 [Written on the same page:] 15 September 1868 No. 281 In the accompanying letter to V. I. Vestman from N. P. Ignat’ev it says: ‘The real reason for this new persecution should be attributed to the desire of the Persian envoy [Mirza Husayn Khan Qazvini Mushir al-Dawlih], to give pleasure to the Shah during his [i.e., Mirza Husayn Khan’s] sojourn in Teheran, where Mirza Husein Khan now finds himself.’83

17 [Undated]84 Accounts regarding Babis in Adrianople Part 1: (Ali Aga [‘Ali Aqa] and Sherif Aga [Sharif Aqa]) Information about Babis transmitted by Persians living in Adrianople85 Approximately in 1263 year of the Hejira [AD 1847] a girl, native of Kazvin [Qazvin], Gurret el’ Ain [Qurrat al-‘Ayn], 18–20 years of age, the niece of a Mushtehid, declared that a tall young

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6. First page of document 17. © St Petersburg Branch, Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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man Seid Mehmed [Sayyid ‘Ali-Muhammad], living in Tavriz [Tabriz], was the divine messenger awaited by the Persians (rasul’). She asserted that it had been revealed to her, announcing that her female sex prevented her from being the awaited prophet, but that Seid Mehmed was chosen to be such a prophet. She entered into correspondence with Seid Mehmed, formed a considerable party and began to preach in mosques about freedom for women.86 She said that Seid Mehmed ordained for women to go with faces uncovered and not to be shut up in harems. Numerous supporters of the new prophet (his murids) guarded Gurret el’ Ain from the persecutions of her uncle the Mushtehid, who had ordered her to lead a modest life in seclusion. When the Mushtehid wanted to forbid Gurret el’ Ain the continuation of her advocacy, her supporters (on her order?) murdered him in the mosque during prayer.87 The supporters of the uncle, in turn, attacked the followers of the niece and a massacre took place in the mosque which later continued in the city. Calm in Kazvin was restored with the help of military troops. Gurret el’ Ain was seized and on the order of the Shah she was tied to the tail of a wild horse and torn to pieces.88 In his turn, Seid Mehmed was seized and put in the fortress of Chegra [Chahriq]89 (between Dilmar [Dilman]90 and Urmia). He remained in the prison seven years. He found the opportunity to communicate with his followers and (according to the allegation of the Persian Government) his murids several times sneaked into Teheran with the aim of killing the Shah.91 Once the Shah was apparently slightly wounded by a pistol shot and by the stroke of a dagger. The murids who were seized confessed their crime and gave up Seid Mehmed.92 They were immediately executed. Meanwhile in Zingian [Zanjan] naibs of Seid Mehmed began a struggle with the Government (this happened in the fifties AH).93 When brought to Teheran, Seid Mehmed was presented before a gathering of ulema, to whom he announced that he was the true Mehdi (Mehdi Ali el-Resul) [Mahdi ‘Ali the Prophet] awaited by the Persians.94 The ulema were shocked by this announcement and

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32 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS at first were ready to recognize him as a prophet, but after examining him carefully they found that he did not conform to the signs of the Mehdi and declared him to be a liar and an impostor.95 The Shah ordered to crucify and to shoot him. Persian soldiers refused to shoot at Seid Mehmed. Unrest started to spread and Christian soldiers were appointed to carry out the execution.96 After the first volley, which only barely wounded Seid Mehmed, the condemned tore the ropes and fled. He concealed himself under a bed in the house of a guard and no one pursued him.97 Christian soldiers refused to persecute the escapee and the Government was put in a very difficult position. Then, the Mushir Hishmer el Doule98 sent his people to search for Seid Mehmed. He was found and slaughtered.99 His body was thrown into a ditch, where the dogs ate it. The followers of Seid Mehmed assert that the dogs dragged all the bones to one place. This place is considered to be sacred among the Babis.100 Upon the death of Seid Mehmed, his son, Sheikh Husein Ali,101 who until that time had been the naib of his father, succeeded him. The persecution of the Babis continued in Persia and Sheikh Husein Ali fled with a part of his followers to Baghdad.102 From time to time he sent his murids from there to Persia, where they murdered them as soon as the authorities found out about their arrival. The Persian government appealed to the Sultan with a demand for extradition of the Babis, but Sheikh Husein asked protection of the Turks, arguing that he and his followers were Sunnites while the Persians were Shiites, and that due to this difference all of them would be immediately slaughtered upon their arrival in Persia.103 [Sultan] Abdul Aziz ordered to bring Sheikh Husein and his followers to Constantinople. The Persian Ambassador, Mushir el Doule [Mirza Husayn Khan Qazvini Mushir al-Dawlih], petitioned for the extradition of the sectarians to Persia, but the Turks refused and in AH 1279 (?) [1863] sent the Babis, after two months’

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stay in Constantinople, to Adrianople.104 The Turkish government allocated 7,000 piastres per month for the support of the Babis;105 moreover, they were granted full freedom of activity. This freedom Sheikh Husein used for the propagation of his teaching, not only among the Persians but also among the Turks. The messages of Husein were received on the konaks of the rich Muslims, in which he stated that he was the bab, the door to peace, and that he had also appeared previously in the form of Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus Christ) and other prophets. He exhorted all to adopt his teaching. The propaganda was spread also in Constantinople, and the murids of Husein were seized by the police while they were stealthily putting the proclamations of the Sheikh on the konaks of high-ranking persons. The arrested murids declared that they were the messengers of the prophet (even of God) Sheikh Husein. The Turkish government decided to send the Babis into exile.106 After receiving the order of the Porte, the Vali of Adrianople, Khurshid Pasha, soon ordered imprisoned all the Babis with the exception of the Sheikh, who remained under house arrest. During the interrogation Sheikh Husein did not deny that he was the bab. The representatives of foreign powers wanted to interfere in this case with the aim of revoking the order of exile, but the Turkish government, based on the testimony of Sheikh Husein himself, eliminated the interference of the foreigners. The leader of the Persian colony in Adrianople, Ali Aga, was appointed to help the mektubchi who was in charge of the exile of the Babis.107 This exile was carried out in 1286 [1869].108 The Babis were sent under escort to Gallipoli,109 and from there Sheikh Husein with his son, Mirza Abbas [‘Abdu’l-Baha], was exiled to Akiia (St Jean d’Acre), and the brother of Husein, Sheikh Mirza Yahiia [Yahya Azal], to the island of Cyprus. At the time of exile, Sheikh Husein was about 55 years old.110 He had five children, three sons, of which the eldest, Mirza Abbas, was 22 years old,111 and two daughters.112 Sheikh Husein had two

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34 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS brothers:113 Mirza Yahiia and Mirza Agajani [Aqa Jani].114 Mirza Abbas had a lot of acquaintances; he often visited the mosques as well as medreses [madrasas]. Sheikh Husein and his family at first lived in the Muradie [Muradiyyih] quarter,115 behind the mosque of the same name. In the courtyard (in the garden) of his house, he put up a tent and in it he received visitors; he himself almost never went anywhere and in general led a quiet and solitary life.116 Sometime later, he took up residence in the former house of Emrulla Aga [Amrullah Aqa], located opposite the mosque of Sultan Selim,117 while during the latter time of his stay in Adrianople he lived in the house of Emin Effendi118 (where later the French Consulate was located). In that house he was arrested.119 During the arrest of Sheikh Husein, one of his murids, Haji Jevger Tebrizli [Haji Ja‘far Tabrizi], cut his own throat on the window grille, declaring that he was suffering for the glory of the Bab. The murids of Sheikh Husein led a modest way of life. They were engaged in various handicrafts as well as trade. Some of them were carpenters and joiners. People say that their number grew tremendously in Akkia. They are mainly engaged in cultivating land and some of them even managed to become owners. Sheikh Husein died and his son Mirza Abbas replaced his father.120 He became Sheikh and among his followers there are Turks and Kurds as well as natives of Mazanderan [Mazandaran],121 Resht [Rasht]122 and Tavriz. Mirza Yahiia died on the Island of Cyprus and what became of his followers is unknown.123 The 7,000 piastres were divided in this way: 5,000 to Sheikh Husein and 2,000 to Sheikh Yahiia. They say that apparently the allowance to Sheikh Abbas was increased.124 In Baghdad, Kerbela and even in Persia there are still a certain number of Babis, but in Persia they are killed without any [judicial] procedure.

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35 [Undated]125

Part 2: Information from P. E. Panafidin Our Consul in Baghdad, Petr Egorovich Panafidin, reports that nowadays the Turks are no longer persecuting the Babis, who in significant numbers live in the Shiite town of Kazmen [Kazimayn]126 (opposite Baghdad – across the river), in Kerbela and in Nejef [Najaf]127 (the city in the desert three days’ walk from Kerbela). Avoiding conscription, the Babis, as a barrier for themselves against the Turkish military service, sometimes resort to the protection of the Persian Consulate, and in case of necessity resort to the defence of the Turks in order to resist the claims of the Persians. They live quietly and modestly and are engaged almost exclusively in trade, and so far as Mr Panafidin knows, they do not receive any allowance.

[Undated]128 Part 3: Account of Iunus [Yunus] Vehbi Effendi and Mushir Mahmud Khajdi [Haji?] Pasha Yunus Vehbi Efendi, the present kadi [qadi] in Adrianople, reports the following information about the Babis living in Adrianople: When the Minister of Police, Husni Pasha, seized the Babi books and handed them over for examination to the Sheikh ul’ Islam, Yunus Vehbi served in the fetva [fatwa] khanih (in the department of the Sheikh ul’ Islamate). He examined these books and found them to be heretical. The Bab was declared in them to be the same kind of prophet as Musa, Isa and Mahomet. Sheikh Mehmed Husein (probably Husein Ali) is also considered to be a prophet, successor of the first Bab and also a Bab himself.

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36 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS According to the conclusion of the Sheikh ul’ Islam, the Babi books were deemed to be harmful and were solemnly burned. The Babis were sent into exile. Yunus Vehbi Efendi knows that the Babis who arrived from Baghdad in Constantinople were settled in Adrianople. For propagating their teachings they were exiled to Akia [‘Akka]. He does not exactly remember the date. Mushir Mahmud Khajdi [Haji?] Pasha saw Babis in Akia. They live well there and the population treat them amicably. They receive a certain allowance from the Turkish Government. They have a good influence on those around them. The old Sheikh Husein Ali died, handing down his authority over the Babis to his son Abbas.129

Adrianople 9 August 1868130

Part 4: Free translation (from German) of the protest of the Sheikh of the Babis The protest of Mirza Hussein Ali Khan To the Austrian Consulate131 We appeal to you, protesting in the name of God and humanity against the measures undertaken against us by the Ottoman government without any fault on our part. Six years ago we were offered, and we accepted, Turkish nationality. After this, at the request of Persia we were transferred from Baghdad to Constantinople without any fault on our part, and four months later we were exiled to Adrianople. At the present time we are again being sent away from Adrianople and we do not know where they are sending us. We do not know any fault of ours, and meanwhile as a result of this measure we are losing all our property. If the

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Ottoman government does not wish to keep us, then let it, taking into consideration that we are not natives of this country, allow us to move to the country of another sovereign. We ask the Rulers of Europe, who love freedom, to take pity on us and to save us poor ones. Signed? Hussein Ali (seal) In the Austrian Consulate the protest of the Babis was not preserved. It is known only that the protest was sent on 9 August 1868 and on 10 August the Babis were sent in carriages under escort to Gallipoli. The Babis thought that they were to be extradited to the Persians in order to get rid of them and that the Persians would immediately put them to death. People were saying that in Gallipoli they would be put on a steamer where a Persian official would already be waiting for them and he would take them to Persia.

[Undated]132 Part 5: Accounts of old Adrianople residents According to the testimony of old residents of Adrianople (Sheikhs of the Mevlevi and Kadrikhane133 dervishes Khanat Bey, Dertli Mustafa Bey and Haji Hashim Efendi, as well as Rashni Bey – people with whom Sheikh Husein Ali had personal relations), the Babis lived quietly and modestly. Sheikh Husein Ali was a very wise and honourable man. He was engaged in the study and interpretation of many theological questions. Haji Izzer [‘Izzat?] Pasha finds that the teaching of the Babis is an aspiration towards self-perfection. The Bab is the outward sign of the door leading the soul to paradise. Meekness and self-control as well as steadfastness in enduring afflictions purify the soul and open for it the door (bab) to paradise. The man who teaches this, who admonishes

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38 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS people and leads them to salvation is the Bab himself. This is said in the Gospel as well. The prophet Isa (Jesus Christ) calls himself a bab, for through him the people enter paradise. According to the opinion of Haji Izzer Pasha, the pure doctrine of Babism was misinterpreted by uneducated people; in essence it does not in the least contradict Islam, and Mahomet was in the loftiest sense the same bab as Musa and Isa and all the great saints and men of wisdom who taught and reformed humanity.

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PART 2: 1869–1890

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7. First page of document 18, in Vladimir Ignat’ev’s handwriting. © St Petersburg Branch, Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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18 [Tehran] 22 July 18691 Copy of a dispatch from the Chargé d’Affaires in Teheran Mr Zinov’ev to Prince Gorchakov2 In spite of the persecutions to which the Babis have been exposed in Persia since the accession to the throne of Nassir-eddin Shah, the doctrine professed by the founder of this sect seems to have planted deep roots in the soil of Persia. A large number of sectarians of the Bab were arrested in Tauris [Tabriz] in 1866; of late the spiritual leaders of the sect have addressed a direct challenge to the Shah. This incident being not without interest, I take the liberty to submit to Y[our] E[xcellency] the information that I have been able to gather about this subject. An ordinary man had more than once presented himself at the royal camp and had evinced the desire to speak to the sovereign of Persia.3 Having met with a categorical refusal, he declared that he was a Babi and that he had an important communication to deliver to the Shah. Admitted into the presence of H[is] Persian M[ajesty], the individual in question presented him with a written document in the Arabic language in which the spiritual leaders of the Babis

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42 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS invited Nassir-ed-din Shah in insistent terms to embrace their doctrine, and threatened, in case of refusal, a prompt and terrible vengeance. The bearer of this message refused to name its authors, and the cruellest sufferings that he was made to endure did not succeed in extracting from him a confession that could have enlightened the Persian Govt on the secret intrigues of the Babis. To all the questions that were addressed to him, he restricted himself to answering that Babism had numerous proselytes and that they were to be found in all parts of Persia and in all classes of the population, not excepting the court of the Shah. He expired without saying any more. It is easy to imagine the painful impression that this revelation produced on the naturally gloomy and suspicious mind of the Shah. The order was immediately given to make the most thorough enquiries both in the camp as well as in the capital and to arrest all suspected individuals. In making these arrests it naturally occurred that some Babis were seized, but the latter refused to name their leaders and faced death with serenity. In the meantime, the subversive tendencies of this sect manifested themselves in the sacrileges that were committed in several mosques, in Teheran as well as in its environs, and which could have no other aim than to enrage the population and to undermine its confidence in the government. The events that I have just related are of such a nature as to draw the most serious attention of the government of the Shah, considering that the annals of no other country in the world offer such striking examples of the ease with which various social and religious doctrines have spread in Persia.

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8. Second from left: Aqa Buzurg Nishapuri (Badi‘), who carried Baha’u’llah’s message to Nasir al-Din Shah, 1869. © Baha’i World Centre.

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44 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 19 Tabriz 6 May 18764 No. 201 M[inistry of] F[oreign] A[ffairs] Russian Imperial Consulate-General in Azerbaijan From the Consul-General in Azerbaijan Bezobrazov5 To His High Honour V. N. Shimanovskii6 Kind Sir, Vasilii Nikolaevich, I have the honour to submit herewith for the kind consideration of Your High Honour, in Persian with translation, an appeal that seems to be from the Babis, which was nailed several days ago to the doors of the Jum’a [Jum‘ih] Mosque in Tabriz, an exact copy of which I was able to get the next day after the arrival of it. From this copy Your High Honour will, if you please, observe that the sect of the Babis zealously continues in its cause and has managed lately to significantly increase the number of its followers despite all the measures by the Persian Government and clergy which have been taken by them for the suppression of this sect. With true respect and equal devotion I have the honour to be, Kind Sir, the most obedient servant of Your High Honour. [Signed] Bezobrazov

Enclosure – Translation 18767 Most educated of scholars, Did you not hear these cries throughout the whole year? From the city of Akka (St Jean d’Acre), which is located on the Oman8

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Sea, several firmans have been received from our leader instructing us to declare and to spread our religion. The prophet of the Last Days Aga Seid Rasul [Aqa Sayyid the Prophet] and his Deputy from his own everlasting dynasty Aqa Seid Kasym [Qasim] have appeared.9 Considering10 Haji Mirza Javad Aga (the Chief Mujtahid)11 to be the leading scholar, we are12 letting him know that the SeidumShuheda [Sayyid al-Shuhada’, Chief of Martyrs]* has appeared and is now in Akka, and that Akhund Mola Mamed Ali [Mulla Muhammad ‘Ali],† who was tortured to death for his beliefs13 in Zenjan (i.e., murdered), also has appeared and is in Akka. We wrote about it several days ago and nailed it to the doors of the mosque of Haji Mirza Mussa [Musa], but some bastard tore this paper into shreds. We find it necessary to inform Haji Mirza Javad for the second time that they14 should not deceive the people from the pulpit (i.e., in the mosques) and should not refute us.15 Know that in Tabriz there have mustered ten thousand men, well able to wield arms, experienced in war. Whoever of our friends wishes to go to his imam (the head of the religion) let him go to Akka. (Translated by Dragoman of the Consulate-General L. Kokhanovskii)

* †

First Bab Seid Mamed, who was executed in Tabriz. Also a Babi, follower of Seid Mamed.

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9. Baha’is of Hisar and Namiq in Khurasan, c. 1900. © Baha’i World Centre.

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20 Asterabad16 in Persia 30 May 187717 No. 227 M[inistry of] F[oreign] A[ffairs] Russian Imperial Consulate-General in Asterabad To the Russian Imperial Envoy-Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Persian Court Dispatch The ‘Babi’ religious sect, despite the persecutions which its followers are undergoing in Persia, has many secret proselytes almost everywhere in Khorasan and also even in Mazanderan. Recognizing as head of the teaching professed by them a certain Beha, who is imprisoned in St Jean d’Acre, sectarians keep in communication with him by means of their confederates, who, going to Turkey as traders, make their way to the prisoner and deliver his letters, instructions, collections of rules for guidance, and so on, to the believers. During the first part of May, I had occasion to see for myself that the followers of the Babi sect in Khorasan were in communication with our Transcaucasian Muslims, delivering to them the messages (resale [risalih]) of Beha. I considered it a duty to submit to the gracious view of Your Excellency copies of two such resales, one of which was addressed to ‘the friends of God’ (as the head of the sect calls them) and addressed to Shemakha18 and the other to a certain resident of Shemakha, Aga-Meshhedi-Mirza-Jafar [Aqa Mashhadi Mirza Ja‘far]. Although the Babi teaching in its basic tenets most approximates Christianity, but taking into account that it, at the same time, is not devoid of certain communist views, such as for instance about

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48 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS commonality of property and denial of authority,19 I considered it to be my obligation to most respectfully bring to the attention of Your Excellency the relations of the head of this sect with our Transcaucasian Muslims. The originals of the resales enclosed herewith, as not containing in themselves anything harmful, I returned to the Russian trader Nerseg Ter-Movsegov, to whom they were given on his departure from Khorasan for personal delivery to the addressees in Shemakha. The Consul in Asterabad, Court Counsellor20 Bakulin21

21 Teheran 29 April 187922 No. 170 Extracts from a dispatch of V. Shimanovskii to N. K. Girs On the activities of Zilla Sultan [Zill al-Sultan] … For instance, a month ago he wanted to take advantage of the rather substantial fortune of three seid [sayyid] brothers. He accused them of belonging to the sect of the Bab, ordered two of them executed and confiscated their property for his own benefit.23 This last circumstance, as well as many other injustices, inflamed the people against him to such an extent that they were only looking for the first convenient occasion in order to openly show their dissatisfaction. On 25 April a telegram was received in Teheran that in the Isfahan telegraph station there had gathered a significant crowd of people, under the leadership of the Imam Juma [illegible] [and] Isfahan mushtehids and insistently demanded the replacement of Zilla Sultan.24

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10. Mas‘ud Mirza Zill al-Sultan. Courtesy Baha’i World Centre.

22 Persia, Meshed [Mashhad] 9 October 188925 No. 774 M[inistry of] F[oreign] A[ffairs] Russian Imperial Consulate-General in Khorasan To Russian Chargé d’Affaires in Teheran M. A. Podzhio Kind Sir, Mikhail Aleksandrovich, The official temporarily in charge of the affairs of foreigners in Khorasan on the instruction of Prince Rukn-ud-daule [Rukn alDawlih, Muhammad-Taqi Mirza], appealed to me with an official letter in which he stated that Persian subjects living in Askhabad26 had brought a complaint to His Highness that, due to the slander of the Babis who had fled from Persia and were hospitably, it

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50 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS would seem, received by our authorities in the Transcaspian Region, they are undergoing there all manner of humiliation and oppression, indicating, as an example of which, the incident that took place during the month of Muharram, when a certain Isfahan Babi, by the name of Haji Mamed-Riza [Haji MuhammadRiza Isfahani],27 dared to publicly abuse and blaspheme against the Imams, and when, moved by the sense of religious duty, they gave him his due for the insult to their religion, they were put into prison – he requests me to communicate with whomever necessary concerning the taking of measures so that Persian Muslim subjects shall not be disturbed and humiliated because of the Babis and may quietly go about their own business. I considered it necessary to answer the letter of the Karguzar as follows: the justice of the Head [governor-general] of the Transcaspian Region and his legal manner of acting with respect to both the local residents as well as foreigners living in the Region are known to all and not to be doubted. The observation of all the behaviour and the way of life of all residents and the newly arrived element is the responsibility of the correctly organized police and not of informers; therefore, to the denunciations and slander no importance could be attached there; thus, if some one of the Persians was put in prison, then without a doubt, it was not because of any slander but as a result of a misdeed, wilfulness or arbitrariness committed by them. The next day, upon receipt of the Karguzar’s letter, one of the chief mushtehids of Khorasan, Sheikh Haji Mamed-Tagi [Muhammad-Taqi] Bujnurdi, known for his piety and complete non-interference in secular affairs, and who enjoys unlimited respect, confidence and influence among the population, sent to the Senior Mirza28 of the Consulate-General entrusted to me his chief assistant-akhund with a statement that he wished to write to me in connection with what had occurred in Askhabad and asked me for my intercession for the release from prison of the innocent Persians imprisoned there, who were suffering only on account of their attachment to the Muslim religion. Knowing from experience what kind of impression is produced

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11. Haji Muhammad-Riza Isfahani, killed in Ashgabat in 1889. © Baha’i World Centre.

among the people by the unconditional refusal of the interference of such figures and the rejection of their petitions, and taking into consideration especially the painfully attuned – as a result of the location here of the tomb of Imam Riza29 – religious feelings of the residents of Meshed, I considered it necessary to send to the said Mushtehid the Senior Mirza with the most detailed explanations of the customs existing in Russia. I instructed him to convey to the Mushtehid that all our laws are based on the principles of religious tolerance, equality and equal rights, that these laws do not allow either the singling out of certain ones before others, nor exclusions; therefore if his compatriots were imprisoned, undoubtedly it was for their arbitrariness – for a misdeed severely punishable by law. I proposed he invite one of the local merchants of Persian nationality, who have dealings with Russian markets and who live in Russia, and to ask him two questions: was he ever refused defence or protection there, and in those cases when he had to apply for such, was he left dissatisfied with the decision of our authorities. The Mushtehid Sheikh Haji Mamed-Tagi was fully satisfied by

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52 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS the explanations given to him by me via the Mirza, remained very pleased with the attention paid to him by me and instructed the Mirza to thank me. With this, for the time being, the Askhabad incident was settled here in Meshed, but there are serious reasons to suppose that the complaint presented to His Highness Prince Rukn ud-Daule by Persian subjects living in Askhabad would not escape the hands of His Majesty the Shah, for, besides the purely religious question, also mixed in with this is the dissatisfaction of the local authorities and people about the fact that the Transcaspian Region apparently serves as a refuge for all those persecuted in Persia in general and in particular its religious enemies – the Babis. I find it necessary to communicate to Your High Honour the aforementioned for your information and in the event of an enquiry from the Shah’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With sincere esteem and similar devotion, I have the honour to be the most obedient servant of Your High Honour, Petr Vlasov

23 Teheran 27 November 188930 Telegram Ashkabad, for General Komarov In view of the petition sent to Petersburg at the insistence of the Shah about the pardon of the six Persians sentenced in the case of the murder of a Babi, would Your Excellency inform: is it possible to postpone carrying out the execution of the sentence until receipt of an answer from Petersburg. Podzhio

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24 Askhabad 30 November 188931 No. 681 Telegram Teheran, to the Russian Chargé d’Affaires Your telegram was received after the execution of the sentence; the two murderers condemned to hanging were granted life, the rest were sentenced to various punishments. I mitigated the sentence for three of them. This case is outrageous. It was reported to the Shah in a false way while in court it was categorically proven that neither the murder victim and in general no one permitted himself even least obloquy of the Shiite creed. I will not exile those sentenced until receiving the results of the petition. Lieutenant General Komarov

25 Teheran 30 November 188932 Telegram Meshed, to Consul-General Vlasov General Komarov spared two Persians sentenced to death for the murder of the Babi and mitigated punishments for three [others]. This outrageous case was communicated by the Askhabad Persians to Teheran and Meshed in a false way, as in court it was proven that the murder victim did not defame the Shiite creed. Podzhio

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54 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 26 Persia, Meshed 30 November 188933 No. 1011 M[inistry of] F[oreign] A[ffairs] Russian Imperial Consulate-General in Khorasan For His High Honour M. A. Podzhio For your information Kind Sir, Mikhail Aleksandrovich, As an addendum to my coded telegram of 28 [November] No. 993 I consider it my duty to bring to the attention of Your High Honour the following: Prince Rukn ud-Daule, the Ruler of Khorasan, at the insistence of the chief mushtehid of the city of Sebzevar [Sabzivar]34 last week twice applied to me with a request to petition for one of the accused in the murder of a Babi in Askhabad, a Persian subject resident in the city of Yezd, Mola Ahmed [Mulla Ahmad], who apparently was completely uninvolved. Meanwhile, the news was received from Askhabad, from the Persians living there, that those involved in the case of the murder of the Babi had been sentenced to death. This news quickly spread through the city and provoked agitation among the clergy and the seids in particular. The latter made for the house of the chief and most respected mushtehid here, Sheikh Mamed-Tagi [Shaykh Muhammad-Taqi Bujnurdi] and insistently demanded his intervention and assistance on behalf of the ‘innocent martyrs for the faith’, as they called here in Meshed those who were accused in the murder of the Babi, and pressed him to appeal to me. After refusing, in the most mild form and highly courteous manner, the petition of Sheikh Mamed-Tagi, I sent him the Senior Mirza of the Consulate-General entrusted to me, with the assignment to give him my compliments and to explain the reasons for my refusal.

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Upon arrival at the house of the mushtehid, the mirza found there a large gathering of mullas and seids in a highly agitated condition, some of whom addressed him with the words: the Russians not only give asylum and provide broad protection to the enemies of our religion, the Babis, but also because of them and to please them, they permit [them] to publicly insult us in the person of our brothers living in Russia, our faith and its ceremonies; and only because of the slander of our enemies they subject us Shiites to imprisonment and even the death penalty. After conveying my message to the mushtehid, the mirza, according to my instructions, clearly and reasonably explained the essence of the matter. Meanwhile, various suspicious characters started to preach in the city that Russians, out of hatred for Shiites, openly protect their enemies, the Babis. No doubt this did not occur here without intrigues from outside. Seizing upon the deplorable incident that took place in Askhabad, the elements hostilely inclined towards us here wanted to exaggerate the same and to make use of it as a means to lower our prestige as much as possible in the eyes of the residents of Meshed, and to undermine their confidence in us and the objectives pursued by us here. Although, in all probability, all the racket kicked up here because of this case will soon quiet down, one may expect that the impression produced upon the local residents by the punishment of Shiites for the Babi – whose murder is not recognized by the shariat as a crime – will not be blotted out for a long time and will, for some time, serve as the reason for coldness and distrust of us. With sincere respect and similar devotion, I have the honour to be the most obedient servant of Your High Honour, Petr Vlasov

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56 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 27 Teheran 4 December 188935 Telegram To Askhabad, to General Komarov State-Secretary36 Girs has notified the Mission that inasmuch as Your Excellency has already mitigated the punishment of those convicted in the case of the murder of the Babi, therefore further mitigation is impossible. Podzhio

28 Teheran 27 February 189038 Copy of a letter from Envoy [M. A. Podzhio] to N. K. Girs Kind Sir, Nikolai Karlovich, Several days ago about 20 adherents of the sect of the Babis from the environs of Isfahan, saving themselves from the persecution of local Muslim clergy, fled from their village to Isfahan and, after seeking shelter there in the building of the English telegraph, appealed for intercession to Sir Henry Wolff.39 The English Envoy [Wolff] immediately brought to the Shah’s attention what had happened and solicited from His Majesty the most categorical order to the Isfahan authorities to defend the Babis from persecution on the part of the Isfahan mob, fanaticized by the clergy, and to give them the opportunity to return to their village Sedeh [Sidih]39 under the escort of armed sarbazes.

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When the Babis, accompanied by five sarbazes, left the English telegraph station, the Isfahan mob attacked them and killed 11 sectarians, while the sarbazes were present during this massacre as completely indifferent spectators. The Babis who remained alive saved themselves by fleeing and were again admitted by the English telegraph officials, who notified H. Wolff about the catastrophe. The English Envoy was extremely disturbed by such criminal indifference of the Persian authorities towards the orders of the Shah, but so far as I know he has not yet achieved any positive results, and at the present time a handful of those sectarians who escaped from the slaughter are hiding in Isfahan with their confederates and, for the present, deprived of the possibility to return to their homes. With the deepest [respect], [Unsigned]

29 Teheran 18 March 189040 Copy of a letter from the Envoy [M. A. Podzhio] to N. K. Girs Kind Sir, Nikolai Karlovich, The Isfahan incident, which I had the honour to bring to the attention of Your High Excellency on the 27th of last February, continues to agitate local public opinion. The English Envoy energetically insists to the Shah on the punishment of those guilty of the massacre of the Babis, who have been hiding within the walls of the English telegraph station in Isfahan, but until now unsuccessfully. At one time His Majesty wanted to subject the main culprit of the slaughter, the mushteid Aga Nejefi [Aqa Najafi], to exile to

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58 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Kerbela–Nejef, but after hearing from the local Turkish Ambassador that the Ottoman government would refuse to accept the perpetrator of the death of so many innocent victims, and fearing as well an explosion of fanaticism in Isfahan if such an influential person among the clergy of this city as mushteid Aga Nejefi were to be subjected to exile, he decided to limit himself to summoning him to Teheran. This whole story, extremely unpleasant for the self-respect of the English, will come to an end, probably, when, after a more or less prolonged stay in the capital, the mushteid will be released to Isfahan and moreover will also receive the presents usually given by the Shah to clerics invited to the capital. With deepest [respect], [Unsigned]

30 Zergende [Zargandih] 10 September 189041 Copy of a letter from the Envoy [M. A. Podzhio] to N. K. Girs Kind Sir, Nikolai Karlovich, As an addendum to my secret telegram of the 4th of this September, I have the honour to bring to the attention of Your High Excellency that Amin-us-Sultan [Amin al-Sultan] transmitted to me on the instruction of the Shah a clipping from the newspaper Kavkaz,42 containing the news from Askhabad about the petition presented to General Kuropatkin by the Babi Persians and asked me to convey by telegraph to the Imperial Ministry the request of His Majesty that the petition of the Babis not be granted, inasmuch as granting them Russian nationality would arouse the indignation of the Persian clergy and would be interpreted in an unfavourable

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sense for the Shah. The next day the Senior Counsellor of the [Iranian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs appeared before me with the same request, furthermore explaining that the presence of the Babis within our borders in the near neighbourhood of Khorasan provides them the opportunity to prepare in complete safety their criminal designs against the government of the Shah, and that if they were to become Russian subjects, they would begin to boldly cross into Persian territory with the aim of propagating their harmful teaching and inciting riot. I expressed that in Russia all religious teachings, except those based on immoral grounds, enjoy equal tolerance and protection, and for that reason we cannot deny them to the Babis as well. As far as the request apparently presented by the Babis living in the Transcaspian Region about granting them the right of Russian nationality, although I do not know how the Imperial Government will regard this petition, I cannot see why its fulfilment could confuse the government of the Shah. The majority of these sectarians, probably, already long ago settled in the regions most recently acquired by us, and valuing the tranquility which they enjoy with us, hardly even contemplate crossing into Persia, where persecutions await them. There is not therefore any basis to fear that after becoming Russian subjects they would raise their heads and having secured Russian passports, would, as the Persian government supposes, cross over into Khorasan, under the pretext of commercial activities, for propaganda and carrying out their criminal aims. The soundness of my arguments was challenged by my interlocutor, who, citing the convention of 1844,43 said that it was apparently preferable to the Shah that the Babis should be, if not altogether evicted from Russia, then at least moved away from the borders of Persia. In any event, it would please His Majesty that his wishes be brought by me to the attention of the Imperial Government. With the deepest respect, etc. [Unsigned]

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60 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 31 St Petersburg 4 October 189044 No. 525 Letter of Minister of Foreign Affairs N. K. Girs to His High Excellency P. S. Vannovskii Confidential Kind Sir, Petr Semenovich, I consider it a duty to forward herewith to Your High Excellency a copy of my confidential letter to the Head of the Transcaspian Region of 25 September, No. 64, on the topic of the petition with which the Persian government appealed to us, that the followers of the Babi sect living in Askhabad not be granted Russian nationality. Be assured, Kind Sir, of my perfect respect and complete devotion. N. Girs [Enclosure] Copy of the confidential letter of State-Secretary Girs to Lieutenant General Kuropatkin of 25 September 1890, No. 64 In some of our newspapers the news was published that, on the arrival of Your Excellency to Askhabad, a deputation of Babis living in this city presented itself to you with a petition about granting them Russian nationality. As our Envoy [Minister] in Teheran informed me, the Shah was extremely alarmed by this news and appealed to him with a request to express in his name to the Imperial Government the

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hope that the aforesaid petition not be set in motion, inasmuch as on the basis of the convention signed in 1844 between Russia and Persia the transfer of subjects of both countries from the nationality of one Power to the nationality of the other is allowed only on the condition of their receiving the agreement of their governments. To this the Shah added that satisfying the petition of the Babis would not fail to serve as an encouragement for their schemes, directed against the tranquility of Persia. Not knowing to what extent the cited newspaper report is well founded, I consider it a duty to inform you that after the death of the father of Nasir-ed-din-Shah, Mohammed Shah, serious disturbances were caused by the Babis in Persia, involving bloodshed, and that in 1852 several adherents of the Bab’s teachings made an attempt on the life of the Shah. In view of these circumstances, the suspicion, expressed by the Shah to our Envoy, that the Babis nourish schemes against the tranquility of Persia cannot be considered unfounded, and I think that granting the followers of the Bab’s teaching Russian nationality would be even less desirable because such a measure would indeed be contradictory to the resolutions of the convention of 1844, and moreover could be misinterpreted by the Muslim population of northern Persia, whose sense of devotion to Russia is desirable to encourage in every way possible. In view of the aforesaid considerations, I suggested to our Envoy in Teheran to inform the Shah, in answer to his statement, that Your Excellency communicated nothing to us about the petition of the Babis and that granting the latter Russian nationality does not enter into the intentions of the Imperial Government. In the event that indeed a petition was received by you on this subject from the Babis, they should, in my opinion, be answered that on the condition of observing the rules, as directed by our laws, they may fully rely on the same protection of the Russian authorities that is enjoyed by all foreigners living in Russia in general. Be assured, etc.

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32 St Petersburg 29 September 18901 Covering note Last spring it pleased Your High Excellency to permit the student of the Course in Oriental Languages, Lieutenant Tumanskii of the Third Grenadier Guards Artillery Brigade, to do obligatory camp duty in the Transcaspian Region. Lieutenant Tumanskii used his stay in Askhabad for the study of the sect of the Babis, who are persecuted in Persia and supported here. Until now, the Lieutenant has managed to compose only the short account presented herewith about the Babis, but he brought with him their ‘Holy Book’, which will disclose the foundations of this teaching, which up to now has barely been researched. Lieutenant General [signature illegible]

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66 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS St Petersburg 22 September 18902 A Short Note on the Behaists or Contemporary Babis During last winter, in the newspaper Novoe Vremia3 there appeared a telegraph report from Askhabad that Shiite Persians, sentenced to hang for the murder of one of the followers of the Bab, were spared on the appeal of the Babis themselves and the death penalty was changed to exile to penal servitude.4 In this manner did I learn that these mysterious sectarians, a threat to Persia, exist as well in our territory, where they do not have to hide their creed. I had only the information about this sect that could be gleaned from the book by Professor Kazem-Bek, The Bab and the Babis, SPb [St Petersburg], 1865, and knowing that the only European work about the Babis, Les religions et les philosophies dans l’Asie centrale par le Comte de Gobineau, was also written in the 1860s, I considered it not superfluous to become acquainted with the subsequent fate of this interesting sect following the Teheran events.5 Two articles by Granville Browne in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 21, articles 6 and 7,6 became known to me only now, upon my return to St Petersburg. They were made known to me by Head of the Education Department, Privy Counsellor7 M. A. Gamazov. For this reason I decided to request obligatory camp duty in the Transcaspian Region, where I and my fellow student in the Oriental Languages Course, Lieutenant Mikhailov, received permission to go at our own expense. On the way, using free time before camp duty, I made a stop in Kazan,8 where our veteran Arabist I. F. Gotval’d showed me works by Baron Rozen in the publications of the Education Department, Coll[ections] Sc[ientifiques] de l’Institut,9 dealing with manuscripts attributed to Seid Ali Muhammed the Bab, founder of this sect, with which I became acquainted under the kind supervision of the above-mentioned professor from Kazan.

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My further way lay along the Volga, where one can often meet Persians travelling. But despite all my questions, none of them knew anything about the Babis, and if some of them did know something, they said that it was a worthless sect, undeserving of any attention, whose adherents in Persia were beaten like dogs. Astrakhan10 and Baku,11 despite the fact that they abound in Persians, did not add anything to my attempt to find out about the sect, and only in Askhabad, where I arrived on 10 July of this year, did I begin to receive the first information about it. The incident to which I referred at the beginning of my notes was recounted to me in detail in this city, where the Babis openly identified themselves for what they are. Yet the most contradictory rumours about this sect go round there. Some people assured me that this was an entirely Christian sect, even that it was very close to Orthodoxy; there were even those who identified the Babis with the Baptists; but in general Christians – Orthodox as well as Armenians – responded in the highest degree of sympathy about these sectarians, placing them, relative to morality, immensely higher than the Persians who do not adhere to their teaching. Muslims displayed almost the same ignorance with regard to this sect: Shiites averred that the Babis were no other than socialists, nihilists, communists, that they were a rabble of dirty debauchees, etc.; Sunnites maliciously smiled at this and said that, all the same, they preferred the Babis to the Shiites. Ultimately it was necessary to get in touch directly with the Babis. The Shiites said that they had books, but that they did not give them to anyone and in general reluctantly carried on conversations about religion. To initiate acquaintance, I was advised to go to their bath-house, which was frequented by Russians. I did just that. That same day in the evening, I went to the bath-house and there, during the washing, began to converse with a Babi bath attendant. He was extremely surprised that I already knew something about their religion, and, after he saw that my questions were not just out of idle curiosity, he said: ‘When you leave the

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12. Baha’is in Iran. © Baha’i World Centre.

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bath-house, please be so kind as to visit our owner to drink a glass of tea. Today there will be a man there who can tell you much about that which interests you.’ Indeed, as soon as I went out of the bath-house, a boy led me to a garden where tea was prepared in small Persian glasses and where several Babis were sitting on bentwood chairs and takhtas [takhtih] (Persian divans). They greeted me cordially. I stated to them my intention to become acquainted with their sect, indicating that it would be highly disadvantageous for them if the information about them that reaches Europe were to be drawn only from Muslim sources; that it would be in their own interest to inform me as fully as possible about their teachings, and thus perhaps I could manage to dispel the mass of lies and slander spread by the Shiites. Then one of them began to speak. He spoke for a long time, gradually as if himself inspired by his own speech, more and more fascinatingly and eloquently. He spoke about the necessity of religion for man, about the fact that civilization without religion is inconceivable, that the prophets are the strongest motive forces of civilization, since from them proceeds religion, the source of all good on earth. Then the conversation turned to the incident which I mentioned above, and here is, by the way, what he told me. Following their emigration from Persia there was a small circle of them in Askhabad, the soul of which was a certain Haji Muhammed Riza of Isfahan, a highly respected Babi. Seeing his influence, Muslim Shiites decided to direct their hostility largely against him, and, under the influence of mullas and other fanatics, who had come from Khorasan, it was decided to murder him. But as this was not Persia, and the Shiites knew well enough what consequences such a murder would lead to, they agreed to cast lots in order to see who would attain the pious destiny of finishing off the despicable apostate from Islam and suffering for the faith of the Prophet. So, on 8 September 1889, at 7 o’clock in the morning, in one of the most densely populated streets of Askhabad, in the presence of the people and

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70 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS a police officer, two of the Shiites – Meshhedi Ali Akber [Mashhadi ‘Ali-Akbar] and Meshhedi Hussein [Mashhadi Husayn] – fell upon Haji Muhammed Riza, who was passing by at that time, with daggers, and inflicted 42 wounds on him.12 After committing the murder, they gave themselves up to the police, and as they were being driven in cabs to the police department, they licked the blood dripping from their daggers. The court sentenced these murderers and another two main accomplices in the murder to capital punishment by hanging, but the execution was not carried out and they were exiled to penal servitude. This first case of displaying justice in relation to Babis and Shiites made a most pleasing impression upon the former. After half a century of persecution and of life outside the law, under the fear of death at every moment, they breathed freely, and blessed that country where their human right to life was recognized. On this occasion, in Persia a eulogistic hymn was composed in honour of the Sovereign Emperor,13 and two messages followed from their prophet to his followers especially for this occasion, which I include at the end of the note in translation from the Arabic and in the original. Our conversation that evening stretched till far after midnight. I said goodbye to them, having received their promise that they would bring me the most important book dealing with their religion. Ustad Ali Akber [‘Ali-Akbar Banna Yazdi] – thus was my first Babi interlocutor called – did not fail to come to see me the next day at the hotel, in the company of Mirza Abdul Kerim,14 who brought me the book ‘al Kitab al Akdes [Aqdas]’15 (Most Holy Book). It is to this Mirza Abdul Kerim and also Mirza Yusuf Reshti that I am for the most part obliged for all the information about the sect of the Babis. I began my acquaintance with the sect by deciding to read, under the guidance of these same Babis, this Kitab al Akdes. There was no other way. Without this [guidance] the peculiarities of the content and mystical ways of expression would have presented

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13. Ustad ‘Ali-Akbar Banna Yazdi. © Baha’i World Centre.

insurmountable difficulties to reading it later. Along with this, I also tried to collect historical information. This task was significantly more difficult as the chronological data was very vague in the memory of these Babis, and they had no historical books in Askhabad, except for a historical sketch of the Babi movement from its founding until 1852, a sketch compiled by a certain fireworshipper [Zoroastrian] and known among the Babis by the name of ‘Kitabe Manukchi’, which I brought with me.16 More exact data was communicated to me later by Mirza Abul Fazl [Gulpayigani], who came to Askhabad from Samarkand for several days; I have his handwritten note as well. But for filling in the gaps, I was promised that as soon as the work ‘History of the Babis by Haji Mirza Jani’ was delivered from Persia, it would immediately be sent to me in Petersburg. Now I will briefly set forth everything new that I managed to find out about the sect.

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72 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS The blows inflicted on the Babi movement at the end of the 1840s of this century, if they did not destroy the sect definitively, then significantly weakened it. Under the fresh impression of the crushing defeats which had been inflicted, some of the Bab’s followers completely lost heart; yet others, in a state of frenzied despair, might even perhaps have reached the point of denying everything – divine and human laws, the rules of morality, the notion of property, of which Professor Kazem-Bek spoke in his book, as ‘fatret’ [fitrat], i.e., the interval between two prophets. Ultimately, a third remained convinced that the act of God’s revelation had been concluded and that the realization of prophecy must be understood in a spiritual sense. There are few of the latter, and they are the followers of the so-called Bayan (Ehlul Beyan [ahl al-Bayan]).17 This lasted until approximately 1863–64, that is, until the appearance of the new Prophet in the person of Mirza Hussein of Nur, who later acquired the name Beha-Ullah, i.e., ‘Reflection of God’. He was born in Teheran on 12 November 1817 (2 Muharrem [Muharram] 1233rd year of the Hejira). His father, Mirza Buzurg Khan Nuri, was one of the viziers of Feht-Ali [Fath-‘Ali]-Shah. Regarding his youth I know nothing. At 27 years of age he was already a fervent supporter of the new teaching (of the Bab), although he did not take an active part in the uprisings and met the Bab only once. This happened exactly at the beginning of 1848, when the detained Seiid Ali Muhammed the Bab was being taken to Teheran, and not having reached 40 versts, at the village of Hassan Abad,18 they turned towards Maku, and this was when the meeting between the detainee and Mirza Hussein took place, which lasted no longer than an hour.19 What the conversation was about, and whether the Bab recognized him to be what he now claims to be, is unknown, and it is unlikely it will be possible to ascertain this, inasmuch as the only witnesses were ferrashes, who probably did not fully understand the contents of the conversation of the two mystics.

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In 1852 there occurred in Teheran an attempt on the life of the Shah [Nasir al-Din Shah]. While he was going hunting, he was wounded by a gunshot.* A search was begun in Teheran and up to 70 Babis were arrested and executed – excluding a very few, among them Mirza Hussein. Thanks to the intervention of the Russian Ambassador,20 he was freed, but on condition of immediate departure from Persia,21 and a signed statement was taken from him that he would not return. Mirza Hussein chose Baghdad as his place of residence. The proximity of this city to Kerbela, the pilgrimage destination of Persians, was one of the motives for his choice. Here he could easily expand his propaganda because masses of Persians visited him while visiting Kerbela. Mirza Hussein’s activity in Baghdad did not escape the notice of the Persian Government, and it submitted a complaint directly to Sultan Abdul Aziz Khan. The Sultan ordered Mirza Hussein arrested and transported to Constantinople. This was a decisive moment. Mirza Hussein declared himself the head and the prophet of the sect, ‘he whom God himself indicated’,22 and whose appearance had been foretold by the Bab in his book ‘Kitabul Beyan’ and other writings. This moment is known among the Babis by the name ‘ezhar ul’-emr’ [izhar al-Amr], i.e., the manifestation of God’s will, and in commemoration of it, one of two holy days was established.23 From this moment Mirza Hussein took the name Beha-Ulla and his followers began to call themselves ‘ehlul-Beha’ [ahl al-Baha, people of Baha], Behaists,24 and a new era began in the history of the Babi movement, from which time they begin their chronology.25 It was then that the reform began, which affected not only the religious principles but also the entire way of life of these ex-Shiites. Introduced were a new chronology, a new calendar,26 even a new alphabet was designed,27 an example of which I possess. Messages *

This incident is described in detail in Gobineau, Les Religions et les philosophies dans l’Asie centrale, pp. 273–307.

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14. A group of Baha’is in Isfahan, c. 1880. © Baha’i World Centre.

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began to appear – revelations (Lauh) – the collections of which at present comprise two rather voluminous handwritten volumes: Kitabe Terbib28 (Book of Directives), Kitabul elvakh [Kitab alAlwah]29 (Book of Revelations), and a small book sehife [sahifih]30 (page, book). Mirza Hussein stayed in Constantinople no longer than six months and was expelled to Adrianople to live. Here he continued his activity, and, apparently, so successfully that the Persian Government through its Ambassador in Constantinople, and thanks to the assistance of the Grand Vizier Ali-Pasha, convinced [the Sultan] to exile Mirza Hussein to Akka (St Jean d’Acre), where he has lived from 1865 until the present. Here in Akka the work of reform was concluded with the appearance of a book, most sacred for the Babis, containing the main dogmas and religious tenets. That is the above-mentioned ‘Most Holy Book’, which, after having read under the guidance of the Babis, I brought with me, and I hope to translate it from Arabic into Russian.31 The four sons of Mirza Hussein are his active assistants: Mirza Abbas [‘Abdu’l-Baha], the author of the book Mudunie [Madaniyya] (Civilization),32 which I possess; next Mirza Muhammed Ali, Mirza Bedi Ulla [Badi‘ullah], and Mirza Zi Alla [Zia’ullah]. Besides them there is a secretary to Mirza Hussein, one of his first proselytes, Mirza Aga Jan, who is called ‘Khadim Ulla’ [Khadimullah] (Servant of God), at present occupied with the compilation of the full collection of revelations. This collection should represent something in the nature of a code of this teaching. What is this contemporary Babism? From this short essay it is already obvious that the new sectarians, although they are the successors of that religious-political movement which stained Persia with rivers of blood during the forties of this century and shook the foundations of the Qajar dynasty,33 nevertheless constitute a completely new sect, whose teaching differs from the teaching of Seiid Ali Muhammed the Bab. I hope subsequently, after completing the analysis of the materials which I possess, and relying upon

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76 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS what is already known, to point out the main foundations of the doctrines both of the previous Babis, of whose teaching the book by Kazem-Bek gives a very incomplete and at times, as it seems to me, erroneous presentation, as well as of contemporary Babism, about which in all the European literature there are only two, although small yet highly respected, articles by Browne.34 In conclusion, I can only complain that time did not permit me to become acquainted more closely with these sectarians there, and my pia desideria consists of a desire to become acquainted with this teaching in its very centre, i.e., in Akka, in Mosul, in Cyprus, and to gain knowledge of the condition of the sect in Persia itself.35 Lieutenant Tumanskii of the Third Grenadier Guards Artillery Brigade

33 Report of Staff-Captain Tumanskii, subordinate to the Commander of the Troops of the Transcaspian Region36 Part 1: Materials devoted to the Babis Askhabad 7 December 1894 On the journey of Staff-Captain Tumanskii to Persia 30 March– 27 November 1894 To His Excellency the Commander of the Troops According to the secret order of Your Excellency of 16 March of this year No. 163 and the order of 18 March of this year No. 119 (office numeration) I was charged with the study of the question of the Babis in Persia and, along with this, research into the question of the importation of English and other foreign goods to

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Persia mainly via the port of Bender-Abbas [Bandar ‘Abbas] as well as the collection of information important for military purposes. In the execution of the aforesaid orders, on 30 March of this year I departed Askhabad via Enzeli and Resht to the borders of Persia. For acquaintance with the situation of the Babis, I had to familiarize myself with their situation in the capital of Persia itself and in the main centres of the country. In view of this, I arrived in Teheran on 14 April, where I reported to the Russian Imperial Mission, with the consent of which I conducted my research. My further journey was organized in the following manner. Owing to the sensitivity of the question itself to be researched and Your Excellency’s instruction on the necessity to observe special caution while carrying out this mission, I, with the assistance of the Mission, obtained from the Sadr-Aazem [Sadr-i A‘zam] a letter of recommendation to all the governmental officials on my way. Besides this, also with the assistance of the Mission, on the order of the Governor-General [of Azerbaijan] and the Commander of the Troops in Teheran His Highness Prince [Muzaffar al-Din Mirza] Naibus Saltane [‘Nayib al-Saltanih], a Cossack from the Shah’s Cossack Guards Squadron37 was sent to escort me.38

Part 2 St Petersburg 26 April 1895 Secret With the permission of the Chief Headquarters in 1894 I was sent on a mission to Persia for the study, on location, of the organization and political significance of the Muslim sect of Babis, and along with this the collection of information important for military purposes was entrusted to me.

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78 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS In the execution of the said assignment I had to become acquainted with the situation of these sectarians both in the capital of Persia itself, Teheran, as well as in the major centres of the rest of the territory of the state. Based on this, the entire route of my journey, which lasted from 30 March until 27 November 1894, was the following: Askhabad – Enzeli (Resht) – Teheran, Teheran – Hamadan – Burujird – Isfahan, Isfahan – Shiraz, Shiraz – Neiriz [Nayriz]– Ketru [Qatruyih?]39 – Bender-Abbas (Horluz [Hormuz] Island) and back to Kirman – Yezd – Kashan – Teheran – Meshedeser [Mashhad-i Sar]40 – Askhabad. Of this route, more than 3600 versts were covered on horseback; moreover, for the major part of it, material was collected for the description of the route. Bender-Abbas is connected with Shiraz and Kirman by topographical survey (scale is 10 versts to the inch), and also the topographical survey was prepared for the portion of the route Burujird – Isfahan, which we did not have on our maps (surveys attached herewith). For the route Isfahan – Shiraz the survey we had by Lieutenant of the Artillery Guards Bliumer41 is supplemented and corrected. Besides this, statistical material was collected dealing chiefly with the little-researched nomadic tribes in the provinces that I visited (Lura [Lurs], Bakhtiara [Bakhtiyaris], Arabo-Turkic tribes of Fars and Kirman). As a result of visiting Teheran, information regarding the state organization of Persia presented itself. The collection of the aforesaid material, although it did not constitute the main task, in view of the character of the assignment laid upon me, I considered that as the covering voucher for the fulfilment of my task, which was the study of the organization and political significance of the sect of the Babis. From the time of the bloody events of the 40s and 50s of the present century, Babism managed to traverse several periods, different from each other. After the execution of the founder of the sect, Mirza Ali Muhamed the Bab (1850), and other leaders of the movement, Babism, it seemed, had finally perished. But one of

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15. Some Baha’is of Isfahan, c. 1890. © Baha’i World Centre.

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80 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS the sectarians, a native of the area of Nur42 (in the Mountains of Mazendaran), Beha Ulla, succeeded in taking this movement into his own hands. Carrying out reform of the teaching of the Bab, Beha Ulla became the founder of the sect of New Babism [Baha’i], to which a great part of the Babis of Persia now belong; the smaller part, which remained loyal to the old teaching, has as leader the brother of the aforesaid Beha Ulla – Ezel [Azal]. An especially favourable circumstance for the consolidation of the Babis around Beha Ulla was presented by the adherence to him of the family of the executed Bab, the head of which, Haji Seid Mohammed Tagi [Haji Sayyid Muhammad-Taqi], moved with all his relatives from Shiraz to Yezd, where he holds the title of our [commercial] consular agent. Beha Ulla died on 28 May 1892 and his place was taken by his son Gusne Aazem [Ghusn-i A‘zam, i.e., ‘Abdu’l-Baha], who also lives, like his father, in Syria, in the city of Akka (St Jean d’Acre),43 from where he rules his flock. All the directives which are issued by Ghusne Aazem are distributed by his secret agents throughout Persia by two routes: northern – via Baku, Enzeli and also via Askhabad – Meshhed; and southern – via Bombay and ports of the Persian Gulf. Alexandria, Constantinople, Bombay, Baku and Askhabad serve as haltingplaces. The geographical distribution of the sect in the territory of Persia itself can be seen from the attached map.44 The major part of the Babis are found in the provinces of Isfahan, Fars, Mazanderan and Khorassan. In Teheran itself their number reaches 3000–4000 people. It is impossible to present an exact statistical figure of the total number of Babis in view of the fact that the majority of them profess this teaching in secrecy, but everything leads us to suppose that their number is no less than 100,000 and no more than 200,000. Babism is prevalent most of all among the urban population. To this sect also belong many of the merchant class and official-

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dom of low rank in Teheran. As for the high-level officials of the state, they carefully hide their membership in the aforesaid sect, although, of those, many patently treat the sectarians favourably, not excluding even the Grand Vizier45 himself. Special significance is given to this sect by the membership in it of many of the khans and sheikhs of the nomadic tribes. Of those, it is possible to point to several sons of the late Il’khani of the tribe of the Bakhtiars, Husein Kuli [Husayn-Quli] Khan and of the former kelantar [kalantar] (head) of the Arabo-Turkish tribes of Fars, although removed from this position, but still enjoying great authority among his tribes. The most hostile element, of course, with respect to the Babis, is the all-powerful clergy in Persia, and the great part of the persecutions that the sectarians have to suffer come from the initiative of the mullas and the mujtehids. But among them, many secretly profess Babism, which does not prevent them from being in appearance the most sincere of Muslims. Even among the mujtehids it is possible to name several influential persons who are attracted to the new teaching. Based on study of the teachings themselves and the history of the movement,* as well as on personal acquaintance with the sectarians in Persia itself, it is possible to express the following conclusions about Babism: 1 Babism deserves attention as a part of that movement which is becoming evident recently in the Muslim world in general. 2 Babism has nothing threatening in its teaching.

*

The works of the author have been printed in Transactions of the Oriental Department of the Imperial Archeological Society, of which the author is a corresponding member, and at present his translation of the main writings of the Babis is being printed in Transactions of the Historico-Philological Department of the Imperial Academy of Sciences under the supervision of Academician Baron V. R. Rozen.

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82 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 3 In the absence of persecution, which stirs up religious passions, it does not have particular grounds for rapid dissemination. 4 Towards us it is less hostile than other Muslim sects. 5 With careful and skilful use, it can be of service both for our diplomacy as well as for military purposes.46 [Original signed] Staff-Captain of the Guard Tumanskii

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34 Askhabad 12 July 18961 No. 171 Secret To His Excellency E. K. Biutsov Kind Sir, Evgenii Karlovich, The Head of the Askhabad District, based on the report of the city Police Department, reported to me that many Shiite fanatics, who arrive from Persia via Julfa2 and Uzun-Ada,3 in Askhabad, under the pretext of further travel to Meshed [Mashhad] on pilgrimage,4 bring with them firearms as well as side arms,5 the carrying of which is prohibited to them by law, and stay in Askhabad, where they organize plots against the Babis, whom they threaten with murder. The existence of a plot was partly confirmed by eyewitness testimony during the inquiry into the case of the attempted murder of the Babi Haji-Abutalib Sadykhov [Haji Abu-Talib Sadiqof]. Having, on my part, issued an order for the establishment of vigilant surveillance over all Muslims arriving in the Region and on the establishment of protection of the Babis, I most humbly beg Your Excellency to notify me whether the Babis residing in Askhabad were involved in the case of the murder of

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86 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS His Majesty the Persian Shah,6 and how we are further to relate to the Babis: permit them as before to live freely in the Region or, out of fear that they could weave here amongst us the breeding ground of a new plot, prohibit them from living in the Region. If you should deem the latter measure to be more expedient, then please be so kind as to inform me how, in your opinion, this drastic measure is to be carried out. I beg Your Excellency to accept the assurance of my perfect respect and similar devotion. A. Kuropatkin

35 Teheran 1 August 18967 No. 20 Secret To the Head of the Transcaspian Region Kind Sir, Aleksei Nikolaevich [Kuropatkin], In answer to the memorandum of 12 July, No. 171, I have the honour to notify Your Excellency that the inquiry conducted by the Persian Government in connection with the murder of Nasereddin [Nasir al-Din] Shah did not detect even the least involvement of the Babis in this crime. These sectarians were, in spite of this, extremely alarmed, fearing that this evil deed could become the pretext for persecution of them; the Grand Vizier [i.e., Amin alSultan] ordered, as I am reliably informed, to dispel their apprehensions regarding the intentions of the Government in relation to them. On the part of the Muslim clergy, there were no attempts to incite the people against them. Your Excellency will be pleased to see from the aforesaid that

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there are no reasons henceforth to refuse to Babis the protection which they enjoyed among us up to this time equally with other adherents of different faiths. I most humbly beg Your Excellency to accept, etc. [Unsigned, probably E. K. Biutsov]

36 Persia, Meshed 24 July 18968 No. 704 M[inistry of] F[oreign] A[ffairs] Russian Imperial Consulate-General in Khorasan To His Excellency E. K. Biutsov Secret Kind Sir, Evgenii Karlovich, I have the honour to present herewith for the kind consideration of Your Excellency a copy of the secret letter from the temporary acting official for border relations attached to the Head of the Transcaspian Region, of 22 June, No. 354, concerning the plot of the Shiites against Babis living in Askhabad. With the deepest respect and similar devotion, I have the honour to be the most obedient servant of Your Excellency, P. Vlasov [Enclosure] Copy of the secret letter of the temporary acting official for border relations attached to the Head of the Transcaspian Region to the Consul-General in Khorasan, of 22 June 1896, No. 354

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16. Haji Muhammad Turk, who was killed in Mashhad. © Baha’i World Centre.

The Head of the Askhabad District, on the 16th of this June, No. 38, informed me that in Askhabad it is rumoured that many fanatic Shiites, arriving from Persia with every train via Julfa and Uzun-Ada to Askhabad, on the pretext of further travel to Meshed on pilgrimage, carry with them firearms and side arms, and that while staying in Askhabad, they organize a plot against the Babis, whom they threaten with murder. This plot already started to be carried out, which was confirmed during the inquiry conducted into the case of the attempted murder of the Babi Haji Abutalib Sadykhov. On the order of the temporary acting Head of the Region, I have the honour to inform the Russian Imperial ConsulateGeneral in Khorasan about the aforesaid, for their further disposition. K. Mushimov9

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37 Meshed 2 September 189610 Telegram (incoming) From the Consul-General in Meshed A week ago, in the city Turbeti Heidara [Turbat-i Haydariyyih],11 according to the decree of the clergy,12 a mob of people rushed the government prison, and, after taking out of it five people suspected of Babism,13 beat them with stones, whereupon, after pouring oil on them, they burned the corpses.14 The Ruler of Turbat, [unclear word] Mamed [Muhammad] Mirza, was powerless to prevent this massacre.15 Vlasov

38 Tabriz 3 February 189716 No. 108 Confidential From the Assistant to the Head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus To His Excellency E. K. Biutsov Kind Sir, Evgenii Karlovich, Last year the followers of the ‘Babi’ Muslim sect residing in Baku appealed to the Chief Caucasian Authority with a petition about undertaking measures to guarantee their security in view of the hostile attitude towards them of Shiite Muslims, who, apparently out of fanaticism, murdered the preacher of the Babis,

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90 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Molla Mamed Sadykh [Mulla Muhammad-Sadiq],17 who was living in Baku Province. When asked in this regard, the Governor of Baku, in a report of 17 December, No. 1594, informed that exactly the same petition of the Baku Babis has been received by him directly and that, on account of the absence in his Department of information about the existence of these sectarians in Baku Province, and in view of the newspaper reports on the membership of the murderer of the Persian Shah Nasr-Eddin in the said sect, the Governor ordered Staff-Captain Voino-Oranskii, who was attached to his staff, to conduct a detailed investigation of this sect in Baku Province, the results of which proved to be favourable for the Babis. Irrespective of this, taking advantage of his sojourn in October of last year in the Transcaspian Region, Privy Counsellor Rogge spoke on the aforementioned subject with the Head of this Region, who also spoke of the Babis in a favourable sense and moreover explained that, apropos of the rumours of the participation of these sectarians in the murder of Nasr-Eddin-Shah, he, General Kuropatkin, was in direct contact with Your Excellency and that you, Kind Sir, were good enough to answer General Kuropatkin that the supposition of the participation of the Babis in the murder of the Shah does not have any basis. In view of what has been stated, Privy Counsellor Rogge requests instructions of the Chief of the Caucasian Authority about how he is required henceforth to treat the followers of the Babi sect. In advance of giving the instructions solicited by Privy Counsellor Rogge, I take the liberty to most humbly beg Your Excellency to be so kind as to communicate to me the information about the Babi sect which you possess in the Embassy entrusted to you, as well as your conclusion on the above-mentioned question from Privy Counsellor Rogge, presented in detail in the copy of his report enclosed herewith. Making use of the present case, I beg you, Kind Sir… [the text suddenly ends]

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[Enclosure] Copy of the report of the Governor of Baku to the Office of the Head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus of 17 December 1896, No. 1594 Attached to the correspondence of 17 September of this year, No. 689, the Office forwarded to me the petition of the society of ‘Babi’ sectarians residing in Baku about undertaking measures to guarantee their security. Even before the receipt of the aforementioned communication, exactly the same petition was received by me directly, also in the name of the society of ‘Babi’ sectarians. Inasmuch as prior to the receipt of the said petitions there was no information about the existence of the followers of the ‘Babi’ sect in the province entrusted to me, and meanwhile the recent murder of the Persian Shah was ascribed, according to newspaper reports, precisely to one of the followers of this sect, I thus considered it necessary, first of all, to ascertain all the details with respect to the existence of this sect in Baku Province, the date of its arrival here, the level of development, as well as what aims this sect pursues, how its members behave, whether its existence presents any danger for public peace and order and whether it can be tolerated in general, and thus I directed Staff-Captain Voino-Oranskii, attached to the Commander of the Troops of the Caucasian Military District and seconded to my jurisdiction, who, as he took the Course in Oriental Languages, possessed the proper training for this, to ascertain all the aforesaid. From the dispatch received recently from Staff-Captain VoinoOranskii it is possible to observe the following: Generally the ‘Babi’ sect has existed since 1843 and was founded in Persia, in the city of Shiraz, during the reign of the grandfather of the present Shah – Shah Mamed [Muhammad Shah] – by Seid Ali Muhammed [Sayyid ‘Ali-Muhammad], who during

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92 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS nine years freely propagated his teaching, but later was deprived of freedom and executed five years later.18 By that time the followers of the said sect numbered more than 20,000, among them 400 mullas. After the execution of Seid Ali Muhammed, one of the followers of the executed one, Beha Ulla [Baha’u’llah] (in translation – ‘The light of God’), was recognized as leader of the Babis, against whom the Shiite mullas also rose, insisting on his death, but instead of this it was proposed to him to leave Persia. After taking up residence in Baghdad, Beha Ulla lived there for 19 years19 and later moved to Constantinople, whence, after half a year, by order of the [Ottoman] Government he was exiled for 4 years to the city of Adirne [Edirne], and from the latter he was sent to the city of Akka near Jaffa, where he died on 28 May 1892. Beha Ulla drew up for the followers of the ‘Babi’ sect the instructions known by the title ‘Kitabe Ehdi’ [Kitab-i ‘Ahdi],20 in translation, ‘The Charter of My Testament’, and besides that he also wrote several other books of moral-religious content. The ‘Babi’ teaching contains all the principles of the Christian religion, such as love for one’s neighbour, forgiveness, etc. They do not recognize blood feud, are distinguished by religious tolerance, the complete absence of fanaticism and in general by striving for progress and enlightenment. They have no mullas [i.e., clergy] and they limit themselves to spiritual preachers and not more than one for quite an extensive area. Their commandments declare strict submission to the laws of the country in which they reside. Polygamy among the Babis is almost nonexistent as the second wife can be taken only with the consent of the first or if the morality of the first one is corrupt; likewise, it not as easy to get a divorce as among the Shiites, and it is conditioned by an entire series of formalities, and namely, the husband wishing to divorce his wife is obligated to live with her for the entire year under one roof, remaining for her a complete stranger.21 Such a prolonged period significantly hampers the divorce and gives the spouses the opportunity to think over their behaviour which caused the thought of divorce.

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17. Baha’i men and boys of Baku, 1914. © Baha’i World Centre.

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94 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS In the Transcaspian Region, where there are rather a lot of followers of the ‘Babi’ sect, it has been established by means of statistical data that these sectarians are almost never brought to court accused of crimes. In general, they are distinguished by remarkably strict fulfilment of the exhortations of their late leader Beha Ulla, set forth in the book ‘The Charter of My Testament’, which contains exclusively admonitions on the observance of all good qualities. At present the leader of all the Babis is the son of Beha Ulla, Abbas Efendi Gusne Aazem [Ghusn-i A‘zam], who of his own will stayed on to live in Akka, and this city has become sacred for the Babis. In Baku Province the Babis number more than 3,000 and their leader and preacher was the murdered Mola Mamed Sadykh, mentioned in the petition sent to me, and his murder was committed out of fanaticism by Shiite Muslims. In the interests of a detailed acquaintance with the teaching of the ‘Babi’ sect, I, taking advantage of my sojourn in the Transcaspian Region in October of this year, spoke concerning this matter with the Head of the Region, Lieutenant General Kuropatkin. According to his words, valuing the morality and aspiration for civilization of the followers of the ‘Babi’ sect, he, before the murder of Nasir al-Din Shah, gave them special attention and support, but after that event, in view of the rumours circulating that agents of the sect were involved in the murder, he changed his attitude towards them somewhat, and in this connection, to ascertain the truth of the rumours directly, got into direct contact with our Ambassador [Minister] in Teheran, who answered him that the supposition about the participation of the Babis in the murder of the Shah had no basis. After this answer, General Kuropatkin again changed his attitude towards the Babis for the better, although at the same time he established vigilant surveillance over them. Turning, after this, to the particular case, mentioned in the petition, of the murder of Mulla Mamed Sadykh, in this connection,

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the Head of the Baku District was given appropriate instructions by me, with the aim of ascertaining the guilty parties in the murder of this mulla. Informing about the aforesaid to the Office of the Head for a report to His High Excellency, I consider it necessary to most humbly beg you to instruct me how henceforth it is befitting to relate to the followers of the said sect, i.e., is it possible to let them completely freely spread their, seemingly – so far – harmless teaching, or perhaps, in view of some of its positive aspects, even render them a certain support and protection; or perhaps, on the contrary, should to a certain extent the propaganda of this teaching be restrained, not encouraging its too wide and rapid spread; or will it, in the end, be considered more expedient to treat it completely indifferently, calmly and impartially for the time being, observing only after its natural growth and development, reserving to ourselves the full possibility to regulate it as soon as such necessity should present itself. Original signed: Governor Rogge Countersigned: Head of the Office Nikitin Certified [copy]: Vice-Director of the Office Silovaev

39 Teheran 4 May 189722 Telegram (outgoing) Tiflis To His Highness the Commander in Chief [of the Caucasus] In issue No. 93 of the newspaper Kavkaz there was a notice on an attempt on the Shah apparently committed by some Babi.23 As there was no such attempt, this falsehood can be explained only by the desire to cast suspicion on the Babis, who constituted the best

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96 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS part of the Persians and who always enjoyed our energetic protection. In issue No. 95 of the same newspaper there was a dispatch from Tabriz completely distorting the true meaning of the disorders that occurred there.24 The Persians were praised while the blame was cast on an innocent Armenian – the servant of our Consulate. In reality, the Persians behaved outrageously, and only our strong protests which reached, as is known to Your High Excellency, the concentration of the Cossack Brigade in Julfa, restrained the mob and put an end to the anti-Armenian movement which was threatening to take on dangerous dimensions.25 In view of the fact that such tendentious and false articles in an official Russian organ reflect extremely harmfully on our politics in Persia, I take the liberty to trouble Your High Excellency with a humble entreaty about instructions concerning the undertaking of measures to stop occurrences so undesirable for us. Imperial Chargé d’Affaires Shcheglov

40 [presumably Teheran] 16 March 189726 No. 234 To the Assistant of the Head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus Kind Sir, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich, In answer to your letter of 3 February, No. 108, I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that the information about the sect of Babis, contained in the report of the Governor of Baku of 17 December of last year, No. 1594, a copy of which is attached to the said letter, is correct in its main features. The followers of the Bab’s teaching do not pursue any political aims, and if they were indeed subjected to persecution on the part of the Persian Government during the rule of Nasereddin Shah,

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at the present time they enjoy toleration, although they do not openly profess their teaching for fear of persecution by the Shiite clergy, who take advantage of every opportunity to incite the people against them. The teaching of the Babis is widespread in Persia and there are grounds to reckon that the number of its adherents must exceed a million; moreover, within their ranks are found, of course secretly, as people affirm who are in contact here with these sectarians, even representatives of the highest Shiite clergy. The absence in the teachings of the Babis of any political aspirations, and their trustworthiness as obedient citizens, demonstrated by those sectarians who live within the borders of Russia, indicate that they deserve toleration and protection equally with the followers of other Muslim sects. I most humbly beg you, Kind Sir, to accept, etc. [Unsigned, presumably E. K. Biutsov]

41 Zergende [Zargandih] 10 July 189727 To His Highness Count M. N. Murav’ev Kind Sir, Count Mikhail Nikolaevich, Not long ago in Yezd there occurred a brutal murder of one of the Babis who lived there. An infuriated mob of fanatics under the leadership of the local clergy, after finishing off their unfortunate victim, dragged the disfigured corpse to the house of our Agent in Yezd, who was also a Babi.28 Luckily for the latter, the gates proved to be so strong that the pressure of the mob could not break them. Then they dragged the corpse to a ditch and cast it there. The only fault of the murdered Babi was that he did not want to recant his religious beliefs, preferring to it a martyr’s death.

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18. Girl students of the moral education classes in Yazd with some of the Baha’i women. © Baha’i World Centre.

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After this savage massacre, fear came over the numerous Babis in Yezd and they did not dare go out into the street. After being informed about the aforesaid from the letter of our doctor Bernshtein, who was in Yezd, I myself considered it a duty to immediately draw the most serious attention of the Shah’s Government to this matter, especially because the Babis indisputably constitute the best part of the Persians and because these sectarians always found defence and protection with us. While conveying to the Shah’s Minister of Foreign Affairs information on the outrages happening in Yezd, I begged to report to His Majesty the Shah that impunity for such savage incidents could lead Persia too far and put it on the verge of ruin, for today they brutally murder a Babi, tomorrow they could do the same to an Agent of a Great Power, and so on. The consequences of this, I added, would hardly prove to be pleasant for the Shah. After several days the Minister of Foreign Affairs informed me that the Shah fully shared my view and gave an order to severely punish those guilty in the disturbances in Yezd; he ordered the mushteid who had been the head of the clergy that had instigated the people banished from Yezd. Having verified this information independently, I satisfied myself that the Shah’s orders were not only issued but also carried out. It is quite typical that in this case the Babis found themselves a defender in the person of the head mushteid of Teheran. He openly declared in the mosque that Babis were the same Persians as other subjects of the Shah and that to hurt them was a sin. Such a decisive statement from one of the most influential clerics in Persia produced a strong impression on the Muslims of the Shiite orientation and significantly helped the Shah’s Government in the matter of restraining the fanatics of Yezd. With deep respect and complete devotion, I have the honour to be, Kind Sir, the most obedient servant of Your High Excellency. [Signed] A. Shcheglov

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100 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 42 Baku 5 February 190129 A petition from the residents of the city of Baku professing the Babi teaching To His Excellency the Governor of Baku In the Muslim world, in spite of the established dogmas of the teaching of Islam, now one can observe a revival on the basis of the new religious teaching known under the name of Babism, thanks to which teaching, gradually the isolation and estrangement of the Muslim people are removed and friendship is becoming established between them and the Christians, and in general with all of humanity. The basic tenets of this teaching, as Your Excellency can observe from the book presented herewith, the Kitabe-Akdes [Kitab-i Aqdas], honoured by Babis as God’s message, are the following:30 1 ‘Consort with other religions, and endeavour to establish securely the cause of your Lord, the Compassionate; this is the crown of good deeds, if you be of them who understand.’31 2 ‘A king is as an eye for mankind, as the luminary shining upon the brow of creation, and the fount of kindness for the world. Assist him, O people of Beha, with your substance and your lives.’32 3 ‘None must oppose those who rule over the servants of God; leave to them that which is theirs, and direct your attention to the hearts.’33

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4 ‘Consort with other religions with serenity and affection, that they may perceive from you the sweet fragrance of the Compassionate. Woe unto you if amidst men the spirit of ignorance seize you. All things proceed from God and unto Him do all return, for he is the source of all creation and the place of return for all the worlds.’34 5 ‘Do not permit begging. Whoso does beg, it is forbidden to give to him. It has been prescribed to all to earn their living. Whoso is incapable, the vekils [vakils] (i.e., honoured ones) and the wealthy must assist them in sufficient measure. Carry out the plans of God and his laws; then guard them as you would guard your very eyes, and be not of those who suffer loss.’35 6 ‘Consent not, for anyone, to that with which you yourself would not be satisfied. Fear God, and be not of the prideful.’36 7 ‘Whoso becomes angry with you, treat him with benevolence. Whoso offends you, offend him not; leave him to himself and rely upon God, He who rewards justly, the omnipotent.’37 8 ‘It has been forbidden to you to carry arms except in time of necessity. Waste not your time vainly in idleness.’38 9 ‘Occupy yourselves with that which will profit you and others. Thus has it been decreed in this revelation from whose horizon has shone forth the sun of wisdom and utterance.’39 10 ‘God has abolished the command to consider anything from among all objects and other peoples as impure. This is God’s gift. In truth, He is the Forgiving, the Generous.’40

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102 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS This last of the acts quoted above by us is very important, for it commands us, the Babis, to consider everything as pure and therefore all other nationalities as well. In spite of these laws of ours, nevertheless our enemies – that is, the Muslims – from whose midst we have separated ourselves, not ceasing to persecuting us, accuse each and every one of the Babis of various criminal deeds prohibited both by the general laws as well as by human conscience, and unceasingly send to the Governmental Institutions anonymous petitions, by which they cause anxiety both to the Governmental officials as well as to us peaceful Babis, who are not guilty of anything. As our Babi teaching is spreading with indescribable rapidity all over the world, among Muslims – as is evident from the research of the associate member of the Imperial Archaeological Society and the Consul in Van,41 A. G. Tumanskii, who determined that in Persia alone there are reckoned to be about two million Babis,42 not counting those in Russia, Turkey, Egypt and India – therefore the Muslim clergy tries, however it may, to annihilate us and to set an ignorant people against the Babis, inciting them to murder and other violence. These circumstances are sufficiently established with respect to Persia from the research of the same K. [sic] G. Tumanskii, the English traveller from Cambridge E. G. Browne, and others, as well as from not uncommon facts that took place in Russia, and namely, for example, in Askhabad in 1883 the Babi Haji Rza [Riza] was murdered; in Baku in 1897 – Molla Sadykh [Mulla Sadiq]; in Elizavetpol43 in 1899 the shop and belongings of Molla Asadulla [Mulla Asadullah] were destroyed; not infrequently such cases occur, that after the estate and property of Babis are altogether destroyed, they are made to move from this or the other place. Inasmuch as our teaching holds that we are to serve mankind, to try with all our might to abolish fanaticism and idleness, to love all as ourselves, to respect and submit to all the Governments under

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19. Ustad Aqa Bala Badkubih’i (Bala Karimov), of Baku. © Baha’i World Centre.

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104 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS whom we find ourselves subjects, and not to consider other nations impure, therefore the Muslim clergy tries to exterminate us, since with the spreading of this teaching their power loses its force and there does not remain for them among an ignorant people any undeserved honour or importance. In spite the just and humane basis of our teaching, we are constrained to such a degree that we are deprived of the opportunity openly and in a befitting manner to fulfil our duty before God and conscience, that is, to gather together in certain place and pray. On the basis of all the aforesaid and as an addendum to the petition from us by Bala Karimov,44 we most humbly beg Your Excellency, on the example of the house of worship which was permitted in Askhabad, to be so kind as to permit us as well to open a house of worship in the city of Baku, in the building of Bala Kerimov, at No. 904 Chadrovaia Street, where we could gather on certain days, to worship God and to read the holy books. [Signed] Bala Karimov [Ustad Aqa Bala Badkubih’i], Ali Ashraf Kerimov [Ustad ‘Ali-Ashraf Badkubih’i], Rza Kuli Najafov, Israfil’ Alekperov, Mir Alalam Seid Bagiogli, Ismail Asadulaogli, Akhund Mulla Muhammad-‘Ali, Akhund Haji Aqa Rahimoghlu, Hashim valad-i [son of] Rasul, M [Mirza?] Ahmad Avachuf [or Avajuf], Ali Abbas Aliev, M [Mirza?] Mashhadi [?] Qasim Ja‘faruf, M [Mirza?] Mulla Talib [or Sahib] ‘Abd al-Karim, Mirza Muhammad Uruj-‘Alioghlu, ‘Ali-Haydar Muhammad-Taqioghlu, M[Mirza?] ‘Abd al‘Ali valad Muhammad Hasan [or Husayn], Gasan Guliev, Abdul Kafur Zargarov, M [Mirza?] ‘Ali Pashlayuf, Said Ahmed Bagirov, Sayyid Nasrullah Baqiruf, ‘Abd al-Vahhab valad-i Karbala’i Ya’qub, Mirza Alekper Mamedkhanov [Mirza ‘AliAkbar Nakhjavani], ‘Abd al-Khaliq Ya’qubuf, Muhammad Hanifelayuf [?], ‘Abd al-Rahman Khayyiruf [or Tayyiruf ?], Navruz Agaev, Muhammad Baqir Najafoghlu, Abdul Bagi, Abdul Azim Zargiarov, Mirza Geidar Assadulaev, Haji Sayyid ‘Ali-

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Muhammad Husaynoghlu, Minaf Muhammad-Rizaoghlu, Dadash Najaf Aliogli Gasimov, Ali Bala Ragimov, M. A. Ahmedov, Karbala’i Najaf-’Ali valad-i Karbala’i Hashim, Aqa Karim valad-i Aqa Rahim, Mulla Karim valad-i Aqa Rahim, Riza-Quli ‘Aliyuf, Aga Bala Ashumkhanov, Abas Babaev, Mashad Ali Kulief, Bakhshali Agaef, Ahmad [?] Guliev, Gajikhan Aliev, Kerim Aga Rezaev (signed for him by A. K. Zargiarov due to illiteracy)

43 [Tiflis] 17 August 190146 No. 159 From the Head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus, Senator, Adjutant-General Prince Golitsyn To the Minister of Internal Affairs (D. Sipiagin) The Governor of Baku, having submitted to me the petition presented to him by residents of the city of Baku professing the Babi teaching (Babis, a sect of Shiite Muslims), about permission for them to open in the said city, in a private building, a house of worship, on his part intercedes for the satisfaction of this request. At the same time, Major General Odintsov47 has reported that, so far as it is possible to judge from the information available, the teaching of the Babis is significantly widespread in Persia, from whence it crossed over to us. The new teaching, rationally and in an enlightened manner explaining the law of Mahomet, and rejecting all that is obsolete, fanatical and false from that law which was introduced by various commentators, is in general quite favourable to Christianity. The basic tenets of the teaching of the Babis, eliminating from Islam everything wrongly interpreted to

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20. Baha’is of Azerbaijan with Aqa Sayyid Asadullah and Vahid Kashfi, c. 1918. © Baha’i World Centre.

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the detriment of others and in their own favour by the lowest classes of the Muslim clergy, makes of them, apparently, trustworthy and desirable citizens among the benighted and backward Muslim population. Apart from Baku, Babis are found also in the city of Shemakha; probably they exist as well in some other spots, but their exact number, as well as places of residence, to up to now does not seem possible to determine. Muslim-Babis, towards whom the fanatics of their co-religionists, headed by the majority of mullas and dervishes, are extremely hostile, avoid appearing at mosques for public prayers out of fear of the active display of this hostility and thus they are deprived of the opportunity to satisfy their religious feelings. According to the available information, Babis live also in the Transcaspian Region, where they are permitted to have in the city of Askhabad a house of worship. About four years ago his predecessor, the former Baku Governor, Privy Counsellor Rogge, in a private case, charged an official for special assignments, Captain Voino-Oranskii, who graduated from the Course in Oriental Languages, to collect information about the Babis of Baku, and his detailed research about this yielded results most favourable to their benefit. On the basis of paragraph 13 of the Statute of Religious Affairs for Foreign Creeds,48 forwarding herewith for the consideration and disposition, accordingly, of Your High Excellency the above-mentioned petition of the Babis, of 5 February of this year, and the book ‘Kitabe Akdes’, submitted by them with the same petition and expounding the teaching of Babism, I consider it a duty to report that, for my part, sharing the views of the Governor of Baku, I think we should not place limitations on the Babis in satisfying their religious needs and should permit them to open a house of worship in the private building located in Baku indicated in their petition. Although the Shiite Muslim clergy, and with them also the Muslim population of the Shiite persuasion, as is known, treat the followers of this sect with fanatical hostility both within our borders as well as, in particular, in neighbouring

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108 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Persia, where the Babis more than once have been subjected to massacre, and where they are in general bitterly persecuted both by the clergy as well as by the Persian government, nevertheless our government, in my opinion, has no need to take into consideration such an attitude of the majority of Shiite Muslims, because as far as it is generally known about this sect, it represents a kind of a reformist tendency in Islam, devoid of Muslim fanaticism, intolerance and hostility to everything non-Muslim. Undoubtedly, it is indebted for its origin to the contact of the Muslim world with Christianity and European culture and borrowed from the latter some of its ideas, to a certain extent approximating them in its spirit; at the same time it represents a protest arising within the depths of Islam itself against intolerance, backwardness, darkness and ignorance, in which the Muslim clergy keeps the population, guarding it by every means from the civilizing, humanitarian influence of the European-Christian world, thanks to which the benighted and ignorant mass of the ‘orthodox’ Muslim population presents an environment although superficially submissive, in reality always passively hostile to the Russian state and culture. Under these considerations, a certain protection of the Babis, in my judgement, would be desirable and expedient for Russian state interests. I humbly beg you to keep me informed about subsequent developments.49 Senator, Adjutant-General [Signed] Prince Golitsyn Director [signed] Sandrygailo

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44 St Petersburg 4 December 190150 No. 4124 Ministry of Internal Affairs Department of Religious Affairs for Foreign Creeds From the Minister of Internal Affairs D. Sipiagin To the Head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus Prince Golitsyn Subsequent to the letter of 17 last August, No. 159, on the petition of followers of the Muslim sect of Babis living in Baku, about permitting them to open in the said city, in a private building, a separate house of worship, I have the honour to inform Your Highness that, if, according to the attestation of the petitioners, item 8 of the basic tenets of their teaching on the prohibition of carrying arms except in time of necessity does not contravene the obligation of all Russian subjects to be ready to defend the fatherland with arms, then on my part there are no objections, by virtue of article 45 of the Fundamental State Law,51 to permit them, with the consent of the local authorities, and under the responsibility of one of their elders, to gather in a particular location for the performance of public worship according to their rites. Minister of Internal Affairs, Master of the Hunt52 [signed] D. Sipiagin Director [signed] Mosolov

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110 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 45 [presumably Tehran] 25 December 190153 No. 807 To the Russian Imperial Consul-General in Meshed The Head and the partners of the Babi company ‘Ittifakiie’ [Ittifaqiyyih]54 applied to me with a request, in which they say that a certain Haji Ali Aga [‘Ali Aqa], a Baku resident, photographer by profession, currently residing in Meshed, who, having originally entered into the society of Babis and taken photographs of many of their members, has now left it and is exploiting the sect in every way possible by pointing out its members to Persians and demanding money from them. Inasmuch as it is not unknown to you that this sect, especially in the Transcaspian Region, enjoys something of our protection and since the method of activity of Haji Ali Aga can in no way be considered something to encourage, thus the original petition of the aforementioned Babis is being forwarded herewith, and they most humbly beg Your High Honour to have the kindness to verify the information contained in it and in the event of the confirmation of the aforesaid, to undertake those measures you would consider necessary for the cessation of his reprehensible activities, not excluding even his extradition to Russia. I shall await your notification on the subsequent disposition. Minister

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46 Persia, Meshed 1 February 190255 No. 105 M[inistry of] F[oreign] A[ffairs] Russian Imperial Consulate-General in Khorasan To the Imperial Russian Mission in Teheran Subsequent to the instructions of the Imperial Mission of 25 December of last year, No. 807, regarding the complaint of the Head and the partners of the Babi company ‘Ittifakiie’ [Ittifaqiyyih] against the Bakuite Haji Ali Aga living in Meshed, I have the honour to report the following: The information about the blackmail apparently carried out by the Russian subject named, with respect to the sect of Babis, could not be established, and the information that he formed a gang of swindlers to forge false documents, as stated in the petition of the Babi company, was not confirmed in any way. Haji Ali Aga has a photographer’s studio in Meshed and sells to those who wish them views of the locality and population types, and has not been caught at anything bad. Nevertheless I demanded that he deliver to the ConsulateGeneral the negatives of the portrait of Mirza Hidaiatulla [Hidayatullah] Khan and the group of his acquaintances with whom the latter had his photograph taken, and these negatives were destroyed. Apart from that, a signed statement was taken from Haji Ali Aga that he would not use the photographs taken by him for ill, upon which it was declared to him that in the event of his attempt to blackmail, he would be extradited to the motherland. I have the honour to add hereto that the above-mentioned Mirza Hidaiatulla Khan applied to the Consulate-General

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112 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS entrusted to me with a suit against Haji Ali Aga, which was rejected for lack of evidence, which could be the motive of the present complaint. Consul-General P. Panafidin

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47 Baku 17 October 19021 Report on ‘Babism in Islam’ by Archpriest Aleksandr Iunitskii To His High Excellency Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, Actual Privy Counsellor, Member of the State Council K. P. Pobedonostsev Your High Excellency! I take the liberty to submit herewith for the kind consideration of Your High Excellency my small memorandum on the growth of ‘Babism’ in Persia and in the Caucasus. This movement in Islam, close in its views to the teaching of the Tolstoyans2 and Russian sectarians, with the claim to be a world religion, evokes sorrowful reflections in every Orthodox thinker. One rightly organized Orthodox mission in the Caucasus and in Persia among the Muslims, which could make use of Babism in the achievement of its goals, as the Americans are using this phenomenon in Persia, for instance, can help [alleviate] the sorrow. The lowest novice of Your High Excellency, Dean of the Cathedral in Baku, Archpriest Aleksandr Iunitskii

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116 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Babism in Islam* The subject of my lecture is Babism in Islam. However, what concern do Orthodox missionaries have with the question mentioned, when it only concerns the Muslim world? There is no doubt, contemporary Orthodox theologians will agree with me, that it does not befit the Orthodox missionary to take a narrow point of view: he is not only a pedant. For him it is enough to know by heart 200 texts from the Word of God in order to beat his opponents, our semi-educated sectarians such as the Molokans,3 etc. The true contemporary missionary is obliged to follow the development of the world’s religious-moral ideas, to combine them, and among them to see and to show the light of God’s Word to the world. True missionaries in this sense were the Right Reverend Nikanor of Odessa, Ambrose of Kharkov, Paul of Kazan and others. If this is how we are to view the task of the mission, then Babism does have great interest for us as a new religious-moral teaching in the sphere of Islam. Kind Sirs! Do not forget: we live next to Persia, the native land of Babism, and among the Caucasian Muslims. In Persia we instituted commercial colonies, we build roads. There the Orthodox Church took shelter among the Chaldeans.4 We ourselves long ago needed to acquaint the Persian Muslims and their kinsmen – the Caucasian Muslims – with the views of the Russian Orthodox Church. But we did almost nothing in this regard: we do not study their language and dialects, did not translate prayers, the Gospel, the catechism, etc., into the local languages. We are using the Persian translation of the Gospel made by the English. But whether they translated the text of the Gospel into the indigenous language correctly, we are unable to verify. Meanwhile, Russian theologians are obliged to pay attention to the Persians, to come to their aid in the matter of Christian enlightenment, because during *

This report was presented at the convention of the clergy of the Baku District, 24 September [7 October] 1902 in Baku.

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the first centuries [of Christianity] a particular Orthodox Church existed among the Persians; in Persia there were many martyrs for the faith of Christ. A certain Chaldean Church has testified sufficiently to us about all this. Babism deserves special attention in itself. This is an important phenomenon from the point of view of religious-moral doctrines common to all mankind. Moreover, Babism grows not from day to day, but from hour to hour, reforming Islam. Until recently there were two camps in Islam – Sunnites and Shiites. Babism unites them into one, claiming to be a world religion. It is also important that even many of the Christian thinkers (Russian and foreign), speak of Babism with high praise. How are we not going to talk about it? Thus, let us begin. What is this ‘Babism’? How did it arise and what do the Babists teach? Babism arose in Persia in the end of the 40s and at the beginning of the 50s of the nineteenth century.5 Its founder was a Persian, the Bab. The successor of his cause was Beha-Ulla [Baha’u’llah]. The Bab called himself only a forerunner of a future Messiah, a great prophet. He set down in writing his teaching in eight chapters of his book, the ‘Beian’ [Bayan], in which he asserted that the remaining eight chapters*6 ‘would be given by him whom God would manifest’ (that is, the future Messiah). The period of time during which the ‘truth’ is to be communicated from God through the prophet (Messiah), the Bab called ‘the day of rising’. For example, from the day of sending Jesus – teaches the Bab – until the day of his ascension was ‘the rising of Moses’. ‘And this because that which God testified during that period was testified by him in the Gospel. Further, (the period) from the day of sending the prophet of God (Mohammed) until the day of his ascension was the “rising” of Jesus, when the tree of the Truth of Mohammed appeared and to each believer in Jesus he gave recompense, and for *

In all there must be 19 chapters.

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118 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS each who disbelieved in his word he appointed a torment.’ For such teaching, the Bab was executed in Persia on 14 July 1850.7 Upon the death of the Bab, his followers were left without a leader or head. Thus did they remain for two years. This was a period of chaotic ferment. Later two brothers, Mirza Husein Ali and Ah’ia [Yahya], appeared as the leaders of the Babis. The first one took the title of Beha-Ulla (the Splendour of God); the second – Subhe-Ezel’ [Subh-i Azal] (Morning of Eternity). BehaUlla proclaimed himself to be the one ‘whom God shall manifest’; the second remained a loyal keeper of the original doctrine of the Bab. Beha and Ah’ia were brothers by their father; their mothers were different. Ah’ia lost his mother early and was brought up in the care of the mother of Beha. Ah’ia was 13 years younger than his brother. Beha joined the Babis at the age of 27. Both brothers appeared upon the historical scene in Bedesht [Badasht]8 in 1848, where such a prominent role was played by the woman-apostle, the famous ‘Solace of the Eyes’ or Gurret-ul’-Ain [Qurrat al-‘Ayn]. Soon after this, the brothers were caught and sentenced to beating on the feet. Beha received many blows. When next they wanted to beat Ah’ia, Beha said: ‘He is a child and is not guilty of anything. The blows intended for him I accept as well.’ They began to beat him for the second time. The attempt on the life of Shah Nasir-ud-Din (1852) forced the brothers to flee to Baghdad. From there, for some time Beha left for the mountains of Kurdistan, where he became especially close with the Sunnites.9 On his return thence to Baghdad he openly declared himself a prophet. Of this sojourn in Kurdistan thus says Beha: ‘Two years did I spend solitary in the desert of flight. From my eyes there poured forth fountains of tears, from my heart there appeared seas of blood. I was inside myself.’ Beha was ready to proclaim himself a prophet. And this he did in Baghdad (1862) in the garden of the Governor before his departure for Constantinople,

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where he was summoned by the Turkish government. From that time, Beha-Ulla began to speak not on behalf of himself, but on behalf of the Deity, and all that was uttered by him became sent down from above. Beha was not in Constantinople for long. Here, at the request of the Persian government, it was decided to send Beha, his brother and all the Babis to Adrianople. Now Beha openly declared himself the one ‘whom God shall manifest’. Then the brother of Beha, Ah’ia, rose against him with his followers. The supporters of Ah’ia (the Ezelists [Azalis]), along with him, argued the impossibility of the appearance of such a person (a prophet) due to the shortness of the interval between the two zuruhs [zuhurs, manifestations], since in accordance with the interpretation of their Beian this interval must be either 1511 years or 2001 years. The quarrel of heresiarchs turned into a bloody conflict of their followers. After this, the Behaists systematically murdered those members of the Babi community who were inconvenient for them.10 In 1868, on the order of the Turkish government, Subhe Ezel’ was sent with four of his followers to the Isle of Cyprus, and BehaUlla with his family and 80 followers to Acre, in Syria. Mr Tumanskii, a researcher on the Babis, reports that in spite of the statements of the Ezelists about murders committed by the Babis, what is advocated by their chief teacher Beha-Ulla ‘breathes peaceableness and non-resistance to evil’.11 The Englishman Browne describes Beha and his sons in such vivid features. He visited Acre or Akka in 1890. First of all he became acquainted with the eldest son of Beha. ‘Seldom have I seen one whose appearance made a stronger impression upon me,’ writes Browne. ‘A tall, strongly built man, holding himself straight as an arrow, with white turban and raiment; his long black locks reaching to his shoulders; broad, powerful forehead indicating a strong intellect, combined with an unswerving will; eyes keen as a hawk’s and strongly marked but pleasing features – such was my first impression of Abbas-Efendi.’12

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120 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS He struck Browne by his eloquent manner of speech and acquaintance with the holy books of the Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the same spirit he describes other children of Beha. Browne twice met Beha himself in his palace, surrounded by gardens; once even in the garden. This is how he describes his first meeting with Beha. The Englishman was brought into an enormous hall of the palace. ‘In a corner of the room’, he said, sat a wondrous and venerable figure in a felt head-dress, round the base of which was wound a small white turban. The face on which I gazed I could not describe and I could not blot out of my memory. These piercing eyes seemed to penetrate into the depths of my soul; power and authority were reflected on that ample brow; deep furrows on his forehead and brow implied an age that belied the jet-black hair and beard, which flowed down in inexpressible [indistinguishable] luxuriance almost to the waist.’13 ‘Praise be to God that thou hast attained … Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile … We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and temptation [sedition] worthy of bondage and banishment … That all nations should become one in faith and all people become brothers; that the bonds of love and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease to exist and differences of nationality [race] be abolished – what harm is there in this? ... This now shall be fulfilled. These fruitless strifes and ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come. Is this not what is needed in Europe? Is not this that which Christ preached?’14 His views on religion and morality Beha set down in writing in his book ‘Kitabe Akdes’ (Most Holy Book).15 Here is his teaching. About God. About the obligations of man towards God. ‘God rules over that which has been and that which shall be.’16 The aim of human life: ‘It is necessary to follow what is enjoined by God’ (art. 2).17 Obligations of man towards God: ‘Prayers at midday, morning and evening’ (art. 13).18

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‘When you pray, turn your faces to my most holy place’ (to Acre, art. 15).19 Prayer for the deceased is also ordained (21).20 Fasting and prayer are obligatory from the first days of maturity.21 In prayer, put your trust in God’s mercy. ‘Verily, he who has known the fragrance of the Merciful, and has recognized the appearance of this utterance, will not stop when faced by any hardship’ (art. 19).22 It is ordered to pray individually. The order regarding congregational prayer (with a mulla) is annulled except the prayer for the deceased (art. 31).23 ‘Women during their cleansing [menstruation] are free from prayer. For them ablutions are ordered’ (art. 32). ‘After the cleansing they are to give praise to God 95 times from noon to noon.’24 ‘During travel, for men and women one prostration is ordained’ (art. 33). Afterwards, seated, they are to utter 18 times: ‘Praise be to God, the Lord of the Kingdom,’ etc.25 A general fast is ordained; after it the celebration of the ‘new year’; before the fast there shall occur the ‘days of giving’, of good deeds and charity (art. 45). The traveller is free from the fast (art. 46).26 ‘Should you sin, confess to God all by yourself ’ (art. 80).27 ‘At daybreak go to pray in the dawning place of glorification’ (art. 267).28 ‘Read at morn and eve the verses of God the Most High’ (art. 362).29 ‘Do not go up into the pulpits of the mosques; all are to be seated on chairs’ (372).30 ‘Sing the praises of God’ (art. 388).31 ‘Consort with other religions and strive to affirm the cause of your Lord the Merciful’ (art. 350).32 About the future life. We encounter very little information on this question in the ‘Kitabe Akdes’. About this it is spoken in the following utterances. ‘In truth, God has wished for you that of which today you know not’ (art. 236).33

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122 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS ‘People will probably find (it) out when their souls take flight and the pillows of their joy are folded up’ (art. 237).34 ‘Various petitions of believers have come before the throne, in which they ask God’ (art. 238).35 It is written for men: ‘To God belongs all that is in the heavens and on the earth, and whatever is between them, and God is the omniscient’ (art. 297). And for women it is written: ‘To God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, and God has power over all things’ (art. 298).36 About women in particular. The position of women in the family and society is outlined in the following features. In article 145 of the Kitabe Akdes it is said: ‘Take no more than two wives. It is better to content oneself with one wife.37 ‘In the case of discord with the wife, it is ordained not to divorce her for an entire year’ (art. 155).38 ‘The husband is obliged to give to his divorced wife maintenance for the entire year if she is not an adulteress’ (art. 158, etc.).39 ‘The selling of maidens is forbidden’ (art. 164).40 The moral behaviour of man in general. The latter is defined in the following way. Regarding the outward life. ‘Wash your hands and face daily (art. 50),41 cut the nails (251) and every week wash yourself in clean, fresh water’ (252). ‘Approach not the reservoirs of Persian baths’ (dirty and malodorous) (252, 253).42 Wash your feet every day in summer and once every three days in winter (art. 371).43 ‘Shave not your heads’, Beha says, ‘for God has adorned them with hair’ (art. 109). ‘The length of the hair is not to pass beyond the limit of the ears.’44 ‘Whoso wishes to make use of plates and dishes made of gold and silver does not thereby commit a sin’ (art. 113).45 ‘The kissing of hands is forbidden’ (art. 73).46

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‘Be refined, so that no one should see dirt on your clothes; clean all that is unclean with fresh water’ (176). ‘Do not use water that has been adulterated’ (175).47 ‘God has annulled the injunction (to consider) anything impure from among all things and other peoples’ (art. 176).48 ‘Clean your clothes from fat stains’ (179). ‘On whosever clothes a stain is seen, his prayer will not rise to God’ (180). ‘Make use of rosewater and good perfume’ (181).49 ‘Construct houses with as much perfection as is possible for people, in the name of the Lord of religion on earth’ (68).50 ‘We have permitted you to listen to music and singing. Beware lest this listening should cause you to overstep the bounds of propriety and self-respect (123). We have made (music and singing) for the raising up of souls to the loftiest horizon’ (124).51 ‘I enjoin upon you to host a feast once in every month, though it be only with water, for God has wished that there be cordial friendship’ (136).52 ‘Let not the inducements of the flesh and passion divide you. Be like unto the fingers of a hand’ (137).53 ‘Due to this, Beha first of all proposes to divide inheritance in justice’ (art. 53, etc.).54 ‘Strictly prohibited are murder, adultery, backbiting and calumny, contention and striking one another in general’ (52, 168).55 ‘It is not befitting to be vainglorious one before the other’ (165).56 ‘God has commanded every adulterer and adulteress to pay a fine (120) to the House of “Justice.”’57 ‘Wounds and blows, even accidental, are to be punished with various penalties according the degree of guilt’ (134).58 ‘It is not befitting, for one who is wise, to drink that which leads him to the loss of his reason’ (277, 374).59 After these the following positive rules are ordained. ‘Use the time for the benefit of thyself and others (71); be engaged in crafts and trade.’60

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124 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS ‘Asceticism is condemned (art. 80). Make not asceticism a snare for aspirations’ (81).61 ‘Train your children (sons and daughters) in the sciences’ (118).62 ‘Study the languages of other peoples’ (276).63 ‘The selling of maidens and youths is forbidden’ (164).64 ‘The wives of your fathers are forbidden to you; we are ashamed even to mention the command regarding boys.’65 ‘Give a helping hand to my righteous men’ (272).66 ‘Adorn your heads with the garland of truth and honesty’ (278).67 ‘We see some people who seek liberty and pride themselves therein’ (284).68 ‘Liberty in its consequences leads to sedition, whose flames cannot be quenched’ (285).69 ‘It beseems man to be under the restraint of laws’ (286).70 ‘Read the verses of God every morning and evening’ (362).71 ‘But do not tempt yourself with excessive reading and performing rites during night and day’ (363). ‘Were one to read one verse with pleasure and joy it will be better for him than to read with carelessness the pages of God the Vigilant’ (art. 363).72 ‘Beha requires great respect be shown to the deceased and commands to bury them with dignity’ (art. 305, etc.).73 ‘Begging (354) and gambling (374) are not permitted.’74 ‘Fear God and be not proud’ (385) says Beha.’75 To the teachers of the commands of God he gives such instructions as ‘Be shepherds of the flock of God in his land, guard it against the wolves who appear in (human) clothing as you would guard your own sons’ (126).76 ‘It is forbidden to carry arms except in time of necessity’ (385).77 ‘Act in such a way that would not be against common sense’ (386).78 Upon first acquaintance with the teaching of Beha, we see that it is written under the strong influence of the New Testament teaching of Christ the Saviour. One can see in it entire passages lit-

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erally borrowed from the Gospel. With these words, for example, Beha addresses the ‘people of justice’ (i.e., those who are in charge of the affairs of the House of Justice) – ‘Be shepherds of the flock of God in his land, guard it against the wolves who appear in (human) clothing as you would guard your own sons.’79 In short, all the best is borrowed from the New Testament. The teaching of Beha is incomparably higher than the teaching of Mahomet. Robertson in so few words expounds the unattractive aspects of Mahomet’s teaching: ‘The duty of fighting for Islam (because weapons and not persuasion had to serve as the means of conversion of those who refused to believe during the initial proclamation of the faith) was binding on all those who professed it, excluding the sick and the feeble, etc.; and so that the faithful at some time would not be satisfied with their conquests, Mohamet declared that war for spreading the faith should not end until the coming of the Antichrist. The fanaticism of the warriors was urged on by the inducements of rapine and of lust, for the restriction which was prescribed in the Koran as to the number of concubines did not apply to captives. Under the influence of the conviction that they were doing God’s will, under the influence of belief in an absolute and irresistible predestination, and under the influence of the assurance of bliss in Paradise – a bliss which offered unlimited powers of enjoyment – they completely did not value life, inasmuch as, in their belief, the martyrs and those who die in war for the faith were moreover granted the ineffable and inexhaustible felicity of the contemplation of the face of God at morning and at evening.’* We find nothing similar in the teaching of the Babis. It is not surprising that even the Englishman Browne is in admiration of the teaching of Beha. The fact is that this teaching is undoubtedly higher than the moral theories of famous English scholars like Bektam,80 in whose view, ‘pleasure is the only aim of *

Robertson’s History of the Christian Church, vol. 1, pp. 562–3.

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126 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS life, it must be also its only rule’ (History of the Fundamental Problems of Ethics by Professor Chelpanov). Nowadays foreign missionaries, and especially the Americans, have paid exceptional attention to the teaching of the Babis. They see in it an enormous breach in the internal world of Islam, made by the teaching of Christ. With the help of Babism they want to conquer Persia and the Muslim world in general without a shot. Secular Russian scholars also praise Babism. But they like this teaching because in it apparently it speaks of non-resistance to evil; it recalls the teaching of Count L. Tolstoy about that. This, of course, is nonsense. In rule 385 of the collection ‘Kitabe Akdes’ it is said directly: ‘It is forbidden to you to carry arms except in time of necessity.’ The worst and most dangerous feature in Beha’s teaching, in our opinion, is that he speaks very badly of the Christian state rulers of Europe, undermines their moral authority and instils disrespect towards them. Besides this, the followers of Beha use any means possible to eliminate their enemies: secret murders and poisoning are their best friends. So you will ask me, can our Russian Orthodox missionaries, like the Americans, make use of the teaching of the Babis to evangelize the Orthodox faith within the borders of Persia and elsewhere? I think we can do it. But unfortunately we do not have people prepared for this task. On the other hand, we should remember that the teaching of the Babis is too far apart from us in its views on sacred images, etc. The views of the Americans, of course, are closer to the Babis in this sense. In any case, the question as to the right Orthodox mission in Persia is already matured and to set it aside is sinful. [Signed] Archpriest Aleksandr Iunitskii

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21. Baha’is in Baku, 1924. © Baha’i World Centre.

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22. Baha’i children’s class in Ashgabat, c. 1883. © Baha’i World Centre.

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23. Baha’is of Salyan, Azerbaijan, 1920. © Baha’i World Centre.

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24. Baha’i women in Baku. © Baha’i World Centre.

25. Students and teachers of the seventh grade of the Baha’i girls’ school in Ashgabat, 1927. © Baha’i World Centre.

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26. Baha’i students and teachers in Balakhani, Azerbaijan, 1924. © Baha’i World Centre.

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132 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 48 13 January 1903 Kazan81 Letter of N. Bobrovnikov to Chief Procurator82 of the Holy Synod K. P. Pobedonostsev Your High Excellency, Kind Sir, Konstantin Petrovich, I am greatly to blame before you that my response to the memorandum of Archpriest Iunitskii titled ‘Babism in Islam’ sent by you, was delayed. The reason for this was, on one hand, the unfavourable coincidence of my personal official circumstances, which prevented me from attending to the matter, and, on the other, the wish to thoroughly answer the question raised by Archpriest Iunitskii about the Orthodox mission in Persia. I originally planned to answer this question with a thorough report but feel that my personal circumstances mentioned above will not give me the calm mood necessary for it for a long time, and thus, in what follows below, I decided to limit myself only to a summary of the general conclusions of what I should have liked to ground thoroughly. In the memorandum of Archpriest Iunitskii it is quite thoroughly noted that we Russians do not have people prepared for service as missionaries in Persia. The lack of people at least in some measure knowledgeable about the East, not only for service as missionaries, but also as commercial agents, salesmen, translators, etc., is well known and a shocking fact for such a great Asiatic power as Russia. We have a small group of people interested in the Orient from a scientific aspect; we have a small group of officials specially prepared for service in the Orient, but beyond these persons there is no, so to speak, army of people, who, knowing local languages and because of that being in direct business relations with the Orient, would be the promoters of Russian culture there.

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Knowing that the Germans are systematically creating for themselves such an army, and attaching the greatest importance, from the point of view of the state, to our position in the Orient, last year I dared to present a project for the establishment of a school for the practical study of Oriental languages, but the Academic Committee found that such a school did not answer ‘the academic needs of the Ministry of National Education’. I obviously made a mistake and applied to the wrong place with this project. Judging by the answer of the Academic Committee, the institution whose task it is to widen the cultural and trading influence of the Russian people, to prepare officials for service in those countries which, whether or not they are included within Russian borders, should enter the sphere of our real, everyday and not only diplomatic influence, is not subject to the authority of the Ministry of National Education. I am resolved to present my said project to you and to diligently ask you, after looking at the places marked in pencil, to tell me whether it is possible to do something for its realization in one or another respect, in some other department than the Ministry of National Education – for example, in the Ministry of Finance. The lack of people thoroughly knowing Oriental languages hampers in the most serious way the development of our trade, cultural and missionary influence in the Orient. Without people it is impossible to do anything, and this is why the Germans, intending to seize the Near East, began by creating an enormous contingent of people who know the Turkish language. We ought to do the same, without setting ourselves any greater tasks for now. As for Babism, about which Archpriest Iunitskii apparently thinks that it represents a convenient ground for founding an Orthodox mission among the Muslims: with this view it is impossible to agree. Babism softens, of course, some aspects of Islam, limits polygamy, destroys the significance of ceremonies: ablution, prayers, etc., but in its own essence – in the idea of God, of the prophets, of revelation, of the understanding of sin and evil, of

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134 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS the future life, etc., it does not bring its adepts closer to Christianity, but moves them away from it. Count Gobineau,* an authoritative writer on this question, ascribes the success of Babism to the fact that it revives ancient preChristian and pre-Islamic religious ideas of the Orient. These ideas survived unconsciously in the mass of the people, and it is strictly to their revival that Babism is obliged for the fact that it was able, without any printed propaganda, in a very short time, to draw in a significant number of people from all social strata. The traits of incidental resemblance to Christian teaching in the field of morality cannot have any importance for the preaching of Christianity, if the basic religious conception excludes for the Babi even the possibility of understanding Christianity. Babism thinks itself to be the bearer of the latest divine revelation, which has filled in and perfected Islam in the same way that the latter perfected Christianity and as Christianity perfected Judaism. It is clear that with such a view of Christianity, it is even more difficult for Orthodox missionaries to speak with Babis than with orthodox Muslims. Next, Babism is at the same time a political teaching, which in European terminology can be considered to be close – as far as such heterogeneous things can be close – to socialism. Babism dreams about a political organization such as would give people, of course, in Oriental ideas, here, on earth, the greatest possible amount of tranquility, security and well-being. From this point of view, Babism is a utopia similar to some other utopias created in England, Germany and France. But this utopia has a purely Oriental character: it demands that the infidel, i.e., he who is not a Babist, have no right to own anything and may not be a member of civil society. If the people of revelation (i.e., Babists) should conquer any land, they must take from the infidels all that they possess, leaving them only their lives.83 In this way Babism, in principle, has not gone far from Islam in its views on infidels. It *

M. le comte de Gobineau, Les religions et les philosophies dans l’Asie centrale.

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deprives Mahomet only of the title of last prophet and declares itself the bearer of the latest revelation. The words of courtesy that representatives of Babism speak to influential Europeans do not prove anything but the diplomatic cunning of the Oriental. In the depths of their hearts they continue to look upon us as if we are impious to the highest degree and dirty people, with whom it is necessary to communicate as little and as seldom as possible. Where under such conditions is the ground for an Orthodox mission? The establishment of such a mission, which in our conditions would always be somewhat semi-official, might only provide the occasion for the development of hostility towards us among the Persians, which later could close off for us any access to contact with them. A mission must necessarily be founded only by means of private initiative, and it will undoubtedly be founded when suitable conditions for it arise. In Kazan there are 120,000 Russians and 15,000 Mahometans. Among the Russians there are of course quite a few sincere Christians, and were there 15,000 heathens – for instance, Chuvashes84 – instead of 15,000 Muslims, undoubtedly the Russian people would try to educate them. But now not one Russian, even with special missionary education, resolves to come into contact with Mahometans. Our Seminary has existed for 30 years surrounded by Mahometans. We politely exchange bows with Mahometans; speak about the weather, the harvest, etc., never about religion. The religious sense of the Tatars85 is quite saturated with Islam and they do not wish to know anything from Christians, upon whom Mahometans look down from above. The new sects in Islam, among which is Babism, put themselves even higher than orthodox Mahometans and us even lower. For these reasons, I think that it is not yet time for us, who cannot do anything with the Mahometans at home, in the centre of the state, to think about the establishment of a mission in Persia.

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136 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS We need only to try in every way possible to strengthen Russian influence upon Muslims and to hope that the Russian people, once they are equipped with the proper knowledge, will not miss the opportunity to do all that is possible for the spreading of Christianity. Being a matter of private initiative, the mission will give less cause to Muslims to close ranks to rebuff us and perhaps will not provoke the establishment of an anti-mission among Muslims. From all that has been stated, I think that we Russians must first study, second – study more, and third – study more. With perfect assurance of my devotion, Your High Excellency’s zealous servant, [Signed] N. Bobrovnikov

49 Tashkent 14/15 May 191586 No. 286 Office of the Governor-General of Turkestan to the Department of Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Secret The followers of the Muslim religious sect of ‘Behaists’ (Babis), 69 people, living in the city of Tashkent, appealed to the Head of the Region with a petition about allowing them to acquire a small piece of land in Tashkent and to build on it a house of worship, in which they would be able to fulfil their spiritual needs. His High Excellency, in view of Article 67 of the Fundamental State Laws (Code of Laws, vol. 1, part 1)87 finding no basis to prohibit the Babis from the manifestation of their religious feelings, at the same time even deemed necessary, for political and general state reasons, the settlement of Babi communities both in the

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27. Baha’is of Tashkent, with portrait of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and calligraphic rendering of the Greatest Name, Ya Baha al-Abha (O thou glory of glories), 1927. © Baha’i World Centre.

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28. Five members of a Baha’i committee in Tashkent, 1924. In the background, calligraphic rendering of the Greatest Name, Ya Baha al-Abha (O thou glory of glories). © Baha’i World Centre.

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Region and particularly in Tashkent because in the opinion of General of the Infantry Martson, the spread of Babism, as a teaching completely opposite to Islam in some of its main principles, among the Muslims in the Region could only be desirable in the sense of the weakening of the stagnant ideas of the dense mass of the native population that hardly yields to high humanitarian principles. Nevertheless, the lack of legal basis in our laws (Sacred Institutions and Organization of the Departments of Religious Affairs of Foreign Christian and other Creeds, Code of Laws, vol. 11, part 1)88 for Babi religious organization, as well as the absence, with respect to it, of any guiding instructions on the part of the relevant governmental institutions, makes now very difficult the imperative resolution of the questions raised because of the formation of the Babi community in Tashkent and the petition of the latter about permission for the construction of a house of worship. In view of this, on the order of the Head of the Region, the Office asks the Department to be so kind as to communicate to it, if possible in a short time, the following explanatory information: (1) Is the spreading of Babism within the borders of Russia prosecuted; (2) If not, then when and by what directive is the sect of the followers of this teaching legalized (attach a copy of this directive); (3) Is the formation of Babi communities obligatory or not, and how and generally under what conditions and by what procedure can such a community be legalized; (4) Is the legalization of the community permissible if among its members the number of foreign subjects predominates, such as in the given case – of 69 members, 65 are Persian subjects; (5) if the community were legalized, would it be given, in that case, any rights of juridical person, and in the affirmative case, could the purchase, in its name, be permitted of property for the construction of a house of worship and other needs of the community and (6) If the formation of the community is not obligatory, and at the same time the

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29. The Mashriq al-Adhkar (House of Worship) in Ashgabat. © Baha’i World Centre.

purchase of property by the Babis for the construction of their house of worship can be allowed, in what name, in that case, should the purchase be completed, and who is responsible for giving them permission for both the purchase of property as well as for the construction of a temple. Hereto the Office considers it a duty to add that in the Turkestan Region, in the city of Askhabad, Babis from the very beginning have enjoyed the right of the free exercise of their religious needs and have a majestic house of worship (Dar-ol-Ebadet’ [Dar al-‘Ibadat]); moreover, they were given protection in the Transcaspian Region almost from the moment of the formation of the latter, and in any event long before the joining of this Region to Turkestan. Temporary Acting Head of the Office Collegiate Counsellor89 [signed] Semenov Temporary Acting Chief Clerk [signed] M. Gorbunov

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50 Tashkent 17 January 191690 No. 3 From the Office of the Governor-General of Turkestan To the Department of Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Secret In view of the continuing submission of petitions on the part of the Behaists (Babis) about permission for them to establish their meeting houses in the cities of the region, with the right to acquire property for this end, the Office, on the directive of the Head of the Region, asks the Department if it would find it possible, with the goal of an urgent resolution in one way or another to these petitions, to hasten the communication of the guiding instructions requested by it in the communication of 15 May of last year, No. 386, regarding the sect of Behaists (Babis). Acting Head of the Office Collegiate Counsellor [signed] Semenov Temporary Acting Chief Clerk [signed] M. Gorbunov Assistant to the Chief Clerk [signed] Rozhdestvenskii

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142 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 51 May 191591 Report of the official of the Department of Religious Affairs Sergei Gavrilovich Rybakov on the origin and spread of the teaching of Babism Babism 1. The Bab The religious movement among the Muslims of Persia, Turkey and Russia, known under the name of Babism, originates in Seid Ali Muhammed [Sayyid ‘Ali-Muhammad] (the Bab), a Persian, who was born in the city of Shiraz on 20 October 1820 (The first of Muharrem [Muharram] 1236 year of the Hejira).92 Seid Ali Muhammed was distinguished by extraordinary abilities, modesty and piety, and from an early age displayed a special love for the resolution of religious questions. About his adolescence and youth his followers tell much that is interesting, even legendary. He studied with several famous theologians and visited holy places where his religious zeal reached high limits, reaching the point of intense exhaustion of the flesh. However not so much the study of theological wisdom as his independent reflections about religious questions interested the young thinker. By his views Seid Ali Muhammed produced an irresistible impression upon those round him, even upon people of great Islamic erudition. Among other things, he paid attention to the lamentable situation of Islam as a religion, in particular the Shiite clergy. His sensitive and truthful nature did not want to reconcile itself to the behaviour of the religious leaders of the masses – the mullas and mujtahids. Islam, in the state it was in, seemed to him to be a dying religion and only radical reform, be it at the risk of inevitable sedition, could save the people and return it to the path appointed by

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the Prophet. Steeped in lies to the marrow of their bones, the ulemas [‘ulama] (Muslim scholars), in the words of the new reformer, did not limit themselves to the deceiving of the people and violation of their rights, but they also tried to deceive God himself. The people in and of themselves are capable of improvement, but the ulemas intentionally pushed them into a false path in order to preserve unlimited power over them. Seid Ali Muhammed decided upon a struggle, fully conscious of the immensity of the task and the danger to which he exposed himself and his followers. He set himself the aim of reforming Islam and later went even further – rejected the Koran and proclaimed a new religion. During the night of 23 July 184493 he experienced an illumination: when he for the last time entreated the Most High to show him what he should do, he exclaimed: ‘God created me to teach these unbelieving people and to save them from the delusion in which they are immersed.’ That same year he declared himself the Bab, i.e., ‘the door’, leading to the knowledge of divine truth. With that, he proceeded from the accepted statement of Muslim theology that after the death of the Prophet Muhammed and the 12 Imams succeeding him (the founders of Muslim theology), the door of divine knowledge was closed: Seid Ali Muhammed declared that this door was once again open and that this door was he himself. Due to his eloquence and irresistible personal influence, he soon acquired numerous followers. As the teaching declared by him went against the dominant Muslim (Shiite) teaching and essentially infringed upon the interests of the Shiite ulemas and mullas, the latter rose up against the new reformer of the religion and tried to incite against him the representatives of the government. In Persia great popular unrest arose because of the new teaching. The central power paid attention to this movement and the Persian Shah sent to Shiraz his agent, Seib Iahvi [Sayyid Yahya]

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144 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Darabi to carry out an investigation regarding the new teaching and to undertake measures necessary against its spread. But the matter ended in Saib Iahvi Darabi becoming a follower of the Bab, after which the number of supporters of the new teaching grew even more. The essence of the Bab’s teachings is as follows. It is expounded by him in the book ‘Beiian’ [Bayan] (revelation), written in beautiful, poetic language. God, from whom everything proceeds and because of whom everything exists, is eternal and inaccessible, and man can try to approach him to a certain extent only through specially appointed mediators. Distinctly from God, the Primal Will (mashiiat-i-ula) [mashiyyat-i u‘la] exists, manifested in the prophets. Now it was speaking through the Bab in order to foretell that it would speak ‘through him whom God shall make manifest’. This expression clearly shows that the Bab considered himself only a forerunner of someone to come after him. This expression is repeated in the Beiian many times, for example: ‘The whole of the Beiian circles round the words of him whom God shall make manifest.’ The Bab is ‘the point of revelation’ (nukta-i-beiian) [nuqtih-yi bayan], because the Primal Will spoke through him. Each manifestation of the Primal Will abrogates the previous one, and therefore, in this case, Islam ceases to be a true religion. This statement has special importance as this is the point where the split with Islam took place. The Primal Will spoke consecutively through the prophets Adam, Noah, Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammed, and each revelation spoke about the following one. As for the Bab, ‘He is Moses and Jesus once again appeared on Earth as well as the manifestation of all the other prophets.’ So, the first tenet of Babism is that in this world God is represented by the Bab. The second tenet of Babism is that no revelation is final. Because

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the human race is developing, the Primal Will, the teacher of the people, in every new revelation speaks more fully and clearly. The new revelation actually does not abrogate the previous basic laws but adds to them and prepares the world for the ampler teaching of ‘him whom God shall make manifest’. In this way, only the form of the revelation changes while it remains one. Between the prophets there is and can be no disagreement; each of them teaches one and the same truth. But as far as the human race moves forward and develops, it needs a more ample education, a revelation more corresponding to the spirit of the age and to the perceptual ability of the people. The education given by Abraham was sufficient for the people of his time, but not for those to whom Moses was sent, who in turn ceased satisfying the needs of those to whom Christ was sent. Permanently existing in a changing external form, the ‘World Spirit’ is absolute good, therefore it is necessary to believe that it always manifests itself in the world overtly or tacitly. On the Day of the Last Judgement, ‘he whom God shall make manifest’ will preside. In the judgement, all the good people will be rewarded for their good deeds, while all the bad people and everything evil will be destroyed and will exist no more; there will be no eternal torment.94 By ‘hell’ is meant the ignorance and denial of the latest manifestation of God through the Primal Will, i.e., the latest prophet. Paradise is the joy of being in the state of reunion with God. The views of the Bab on the future life are unclear. ‘None but God knows what fate befalls a man after his death.’ Worship of God is described in Babism in lofty features. The hope of future reward is not promised to the followers of the Bab and they are summoned to worship God due to other grounds. ‘Worship God in such a way that if the recompense for thy worship of Him were to be the fire, in thy worship there would be no alteration’,95 it is said in the Beiian.

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30. Baha’i women in Ashgabat, 1925. © Baha’i World Centre.

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In a social respect, the teaching of the Bab can be called a sermon of brotherhood, but not communism, of which it is accused by Muslims. This teaching gives a high station to woman and signals more lofty family relations in connection with its conception of the tasks of the family and of the reform of education. Babism also calls for living in peace with all peoples. As a moral-social teaching, Babism is viable and has general significance, and as a religious teaching, could arise only in Persia because the basis of the Bab’s teaching was Shiite doctrine, and this was one of the reasons for the original success of Babism. Originally the Bab followed the Shiite interpretation of the Koran and hadises [hadiths]. But later he used the belief existing in certain Shiite sects that there was always a perfect man who could serve as an organ of communication between the bearers of the faith in former times (the Imams) and the mass of the believers, and declared himself to be such a perfect man, the Bab, i.e., ‘the door leading to the comprehension of truth’. This is the main point constituting a connecting link between Babism and the teaching of the Shiites. But subsequently the Bab significantly deviated from the latter. He changed the doctrine of Islam based on the Shiite teaching, which remained only an outer expression of the new teaching. It deserves attention that Babism began to spread rapidly in Persia predominantly among the thinking, educated classes, which is explained by its elevated philosophical character. Many prominent representatives of Islam joined it. The pupils of the Bab conducted their propaganda widely and zealously. A sustained and even bloody struggle for the new peaceful teaching unfolded. It ended with the imprisonment and execution of the Bab. The latter was carried out on 9 July 1850 in Tabriz. At the same time, several followers of the Bab selflessly went to their execution, having before their death shown extraordinary devotion to their teacher. The corpse of the Bab was transferred to Teheran and from there, through the efforts of the Bab’s successor, Beha-Ulla, with

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148 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS great difficulty it was transported to Turkey and buried in St Jean d’Acre.96 The gentle, bloodless teaching of the Bab became consolidated on an earth covered with blood. The whole of Persia was thrown into agitation by the new teaching. The Government made every effort to suppress the religious rising which had turned into a political revolt. The attempt on the life of the Shah in 1852 strengthened the persecution by the Government even more, and all manner of brutal measures began to be employed against the Babis, the outcome of which was the migration of the community of Babis to Turkey. 2. Beha-Ulla Having been executed, the Bab did not appoint a successor to himself. Then the claimant to the role of successor and continuer of the Bab was the richly gifted young Mirza Husain Ali [Husayn‘Ali], or Beha-Ulla. Already at the beginning of the Bab’s preaching activity, he attracted universal attention in Teheran by his abilities. He received almost no education but amazed scholars and mullas with his theological discourses and became a zealous preacher of the Bab’s teaching, which is why he gained great trust on the part of the latter. After the execution of the Bab, he carried on a struggle lasting many years for the role of successor with his half-brother Suba-iEzel’ [Subh-i Azal]. During this time, the community of Babis, headed by the said persons, were subjected to various kinds of persecutions by the Persian and Turkish governments and consecutively moved to Baghdad, where the Babis took Turkish nationality, then to Constantinople, from there to Adrianople and finally to Acre in Syria, where Beha-Ulla with his followers lived from 1868 until 1892. The Babis more than once enjoyed the protection and assistance of Russian diplomatic agents in Teheran and in Turkey, on whose insistence more than once they were freed from imprisonment. Beha-Ulla even addressed Emperor Nicholas I with a special

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message in which, among other things, he wrote: ‘When I was in the dungeon in fetters and chains, one of Thy ministers gave me help.’97 In general, the Russian government from the very beginning adopted a benevolent attitude towards the Babis. The deportation from Baghdad was preceded by an event of particular importance in the life of the Babis: in 1864 Beha-Ulla openly declared himself the prophet foretold by the Bab in the book the Beiian, ‘he whom the Lord God shall please to manifest’.98 Later Beha-Ulla went even so far as self-deification. In Acre began the reformist period in the life of Beha-Ulla and here soon appeared the main holy book of the Behais,99 the Kitabe Akdes. Beha-Ulla created in Acre an entire religious colony, using his extraordinary personal influence, and developed and supplemented the teaching of the Bab. According to the testimony of an English traveller, a professor from Cambridge University, Browne, the colony was the source of that powerful and astonishing spirit which worked with unseen, but constantly growing strength for the transformation and reviving of the people, who were stagnating in a sleep like unto death.100 A sojourn in the colony imparted to the soul an unusual and soul-stirring feeling. A general sense of harmony and satisfaction ruled here. But this was nothing in comparison to that spiritual atmosphere which surrounded the English researcher. The spirit with which the Babis are imbued is such that it can hardly not affect in the most powerful manner all who are subjected to its influence. It may alienate or captivate, but it cannot be ignored or disregarded. His own messengership and messiahship Beha-Ulla corroborated with well-considered references to the Bible and Gospel. Towards the personality and teaching of Christ, he and the Babis in general showed unusual respect. The Babis, one may say completely, left the Koran and adhered to the Jewish and Christian holy books, understanding them in their own way.

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150 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS The teaching of Beha-Ulla, set down by him in the Kitabe Akdes, i.e., the most holy book, presents itself in the following form. First of all, it is distinguished by its great adaptability to every moral-religious foundation. Like Islam, Behaism demands belief in one God, His apostles and His books. God is incomprehensible, but comprehension of the Deity is made accessible for man through His manifestations – the messengers. Christ and Beha-Ulla are the highest manifestations of God, superior to any imagination.101 All other manifestations were lower than them, though they also possessed perfect connections. The attitude of God towards man is the attitude of the creator towards the creature, of the sun towards the dark objects illuminated by it. The first emanation of God was the Primal Will, which has neither beginning nor end, but which is not eternal in the sense of eternality of God, for only He is eternal. The ability to approach the knowledge of God belongs only to man, of all the animal world, for within him is the Spirit – the emanation of God. Man is in the highest degree of materiality and at the beginning of spirituality, i.e., he is at the end of imperfection and at the beginning of perfection.102 In the whole universe there are cycles of events and facts; the new cycle changes the old one, which is forgotten, at times without leaving a trace. Each of God’s manifestations has a cycle in time. We are now in the cycle which began with Adam and the universal manifestation of which is Beha-Ulla. As the world develops constantly and the conditions of life change, it is always possible to expect a new Manifestation.103 The holy books tell us about miracles performed by the prophets. But miracles are not necessary for the establishment of God’s teaching. The miracles spoken of in the Gospel, Behais understand allegorically.104 The resurrection of Christ they also understand allegorically:

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Christ was resurrected in his teaching, which His apostles energetically began to preach.105 Behais recognize the holy books of other religions, but attach to them only historical significance. The Last Judgement, heaven and hell Beha-Ulla also took as allegories. He did not believe in predestination but believed that what was written on the tablets of God must be fulfilled: God foresees.106 If there is no predestination, then man has to be attributed free will. True freedom consists in following the commands of God.107 Still the fate of man is not in his hands. The moral principles advocated by Beha-Ulla are lofty and vital and make coexistence with Behais comfortable. Slavery is abolished. Contention, strife, striking one another and all that distresses the heart are forbidden for believers.108 Good character is the best adornment and its light is superior to the light of the sun and its reflection.109 All the faithful are to live in peace and to be as the fingers of one hand and the members of a body.110 Tidiness is highly recommended, engagement in crafts or in general some profession is imposed as a duty.111 Specially recommended are enlightenment and education, which must lead people to unity. Towards the authorities, Beha-Ulla advocated respect and obedience. In whatever country this people (Babis) should live, it must treat the government of this country honestly, truthfully and sincerely. ‘This is that which has been sent down from the Eternal Sovereign,’ it says in the Kitabe-Akdes.112 Behaism recommends living together in peace with people of other religions. Behais treat monasticism completely negatively. Entering into marriage is considered to be obligatory. The

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152 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS number of wives is limited by two, but it is better if there should be only one wife.113 Marriage, apparently, is allowed only among the followers of the religion of the Bab.114 The ease of Muslim divorce is limited. The attitude towards woman is elevated. According to the Kitabe Akdes, the special institution called the House of Justice is to be in charge of the Behai community. 3. The Main Distinctions of Babism from Muslim Teaching The aforesaid sufficiently demonstrates that Babism, and in particular Behaism, has substantially diverged from Islam in its foundations. This is why it is not uninteresting to classify the main distinctions of the teaching of the Babis from orthodox Muslim (Sunnite) teaching. According to the opinion of the Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad was the last messenger of God, ‘the seal of prophets’. The Babis preach that new messengers are possible. The Muslim teaching regarding the trial of the dead in their graves, resurrection, the Bridge of Syrat [Sirat], paradise and hell is rejected and explained in Babism allegorically. The teaching of Muhammed is full of threats for its nonobservance and promises various sorts of rewards, among them material ones, to those obeying it. The Beiian, the holy book written by the Bab, proclaims lofty service and worship of God without hope of future reward. Further, in Islam complicated and onerous details of the fulfilment of the prayers are established, and even purely mechanical violations of established procedures make the prayer invalid. In Babism very great easing is made in this respect and, among other things, the Koranic fivefold prayer is changed to threefold. During worship, singing and music are allowed. The Muslim teaching gives a husband absolute arbitrary rule in family life, and, with respect to divorce, the husband can divorce

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his wife whenever he wishes. According to the teaching of BehaUlla, in the event of discord between spouses, incompatibility or aversion towards each other, it is recommended to wait a year, and if there be no change then it is possible to divorce, applying in this matter to the House of Justice. For strict Muslims, a man of another religion and especially a Christian is always unclean. The holy book of the Behais – the Kitabe Akdes – abolishes the division of objects into clean and unclean; water cleans everything.115 In the Koran the war cry is heard regarding the extermination of people of other religions, but in Behaism, on the contrary, living together in peace with people of other religions is advocated. ‘Consort with other religions and strive to establish the cause of your Lord the Merciful’116 is written in the holy book of the Behais; ‘Woe unto you if the spirit of ignorance should seize you amidst men.117 … Honest and reliable people must live with all people in tranquility and friendliness, for intercourse was and is the instrument of unity and concord, while unity and concord lead to the order of the world and vitality of peoples.’ Being so essentially different from Islam, Babism is a religion broadly tolerant and easy to get on with, with a pronounced tendency to peaceful proselytism. Not rising to the height of the dogmatic and moral teaching of Christianity, it in any case appeals to lofty ideals in daily life, and in this sense, as a high moral-social system, it cannot but be considered a positive phenomenon in the sphere of the religious development of humanity. The eloquent characteristics of Babism and Behaism, which developed from it, were given by Beha-Ulla himself in conversation with the above-mentioned English traveller, Professor Browne. ‘We desire but the good and happiness of the people’, he said, ‘yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition, worthy of bondage and banishment. That all nations should become one in faith and all people become brothers; that the bonds of affection

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154 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease and differences of nationality be destroyed – what harm is there in this? … This now shall be fulfilled. These fruitless strifes and ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come. Is not this that which Europe needs? Is not this that which Christ preached? Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on the means to destroy the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind … These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all people be as one family and one kindred … Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country, let him rather glory in this, that he loves the human race …’ 118 The great idea lying at the foundation of Babism, which has the aim of the prosperity of all mankind, makes this religion one of the lofty religions. Babism represents the development not of Islam in its orthodox form, but of Shiism, and thus its spread, as a religion, is limited to countries with a Shiite population. As a result of this, we encounter those who profess Babism only in Persia, Turkey, Egypt, India and Russia and only isolated individuals in Europe. The spread of Babism is also limited by the circumstance that in order to be a conscious Babi it is necessary to be capable of some philosophical thinking, and this is not the lot of the mass. Babis reckon the number of adherents of their religion in Persia alone from 800,000 to 2 millions,* while Professor Browne, S. Umanets,119 Arakelian120 and other authors number the Babis in Persia up to 3 millions.† *

†

Petition of residents of the city of Baku professing the teaching of the Bab to the Baku Governor of 5 February 1901 in the file of the Department of Religious Affairs (archival) No. 61, started 19 August 1901, ‘The Mahometan Sect of Babis’. P. Tsvetkov. Islamism. Fourth volume, Islam and its Sects, Askhabad, 1913, p. 347. This report was created on the basis of this work.

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31. Baha’is in Ashgabat including Haji Mirza Mahmud Afnan, Shaykh Muhammad-‘Ali Qa’ini, Munir Nabilzadih and Hakim-Ilahi from Qazvin, c. 1910. © Baha’i World Centre.

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156 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS In conclusion, let us bring in the opinion of Babism by an English magazine devoted to the research of this religious movement – Star of the West, 1911, No. 9: ‘The movement (Behaism) cannot be regarded as a religion with new content. Rather it is the world-wide recognition of the underlying unity of religion of the peoples and of the ideals of international peace and goodwill. It teaches the equality of sexes, the duty of everyone to serve the community and the duty of the community to promote such service, urging men of all religions to live out their faith in unity with their fellow-men and to show that behind all the symbols of creed there lies only one religion and only one God.’121 4. Babis in Russia The followers of Babism live in small numbers within the borders of Russia in the Caucasus and in the Transcaspian area. According to information contained in the files of the Department of Religious Affairs,* Babis living in Baku in 1901 submitted a petition for permission to them to open in the said city, in a private building, a house of worship.122 The local Administration (The Governor of Baku and the Head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus) supported the aforesaid petition to the Ministry of Internal Affairs; moreover they also reported that the teaching of the Babis, which came to the Caucasus from Persia, explains the Law of Mahomet in a rational and enlightened way, discarding all that is obsolete, fanatical and false from this law and in general is very favourable to Christianity, and among ignorant and undeveloped Muslims it creates loyal and desirable citizens. Babis reside as well in the city of Shemakha and other towns in the Caucasus. In view of the hostile attitude towards them by Muslims, the Babis do not visit the mosques of the latter and because of this need their own house of worship. Around 1896–1897 detailed research on the life of the Baku *

The same file of the Dept. of Rel[igious] Aff[airs].

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Babis, undertaken on the instruction of the local Governor, brought the most favourable results for the Babis. The Head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus thought, on his part, that the Russian government had no need to take into account the hostile attitude of the Muslim clergy and population towards the Babis either within our borders, or in neighbouring Persia, because the sect of the Babis represents a kind of reformist tendency in Islam, founded as a result of contacts with Christianity and European culture and adopting some of the ideas of the latter. The doctrine proclaimed by this sect is a protest against intolerance, backwardness, darkness and ignorance, in which the Muslim clergy keeps the population, guarding it in every way possible from the influence of the European-Christian world, thanks to which the benighted mass of the orthodox Muslim population represents a milieu, although obedient, yet passively hostile to the Russian state and culture. For the aforementioned reason, the Head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus, Prince Golitsyn, deemed it desirable and expedient for Russian state interests to render certain protection to the Babis and to grant their aforesaid petition. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, on its part, did not encounter any obstacles to allowing the Babis of Baku to organize public worship in a particular location, on the condition that their teaching on the prohibition against carrying arms except in time of necessity does not contravene the obligation of all Russian subjects to be ready to defend their fatherland with arms. The Babis also live in the Transcaspian Region, where they are allowed to have (in the city of Askhabad) a house of worship. [Signed] Attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Collegiate Counsellor S. Rybakov

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32. Spiritual Assembly of Ashgabat including Aqa Sayyid Mahdi Gulpayigani, c. 1922. © Baha’i World Centre.

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52 Moscow 14 December 1928123 Secret. To be kept clandestine. Protocol No. 105 Meeting of the Anti-religious Commission of the TsK VKP(b)124 Participated: Comrades Iaroslavskii, Krasikov, Tuchkov, Ol’hovyi, Putintsev, Lukachevskii, Stukov (from Glavlit125) HEARD

DECIDED

Tuchkov’s report regarding the petitions of religious people: (a) On permission for the Lutherans to publish hymns (report of Glavlit of 24.IX.1928 No. 1644/S)

(a) To refuse.

(b) On permission to the representatives of the Renovationists126 to translate from Church Slavonic127 and publish in Russian

(b) To postpone this question and to discuss with the full membership of the Commission.

(c) On the question of five closed churches in Saransk128

(c) To consider necessary a reconsideration of the decision of VTsIK129 towards its cancellation and the fulfilment of the request of the regional Commission of VKP(b).

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160 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS (d) On the campaign of closing churches in IvanovoVoznesenskaia Guberniia130

(d) To consider it necessary to discuss this question in the A[nti]-R[eligious] C[ommission] with the participation of the representative of Gubcom or Gu[b]ispolcom131 in the presence of Comrade Smidovich.

(e) On permission for the Evangelists Zhidkov and Kazakov to leave the country

(e) To allow.

(f) On the sect of Behaists

(f) In view of the anti-Soviet and spying character of the Behaist organization, to liquidate it within the borders of the USSR. To consider it useful to report on the activity of the Behaists in Bezbozhnik132 and Izvestiia.133

(g) On the conferences of the sect of Bet-Bruders134

(g) To consider the sect, with respect to conferences, to be like the rest of the religious organizations: one conference in three years. To instruct Comrade Krasikov to bring this decision to the attention of Comrade Kurts and if there should be objections on the part of Comrade Kurts, to discuss the question of BetBruders again.

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33. Baha’is of Baku, c. 1923. © Baha’i World Centre.

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34. Boys with their teachers on the steps of the Mashriq al-Adhkar of Ashgabat. © Baha’i World Centre.

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(h) On Tibetan medicine

(h) To discuss the question in the presence of Erbanov and representatives of Narkomzdrav.135

(i) On taxes on the clergy

(i) To charge Narkomfin136 to work out an instruction on a more complete accounting system for objects of taxation among different categories of clergy.

*** Iaroslavskii’s report on the resolution for Orgbiuro137 on strengthening the struggle with religion. Smidovich considers the paragraph on the resolution about strengthening anti-religious education at school a questionable and even harmful point. Comrade Smidovich obviously misunderstood this paragraph. In the resolution, it does not speak about the introduction of a special course (subject) on anti-religious propaganda, as Comrade Smidovich understood, but about infusing the natural and social science courses with elements of anti-religious propaganda, which is not the same. The second incorrect clause of the resolution Comrade Smidovich considers to be the administrative measures of struggle with the clergy. To send out the draft of the resolution with all corrections to Comrades Smidovich, Krupskaia and Tolmachev with the request to them to provide their corrections no later than Tuesday, 18/XI [sic]/28. Chairman of ARC: [Signed] Iaroslavskii Secretary: [Signed] Tuchkov 18 December 1928

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164 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Typed in 4 copies and sent to (1) Original to the Secretariat of TsK VKP(b), copies to comrades Smidovich, Krasikov and OGPU.138 [Written by hand] P.[aragraph] ‘g’ was sent to comrade Pospelov on 14/IX/1964 (regarding the request of the IML[Institute of Marxism–Leninism] of the TsK CPSU) – directive of Comrade Malin of 12/IX/1964.

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‘Abd al-‘Ali Khan Maraghih’i, Sartip (d. 1860/1), commander of the artillery regiment of the Azerbaijani provincial army, one of the ablest and best officers of the Muhammad Shah and early Nasir al-Din Shah eras. He became a Babi soon after the declaration of the Bab. When the governor-general of Khurasan ordered Mulla Husayn Bushru’i to appear in his military encampment, ‘Abd al-‘Ali Khan protected him. In 1860, during a military action against the Turkmen, he was taken prisoner along with another Babi officer, and Mirza ‘Ali-Riza Khan, the accountant-general of Khurasan, bought their freedom. On ‘Abd al-‘Ali’s return to Iran, he was ordered executed by Nasir al-Din Shah because of his bold and open beliefs. ‘Abd al-Aziz I, Sultan (1830–1876), thirty-second sultan of the Ottoman Empire (r. 1861–76). He was the son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother, ‘Abd al-Majid. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz continued the Tanzimat reforms and was the first Ottoman sultan to visit Western Europe (1867), but crop failure, misgovernment, the sultan’s extravagance, and mounting public debt led to increased discontent and he was deposed by his ministers in 1876, dying shortly thereafter, under suspicious circumstances. He issued the decrees banishing Baha’u’llah from Istanbul to Edirne (1863) and finally to Acre (1868). Baha’u’llah addressed two tablets to him. ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Abbas Effendi) (1844–1921), eldest son of Baha’u’llah. Born in Tehran, ‘Abdu’l-Baha accompanied his father throughout his exiles and became head of the Baha’i faith in 1892 after the death of Baha’u’llah, according to the latter’s will (Kitab-i ‘Ahdi). ‘Abdu’l-Baha remained in the vicinity of Acre, Palestine, as a religious prisoner of the Ottoman government until he was released in 1908 after the Young Turk Revolution. In 1911–13 ‘Abdu’l-Baha went on a speaking tour of Europe and North America to spread the Baha’i teachings. In 1920 he was

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166 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS knighted (although he never used the title) for his humanitarian efforts in Palestine during World War I. Under his direction, the first Baha’i House of Worship (Mashriq al-Adhkar) was constructed in Ashgabat. He wrote several books including A Traveller’s Narrative and The Secret of Divine Civilization. Afnan, Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi Vakil al-Dawlih (d. 1911), son of Sayyid Muhammad, a maternal cousin of the Bab, and a prominent merchant in Yazd. He was appointed consular agent for Russia and was subsequently granted the title ‘Vakil al-Dawlih’ (Representative of the Government). His family became one of the most influential merchant families in Iran. In 1909, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, who held him in high esteem, asked him to go to Ashgabat to supervise the construction of the Mashriq al-Adhkar. Later he spent time in Haifa, where he died. Ahsa’i, Shaykh Ahmad (1753–1826), founder of the Shaykhi School of Shi‘i Islam. Born in al-Ahsa, Arabia, he became learned in religious studies and at age 20 went to the Shi‘i shrines in Iraq. Returning eventually to Iran, his ideas attracted many adherents, some among the ruling Qajar family, including Fath ‘Ali Shah. He was accused by orthodox theologians of teaching heretical doctrines. Shaykh Ahmad’s teachings were esoteric and complex; he maintained that the Hidden Imam existed not in the physical world but in a spiritual world of archetypes, and that ‘resurrection’ was also to be understood spiritually rather than physically. After his death, His successor Sayyid Kazim Rashti did not appoint another to follow him, and when the Bab appeared, many Shaykhis became Babis. The rest split into three rival factions, with the majority following Haji Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani, and what remained of Shaykhism ultimately became submerged again in orthodox Shi‘ism. ‘Ali Pasha, Muhammad Amin (1815–1871), Ottoman statesman and diplomat. As he knew French, he began his career in the Ottoman government translation department (1833). He eventually held the positions of ambassador to Great Britain, foreign minister, and grand vizier, and as representative at the Congress of Vienna (1855) and of Paris (1856). He was regent of the Ottoman Empire while the Sultan attended the Paris Exhibition in 1867. Although personally authoritarian, he was a strong advocate of reform and westernization. ‘Ali-Asghar Khan, Mirza, Amin al-Sultan Atabak-i A‘zam (1859– 1907), a leading Iranian political figure of the later Qajar period. The son of a minister of Nasir al-Din Shah, at 24 he succeeded his father

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as minister of the court including control of the mint, customs and the central granary, eventually becoming prime minister. He accompanied Nasir al-Din Shah on his third trip to Europe (1889) and helped to secure concessions for the British, including the notorious Tobacco Concession (1890). When the concession was revoked (1892), he was discredited and exiled (1903). He was reappointed prime minister by Muhammad-‘Ali Shah (1907) but was assassinated shortly afterwards. Anichkov, Nikolai Andrianovich (1809–1892), Russian diplomat. He served in the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1834. From 1838 he was consul-general in Tabriz, from 1854, chargé d’affaires in Tehran and from 1858 to 1863, minister plenipotentiary. In 1863 he resigned due to illness. He was named privy counsellor in 1861. Arakelian, Hambardzoum (1855–1918), Armenian journalist, editor and activist. Born in Shusha, Nagorno Qarabagh, he studied in Shusha, Baku and Moscow. He was editor of the Armenian journal Mschak (Labourer) in Tiflis (1913–18) and published the newspaper Aror. He reported on his research in Iran on ‘Babism’ at the First International Congress of the History of Religions in Paris (1900). He participated in several peace conferences, representing the Armenian Association for Peace and Arbitration (Tehran) at the Tenth Universal Peace Conference in Glasgow in 1901. He founded the Relief Committee for Armenian Migrants in Tiflis (1915). Pro-Russian in his sentiments, he was the leader of the Armenian Zhoghovrdakan (Populist) Party, founded in 1917, but he was against the October Revolution and was killed in 1918. Aslan Khan, Amir, ‘Amid al-Mulk Majd al-Dawlih (d. 1871), the son of Amir Qasim Qajar Quyunlu and uncle to Nasir al-Din Mirza (later Shah). In 1847 he was appointed master of ceremonies to Nasir alDin Mirza. In 1850 as governor of Zanjan he was ordered to put down the Babi upheaval there and to arrest its leader, Mulla Muhammad-‘Ali Zanjani, and bring him to Tehran, but he failed to do so. In 1856 he was made governor-general of Gilan province (until 1859/60), and again appointed governor of Zanjan province (until 1863/4). He subsequently held a number of posts, including governor-general of Gilan (1868/9), chief financial official of Zill al-Sultan, governor of Isfahan (1869/70) and chief of the royal stables (1870/1). In 1871 he was appointed governor of Khuzistan and Burujird but died before taking office. Azal (Mirza Yahya Nuri) (1831–1912), younger half-brother of Baha’u’llah. He became a Babi in 1844 and was given various titles,

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168 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS including ‘Azal’ (Eternity), by the Bab, who designated him the head of the Babi community until the appearance of ‘him whom God shall make manifest’. He is referred to by some authors as ‘Subh-i Azal’ (Morning of Eternity). In 1852 he was associated with the leader of a militant group of Babis that attempted to assassinate Nasir al-Din Shah. When Baha’u’llah was exiled, Azal fled Iran in disguise, and in Baghdad he remained apart. In 1856 he ordered the murder of Dayyan. He went with Baha’u’llah to Edirne and there began to work against him, even attempting to kill him by poisoning. When Baha’u’llah made public his claim to be ‘he whom God shall make manifest’, Azal then made his own claim to prophethood. While most Babis became followers of Baha’u’llah (and were subsequently known as Baha’is), a small number followed Azal (and were known as Azalis). In Edirne, the accusations by Azal and his followers to the Ottoman government resulted in the banishment of Baha’u’llah to Acre, and Azal to Cyprus. Azal lived on the island until the end of his life. ‘Aziz Khan Mukri Sardar-i Kull (1792–1871), army chief under Nasir al-Din Shah. A Sunni Kurd, he commanded a regiment at the siege of Herat (1837–39). He was subsequently appointed ajudanbashi-yi kull-i ‘asakir (aide-de-camp of the army) and in 1850 he was charged with suppressing the Babis in Zanjan led by by Mulla Muhammad-‘Ali Zanjani (Hujjat). Later, he became sardar-i kull-i ‘asakir (commander in chief of the army) and was responsible for organizing the execution of Qurrat al-‘Ayn (Tahirih). He fell from favor but was reinstated and made minister and chief financial official for the governor-general of Azerbaijan, Bahman Mirza. In 1860/1, he became minister of war and head of the armed forces but lost his position and his properties and was exiled to Sultanabad (1868/9) for corruption, although he regained the shah’s favour and was given more governorships and command of the fourth army of Tabriz before he died. Bab, the (Sayyid ‘Ali-Muhammad Shirazi) (1819–1850), founder of the Babi religion. He was born in Shiraz and entered the family business, becoming a merchant. On 23 May 1844 he announced to the Shaykhi, Mulla Husayn Bushru’i (who became his first believer), that he was the promised figure whom the Shaykhi disciples of Sayyid Kazim had been seeking. The Bab initially emphasized his claim to be the gate (bab) to the Hidden Imam (the Qa’im, or Mahdi), but later he openly declared himself to be the Qa’im himself. He went further, claiming prophetic revelation, but emphasized the coming of another messianic figure to follow him whom he called ‘him whom God shall make mani-

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fest’. The Bab’s doctrines radically undermined the authority of the Shi‘i ‘ulama and the shah; the government and religious establishment sought to suppress the movement, which had attracted thousands of followers. Successive waves of persecution and violent clashes ensued, and many Babis were killed. The Bab was imprisoned in Maku, near the Russian border, but was subsequently moved to Chahriq. In 1848 he was interrogated by the ‘ulama in Tabriz and declared an apostate. In 1850 the Bab was executed by firing squad in Tabriz. The Bab wrote numerous works, the most important of which is the Bayan (Exposition). Badi‘ (Aqa Buzurg Nishapuri) (d. 1869), 17-year-old youth who delivered Baha’u’llah’s tablet, the Lawh-i Sultan, to Nasir al-Din Shah. In 1869 he went to see Baha’u’llah in Acre, walking from Mosul. Baha’u’llah entrusted him with taking the tablet to the Shah and gave him the title ‘Badi‘’ (Unique, Wonderful). Badi‘ returned to Iran and approached the shah with the tablet. He was seized and tortured by bastinado and branding with hot iron and then killed. Badi‘ullah, Mirza (1868–1950), half-brother of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, who was born in Edirne. Along with his brother Muhammad-‘Ali and other members of Baha’u’llah’s family, Badi‘ullah turned against ‘Abdu’l-Baha and engaged in intrigues against him. Baha’u’llah (Mirza Husayn ‘Ali Nuri) (1817–1892), founder of the Baha’i religion. Born in Tehran to a noble family, he became a Babi in 1844. He was one of the principal figures at the Conference of Badasht (1848), where he took the name ‘Baha’. After the attempt on the life of Nasir al-Din Shah (1852), he was among those imprisoned in the SiyahChal dungeon, where he experienced a vision considered the beginning of his revelation. Found innocent of the assassination attempt, he was released but was sent into exile with his family and a number of companions. He went first to Baghdad, where his increasing influence as the spiritual leader of the Babis led to his further exile to Istanbul in 1863. Shortly before his departure from Baghdad, he disclosed to some of his companions that he was the one promised by the Bab. After a few months in Istanbul, he was sent to Adrianople (Edirne), where he made public his claim to be ‘he whom God shall make manifest’. He was further banished to Acre in 1868, living in the vicinity of the city for the remainder of his life. Baha’u’llah’s writings, considered divine revelation by his followers, include thousands of letters as well as longer works, chief among which is the Kitab-i Aqdas (The Most Holy Book).

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170 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Bahman Mirza (1810–1883), fourth son of ‘Abbas Mirza and brother of Muhammad Shah. He held several governorships including those of Ardabil, Tehran, Hamadan and Azerbaijan. He participated in the conspiracy with his uncle and cousin, Muhammad-Hasan Khan Salar, to revolt against Muhammad Shah. Bahman Mirza sought asylum in Russia and left Iran, living in Russian territory the rest of his life. He had more than 100 children and grandchildren. Bakulin, Fedor Abramovich (1846–1879), Russian diplomat and Orientalist. After graduating from the Lazarev Institute and the Educational Department of Oriental Languages, he began working in Iran (1865–79), where he was secretary, dragoman and finally consul in Astarabad. During his time in Iran he managed to obtain and later to send to the Asiatic Museum many interesting documents, among them several Babi and Baha’i manuscripts. He authored several articles on Oriental topics. Bentham, Jeremy (1748–1832), English legal and moral philosopher, political radical and founder of University College London. He is known as the founder of utilitarianism, which evaluates actions based upon their consequences, and is famous for the doctrine that the standard by which actions should be judged is the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Biutsov, Evgenii Karlovich (1837–1904), Russian diplomat. He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1858; from 1862 worked in China and Japan; was chargé d’affaires in Japan (1871–73); ambassador to China (1873–83); ambassador to Greece (1884–89); minister to Iran (1889–97); and minister to Sweden and Norway (1897–1904). Bobrovnikov, Nikolai Alekseevich (1854–1921), Russian pedagogue. After graduating from Kazan University (1877), he worked first as a teacher of mathematics (1878–91) and later as director of Kazan Teachers’ Seminary (1891–1906). In 1906–12 he was the trustee of the Orenburg Educational District and member of the Council of the Ministry of Education. In 1919–21 he was chairman of the Oriental Commission of Kazan University. He was the author of several books and articles. Browne, Edward Granville (1862–1926), well-known English Orientalist. Educated at Eaton and Pembroke College, Cambridge, he graduated in medicine but became interested in Oriental studies. He was

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elected Fellow of Pembroke College in 1887. During a visit to Iran in 1887–88, he became interested in the Babi movement and met Baha’is and Azalis, writing A Year Amongst the Persians (1893). In 1890 he visited Azal in Cyprus and Baha’u’llah in Acre. Browne was passionately involved in Iranian politics; disappointed that the Baha’is remained aloof from involvement, he gave his support to the Azalis. Browne published an annotated translation of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s A Traveller’s Narrative (1891); The Tarikh-i Jadid or New History of Mirza ‘Ali Muhammad the Bab (1893); Kitab-i Nuqtat al-Kaf (1910) and Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion (1918), as well as other works on Iranian subjects. He was appointed lecturer in Persian and later (1902) became Sir Thomas Adams Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge. Bujnurdi, Shaykh Haji Muhammad-Taqi (d. 1896/7), one of the leading Shi‘i ‘ulama of nineteenth-century Iran. After studying in Najaf under prominent Shi‘i scholars such as Shaykh Ansari and Sahib-i Javahir, he returned to Iran and became the leading cleric of Bujnurd. He came into conflict with the governor of Bujnurd over his extortion of the local landowners and went to Mashhad, attaining a higher position and importance in Shi‘i scholarship. He was a leading opponent of the Tobacco Concession. Chelpanov, Georgii Ivanovich (1862–1936), Russian philosopher and psychologist. He graduated from the University of Odessa, worked in Moscow University (1890–92 and 1907–23), and in Kiev University (1892–1907), where he was professor (1897) and chair of philosophy. He was the author of numerous books and articles. Darabi, Sayyid Yahya (Vahid) (d. 1850), early Babi leader. Originally a highly respected Shi‘i scholar, he was sent by Muhammad Shah to investigate the Bab’s claims in Shiraz, but after doing so became a believer himself and returned to the shah as the representative of the Bab. In 1850 he went to Yazd, where his bold proclamation of the new faith caused turmoil. He then went to Nayriz, and after many converted, a violent clash resulted, in which he was killed. Dolgorukov, Prince Dmitrii Ivanovich (1797–1867), also known as ‘Dolgorukii’, Russian diplomat who served as secretary of the Russian legation in Madrid, the Hague, Naples and Istanbul, and was minister in Tehran (1846–54) during the period of upheavals and persecutions connected to the spread of the Babi movement and the execution of the Bab.

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172 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Gamazov, Matvei Avel’evich (1812–1893), Russian diplomat, translator, teacher of Turkish in the Educational Department of Oriental Languages of the Asian Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and head of the department from 1872–93. He was Aleksandr Tumanskii’s teacher. Girs, Nikolai Karlovich (Nicholas de Giers) (1820–1895), Russian diplomat of Scandinavian Protestant ancestry. He worked in the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1838. In 1850 he was appointed first secretary in Istanbul. From 1863 he was minister in Tehran; from 1875, director of the Asian Department and deputy minister of foreign affairs; and from 1882, minister of foreign affairs. Gobineau, Joseph Arthur, Comte de (1816–1882), French diplomat and author. After holding a number of diplomatic posts in Europe during 1849–54, he was appointed first secretary of the French legation in Tehran (1855); later chargé d’affaires (1856–58) and, after an interval of several years, minister in Iran (1862–63). Gobineau’s account of the Babi movement published in Les religions et les philosophies dans l’Asie centrale was widely influential. Golitsyn, Prince Grigorii Sergeevich (1838–1907), Russian statesman. After graduating from Pazheskii Korpus (Page Corps, a privileged military school) in 1856, he began military service, studying in the Academy of the General Headquarters (1858–60). He served in the Caucasus (1862–72) and as military governor of the Ural Region (1876–83). He became major general in 1873, lieutenant general (1883), and general of the infantry (1896). He was a senator from 1885 and member of the State Council from 1890. In 1896 he was appointed head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus and served there until 1905. From 1897 he was adjutant-general of the Emperor’s suite. Gorchakov, Prince Aleksandr Mikhailovich (1798–1883), Russian diplomat. After graduating from the Liceum in Tsarskoe Selo, he was attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1817). From 1820 he worked in various countries and carried out special missions of State Chancellor Nesselrode. He was ambassador in Vienna (1855–56); minister of foreign affairs (1856–82) and state chancellor (1867–82). Gotval’d, Iosif Fedorovich (1813–1897), Russian Orientalist, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1870) and member of the Russian Archaeological Society (1887). He taught Arabic and Persian languages at the University of Kazan from 1849.

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Gulpayigani, Mirza Abu al-Fazl (1844–1914), eminent Iranian Baha’i scholar, teacher and author. Born near Gulpayigan, he came from a clerical family and was educated in Arak, Karbala, Najaf and Isfahan. He taught for a time at a religious college in Tehran (of which he was later made head). In 1876 he became a Baha’i, as a result of which he was imprisoned for five months and lost his teaching position. He later taught at a Zoroastrian school established by Maneckji Limji Hataria and served as Maneckji’s secretary. He was imprisoned again in 1882–83 and in 1885, and after his release he travelled extensively, including to Ashgabat, Bukhara and Samarkand, to spread the Baha’i faith. He went to Acre in 1894 and later lived several years in Cairo. After visiting France and the United States (1901–04), he returned to Cairo, where he lived for the rest of his life. He wrote a number of treatises and books, including Fara’id (Priceless Jewels), a rebuttal to the shaykh al-Islam of Tiflis. Hamzih Mirza Hishmat al-Dawlih (d. 1880), twenty-first son of Abbas Mirza and uncle of Nasir al-Din Shah. He was governor-general of Khurasan (1847–49), and was involved in the suppression of the revolt of the Salar. At the time of the events concerning the Bab’s execution, he was governor-general of Azerbaijan (June 1849–53). He had met Mulla Husayn Bushru’i, and when he was given the order to execute the Bab he refused to associate himself with it. Later, he was governorgeneral of a number of provinces, such as Isfahan (1854), Khurasan (1858), Yazd (1861) and Khuzistan (1863). In 1868 he was appointed minister of war and in 1872 he was again made governor-general of Khuzistan (1872–80). He died while trying to suppress the revolt by the Kurdish rebel, Shaykh ‘Ubaydullah. Hataria, Maneckji Limji (1813–1890), Parsi Zoroastrian merchant, scholar and activist for his community, also known as Maneckji Sahib. Born in India, he went into commerce at a young age and became a wealthy merchant. In 1854 he was sent to Iran to improve the conditions of persecuted Zoroastrians there. In 1882, as a result of his efforts, the shah lifted the jizya (head tax) on Zoroastrians. Hataria encouraged Zoroastrians to organize societies and was instrumental in the founding of modern schools for his community. He met Baha’u’llah in Baghdad in 1854, and during 1876–82 Mirza Abu al-Fazl Gulpayigani was his secretary. Husayn Khan Qazvini Mushir al-Dawlih, Mirza (1828–1881), leading official of the Qajar period. Educated in Europe, he entered diplomatic service, eventually becoming ambassador to Istanbul (1869). As the representative of the Iranian government in Istanbul, he was the one with whom the Ottoman officials dealt in matters concerning the

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174 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Baha’is and the exile of Baha’u’llah. In 1870 he returned to Iran and held a series of positions including minister of justice, minister of war, commander of the army and prime minister (1871). He accompanied Nasir al-Din Shah on his first trip to Europe (1873), but on their return was dismissed from his posts. He was reinstated as foreign minister and minister of war but was dismissed again from all his posts (1880), reinstated as governor of Qazvin (1880), and of Azerbaijan (1880–81). In 1881 he was appointed governor of Khurasan but shortly afterwards died, believed to have been poisoned on the order of the shah. Iaroslavskii, Emel’ian Mikhailovich (Minei Izrailevich Gubelman) (1878–1943), Soviet statesman and Communist Party activist. A member of the Communist Party since 1898, in 1921 he was secretary of the Central Committee, during 1921–22 and 1933–43 a member of the Central Committee, and from 1923 until 1934 he was also a member of the Central Controlling Commission and on the editorial board of the newspaper Pravda. He was an academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (1939) and wrote many works on Party history. During the work of the Anti-religious Commission, he was its chairman. Ignat’ev, Nikolai Pavlovich, Count (1832–1908), Russian statesman and diplomat. He graduated in 1851 from the Military Academy and in 1857–58 headed rather successful negotiations with Khiva and Bukhara. He was director of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1861–64), ambassador in Istanbul (1864–77), minister of internal affairs (1881–82) and general of the infantry (1878). Isfahani, Mirza Muhammad-Riza (d. 1889), prominent Baha’i of Ashgabat. He came originally from Khurasan, later moving to Isfahan, where he was a merchant. Because of his active promotion of the Baha’i faith he was imprisoned but later released. He visited Baha’u’llah in Acre and asked him to allow him to sacrifice his life for him. Baha’u’llah reportedly told him that was not necessary, but he insisted. He was told to go to Ashgabat, where he became a prominent member of the community of Baha’i émigrés there. In 1889 he received a tablet from Baha’u’llah which alluded to a coming attack on one of the Baha’is. Two months later he was murdered by Shi‘i thugs while a crowd cheered the killers. At the subsequent trial, those who had committed the act of murder were sentenced to death and others to exile in Siberia. The Baha’is interceded and the death sentences were mitigated to exile. Baha’u’llah, in his Lawh-i Dunya, expressed approval of his followers’ intercession on behalf of their enemies.

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Iunitskii, Aleksandr, Archpriest (b. 1854), dean of the Nikolaevskii Cathedral in Baku. He went to Baku in 1875 and worked there until the 1930s. A member of the Church Council (1917–18), he was the author of the book Istoriia tserkvei i prikhodov v Bakinskoi gubernii (The History of Churches and Parishes in the Baku Guberniia) (1905). Ivanovskii, Nikolai Aleksandrovich (1833–1882), Russian diplomat. He graduated from St Petersburg University in 1856, later studied at the Educational Department of Oriental Languages of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1858) and was sent to Iran, where from 1860 he served first as a dragoman of the consulate in Tabriz and later as head of the consulate-general. In 1868 he was moved to the Asian Department and in 1870 he left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the office of the governor of Pskov. From 1879 to 1882 Ivanovskii served in the office of the Council of Ministers. Kashani, Haji Mirza Jani (d. 1852), merchant from Kashan who was one of the earliest disciples of the Bab and the first Babi in Kashan. When in 1847 the Bab was being moved from Isfahan to the prison at Maku, Kashani and his brothers bribed the Bab’s escort to allow the Bab to be their guest for two days and two nights. Later, Kashani was among those who attempted to join the Babis at the besieged shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mazandaran, but was seized and imprisoned until a ransom was paid. After the death of the Bab, he spent two years writing a history of the movement. In the aftermath of the failed attempt on the life of the shah, he was imprisoned in the Siyah-Chal dungeon with Baha’u’llah and was executed together with 27 others. Kashani, Mirza Aqa Jan (Khadimullah) (c. 1837–1901), Baha’u’llah’s personal attendant and secretary for 40 years. He was born into a family of merchants and as a young man made and sold soap for a living. He became a Babi as a youth. He met Baha’u’llah in Karbala and was the first to believe in him. He accompanied Baha’u’llah through his exile, eventually to Acre. Baha’u’llah gave him the title ‘Khadimullah’ (Servant of God). Near the end of Baha’u’llah’s life, Aqa Jan became arrogant and his behaviour displeased Baha’u’llah, who dismissed him. After the death of Baha’u’llah, Aqa Jan joined Muhammad-‘Ali, turning against ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Kazem-Bek, Mirza Aleksandr Kasimovich (Muhammad-‘Ali) (1802–1870), well-known Russian Orientalist and corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1835). He taught languages in

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176 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS the universities of Kazan (1826–49) and St Petersburg (1849–69) and in the Educational Department of Oriental Languages of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1867–70). He was the author of many works on the history of the Caucasus, Iran, Central Asia and the history of Islam, including a work on the Babi movement. Khanykov, Nikolai Vladimirovich (1822–1878), Russian diplomat and Orientalist. He studied Oriental languages on his own and in 1841 was attached to the Russian embassy to Bukhara. During the late 1840s– early 1850s he served in the Caucasus in the diplomatic department. At the same time, he conducted research in the fields of history, geography and ethnology. He was elected a corresponding member of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1852. In 1853 he was appointed head of the consulate-general in Tabriz, where he worked until 1857, when he was sent to the Caucasus. He resigned in 1866. He was the author of many scientific books and publications and collected a number of Babi manuscripts. Khurshid Pasha, Muhammad (d. 1878), Ottoman minister and provincial governor under Sultan ‘Abd al-‘Aziz and Sultan ‘Abd alHamid. He began in the secretariat of the Ottoman Foreign Office and later held posts in Sidon, Erzerum, Edirne, Ma’murat al-‘Aziz, Sivas and Ankara, as well as that of minister of finance (1863). While he was governor of Edirne, he became acquainted with Baha’u’llah, for whom he developed much admiration and sympathy. He defended Baha’u’llah against the accusations made by the Azalis that led to the order of banishment to Acre. He refused to carry out the order himself, leaving it to his deputy, who did so harshly. Khurshid Pasha’s last post was as governor of Ankara, where he died. Kirmani, Haji Muhammad Karim Khan (1810–1871), Shaykhi leader and opponent of the Babis. The son of a wealthy Qajar prince, he claimed leadership of the Shaykhi School after the death of Sayyid Kazim Rashti. He claimed to receive his knowledge from divine sources and emphasized the perpetual need for a ‘Perfect Shi‘i’ (implicitly himself) to guide the people – his interpretation of the Shaykhi principle of the ‘Fourth Support’ (Rukn al-Rabi‘). His ideas were controversial even among the Shaykhis and aroused the opposition of the ‘ulama and fear that he intended to overthrow the government. As a result, he practised dissimulation of his actual doctrines. He was summoned to Tehran and closely watched for a time. A fierce opponent of the Bab, he declared him to be an infidel and wrote several books against him. He also

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opposed the introduction of Western ideas and science, as well as contact with Europeans. Kokhanovskii, Lukian Stanislavovich (b. 1848), Russian diplomat. A graduate of the Lazarev Institute, in 1871 he finished studies at the Department of Oriental Languages of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was sent to the Embassy in Tehran. From 1871 until 1881 he served as dragoman of the consulate-general in Tabriz, and from 1881 he was head of the consulate in Astarabad. Komarov, Aleksandr Vissarionovich (1830–1904), major general in the Russian infantry. He served for a lengthy period in the Caucasus and was head of the Transcaspian Region (1883–90) during the episode of the murder of Haji Muhammad-Riza Isfahani in Ashgabat. He wrote several books about the law of the mountaineers of Daghestan and devoted much time to numismatics. Krasikov, Petr Anan’evich (1870–1939), Soviet statesman and Communist Party activist. He was a member of the Communist Party from 1892. During 1924–33 he worked as a prosecutor of the Supreme Court of the USSR; during 1933–38 he was deputy chairman of the Supreme Court. He was elected many times as a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and USSR Central Executive Committee. Krupskaia, Nadezhda Konstantinovna (1869–1939), Soviet stateswoman and Communist Party official. A member of the Communist Party from 1898, she was the wife of the founder of the Soviet state, Vladimir Lenin. From 1917 she was a member of the Collegium of the People’s Commissariat of Education; from 1929 she was deputy commissar of education for Soviet Russia. She was repeatedly elected as a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and USSR Central Executive Committee during 1922–37. An honorary academician (1931), she was the author of many works on education. Kuropatkin, Aleksei Nikolaevich (1848–1925), Russian general who distinguished himself in the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877–78. He was military governor of the Transcaspian Region (1890–98), minister of war (1898–1904) and commander in chief of the Russian Army during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05). He was blamed for the defeat, dismissed and was out of the service for ten years. Subsequently he was the commander of the Army Corps and of the Northern Front during World War I and governor of Turkestan (1916–17). Following the revolution of

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178 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 1917, he lived in his native village, Sheshurino, and was a teacher in the local school. Malin, Vladimir Nikiforovich (1905–1982), Soviet statesman and Communist Party official. During 1939–47 he worked in the Central Committee of the Belorussian Communist Party; in 1949–52 he was secretary of the Leningrad Party Committee; in 1952–56 he worked in the apparatus of the Communist Party; from 1956 until 1966 he was a member of the Central Revision Commission and during 1965–70 he was rector of the Academy of Social Sciences. Martson, Fedor Vladimirovich (1853–1916), Russian general. During the Russo-Japanese War he was head of the Headquarters of the Third Manchurian Army (1904–6), general of the infantry (1910), and governor-general of Turkestan (1914–16). Mir Fattah (1794/5–1852/3), son of Haj Mirza Yusif Aqa Mujtahid Tabrizi. He seems to have welcomed the Russian occupation of Tabriz during the Russo-Iranian wars at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1828, after the occupation of Azerbaijan by Tsarist Russia, and fearful for his life due to his traitorous conduct, he escaped to Tiflis, where he was given land and gardens. In 1842 he returned to Tabriz and died at the age of 60. Muhammad Shah Qajar (1808–1848, r. 1834–48), third monarch of the Qajar dynasty. The son of ‘Abbas Mirza, crown prince to Fath-‘Ali Shah, he inherited his father’s title after his death in 1833. His reign witnessed major events which had prolonged effects on Iran, such as the beginnings of Christian missionary activity, the first siege of Herat and the rise of the Babi movement. He died of gout at age 40. Muhammad-‘Ali, Mirza (1853–1937), second surviving son of Baha’u’llah, and half-brother of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. He was born in Baghdad, in the first year of the exile. As a youth in Edirne he showed an ambition for leadership, claiming his writing to be divine revelation equal with Baha’u’llah – for which he was severely rebuked by his father. He later became known for transcribing some of Baha’u’llah’s writings and for his calligraphy, but used his skills to alter passages in a book he was entrusted to publish in Bombay. Baha’u’llah gave him the title ‘Ghusn-i Akbar’ (the ‘Greater Branch’) and in the Kitab-i ‘Ahdi gave him a rank below that of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Muhammad-‘Ali worked to undermine ‘Abdu’l-Baha, even plotting against his life and endeavouring to have him imprisoned again by

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the Ottoman authorities. After ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s death (1921), Muhammad‘Ali failed in his attempt to claim leadership of the Baha’i community. He died alone and was buried as a Muslim. Muhammad-Taqi Mirza Rukn al-Dawlih (1841–1901), fourth son of Muhammad Shah by his temporary wife (sighih) Zaynab Khanum Afshar Urumi, and step-brother to Nasir al-Din Shah. He was governor of Khurasan from 1876 to 1884 and again from 1887 to 1891. He was known for being an incompetent and corrupt governor. Murav’ev, Count Mikhail Nikolaevich (1845–1900), Russian diplomat. After graduating from Heidelberg University, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1864–67). From 1867 to 1893 he occupied various positions in Russian missions in Stuttgart, Stockholm, The Hague, Paris and Berlin. In 1893 he was appointed ambassador to Denmark. During 1897–1900 he was minister of foreign affairs. Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar (1831–1896, r. 1848–96), ruler of Iran for almost 50 years. His reign saw the upheavals and armed clashes in various parts of the country such as Nayriz and Zanjan, in reaction to the rise of the Babi movement, which he determined to destroy. In 1852 he survived an assassination attempt by several Babis in revenge for the execution of the Bab, and the shah retaliated with further persecutions, imprisoning Baha’u’llah and sending him into exile. Under the influence of his first prime minister, Amir Kabir, Nasir al-Din began to introduce reforms. His reign saw the first telegraph and postal services, newspapers, and the first school offering modern Western-influenced education. He made three trips to Europe (1873, 1878 and 1889), where he was impressed by modern Western technology. Later in his reign, however, he resisted reform. His granting of concessions to foreign companies, particularly the Tobacco Concession, resulted in strong opposition and he was forced to cancel them. He became increasingly unpopular and was assassinated in 1896. Nuri, Mirza ‘Abbas (Mirza Buzurg) (d. 1839), father of Baha’u’llah. He was an Iranian nobleman from Nur in the province of Mazandaran, whose family traced its origins back to the last Sasanian king. He was vizier to Imam-Virdi Mirza, the twelfth son of Fath-‘Ali Shah, was later appointed governor of Burujird and Luristan, and was part of the circle of prime minister Mirza Abu al-Qasim Farahani, Qa’im-Maqam. When Muhammad Shah came to power and executed the Qa’im-Maqam, Mirza ‘Abbas lost his position and his income (1835), although he kept his ancestral estates around the village of Takur.

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180 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Panafidin, Petr Egorovich Russian diplomat. During the 1890s he served as the Russian consul-general in Mashhad and in Baghdad. Pobedonostsev, Konstantin Petrovich (1827–1907), Russian statesman and jurist. He was a lecturer in law at Moscow University and taught tsars Alexander III and Nikolai II. During 1880–1905 he was chief procurator (lay head) of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. He had extensive influence on Tsar Aleksandr III. While he was chief procurator, he actively attempted to suppress Protestants and other sects, whose spread he considered a threat to the Russian state, although he softened his stance later on. He was a proponent of autocracy and opposed democracy and representative government. Podzhio, Mikhail Aleksandrovich (1850–1889), Russian diplomat and author. He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the Russian religious mission in China and Korea. He collected ethnographic information about Korea, which became the basis of a posthumously published book, Ocherki Korei (Sketches of Korea). He was heading the Russian diplomatic mission in Tehran as chargé d’affaires when he died at his post. Pospelov, Petr Nikolaevich (1898–1979), Soviet statesman and Communist Party official. During 1940–49 he was chief editor of Pravda; during 1949–52 and 1961–67 he was director of the Institute of Marxism– Leninism. A member of the Central Committee (1939–71), he was an academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (1953) and the author of many works on the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Qahriman Qumshih’i Isfahani Mushir-i Lashkar, Mirza (1828/9–1893), military official of the Qajar period. He was accountant of the provincial army of Azerbaijan under ‘Aziz Khan Mukri Sardar-i Kull, later chief accountant of the army, receiving the title mushir-i lashkar (counsellor of the army) in 1865/6. He became chief of the supply department at army headquarters but a few years later was arrested for embezzling funds. He eventually regained his position and briefly served as chief financial minister to Muzaffar al-Din Mirza. In 1873 he accompanied Nasir al-Din Shah on his first trip to Europe, and after his return was appointed head of the army supply department. He later held the posts of minister of customs, minister of public utilities, head of the crown lands and member of the Grand State Council, but in 1885 he was charged with embezzlement, his property was seized and he was arrested.

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Rogge, Vladimir Petrovich (1843–1906), Russian civil official. He worked in various state structures in Ukraine (1865–78), was appointed a member of the Russian Commissariat in Bulgaria (1878) and was minister of the interior of Bulgaria (1879–80). After serving as vice-governor of Stavropol (1882–83), he was appointed to the office of the head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus (1883–87). During 1888–99 he served as Governor of Baku and Baku Guberniia. Rybakov, Sergei Gavrilovich (1867–1922), Russian ethnographer, musicologist and composer, who studied under Rimskii-Korsakov. He served from 1913 to 1917 as an official in the Department of Religious Affairs for Foreign Creeds, as a specialist on non-Christian religions, especially Islam. In his position, he was in a position to be the most wellinformed authority on the Muslim population of Russia in the final years of the Russian Empire. Sadykhov, Haji Abu-Talib a Baha’i sarraf (money-changer), who was a resident of Ashgabat. He made a pilgrimage to Acre in 1893/4. In the period immediately after the assassination of Nasir al-Din Shah, Haji Abu-Talib was attacked by a Muslim, who entered his shop and shot him. The assassin missed, and Haji Abu-Talib held the man until a number of Baha’is came to his rescue. The culprit was then turned over to the local police, arrested, and eventually found guilty and sent to Siberia. Haji Abu-Talib made another pilgrimage to Acre in 1900/1 before his death. Sandrygailo, Ivan Iakovlevich director of the office of the head of the Civil Authority in the Caucasus. From 1897 to 1898 he was vicegovernor of Chernomorsk Guberniia. He published Adaty Dagestanskoi oblasti i zakatal’skago okruga (The Adat of the Dagestan Region and Zaqatala District), dedicated to Prince Golitsyn. Shcheglov, Andrei Nikolaevich (b. 1836), Russian diplomat. After graduating from Moscow University (1879), he served in the office of the Moscow governor and in the Senate. In 1883 he entered the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1884 he was sent to Egypt as a secretary and dragoman. From 1889 was secretary of the mission in Tokyo and in 1894 was appointed as official for border contacts in the Caucasus. In 1895 he became first secretary in Tehran and was chargé d’affaires during 1896–97. In 1897 he became first secretary in Istanbul and was chargé d’affaires in 1897–98. In 1901 he received the rank of actual state counsellor (4th class) and chamberlain of the court.

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182 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Shimanovskii, Vasilii Nikolaevich Russian diplomat. During the 1870s he served in Iran. In 1875 he was appointed chargé d’ affaires in Tehran, and in 1876 became consul-general in Azerbaijan. From 1900 he served as the official responsible for border relations in the Caucasus and from 1906 until 1912 was a judge in Tiflis. Sipiagin, Dmitrii Sergeevich (1853–1902), Russian statesman. After graduating from St Petersburg University, he served in the Ministry of Internal Affairs; in 1886 he was appointed governor of Kharkov Guberniia; in 1888, governor of Kurland; and during 1991–93 he was governor of Moscow. From 1894 he was deputy minister of the interior, from 1899 head of the ministry and from 1900 minister of the interior. In 1902 he was assassinated by a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. Smidovich, Petr Germogenovich (1874–1935), Soviet statesman and Communist Party activist. A member of the Communist Party from 1898, in 1918 he was chairman of the Moscow City Council and from 1924 a member of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. Tabrizi, Haji Ja‘far (d. 1868), one of three Baha’i brothers from Tabriz who were travelling pedlars. He met Baha’u’llah in Iraq, and after one brother was murdered and dismembered by anti-Baha’i elements in Azerbaijan, he and his remaining brother followed Baha’u’llah to Edirne. When Baha’u’llah was ordered banished to Acre, Haji Ja‘far was not included in those who were to accompany him, and, not wanting to be separated, cut his own throat with a razor. After an outpouring of public reaction, the authorities allowed the others who had been excluded to go on with Baha’u’llah. Although Haji Ja‘far managed to survive, because of his wound he had to remain in Edirne. When he recovered, he and his brother joined the prisoners in Acre. He died in a fall from the roof of the caravanserai in Acre. Tabrizi, Haji Mirza Javad Aqa, Mujtahid (d. 1896), leading Iranian cleric. After returning to Iran from Najaf, he was appointed imam jum‘ih of Azerbaijan (1871). In 1886/7, he moved to Tehran and began leading prayers in the Sipahsalar Mosque. He opposed the grant of the Tobacco Concession in 1890 to a British company and was instrumental in preventing the killing of the Christian residents of Tabriz as well as foreigners working there when the local populace intended to do so in protest against the concession.

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Tabrizi, Haji Mirza Shafi‘ Thiqat al-Islam (d. 1884), a Shaykhi cleric from Tabriz who claimed to be the successor of Sayyid Kazim Rashti and led one of the three factions of Shaykhism after the death of Sayyid Kazim. He strongly opposed both Karim Khan Kirmani and the Babis and returned Shaykhism to a more orthodox Shi‘ite position. Tahirih (Qurrat al-‘Ayn, Fatimih Baraghani) (c. 1817–1852), the only woman among the first disciples of the Bab known as the ‘Letters of the Living’ and an accomplished poet. Born in Qazvin into a clerical family, she received an education unusual for a woman of the time and was well versed in literature and theological subjects. She was married at 14 to her cousin and had three children. She became a follower of Sayyid Kazim, who gave her the name ‘Qurrat al-‘Ayn’ (Solace of the Eyes), and in 1844 she became a believer in the Bab, and subsequently became known as ‘Tahirih’ (the Pure One). After she became a Babi, she was divorced by her husband, who became hostile towards her as she remained an outspoken proponent of the Bab’s teachings. When her uncle, Mulla Muhammad-Taqi Baraghani, was murdered, her enemies accused her of involvement. At the Conference of Badasht she caused consternation by appearing unveiled. After the attempt on the life of the shah in 1852, she was arrested and was secretly strangled, after which her body was thrown into a well. Vannovskii, Petr Semenovich (1822–1904), Russian statesman. From 1881 to 1897 he was minister of war, and from 1901 to 1902 he served as minister of education. Vestman, Vladimir Il’ich (1812–1875), Russian statesman and diplomat. He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as head of the office of the Ministry and deputy minister, and was a senator (from 1866). Vlasov, Petr Mikhailovich Russian diplomat who served for many years in Iran. He was consul in Rasht, was appointed consul-general in Mashhad (1889) and served as Russian minister in Tehran (1902–03). Voino-Oranskii, Mikhail Arkad’evich Russian officer. He served in the 3rd Reserve Artillery Brigade, graduated from the Department of Oriental Languages at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1890–93) and was appointed to the Turkestan Military District. He later served in Baku, first as an officer attached to the governor (1895–96) and later as chief of police (from 1897).

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184 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Wolff, Sir Henry Drummond Charles (1830–1908), British diplomat and Conservative Party politician. Born in Malta and educated at Rugby, he began his diplomatic career as a clerk in the Foreign Office, becoming assistant private secretary to the foreign secretary, the Earl of Malmesbury (1858); private secretary to the secretary for the colonies, Sir Edward Lytton (1858); and secretary to the high commissioner of the Ionian Islands (1859–64). In 1874 he became MP for Christchurch, Hants, and later for Portsmouth (1880–85). He served as British High Commissioner in Egypt (1885–87) and was next appointed minister to Tehran (1887). He accompanied Nasir al-Din Shah to England (1889). Illness forced him to give up his post in Iran but he was appointed minister in Bucharest, and later in Madrid, retiring in 1900. Yazdi, Ustad ‘Ali-Akbar Banna (d. 1903), one of the first Baha’is to emigrate from Iran to Ashgabat and the designer of the Mashriq alAdhkar in that city. He was a master builder (banna) by profession and in addition to designing the Mashriq al-Adhkar, he oversaw the initial stages of its construction (1902). He visited ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Acre in 1893. He wrote a book, Tarikh-i ‘Ishqabad (History of Ashgabat) describing the lives of Baha’i immigrants to Ashgabat and the reasons underlying their migration there. He also wrote Mighnatis (The Magnet), explaining the Baha’i faith. After 20 years in Ashgabat, he returned to Yazd but three months later was murdered during the anti-Baha’i pogrom of 1903. Zanjani, Mulla Muhammad-‘Ali (Hujjat) (1812/3–1850), prominent Babi leader of Zanjan, titled ‘Hujjat’ (Proof). Originally a Shi‘i cleric, when he read the Bab’s writings, he became a believer and from the pulpit urged his followers to convert. Several thousand did so. Conflict with government forces ensued and he and a group of his supporters held out in a fort under repeated attack and siege for almost nine months, in the most severe of the military campaigns launched by the Iranian government against the Babis. Zia’ullah (1864–1898), son of Baha’u’llah, born in Edirne. He was manipulated by his elder brother Muhammad-‘Ali in his schemes and was sometimes disloyal to ‘Abdu’l-Baha although the latter forgave him. He died at an early age. Zill al-Sultan (Mas‘ud Mirza) (1850–1918), the fourth-eldest son of Nasir al-Din Shah. He became governor of Mazandaran and Fars at a young age. From 1874 he was governor of Isfahan, eventually becoming governor of more than two-thirds of the country. Although excluded

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from the succession because of his mother’s status, he aimed to become the crown prince. As an Anglophile, he had the support of Britain, but he lost power (1888) and was reduced to a much lesser status, retaining only the governorship of Isfahan. After the Constitutional Revolution he was exiled to Europe, returning some years later. Zill al-Sultan tried unsuccessfully to involve the Baha’is in his political schemes. When it was personally advantageous he sometimes permitted, or was directly involved in, persecuting and killing Baha’is. Zinov’ev, Ivan Alekseevich (1835–1917), Russian diplomat and Orientalist. He graduated from the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages and served in the Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, obtaining a master’s degree from St Petersburg University (1855). He was minister in Tehran (1876–83), director of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1883–91), ambassador to Turkey (1897– 1909) and author of several books on Russian foreign policy in the East. Zunuzi, Muhammad-‘Ali (Anis) (d. 1850), young Babi who was executed along with the Bab. The stepson of a well-known mujtahid and the brother of a wealthy merchant, he had become a Babi during the Bab’s stay in Tabriz. When, despite the pleas of relatives and Mulla Muhammad Mamaqani, the Shaykhi imam jum‘ih of Tabriz, he refused to recant his faith, he was sentenced to death. On the night before the execution, the Bab said he wished one of his companions would take his life. Muhammad-‘Ali was the only one willing to obey him; the Bab chose him to share his fate, and they were executed together the following day.

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GLOSSARY

Ajudan-bashi (Pers.) aide-de-camp. Akhund (Pers.) a religious leader, preacher or scholar. Ardal (Pers., from Russ.) aide-de-camp; a soldier in the service of military commanders or civil officials charged with delivering messages, executing administrative or personal orders, or guarding them. Bast (Pers.) sanctuary, asylum; a place (originally one associated with religion or royalty) where people could seek refuge from pursuit. In the nineteenth century, because of the extraterritorial rights enjoyed by Britain and Russia in Iran, those countries’ consulates, diplomatic residences and even the telegraph station were used as bast sanctuaries. Bazzaz (Ar.) cloth-dealer. Chapar (Turk.) post rider. Charvadar (Pers.; also, charpadar) lit. ‘four-legged’; the driver of beasts of burden; muleteer. Darughih (Turk.) headman of an office, prefect of a town or village. Farrash (Ar.) lit., ‘spreader of the carpets’; a servant, attendant, footman or steward. Farrash-bashi (Pers.) chief or royal chamberlain. Fatwa-khanih (Ar./Pers.) lit., ‘house of fatwas’; the place where fatwas, or religious edicts, were issued by the shaykh al-Islam, especially in an Ottoman context. Firman (Pers.) edict, decree. Ghulam (Ar.) servant. Ghusn-i A‘zam (Pers.) The Most Great Branch, a title given to ‘Abdu’l-Baha by his father, Baha’u’llah. Guberniia (Russ.) a main administrative territorial division in Russia. Hadith (Ar.) tradition, the accounts of sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad. Haji (Ar.) title given to a Muslim who makes the hajj, or pilgrimage to

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188 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Mecca. In Qajar Iran the term was very much associated with the merchant class. Ilkhani (Mongol.) chief (khan) of a tribe (il). Imam jum‘ih (Pers.) a member of the ‘ulama who is designated to lead the congregational prayer and to deliver the Friday sermon. Kaimakam (Turk.) governor of a provincial district in the Ottoman Empire. Kalantar (Pers.) leader; mayor of a town or official in charge of a district; head of a tribe. Karguzar (Pers.) agent of the Iranian foreign office. Konak (Turk.) mansion, villa. Lawh (Ar.) tablet; a term referring to Baha’i holy scriptures. It is used in the title of certain writings revealed by Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’lBaha and is also used to refer to their written work generally. Madrasa (Ar.) an educational institution where Islamic sciences are taught. Manzil (Ar.) a caravanserai, inn, or place for the accommodation of travellers. Mektubchi (Turk.) the secretary of a ministry or province. Mihmandar (Pers.) host; officer in charge of entertaining foreigners. Mirza (Pers.) shortened form of mirzadih or amirzadih, meaning ‘born of a prince’, a title given to noblemen and others of high birth. From the Qajar period onwards, the title was placed after the name of a prince. When placed before a name, it is equivalent to ‘Mr’. Used as a noun in the documents, it means ‘secretary’. Muharram (Ar.) the first month in the Islamic lunar calendar; the time of the Shi‘a ritual mourning in commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn. Muhassil (Ar.) bailiff; an official or agent sent to collect or demand something such as taxes. Mujtahid (Ar.) one who is trained in Islamic jurisprudence and qualified to deliver independent authoritative decisions on questions of Islamic law. Murid (Ar.) disciple. Murshid (Ar.) spiritual guide or preceptor; title usually given to the head of a Sufi order. Mushir-i lashkar (Pers.) counsellor of the army. Na’ib (Ar.) deputy. Na’ib-i farrash-bashi (Pers., Turk.) deputy of the chief chamberlain. Namaz (Pers.) prayer. Nayib al-Saltanih (Ar.) crown prince. Pia desideria (Lat.) cherished desire.

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Piastre (from Ital.) European name for the Turkish monetary unit, the kurus¸. In 1844 it became a sub-division of the lira (pound). It contained 1 gram of silver, with 100 kurus¸ to 1 gold lira. At the end of the nineteenth century, the piastre was equivalent to 2 pence sterling. Porte (Fr.) door, gate; shortened form of ‘Sublime Porte’, the term used by Europeans for the Ottoman government, after the high gate to the court of the sultan in Istanbul, where diplomats were received. Qadi (Ar.) a religious judge. Rasul (Ar.) prophet. Risala (Ar.; Pers., Risalih) treatise. Rukn al-rabi‘ (Ar.; Pers., Rukn-i rabi‘) lit., ‘fourth support’; a Shaykhi doctrine originally referring to the presence of a representative of the Hidden Imam on earth, the ‘Perfect Man’. It was later revised by Karim Khan Kirmani and was used as a term referring to him and his supporters. Sadr-i a‘zam (Pers., Turk.) lit., ‘the greatest of the high dignitaries’; grand vizier. Samn (Ar.) butter. Sarbaz (Pers.) lit., ‘one who plays with his head’; soldier. The term was coined by ‘Abbas Mirza Nayib al-Saltanih for his infantry soldiers in the modernized units of the provincial army of Azerbaijan. They were to be distinguished from the janbaz (those playing with their lives), the soldiers from the non-modernized section of the same army. Sardar-i kull (Pers.) commander in chief. Sayyid (Ar.) descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. Sayyid al-Shuhada’ (Ar.) lit. ‘chief of the martyrs’; the title of Hamza bin ‘Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of Muhammad; in Shi‘i Islam, it refers to Imam Husayn. Shahi (Pers.) a small-denomination Persian coin. In 1826 a new monetary system was introduced into Iran in which one gold tuman was equal to 10 silver qirans and one qiran to 20 bronze shahis. Shahzadih (Pers.) prince. Shari‘at (Pers.; Ar., Shari‘a) the systematized code of Islamic law, compiled during the seventh to twelfth centuries, containing the main religious obligations of Muslims and the norms of state, civil and criminal law. Shaykh (Ar.) lit., ‘elder’; title used for a wise or respected elder, a person of authority, tribal chief, scholar, or leader of a Sufi order. Shaykh al-Islam (Ar.) in the Ottoman Empire, the chief mufti (legal scholar) of Istanbul, appointed by the sultan, with the power to issue binding fatwas (legal opinions). In Iran, a leading member of the

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190 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS ‘ulama appointed by the shah, presiding over the religious courts in major cities. Shaykhi (Ar.) a follower of the doctrines of Shaykh Ahmad Ahsa’i, founder of the Shaykhi School. Sirat (Ar.) lit., ‘way’; in Islam, the bridge, sharper than a blade and finer than a hair, across the abyss of hell, which the believer must cross to reach heaven. ‘Ulama (Ar.; sing., ‘alim) Islamic religious scholars and interpreters of Islamic doctrine and law. The term includes judges, preachers and leaders of prayer (imams). Vakil (Ar.) agent, representative, deputy. Vali (Ar.) lit., ‘trusted one’; a governor (of a province, city or town); also, one who exercises jurisdiction or authority, such as a chief magistrate. Vali‘ahd (Pers.) crown prince. Verst (Russ.) obsolete Russian unit of distance equal to 1.0668 km.

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Abbreviations ARAN(SPF) Arkhiv Rossiiskoi Akademii nauk, Sankt-Peterburgskii filial (Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg Branch), St Petersburg, Russia AVPRI Arkhiv vneshnei politiki Rossiiskoi Imperii (Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire), Moscow, Russia RGASPI Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv sotsial’no-politicheskoi istorii (Russian State Archive of Sociopolitical History), Moscow, Russia RGIA Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi istoricheskii arkhiv (Russian State Historical Archive), St Petersburg, Russia RGVIA Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi voenno-istoricheskii arkhiv (Russian State Military-Historical Archive), Moscow, Russia Part 1: 1848–1868 1 AVPRI, coll. (fond) 194 ‘Mission to Persia’, ser. (opis) 528-a, file (delo) 2049 (1848–1897), pp. (ll.) 1–3. Tabriz: capital city of the northwestern Iranian province of Azerbaijan. During the Qajar period, it was also the seat of the Iranian crown prince, who also held the post of governor-general of that province. 2 Actual State Counsellor: a high civil rank in the Russian Empire (fourth of 14 in the Table of Ranks). The first five ranks were the personal prerogative of the emperor, while individuals who reached the eighth rank (Collegiate Assessor) received the privilege of hereditary nobility. 3 Urmia: a city and district in north-western Iran. The capital of West Azerbaijan Province, it is located to the west of Lake Urmia, near the Turkish border. On the Bab’s stay in Urmia, see Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 73–5.

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192 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 4 The Bab was not a mulla, but the consul probably assumed so because of the Bab’s position as a religious leader. 5 At that time, the vali‘ahd (crown prince) was Nasir al-Din Mirza, who became shah in 1848 after the death of his father, Muhammad Shah. 6 ‘In the Indian manner’: he refers here to the Arabic Abjad system of assigning numeric values to individual letters; ‘Indian’ is a mistake. 7 In the Abjad system, the numerical equivalent of the name ‘AliMuhammad is 70+30+10 (for ‘Ali) and 40+8+40+4 (for Muhammad), and that of the word Rabb (‘Lord’) is 200+2; thus both total 202. 8 Cf. the account in Nabil-i A‘zam, The Dawn-Breakers, 314–20. E. G. Browne and others considered the Muslim accounts, which represented the Bab as ignorant and flummoxed by the ‘ulama’s questions, to be of dubious credibility (A Traveller’s Narrative, 290 n. M). 9 By bastinado, administered by Mirza ‘Ali Asghar, shaykh al-Islam of Tabriz (Nabil-i A‘zam, The Dawn-Breakers, 320). 10 Momen observes of Dolgorukov’s reporting about the Babis (and that of the other European legation then in Iran, the British): ‘Both were heavily dependent on information given to them by the Persian Government which would, of course, be biased against the Babis’ (Babi and Baha’i Religions, 4). Here Dolgorukov probably repeats an accusation made by some of the enemies of the Bab. Although opium was not prohibited in Islam, the Bab forbid the use of opium in the Bayan. 11 Qazvin: capital city of the province of Qazvin, located 165 km from Tehran. The city was founded by the Sasanian king Shapur II in AD 250 and was for a time capital of the Safavid Empire. The reference is to Haji Mulla Muhammad-Taqi Baraghani, uncle of the famous female Babi poet and leader Fatimih Baraghani known as ‘Tahirih’ (The Pure) and ‘Qurrat al-‘Ayn’ (Solace of the Eyes). Baraghani’s murder in 1847, blamed on the Babis, led to the first killings of Babis (Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 2). 12 State Counsellor: a high civil rank (fifth of 14 in the Table of Ranks) in the Russian Empire. 13 AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049 (1848–97), p. 4. 14 AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 5. Mariamabad: probably the locality of that name in what is now Gulistan (then Astarabad) Province, near the Caspian Sea. 15 AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049 (1848–97), p. 6. 16 The remains of the Bab and his disciple were not devoured by dogs but were retrieved by the Babis and hidden until they were finally moved to the Holy Land and interred on Mt Carmel in Haifa in

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18 19

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1909. See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 57, 318–20; see also Rabbani, ‘Efforts to Preserve’. Zanjan: city in north-western Iran on the road between Tehran and Tabriz, which was the location of a large concentration of followers of the Bab (thought to number at least 3,000) and the site of violent upheavals (Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 368–9). See also Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 114–27. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049 (1848–97), pp. 7–8. Ni‘matabad: a small village located east of Tabriz. George Alexander Stevens, brother of the consul, Richard White Stevens, was the acting consul in Tabriz at the time. See Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 116, for a discussion of Mulla Muhammad‘Ali Zanjani (Hujjat)’s appeals to several foreign diplomats, including Stevens, in July 1850, and the claim, repeated here by Anichkov, that he wished to recant or denied being a Babi; according to Nabil-i A‘zam, some of Mulla Muhammad-‘Ali’s letters were intercepted and falsified (The Dawn-Breakers, 554–5). AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049 (1848–97), pp. 9–10. Hamadan: capital of Hamadan Province, located about 335 km westsouth-west of Tehran. An important city in ancient times, located on the trade route between Mesopotamia and the east, it was home to one of the largest and oldest Jewish communities in Iran, some of whom converted to the Baha’i faith during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Sinnih, or Sanandaj, is a town in Iranian Kurdistan, to the northwest of Hamadan. The events described in this document refer to the failed assassination attempt on Nasir al-Din Shah’s life in 1852. Kirmanshah: the capital of Kirmanshah Province and the main city in Iranian Kurdistan. As Dolgorukov informs him in his reply of 1 September, there were no riots carried out by Babis in Tehran. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 11. The assassination attempt provided a pretext for the Iranian government to make large-scale arrests of Babis, even though the official government account in Ruznamih-yi Vaqai‘-i Ittifaqiyyih stated that just three men were involved in the act (qtd. in Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 139). Many of those arrested were tortured to extract confessions and denunciations, and according to contemporary accounts, up to 400 Babis were put to death (see Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 128–46). On 17 August Dolgorukov and the British minister Justin Sheil tried to intervene, sending a joint note to Mirza

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32 33 34

Sa‘id Khan, the Persian minister for foreign affairs, pleading that the shah not torture those who had been arrested (Sheil to Malmesbury No. 99, 16 August 1852, Enclosure, qtd. in Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 131). The would-be assassins were linked to Mulla Shaykh ‘Ali Turshizi (titled ‘Azim’, or ‘Great’), a radical Babi leader who favoured a militant approach towards the Iranian government and who had organized conspiracies to overthrow the government (Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 54, 258–9). The names of the assassins were Fathullah Hakkak-i Qumi, Haji Qasim-i Nayrizi, and Sadiq-i Tabrizi, who was killed at the scene (Nabil-i A‘zam, The DawnBreakers, 609–11). See also Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 140–1, and Amanat, Pivot of the Universe, 204–16. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049 (1848–97, pp. 12–15. It is not clear what place is meant, possibly Duzduzan, in Azerbaijan. The governor-general of Azerbaijan at that time was Hamzih Mirza Heshmat al-Dawlih. Milan: a village in eastern Azerbaijan, some 50 km from Tabriz. The first killings were carried out by the official executioners. It was then decided that the members of the royal court and each department of the government (including the professors of the educational institution, the Dar al-Funun) would also act as executioners. The official government account lists the names of 26 persons who were killed, the names of their executioners and the methods by which they were killed, including shooting, being marched through town with burning candles set in holes in the flesh, being hacked into small pieces by swords and knives, and having horseshoes nailed to the feet and then being beaten to death with maces and heavy iron nails. See Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 139–42. The would-be assassin was ignorant of firearms: the pistol was loaded not with a single lead ball (a bullet) but with small pellets (birdshot). See Gobineau, Les religions, 231–3, qtd. in Nabil-i A‘zam, The Dawn-Breakers, 599 n. 3; cf. Sheil to Malmesbury No. 99, 16 August 1852, qtd. in Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 130. ‘Abbas Mirza Mulk-Ara (1839–1897): the second son of Muhammad Shah Qajar. Bahman Mirza Qajar had left Tehran for Tiflis on 15 May 1848 and at the time of these events he was in that city. It is not clear to whom Anichkov refers. There were a number of princes named ‘Sultan-Husayn Mirza’. One was Jalal al-Dawlih, the fifth son of Nasir al-Din Shah, who was born in 1852/3; another, also titled Jalal al-Dawlih, was the eldest son of Mas‘ud Mirza Zill al-Sultan, who was born in 1868/9; another Qajar prince in

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36 37 38

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40

41 42 43 44

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that name, titled Nayyir al-Dawlih, was the son of Parviz Mirza Nayyir al-Dawlih (the 53rd son of Fath-‘Ali Shah Qajar), who died in 1917. But these three princes were either not yet born or too young to be involved in the events described here by Anichkov. Shusha: a town in Highland (Nagorno) Qarabagh, in the southern Caucasus. In 1797 it was occupied by Muhammad Shah, but in 1805 the Khanate of Qarabagh came under Russian protection. Bahman Mirza moved to Shusha only in 1860, and from 1848, when he left Tehran, to 1860, when he moved to Shusha, he was living in Tiflis (‘Shajarehnaameh Project’). Sartip ‘Abd al-‘Ali Khan Maraghih’i. Richard White Stevens was British consul in Tabriz at the time. Haji Mirza Shafi‘: a Shaykhi cleric from Tabriz. He had been a follower of Sayyid Kazim Rashti and led a faction of the Shaykhi movement after Rashti’s death. It seems that the shah (and the orthodox Shi‘i clerics) either did not distinguish between Shaykhis and Babis, or regarded them threat to his power, and thus ordered to arrest their leaders and followers (Peter Avery, Modern Iran, 56). Tiflis: the name of the capital of Georgia until 1936, when it was changed to ‘Tbilisi’. It became a part of the Russian Empire in 1801. Qum: holy Shi‘i city in which is located the shrine of the sister of Imam ‘Ali ibn Musa Riza (Imam Riza). Located some 156 km southwest of Tehran, it is the largest centre for Shi‘i scholarship in the world and a significant destination of pilgrimage. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 16. Sham Asbi: a village in north-western Iran about 160 km east of Tabriz. ARAN(SPF), coll. 777, ser. 1, file 98, pp. 2–3. Apparently copied by Viktor Rozen. In the top right corner he wrote in Persian script: ‘Rukn-i rabi‘’. Karbala: a city in Iraq 100 km from Baghdad, holy to Shi‘i Muslims as the location of the Battle of Karbala (680) and site of the tomb of the Iman Husayn. ‘Rukni-rabi’: Rukn-i rabi‘ (Fourth Support) was the name of a Shaykhi doctrine originally referring to the presence of a representative of the Hidden Imam on earth, the ‘Perfect Man’, but which was revised by later Shaykhis, notably Karim Khan Kirmani (Momen, Introduction, 228). Karim Khan’s ideas caused alarm to the shah’s government as they were recognized as not only threatening the ‘ulama but to the political order; thus he was ordered brought to Tehran and kept under close watch for a year and a half (Bayat, Mysticism and Dissent, 75–81). The Shaykhi clerics of Azerbaijan were

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48 49

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particularly opposed to Karim Khan. The term Rukn-i Rabi‘ here refers to Karim Khan Kirmani and his followers. Meaning the Twelfth Imam or the Mahdi, who is the thirteenth figure if starting to count from Muhammad and continuing with the twelve Imams. Mutasharri‘un (Adherents of the Shari‘a): one of the groups into which the Shaykhi movement divided after the death of Sayyid Kazim Rashti (1843); this group held to orthodox Shi‘i theology. Shaykhis: followers of the Shaykhi School founded by Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa‘i. Haji Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani was a Qajar, not Zand, noble, and had no relation to Karim Khan Zand (1705–1779), ruler of Iran from 1750 to 1779. In the margin is written in Persian (presumably by Rozen), ‘Karim Khan’. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049 (1848–97), p. 17. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049 (1848–97), pp. 18–19. Reference is to Shaykh Ahmad Khurasani and the murder of Aqa Sayyid ‘Ali-yi ‘Arab (a supporter of Azal), apparently as a result of a quarrel. See Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 251–3 and Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah, 237–8. Khurasan: the north-eastern and the largest of the Iranian provinces. Until 1857 it included western Afghanistan. Its capital, Mashhad, is the holiest place for the Shi‘a in Iran. Haji Mirza Baqir at the time (1866) was the imam jum‘ih (Friday prayer leader) of Tabriz. He was the son of Mirza Ahmad, the mujtahid of Tabriz. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 20. There was no such document in the file. However, Tumanskii, in his introduction to his translation of the Kitab-i Aqdas, includes a text which he says is this document. See Kitabe Akdes xviii–xix. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 22. ARAN(SPF), coll. 777, ser. 1, file 98, pp. 4–5. This document, from the Rozen Collection, is written in French on notepaper in the handwriting of Rozen’s former student, Vladimir Ignat’ev, who served in the Russian consulate in Tehran in 1883; it was probably copied by Ignat’ev from the files in the consulate and sent to Rozen privately. ARAN(SPF), coll. 777, ser. 1, file 99, pp. 1–2-reverse. Adrianople: the name used at the time for the city of Edirne, located in the north-western (European) part of Turkey. This document, from the Rozen Collection, is part of a group of items given the title ‘Babis in Adrianople.’ It is a copy of a dispatch that appears to have been made by a clerk (who wrote ‘sic’ to indicate grammatical errors). Rozen wrote corrections (including to the

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60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77

78 79 80 81 82

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grammar of the original) and notes in blue pencil on the document (as listed in the notes below), and, on the last page, a draft of a letter (see p. 198 n. 83). In blue pencil, ‘Persian’ is struck out and replaced by ‘Shiraz’. In blue pencil, the spelling is changed to ‘Mohammed’. In blue pencil, ‘Persian’ is struck out and replaced by ‘Shiite’. In blue pencil, ‘50’ is struck out and replaced by ‘45’. In blue pencil, ‘great’ is struck out. In blue pencil ‘or even new Prophet’ is added. In blue pencil, ‘kaimakam’ is struck out and replaced by ‘governorgeneral’. Gallipoli: port city in the European part of Turkey on the peninsula of the same name between the Dardanelles and the Saross Gulf of the Aegean Sea. In blue pencil, ‘(sic)’ is struck out and a correction made to the ending of the previous word. In blue pencil, ‘kaimakam’ is struck out and replaced by ‘official acting as governor-general’. In blue pencil, ‘subjects’ is struck out and something illegible is written above it. In blue pencil, ‘Porte’ is struck out and ‘Aali Pasha’ is written above it. Chios Island: an island in the Aegean Sea occupied by Turkey from 1556 until 1912. It is a mistake: no exiles were sent to Chios. In blue pencil, the singular has been changed to plural. In blue pencil, ‘did not cease to fear’ is struck out and replaced by ‘feared’. In blue pencil, ‘and its environs’ is struck out. In blue pencil, ‘not so long ago’ is struck out and ‘some time earlier’ is written above it. In blue pencil, in the margin is written ‘N.B.’ and a footnote is added at this point in the text: ‘Excluding me – as he knows too well that being the head of the Pers[ian] cons[ulate] it will be impossible for me to accept his protest’. ‘Sic’ was written by the copyist in relation to a grammatical error. In blue pencil, ‘population’ is struck out and replaced by ‘society’. In blue pencil, ‘while at any opportunity’ is struck out and replaced by ‘whereas’. In blue pencil, ‘very much’ is inserted. In blue pencil, the rest of the sentence after ‘matter of faith’ up to ‘benefit’ is struck out and ‘if the matter concerns some sect outside of the Muslim religion and to which [illegible] it pays no attention

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for the sole reason that it hopes to extract from it some benefit’ is written above it. On the same page, in Rozen’s hand is written: ‘Questions: (1) Are there in the consulate any other signs of any dossiers or dispatches on the Babis in Adrianople during 1862–1868? (2) Was the protest, which, according to the report, the sheikh of the Babis sent to the consuls, preserved? (3) Is it possible at least to find out exactly in what month of what year the Babis arrived in Adrianople? ‘Bar. V. Rozen. Address: Baron Viktor Romanovich Rozen, St Petersburg, Nadezhdinskaia 56. ‘Any recollection of the persons who knew Babis in Adrianople in the years 1862–1868 or who had any contact with them would be of great interest and importance.’ ARAN(SPF), coll. 777, ser. 1, file 99, pp. 7–8, 16–23-rev. Handwritten on notepaper. The mention of Azal’s death in Cyprus, which occurred in 1912, indicates that this text must have been compiled no earlier than that date. Much of the information recounted in this text, particularly concerning the period prior to the exile of Baha’u’llah, is inaccurate and inconsistent with existing Qajar and Babi-Baha’i historiography. The text is published without attempting to correct or comment on each and every historical error. It is unlikely that those ‘Persians in Adrianople’ were witnesses to many of the events described, but rather may have been turning rumours into ‘information’. Another factor in play may have been lack of understanding of the language on the part of either the Russian officials who collected the information or the Persians who provided it. Additionally, it is possible that those who provided the information were simply interested in obtaining money from the Russian consul in Adrianople, and for this they might have been ready to provide ‘novel’ information. Also, it should be noted that the events described in this document are not chronologically accurate. The mention of Azal’s death (in 1912) means that these oral accounts may have been collected more than 40 years after Baha’u’llah and his family had left Adrianople, and almost 70 years after the first of the events recounted. Although she did not preach in mosques, she is said to have preached in settings more public than would have been viewed as appropriate for a woman. The accusation that Qurrat al-‘Ayn was implicated in this murder is considered to be false. See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 332–3. According to Baha’i historiography, Qurrat al-‘Ayn was executed by strangulation in September 1852, and her body was then thrown

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into a well. The account in the present document is not supported by any other source. See, for example, Amanat, Resurrection and Renewal, 329–30. Chahriq (or Chihriq): a fortress of that name in Azerbaijan, where the Bab was transferred from the fortress of Maku, by order of Haji Mirza Aqasi, the prime minister of Muhammad Shah. The Bab spent some two years in the Chahriq fortress (April 1848–June 1850) (Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 57). Dilman (also called Salmas): a town in Eastern Azerbaijan, at the northern end of Lake Urmia, between Khoi and Urmia. According to the Qajar and Babi-Baha’i historiography, there was only one actual attempt on Nasir al-Din Shah’s life (15 August 1852). The Bab was executed in July 1850 and therefore could have had no part in the assassination attempt on the shah, which took place two years later and was in revenge for the execution of the Bab. The Babi upheaval in Zanjan erupted on 13 May 1850, some two months before the execution of the Bab. It was led by Mulla Muhammad-‘Ali Zanjani (‘Hujjat’). See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 185, 368–9. In July 1848 the Bab was brought before a tribunal of Shi‘i clerics in Tabriz (not Tehran). See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 57; and Amanat, Resurrection and Renewal, 391. For detailed accounts of this tribunal, see Amanat, Resurrection and Renewal, 385–94; and Nabil-i A‘zam, The Dawn-Breakers, 314–20. The Bahaduran regiment, commanded by Sam Khan and comprising 750 soldiers which included many Russian deserters from the second Irano-Russian War (1826–28) (Amanat, Resurrection and Renewal, 402). There are many errors in the account of the execution of the Bab that is presented in this document. After being transferred from Chahriq fortress, the Bab was kept in the military barracks in Tabriz. After the first firing squad failed to kill him and he left the scene, he was found in one of the rooms adjacent to the place of execution. He was then dragged back to the barracks square where the execution was completed (Amanat, Resurrection and Renewal, 403, n. 121; Afnan, ‘Ahd-i A‘la, 390–1; Nabil-i A‘zam, The Dawn-Breakers, 513). It is difficult to understand to whom the report exactly refers here. However, given the circumstances, the reference is probably to Hamzih Mirza Hishmat al-Dawlih. At the time of the events surrounding the Bab’s execution, he was the governor-general of Azerbaijan. In June 1850, Amir Kabir ordered him to transfer the Bab from Chahriq to Tabriz. Hamzih Mirza, who had met the

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Bab and was fond of him, believed that the order was for his release, not execution. When he learned the true intention of Amir Kabir, he tried to protect the Bab. It is for this reason that Amir Kabir suspected that Hamzih Mirza would not deliver him and therefore took the execution of the Bab out of his hands, giving it to his own brother, Mirza Hasan Khan Vazir-i Nizam. On this background, it is therefore possible that Hamzih Mirza’s order to his people to search for the Bab was in order to find him before the people of Vazir-i Nizam did so, to provide the Bab with protection and possibly try to save his life after all (Afnan, ‘Ahd-i A‘la, 390–405; Mohammad-Hosseini, Hazrat-i Bab, 556–77; Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 503). The Bab was executed by a second firing squad. See Amanat, Resurrection and Renewal, 403, n. 121. See p. 192 n. 16, above. As was widely known, Baha’u’llah was not the son of the Bab and had no family relationship to him. Baha’u’llah first left Iran for Iraq (Karbala) in June 1851, at the urging of Mirza Taqi Khan Farahani Amir Kabir. After Amir Kabir’s fall from power (late 1851), Baha’u’llah returned to Iran (April/May 1852) at the invitation of the new prime minister, Mirza Aqa Khan Nuri. But in August 1852, Baha’u’llah was among the many Babis who were arrested. He was imprisoned in the Siyah-Chal (Black Pit) dungeon, although he was not involved in the assassination plot. He was sent into exile, going first to Iraq, where he remained from 1853 till 1863 (Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 73–4). At first, the Iranian government’s demand from its Ottoman counterpart was to extradite Baha’u’llah back to Iran. However, the fact that Baha’u’llah was first offered the safe haven of Russia and later the protection of British nationality (both of which he refused, preferring to remain in Ottoman territories), combined with the favourable reports which Sultan ‘Abd al-Majid received about Baha’u’llah from successive governors of Baghdad (which helped in granting Baha’u’llah and his family Ottoman nationality), seem to have brought Sultan ‘Abd al-Majid to consistently refuse to countenance the requests of the Iranian government either to deliver Baha’u’llah back to Iran or to order his expulsion from Ottoman territory. This seems also to have been the policy of Sultan ‘Abd alAziz, who invited Baha’u’llah to Istanbul, and later banished him, first to Edirne (1863) and later to Acre (1868). Given the severe hatred of Nasir al-Din Shah and the Iranian government for the Baha’is, and the generally tense relations between the Ottoman and

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Iranian governments, it could be that the former wanted to keep Baha’u’llah as a threatening card against the latter. However, there is no record of Baha’u’llah claiming to be a Sunni or of using such a claim in order to prevent his extradition to Iran. See Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah, 137–55. Baha’u’llah left Baghdad for Istanbul in May 1863, accompanied by his family and some of his followers (there were about 70 persons in his entourage), travelling first to Samsun on the Black Sea, and then by boat to the Ottoman capital, arriving on 16 August 1863. On 1 December they were moved to Adrianople (Edirne). See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 76. According to Rev. L. Rosenberg, a Protestant missionary in Edirne who met Baha’u’llah, the Sublime Porte gave Baha’u’llah a monthly allowance of 5,000 piastres after settling in Baghdad. Momen believes that this figure represented the total sum of the allowances for all the exiles with Baha’u’llah (Babi and Baha’i Religions, 188n.) After the decisive split between Baha’u’llah and Azal, Azal’s followers made accusations of sedition against Baha’u’llah to the Turkish government, which set up a commission, probably also partly on account of requests from the Persian envoy to restrict Baha’u’llah even further. The commission found no basis for the charges made by the Azalis, but, out of fear of the consequences of Baha’u’llah’s religious claim, Baha’u’llah was banished to Acre and Azal to Cyprus. See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 76–7, and Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 198–200. The involvement of this Persian, or maybe even the recommendations of the Ottoman committee and the decision of the Ottoman government, might have also been the result of Ottoman desire to appease the Iranian government and Mirza Husayn Khan Qazvini, who continuously pleaded for pressing harsher restrictions on Baha’u’llah and his followers in Ottoman lands. The order for the further banishment of Baha’u’llah and Azal from Edirne was issued on 26 July 1868, and it was carried out some two weeks later, on 12 August 1868, with Baha’u’llah arriving in the city of Acre on 31 August 1868 (Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 77). The transfer to Gallipoli was overland, and from there – by sea. In 1863, when Baha’u’llah was exiled to Edirne, he was 46 and in 1868, when he was exiled to Acre, he was 51 (not 55). In 1863, at the time of the exile to Edirne, ‘Abdu’l-Baha was 19; in 1868, at the time of the exile to Acre, he was 24. Altogether, Baha’u’llah had 14 children. He was accompanied by 54 persons from Baghdad including 11 children (one of whom died,

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122 123

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leaving 10). See Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions; Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah, 203; Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 74. Baha’u’llah had only two full brothers, Mirza Mihdi (who died young) and Mirza Musa; his other brothers (including Mirza Yahya) were half-brothers (Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah, 13–17). Mirza Aqa Jan Kashani was the secretary (not brother) of Baha’u’llah. Muradiyyih quarter: a section of Edirne, near the Muradiyyih Mosque built by Sultan Murad II (1404–1451). After spending his first three nights in Edirne at the Khan-i ‘Arab caravanserai, Baha’u’llah moved into the house in the Muradiyyih quarter. As the house was too small, after a week he moved to a larger one near the meeting house of the Sufis next to the Muradiyyih Mosque (Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah, 218–19). Some ten months after moving into the second house in the Muradiyyih quarter, which like the previous one was poorly constructed and uncomfortable in the cold winter, Baha’u’llah moved to a larger house (known as the House of Amrullah) in the centre of the city, near the north gate of the Sultan Selim Mosque (Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah, 221). The final residence of Baha’u’llah in Edirne was the house of ‘Izzat Aqa. He was not arrested, but armed troops surrounded the house. Baha’u’llah died at Bahji (near Acre) on 29 May 1892. Mazandaran: a province to the south of the Caspian Sea bounded on the west by Gilan and on the east by what in Qajar times was the province of Astarabad. The district was a centre of Babism in the mid-nineteenth century, and the location of the Babi upheaval of 1848–49 which was ruthlessly suppressed by government forces. The father of Baha’u’llah was a native of Nur in Mazandaran. Rasht: the capital of Gilan Province in north-western Iran and its commercial centre. Azal died in 1912. His followers dwindled during the succeeding decades, with most of them becoming Baha’is but some returning to Islam. A small number of Azali Babis remain, mostly in Iran. See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 53–4. As mentioned before, the 5,000-piastre Ottoman monthly allowance to Baha’u’llah seems to have covered the sum of all allowances given to the exiled Babis, including that of Azal. If there was an additional 2,000 received by Azal, it might have come from his followers in Iran. At any rate, the distribution of the Ottoman monthly allowance seems to have been a source of constant friction between Azal and Baha’u’llah. See Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah, 231.

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125 ARAN(SPF), coll. 777, ser. 1, file 99, pp. 9–9-rev. Handwritten on notepaper. 126 Kazimayn: a town originally three miles from Baghdad but now part of that city, near the bank of the Tigris, the location of the tombs of the Seventh and Ninth Imams, and hence a major site of Shi‘i pilgrimage. 127 Najaf: a city in Iraq 160 km from Baghdad and the location of the tomb of the Imam ‘Ali, thus a holy city and centre of pilgrimage for Shi‘i Muslims. 128 Pp.10–11-rev. 129 In Baha’u’llah’s testament, the Kitab-i ‘Ahd (Book of the Covenant), he appointed ‘Abdu’l-Baha as his successor (Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 114–15). 130 Pp.12–14. Written in the same hand as the previous document. A note adds: ‘Probably in the original the year and the date were given according to the Muslim calendar.’ 131 The Austrian consul in Edirne was (Gustav) Wilhelm von Camerloher. 132 Pp.14–15-rev. 133 Kadrikhane: a reference to the Qadiri Sufi order founded by Abd alQadir Gilani in the twelfth century AD. Part 2: 1869–1890 1 ARAN(SPF), coll. 777, ser. 1, file 98, pp. 6–7-reverse. 2 With the exception of this sentence, which is written in Russian, this document, from the Rozen Collection, is written in French, in the handwriting of Rozen’s former student Vladimir Ignat’ev, who served in the Russian consulate in Tehran in 1883. 3 Reference is to 17-year-old Aqa Buzurg Nishapuri, titled ‘Badi‘’ (Wonderful), who presented a message from Baha’u’llah (the Lawhi Sultan) to Nasir al-Din Shah and who was subsequently tortured and killed (see Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah, 297–300). 4 AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, pp. 23–4. 5 V. V. Bezobrazov, while consul-general in Tabriz, collected four Babi and Baha’i manuscripts for the Institute of Oriental Languages, as mentioned by Rozen in Collections Scientifiques, vol. 3 (Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 41n). 6 Shimanovskii was chargé d’affaires, but was named to the post of consul-general in Tabriz in this same year. 7 This document, including the Persian text, was obtained by Viktor Rozen, who made a copy of it (ARAN[SPF], coll. 777, ser. 1, file 98, pp. 8–8 rev.). The differences between the Russian translation and

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8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23

24

the Persian text are indicated in the notes. This text displays considerable confusion and errors, suggesting that it may not have been written by a Baha’i (for example, a Baha’i would not have referred to the leader of the religion as their ‘imam’). Possibly it is a forgery written to discredit the Baha’is and to make them appear dangerous. The Persian text has ‘Uthman [Ottoman] here. Acre is located on the Mediterranean (not Oman) Sea. The Persian text has ‘the Qa’im of the divine Family who is the Lord of Time Aqa Sayyid Qasim’. The Persian text has ‘I consider’. Haji Mirza Javad Aqa Tabrizi, the chief mujtahid of Azerbaijan. The Persian text has ‘I am’. The Persian text has ‘martyred’. The Persian text has the plural verb ending, as an honorific, but the meaning is singular, i.e., ‘he’. The Persian text has ‘accuse us of lying’. Astarabad: the capital of the province then called Astarabad, now Gulistan, in Iran, located approximately 400 km north of Tehran. In 1937 the name of the city was changed to ‘Gurgan’. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, pp. 26–7. Shemakha (or Shamakhi): a city in Azerbaijan, the capital of Shirvan, which in 1805 became part of Russia. In fact, both private property and obedience to duly constituted authority are endorsed in the Baha’i religion. On the tendency of the European accounts to characterize the Babis and Baha’is as ‘communist’, see Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 5–10. Court Counsellor: the seventh rank in the Table of Ranks. Copies of two letters in Persian are attached to this document – pp. 28–31. ARAN(SPF), coll. 777, ser. 1, file 98, p. 9. This document, from the Rozen Collection, is a copy presumably in Rozen’s hand. Shimanovskii refers to the case (March 1879) of two brothers named Haji Sayyid Muhammad-Hasan and Haji Sayyid MuhammadHusayn. In 1879, Mir Muhammad-Husayn, the imam jum‘ih of Isfahan (whose business affairs they managed, and who owed them a great deal of money) conspired with Zill al-Sultan (who was eager to get his hands on their wealth) against them. The brothers were arrested, their property confiscated and they were accused of being Babis and executed on 17 March 1879. For more on this case, see the contemporary accounts in Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 274–7. It seems most unlikely that the very same person who conspired with Zill al-Sultan, namely the imam jum‘ih, would now, after the execu-

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25 26

27

28 29

30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

205

tion, lead the people, together with the mujtahids of the city, against Zill al-Sultan. Having said that, the execution of the two respected merchants, who were sayyids (descendants of the Prophet Muhammad) and did not openly confess to being Baha’is, combined with the heavy-handed rule of Zill al-Sultan as governor, may have given rise to the expression of popular dissatisfaction. Indeed, Stephen P. Aganoor, the Armenian merchant of Isfahan who acted as British agent (1858–96) and consul (1891–96) in Isfahan, was able to report to Ronald F. Thomson, British minister in Tehran, that the executions had ‘gave rise to great excitement in Isfahan’ to such an extent that the shah sent such orders to Isfahan which ‘resulted in putting a stop to further atrocities which were in contemplation’ (R. F. Thomson to Marquess of Salisbury, 5 June 1879, qtd. in Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 277; see also Walcher, In the Shadow). AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, pp. 32–3. Askhabad (Ashgabat), founded in 1861, became the capital of the Transcaspian (from 1897, Turkestan) governorate after its annexation by Russia in 1884. It was the destination of a large number of Iranian immigrants from the 1880s onwards, including many Baha’is seeking to escape persecution in Iran and in search of economic opportunities. The first Baha’i Mashriq al-Adhkar, or house of worship, in the world was built there (completed in 1907), as well as the first modern Baha’i schools (in 1894). For more information, see vol. 1, pp. 19–32. Reference is to the case of the murder of Haji Muhammad-Riza Isfahani on 8 September 1899 in Ashgabat. See doc. 32; vol. 1, pp. 21–4; and Gulpayigani, Martyrdom of Haji Muhammad-Rida and ‘Letter concerning ‘Ishqabad’. Here, ‘secretary’. Imam Riza is the Eighth Imam in the line of the Twelver Shi‘a. The city of Mashhad (also known as Mashhad al-Riza) was built around his shrine. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 34. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, pp. 35–6. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 37. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, pp. 38–9. Sabzivar: a town in Khurasan Province, Iran, located some 160 km west of Mashhad. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 40. I.e., foreign minister. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 1615 (1890), pp. 49–50. For Western accounts of this incident, see Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 284–9.

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206 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 39 Sidih: village located some 20 km west of Isfahan, midway between Isfahan and Najafabad. Many Baha’is resided there. 40 AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 1615 (1890), pp. 57–57-rev. 41 AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 1615 (1890), pp. 144–144-rev. Zargandih: a village located some 10 km north of Tehran, where the Russian legation had summer quarters. 42 Kavkaz (The Caucasus): a daily newspaper that was published in Tiflis (Tbilisi) from 1846 to 1918. 43 Reference is to the convention signed between Russia and Persia in 1844, in which it was specified that citizens of both countries could change their nationality to the other one only by consent of their own government. In the attached description of the convention it states that the convention can be understood in a way that a subject of Persia can be granted Russian nationality only with formal permission from the shah’s government. The Russian government could make exceptions to this rule only in cases when Muslims converted to Christianity and could not return to their motherland. See AVPRI, coll. 144, ser. 488, file 4110, pp. 1–3-rev. 44 RGVIA, coll. 400 ‘Headquarters. Asian Department’, ser. 1, file 1435 (1890), ‘On the refusal of Russian nationality to the followers of the Babi sect’, pp. 1–4. Part 3: 1890–1895 1 RGVIA, coll. 401, ser. 4, file 27 (1890), pp. 342–9. No addressee is indicated. 2 RGVIA, coll. 401, ser. 4, file 27 (1890), pp. 343–52. 3 Novoe vremiia (New Time): one of the most popular Russian daily newspapers, published in St Petersburg from 1868 until 1917. 4 See p. 205, n. 27. 5 Although Tumanskii does not identify the events, at the time of writing, a new wave of anti-Baha’i persecution was underway in Tehran, as well as in other major cities, such as Isfahan and Yazd, and elsewhere throughout the province of Khurasan, ending in 1891. 6 These articles would be ‘The Babis of Persia. I. Sketch of their History’, and ‘The Babis of Persia. II. Their Literature and Doctrines’. These articles contain the results of Browne’s investigations on this subject during the year he spent in Iran (1887–88). 7 Privy Counsellor: a high rank in the Russian Table of Ranks, the civil equivalent of lieutenant general. 8 Kazan, a city on the Volga River, was founded in the thirteenth century and was the capital of the Kazan Khanate in 1438–1552.

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9 See Rozen, Les manuscrits arabes de l’Institut des langues orientales; Les manuscrits persans de l’Institut des langues orientales. 10 Astrakhan, a city on the Volga River, once the capital of the Astrakhan Khanate, and part of Russia since 1556. 11 Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, which became part of Russia in 1806. By the end of the nineteenth century Baku contained one of the largest Baha’i communities in the Caucasus. 12 Viktor Rozen’s account of the incident, which is based on notes by Tumanskii, is regarded as the most accurate Western account of it. Various accounts were translated by E. G. Browne in A Traveller’s Narrative, 411–12. 13 Russian emperor Tsar Alexander III (1845–1894) ruled from 1881 to 1894. 14 Mirza ‘Abd al-Karim Ardabili (Asadov): one of the earliest Baha’i merchants to emigrate from Iran to Ashgabat. He, Mirza Yusif Rashti and Ustad ‘Ali-Akbar Banna Yazdi were the three Baha’is who helped Tumanskii most in his early studies of the Baha’i faith. 15 The Kitab-i Aqdas (The Most Holy Book) is the central book of the Baha’i faith, written by Baha’u’llah (c. 1873). Written in Arabic, it sets down Baha’i religious practices, laws, ethical exhortations, social principles, etc. See vol. 1, p. 6. 16 Maneckji Limji Hataria: see Aidun, ‘Manekji Limji Hataria and the Baha’i Faith’. Regarding ‘Kitabe Manukchi’ (Kitab-i Manikji [Maneckji’s Book]), Tumanskii was probably referring to the Tarikhi Jadid (New History), the account of the history of the Babi and early Baha’i religions commissioned by Maneckji (hence also referred to as Tarikh-i Manikji [Maneckji’s History]), and written by Mirza Husayn Hamadani in 1882. Mirza Abu al-Fazl Gulpayigani assisted in compiling the book, which was published by E. G. Browne. 17 ‘Bayan’ (Exposition) is the title of two of the Bab’s major works, and the term is also used to denote the entire body of the Bab’s writings. Ahl al-Bayan means ‘people (or followers) of the Bayan’, but at the time Tumanskii was writing, it was the designation that referred specifically to the followers of Mirza Yahya Azal (Azalis) as distinct from ahl-al Baha, the followers of Baha’u’llah. See Curzon, Persia, 499. 18 Hassan Abad (Hasanabad, ‘Hasan’s Village’): there are numerous villages with this name. The one referred to here is most likely the village on the road between Qum and Tehran, 3 km south of the Karaj River. 19 A different account is given by Nabil-i A‘zam (see The Dawn-Breakers 227–9).

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208 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 20 Tumanskii uses the term ‘ambassador’ but the post was ‘minister’. 21 His release was also partly due to intercessions made by his own family, one of whom was Mirza Aqa Khan Nuri, then prime minister (1851–58), and a distant relative of Baha’u’llah. 22 The phrase in Arabic is Man yuzhiruhullah (he whom God shall make manifest) (See Saiedi, Gate of the Heart, 344–6). 23 The holy day Tumanskii refers to is the Festival of Ridwan, marking Baha’u’llah’s declaration of his station to his companions in 1863 prior to his departure from Baghdad. 24 The term ‘Baha’i’ came into use during the Adrianople period. Tumanskii, although evidently quite aware of the distinction, continued to use the term ‘Babi’, following the usage of other scholars. 25 The chronology begins not with this event but with the Bab’s declaration in 1844. 26 The Baha’i calendar, also called the Badi‘ (‘Wondrous’) calendar, was established by the Bab and endorsed by Baha’u’llah, who stated that it should begin in AH 1260/1844, the year of the Bab’s declaration. It is based on the solar year and divided into 19 months of 19 days each, with four intercalary days (five in a leap year), preceding the nineteenth month. The year begins on the spring equinox, normally occurring on 21 March. 27 Probably a reference to khatt-i ba‘di (wondrous new script), an italicized form of the 28-letter Arabic alphabet which Muhammad-‘Ali, one of Baha’u’llah’s sons and a calligrapher by profession, had invented and was trying to promote in the 1880s, without much success. 28 No such title is known to exist among the Baha’i writings. 29 This probably refers to the totality of Baha’u’llah’s tablets. The term lawh (‘tablet’; pl., alwah) is used in the title of many works of Baha’u’llah. 30 Tumanskii is probably referring to the Sahifih-yi Shattiyyih (Book of the River), written in Baghdad in 1857 (see Baha’u’llah, ‘Sahifiy-iShattiyyih’). 31 This translation was eventually published as Kitabe Akdes. Sviashchenneishaia kniga sovremennykh babidov in 1899. 32 Madaniyyih: a reference to the treatise by ‘Abdu’l-Baha titled Asrar al-Ghaybiyya li-Asbab al-Madaniyya (published in English as The Secret of Divine Civilization), on modernization in Iran. Written in 1875, the work was published anonymously in Bombay in 1882 and widely circulated. In this work ‘Abdu’l-Baha urges Iran to adopt reforms in part as found in the West, while he also stresses the fundamental role of religion in society. 33 The Qajar dynasty was the ruling family of Iran from 1796 to 1925.

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34 The articles referred to by Tumanskii are probably ‘The Babis of Persia, I: Sketch of their History’ and ‘The Babis of Persia, II: Their Literature and Doctrines.’ 35 Pp. 349-rev.–352 contain two attachments, in the original language with translations in Russian: a message of Mirza Husayn Baha’u’llah to the Babis of Ashgabat, and a circular letter of Mirza Husayn Baha’u’llah to all Babis. 36 RGVIA, coll. 1396, ser. 2, file 1856, pp. 15–15-rev; 21–22-rev. This report consists of two parts. The first one was written by hand on 7 December 1894 in Ashgabat and deals mainly with the military and economic tasks that were additionally assigned to Tumanskii by General Kuropatkin, (see the same file, pp. 15–20-rev.). Here we present only the part of the first report devoted to Baha’is. The second part was written in St Petersburg in April 1895. 37 The Iranian Cossack Brigade: originally a cavalry unit founded in 1879 in imitation of the Russian army Cossacks which had impressed Nasir al-Din Shah when he travelled through Transcaucasia. He thus asked the Russians to establish and train such a regiment for the Persian army. See Muriel Atkin, ‘Cossack Brigade’, Encyclopaedia Iranica, http://www.iranica.com/articles/cossack-brigade; and Kazemzadeh, ‘Origin and Early Development’, for more details on this unit. 38 The rest of the report is devoted only to the detailed topographical description of the journey, which had military importance. On p. 15 in the margin there is a resolution of the Commander of the Troops of the Transcaspian Region General Kuropatkin: ‘For Headquarters. Please prepare an order with gratitude to Staff-Captain Tumanskii for the successful execution of his mission. Mention in the order the route and the number of versts covered. The same contents of the order should also commend Lieutenant Baumgarten. Express hope that they will not delay the presentation of detailed reports. 28.11.94. Kuropatkin.’ 39 Qatruyih is a small settlement situated some 40 km east-south-east of Nayriz. 40 Mashhad-i Sar, or Mashhadsar: a port on the Caspian Sea in the province of Mazandaran, once important for trade between Russia and Iran. It is now called Babulsar. 41 Lieutenant Bliumer: Premier-Lieutenant von Blumer, a Russian officer who became an instructor of the Persian Cossack Brigade in Tehran and who in 1887 had made an extended expedition of reconnaissance in the southern provinces of Iran (Walcher, In the Shadow 101).

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210 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 42 Nur: a town in the province of Mazandaran in northern Iran, on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, between the cities of Babul and Rasht. 43 St Jean d’Acre: the name given to Akka by Westerners during the Crusades. 44 There is no attached map in the archival file. 45 The grand vizier was Mirza ‘Ali-Asghar Amin al-Sultan. 46 In the margin are handwritten notes of Kuropatkin: ‘It is necessary to thoroughly research the question in point 2’; opposite point 4 is written: ‘Also’, and opposite point 5: ‘And for trade as well’.

1 2

3

4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13

Part 4: 1896–1901 AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 42. Julfa: a small town in eastern Azerbaijan Province in Iran, in the nineteenth century located on the Irano-Russian border, and divided by the Aras River into northern (then Russian) and southern (Iranian) parts. Most of its residents are Armenians. Uzun Ada: a station built in 1886 on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, south of Krasnovodsk, as the original western terminus of the Transcaspian Railway. The route described here is not logical, for if Iranians in Iran only wanted go on pilgrimage to Mashhad, they would not need to go through Julfa, Uzun Ada or Ashgabat. This fact might have roused the suspicions of the Russian police authorities and caused the writing of this report. In that era ‘side arms’ primarily meant bladed weapons. Reference is to the assassination of Nasir al-Din Shah in 1896 by Mirza Riza Kirmani, a supporter of Jamal al-Din Afghani. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 41. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, pp. 43–4. K. Mushimov: this individual has not been identified. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 1860 (1896), p. 125-rev. Turbat-i Haydariyyih: a city in Khurasan Province, Iran, located some 60 km south of Mashhad. According to information which reached Ney Elias, then British consul-general in Khurasan, the names of these Shi‘i clerics were Shaykh ‘Ali-Akbar Turbati, a mujtahid from Tabas, and another mujtahid with the same name (i.e., ‘Ali-Akbar) from Yazd. See Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 405, and Fu’adi Bushru’i, Tarikh-i Diyanat-i Baha’i dar Khurasan, 244. According to Momen, the names of the five Baha’is were as follows:

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14 15

16 17

18 19 20

21 22 23

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Haji Sadiq (who was killed in his home), Aqa Mirza Ghulam-Riza, Ustad Ghulam-‘Ali, Ustad Muhammad-‘Ali and Ustad MuhammadHasan (Babi and Baha’i Religions, 405n). About these killings, see Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions, 405–6. The pretext of this massacre was the assumption that Baha’is were involved in the assassination of Nasir al-Din Shah. According to the British agent code-named ‘Mashed B’, Asaf al-Dawlih, the governorgeneral of Khurasan, ‘at first intended to send sowars [cavalrymen] to arrest the perpetrators of the deed, but … he has given up the idea on the advice of a certain priest’ (qtd. in Momen, Babi and Baha’i Religions 405; see also Fu’adi Bushru’i, Tarikh-i Diyanat, 237–48 for more details and reports on this event). AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, pp. 45–7. Mulla Muhammad-Sadiq Badkubih’i: a Baha’i teacher from Baku. One evening, during the heightened anti-Baha’i sentiment among the Shi‘is after the assassination of Nasir al-Din Shah, when Badkubih’i was out of town, spending time in the surrounding gardens, he was shot from ambush by a number of men. See Mazandarani, Tarikh-i Zuhur al-Haqq, 8: 1055–6. The Bab was imprisoned in 1847 and executed in 1850, thus making the difference three, rather than five years. Baha’u’llah lived in Baghdad from 1854 to 1863. Kitab-i ‘Ahdi (The Book of My Covenant; also known as Kitab-i ‘Ahd, or ‘The Book of the Covenant’), Baha’u’llah’s will and testament. Its main provisions are the appointment of ‘Abdu’l-Baha as his successor, to whom his family and the Afnan relatives of the Bab were told to turn; subordinating his son Mirza Muhammad-‘Ali, to ‘Abdu’l-Baha; stipulating that his family had no rights to anyone else’s property; forbidding conflict; stating that earthly rule was entrusted to the kings, while the hearts and soul of men are the domain of God; etc. See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 114–5. The account given here of Baha’i laws on marriage and divorce is not accurate. See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia,123 and 273. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 1860 (1896), pp. 97–8. In the newspaper Kavkaz of 8 April (old style) 1897, an untitled anonymous story was published describing an attempt on the shah’s life: ‘Several day ago, when the Shah returned to his palace from noble Armenian Prince Diadian, there was a shot aimed at him. The malefactor missed and was immediately arrested. People, thinking that the Shah had been killed, closed all the stores and shops and hid. There would definitely be great disorders if the Shah did not drive in his own carriage along the streets and did not prove to the

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24

25

26 27 28 29 30

31 32 33 34

people that he was alive. There are rumours that when the malefactor was captured he shouted: ‘Shah, I am sure that you will execute me, but I want you to know for certain that you will not survive for more than a year!’ These words prove that those who want to kill the Shah are the same who killed Nasr-Eddin-Shah – the Babis. The killer belongs to this known sect aiming to eradicate the Persian king’s dynasty of Kojars [Qajars]. The city is in mourning, all the shops and markets are closed because of the death of the highest representative of the clergy – the mujtehid’ (No. 93, p. 3). In the 10 April (old style) 1897 issue of Kavkaz an untitled article, signed by ‘Tavrizets’ (citizen of Tabriz), was published dealing with the incident. It was stated in the article that an Armenian, a subject of Persia, seriously insulted a Persian lady from the famous family of Aqa Mirza ‘Ali (sayyid and the grandson of Aqa Mir Fattah, who in 1827 helped Russians to conquer the capital of Azerbaijan). After disorders started and the mob of Persians tried to kill the Armenian who hid in the building of the Russian consulate, the rumour started circulating that Armenians had specially organized the whole accident in order to inspire Russia against Persia in the same way they had managed to inspire Britain against Turkey (No. 95 p. 3). The incident described happened on 23 March [4 April] 1897. A quarrel started in the marketplace and as a result of it an Armenian serving in the Russian consulate was accused of violating the chastity of a Muslim woman. An anti-Armenian pogrom started, four houses were plundered and Armenians managed to hide in the building of the consulate. As a result of numerous protests, measures were taken, six participants in the pogrom and two sayyids were exiled for a year while damages were paid. See AVPRI, coll. 1860 [1896], pp. 58-rev.–62-rev., 68–9, 103-rev., etc. AVPRI, coll. 194, ser. 528-a, file 2049, p. 48. AVPRI, coll. 144, ‘Persian Desk’, ser. 488, file 877, part 1, pp. 111–13. The Russian commercial agent in Yazd was Haji Mirza MuhammadTaqi Shirazi (Afnan), a Baha’i and cousin of the Bab. RGIA, coll. 821, ‘Department of Religious Affairs of Foreign Religions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’, ser. 8, file 845, pp. 3–4-rev. The following citations from the Kitab-i Aqdas are quoted or paraphrased from Tumanskii’s Russian translation of that work, Kitabe Akdes. Kitabe Akdes, para. 178; cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 75, p. 47. Kitabe Akdes, para. 199, cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 84, p. 50. Kitabe Akdes, para. 228, cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 95, p. 54. Kitabe Akdes, para. 350, cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 144, p. 72.

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35 Kitabe Akdes, para. 354, cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 147, p. 72. 36 Kitabe Akdes, para. 358, cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 148, pp. 72–3. 37 Kitabe Akdes, para. 371, cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 153, p. 75. 38 Kitabe Akdes, para. 385, cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 159, pp. 76–7; par. 33, p. 30. This item has been underscored by hand and a line drawn in the margin. 39 Kitabe Akdes, para. 71, cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 33, p. 30. 40 Kitabe Akdes, para. 176, cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i Aqdas, para. 75, p. 47. 41 Van: a city in eastern Turkey, located on Lake Van; originally an ancient Armenian city, it was conquered by the Turks in the seventeenth century. Aleksandr Tumanskii was vice-consul in Van during 1900–05. 42 The words: ‘that in Persia alone there are reckoned to be about two million Babis’ are underscored by hand. 43 Elizavetpol: a city in Azerbaijan located on the Giandzhachai River. Originally named ‘Ganja’, it was called ‘Elizavetpol’ from 1804 to 1918, and from 1935 to 1991 was known as ‘Kirovobad’; the original name was restored in 1991. 44 The name is underscored by hand. 45 Several signatures are illegible. Some 25 signatures are written in Russian and the rest in Persian. The legible ones are reproduced here as written (those written in Persian are in bold type). Apparently, as can be seen by Mirza ‘Ali-Akbar Nakhjavani’s signature as ‘Mirza Alekper Mamedkhanov’, some of the immigrants chose Russian names, using Russian naming conventions (Muhammad Khan was the name of Mirza ‘Ali-Akbar Nakhjavani’s father). 46 RGIA, coll. 821, ser. 8, file 845, pp. 1–2. 47 Probably Major General Nikolai Odintsov. 48 Article 13 of the Statute of Religious Affairs for Foreign Creeds reads: ‘In general state management the religious affairs of Christians of foreign religions as well as of other religions are in the charge of the Minister of Internal Affairs’ (Svod zakonov Rossiiskoi Imperii [Code of Laws of the Russian Empire], vol. 11, part 1, p. 11). 49 The document is heavily underscored by hand. In the margin is written the response to be conveyed, dated 2 December 1901, which is reflected in doc. 44, dated two days later. 50 RGIA, coll. 821, ser. 8, file 845, p. 5. 51 Article 45 of the Fundamental State Law reads: ‘Freedom of faith is given not only to Christians of foreign religions, but also to Jews, Muslims and pagans; all the peoples living in Russia sing the praises of God Almighty in different languages according to the laws and

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55

religions of their forefathers, bless the reign of the Russian monarchs and pray to the Creator of the universe to multiply the wealth and strengthen the force of the Empire’ (Svod osnovnykh gosudarstvennykh zakonov Rossiiskoi Imperii [Code of Fundamental State Laws of the Russian Empire], vol. 1, part 1, sect. 1, ‘Regarding Rights of the Supreme Power’, 10). Master of the Hunt (Egermeister): according to the Table of Ranks, a high court rank of the third grade, equivalent to Privy Counsellor. AVPRI, coll. 194, ‘Mission in Persia’, ser. 528-a, file 2049, pp. 50–1. Although no information has been located regarding ‘Ittifaqiyyih’, it would seem to be a company run by Baha’i businessmen in that area. AVPRI, coll. 194, ‘Mission in Persia’, ser. 528-a, file 2049, pp. 52–3.

Part 5: 1902–1928 1 RGIA, coll. 797, ‘Office of the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod’, ser. 73, file 11, pp. 5–14-rev. 2 Tolstoyans: members of the religious-utopian social movement of the second half of the nineteenth–beginning of the twentieth centuries, who followed the teachings of Russian writer and philosopher Count Leo Tolstoy. 3 Molokans (lit., ‘Milk-drinkers’): a sect of Christians who rejected the authority of the Orthodox Church and were known for drinking milk on fasting days, against Church law. They rejected priests, prayed in ordinary houses, and refused to accept military service or carry arms. Many were banished to the Caucasus, and in the nineteenth century there was a colony of exiled Molokans in Azerbaijan. 4 Chaldeans: eastern branch of the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle East including Iran and Iraq. 5 The material that follows is taken, often verbatim (but with some mistakes), from Tumanskii’s introduction to his translation of the Kitab-i Aqdas, Kitabe Akdes. 6 The Persian Bayan actually contains 9 sections – called ‘unities’ (vahids) – of 19 chapters (babs), with the last unity containing only 10 chapters; the Arabic Bayan contains 11 complete unities of 19 chapters. 7 The Bab was executed on 27 or 28 of Sha‘ban of 1266, which corresponds to 8/9 July 1850. 8 Badasht: located in eastern Mazandaran, near Shahrud. It was the location of a conference of some 80 Babis, during which Tahirih

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9

10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

215

(Qurrat al-‘Ayn) publicly appeared unveiled, symbolizing the complete break with Islam. See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 64–5. Baha’u’llah arrived in Baghdad on 8 April 1853, and in 1854 went to spend two years alone in the mountains of Kurdistan. During this period he met some of the Sufi shaykhs in that area. See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 74. This material is quoted or paraphrased from Tumanskii, who states: ‘… Ezelist sources have left us very grave accusations against the Behaists of systematic murders of those members of the Babi community inconvenient for the latter’ (Kitabe Akdes, xvii). He discusses E. G. Browne’s summary of the Azali polemical work Hasht Bihisht (Eight Paradises), which Browne included in A Traveller’s Narrative, vol. 2 (note W, ‘Mirza Yahya ‘Subh-i-Ezel’). In it, acts committed by Azal or on his orders, including the murder of Mirza Asadullah Khu’i (Dayyan) and Azal’s poisoning of Baha’u’llah, are instead portrayed as being committed by Baha’u’llah and his followers against Azal and his supporters (357–9). Tumanskii mentions also the isolated cases where Baha’u’llah’s followers (acting against his orders to avoid violence), did kill several Azalis (see docs. 12–15 and Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah, 317–32). Iunitskii here treats the accusations as facts, while Tumanskii is not so categorical. Tumanskii, Kitabe Akdes, xxi. A Traveller’s Narrative, 2: xxxvi. A Traveller’s Narrative, 2: xxxix. The quotation is not exact. Browne, A Traveller’s Narrative, 2: xl. The verses of the Kitab-i Aqdas are quoted or paraphrased from Tumanskii, Kitabe Akdes. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 1, p. 19. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 1, p. 19. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 6, p. 21. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 6, p. 21. See Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, paras. 21–8, pp. 26–8. See Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 10, p. 22. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 7, p. 22. See Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 12, p. 23. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 13, pp. 23–4. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 14, p. 24. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 16, pp. 24–5. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 49, p. 37. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 115, p. 61. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 149, p. 73. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 154, p. 75.

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216 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

51 52 53 54

55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64

Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 16, p. 25. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 75, p. 47. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 97, p. 55. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 97, p. 55. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 98, pp. 55–6. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 129, pp. 64–5. These are the inscriptions to be placed on burial rings. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 63, p. 41. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 68, p. 43. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 70, p. 44. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 72, p. 45. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 18, p. 26. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 106, pp. 57–8. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 152, p. 75. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 44, p. 45. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 46, p. 36. This verse abrogates a Muslim prohibition. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 34, p. 30. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 74, pp. 46–7. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 75, p. 47. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 76, p. 47. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 31, pp. 29–30. This passage actually concerns the construction of Houses of Worship specifically. Iunitskii omits the portion that follows: ‘... adorn them with that which befitteth them, not with images and effigies.’ Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 51, p. 38. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 57, p. 40. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 58, p. 40. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 26, p. 28. On the question of inheritance, see also paras. 21–7, pp. 26–8; and pp. 107–8, 115–16, 136–7, 153–6, 185 n. 42 and 186 n. 43. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 19, p. 26; para. 148, p. 72. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 144, p. 72. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 49, p. 37. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 56, p. 40. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 119, p. 62; verse 374 in Tumanskii’s edition corresponds to Kitab-i-Aqdas para. 155, p. 75. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 33, p. 30. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 36, p. 31. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 48, p. 37. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 118, p. 62. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 72, p. 45.

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NOTES 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84

85

86

87

88

217

Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 107, p. 58. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 117, p. 61. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 120, p. 62. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 122, p. 63. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 123, p. 63. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 123, p. 63. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 149, p. 73. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 149, pp. 73–4. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 28, p. 28; para. 130, pp. 65–6. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 147, p. 72 ; para. 155, p. 75. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 184, pp. 186–7. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 52, p. 38. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 159, p. 76. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 159, p. 77. Cf. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 52, p. 38. Apparently ‘Bentham’ (i.e., Jeremy Bentham). RGIA, coll. 797, ‘Office of the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod’, ser. 73, file 11, pp. 1–4-rev. Chief Procurator (Ober-procuror): the lay official who was head of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. On such ‘harsh’ laws of the Bab, see Saiedi, Gate of the Heart, 357–88. Chuvashes: the people living mainly in Chuvashia on the Volga River (with the capital of Cheboksary) and speaking a Turkic language (Bulgarian group). The forming of the Chuvash tribes occurred in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. In the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries their territory was part of the Kazan Khanate. In 1551 the Chuvashes voluntarily joined Russia. Tatars: a large ethnic group of Turkic origin, whose main communities are located in Russia (in the Republic of Tatarstan, along the Volga River), Ukraine (Crimea) and Uzbekistan. RGIA, coll. 821, ser. 133, file 638, pp.1–1-rev. The date – as given in the Julian calendar – is written ambiguously as a ‘1’ with a stroke, beneath which is a ‘2’. That may explain why doc. 49 references it as ‘2 [i.e., 15 in the Gregorian calendar] May of last year’. Although it cites the number of the letter as ‘386’, the number itself is blacked out but seems to be actually ‘286’. Article 67 reads: ‘A special decree, meaning a decree passed regarding a special case, does not have the power of law if it is not mentioned in it that it is to affect similar cases in future and it is not published according to the necessary regulations’ (Svod zakonov Rossiiskoi Imperii, vol. 1, part 1, p. 17). The author actually means ‘Regulations of the Religious Affairs of

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89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

98

99 100 101

102

103

Foreign Creeds’ (Ustavy dukhovnykh del inostrannykh ispovedanii) (Svod zakonov Rossiskoi Imperii, vol. 11, part 2). In the introduction to the regulations dealing with the problems of different foreign religions in Russia it is said that although the Russian Orthodox Church is the main and dominant religion in the Russian Empire, nevertheless ‘all those citizens of the state and foreigners who do not belong to this Church enjoy the right everywhere to practise their religion and divine services’ (art. 1, p. 9). According to the religions practised in the territory of the Russian Empire, the regulations were divided into seven sections dealing accordingly with the management of the religious affairs of Roman Catholics, Protestants, ArmenianGregorians, Karaites, Jews, Muslims, Lamaists and pagans. Babism or the Baha’i religion is not mentioned in the regulations. Collegiate Counsellor: civil rank of the sixth grade, according to the Table of Ranks. RGIA, coll. 821, ser. 133, file 638, pp. 2–2-rev. RGIA, coll. 821, ser. 150, file 413, pp. 1–12-rev. The Bab was actually born in 1819. It was 23 May. See vol. 1, pp. 2–4. On the meaning of the Day of Judgement in the Bab’s writings, see Saiedi, Gate of the Heart, 253–7. Persian Bayan 7:19; the Bab, Selections, 77–8; for more information on this topic, see Saiedi, Gate of the Heart, 248–50. It was not in Acre but on Mt Carmel, in Haifa. In a tablet to Tsar Alexander II (not Nicholas I, who ruled from 1825 to 1855), Baha’u’llah wrote: “Whilst I lay chained and fettered in the prison, one of thy ministers extended Me his aid’ (Surih-yi Haykal, in Summons, 83). The event occurred in 1863, not 1864, during his 12-day stay in the Ridwan Garden, when Baha’u’llah told some of his companions that he was ‘he whom God shall make manifest’. Rybakov uses the form ‘Behait’. A reference to A Traveller’s Narrative, xxxviii. Baha’u’llah’s exact words with regards to Jesus’ unique station are that it was ‘exalted above the vain imaginings of all the peoples of the earth’ (Summons, 71). This passage is a direct quotation from ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, 235. The previous paragraph is drawn from an adjacent statement in Some Answered Questions, which was published in English in 1908. The preceding three sentences are quotation or paraphrase from ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, 160–1.

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NOTES 104 105 106 107 108 109

110 111 112 113

114

115 116 117 118 119

120

121 122 123 124

219

‘Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, 100–1. ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, 104. ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, 138. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 125, p. 63. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 148, pp. 72–3. This passage is from the tablet titled ‘Tarazat’, which Tumanskii included as an appendix to his edition of the Kitab-i Aqdas. See Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, 36. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 58, p. 40. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 33, p. 30. See Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 64, pp. 41–2, and para. 95, p. 54. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, par. 63, p. 41. Marriage is recommended but not obligatory, while the law of the Kitab-i Aqdas cited here was interpreted by ‘Abdu’l-Baha to prohibit polygamy. See Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 273. Baha’is are free to marry members of other religions as long as they do not dissimulate their own faith (Smith, Concise Encyclopedia, 234). In the Bayan, the Bab had set a restriction on marriage with nonbelievers but deferred implementation of the law, making it conditional on endorsement by him whom God would make manifest, and since Baha’u’llah abrogated it, it was never put into effect. See Saiedi, Gate of the Heart, 364–5. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 75, p. 47. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 75, p. 47. Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 144, p. 72. Browne, A Traveller’s Narrative, p. xl. Umanets, Sovremennyi babizm (Contemporary Babism). In this book he wrote that one third of the total population of Persia were Babis (i.e., Baha’is), while altogether there were about 2 million of them in the world (40). Hambardzoum Arakelian’s lecture about his research on ‘Babism’ in Iran was presented at the First International Congress of the History of Religions (Paris, 1900) and subsequently published as ‘Le bábisme en Perse’ (quoted extensively in Carus, ‘A New Religion: Babism’). ‘The Baha’i Movement’, 4. Reference is to doc. 42. RGASPI, coll. 17, ser. 113, file 871, pp. 24–24 rev. The date on the document is actually 14/XI/1928 but that is evidently an error. TsK VKP(b): Central Committee of the All-Russian Communist Party (of Bolsheviks): the highest organ of the Communist Party in the intervals between Party congresses, where it was elected. The

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125 126

127

128 129

130

131 132

133

Central Committee elected the Politburo, Secretariat and General Secretary. The Central Committee periodically carried out plenums where important Party questions were discussed. Glavlit: the board that controlled censorship of the printed word in the USSR. Renovationists (Obnovlentsy), also known as the Living Church: a reform movement in the Russian Orthodox Church which arose after the October Revolution of 1917. It sought to modernize the Church and religious life, struggled against the official Church authorities, openly supported the Soviet reforms and was in turn supported by the Soviet authorities, who wished to encourage schism in the Church. The movement declined when it lost its battle with the Church and its usefulness, and it died out after 1945. One of the innovations sought by Renovationists was to translate the liturgy from Old Church Slavonic into modern Russian. Church Slavonic: the language used in the liturgy of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Slavic Orthodox Churches. Until the eighteenth century it was also used in literary and scientific literature. Saransk: a city in Russia, located on the Insar River, and the capital of Mordovia. VTsIK: All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the central executive body in the Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic during 1917–38. It was elected during the Congress of Soviets. The TsIK of the USSR (Central Executive Committee) was the central executive body of the USSR during 1922–38. Ivanovo-Voznesenskaia Guberniia: a territorial unit in Central Russia, on the Volga River, with its centre in Ivanovo-Voznesensk. The city Ivanovo-Voznesensk was formed in 1871 of the village Ivanovo and the city of Voznesenskii Posad. After 1932 the city was called Ivanovo. Gubcom: Guberniia Party Committee; Gubispolkom: Guberniia Executive Committee. Bezbozhnik (Atheist) was a magazine of the Central and Moscow Councils of the Union of Militant Atheists (1925–41), published in Moscow. During 1922–34 and 1938–41 there was also a newspaper with the same title, published in Moscow by the same union. The commission’s recommendation was carried out, as an anti-Baha’i pamphlet was published in 1930 by the Bezbozhnik publishing house. See Hassall, ‘Notes’, 64. Izvestiia: one of the most popular daily sociopolitical newspapers in Russia; founded in Petrograd (28 February 1917), but from 12 March 1917 published in Moscow.

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134 Bet-Bruders (Ger., lit., ‘Prayer Brothers’): Pietists, a movement originating within seventeenth-century Lutheranism in Germany, emphasizing personal piety. 135 Narkomzdrav: acronym of the People’s Commissariat of Health, the central state organ for the management of health in Soviet Russia. It was created in 1917 and existed until 1946 when it was transformed into the Ministry of Health. 136 Narkomfin: acronym of the People’s Commissariat of Finance, the central state organ for the management of finance in Soviet Russia. It was created in 1917 and existed until 1946, when it was transformed into the Ministry of Finance. 137 Orgbiuro (Organizational Bureau) of the Central Committee of the All-Russian Communist Party (of Bolsheviks): the executive body of the Central Committee, which existed from 1919 to 1952, directing organizational Party work, mainly dealing with Party cadres. 138 OGPU: acronym of the United State Political Directorate, the body dealing with Soviet state security during 1923–34 and which directed the work of the various republics’ GPUs. In 1934 it became part of the People’s Commissariat of the Interior.

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REFERENCES

Archives Arkhiv Rossiiskoi Akademii nauk, Sankt-Peterburgskii Filial (Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg Branch), St Petersburg, Russia Arkhiv vneshnei politiki Rossiiskoi Imperii (Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire), Moscow, Russia Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv sotsial’no-politicheskoi istorii (Russian State Archive of Sociopolitical History), Moscow, Russia Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi istoricheskii arkhiv (Russian State Historical Archive), St Petersburg, Russia Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi voenno-istorichesckii arkhiv (Russian State Military-Historical Archive), Moscow, Russia Books and Articles ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Risalih-yi Madaniyyih, Hofheim, Baha’i Verlag, 1984 ———. The Secret of Divine Civilization, translated by Marzieh Gail, Wilmette, IL, Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1957 ———. Some Answered Questions, compiled and translated by Laura Clifford Barney, 4th edn, Wilmette, IL, Baha’i Publishing Trust, [1908] 1981 Afnan, Abu al-Qasim. ‘Ahd-i A‘la: Zindigani-yi Hazrat-i Bab, Oxford, Oneworld, 2000 Aidun, Gol. ‘Manekji Limji Hataria and the Baha’i Faith’, Baha’i Studies Notebook, 1:1 (December 1980), 47–62 Amanat, Abbas. Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah and the Iranian Monarchy 1831–1896, London, I.B.Tauris, 1997 ———. Resurrection and Renewal: The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 1844–1850, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1989 Arakelian, Hambardzoum. ‘Le bábisme en Perse’, Actes du premier Congrès international d’histoire des religions, Paris, Ernest Leroux, 1902

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224 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Avery, Peter. Modern Iran, New York, Praeger, 1967 Bab, the. Selections from the Writings of the Bab, compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, translated by Habib Taherzadeh et al., Haifa, Baha’i World Centre, 1976 ‘The Baha’i Movement’. Star of the West, 2:9 (20 August 1911), 4 Baha’u’llah. The Kitab-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book, Haifa, Baha’i World Centre, 1992 ———. ‘Sahifih-yi Shattiyyih (Book of the River) Revealed by Baha’u’llah: A Provisional Translation’, Journal of Baha’i Studies, 9:3 (1999), 57–61 ———. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Bundoora, Vic., Baha’i Publications Australia, 2002 ———. Tablets of Baha’u’llah Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas, compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, translated by Habib Taherzadeh et al., Wilmette, IL, Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1988 Balyuzi, H. M. Baha’u’llah: The King of Glory, 2nd edn, Oxford, George Ronald, 1991 Bayat, Mangol. Mysticism and Dissent: Socioreligious Thought in Qajar Iran, Syracuse, NY, Syracuse University Press, 1982 Browne, Edward Granville. ‘The Babis of Persia’, 1: ‘Sketch of Their History, and Personal Experiences amongst Them’; 2: ‘Their Literature and Doctrines’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 21 (1889), 485–526, 881–1009 ——— (ed. and trans.) The Tarikh-i-Jadid or New History of Mirza Ali Muhammad the Bab, 2 vols., Cambridge University Press, 1893 ———. A Traveller’s Narrative Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Bab, 2 vols., Cambridge University Press, 1891 Carus, Paul. ‘A New Religion: Babism’, The Open Court, 18 (January 1904), 355–72 Chelpanov, Georgii Ivanovich. Istoriia osnovnykh voprosov etiki, Kiev, 1897 Curzon, George N. Persia and the Persian Question, 2 vols., London, Longmans, 1892 Fu’adi Bushru’i, Hasan. Tarikh-i Diyanat-i Baha’i dar Khurasan, edited by Minou D. Foadi and Fereydun Vahman, Darmstadt, ‘Asr-i Jadid, 2007 Gobineau, Joseph Arthur Comte de. Les Religions et les philosophies dans l’Asie centrale, Paris, 1865 Gulpayigani, Mirza Abu al-Fazl. ‘Letter concerning ‘Ishqabad’, in Ruhu’llah Mihrabkhani, Zindigani-yi Mirza Abu al-Fazl Gulpayigani, Tehran, Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1978, 171–89 ———. The Martyrdom of Haji Muhammad-Rida, translated by Ahang

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Rabbani, bahai-library.org/histories/martyrdom.muhammadrida .html Kazem-Bek, Mirza. Bab i babidy: religiozno-politicheskie smuty v Persii v 1844– 1852 godakh, St Petersburg, 1865 Kazemzadeh, Firuz. ‘The Origin and Early Development of the Persian Cossack Brigade’, American Slavic and East European Review 15:3 (October 1956), 351–63 Mazandarani, Asadullah Fazil. Tarikh-i zuhur al-Haqq, 8 vols., Tehran, Mu’assasih-yi Milli-yi Matbu‘at-i Amri, 1974–75 Mohammad-Hosseini, Nosratullah. Hazrat-i Bab: Sharh-i hayat va athar-i mubarak va ahval-i ashab-i ‘ahd-i a‘la, Dundas, Ont., Mu’assasih-yi Ma‘arif-i Baha’i, BE 152/1995 Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Shi‘i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi‘ism, Oxford, George Ronald, 1985 ——— (ed.). The Babi and Baha’i Religions, 1844–1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts, Oxford, George Ronald, 1981 Nabil-i A‘zam (Muhammad Zarandi). The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha’i Revelation, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi, Wilmette, IL, Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1932 Rabbani, Ahang. ‘Efforts to Preserve the Remains of the Bab: Four Historical Accounts’, sites.google.com/site/ahangrabbani2/remains Robertson, James Craigie. History of the Christian Church, London, J. Murray, 1856 Rozen, Baron Viktor (ed.). Les manuscrits arabes de l’Institut des langues orientales, Collections scientifiques de l’Institut des langues orientales de Saint-Pétersbourg, vol. 1, St Petersburg, 1877 ———. Les manuscrits persans de l’Institut des langues orientales, Collections scientifiques de l’Institut des langues orientales de Saint-Pétersbourg, vol. 3, St Petersburg, 1886 Saiedi, Nader. Gate of the Heart: Understanding the Writings of the Bab, [Waterloo, Ont.], Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008 ‘Shajarehnaameh Project: Bahmani-Qajar (Kadjar)’, http://www .qajarpages.orgbahmani.html Smith, Peter. A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i Faith, Oxford, Oneworld Publications, 2000 Svod osnovnykh gosudarstvennykh zakonov Rossiiskoi Imperii, vol. 1, St Petersburg, 1892 Svod zakonov Rossiiskoi Imperii, vols. 1 and 11, St Petersburg, 1892, 1896 Tsvetkov. P. Islamizm. Chetvertyi tom. Islam i ego sekty, Askhabad, 1913 Tumanskii, Aleksandr Grigor’evich. Kitabe Akdes. Sviashchenneishaia kniga sovremennykh babidov, Zapiski Imperatorskoi akademii nauk, series 8, 3:6 (1899)

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226 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Umanets, Sergei Ignat’evich. Sovremennyi babizm: Raskol v magometanstve, Tiflis, G. Melik-Karakozov, 1904 Walcher, Heidi. In the Shadow of the King: Zill al-Sultan and Isfahan under the Qajars, International Library of Iranian Studies, London, I.B.Tauris, 2008

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INDEX Italic numbers denote illustrations; bold numbers denote entries in biographical notes

‘Abd al-‘Ali Khan Maraghih’i, Sartip 16, 165 ‘Abd al-Aziz, Sultan 28, 32, 165, 200n103 ‘Abd al-Karim Ardabili, Mirza (Asadov) 70 ‘Abd al-Majid, Sultan 200n103 ‘Abdu’l-Baha 15, 33, 34, 36, 75, 80, 94, 119–20, 137, 165–6, 178–9 Abraham 145 Acre (‘Akka) 33, 34, 36, 44, 47, 75, 80, 92, 94, 119, 148, 149 Adam 144 Adrianople see Edirne adultery 123 Afnan, Haji Mirza Mahmoud 155 Afnan, Mirza Muhammad-Taqi (Shirazi) Vakil al-Dawlih 80, 166 Ahsa’i, Shaykh Ahmad 166, 196n48 alcohol 123 Alexander III, Tsar 70, 207n13 Alexandria 80 ‘Ali, Aqa Sayyid 19, 21 ‘Ali, Mulla 17 ‘Ali Akbar, Mashhadi 70 ‘Ali Aqa 29 ‘Ali Aqa, Haji 110–12 ‘Ali Pasha, Muhammad Amin 26, 27, 75, 166 ‘Ali-Asghar Khan, Mirza, Amin alSultan Atabak-i A‘zam 81, 166 ‘Ali-Riza Khan, Mirza 165 Americans 115, 126 Amin al-Sultan 58, 86

Amrullah Aqa 34 Anichkov, Nikolai Andrianovich 4, 5, 6, 8, 17, 19, 21, 167 Anti-religious Commission 159–60, 163–4 Aqa Jan Kashani, Mirza (Khadimullah) 34, 75, 175 Aqa Mashhadi Mirza Ja‘far 47 Aqa Najafi 57–8 Aqasi, Haji Mirza 199n89 Arabo-Turkish tribes 78, 81 Arakelian, Hambardzoum 154, 167 Armenians 67, 96, 167, 204n25, 210n2, 212n24, 212n25, 217n88 arms, carrying of 101, 109, 124, 126, 157 Asadullah, Aqa Sayyid 106 Asadullah, Mulla 102 asceticism 124 Ashgabat (Askhabad) 49–52, 53, 54, 60, 80, 85, 87, 88 Baha’is of 67, 69–71, 107, 128, 130, 140, 146, 155, 158, 162 Aslan Khan, Amir, ‘Amid al-Mulk Majd al-Dawlih 4, 167 Astarabad 47 Astrakhan 67 Austrian consulate 37 Azal, Mirza Yahya 33, 34, 80, 118, 119, 148, 167–8, 171, 202n124, 215n10 Azalis 72, 119, 168, 171, 176, 196n52, 201n106, 202n123, 202n124, 207n17

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228 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Azerbaijan, Baha’is of 106, 129 Aziz Khan Mukri Sardar-i Kull 11, 12, 24, 168 Bab, the 31, 35–8, 45, 78, 91–2, 142–4, 168–9 execution of 6, 8, 32, 118, 147, 173 family of 80 imprisoned 5 interrogation of 3–4, 31 as Mahdi 20, 31–2 meets Baha’u’llah 72 remains of 6, 147–8 Babi religion 78–9, 117–18 appeal of 134, 147 in Iran 41 tenets of 143–5, 147; distorted by Iranians 7 see also Baha’i religion Babis 72 arrest of 22, 24, 25, 41 attempt on the shah by 10–13, 14, 31, 73, 148, 179, 193n26 exile of 27, 33, 36 persecution of 14, 16, 32, 143, 148 see also Baha’is backbiting 123 Badasht 118, 183 Badi‘ (Aqa Buzurg Nishapuri) 41, 43, 169 Badi‘ullah, Mirza 75, 169 Baghdad 32, 34, 73, 118, 148, 149 Bahaduran regiment 199n96 Baha’i religion beginning of 73 calendar of 73 and Christianity 47, 67, 92, 105, 108, 126, 133–4, 149, 153, 156, 157 differentiated from Babism 73, 75, 80 legalization of, in Russia 139 liquidation of, in USSR 160 tenets of 92, 100–2, 120–5, 149–54 Tumanskii’s assessment of 81–2 Baha’is 77, 149 numbers of 80, 97, 102, 107, 154 persecution of 41, 47, 56–8, 59,

81, 85, 89, 96, 97–8, 102, 104, 107–8, 184, 185 protection of see under Russia in Russia 65, 66–7, 156–7 and Russian nationality 58–61 in upper classes 42, 81 Baha’u’llah 26, 28, 32–7, 47, 80, 117, 118, 169, 178 addresses tsar 148–9 allowance of 33, 34, 36 exile of 73, 75, 92, 118–19, 148, 173 founds Baha’i religion 73, 80 in Kurdistan 118 meets the Bab 72 meets E. G. Browne 120, 149, 153–4 and Mirza Muhammad-Riza Isfahani 174 poisoning of 168, 215n10 and rulers of Europe 126 writings of 75 Bahman Mirza 10, 16, 170 Bakhtiyaris 78, 81 Baku 67, 80, 90, 91, 94, 116 Baha’is of 93, 100–5, 107, 109, 127, 130, 156–7, 161 Bakulin, Fedor Abramovich 48, 170 Balakhani, Baha’is of 131 Bandar ‘Abbas 77, 78 Baqir, Haji Mirza 22 Baraghani, Mulla Muhammad-Taqi 183, 192n11 baths 67–8, 122 Bayan, the 117, 144, 152 begging 101, 124 Bentham, Jeremy 125, 170 Bernshtein, Dr 99 Bet-Bruders 160 Bezbozhnik 160 Bezobrazov, V. V. 44 Bijan Khan 4 Biutsov, Evgenii Karlovich 85, 87, 89, 97, 170 blackmail 110, 111 Bliumer, Lieutenant 78 Bobrovnikov, Nikolai Alekseevich 132–6, 170

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INDEX Bombay 80 Browne, Edward Granville 66, 76, 102, 119–20, 125, 149, 153, 154, 170–1, 192n8, 215n10 Bujnurdi, Haji Muhammad-Taqi 50–2, 54–5, 171 burial 124 Bushru’i, Mulla Husayn 165, 168 Camerloher, Wilhelm von 203n131 Chahriq 31, 199n98 Chaldean Church 116–17 Chelpanov 126, 171 Chios Island 27, 28 Christianity 92, 134 see also under Orthodox Chuvashes 135 communism 47–8, 67, 134, 147 confession of sins 121 Constantinople, see Istanbul contention 151 Convention of 1844 59, 61 Cossack Brigade 77, 96, 209n41 crafts and professions 151 cycles 150 Cyprus 33, 34, 76, 119, 168, 171 Dar al-Funun 194n30 Darabi, Sayyid Yahya (Vahid) 143–4, 171 day of rising 117 Dayyan, Mirza Asadullah Khu’i 168, 215n10 Dertli, Mustafa Bey 37 divorce 92, 122, 152–3 Dizhvizhin, Camp 14 Dolgorukov, Prince Dmitrii Ivanovich 3, 6, 8, 14, 171, 193n26 Edirne (Adrianople) 26–9, 33–4, 35–6, 37, 75, 92, 119, 148, 169, 208n24 education 147, 151, 179 anti-religious 164 Emin Effendi 34 English, the 8, 16, 27, 56–7, 57–8, 76, 116, 125 Enzeli 77, 80 Erbanov 163

229

Farahani, Mirza Abu al-Qasim, Qa’imMaqam 179 Fars 80, 81 fasting 121 feast 123 fitrat 72 free will 151 Gallipoli 26, 27, 33, 37 Gamazov, Matvei Avel’evich 66, 172 gambling 124 Germans 133 Girs, Nikolai Karlovich 48, 56, 57, 58, 60, 172 Glavlit 159 Gobineau, Joseph Arthur Comte de 66, 134, 172 God 20, 72, 73, 101, 117, 120–5, 133, 144–5, 150–2 gold 122 Golitsyn, Prince Grigorii Sergeevich 105, 108, 109, 157, 172 Gorbunov, M. 140, 141 Gorchakov, Prince Aleksandr Mikhailovich 25, 42, 172 Gospel 125, 149 Gotval’d, Iosif Fedorovich 66, 172 Gulpayigani, Aqa Sayyid Mahdi 158 Gulpayigani, Mirza Abu al-Fazl 71, 173, 174, 207n16 Hakim-Ilahi 155 Hamadan 8, 10, 11–14, 78 Hamzih Mirza Hishmat al-Dawlih 16, 173 Hasanabad 72 Hashim Effendi, Haji 37 Hataria, Maneckji Limji 71, 173 He whom God shall make manifest 73, 117, 118, 119, 144, 145, 149, 168, 169, 218n98 heaven 145, 152 hell 145, 152 Hidayatullah Khan, Mirza 111–12 Hisar, Baha’is of 46 House of Justice 125, 152, 153 House of Worship see Mashriq alAdhkar

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230 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS Husayn, Mashhadi 70 Husayn Khan Qazvini Mushir alDawlih, Mirza 29, 32, 173–4, 199n90, 201n107 Husayn Quli Khan 81 Husni Pasha 35 Iaroslavskii, Emel’ian Mikhailovich 159, 163, 174 Ignat’ev, Count Nikolai Pavlovich 29, 174 Ignat’ev, Vladimir 40, 196n57 images, sacred 126, 216n50 Imam Riza 51 Imam, Twelfth (Mahdi) 20, 166, 168, 189, 195n45 Imams 20, 50, 143, 147, 203n126 imports 76–7 India 21 infidels 134 inheritance 123 Institute of Marxism–Leninism 164 Iran 34, 37, 77, 78, 147, 148, 154 Christians and 126; see also under Orthodox government of 73, 148; see also Nasir al-Din Shah Isfahan 48, 56, 57, 58, 78, 80 Baha’is of 74, 79 Isfahani, Haji Muhammad-Riza 50, 51, 69, 102, 174 Islam 105, 134, 135, 142–3, 144, 147 distinct from Babism 152–4, 157 see also Shi‘a Istanbul 32, 33, 73, 75, 80, 92, 118–19, 148 Ittifaqiyyih Company 110, 111 Iunitskii, Archpriest Aleksandr 115–26, 132, 133, 175 Ivanovo-Voznesenskaia Guberniia 160 Ivanovskii, Nikolai Aleksandrovich 23, 24, 175 Izvestiia 160 ‘Izzat Pasha 37 Ja‘far, Haji 23 Javad Aqa, Haji Mirza 45

Jesus Christ 33, 34, 38, 117, 124, 144, 145, 149, 150–1 Jews 193n20, 213n51 Judgement, Day of the Last 145, 151 Julfa 85, 88 kaimakam of Adrianople 27 Karbala 19, 34, 35, 73 Karimov, Aga Bala Ustad (Badkubih’i) 103, 104 Kashani, Aqa Jan, Mirza (Khadimullah) 34, 75, 175 Kashani, Haji Mirza Jani 71, 175 Kashfi, Vahid 106 Kavkaz 58, 95 Kazakov 160 Kazan 66, 132, 135 Kazem-Bek, Mirza Aleksandr Kasim ovich (Muhammad-‘Ali) 66, 72, 76, 175–6 Kazimayn 35 Khanat Bey 37 Khanykov, Nikolai Vladimirovich 8, 13, 176 khatt-i badi‘ 208n27 Khurasan 22, 25–6, 46, 47–8, 49, 50, 54, 59, 69, 80 Khurasani, Shaykh Ahmad 22, 23, 24 Khurshid Pasha 33, 176 kingship 100 Kirmani, Haji Muhammad Karim Khan 20, 166, 176–7, 183, 195n45 Kirmanshah 11, 20, 22 Kitab-i ‘Ahdi 92, 165, 178 Kitab-i Aqdas 70–1, 75, 100–1, 107, 120–4, 149–53 Kitab-i Manikji (Tarikh-i Jadid) 81 Kokhanovskii, Lukian Stanislavovich 45, 177 Komarov, Lieutenant General Aleksandr Vissarionovich 50, 52, 53, 56, 177 Krasikov, Petr Anan’evich 159, 160, 164, 177 Krupskaia, Nadezhda Konstantinovna 163, 177

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INDEX Kurdistan 118 Kuropatkin, General Aleksei Nikolaevich 58, 60, 86, 90, 94, 177–8 Kurts 160 languages 124 liberty 124, 151 Lukachevskii 159 Lurs 78 Lutherans 159 Mahdi see under Bab, the; Imam, Twelfth Maku 72, 169, 175 Malin, Vladimir Nikiforovich 164, 178 manifestation of God 73, 119, 144, 145, 150 Mariamabad 5, 13 marriage 151–2 Martson, General Fedor Vladimirovich 139, 178 Mashhad 49, 51, 52, 54–5, 80, 85, 87, 88, 89, 110, 111 Mashriq al-Adhkar (House of Worship) 104, 105, 107, 109, 136, 139–40, 140, 141, 156, 157, 162, 166, 205n26, 216n50 Mazandaran 34, 47, 80 merchants 51, 80, 166, 168, 173, 174, 175, 204n25, 207n14 messiah 117, 149 Mikhailov, Lieutenant 66 Milan 16, 17 Ministry of National Education 133 Mir Fattah 17, 178 miracles 150 Molokans 116 monasticism 151 morality 67, 72, 92, 94, 120, 122, 125, 134, 150, 151, 153 Moscow 159 Moses 33, 34, 117, 144, 145 Muhammad, Prophet 35, 38, 117, 125, 135, 152, 156 Muhammad Mirza 89 Muhammad Shah Qajar 91, 170, 171, 178, 179

231

Muhammad Turk, Haji 88 Muhammad-‘Ali, Mirza 75, 178 Muhammad-Sadiq, Mulla 90, 94–5, 102 Muhammad-Taqi Mirza Rukn alDawlih 49, 52, 54, 179 Muradiyyih quarter 34 Murav’ev, Count Mikhail Nikolaevich 97, 179 murder trial 49–52, 53, 54–5, 56, 66, 69–70 Mushimov, K. 88 Mushir Hishmat al-Dawlih 32 Mushir Mahmud Khajdi Pasha 35 music 123, 152 Muslims 100, 102, 116 Russian relations with 135–6 see also Islam; Shi‘a Mustafa, Mirza 24 Mutasharri’un 20 Muzaffar al-Din Mirza 77 Nabilzadih, Munir 155 Najaf 35, 58 Namiq, Baha’is of 46 Narkomfin 163 Narkomzdrav 163 Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar 9, 10, 11, 25, 29, 41, 52, 56, 57, 59, 60–1, 96, 99, 173, 179 assassination of 85–6, 90 attempt on 11–13, 14, 31, 61, 73, 95, 118, 211n23 and Badi‘ 41–2 Nicholas I, Tsar 148–9 Ni‘matabad 7 Noah 144 Novoe Vremia 66 Nur 80 Nuri, Mirza Abbas (Mirza Buzurg) 72, 179 obedience to government 100, 102, 151 Odintsov, Major General 105 OGPU 164 Ol’hovyi 159 Oman Sea 44

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232 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS opium 4 Orgbiuro 163 Orthodox church 67, 116, 117, 159, 160, 180, 214n3, 217n82, 217n88, 220n126, 220n127 clergy 116, 163 mission 115, 116, 126, 132, 135 Ottoman Empire 47 government of 17, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 36–7, 58, 119, 148 Panafidin, Petr Egorovich 35, 112, 180 paradise 145, 152 peace 154 perfume 123 Persia see Iran Pobedonostsev, Konstantin Petrovich 132, 180 Podzhio, Mikhail Aleksandrovich 49, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 180 polygamy 92, 122, 133, 152 Porte, Sublime see under Ottoman Empire Pospelov, Petr Nikolaevich 164, 180 prayer 120, 121, 152 predestination 151 Primal Will 144, 145, 150 prophets 144, 152 pulpits 121 purity 101–2, 123, 153 Putintsev 159 Qahriman Qumshih’i Isfahani Mushir-i Lashkar, Mirza 22, 23, 180 Qa’ini, Shaykh Muhammad-‘Ali 155 Qajar dynasty 75 Qazvin 4, 29, 31 Qum 17 Qur’an 125, 143, 147, 149, 152, 153 Qurrat al-‘Ayn see Tahirih Rashni Bey 37 Rasht 34 Rashti Mirza Yusif 70, 207n14 Rashti, Sayyid Kazim 166, 176, 183

Renovationists 159 resurrection 150, 152, 166 revelation 72, 75, 133, 134, 135, 143–5 Ridwan 208n23, 218n98 Riza, Mirza 17 Robertson, James Craigie 125 Rogge, Vladimir Petrovich 90, 107, 181 Rosenberg, Rev. I. 201n105 Rozen, Baron Viktor Romanovich 18, 66, 81, 196n57, 196n59, 198n83, 203n7, 204n22, 207n12 Rozhdestvenskii 141 Rukn-i rabi‘ 20, 176 rulers of Europe 126 rumours 11–13, 14, 16 Russia attitude of, towards Babis/Baha’is xiii, 86, 90, 94–5, 97, 108, 149 and Bahman Mirza 14 laws of 51, 59, 70, 136, 139 and Muslims 135–6, 168 and Muslims in Iran 116–7, 132, 135, 161 protection of Babis/Baha’is by 55, 65, 73, 85, 87, 94–6, 99, 108, 110, 140, 148 Rybakov, Sergei Gavrilovich 142–57, 181 Sabzivar 54 Baha’is of 15 Sadykhov, Haji Abu-Talib 85, 88, 181 Sa’id Khan Mirza 25 St Petersburg 60, 65, 66 Salyan, Baha’is of 129 Sandrygailo, Ivan Iakovlevich 108, 181 Saransk 159 sarbazes 56–7 Sarhang ‘Abd al-‘Ali Khan 16, 17 Sayfullah Mirza, Prince 8, 13 Semenov 140, 141 Shafi‘, Haji Mirza 17, 21 Shah-Zadih (prince) 10, 11, 12 Sham Asbi, Camp 19

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INDEX Sharif Aqa 29 Shaykhi School 20, 166, 168, 176, 183, 195n38, 195n45 Shcheglov, Andrei Nikolaevich 96, 99, 182 Sheil, Justin 193n26 Shemakha 47, 48, 107, 156 Shi‘a 55, 67, 85, 87, 88, 89, 99, 117, 154 Shimanovskii, Vasilii Nikolaevich 44, 48, 182 Sidih 56 silver 122 Sinnih 8 Sipiagin, Dmitrii Sergeevich 105, 108, 109, 182 slavery 151 Smidovich, Petr Germogenovich 160, 163, 164, 182 socialism 134 see also communism speculators 11 Star of the West 156 Stevens, George 8 Stevens, Richard White 17 Stukov 159 Sufis 21, 37, 202n16, 215n9 Sultan-Husayn Mirza 16 Sunnis 32, 67, 117, 118, 152 Tabriz 5, 6, 10, 16, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 34, 41, 44, 45 Tabrizi, Haji Ja‘far 34, 182 Tabrizi, Haji Mirza Javad Aqa 45, 182 Tabrizi, Shafi‘ Thiqat al-Islam, Haji Mirza 17, 21, 183 Tahirih 29, 31, 118, 168, 183 Taqi, Haji 17 Taqi Khan, Mirza, Amir Kabir 5, 16, 179, 199n98, 200n102 Tashkent 136, 141 Baha’is of 137, 138, 139 Tatars 135 Tehran 5, 8, 11–13, 14, 16, 17, 21, 23, 25, 29, 31, 42, 58, 66, 72, 73, 77, 78, 80, 81, 99, 148 Ter-Mosegov, Nerseg 48

233

Tibetan medicine 163 Tiflis 17, 95, 105 Tobacco Concession 167, 171, 179, 182 Tolmachev 163 Tolstoy, Count Leo 126, 214n2 Tolstoyans 115 trade 26, 34, 35, 47, 123, 210n46 see also merchants Transcaspian Region 50, 52, 59, 65, 66, 90, 94, 107, 110, 140, 156, 157 TsK VKP(b) (Central Committee of the All-Russian Communist Party [Bolsheviks]) 159 Tuchkov 159, 163 Tumanskii, Aleksandr Grigor’evich 65–82, 102, 119 Turbat-i Haydariyyih 89 Turbati, Shaykh ‘Ali-Akbar 210n12 Turkestan Region 140, 143 Turkey see Ottoman Empire Turshizi, Mulla Shaykh ‘Ali 194n26 Ujan Kuli 12 ‘ulama 3, 25, 44, 54, 56, 58, 81, 86, 89, 92, 97, 99, 102, 104, 107, 108, 142–3, 157, 212n23 Umanets, Sergei Ignat’evich 154 unity 153, 156 Urmia 3, 4, 31 utilitarianism 170 utopia 134 Uzun Ada 85, 88 Vali‘ahd (crown prince) 3 Van (Turkey) 102 Vannovskii, Petr Semenovich 60, 183 Vestman, Vladimir Il’ich 29, 183 Vlasov, Petr Mikhailovich 52, 53, 55, 87, 89, 183 Voino-Oranskii, Staff Captain Mikhail Arkad’evich 90, 91, 107, 183 Volga River 67 water 123 Wolff, Sir Henry Charles Drummond 56, 57, 184

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234 THE BAHA’IS OF IRAN, TRANSCASPIA AND THE CAUCASUS women 31, 121, 122, 147, 152 worship 104, 107, 109, 136, 145, 152, 157 Yazd 80, 97–9 Baha’is of 98 Yazdi, Ustad ‘Ali-Akbar Banna 70, 71, 184 Yunus Vehbi Effendi 35–6 Zanjan 6, 7–8, 17, 31, 45, 167, 168

Zanjani, Mulla Muhammad-‘Ali (Hujjat) 7–8, 45, 167, 168, 184 Zargandih 58, 97 Zayn al-Abidin Khan 11 Zhidkov 160 Zia’ullah, Mirza 75, 184–5 Zill al-Sultan, Sultan-Mas‘ud Mirza 48, 49, 185, 204n23 Zinov’ev, Ivan Alekseevich 185 Zoroastrians 174 Zunuzi, Muhammad-‘Ali (Anis) 6, 185