[page 245]
NOTE F.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING SOME OF
THE
PERSONS MENTIONED ON P. 5.
Concerning several of the persons mentioned in the passage to which this
note refers, the information at present at my disposal is deplorably scanty.
Such as it is, however, I set it down, hoping that others may be able in the
future to supplement these meagre notes with further details.
Mullá Huseyn of Bushraweyh ('The Gate of the
Gate,' ~~~). Concerning this illustrious personage we have the fullest
information. The Násikhu't- Tawáríkh devotes some 10 pages (each
containing about 600 words) to his history, and the
Rawzatu's-Safá gives an almost equally detailed
account of his career. Gobineau and Kazem-Beg both treat of his life, work, and
gallant death at Sheykh Tabarsí very fully, and in the present work a
sufficient summary thereof is contained. Some account of his conversion will be
found in Note E above. Nothing further need be added here except that, so far as
I can learn, his mortal remains still repose in the little inner room of the
shrine of Sheykh Tabarsí where, at the direction of Mullá Muhammad
'Alí Bárfurúshí, they were reverently laid by the hands of his sorrowing
comrades in the beginning of the year A.D. 1849.
Mírzá Ahmad of Azghand is mentioned in the
Táríkh-i-Jadíd in the following passage:-
[three lines
of Persian/Arabic text]
[page 246]
[three lines of Persian/Arabic
text]
"In short, after a while
His Excellency 'the Gate of the Gate' [i.e. Mullá Huseyn of
Bushraweyh above mentioned] set out for Khurásán. And after that there
emanated from the Source of Command [i.e. the Báb] an epistle to
confer honour on the faithful, wherein it was made incumbent upon them to
proceed to Khurásán in the case of this being possible and their being able. And
in the epistle addressed to Áká Mírzá Ahmad Azkandí, who
was one of the chief disciples of the late Seyyid [Kázim of
Resht], he [the Báb] foreshadowed the catastrophe of
Mázandarán." In only one other passage in the Táríkh-i-Jadíd can I find
any reference to Mírzá Ahmad of Azghand, and this, consisting of a mere
list of the names of learned and pious persons who believed in the Báb and "most
of whom attained the lofty rank of martyrdom," throws no further light on the
matter. I cannot find any other mention of this Mírzá Ahmad in any of the
documents at my disposal.
Mullá
[Muhammad] Sádik, entitled "the Holy"
(~~~), or "the Holy one of Khurásán (~~~), was, according to the
Táríkh-i-Jadíd, one of the first converts gained by Mullá Huseyn
to the new faith. He was, previously to his conversion, a mudarris, or
professor, at one of the colleges of Isfahán. On the arrival of Mullá
Huseyn in that city (the first visited by him on the missionary journey
which at the command of his master he undertook) Mullá Sádik. sought and
obtained an interview with him, listened to his arguments, examined the sacred
books of the new creed, and, after a brief but severe mental struggle, wherein
love of truth finally triumphed over fear and prudence, embraced the doctrines
of
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the Báb. We next find him some months later
(Sept. 23rd or 24th, A.D. 1845) at Shíráz, suffering the penalty of his zeal as
described in the text. Expelled from Shíráz, he seems to have made his way to
Mázandarán; at all events we find him amongst the number of the besieged at
Sheykh Tabarsí, and after the capitulation he was one of those reserved
from the general massacre to grace the triumphal entry of Prince
Mahdí-Kulí Mírzá into Bárfurúsh. Here again fortune so far favoured him
that he was saved by being sold into slavery1 from the
direr fate which overtook almost all of his companions. What befel him after
this I know not, but from the manner in which he is referred to in the
Táríkh-i-Jadíd it would appear that he was no longer alive at the time
when that work was composed.
Sheykh Abú
Turáb of Ashtahárd is only twice alluded to in the Táríkh-i- Jadíd,
and I can find no further account of him elsewhere. In the second of these
passages his name is merely mentioned in the list of eminent men converted to
the new faith of which I have already spoken. In the first it is stated that he
was married to the sister of Mullá Huseyn of Bushraweyh, a woman of
extraordinary virtue and piety, who, from association with the celebrated
Kurratu'l-'Ayn [see Note Q, infra], had attained to
the highest degree of excellence and learning. Although the Sheykh Abú Turáb
here mentioned is described as Kazvíní, not as Ashtahárdí,
I think that the same person is intended in both passages.
Mullá Yúsuf of Ardabíl. See Kazem-Beg (Journal
Asiatique, sixime série, tome vii, pp. 357, 358, 467, 468, 473, 477, 486,
and 522). Mullá Yúsuf was one of the Báb's most energetic missionaries, and was
deputed to preach the doctrine in Ázarbaiján. Through his instrumentality the
majority of the inhabitants of Mílán were converted. He afterwards attempted to
join the Bábís at Sheykh Tabarsí, but on his way thither fell into the
hands of Mahdí-Kulí Mírzá, who detained him as a prisoner till the
conclusion of the siege, when, in company with several of the Bábí chiefs
reserved from the general massacre to grace the Prince's triumph, he was led
captive into Bár-
1 See, however, note 2 at the foot of p. 129
supra.
[page 248]
furúsh. There, according to M. Sévruguin's
account quoted by Kazem-Beg (loc. cit, p. 522), he was blown from
the mouth of a cannon. The remainder of Kazem-Beg's account differs from that
given in the Táríkh-i- Jadíd, in that it represents him not only as
reaching the Castle of Sheykh Tabarsí, but as taking a prominent part in
the defence thereof.
Mullá Jalíl of
Urúmiyya and Mullá Mahdí of Kand are merely mentioned in the list of
illustrious martyrs contained in the Táríkh-i-Jadíd.
Of Sheykh Sa'íd the Indian I can find no other
mention.
Mullá 'Alí of Bistám,
according to the Táríkh-i-Jadíd, was one of those who, on the death of
Hájí Seyyid Kázim of Resht, assembled in the mosque at Kúfa to fast and
pray for guidance. Subh-i-Ezel in December 1889 wrote for me a
short account of the history of the Bábí movement, which at some future date I
hope to publish. In this occurs the following message:-
([five
lines of Persian/Arabic text])
"His Excellency Mullá 'Alí Bistámí, who was noted for his sanctity (for
he is 'the Holy One of Khurásán'), set out towards Turkey, but in Baghdad they
took him and imprisoned him. Then, at the decision of the Muftí, they
sent him off towards Constantinople, but martyred him by poison at a place near
Baghdad called Bad- rá'í." In one of the interviews which I had with
Subh-i-Ezel during my stay at Famagusta in March 1890 he
communicated to me the
[page 249]
following additional particulars:- "Mullá 'Alí
of Bistám was the first martyr, and the only one who died by the hands of
the Osmánlí Turks. His martyrdom occurred in the second or third year of the
'Manifestation' [A.H. 1262-3, A.D. 1846-7]. He was arrested at
Baghdad and cast into prison. All the muftís of Baghdad, headed by
Mahmud Efendí and Sheykh Muhammad
Hasan1, signed his death-warrant, save one,
Muhsin or Hasan by name, who refused, saying that he was doubtful
as to the rightfulness of so doing. Subsequently the Báb addressed these words
to the above-mentioned Muhsin or Hasan in the Book of Names
(~~~):- 'Because you doubted and declined to take part in this murder, therefore
hath God decreed that in the Day of Resurrection the fire shall not touch
you.'"
1 Probably the same
Sheykh Muhammad Hasan who is censured in the
Kitáb-i-Akdas (see B. ii, p. 980).
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