'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎111v] (227/610)

188
Bah&'Iisra
(formerly
Known a*
Bftbllsm).
representatives of the old extreme Shi’ites and hold that All
was a divine incarnation while Muhammad was his lawgiver.
There are 2 groups {a) the Atish Begi, who are mainly in Dama
vand, Tehran, Kazvin add Azarbaijan and (6) the Haft Tavanan
of Kirmanshah, Luristan and Mosul. A considerable propor
tion of the darvishes in Persia are All Ilahi.
The AH Ilahls in this area are most numerous in the villages
along the Damavand road, e.g. Bumahind and Rudahind, and
among the Khwajahvand tribe of Kalardasht (but not in Pul
and Kujur), among the tribes of Kazvin, and in Khalkhal.
They do not as a rule make open profession of adhesion to
the sect, which is not of any political importance. Various
superstitious practices are attributed to them.
This is a creed of recent origin which started in Persia. Its
founder was Mlrza AH Muhammad, a young Saiyid,-of Shiraz
and son of a grocer, born about 1820.
m
He was a disciple of Saiyid Qasim Rakhti at Kerbela and
succeeded him as the leader of a sect of extreme Shi’ites, termed
Shaikhis, who held that there must always exist an interme
diary, the 4 Bab ’ or 4 gate,’ between the 12th Imam or Mahdi,
who disappeared from the world, and the Shi’ites who await
his return. After the death of Saiyid Qasim, Mirza AH Muham
mad went to Bushire, where on 23rd May 1844 he declared his
‘ Manifestation ’ and claimed miraculous power. He was
styled the ‘ Bab ’ in the above sense, and soon afterwards
assumed the higher title of the “ Nuqteh ” or ‘ point.’ The
* Bab ’ is, however, the name by which he is generally known.
He began to preach at Bushire as a religious revivalist
against the laxity, corruption, and worldliness of the ortho
dox Shi’ah clergy. He attracted many followers, including
prominent clergy, his fame spread rapidly and he was arrested
at Shiraz in 1845 and remained in captivity during the greater
part of his brief career (May 1844 to July 1850), at first at
Shiraz, afterwards at Maku, and lastly at Chihriq in
Azarbaijan.
His disciples however carried on active propaganda through
out Persia which resulted in several revolts against the Govern
ment, especially after the death of Muhammad Shah and acces
sion of Nasir-ud-Din in September 1848. The most serious of
them occurred in Mazandaran, Zinjan, and Pars. In Mazan-
daran, at the ruined shrine of Shaikh Tabarsi near Barfarush,
Babi rebels led by Mulla Muhammad Husain AH of Barfarush
and Mulla Husain of Bushravayeh defied the Shah’s troops
for 1 montl
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