'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎499] (558/714)

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INSTITUTIONS AND REFORMS 49 8<
however, has a great superiority; for whereas his rival lias never
ocU pretended to be more than the successor and vicegerent of the Bab
Laiiiiij Belia clamiS t0 have alto g et her superseded the Bab, who is now no'
s. k m T e n than a martyr Jolin tlie Baptist to a subsequent Messiah
'.m an 086 scri P tures are inferior holiness to the revelations that
yL come from Acre. Of these the principal is the Lawh-i-Akdas or
most holy Tablet, which is an enunciation of the precepts of Babism
as revised and remodelled by Beha. Under these circumstances it
is not surprising that the Behais have rapidly outnumbered the
Ezehs, and are now believed to comprise nineteen twentieths of the
bi Pe^uasion. The rival prophets still survive, he of Acre being-
an old man of seventy-six years of age, while his younger brother
of Cyprus is only sixty-three and is in receipt of a pension from
the British Government. Though the movement is still popularly
known as the Babi movement, the followers of neither leader now
acknowledge the name. They are the Mahr-el-Beha, or the Mahr
el-Beyan, according as they subscribe to Beha or to the scriptures
o the original Bab. Even the latter is no longer known by that
title, but is designated Hazret-i-Ala, His Highness the Supreme.
It will thus be seen that, in its external organisation, Babism
ias unc lergone great and radical changes since it first appeared as
a proselytising force half a century ago. These changes,
however, have m no wise impaired, but appear, on the-
contrary, to have stimulated its propaganda, which has
advanced with a rapidity inexplicable to those who can only see
therein a crude form of political or even of metaphysical fermenta
tion. The lowest estimate places the present number of Babis in
Persia at half a million. I am disposed to think, from conversations
with persons well qualified to judge, that the total is nearer one
million. They are to be found in every walk of life, from the
ministers and nobles of the Court to the scavenger or the groom
not the least arena of their activity being the Mussulman priest-,
hood itself. It will have been noticed that the movement was
initiated by seyids, Jiajis, and mullahs —i.e. persons who, either bv
descent, from pious inclination, or by profession, were intimately
concerned with the Mohammedan creed ; and it is among even the
professed votaries of the faith that they continue to make their
converts. Many Babis are well known to be such, but, as long as.
they walk circumspectly, are free from intrusion or persecution.
In the poorer walks of life the fact is, as a rule, concealed for fear-
K K 2
Modern
prose-
lytism
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