Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎364r] (730/1814)

INSTITUTIONS AND REFORMS
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serious perversion, in proportion as the current verdict is derived
from the prejudices of the arraigned, but dominant, creed. Upon
both aspects of the question, however, much light has been thrown
by the researches and writings of Mr. E. Gr. Browne, a study of
whose admirable essays, together with the writings of the Comte de
Gobineau and others , 1 will enable any reader to form a coherent
impression of the development and character of this remarkable
heresy in the Mohammedan church. I shall consign to a foot
note a summary of the early history of the schism , 2 and shall then
1 I have compiled the following bibliography of Babism. Lady Sheil,
Glimpses of Life, See., caps, xi., xviii.; Comte de Gobineau, Religions et Philosophies
dans VAsie Centrale ; R. G, Watson, History of Persia, caps, xi., xiii.; Mme. C.
Serena, Homines et Choses en Perse, caps.iv., v., vi., vii.; Mirza Kazim Beg, Journal
Asiatique, 1866; C. Huart, ibid. 1887; Dorn, Bull, de VAcad. Imp. de St.-Pet.,
1864-5 ; F. IdiMon, BAnnee Philosophique, 1869 ; Ethe, Essays und Studien, 1872 ;
Baron V. Rosen, Coll, de VInst. Or. de St.-Pet. (Les Manuscrits Arabes, 1877;
Les Manuscrits Persans, 1886) ; A. von Kremer, Herrschenden Ideen des Isla/ms ;
E. G. Browne, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, art. vi. and xii., 1889 j^ancl
the works of Benjamin (cap. xii.), Dieulafoy (pp. 77-84), and Binder.
2 Mirza Ali Mahommed, the Bab, was the son of a grocer of Shiraz, and was
born in the year 1819 or 1820. From early years he was addicted to metaphysics
and theology, and, being sent by his father to manage his business at Bushire,
soon started upon the pilgrimage to Mecca, on his return from which he became
a pupil of Haji Seyid Kazim at Kerbela. Upon the death of the latter, he returned
to Bushire, where he presently announced his pretensions to the leadership of the
sect formed by his master, and was accepted as a prophet by Mullah Husein of
Bushrawieh, who became one of his most zealous disciples. The date of his Zuhur
or manifestation was May 23, 1844. At Bushire he continued to preach in the
mosques and public places, attacking the mullahs, and, in defence of his claims to
miraculous powers, exposing himself bareheaded to the rays of the noontide sun.
He now assumed the title of the Bab, or gate, through whom knowledge of the
Twelfth Imam Mahdi could alone be attained. His pretensions undoubtedly
became more extravagant as time proceeded, and he successively announced him
self as the Mahdi, as a re-incarnation of the Prophet, and as a Revelation or In
carnation of God himself. His disciples now carried his faith, with a missionary
energy that scorned persecution, far and wide through Iran. They were im
prisoned, proscribed, tortured, hunted, and slain. Foremost among their number
were Mullah Husein, before mentioned, and Mullah Mohammed Ali of Barfurush,
who, at the head of a band of devoted followers, sustained a protracted siege
against the Shah’s troops in Mazanderan, until they were at length exterminated
in 1849. Beauty and the female sex also lent their consecration to the new creed,
and the heroism of the lovely but ill-fated poetess of Kazvin, Zerin Taj (Crown
of Gold), or Kurrat-el-Ain (Solace of the Eyes), who, throwing off the veil, carried
the missionary torch far and wide, is one of the most affecting episodes in modern
history. Meanwhile the Bab had himself been arrested, examined, and thrown
into prison at Shiraz in 1845. He escaped to Isfahan, where he was at first well
received by the Motemed-ed-Dowleh, Manucheher Khan, in 1846, but soon found
himself again m prison, from which he never again emerged. Of the remainimr
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