'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎112v] (229/610)

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(the Splendour of God) who in *1863 or 1866 declared himself
to be “He whom God shall manifest,” whose advent had been
prophesied by the Bab, and called on all Babis to recognize
him. This claim was rejected by Subh-i-Azal and the Babis
were divided into opposing factions of Azalis and Baha’is and
a period of bitter faction ensued. In 1868, to put an end to dis
turbances created by the dissensions between them, the Turkish
Government removed the Azalis to Famagusta in Cyprus and.
the Baha’is to Acre in Syria. Throughout this period they
enduced severe hardships and rough treatment. The more
conservative section of the Azalis soon dwindled to insigni
ficance, and the majority of the Babis became Baha’is, while
the Bab, who had originally been regarded as the author of a
new dispensation, gradually fell into oblivion and was relegated
to the position of the forerunner or “John the Baptist”
to Baha’ullah the “Manifestation” of the Deity. Baha’ullah
kindled extraordinary enthusiasm and devotion among his
followers and the Bahais continued to proselytize and make
many converts. Baha’ullah’s death at Acre on 16th May
1892 was followed by a fresh schism between two of his sons ;
Abbas EJendi, or AbduT Baha, “the Servant of God,” and
Muhammad Ali. Abdu’l Baha steadily gained ground until
he secured universal recognition as the Expounder of the teach
ing of Baha’ullah, for whose followers he issues Tablets. He isf
now a venerable old man of most striking personality residing
at Acre, whence he has made journeys to Europe and America
and where during the war he was visited by numerous British
0 fficers.
A few converts to Baha’iism have been made in America
and other countries, but it is in Persia, the home of the sect,
that it has achieved greatest success. For the last 40 years
Baha’is have been immune from persecution by the Persian
Government, but Shi’ah fanaticism inspired by the clergy
resulted in outbreaks against them at various times, especially
in 1903, in Yazd and various other towns of Persia. The most
recent outbreak was at Sultanabad in 1920.
The number of Baha’is in Persia has constantly increased,
though not perhaps with the same rapidity as at the end of the
19th century, when it was anticipated that Baha’ism might
soon oust Shi’ism as the principal religion of Persia.
Owing to^the periodical persecutions at the hands of the
Shi’ah Muhammadans, the majority of Baha’is, while having
* The date is disputed hut the “ manifestation ” is generally considered
to have taken place at Adrianople, and 1866 is the more probable.
t Abdul Baha died December 1921.
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