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THE NEW HISTORY
OF
MIRZA ALI-MUHAMMED
THE BAB





EDWARD G. BROWNE

SUBH-I-EZEL,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY CAPTAIN YOUNG.

THE NEW. HISTORY
(TARiKH-I-JADiD)
OF MfRZA ALI MUIjAMMED, THE BAB
BY MiRZA HUSEYN, OF HAMADAN, COMPOSED A.D. i88o,
BEING AN ACCOUNT
OF THE ORIGINS AND GROWTH OF THE BABI RELIGION
AND ITS FOUNDER
TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN AND EDITED WITH EXPLANATORY
NOTES, AND APPENDIXES,
CONTAINING SUBH-I-EZEL'S NARRATIVE, PERSIAN AND ENGLISH,
MfRZ,k JANi'S HISTORY, AND
OTHER DOCUMENTS, PRECEDED BY AN HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION,
AND AN INDEX
WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE BY MICHAEL BROWNE

PHILO PRESS
AMSTERDAM





First published Cambridge 1893
Reprinted 1975
with a biographical note by Michael Browne,
by arrangement with
Cambridge University Press, London
ISBN 90 6022 315 2
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I

E. G. BROWNE:

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.'

Edward Granville Browne was born in Glouces-1,
tershire in 1862 and passed his -youth in New-
castle-upon-Tyne. He was educated at _Et , on,
(where he found the classical curriculum then.
in force boring and impossible), ~ Glenalmond
and Pembroke College Cambridge. His interest
in Oriental matters was first aroused -by the
Russo-Turkish war of 1877 and at Cambridge
he read Oriental languages as well as% medicine.
His father, a successful engineer.. insisted t a
Oriental languages was . too hazardous i as a
profession and that he must qualify as a doctor;
this he did between going down from Cambridge
in 1884 and undertaking his only long visit to
Persia in 1887-8.
It is this visit which was the subject of A Year
amongst the Persians and, as appears from that
book, one of his main purposes was to make
contact with the Bdbis and to obtain any of their
books which he could; the present volume is one
of those he obtained.
He returned to Cambridge to take up a fellow-
ship at Pembroke and, except for comparatively
short visits to Turkey, Egypt and North Africa,
never left Cambridge again.





E. G. BROWNE: BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.
However, he remained in very close touch with
Persia through a host of friends and correspon-
dents, and not only produced the Literary History
of Persia but was also closely concerned in the
events following the Persian revolution of 1905.
There was a real threat that Persia might be
partitioned between Great Britain and Russia,
and it was widely believed that his Persia Com-
mittee was the decisive factor in the preserva-
tion of Persian independence. His private fortune
enabled him to help many Persian and other
political exiles.
He married in 1906 and died in 1926, leaving
two sons. His memory is still green in Persia,
and within the last decade one of his grand-
daughters who spent a year there received much
kindness, not only from his old friends and
pupils, but also from strangers who felt for him
the same kind of affection that the Greeks feel
(or till recently felt) for Lord Byron. His statue
in Teheran is said to have been the only statue
of a European which was spared during the rule
of Dr Mossadeg.

London 1974.
MICHAEL BROWNE.

CONTENTS.

~NTRODUCTION, BY THE TRANSLATOR
TRANSLATION OF THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE
TRANSLATION OF THE NEw HISTORY .
APPENDIX L  Abridgement of omitted digressions
APPENDIX II. Hhji Mirzh Jhni's History
APPENDIX III. Translation of Subh-i-Ezel'B Narrative
APPENDIX IV. Texts and Translations of Original Documents
published in fac-simile
INDEX
PERSIAN TEXT OF SUBH-i-EZEL's NARRATIVE
N. H.
PAGE
Vii
1
31
320
327
397
420
443
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Portrait of Subh-i-Ezel  FroWispiece.
Plans and Sketches of the Castle of Sheykh Tabarsi  56
North Gate of Zanjhn 146





Fac-simile of Letter from the 136b to MulIA Sheykh
'Ali 424
Nomination of Subh-i-Ezel as the B~b's successor
(fac-simile of Subh-i-Ezel's transcript) 426
Fac-simile of Letter from Seyyid Huseyn of Yezd
to Hhji Seyyid 'Ali 427
Fac-simile of Letter from Kurratu'l-'Ayn to MullA
Sheykh 'Ali .
434
b





INTRODUCTION.
HALF a century has not yet elapsed since MÕrzà 'Ali
Muhammad, the young Seer of Shfrdz, first began' to preach
the religion which now counts its martyrs by hundreds and
its adherents by hundreds of thousands'; which seemed at,
one time to menace the supremacy alike of the- KAjAr
dynasty and of the Muhammadan faith in Persia, and may
still not improbably prove an important factor in the history
of Western Asia; and which, within the memory of, men
not yet arrived at an age in any way unusual, has passed-
successively through the Prophetic and Apostolic periods,
and entered on that phase of intestinal dissensioii and
political opportunism whither, sooner or later, every religion
I
(be the Idea which gave life and strength to the teaching
of its Founder never so pure and lofty, and the devotion,
self-abnegation, and brotherly concord subsistingg amongst
his early disci ples never so perfect) inevitably comes. . Thus
it is that, quite apart from the political significance whichg-
it may acquire in the future, and the influence which it
may exert over the destinies of Persia and the neighbouring
states, the BAbi movement cannot fail to attract the atten-'
See Curzon's Persia, vol. i, p. 499. The lowest estimate
says he, 11 places the present number of BàbÕs in Persia at half a
million. I am disposed to think, from conversations with persons
well qualified to judge, that the total number is nearer one
m i oil.
b 2





+viii
INTRODUCTION.
tion and awaken the curiosity of every student of the Comparative History of Religions.
Now the study of the origin and evolution of any religion, ancient or modern, especially of one which aiiihis at
effecting a great change in the thought, life, or political organisation of the people amongst whom it arises, is,
though invested with a singular charm, fraught with peculiar difficulties. For, at the outset, such religion finds
arrayed against itself every vested interest and every deep-rooted prejudice of the dominant dynasty and hierarchy,
as well as of all who are, whether by conviction, habit, or considerations of personal advantage, attached to these;
and, whether or no it be called upon to face the sword of a tyrant, the sentence of an inquisition, or the rack, the
stake, and the axe of the headsman, it is certain to be exposed to the misrepresentations of court-chroniclers and
ecclesiastical historians, who will spare no effort to pourtray it under the most sombre and lurid colours with which
their imaginations can invest it. Facts will be suppressed or distorted; vague rumours and unfounded slanders will
be recorded as assured and indisputable facts; charges of communism, anarchy, free-love, and worse, will be
hurled against the innovators. and while, on the one side, occasional excesses and casual acts of violence are
represented as the natural and logical outcome of doctrineas subversive alike of morality and humanity, on the
other, deeds of treachery and cruelty are passed over in silence, elevated to the dignity of righteous reprisals for
inexpiable iniquities, or condoned as measures which, though harsh indeed, were rendered not Only excusable but
inevitable by the exigencies of the time. Should the nasceut faith lack strength to outlive this stormy period of
probation and persecution, the name of its founder and his adherents will almost certainly be branded with a stigma
of infamy froin which oblivion alone will free
i
p
p
I
INTRODUCTION.
+ix
them. How different a complexion might the life of Moseylima or the teaching of Mazdak wear if we could but hear
the case for the defence, or learn aught about them save that which their triumphaint opponegnts have recorded!
But even should the young religion survive this fiery ordeal, and secure for itself a permanent footing amongst the
theological systems of the world, new dangers and new sources of misrepresentation of a yet more subtle kind than
any to which it has been heretofore exposed spring into being. Hithe'rto these have been wholly or chiefly from
without. That whole-hearted devotion to the founder which alone could induce his early disciples to disregard wealth,
position, ease, family ties, and even life itself for
sake, and that unquestioning faith in his teachings and unhesitating obedience to his commands which is the
natural and necessary outcome of this devotion, maintain the community, at least during his lifetime, in concord,
harmony, and- fraternal love. Persecution from withoutl the sense of common danger, and the still fresh
remembrance of the beloved Master's words and wishes, expressed or implied, may combine to prolong this period
for a time, even for a consideraW time, after his death; but, sooner or later, dissensions, schisms, and internecine
strifes are sure to arise. A cessation or abatement of the persecutions which have hitherto compelled the members
of the community tocombine all their powers in resisting the common foe, and to present a united front towards their
oppressors, now at length gives them leisure to examine more, minutely and critically the doctrines bequeathed to
them ; attempts are made to weld these doctrines into a logical and coherent system ; differences of temperament,
training, and aspira-, tion, hitherto latent, become manifest; ambitions, hithertQ held in check, burst forth; rival
claimants arise to contest the supremacy; new circumstances and altered relations






I  t
+x
i
INTRODUCTION.
to the environment suggest to the bolder and more active spirits modifications and developments of the primitive
doctrine, of which, perhaps, the founder never dreamed; and an energy and tenacity of purpose which were
developed by the need of uniting the young church against a common foe are expended in dividing it against itself.
Now, alas! the golden age of the new religion is past, or all but past ; the heaven-inspired proplict, the loving,
untiring, undoubting apostle, and the pale martyr, who, with the smile of victory on his lips, and widely opened eyes
fixed on the far distance, as though to discern through the lurid flames of the bale-fire some glimpse of the
promised Utopia, fade from the page of its history, which henceforth is filled with pitiful tales of dissension and
disruption; of anathemas and accusations of heresy and apostasy reiterated and reciprocated with increasing
bitterness; of suppressions of unwelcome records and corruptions of inconvenient textas ; of fratricidal
assassinations and persecutions.
Of this golden age of faith the records are usually scanty, but, in their primitive forin, simple, truthful, and worthy of
credence in the main, though not improbably 01le-sided, exaggerated, coiifua-,ed, and rude in style. The eneiiiies
of a new religion do not corrupt its records, they destroy them; and what escapeas destruction at their hands, and
subsequent corruption at the hands of partisans, may be trusted to give a tolerably faithful narrative of its early
history. For the earliest historians of a religion are, as a rule, so full of faith, so lacking in critical or sceptical habits,
so ready to accept whatever new ideals may be set before them, so prone to discover a hidden wisdom in every
act, not only the most trivial, but the inoast questionable, which emanates from their Master and his immediate
disciples, that they will chronicle with scrupulous fidelity inci
idelity inci
+xi
dents which a later and more critical generation of believers would be strongly tempted to suppress or to
transfigure. When Ibn HishAm came to re-write Ibn Is-h6k ) s biography of the Prophet Muhammad, he judged it
expedient to omit certain details which appeared to him unedifying and likely to cause scandal to the faithful; and -
when a modern MusulmAn, like Syed Ameer Ali, composes a history of Islim for English readers, he is tempted to
touch very lightly on certain matters which Ibn HishAm saw no cause to include in this category. To take another
instance h alto_ gether, might not a modern Buddhist, especially if he were an European, feel disposed to allow the
fact that Buddha's death was accelerated by eating pork to sink into oblivion, although this fact casts no reflection
on the life of that great and virtuous teacher, but only contravenes our ideas of what is graceful and artisti6 ?
" But," it will be asked, " does it often happen that these earliest records of a religious movement, supposing them to
be written witgh this perfect candour, and to escape destruction at the hands of foes, retain for long their primitive
form ? If the doctrines of the teacher whoseh lifel deeds, and words they chronicle prevail, and so the records
survive, what guarantee can we have that they have not wliiidergone mutilation or received embellishment at the
hands of his later followers, from whom almost necessarily we must receive them?" Generally, from the very,nature
of the case, such assurance is difficult to obtain, ~and, indeed, can only be obtained in its most satisfactory form
when the early records pass within a short time, after their compilation into the hands of strangers, who, while
interested in their preservation, have no desire to alter them for better or worse. That this should happen at all
obviously requires a very unusual combination of circumstances. 9 So far as my knowledge goes, it never has
happened save in





+xii 
the case of the Bibf religion; and this is one of the facts which invest the history of this religion with so special an
interest.
Fifty years ago Persia be ' longed to all intents and,purposes (as, indeed, she still belongs, notwithstanding the
attempts recently made, to the huge delight of certain nostrum-mongers and vendors of universal panaceas, to
overlay the court and capital of her present rulers with a thin veneer of tawdry European civilisation) to the ancient
world. There hardly anything is impossible, and not very many things even grossly improbable. That a young
visionary should arise proclaiming a new religion designed to replace and supersede all existing creeds; that many
persons of learning, virtue, and position should eagerly embrace and boldly proclaim his doctrines that gorgeous
but unsubstantial visions of a New Creation wherein there should be neither injustice nor discord, of a Reign of
God's Saints on earth, and of a Universal Theocracy conformed in every detail to a mystical Theosophy (wherein
are blended, under the guise of an ultra-Shi'ite nationalism, theories of numbers more fantastic than those of
Pythagoras or Plotinus, with theories of the Divine Names and Attributes more intangible than those of the Cabbala
or of Spinoza) should exercise so powerful an influence, not only over philosophers and scholars, but over peasants
and artisans, as to make them ready and eager to meet death in its most terrible forms not by scores, but by
hundreds; that this new faith, set forth, for the most part, not in the language of the people, but in Arabic treatises of
interminable length, at once florid and incorrect in style, teeming with grammatical errors the nioa-,t glaring,
iterations the most wearisome, and words the rarest and most incomprehensible, should have power to inspire its
votaries with a courage so stubborn as to threaten for several years the very existence
+xiii
of the es ' tablished religion and the reigning dynasty, and should stir up an iiisurrectioihi which all the armed forces
of the Persian king, all the anathemas of the Muhammadan clergy, all the tortures which an Asiatic tyrant could
devise or his myrmidons execute ' could, by dint of ruthless and repeated massacres, only check for a while, but
not permanently subdue - all this, however strange it may seem to an European, is in the history of the East not
much more remarkable than is the accession of a new dynasty, the partition of a principality, or the annexation of a
province in the history of the West. The doctrines of the BAb, it is true, formed together a system bold, original,
and, to the Persian mind, singularly attractive; but, taken separately, there was hardly one of which he could claim
to be the author, and not very many which did not remount to a remote antiquity. The title of Ba'b ("Gate") had been
already assumed, not only by the four intimates of the Twelfth ImAngi, but by a heresiarch who was put to death in
the tenth century of our era by the Caliph er-RAdhf Bi'llAh. The theories advanced by Mirzi 'Ali Mul ' iammad
concerning the successive incarnations of the Universal Reason, thb allegorical interpretation of Scripture, and the
symbolism of every ritual form and every natural phenomenon, differ in no essential particular from those hel& by
the Isma'flfs. Even the virtues of the number nineteen, the mysterious " Number of the Unity," had been already
signalized, and that, probably, not for -the first time, by Sheykh Muhiyyu 'd-Din ibnu'l-'Arabf, a renowned Sftff
teacher who flourished in tghe twelfth century of our era!. The personal influence of the BAb ; the extraordinary
steadfastness and devotion of his followers under perse
See Traveller's iYarrative, vol. ii, p. 229. See J. R. A. S. for 1889, pp. 909, n. 2, and 919-920.





xiv  INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.  XV
cution of a severity almost unparalleled in modern times ;
the dramatic circumstances attending the earlier history of
the sect, from its foundation in A.D. 1844 till the martyrdom
of its Founder in A.D. 1850, and of all but a very few of
his original apostles in A.D. 1852, were indeed exceptional;
yet, notwithstanding all this, it might easily have happened
that the materials for a continuous and authentic history
of the movement should have been wanting, in which case
we should have had to trust the inaccurate and garbled
accounts of the court-historians, LiS621117-14fulk and Rizi-
Kulf KhAn', till such time as the scarcely more impartial
.Traveller's Narrative%" written anonymously (as I have
learned only since its publication) by the son of one aspirant
to the supreme authority in the now divided Church to
discredit the perfectly legitimate claims and to disparage
the perfectly blameless character of his less successful rival,
came to increase our mystification and plunge us into
further uncertainties-
Fortunately for science a happy combination of circum-
stances averted a too probable, but none the less deplorable,
contingency. Amongst the early disciples of the Bdb was
a certain merchant of KAshAn, HAjf MÕrzà Jdnf by name,
who, together with two of his three brothers, HAjf MÕrzà
IsmAT and HAjf MÕrzà Ahmad', was remarkable for his
enthusiastic devotion to the new religion. When, in the
year 1847, the BAb passed by KAshdn on the way to his
prison at MAk* ' MÕrzà JAnf bribed the escort to allow their
illustrious captive to be a guest in his house for two days
I Cf. Traveller's Narrative, vol. ii, pp. 173-4, 186-8, and 192.
2 Presented to me by the author during my visit to Acre in
April 1890; published in fac-simile, with EDglish translation,
Introduction, and Notes, by the Cambridge University Press
in 1891.
3 See Traveller's Narrative, vol. ii, p. 332.
I
f
i
and nights'. While the MizandarAn insurrection 'was in
progress (A.D. 1848-9), he, in company with BehAV114h,
Subh-i-Ezel, and several other prominent BàbÕs', at-
tempted, but failed, to join the garrison of Sheykh Tabarsf,
fell into the hands of the enemy, and was imprisoned for
some while at A'mul. We find him, always impelled, as it
would appear, by religious zeal, now at BArfurAsh, now at
Mash-had, now at TeherAn. He appears to have been
personally acquainted not only with the BAb, Subh-i-Ezel,
and BehA'u'llAh, but with HAjf SuleymAn KhAn, MullA
Muhammad 'Alf of Zauj An, Seyyid YahyaA of DArAb, MullA
Sheykh 'Alf " Jena'b-i-'Az11'M," Kurratu'l-,Ayii, " ffa;rat-i-





Kudd,(ts," and almost all the early apostles of the BàbÕ
religion. Finally, in company with twenty-seven -of his
co-religionists, he suffered martyrdom for the faith at
TeherAii on September 15th, 18521. He was therefore
heart and soul a BàbÕ ; lie had the best possible oppor-
tunities for obtaining detailed and accurate - information
about every event connected with the movement during
the first eight years of its existence (A.D. 1844-1852);
ZD
and lie enjoyed a high reputation for truthfulness, intelli-
gence, and integrity4. Most fortunately, also, he occupied
his leisure moments during the two years which elapsed
between the martyrdom of his Master (July 9th, 1850) and
his own death (Sept. 15th, 1852) in composing a voluminous
work, to which, from considerations of a mystical and not
very comprehensible character, lie gave the rather fanciful
name of Nuktatu'l-Kdf ("The Point of KAf," i.e., as it
would appear, "of KAshAn")1, on the doctrines and hiastory
I See pp. 213-216 infra, and footnotes.
2 Cf. pp. 64-5 and 378-9 infra.
3 See Traveller's Narrative, vol. ii, pp. 323-334.
4 Of. pp. xxxix and 57 infra.
6 See n. I on p. 391 infra. The passage in which the title of





F
xvi INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION. xvii
of the religion for which, probably only a few months after
the completion of his labours, he shlifrered death.
It is superfluous to say that MÕrzà JAni's work never
existed save in manuscript,, and that any copies which
passed into the hands of the royalist or orthodox party
were without doubt at once destroyed. For there was
nothing of caution, compromise or concealment about the
honest KAshAnf merchant. The BàbÕs of his time looked
rather for an immediate triumph over all existing powers,
culminating in the universal establishment of the True
Faith and the Reign of God's Saints on Earth, than for
the book is given occurs near the beginning of the work and runs
Z3
as follows:-



a Heaven of Glory, a far-distant Millennium, or " the Most
Great Peace" on which BehA and his followers love. to
dilate'. They did not make any profession of loyalty to,
or love for, the reigning dynasty; nor did they attempt to
exonerate the ShAh from the responsibility of the perse-
cutions -which they suffered at the expense of his ministers
or tghe MusnImAn divines, as later BàbÕ historians have
doDe'. They hated the Muhammadan clergy, it is true,
with an intense and bitter hatred, and MÕrzà JAnf antici-
pates with exultation a day whereon the KA'im, or Messiah,
of the Family of Muhammad shall behead seventy thou-
sand mull4s "like clogs"; but they entertained for the
KAjAr rulers an equal hatred, which MÕrzà JAnf is at no
pains to disguise. To N6siru'd-Din, the present ShAh,
and to his father, Muhammad ShAh, such terms as "tyrant"",.
L&JU), "scoundrel" unrightful king"'
(J.61y :)Uo.U), and "progeny of Abfi SofyAn (,~j I J I
are freely applied. Teherin is compared- to.-
Daulaasevis, the capital of the wicked Mu'iviya and his yet
more wicked son Yazid; while Mul1A Huseyn is likened to
the martyred ImAm Huseyn, Sheykh Tabarsf to the immortal
plain of KerbelA, and BArfurAsh, whither the BàbÕ captives,
were brought after the conclusion of the siege, to I(Afa.
ZD
The battle-cry of the royalist soldiers, " Y6 N6siru'd-Dlhi





Sh'A i described as " a foul watch-word
a 8
the death of Muhammad ShAh is noted in the
words when Muhammad Sh6h went to hell3"; and the
unbelievers are flouted with scorn because they suppose
that the Promised Deliverer whom they expect will confirm
I Cf. Traveller's Narrative, Vol. ii, pp. A
2 Cf. Traveller's Narrative, Vol. ii, pp. xlv-xlvi; and, amongst
many other similar passages in this book, pp. 172, 180-182,
189-190, 278-279, 291-293, and 315-316.
3 See n. I on p. 291 infra.





xviii INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION.  xiX
the authority of the existing rulers and governors, aiid recognition and homage of the whole BàbÕ community'.
will subdue the world for the benefit of NAsiru'd-Dfn Till the catastrophe of September 1852, which proved fatal,
ShAh. not only to MÕrzà Jinf, but to nearly all the principal
Now if this were all, MÕrzà JAnf's history, though it apostles of the new faith -who bad survived the earlier
would certainly have been destroyed as far as possible by persecutions, he remained for the most part in the neigh-
rAn in the summer, and in the district of
the Muhammadans and the royalists, might well, with bourhood of Tehe
sundry emendations and expurgations, have been preserved NAr in MdzandarAn in the winter, actively occupied in
almost intact, like many other proscribed books, in the iDg, transcribing, and eirculg ing the BàbÕ books,
arrang at
bosom of the BA-bf Church. But it is not all. Events preaching and expohlinding the BàbÕ doctrine, and com-
which I have elsewhere discussed at length', and shall here, forting and edifying the BàbÕ Church'. It was during this
period, and, as internal evidence renders probable, during
for the benefit of the general reader, briefly recapitulate, 3
brought about the seemingly strange result that a lar(Te the year A.H. 1267 (Nov. 1850-Oct. 1851) that Mirzi
majority of the BAbias themselves carne to have a direct Jdn' composed his work, in which, as was only natural, he
interest in the suppression of this precious record. One inserted a long notice on Subh-i-Ezel4, whom he most
of the chief doctrines of the BAb, one which lie never certainly, and his contemporaries in the faith most probably,
wearies of repeating and emphasising, is that his revelation believed to be none other than " He whom God shall
is not final; that he is not the last of the Theophanies manifest'." The evidence that at this period, and for
which, at longer or shorter intervals shine- forth in the some considerable time afterwards, Subh-i-Ezel, now living
Phenomenal World for the guidance of mankind; and in almost solitary exile at Famagusta in Cyprus, a pensioner-
that after him a greater Revealer, whom lie calls Man
I Cf. Gobineau's Iteligions et Pljilosophies dans IAsie, Centrale,
yudli-Airulitt'1161i" ("He whom God shall nhianifest "), shall
pp. 277-8~
appear for the consolation of his followers. Now a year 2 See Traveller's Xarrativc, Vol. ii, p. 374.
before his martyrdonhi, on the fall of Sheykh Tabarsf and 3 The clearest allusion in Mfrzi idnif's work to the date of its-
the death of H4rat-i-Kuddits (July or August, 1849)1, composition is contained in the words (occurring on f. 48r of
the BAb nominated Mfrzi YahyA (then a lad of nineteen3)
Suppl. Pers. 1071, and f 335 2- of StTpl. Pers. 1070) 4-r=
to succeed him under the title of 8ubh-i-Ezel ("the Morn-
ing of Eternity"), or Ilazrat-i-Ezel ("His Holiness the
"To day, when one thousand two hundred and seventy-seven
Eternal"). The nomination was explicit and notorious,
years have elapsed since the <commencement of the> Mission
and, on the death of the Founder in July 1850, the youth- of God's Apostle  " The BàbÕs generally date not from the hijra
b
ful vicegerent at once received the almost unanimous
or Flight of the Prophet, but from his Call (ba'that), which they
p
place ten years earlier. Hence this date corresponds to A.H.
I Traveller's Yarrative, Vol. ii, pp. xv-xviii and 349 et seq. 1267.
4 See pp. .374-394 infra.
I See pp. 380-2 infra.
3 See Traveller's Narrative, Vol. ii, p. 373 and note. 5 See pp. 381-2 infra.





xx INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION. xxi
of the British Government, held undisputed and absolute
sway over the BàbÕ Church is absolutely conclusive.
Immediately after the great persecution and massacre
of 1852, Subh-i-Ezel fled to Baghdad, so as to be beyond
the reach of the Persian Government. Hither a few
months later (at the end of 1852 or beginning of 1853')
lie was followed by his half-brother, MirzA Huseyn 'Alf
BeWt'u'116h, who was thirteen years his senior, and -who,
p
arrested on suspicion of complicity in the attem t made
by the BàbÕs on the Sh6h's life .. had just been acquitted
and released from an imprisonment of four montlis' dura-
tion. At this time and for some years later (at any rate
till 1858) Behi'ii'lldh was, as liias own writings prove',
to all appearance as loyal a follower of Subh-i-Ezel as he
had previously been of the Bdb. The BàbÕ Church was
still, in spite of the attempts made by sundry ambitious
persons to advance claims to the supreme autliority3, united
tinder Subh-i-Ezel, and its members no doubt continued
to read with edification the pages of Mirz6 JAni's history.
About 1862 the Turkish Government, acting, as it
would appear, on the representations of the ShAh's minis-
ters, decided to transfer the BAbi exiles from Baghdad to
Adrianople, whither, it would seem, they were actually
brought in December 1863 4. Here they remained till July
or August 1868, when signs of renewed -and increased
activity amongst them attracted the notice of the Ottoman
authorities, who, learning that a schism had divided them
1 See J. R. A. S. for 1892, pp. 304-6.
2 See J. R. A. S. for 1892, pp. 304-6 and 436-8.
3 See Tgi,az,elle?,'s Narrative, vol. ii, pp. 356-8 and 365.
4 The chronology of these events is less certain than that of
the earlier ones. I have done my best to reconcile and combine
the various and sometimes conflicting data at pp. 306-8 of the
.1. R. A. S. for 1892.
I
into two hostile sections, the one headed by Behi'u'lhih,
the other by ~ubh-i-Ezel, packed them off without more
ado, and probably without troubling to enquire much into
the rights and wrongs of the matter, the former to Acre,
the latter to Famagusta in Cyprus.
About the subsequent history of the Bdbfs, of which
full accounts will be found, by such as it may interest, in
the Traveller's Narrative, I do not propose to say any-
thing in this place. Concerning the schism itself, however,
a few words are necessary. A community like that which
had existed at Adrianople, consisting almost entirely of
actual exiles and potential martyrs, and in large part of
religious enthusiasts, revolutionary visionaries, and specu-
lative mystics, whose grestless activity, debarred from ex-





ternal action, is pent up within limits too narrow for its
free exercise, requires a firm hand to control and direct
its energies. Such firmness Subh-i-Ezel, a peace-loving,
contemplative, gentle soul, wh~olly'devoted to the memory
of his beloved Master, caring little for authority, and in-
capable of self-assertion, seems to have altogether lacked.
Even while at Baghdad he lived a life of almost complete
seclusion, leaving the direction of affairs in the bands of
his half-brother Behi'u'llAh', a man of much more resolute
and ambitious character, who thus gradually became the
most prominent figure and the moving spirit of the sect.
For a considerable time BehAVIIAh continued to do all
that he did in the name, and ostensibly by the instruc-
tions, of Subh-i-Ezel; but after a while, though at what
precise date is still uncertain, the idea seems to have
entered his mind that he might as well become actually,
as he already was virtually, the Pontiff of the Church
wlioa,3e destinies he controlled. It was not, however, till
1 See Traveller's Narrative, vol. ii, pp. 356-8.
N. If.
0





a  I
xxii
INTRODUCTION.
the BàbÕs had been for two or three years at Adrianople
that, most probably in the summer of 1866', lie threw off
all disguise, publicly proclaimed himself to be " Him whom
God shall manifest," and called upon Subli-i-Ezel and -all
the BàbÕ Churches throughout Persia, Turkey, Egypt and
Syria to acknowledge his supreme authority, and to accept
as God's Word the revelations which he forthwith began to
promulgate, and continued till his death on May 16th of
last year (1892) to publish.
Amongst the BàbÕs the effect of this announcement (for
which, no doubt, the way had been already prepared) ivaas
little short of stupendous. From Constantinople to KirmAn
and from Cairo to KhurAsAn the communities of the faith-,
ful were rent asunder by a schism which every subsequent
year has rendered wider and more permanent, and which
nothing short of the complete extinction of one of the two
rival factions can possibly heal. At Adrianople itself the
struggle was short and the triumph of BehA complete.
Subh-i-Ezel was so completely deserted that, as lie himself
informed me, he and his little boy had to go themselves to
the bazaar to buy their food. Elsewhere, though active
and astute emissaries' were at once despatched in all
directions by BeliA, the conflict, though its issue was from
the first hardly doubtful, was longer maintained. For the
question at issue was not merely whether one leader should
be replaced by another, whether certain doctrines should
be understood in this way or in that, or whether the ethics,
practices, or forms of worship of the sect should be re-
formed or modified (all of which things, as we well know,
have again and again in the history of religions proved
sufficient to create the fiercest enmities, the profoundeast
I See J. R. A. S. for 1892, p. 304.
2 Cf. J. R. A. 8. for 1892, pp. 311-312.
h
p
h
b
INTRODUCTION.
XXIII
heart-searchings, and the bitterest dissensions), but~l whether
the doctrines and writings of the beloved Master, for which
his followers had been ready to suffer death or exile, were
to be regarded as abrogated and cancelled in favour of, a
new revelation; whether his chosen vicegerent, whom they
had so long regarded as their Supreme Pontiff and as the
incarnation of all purity, virtue, and heavenly wisdom,
was to be cast down from this high position, and branded
as " the First Letter of Denial " of the New Dispensation ;





and whether the BAb himself was henceforth to be looked
upon, not as the " Point of Revelation," a veritable Mani-
festation of the Divine, but as a mere harbinger and pre-
cursor of a more perfect Theophany. BàbÕs who remember
that time cannot easily be induced to speak of it ; -only
once, so far as I can remember, did I hear a follower of
Behi explicitly allude to it. " I was long torn with doubts,"
said he, "which were finally removed by this verse on
which one day I chanced in the Beyan: 'Thou takest
Divinity from whomsoever Tlwu pleasest, and givest Di-
villity to whomsoever Tliou pleasest: verily Thou art the
Almighty, the Wise."'
How long the contest was maintained by the Ezelfs, or
old Bibfs, against the innovators it is impossible to say,
for on no portion of the history of the sect is our infor-
mation so scanty or our light so dim. At first not a few
prominent BàbÕs, including even several " Letters of the
Living" and personal friends of the BAb, adhered faithfa~ly
to Subh-i-Ezel. One by one these disappeared, most of
them , as I fear cannot be doubted, by foul play on the
part of too zealous BebA'fs. Hiji Seyyid Muhammad of
IsfahAn, one of the BAb's " Companions " (aq-~db), MÕrzà
RizA-Kulf and his brother MÕrzà Naqru'llAh of Tafrfsh) .46
JAn Beg of KAshAn, and other devoted Ezelis,,were stabbed
or poisoned at Adrianople and Acre. Two of the Letters
2





s
xxiv INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION.  XXV
of the Living," Seyyid 'Alf the Arab, and Mulhi manifest" to abrogate, change, can eel, and develop the earlier
Rajab 'Alf lCahh-, were assassinated, the one at Tabriz, doctrines. ' His chief aim seems to have been to introduce
the other at KerbelA. The brother of the latter, A' kA 'Alf a more settled order, to discourage speculation, to direct
Muhammad, was also murdered in Baghdad; and, indeed, the attention of his followers to practical reforms pursued
in a prudent and unobtrusive fashion, to exalt ethics at
of the more prominent 134bis who espoused the cause, of
Ezel, Seyyid JawAd of KerbelA (who died at KirmAn about the expense of metaphysics, to check mysticism, to con-
1884)1 seems to have been almost the only one, with the ciliate existing authorities, including even the ShAh of
exception of Ezel himself, who long survived what the Persia, the Nero of the BàbÕ faith, to abolish useless, un-
practical, and irksome regulations and restrictions, and)
Ezelfs call " the Direful Mischief " (fihia-i-saylanz). From
in general, to adapt the religion at the head of which he
that time forwards, while the Belid'fs have been ever waxing
now found higmself to the ordinary exigencies of life, and
in power and influence, so that their numbers now probably
reach or even exceed half a million souls, the Ezelis have to render it more capable of becoming, what he intended
been ever waning, until at the present time it is doubtful to make it, a universal system suitable to all mankind'. A
whether in all they amount to more than a few hundreds. remembrance of all the wrongs which he and his co-religi-
It is even doubtful whether the recent death of BeliA will onists had suffered at the hands of the Musulmins further
contribute in any sensible measure to the restoration of caused him gradually but steadily to eliminate the tinge
their failing fortunes, though Ezel still lives, and numbers of Muhammadan, and more especially of Shi'ite, thought
amongst his supporters at least one or two men of energy which the BàbÕ doctrine still maintained, while ever seek-
and ability. ing a better understanding with the -Christians, Jews, and
Zoroastrians with all of whom he recommended his fol-
At the present day, therefore, the vast majority of I
BAbis are Behi'fs, whose doctrines, sentiments, and ideals lowers to consort on friendly tern-is.
Now once admitting Behi's right to assume this posi-
are already far removed from those of the primitive BàbÕs tion of supremacy at all, there can be no question that
or modern Ezelfs. No sooner was BehA. firmly established these changes were beneficial and salutary. The original
in his authority than lie began to make free use, of the
privilege accorded by the BAb to " Him whom God shall See especially the summary of contents of the Kitdb-i- Akdas
at pp. 972-981 of the J.R.A.S. for 1889; and the Lawh-i-
Cf. J. R. A. S. for 1892, pp. 443-4 and 684; and Traveller's Bashdrdt, of which the text (with the exception of the 15th and
Al'arrative, vol. ii, p. 342, n. 2. That Seyyid Jawaid was a follower last clause, recommending constitutional government, which the
of Ezel is, however, categorically denied by Mfrzi AbA'I-Fazl of BehA'is appear to have thought it expedient to suppress in the
copy of the tract forwarded to Russia) has been published by
GuIpAyagAn in a letter addressed to M. Touniansky, the text of
which will be found on pp. 44-5 of vol. viii of the Zapisski of Baron Rosen with a Russian translation at pp. 183--192 of vol.
the Oriental Section of the Imperial Russian Archaeological vii of the Zapisski of the Oriental Section of the Imperial Russian
Societ . As, however, this is affirmed equally positively by ~ubh_ Archaeological Society (St Petersburg, 1893). The substance
y of this latter document has been stated in English by myself at
i-Ezel and Sheykh A- the Ezelf, I have allowed these words
to stand. pp. 678-9 of the J. R. A. & for 1892.





I
xxvi  INTRODUCTION.
doctrine of the BAb, fascinating as it was to Persians of a
certain disposition, was utterly unfitted for the bulk of
mankind, and could never by any possibility have taken
any root outside Persia. In the sacred books wherein it
was set forth, precept bore but a small proportion to
dogma, and dogma a still smaller proportion to doxologies
and mystical rhapsodies of almost inconceivable incompre-
hensibility. Not only were the positive precepts few, but
they were generally quite unpractical, and not rarely
extremely inconvenient. What, for instance, could be
more unpractical than the adoption of the number 19 as
the basis of all measures and calculations; the command
that all books when they had been in existence for 202
years should be copied out afresh, and the originals de-
stroyed or given away; or the elaborate ceremonies pre-
scribed for the interment of the dead ? What more incon-
venient than the exclusion of all unbelievers from five of
the chief pr ovinces of Persia,- and, save in the case of
merchants and others following a useful profession, from
all lands in which the BàbÕ faith prevailed; the discourage-
ment of sea-voyages and of the acquisition of foreign lan-
guages ; and the command to destroy all works treating of
Logic, Jurisprudence, and Philosophy ? Great conceptions,
noble ideals, subtle metaphysical conceptions, and splendid,
though ill-defined, aspirations do, indeed, exist in the
BeyAn; but they are so lost in trackless mazes of rhapsody
and mysticism, so weighed down by trivial injunctions and
impracticable ordinances, that no casual reader, but only a
student of considerable diligence and perseverance, can
hope to find them'.
That the development of BehA's doctrines proceeded
1 For a summary account of the teachiDgs of the Persian
Beydn, the most systematic and comprehensible of the BAb'aa3
many works, see pp. 911-933 of the J. R. A. S. for 1889.
'Y
INTRODUCTION. xxvii
h
gradually there can be little doubt, for a system such as
he elaborated could not be worked out, much less imposed
on a scattered church not always remarkable for docility,
in a brief space of time. From the moment that his claims
were generally recognized by the BàbÕs, however, the whole
of the earlier literature of the sect, including the writings
of the Bib himself, began to suffer neglect and to sink
into oblivion. Without admitting the assertion made by
the Ezelfs, that BehA and his followers deliberately de-
stroyed, or fraudulently tampered with, the books belonging
to the older dispensation on a large scale, it is clear that
the conditions which could alone secure the - continual





transcription and circulation of these books had ceased to'
exist. They were, for the most part, voluminous, hard to
comprehend, uncouth in style, unsystematic in arrange-
ment, filled with iterations and solecisms) and not un-
frequently quite incoherent and unintelligible to' any
ordinary reader.- Hitherto, less on their own merits than
by reason of the enthusiastic devotion inspired by their
authors, they had been regarded by all the BAbis as price-
less gems. Of this enthusiastic devotion BehA now became
the object; and to his writings (which, at any rate in
comparison with those of his predecessors, were terse, lucid,
vigorous, and eloquent) was this sentiment of admiration
diverted. The energies of the Behi'f scribes were fully
occupied in transcribing the new revelations; and the
older books, no longer regarded as the final expression of
Divine Truth and Wisdom, ceased to be renewed, and for
the most part reposed undisturbed and forgotten. in the
shelves and boxes to which they had been consigned. All
this, of course, applies only to the BehA'fs; but the Ezelfs,'
to whom the old books still retained their pristine value,
were few in number, isolated, fearful alike of the Mu-
hammadaus and the Behi'fs, and altogether incapable of





xxviii
INTRODUCTION.
maintaining the currency of the discarded literature. Be-
sides this, many of the older writings at the time of the
schism were probably preserved only at the BàbÕ head-
quarters in Adrianople, where, as we have seen, Subh-i-
Ezel was left entirely without supporters. What he could,
he saved, and bore with him to Cyprus; but there can be
no doubt that the lion's share fell to BehA, and was con-
veyed by him and his followers to Acre. And, from my
own experience, I can affirm that, hard as it is to obtain
from the BehA'fs in Persia the loan or gift of BàbÕ books
belonging to the earlier period of the faith, at Acre it ias
harder still even to get a glimpse of them. They may be,
and probably are, still preserved there, but, for all the
good the enquirer is likely to get from them, they might
almost as well have suffered the fate which the Ezelfs
believe to have overtaken them.
The history composed by Hiji MÕrzà JAnf, however,
belongs to a different category from the writings which
we have hitherto been discussing. Without sharing the
sacred character of these, it was incomparably more dan-
gerous to the pretensions and plans of Behi, as any one
may see by referring to Appendix 11 of this volume. Its
to-ne towards all beyond the pale of the BàbÕ Church, and
more especially towards the ShAh of Persia and his govern-
ment, was irreconcilably hostile. The doctrines set forth
in it, though undoubtedly those held by the early BàbÕ.9,
were eminently calculated to encourage mysticism and
metaphysical speculation of the boldest kind, and to main-
tain in full activity that pantheistic fermentation which
BehA was so desirous to check. Worst of all, it supplied
the Ezelfs with a most powerful weapon not of defence
only, but of attack. And withal it was interesting, pro-
foundly and intensely interesting; the most interesting
book, perhaps, in the whole range of BàbÕ literature. To
i
I
I
INTRODUCTION.
I
xxiX
suppressit and withdraw it from circulation, at any rate
while thoser on whom had been thrown the glamour of the
young ShirAzf Seer and of the beautiful Kurratu'l-'Ayn, the
martyred heroine and poetess of Kazvfn, constituted the
majority of the faithful, was almost impossible; to let it
continue to circulate in its present form would be dis-
astrous. Only one plan offered any chance of success.
Often in the literary history of the East has the disappear-
ance and extinction of works both valuable and of general





interest been brought about, either accidentally or inten-
tionally, by the compilation from them of a more concise and
popular abridgement which has gradually superseded them.
As the Biography of the Prophet Muhammad composed by
Ibn Is-hAk was superseded by the recension of Ibn Hish6m.,
so should MÕrzà J&nf's old history of the Bib and his
Apostles be superseded by a revised, expurgated, and
emended 11NEw HISTORY" (Tdrikh-i-Jadid), which, while,
carefully omitting every fact, doctrine, ahnd expTeSSiOn calcu-
lated to injure the policy of BehA, or to give offence to his
followers, should preserve, and even supplement with new
material derived from fresh sources, the substance of the
earlier chronicle.
0 nly by the merest accident, so far as our present
knowledge goes, did this scheme fail of complete success.
Most fortunately for science, there resided at TeherAn in
the years 1855-8 a French diplomatist, the Comte de
Gobineau, who, animated by a keen and insatiable curiosity,
devoted himself with rare success to the study of the BàbÕ
religion, which was at that time still in its primitive state,
neither rent asunder by the schism which now divides it,
nor modified by the policy which that schism has intro-
dneed. The results of his labours, so far as the B6bfs are
concerned, were a masterly sketch of their history and
doctrines in his classical Religions et Philosophies daus





xxx  INTRODUCTION.
I'Asie Centrale, and a small but most precious collection
of BàbÕ manuscripts; this, after his death, was bought
by the Biblioth~que Nationale at Paris, where, since the
year 1884, it has been deposited. Of these volumes one
(Suppl. Persan, 1,071) contains the whole, and another
(Suppl. Persan, 1,070) the first third, of HAjf MÕrzà JAnf's
invaluable history, of which, so far as I know, no other
copy is extant in Europe or Asia. It is not too much to
say that but for M. de Gobineau's exertions in the cause
of science it would have been impossible to reconstruct
faithfully and in detail the early history of BàbÕism.
At this point I shall perhaps do well to answer two
questions which may suggest themselves to the reader.
11 Why," he may ask in the first place, " have you
chosen to translate this later 'New History' in preference
to Mfrzd JAnfs contemporary record, to which you evidently
attach a much greater importance ? "
This question can be answered in very few -words. I
did not discover the existence of the Paris manuscripts of
MÕrzà JAW's history till this translation of the New His-
tory had been completed, and the arraDgements for its
publication finally concluded. That there was such a
work, I had learned from the New History itself; and, as
may be supposed, I made many efforts to procure a copy,
or to discover whether any still existed. After repeated
disappointments, I finally came to the conclusion that the
work was probably lost. When, in the Easter Vacation
of 1892, 1 finally chanced on it in the Biblioth6que Na-
tionale during a short stay in Paris, it was too late to
substitute a translation of it for the present history. It
only remained for me to procure a transcript of it (from
the complete manuscript, SuppL Pers. 1,071), to compare
this carefully with the New History, and to epitomize in
an appendix the results yielded by this comparison. The
INTRODUCTION.
xxxi
transcript was made for me by my friend Ahi~ed Beg
Agaeff, to whom I here tender my sincere thanks -, and the
variants and additional matter obtained by the comparison
of this with the New History will be found fully stated in
Appendix II (pp. 327-396) at the end of this volume.
For the present this must suffice; but, if the history of
BàbÕism. is to be seriously studied, the text of MÕrzà JAnfs
history will, sooner or later, have to be published in ex-
tenso. For this reason I now deem it a most fortunate
circumstance that the Syndics of the University Press,
when they accepted the present translation, were re-
luctant to incur t ' he great expense which the publica-
tion of the text of the TdrUk-i-Jadid would have
involved.





The second question which may be asked is this.
C(What relation exists between the history of the BàbÕ
religion entitled 'A Traveller's Narrative written to
illustrate the Episode of the B(tb,' of which you published
the text and translation rather more than a'year ago;
and these two histories which you have just been discuss-
ing ? "
This question also I must answer very briefly. The
Traveller's Narrative, composed by BehA'ullAh's son 'AbbAs
Efendf so recently as A.D. 1886, represents a further de-
velopment of the tendency, to which 1 have already alluded,
to glorify BehAu'llAh and his Neo-BàbÕ doctrine at the
expense of the BAb and the primitive BAbl theology. In
the New History it is still the BAb and his apostles, and
the early martyrs of the cause, whose'words and deeds
form the subject-matter of the work. In the Traveller's
Narrative this is no longer the case; it is Bebi'u'llih who
is the hero, and it is his words and precepts which are
quoted with admiration and reverence, while the BAb has
been reduced from his high station of I Point, " I I KA'im, "





xxxii  INTRODUCTION.
and " ImAm Malidi " to that of a more precursor and
harbinger of a more perfect dispensation'.
Having now, as I trust, made sufficiently clear the
relations which subsist between these three histories, to
wit, the Nuktatu'I-K(if composed by MÕrzà JAnf in A.D.
1851; the irtrikh-i-Jadi'd, or "New History," composed
(as will presently be set forth in greater detail) -under the
supervision of MAnakjf the Zoroastrian by Mfrzi Huseyn
of HamadAn, assisted by TAlfrzA Abii'l-Fazl of GulpAyagAii,
in A.H. 1297-8 (A.D. 1880); and the 14fakaila-i-shaklist'
'k or "Traveller's Narrative," coniposed by BehA'u
sayya. ,
'llAh's son 'AbbAs Efendi in or about the year A.D. 1886,
I shall now discuss iihiore minutely the date and author-
ship of the second of these works, here offered in transla-
tion to the English-reading public, and describe the manner
in which I first became acquainted with it, the manu-
scripts which I have had at my disposal, and my labours in
re-establishing and translating the text.
First, as regards the date and authorship. Concerning
these something can be gleaned froiigi internal evidence.
As to the date, the allusion to the Jkabi. on p. 26 proves
that the New History was written subsequently to that
work, which was composed in A.D.,18582; the allusion to
BehAVIIAWs " Manifestation " on p. 64 carries the date
down to A.D. 1866; while the reference to the ShAh's tour
in Europe (presumably the first) on p. 181 brings it down
to A.D. 1873. This last date would in any case be the
earliest admissible, for on p. 174 the BàbÕs are said to
have endured nearly thirty years of persecution, while on
1 For further details as to the peculiar features of this latter
history, see the Introduction to vol. ii of the Traveller's Narrative,
pp. xlv-xlvi.
2 See J. R. A. S. for 1892, p. 305.
INTRODUCTION.
xxxiii
p. 321 this number is raised to thirty-five byh one manu-7
script. As to the internal evidences of authorship, they
are somewhat conflicting and misleading. In some pas-
sages the author implies that he is a Christian (p. 3), -an
European (p. 17) and not a Persian (p. 23), and a French-
man (p. 318). Certain expressions on pp. 2-3 would
suggest that he was a believer in the BàbÕ religion; certain
others on p. 30 would seem to imply that he was only a
sympathetic onlooker; while the verse cited on p. 17 would
lead us to suppose that he was a free-thinker. Several
passages (e.g. on pp. 323, 324, and 326) indicate familiarity
with Zoroastrian ideas and writings; others (e.g. on pp.
6-7, and 308-9) show a strange ignorance of the history
and customs of Europe with which-he professes to be so





familiar. Lastly, there are several passages and episodes
(some of them occurring in one manuscript only) which
have evidently been added to the original work by other
hands; e.g. the paragraph on p. 48 beginning, "The reviser
of this history says. . ."; the rationalistic remarks on p.
89 by "the writer (or transcriber) of these pages"; and
the narratives of the second Nfrfz war (pp. 128-131) and
the ZanjAii siege (pp. 139-168) attributed respectively to
Nabil and Zabfh.
Fortanately-we have, something better than internal
evidence to go upon. Thanks to Lieutenant Toumansky
of the Russian Artillery, to whose energetic and successful
researches amongst the BàbÕs of 'IslikdbAd science owes
so much, a full account of the circumstances whichgave
rise to the composition of the New History, and gthe
manner in which its composition was effected, has beeir
obtained from one of the -three persons (the only one
still living) concerned therein, to wit,, MirzA AbU"I-Fazl
Muhammad ibn Muhammad RizA of GulpAyagAn, whose
acquaintance M. Toumansky made at 'IshkAbAd. The





xxxiv
INTRODUCTION.
,substance of what M. Toumansky learned from Mfrzi
Abfi'I-Fazl he most kindly communicated to me through
Baron Rosen, with full permission to make use of it. Of
this permission I availed myself in describing my manuscript
of the Trtri'kh-i-Jadid in my Catalogue and Description of
27 Baibi'MSS. published in the July and October numbers
of the J. R. A. S. for 1892, where, at pp. 442-3, Baron
Roseii'as words will be found cited.
A little while before the conclusion of my Catalogue
went to press, I received certain books and letters (Cat.
and Des., pp. 663-5 ' , and 701 et seq.) from a Persian Jew
of Mash-had named AkA 'Azfzu'llAli, a BàbÕ, and a friend
of MirzA Abu"I-Fazi. In answering one of his letters I
asked several questions, one of which referred to the com-
position of the TrtrW-i-Jadi'd. He promised to refer this
question to Mirzi Abu"I-Fazl, and there for the time the
matter dropped.
It now appears, however, that my questions were duly
transmitted to Mfrzi AbA'I-Fazl, who thereupon composed
in reply to them a treatise which lie entitled Rist'W'li-
likandariyya (" the Epistle of Alexander") in lionour of
M. Alexander Touniansky, to whom, in virtue of a long-
standing friendship, the book was dedicated. Of this
treatise, as he himself says, he wrote four copies with his own
hand: one for transmission to Acre, one for M. Toumansky,
one for himself, and one for me. The last was sent to
Bombay to be thence forwarded to me, but has not yet
reached me. This, however, is of the less consequence
inasmuch as M. Toumansky is publishing an account of
thip important treatise at pp. 33-45 of the forthcoming
(eighth) volume of the Zopisski of the Oriental Section of
the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society. Of this
article Baron Rosen, with his usual kindness, has sent me
the proofas, from which I shall now tradaslate what MÕrzà
INTRODUCTION.
xxxv
0 nd authorship of
Abfi'l-Faz says about the comp sition a'
the Tdri'kh-i-Jadi'd.
The copy of the treatise in question forwarded to
M. Toumansky bears the following inscription: "TIM
Epistle of Alexander was compiled and composed as a
gift to His .116st flonottrable -Excelle2icy Mirza' Alexander
Toumansky (may God Almighty prolong the days of his
glory and his fortune P). " The cause of its compilation
is thus stated:-
" The immediate cause of the composition of this his-
torical pamphlet was as follows. When I was in HamadAn
in the yearA.H. 1305 (A.D. 1887-8), 1 wrote, at the request





of certain elders of the Jews, a treatise entitled Risdhr-i-
Ayy7ibiyya1 ('The, Epistle of Job'), copies of which were
disseminated everywhere. Some while ago, when Ak4
'Azfzu'll;ih was in Bombay, a copy of this treatise fell into
the hands of Mr Browne, who wrote to .44 'Azizu'llih,
saying, 'Since you are in correspondence with MÕrzà_Abfi'l-
Fazi, ask of him three questions. Firstly, in this treatise
he has fixed the date of the second restoration of the Holy
Temple at four hundred and thirty years, whereas other
chronologists have stated it to be about six hundred years'.
Secondly, let him make known the chronological data
which he possesses touching the life of His Holiness Behi'-
r
1 Zapisski,'loc. cit., p. 33, n. 1.
2 This is tb e work described on pp. 701--- 5 of the J. R. A. S.
for 1892 under the title IstidIdliyyd
3 The objection which I raised to MÕrzà Abu'l-Fazl's chrono-
logy is neither very clearly nor very accurately stated here. His
contention was that the 2300 days (ie. years) during which the
sanctuary shall be trodden under foot, as mentioned in the book
of Daniel (ch. viii, v. 14), came to an end at the time of Behi'-
li'llah's "Manifestation" in A.H. 1285 (A.D. 1868), and the question
raised bore reference to the terminus a quo.





I
xxxvi  INTRODUCTION.
u'llili (may the life of all the delliZeIIS Of the world be his
sacrifice!); for the date wliiQli lie asasigiis in his treatise
to the Blessed Theophany is A.H. 1285, whereas in the
Traveller's Ncirrative it is given as A.H. 12691. Tkirdly,
who is the author of the T6rgrkli-i-Jadid ("New History"),
for some ascribe it to Mirzi Ab-h'I-Fazl, others to MAnakjf?'
In short, it became necessary to compose in reply to him
this treatise, which consists for the most part of such
facts connected with the Blessed Theophany from first to
last as have come within my own knowledge. Now al-
though this treatise is addressed to AkA 'Azfzu'llAh, and
was written in consequence of the enquiries of Mr Browne,
yet was it primarily composed in accordance with a promise
which I made to M. Toumansky when I was present with
him, and therefore is it named after his name. And the
cause of this delay <in the fulfilment of my promise>
was that, in the absence of an assistant, I was obliged to
write four copies with my own hand ; one for transmission
to the Supreme Horizon'; one for transmission to Bombay,
that it might thence be forwarded to Mr Browne; and
one for M. Toumansky; while one must needs remain in
my possession.
The text of the reply to the third question (touching
the authorship of the Trtrikh-i-Jadi'd) is given in full by
M. Toumansky (loc. cit., pp. 36-8); and, before proceeding
to translate it, it only remains to observe that the tran-
scription of his manuscript by MirzA AbA'I-Fazl was con-
eluded on the 11th of JumAdA 11, A.H. 1310 (=Dec. 31st,
A.D. 1892)-
I See Traveller's Narrative, vol. i, pp. 71 and 80-81 ; vol. ii,
P. 55 and n. 3, and p. 63. See also the J. R. A. S. for 1892, p. 703,
D. 1.
2 ie. to Behi'u'llah at Acre.
I
INTRODUCTION.
11 T14rd Question.
xxxvii
" Enquiry was made touching the author of the Tdrtkh-i-
Jadid (New History). The writer and author of the
Tdrikh-i-Jadi'd was the late MÕrzà Huseyn of HamadAn.
He was -a youth of the kinsfolk of Riz6 Khdn the son of
Muhammad KhAn the Turcoman, who is reckoned amongst
the martyrs of the Castle of Sheykh Tabarsf, and whose
name is recorded in the T(irikh-i-JadU . The aforesaid
author, in consequence of the calligraphic and epistolary
skill which he shewed in drafting letters, was at first
secretary to one of the ministers of the Persian Govern-
ment. At the time of His Majesty Nisiru'd- Dfn Shdh's
first journey to Europe he too visited those countries in





the Royal Suite. On his homeward journey lie remained
for some time at Constantinople. After his return to Persia,
he was amongst those imprisoned in consequence of the
troubles of,the year A.H. 1291 (A.D. 1874), when His
Reverence AkA JemAl of Burujird was committed to the
prison of His Majesty the King after his dispute with the
clergy of Tellerin'.
" After his release from the prison of Teherin, he ob-
tained employment in the office of MAnakjf the Zoroaastriail,
well known as an author and writer'. Mdiiakjf treated
I See pp. 96-101, and 365 iTVra.
2 A full account of this discussion will be found at pp. 170-
180 infra. This account, as appears from 1). 172, last paragraph,
was originally written by -W Jemil himself in Arabic, and trans-
lated by MÕrzà Abd'l Fazl of GulpAyagin into Persian. The
conjecture which I hazarded in n. I on p. 170 as to the identity
of " the Letter J " proves to be correct.
3 The full name of Minakjf, late Zoroa8trian Agent at TeherAD,
was Minakji' the son of Lfmjf H~ishang Hftaryirf Kiy6nf, sur-
named Darvish-i-Fdni (a)~!Jkjb 'a.
&U L;!-j._9jJJ  Tbusitisgiven by himself in
N. If. d





I
Xx Vill
Sith great respect, for had he not become notorious him as a BàbÕ, he would never have engaged in this work. Now
it chanced one night that he and Muhammad Isma'fl KhAn the Zend, who was a writer skilful in Persian composition,
were MAnakjf's guests at supper ; and MAnakjf requested each one of them to write a book (for be was most
zealous in book-collecting, and whomsoever he deemed capable of writing and composing lie would urge to write a
book or compose a treatise). So on this night he requested Muhammad Isma'fl Khdn to write a history of the kings
of Persia, and begged MÕrzà Huseyn to compile a history of the BàbÕs.
" To be brief, Muhammad Isma'fl KhAn wrote the book called _Viraizisfifn, on the ancient empire of Persia from
Mah-AbAd till the fall bf the SAsAnians, in pure Persian, which, as a matter of fact, he made a veritable ragbag of
legends and myths from the Slia'hwilma, the Cliah(tr Chiman, and the Dasaitt'r. But Mimi Huseyn came to the writer
and asked his assistance, saying, 'Since hitherto no full and correct history has been written treating Of the events
of this Theopliany, to collect and compile the
INTRODUCTION.
the preface which he wrote to the Farh ang-i-Anjuman-dr(t-yi
Mtsiri of RizA-Kulf KhAn Ld1dt-bdshi,, and at the beginning of the
Persian translation of theaccount of his travels in Persia published
under the title ;tVJ61 -dJL~; at Bombay
in A.H. 1280 (A.D. 1863). He appears to have come to Persia
from India in 1854, for the German missionaries Petermann and
Briffil travelled with him, his son Ormazdjf, a Mulbad or Zoroas-
trian priest, a secretary named Key Khusraw, and a cook named
ShApArjf, from Shfriz to Yezd in July of that year. (See an
article by F. Justi on the dialect of Yezd in the Z. A M. G. for
1881, vol. xxv, pp. 327-8, and a foot-note on p. 328, according
to which MAnakjf acted for a while as French consul at Yezd.)
He died a year or two ago.
INTRODUCTION.
xxxix
various episodes thereof in a fitting manner is a very difficult matter. For what Sipihr and Hiddyatl have written
touching its circumstances is, by reason of their extreme, obsequiousness <to the Court> and their utter error,
altogether sheer calumny and downright falsehood. And the accounts given by narrators, too, are so diverse and
different that the reconciliation of them is not free from difficulty-'
" To this I replied, 'There is in the hands of the Friends a history by the late HAjf Mfrz;A Jilif of KishAn, who was
one of the martyrs of TeherAn, and one of the best men of that time. But be was a man engaged in business and
without skill in historiography, neither-did he record the dates of the years and months. At most he, being a God-
fearilig man, truthfully set down the record of events as he had seen and heard them. Obtain this book, and take the
episodes from it, and the dates of the years and months from the Ndsikhu't-Tawairikh and the appendices of the
Rawzatu's_A~af(t,; and, having incorporated these in your rough draft, read over each sheet to His Reverence Hijf
Seyyid JawAd of KerbelA (whose name has been repeatedly mentioned in these pages), for he, from the beginning
of the Manifestation of the First Point [i.e. the Balb] until the arrival of His Holiness Behi'ullAh in Acre, accompanied
the Friends everywhere in person, and is thoroughly informed and cognizant of all events. Thus diligently correct
the history, in order that this book may, by the will of God, be well finished, and may win the approbation of the
learned throughout the world.'
"Then he requested the writer to indite the introduc
1 Concerning Sipihr (better known as Lisdme-1-3fulk) and Hiddyat (Rizi-Kulf KhAn Ldld-bashi), and their histories,
the Ndsikhu't- Tawdrikh and the supplement to the Rawzatzes- Safei, see Vol. ii of my Traveller's.Yarrative, pp. 173-
192.
d 2





X1  INTRODUCTION.
tory preface, and so open for him the path of composition.
So 1, agreeably to his request, wrote two pages at the
ginning of that book, and embellished this introduction
th prefatory exhortations a ' nd incitements to strive after
truth'. Now it was his intention to compose this book
in two VoluMeS2, the first volume about the events con-
nected with the Manifestation of the First Point [i.e. the
BAb], and the second volume about the circumstances of
the Most Holy and Most Splendid Dawn'. But after he
had completed the first volume, fate granted him no further
respite, for lie died in the city of Resht in the year A. H.
1299 [= A.D. 1881-2].
" But MAnakjf would not suffer this history to be
finished in the manner which the writer had suggested,
but compelled the chronicler to write what lie dictated.
For MAnakJVs custom was ti) bid his secretary write down
some matter and afterwards read the rough draft over to
him. So first of all the secretary used to read over to
him the rough draft which lie had made in accordance with
his own taste and agreeably to the canons of good style;
and then, after Mdiiakjf had made additions here and
excisions there, and had docked and re-arranged the matter,
he used to make a fair copy. And since MAnakif had
no great skill or science in the Persian tongue, the style
of most of the books and treatises attributed to him is
discolginected and broken, good and bad being mingled
together. In addition to this defect, ignorant scribes and
1 Cf. .1. R. A. S. for 1892, p. 442. According to Baron Rosen's
letter there cited, the portion of the Preface of the New History
composed by Mfrza' AbA'I-Fazl extends from the beginning to 1. 3
of p. 3 infra.
2 See pp. 318-319 infra.
ession (,.~l
3 By this expr 4JJo) the Manifestation
of Bebi)_~IlAh is meant.
i
INTRODUCTION.
illiterate -writers have, in accordance with their own fancies,
so altered the Tiriklk-i-Jadid' that at the present day
every copy of it appears like a defaced portrait or a restored
temple, to such a degree that one cannot obtain a correct
copy of it, unless it were the author's own transcript; other-
wise no copy can be relied upon.
" As for Hiji MÕrzà JAni of KAshAn, he was ODe Of the
most highly respected merchants of that town, and believed
in the blessed mission of the First Point [i.e. the BAbJ at
the very beginning of the Theophany. He was brother to
Jewltb-i-Zab~k (who is mentioned in the Lawk-i-Ra't's',
and was honoured with the title of Ant's). He it was who,
when the First Point (exalted be his Supreme Name 1) was





being conveyed, by command of Muhammad ShAh, from
lsfahd,n to TeherAn, entertained His Holiness for three
nights in his house at KAshdn'. Some while afterwards he
came froin KishAn to TeherAn, and abode in ShAh 'Abdu'l-
'AzfM4, where he wrote his history. He was involved in
the catastrophe of the year A.H. 1268 (A.D. 1852, Aug.-
Sept.), and in prison shared the same cell with His Holiness
Belid'u'llih, and was bound by the same iron chain. Some
days later 'he was put to death, an innocent victim, in
this massacre5, and attained to the rank of martyrdom.
1 The multitude of variants and divergences in the two MSS.
of which I made use in preparing this translation fully bears out
this statement.
2 See indei., s.v. Zabih - and the J. R. A. S. for 1892, p. 311,
where my conjecture as to the identity of Zabih seems to have
been erroneous.
3 See pp. 213-214, and 349 infra.
4 The celebrated shrine and city of refuge, distant about 5 or
6 miles from Teherin to the south.
5 On September 15th, A.D. 1852. See Traveller's Narrative,
vol. ii, p. 332.





x1ii
INTRODUCTION.
But of his history 1, the writer, cannot now procure a copy;
for from Samarkand to Teherin is very far, and fortune
frowns on the People of BehA, and is beyond measure
jealous of them.
" God Alm lity best knoweth the truth of all matters.
" Written tin the twenty-first day of the month of'
Rabru'th-thainf A.H. 1310, corresponding to the thirty-first
of Tashrin-i-avval [October]' A.I). 1892, by the pen of the
author of this treatise, Abft'I-Fazl Muhammad ibn Mu-
hammad 1146 of GulpAyagin."
This full and detailed account of the authorship and
composition of the T6rikh-i-Jadt'd, for which both Mfrz6
AbA'I-Fazl and M. Toumansky are entitled to our warmest
gratitude-, the one for writing and the other for publishing
it, renders it unnecessary for me to say much more on this
head. We cannot but regret that one capable of writing
so clear, succinct, and pertinent a statement had not a
larger share in the compilation of the Rig-rkh-i-Jadid '
which would undoubtedly have gained much more from
the co-operation of MÕrzà Abu'l-Fazl than it has from that
of MAnakjf. One point, however, I must again briefly
allude to : I mean the share iing the work here ascribed to
Seyyid JawAd of Kerbeli. In my Catalogue and Descrip-
tion of 27 Bdb11'H8S. (J. R. A. S. for 1892, pp. 443-4 and
683-5) 1 expressed a doubt as to the correctness of this-
portion of MÕrzà Abu"I-Fazl's statement, my grounds for
this doubt being the ascription to Seyyid JawAd of the
Hasht Kihisht, a controversial work of strongly-marked Ezelf
proclivities, and assurances given to me by ~ubl ' i-i-Ezel to
the effect that Seyyid JawAd was one of his staunchest
This date is given according to the old style prevalent in
Russia. The corresponding date according to our style ias No-
vember 12th.
INTRODUCTION.
xliii -
adherents'. What I wrote on this matter was shown by
M. Toumansky to MÕrzà Abft'l-Fazl, who, in letters pub-
lished in the article in the Zapisski already cited, cate-
gorically and absolutely denies that Seyyid JawAd was
an Ezelf, or was other than a most devoted and loyal
adherent of BehA. I have not space to quote either the
interesting biographical details about this illustrious man,
nor the epistle addressed to him by BehA'u'lldh, nor the
denial of his sympathy with the Ezelfs made by Mirzi
Ab,h'I-Fazl to M. Toumansky, and published by the latter
in Vol. viii of the Zapisski (pp. 41, ahnd 43-5), to which
I refer such as desire fuller information. The sum of the
matter is this: Seyyid JawAd was a man equally re-
markable for his illustrious descent, his learning, and his





piety; he was brought up in the Sheykhf doctrines, followed
the lectures of Seyyid KAzim, and was one of the earliest
believers in the BAb, whom he knew personally. His
nature was so gentle and temperate that, according to
MÕrzà AbiYI-Fazl, 11 he would speak ill of no one, mentioning
all religious opinions, whether of Hindoos, Jews, Christians,
MusulmAns, Ezelfs, or BehA'fs, with respect." BoththeEzelfs
and the BehA'fs claim him; and, as I think, we have not
yet sufficient evidence to enable us to decide between them,
for against the clear and explicit testimony of Mfrz&
AhA'l-Fazl is the equally clear and equally explicit testi-
mony of Subh-i-Ezel and his partisan Sheykh A -.
I now pass to my own connection with the Tdrikh-i-
Jadi'd. I was first made aware of its existence by Mr Sidney
Churchill (to whose unrivalled knowledge of Persian biblio-
graphy I seize this occasion of once more bearing testimony)
on December 14th, 1887. He told me that he had obtained
a manuscript of this history of the BàbÕs for the British
I Traveller8 Narrative, Vol. ii, p. 342, n. 2.





Xliv INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION. xlV
Museum Library, and advised me, if I was interested in
this subject, to work at it on my return to England. H e,
did not inform me of the author's name, but said that he
was a member of the sect. I made a note of his communi-
cation in my diary, and, for the time being, did nothing
more.
I next heard of the TdrWi-i-Jadid at SlifrAz on March
30th, 1888, from some of my BA]f friends. They described
it as a history of the events of1the 'Manifestation' from
the beginning, and the author as a Persian who had
travelled much, and who, having begun to write the book
as an impartial observer, had been convinced by the results
of his enquiries, if not by his own eloquence, during the
progress of his labours. One of my informants, a BàbÕ
missionary, admitted that he knew the name of the author,
but said that lie did not feel justified in divulging it
to me. At the asaiigie time a promise w . as given that a
copy of the book should be lent-to me. This promise was
fulfilled two days later; and during my stay at ShfrAz
I read a considerable portion of it. When I left ShfrAz
hurriedly for Yezd, expecting to return thither before
leaving Persia, I was permitted to take the manuscript
with me, and finally it was bestowed upon me as a gift.
It is now in my possession, and is described in full in my
Catalogue a2id Description of 27 Bdbi' 0188. (J. R. A.
for 1892, pp. 440-444) under the press-mark BBP. 5. In
this volume I designate it simply as C. (Cambridge Codex).
On my return to England in the autumn of 1888, 1
again read this manuscript through, this time more care-
fully, making marginal references and annotations ; and
I made considerable use of it in the compilation of the two
articles on the BàbÕs which I published in the July and
October n'Liinbers of the .1. -B. A. S. for 1889. This reading
I concluded on December 8th, 1888.
When the conclusion of the two articles above referred-
to left me free to take up fresh work, I resolved to prepare
a text and translation of the T6rikh-i-Jadid. I did not
at first make any use of the British Museum Codex (Or.
2942), as I could not at that time go to London to consult
it. I therefore transcribed my manuscript in a fair legible
hand, such as could be easily read by an European com-
positor, marking the passages which seemed corrupt, or
writing them in pencil with a query in the margin, and
sometimes a conjectural emendation. At the same time I
made the rough draft of a literal English translation, which,
however, I discontinued when I had transcribed about
half the book. The transcript I finished on February 8th,
1890.
During the following Easter Vacation (March 4tb-
May 3rd) I visited the two rival BàbÕ chiefs, Subh-i-Ezel





at Famagusta in Cyprus, and BehA'u'llAh at Acre in Syria.
From the latter place I brought back the -manuscript of
'AbbAs Efendi's Traveller's Narrative (referred to at pp. xiv
and xxxi-ii slTra), which, in accordance with the pleasure
of the Syndics of the University Press, I published in
f
ae_Sifijile a with an English translation and notes. Till the
appearance of these volumes in February 1892, 1 had little
leisure to give to the T6rrkh-i-Jad-rd, but nevertheless in
the Easter vacation of 1891 1 spent about three weeks in
London, and, by dint of hard work, finished collating my
transcript of the text with the British Museum Codex
(Or. 2942), hereinafter designated as L. (London Codex),
on April 11th of that year. This collation was more
laborious than I had anticipated, for the variants between
the two manuscripts were numerous and important, and
several long episodes contained in L. but omitted in C.
had to be transcribed. Finally, however, the work was
accomplished, and a satisfactory text established.





p
xlvi INTRODUCTION,
INTRODUCTION.  x1vii
aid, to publish
My original intention was, as T have s, to bear the expenses of publishing the translation, but
both text and translation of a work which I regarded as of i
expressed a disinclination to undertake the text as well.
capital importance for the proper understanding of the
BàbÕ religion. It was clear, however, that the partial This decision, although it did not surprise me, caused me
translation which I had made would have to be entirely at the time some little disappointment; for it is not in
rewritten in the fuller light of the collated and corrected human nature, when one has laboured long and diligently
text. The work of translating the Traveller's Narrative at the reconstruction of a text, to learn without a shadow
had somewhat modified my views as to the manner in of regret that it will never be anything more than a manu-
which Eastern bookai should be done into English. I had script. Yet I deem it now a most fortunate circumstance
made that translation as literal is possible, and, owing that the Syndics arrived at this decision, for the discovery
of H&jf MfrJA JAnf's history in the Biblioth'que Nationak
to the concise and clear style of the original, this was not
so difficult as in the case of the diffuse, wordy and dis- puts an entirely new complexion on the matter, and it is
evident that it has a far stronger claim to publication than
cursive New History, which abounded in re-iterations, the T&z'kk-i-Jadzd.
digressions, and irrelevant diatribes. Yet even the trans- The -determination arrived at by the Syndics decided
lation which I had made of the Traveller's Narrative did
not wholly satisfy me, for I felt that, notwithstanding all me on two points. I had learned from Baron Rosen that
an incomplete manuscript of the TdrWW-Jadt'd had been
my pains, it was at best laborious and wearisome reading obtained at 'IshkAbad and forwarded to St Petersburg by
in English. How, then, would- it be with the New Lieutenant Touinansky in the summer or autumn of 1890'.
History ? Had it been decided to publish the text, I should- have
Before finally decidin on the course which I should
9 had to make a further collation of this manuscript with
adopt, I again applied to the Syndics of the University my restored text. As the translation only was to be pub-
Press with a view to ascertaining whether they were lished, this'seemed to me no longer absolutely necessary,
disposed to accept the text and translation of the book, my text being sufficiently good for this purpose. I was,
or either of them, for publication. I ventured to urge the ignoreover, enabled to form a clearer conception of the lines
publication- of the translation, but did not feel justified in on which my new translation must be made. Of the plan
insisting very strongly on the importance of printing the which I elaborated and have carried out in the following
text as well ; for to print so extensive a text in the Arabic pages I shall now proceed to speak.
character would, I knew, be a very costly undertaking, The facts with which I had to reckon were these : a
and, seeing that of such texts the total number which work wherein historical matter of great interest and im-
can be published in Europe is necessarily limited, it portance was mingled with prolix digressions of little value;
is incumbent on the scholar to consider what text is a text based on two manuscripts each of which contained
most indispensable, lest haply lie fail to use to the
I See Collections Scientifiques de Unstitut de8 Langues Orien-
best advantage the facilities placed at his disposal. In
reply to my application, the Syndics enerously consented tales de St Pe'tersbo urg, Vol. vi, p. 244 and the J. R. A. S. for
9 1892, pp. 318-'319.





I
x1viii INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
xlix
several important and lengthy passages omitted in the being actually introduced by the words "thus says ~ the
other; and a style generally concise and clear in the reviser of this history," or "thus says the transcriber'."
narrative portions of the book, but florid, redundant, and It was evidently most important to preserve all these
diffuse in the digressions, The object which I had in view narratives, to indicate at the saine time the Codex in
was to produce a readable rendering of this work in English, which they occurred, and, in the case of episodes differently
which, while embodying everything in the least degree narrated in the two Codices, to give the two versions for
calculated to throw lialit on the history and development comparison one beside the other.
of the Bibf religion, a,31iould oiiiit most of the irrelevant The way in which I have done this is as follows. Pas-
matter mixed up with it in the original, preserving only sages occurring only in L. (the London Codex) are enclosed
such specimens of the digressions, diatribes, and somewhat in single square brackets and passages occurring
trite reflections of the author as might suffice to give a only in C. (the Cambridge Codex, i.e. my own MS.) in
correct idea of his style. double brackets When such passage is a simple
Now in the case of a classical or ancient text, which insertion, and, has nothing corresponding with it in the
has an interest mainly literary, our endeavour must evi- other manuscript, no further mark is added. , When, how-
here is a parallel passage in the other manuscript
dently be to find out, so far as possible, what the author ever, t
wrote, and to eliminate and discard all interpolations made (whether this consist of a few words only, or of a different
by later hands. No one, for instance, who proposed to narrative of almost equal length), the two versions are
edit the Jlasnavl' would wish to retain in the text the placed one above the other (the longer, as a rule, in the
many spuriotia-, lines which have been added by iiigeniouas body of the page, the shorter at the foot), and the same
copyists in the course of ages; therefore, having satisfied typographical mark (an asterisk, a dagger, or the like) is
himself that a given passage reposed on no good manu- placed outside the enclosing brackets of both, so that their
script authority, lie would without compunction excise correspondence may be at once apparent. In this way
it. But this does not apply to a book like the T6r~kh-i- both versions are preserved, and the translation of either
Jadid, which was written only thirteen or fourteen years
ago) -which is essentially a cOngipilati0ii made by two or As instances I will only cite K~ichak 'Ali Beg's-narrative of
the entry of the Nfrfz captives into ShfrAz (pp. 124-8 infra),
three persons acting in coihicert, and which, moreover, ia3
which is much fuller in L. than in C.; the different accounts of
interesting less from a literary than from a historical point the second Nfrfz insurrection in the two MSS. (pp. 128-131) ;
of view. In this case the interpolations may be just as the extensive particulars of the ZanjAn siege given in L. on the
valuable as the original text, for no one but a BàbÕ would
copy the book, and such an one might well add from his owl, authority of Haydar Beg, the son of Mulli Muhammad 'Alf's
lieutenant Din Muhammad (pp. 136-161, and 163-8); ~,abfh's
knowledge new and important facts of which the autlioras narrative of Mir 'Abdu'l-BAkf's meeting with the BAb at K6shAn
were not cognizant. Indeed, as a matter of fact, some of (pp. 214--216) in L.; the text of MÕrzà Muhammad 'Ali's letter
the most interesting portions of the Tdrikh-i-Jadrd are to his brother (pp. 301-3) in C.; and SuleymAn Kh6n's account
evidently interpolations of this sort, several of them of the Nib's execution in L. (pp, 309-311).





INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION.
text can be easily restored. Suppose, for example, one of
my readers sees reason to think that the L. text is the,
more correct one, and wishes to deal with this only, he
will delete everything enclosed in double brackets, and
transfer the parallel passages in single brackets from. the-
foot of the page into the body of the text; and vice versa'.
In some cases passages occurring in one manuscript only
(but generally passages of small extent) have been rele-
gated to the foot of the page because they appeared to me
to be either redundant, or incorrect. In this case their
position in the text is indicated by the insertion at the
point where they occur of the same typographical sign
(asterisk, dagger, or the like) which is prefixed and ap-
pended to the brackets enclosing them.
Of the two manuscripts oil which my text is based, the
London Codex (L.) is described at pp. 192-7 of vol. ii
of my Traveller's Narrative, and my own manuscript (C.)
at pp. 440-4 of the J.R.A.S. for 1892, so that I need say
no more about them in this place, save that the former,
transcribed in Rajab A.H. 1298 (June, 1881), was written,
as appears from MÕrzà Abii'l-Fazl's statement, during the
author's lifetime (for he died in A.H. 1299), and may even
have been made under his supervision. In any case it
is the better manuscript of the two. My inability to
publish the text has made me feel a greater responsibility
about the translation, since my readers will not be able to
check the accuracy of my renderings by reference to the
original; and I can conscientiously say that I have taken
more pains with this book than with the Traveller's
Narrative, though I have not followed the idiom of the
Persian quite so closely, especially in the noil-historical
portions, where I felt that a greater latitude in treatment
was admissible.
It now only remains for me to speak of the supple-
mentary, matter with which I have striven, to enrich this
volume, and to tender my thanks to those to whom I am
most indebted for help. This supplementary matter con-
sists of three illustrations; four fac-similes of letters; and
three Appendices', numbered II, III, and IV.
Of the illustrations, one, a portrait of Subh-i-Ezel,
forms the frontispiece. For this I am indebted to my
friend Captain Arthur Young, lately Commissioner at
Famagusta in Cyprus, to whose kind help I owe so much.
The photograph, which, as I can testify, is an extremely
faithful likeness, was taken, so far as I remember, about
the end of 1889 or the beginning of 1890, and the negative,
which was necessary for the preparation of the copper-plate,
was sent to me last year. The plans of Sheykh Tabarsf and
the sketch of the ZanjAn gate were drawn by my sister,
Miss Helen Browne, from rough sketches made by myself





on the spot in 1887-8.
For the autograph letters of the Bib, Seyyid Huseyn,
MullA Sheykh 'All Jena&i-'Aztm) and Kurratu'l-'Ayn
I aign indebted to the kindness of Subh-i-Ezel. Fac-similes
of these, with their translations and reproductions in the
printed character, form Appendix 111, to which the reader
is referred for further information. All these illustrations
and fac-similes have been executed by the Cambridge
Engravillg Company under the supervision of my friend
Mr A. G. Dew-Smith of Trinity College, to whom I here
offer my warmest thanks for the pains which he has taken
to make them as perfect as possible.
For the facilities afforded ine for working at the Paris
manuscript of HAjf MÕrzà JAnf's history, an account of
which forms Appendix II of this volume, I owe a great
I Appendix I is not included, because it merely contains an
abstract of certain portions of the Tdrikh-i-Jadid which did not
seem to me worth translating in full.





iii
INTRODUCTION.
debt of gratitude to the ,Liitlioritica3 of the Biblioth6que
Nationale, especially to M. Delisle and M. Zotenberg, as
well as to my friends M. Barbier de Meynard and M.
Michel Br6al. For the transcript of the text on which
1 have chiefly had to rely, my thanks are due to Ahmed
Beg Agaeff, who, at considerable personal inconvenience,
exerted himself to the utmost to complete it in the shortest
possible space of time.
The "Succinct Account qf the B(ibll' Jfovement," of
which the English translation forms Appendix IV of this
volume, and of which the Persian text stands at the end
of the book after the Index, was written for me by ~ubh-i-
Ezel in November--December 1889 in reply to sundry
questions which I had addressed to hini a little while pre-
viously. On the importance of such an account coming
from such a source it is unnecessary to dwell : it is almost
as though we had a narrative of the first beginnings of
Islim told by 'Ali ibn Abf Talib. That so valuable a
document deserved publication will, I should think, be
questioned by no one.
Last of all my warmest thanks are due to the Syndics
of the University Press for their liberality in bearing the
cost of publication of a work little likely, I fear, to prove
remunerative; to my friend Mr R. A. Neil of this College
for undertaking, notwithstan ding the many claii-nas on his
time, the labour of reading through the proof-sheets; and
to Baron Rosen and Lieutenant Toumansky for keeping
me continually informed of their latest discoveries, and
for supplying me with proofs of papers not yet published.
That my book may not be found unworthy of the generous
help received from so many different quarters is my earnest
hope.
I
I I  I
THE TARIKH-I-JADID,
OR
NEW HISTORY
OF
I
MIRZA 'ALf MUIJAMMAD THE BA'B.





N. H.
I  I
PREFACE.
THAT in matters of faith and g religion a slavish sub.-
servience to authority and custom is improper and unseemly;
that problems of such vital importance cannot be solved by
passion, prejudice, and idle guesses ; and that we canihiot
soar into a region so vast on the wings of baseless'con-,
jecture or blind conformity, are statements which allwise
and impartial judges will readily admit. For it -was
through naught else than such blind -imitation of --their
ancestors and unreasoning submission. to the. authority -of
their priests that former peoples rejected the prophets, sent
unto them, seeking to justify their unbelief by such words
as, "Verily we found our fathers practising a religion, and
we follow their footsteps'." Neither is this enquiry one
on which we should enter heedlessly or unreflectingly,,
inasmuch as even those best qualified to undertake it do
humbly entreat Him who is the Guide of Wanderers to
keep them from erring or stumbling, while the, very pro-
phets and apostles exclaim in their sense of utter helpless-g
ness, " Place me not with the g wicked people One
cannot, therefore, in a quest so perilous, follow the foot-
steps of such as pretend to take philosophy as a guide of
life while they are themselves still entangled in the bonds
of passion; nor of those who acquire learning only with A
1 Kur'àn, x1iii, 22.
2 Kur'àn, vii, 149.
1





PREFACE. 3
2 THE NEW HISTORY. I
view to obtaining power, and who make their austere and enquiry to his fellow-men, that they also may be delivered
ascetic life a snare wherewith to delude the ignorant. [For from doubt and uncertainty. For this reason did the
the Prophet bath said, "All men shall perish save the writer of this book deem it incumbent on himself to set
wise, and all the wise shall perish save such as make uase of forth in these pages in a concise and narrative form such
their wisdom, and all such as make use of their wisdom information as he acquired during his travels in Persia
shall perish save those who are sincere, and even the concerning the different sects of the MusulmAns, hoping
sincere are in dire peril." This is also implied in the that thereby certain current misapprehensions may be
saying, "The true believer is rarer than the philosopher's dissipated, and that sundry baseless calumnies and false
stone, and harder to find than pure gold" ; while the same accusations which lead men to deem their fellow creatures
fact is eloquently aset forth by Christ where he, says that infidels meet only to be slain and despoiled, whose very
men of every kind shall assemble at the wedding-feast, but touch is a contamination, may be disproved. In this way
that the chosen are few.] the enmity and discord which are the ruin of this people
But inasmuch as the Merciful God bath made every may perchance be abated, so that they may meet and
soul a mirror capable of illumination by the Sun of discuss amicably with a view to the removal of their
Wisdom, in such wise that whosoever will inay thereby differences, and may no longer continue to regard each
apprehend divine verities, and so become endowed with other as infidels and unbelievers without having clearly
true humanity and unselfishness, it behoves every one to apprehended that wherein they are at variance.
renounce all self-seeking and egotism, to avert his gaze To be brief, after travelling for some time in all parts -of
from passion and desire, and earnestly to endeavour to Europe and India and observing the races and religions of
follow the path of God, looking to Him and trusting in those regions, I chanced to visit Persia. Although I had
Him. So with stedfast feet shall he pursue the path of not meditated a long sojourn in that country, nevertheless
righteousness, and enter with all sincerity and singleness of events so shaped themselves that I remained there for a
heart into the highway of enquiry, until lie at length win considerable period, mixing in familiar conversation with
to a state where God shall be gracious unto him and shall all sorts of people, and making friends and acquaintances
guide him unto the recipient of divine revelation and the amongst every class. Some of these invited me to ex-
saint of that age. Thus may the seeker realize the pro- change the Christian faith for the religion of Muhammad;
mise of the blessed word, "Those who strive for us we will others regarded me as one of themselves; others again
assuredly direct into our ways'." received me not. Yet such was the divergence of opinions
Now whosoever bath been brought to this state and led and such the multiplicity of sects which I beheld in this
to apprehend this truth is bound by the gratitude which so religion- Sheykhfs, Mutasharri's, SAffs, Sunnfs, mystics,
signal a blessing ashould inspire, as well as by the dictates metaphysicians, dervishes, Nuseyris', devotees, and BàbÕs-
of common humanity, to communicate the results of his that, though my inclination prompted me to advance, my
reason bade me stand still. For if the Kur'-An be one and
Kur'a'n, xxix, 69. contain the commands of God, whence come all these
1-2





4 THE NEW HISTORY.
differences of opinion and contradictory judgements ? Seek
as I might, I could discover no agreement between the
treatises of two vmll6s, or the decisions of two muitallids.
What I heard was ever, "My humble opinion is this," or
"the view held by So-and-so is this," the command of God
being altogether disregarded amongst them.
Alas that they have by their disagreements and dif-
ferences so marred this holy Law that little is left of it
save the name and appearance, and that nothing wise or
intelligible is any longer heard, but only vain discussions
touching legal uncleanness and purification It is as
though God, in His infinite bounty, ahould cause to fall
the rain of mercy, purposing thereby to satisfy all mankind
with sweet streams of wisdom, and to deliver them from
the thirst of ignorance and inadvertence; that thereupon
a host of foul reptiles should gather round the spot where
it had collected pure and sweet, battening, breeding, and
each after his own fashion asserting his supremacy and
claiming undisputed possession ; that in the course of ages
these should so befoul and pollute that pure sweet water
that it waxeth loathsome and abominable; that notwith-
standing this they should still continue with those melodious
voices wherewith they are endowed to invite all inen from
far and near to enter in and drink, crying out "This is the
pure Water of Life and the Fount of Immortality " ; that
pilgrims athirst in the desert of enquiry should approach
with eager hope ; but that on their arrival they should
behold the contrary of what they had expected, and should
turn away in bitter disappointment, saying,
If indeed the faith of IslAni be what in the world appears,
Well may sceptics mock the faith of Islaim with a thousand
sneers ! "
And yet, by striving to exercise a little candour and to
banish dissension, they might still hope to purify and
PREFACE.
reform this holy religion. But if they desire to please God
and His prophets, regenerate their faith, restore to their
creed its pristine lustre, and render their country and state
once more free, prosperous, and powerful, they must in the
first place abandon certain habits which are at present
rooted and engrained in their very nature. To these
habits they have grown so accustomed that not only have
they become almost a second nature, but the hatefulness
thereof is not even suspected by them. Their condition is
like that of a certain priest who said to a friend, " If you
notice in me any objectionable habit of which I myself may
not be aware, pray inform me of it, that I may strive to
relinquish it." " I perceive no fault in you," answered his
friend, "save a habit of using abusive language." "Abusive
language!" cried the other, " What rascally knave calls me





abusive? What shameless ruffian have I abused that he
should dare to prefer such a charge against me?"
Now the principal vice of the Persians (and it is the
worst of faults, and, indeed, the source of all) is falsehood,
which has gained such universal ascendancy and become so
customary and so familiar that truthfulness and integrity
are entir6ly abandoned and ignored. And it is this vice
which has brought about the decay of religion and law and
the enfeeblement of Church and State. For falsehoods
uttered by ministers of state in diplomatic transactions
by destroying the dignity of the Crown and the reputation
of the government, bring about the ruin of the empire ;
falsehoods proceeding from ministers of religion dishonour
the Sacred Law and overthrow the edifice of faith; while
falsehoods uttered by the common folk prevent progress
and tend to bring about the decline and fall of the nation.
For this reason political and religious liberty and national
wealth and prosperity are in all other countries and amongst
all other races and creeds, whether in Europe or India,





6 THE NEW HISTORY.
daily on the increase ; while with this unfortunate people,
by reason of this same perverse untruthfulness and lack of
integrity, they are continually on the decline, though the
prevalent corruption, disorder, and mental preoccupation
do not suffer the cause of this to be discerned.
The people of Italy were till within recent years similarly
afflicted. Eventually a number of their men of learning
assembled together to investigate the cause of this. "Since
we dwell in the fairest portion of Europe," said they, "and
are skilled in all arts, trades, manufactures, and sciences,
what can be the reason that we are continually deteriorating
while our neighbours are perpetually making progress in
every direction ? " After due thought and deliberation
they discovered that this was wholly traceable to the
influence of the Pope, who in their country represented
the supreme spiritual authority, declaring himself to be the
vicar of Christ. He, like the divines of Persia, withheld
men from acquiring iia-,efiil arts and accomplishments or
amassing wealth by senseless injurictions, in proof of which
lie would adduce sayings of great and holy men whereof
he had wholly failed to apprehend the true purport, sue
as, " The world is carrion and such aas desire it are dogs"
" Love of the world is the source of all error "; " Provision
is appointed and the covetous are disappointed." These
aphorisms, and others like unto them, had been so dinned
into men's ears that they had ceased to care for art,
commerce, agriculture, or wealth, and had been brought to
regard this ancient and enduring world as a thing im-
permanent and unstable as a spider's web, saying, for
example,-
"Naught in tb e world shall endure ;
Naught shall abide 'neath the sun;
Earth is a mansion as frail
As the web which the spider hath spun."
I
PREFACE.
7
Yet in this " spider's web " the wise men of , Europe,
by means of the astronomical instruments and tables which
they possess, behold one of those celestial orbs whereof
some are so remote that the light proceeding from them
must travel for thirty thousand years ere it reach this
globe, notwithstanding that light travels two hundred
thousand miles a second! We speak here of orbs which
the wise men of those parts have actually beheld with the
eye of sense, for as to those far more distant orbs which
cannot be seen without special appliances, but which still
exercise attraction on other celestial bodies, they extend
unto wheresoever God pleaseth, and He alone knoweth
their number, the distances which intervene between them,





the fashion of their formation, and the kind of creatures
which inhabit them. Compared to these this globe is like
a ball encircled by the bat of Divine Might, and so moved
and rolled by the sun's attraction.
To be brief, however, when the wise men of Europe
and the people of Italy had proved the extent of His
Holiness the Pope's hypocrisy, guile, and deceit, they
exerted all their energies, and, notwithstanding all his
power and the subjection in which he had hitherto held
all the sovereigns of Europe, so effectually deposed him
and his children and grandchildren that naught remained
of him but the name and appearance, nor did anyone
thenceforth pay the slightest heed to a single word
which he wrote. After this they employed themselves
in spreading the triumphs of Art, Commerce, and Political
Reform, until in a little while they became objects of
emulation to all their fellows and contemporaries.
Now, although the Persians have witnessed and com-
prehended the consequences of falsehood, they still refuse
to relinquish this evil habit-
I know not how such as in evil delight
See nothing but evil in virtue and right."





8
THE NEW HISTORY.
Yet in their books of tradition it is stated on good
authority that certain persons demanded of the ImAin
Ja'far-i-SAdik, "Will your followers commit crimes and
do unlawful actions?" He answered, "Yes." "Will they
be guilty of fornication alid sins against nature?~' they
asked. "It is possible," lie replied. "Will they drink
wine and do murder?" they inquired. , it is likely
enough," said he. " Will they utter falsehoods ?" they
asked. " That," said lie, "is impossible! "
Notwithstanding this, the Persians astill claim to be
Shi'ites, and, although God has called liars accursed in
all the sacred books, refuse to abandon their mendacious
habits. Nor do they confine themselves to minor false-
hoods affecting only the things of this world, for in
matters relating to religion also they have shewn them-
selves to be ready liars and shameless -forgers, as will be
duly set forth in its proper place.
Now the principal evil of falsehood is, that when it
has entered- into a man's nature -aii(hl there established
itself, it generates a host of other evils. Amongst these
is hypocrisy, which is a kind of unbelief. Hypocrites
have ever been the chief cause of the downfall of re-
ligion, even as the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad,
hath said, " I fear for this faith neither unbeliever nor
believer, but I fear - the hypocrite who makes a show of
faith and harbours unbelief in his heart." Now the ori-
ginal meaning of the word kit
,fr (unbelief) is the con-
cealing of h-uth or right in any way whatsoever, though
it be but to the extent of a mustard-seed or mote, without
its being restricted to the truth or right of God or man.
Indeed it is evident that none can conceal God, who is
more evident and manifest than the visible sun. So a
k6fir (unbeliever) is one who refuses to recognize the
rights of God or of his fellow-men; and this unbelief, as
I imagine, exists to some extent in every one. And so
i
PREFACE.
9
likewise the devout Musulm.An is he who recognizes God
and all 'such as have just claims on him, and who dis-
charges the duties which he owes to others in a right
manner, injuring none either in word or deed. But as for
such as devour the wealth of great and small alike, dis-
honour their fellow-men, lay violent hands on the property
of this one or that one, give unjust decisions, and de-
nounce as infidels and doom to death God's servants, I
know not how they can hope or believe that they are
devout Musulmins! Could some men but regard them-





selves impartially and discern their own inward unbelief,
they would never again ascribe infidelity to another 1
As it has now been shewn that disregard and neglect
of the rights of our fellow-men is a kind of unbelief, it is
evident also that hypocrisy is a species of latent infidelity,
and Muhammad hath said, Infidelity is more difficult
of detection amongst my people than a black ant crawling
in the dark night over hard rock." Now hypocrites are
those whose hearts and tongues are not in accord, -whose
words and deeds are inconsistent, who are inwardly repro-,
bate and outwardly devout, and who, clothing themselves
in the garb of a spurious asceticism and simulated piety,
seek to deceive God and man by their guile and cuniiing-
"Without fair-seeming as the pagan's shrine;
Wi thin o'ershadowed by the wrath divine;
The life of Bdyazfdl their lips defame -,
Their hearts Yazfd2 himself might blush to claim."
Now should anyone, while admitting that it is possible
by guile and falsehood to deceive men, demand how it,is
possible to deceive God, we reply that, albeit this is im-
1 BAyazid of Bistim, a celebrated SAff saint who flourished in
the third century of the hijra.
2 Yazid b. Muliviya, the second 0mayyad caliph and mur-
derer of the Imim Huseyn. He reigned from A.H. 60 to 64. ,





i
10 THE NEW HISTORY.
possible, these foolish itgicii do nevertheless attempt to
cheat Him who is " the Bost Deviser of Stratagems'," and
to explain away the ordinances and commandinents of
Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets. Have you, not
yourself seen and heard of how many estates and fortunes
persons ostensibly devout obtain possession, persuading
themselves by their casuistry that these are tgheir lawful
right and just due? Judge by this of the thousand other
species of traffickings, barterings, and pleadings whereby,
in diverse fashions, they compel rightful claimants to effect
settlements and partial compromises. With such phrases
as " I compromise," " I agree," which have now become
universal technicalities, do they defraud God and man,
trampling under foot the rights of their fellows, and
shutting their eyes to equity and justice. This is the
real meaning of infidelity, and these are the true infidels.
Consider fairly: if a woman be entitled to receive a. thou-
sand tu'm6nis dowry from her husband, or a sister the like
sum as a legacy from her brother, and if, after the, con-
clusion of the legal formalities and proceedings, she be
unabl-I to enforce her just claims and be compelled to
effect a compromise at one hundred tu'vzains, have those
other nine hundred ta'mdns become the lawful due of
those who constitute themselves her creditors, and are
their consciences clear? Though the doctors of law and
divinity have now given their sanction and authority to
such decisions, yet are they none the less repugnant to
God's good pleasure, and inconsistent with true piety and
virtue.
So, in like manner, if a hundred tfinza'ns of tithe' be
So is God termed in two passages in the Kur'6n: iii, 47; and
viii) 30.
2 In the original kliums, which signifies a proportion of one
fifth of wealth acquired in war, commerce, or the like, to which
PREFACE.
11
due from one of these pious believers, they will place that
sum in a vessel containing oil, honey, or curdled milk,
and offer it instead of the tithe to some poor Seyyid.
Then for a small sum they buy back the vessel with the
hundred tu'ma'??s concealed therein from the Seyyid, who,
poor fellow, is quite unconscious of the way in which he
has been defrauded. Or sometimes they will give one
tt'im(g't~t to a poor Seyyid on condition that he accept it
as a hundred tq'tnubis. By such quibbles do they mock
God, and account themselves free of blame in their usurpa-
tion of men's wealth. By the more utterance of the phrase
" I compromise," they divest themselves of all anxiety as
to the questioning of the Day of Reckoning, although they





profess to believe in the holy precept "Contracts follow
intentions," which, indeed, they are unable to deny. Yet,
fraudulent and sophistical hypocrites that they are, they
consider the wealth which they have amassed by their legal
quibbles and artifices just as lawfully obtained as did the
thief the shroud for his mother.
For they relate that the mother of a certain thief when
at the point of death besought him to obtain for her a
lawful shroud'. lie assented, and sallying forth from his
house at midnight lay in wait at the end of a road. By
chance lie presently fell in with a poor solitary traveller
who had-lagged behind the caravan, and at once took from
him by force his ass and his saddle-bags. Amongst the
various articles contained in the latter lie discovered
several yards of linen, whereat lie rejoiced and gave thanks,
saying, "Praise be to God who hath not suffered me
to return disappointed and ashaiiied to my mother!"
Then he fell to beating the owner of the linen with all his
might, crying, "Make this linen lawful to ngie with thy
the descendants of the Prophet are entitled. See Querry's Droit
Musulman, vol. i, p. 175 et seq.





12 THE NEW HISTORY.
whole heart 1 " On his return lie described to his mother
all that had taken place, saying, "I gave the owner of the
linen such a drubbing that he cried out with all his might,
'I make it lawful to thee,' repeating more than a thousand
times with tears and groans, 'May it be lawful to thee!"'
Now this hypocrisy, with the envy, frowardness, guile,
and jealousy which are, as it were, the fourfold elements of
which it is compounded, has become so engrained in this
people as to be almost a second nature. Their miserable
and degraded condition is entirely due to this cause, for no
two individuals can unite or combine in any enterprise
without quarrelling; and, should they enter into partner-
ship for six months, for six years they will be wholly
occupied with litigation. In short they so vex, oppress,
and harass one another in every possible way that the very
name of charity and courtesy would seem to be forgotten.
Another offspring of this hypocrisy is injustice, which
drinks milk from the breast of the false mother and draws
instruction from the I in,, father, until, when it is well
y t,
matured and has learned to walk alone, it goes abroad to
destroy the welfare of every land where it plants its foot-
steps. Such is the injustice which holds absolhlite sway
over this country, and to which the people (through ancient
habit and long subserviency, and because, as the proverb
says, "Men follow the, faith of their kings") have becoiihie
as much attached as is the nightingale to the rose or the
moth to the candle. Though their wings are scorched by
this fire, they still whirl recklessly around it, as though
eager for immolation. To adopt another simile, this in-
justice is like a chronic wasting disease which is continually
sapping and undermining the health of this people, who are
notwithstanding so heedless of their condition that they
fancy themselves better every day, and refuse to follow the
advice of those wise physicians who bid them avoid that
PREFACE.
13
lying and hypocrisy which generate it. Such spiritual
pliysiciana~ were the prophets and saints sent for their
guidance and healing, to whom, out of inere cruelty and
lust of oppression, they did such things as the pen is
ashamed to record.
Now just as these vile qualities of which we have
spoken are the cause of temporal and eternal loss and
ignominy, so do kindliness, charity, and concord conduce to
the welfare and progress of states and nations, and secure
peace and happiness for great and small. It is impossible
to do justice here to the beneficial results of these qualities,
and we will only remark that true affection and charity is
not that a man should love his wife, children, and kindred,





or his fellow-citizens and compatriots only. He is indeed
worthy of the name of man who loves all his fellow-
creatures, withholds his charity from no human being,
refrains from injuring by word or deed aught that has life,
and neither scorns nor regards as unclean anything -which
breathes, however lowly, remembering that it too stands in
some relation to the Lord of the Universe, and would -not
exist but for some beneficent purpose. And so the wise and
humane man will not regard as accursed aught which exists,
nor spurn it, nor speak evil of it, even as the Lord Jesus
was once walking with some of his disciples when they
came suddenly upon a dead and putrid dog, at the stench
of whose corruption the disciples expressed their disgust.
But he rebuked them, saying, "Why take ye heed but of
the corruption of its body, and regard not its white teeth
nor ponder on its defence of its master's rights and con-
tentment with its lot ? Regard but what is good, if ye be
of the spirit."
, How far from this are some, who, instead of striving to
see naught but good in all around them, occupying them-
selves with the amendment of their own characters, and





14
THE NEW HISTORY.
endeavouring to remove their own faults, seek only in their
folly to discover blemishes in others 1 " Such an one," say
these, " is unsound in his religio'Lis beliefs " ; " So-and-so is a
reprobate and accursed"; "The to-Lich of Zeyd is a, pollu.-
tion"; "It were a meritorious action to slay 'Amr." Only
the most extravagant self-approbation and conceit can
lead them to speak thus, and of all vices these are the ligiost
detestable. To them is traceable in no small measure the
deterioration of the Persians, their refusal to accept new
idea,s, and their complete indifference -to the progress and
well-being of their country, And so, in spite of all their
self-esteem, they are continually going back while all other
nations are advancing. Yet they themselves relate, a well-
known tradition of how God bade Moses seek out some
creature of less account than himself and bring it into the
Divine Presence, After searching for a while Moses dis-
covered the putrid carcase of a dog. Thinking that this
would serve his purpose, lie attached a cord to its leg and
began to drag it after him, but ere he had proceeded many
steps the thought came upon him, "How dare 1 prefer
myself even to this?" Even as he dropped the cord from
his hand he beard a voice rebuking him and saying,
"0 son of 'lmrAn, hadst thou brought that dog one
step further thou wouldst have forfeited thy rank of pro-
phet 1 "
Far removed froin this humility of Moses (who, not-
withstanding his prophetic rank and the privilege of com-
muning with God which he enjoyed, dared not prefer
himself to the putrid carease of a dog) is the arrogance of
those who regard tliemaselves as superior to all the rest of
mankind, and do not even lieasitate to rank themselves
above Moses, quoting in support of their presumption the
tradition, "The doctors of my church are more excellent
than the prophets of the children of Israel." As to the
i
PREFACE.
rest of God's servants, they hold them in less account than n
the carcase of a dog !
In strong contrast with these are the people of Europe,
who have truly apprehended the meaning of affection and
concord, and have reaped from these a wondrous harvest.
For, solely by reason of g the love which they bear towards
their fellow-creatures, the wise men of modern Europe have
devoted themselves to the devising of such appliances as
may serve to lessen the sufferings of God's creatures or
conduce to their prosperity and comfort, whereby also the
glory of the State is increased. Thus was the power of
steam discovered, whereby thousands of factories of different
kinds were set in motion, many precious and wonderful





goods produced, and prodigies of workmanship hitherto
undreamed of accomplished. The land was delivered from
the thraldom. of desolation and disorder ' the people were
freed from sloth and poverty, the nation waxed rich and
the state strong. Governments ceased to depend - on
oppression and injustice as a means of acquiring revenue,
and the practice of extorting money by threats and promises
fell into d,isuse. Every effort was made to secure equal
Justice for all, and every exertion put forth to perfect the
mechanism of the administration. The people, thus. freed
from anxiety, began to seek after education and culture,
and to make rapid progress in humanity and virtue; and,
since each bad his allotted share in the common work and
was indispensable to the common weal, all became United
in intent and purpose. Thus they made progress in every
direction and became objects of emulation to all around
them.
Amongst these numerous inventions was the railroad,
which was originally devised with the object of alleviating
the sufferings endured by beasts of burden and increasing
the comforts of travellers. Consider the benefits which





i I ~
16 THE NEW HISTORY.
have resulted from this invention, and observe how, where-
ever it goes, it furthers the prosperity of the country and
the freedoiigi of the people, leaving none within the sphere
of its influence poor or unemployed, and furnishing each
with work suited to his capacity. How largely has it
conduced to national progress, wealth, and consolidation 1
How well it shelters its patrons from the depredations of
robbers, the keenness of the winter's cold, and the fierce
heat of summer!
Not long ago the Prime Minister of Persia, actuated
solely by a desire for the welfare of his nation, sought to
introduce into his country that which had elsewhere proved
so beneficial. In this design, however, lie was vigorously
opposed by the doctors of religion, who stirred up the
people against him by telling them that the increased
influx of Europeans which would result from the proposed
iniiovatioigi would infallibly bring about the spread of in-
fidelity and the downfall of religion. They were really
actuated by a fear lest in course of time the eyes of the
people might be opened and they should refuse any longer
to obey them blindly. So they set themselves to discover
objections and obstacles to the proposed scheme, to fabricate
cc authentic" traditions, and to cast imputations of atheism
on the Minister. Thus, because of their selfishness and
craving for power, they would not suffer this people after a
thousand years of abasement and misery to obtain peace
and happiness.
A certain Persian of sense and discernment wrote a
pamphlet to expose the true motives of these doctors.
Unfortunately, however, it was not published or circulated,
for "truth is bitter," and its contents would have been so
uupalatable to his antagonists that, had they seen it, they
would, without stopping to consider the arguments con-
tained in it, at once have declared its author an infidel. It
r
PREFACE.
17~
is not.unlikely that they would pronounce the same judge-
ment on the author of the present work; but he, thank
God, is not of this people, and cares naught for the appro-
bation or resentment of any one.
"I neither hearken to the Sheykh, nor hold the parson's
creed ;
From every sect and every faith, thank heaven, I am
freed I I"
Now if I have strongly and repeatedly insisted on the
defects apparent in the religion of certain persons, the
injustice of the government, the ignorance of the people,
or the total absence of moderation and fairness in the





ministers of church and state, God is my witness that I
have no personal spite against any individual or class. My
sole object is to arouse their zeal by bringing these matters
before their notice, and to shew them the hatefulness of
certain of their vices in a true light, so that they may
cease to regard them as trivial, and may learn to abhor
and avoid them. So also when I instance the practices of
European nations in exemplification of such virtues as
justice, magnanimity, charity, uprightness, and culture,
and dwell on their praises, it is from no mere desire to
extol my compatriots', but in the hope that'thereby I may
arouse the spirit of emulation in this people, incite them to
acquire these good qualities, and induce them to desist
from injuring and destroying their fellow-countrymen.
To return, however, to the tract of which I spoke. The
author maintains that the Persians are endowed with a
1 This verse and the words immediately preceding it are
noticed by Baron Rosen (Coll. Sci., vol. vi, p. 244) as affording
some evidence that Minakjf, the late Zoroastrian agent at
TeherAn, wrote, or caused to be written, this history.
2 It must be borne in mind that throuohout this work the
0
author maintains the fiction of his European nationality.
2
N. H.





18 THE NEW HISTORY.
high degree of intelligence and aptitude, and are fully
capable of improvement, but that unfortunately their
rulers, fearing to lose the authority which they enjoy, will
not stiffer them to open their eyes and ears, or learn to
discriminate between good and evil. After establishing
this thesis by conclusive arguments, lie puts forward the
following allegory, observing that, as each of the ministers
of state is charged with special duties, the Minister for
Foreign Affairs may be likened to the sentinel who keepas
guard over the citadel of the empire. And so, when one
comes in the early morning and knocks at the gate of this
citadel, the Minister for Foreign Affairs demands, " Who
art thou, and what dost thou seek?"
" I am Justice and Progress," answers the other, " and
I come to establish equity, inaugurate an era of progress,
and root out disorder and oppression."
" Thanks be to God," answers the Minister, " that our
land already enjoys the fullest measure Of justice and
progress. We need you not."
The other then proves to the Minister by conclusive,
evidence that he is JhListice and Progress, after which he
continues :-
" Long ago I went forth from this country and took up
my abode iigi Europe. For more than a thousand years I
have not beheld this land or its people, nor set my footsteps
on its soil. Learning, however, that a fraudulent impostor
claiming to be myself has formed a league with Discord to
lay waste the land, I have now returned, for charity's sake,
to effect its regeneration. Open the door!"
Z)
Quoth the Minister, bolting the door more securely,
Our country needs not your help. Thanks be to God, we
have strong and lofty buildings."
I bring from Europe," rejoins the other, "all manner
of new and wonderful inventions and appliances, that I
PREFACE.
1, 4.1, :  :
19
y tic on, ee e peop e from misery and
poverty, and make them rich, prosperous and happy like
the people of Europe."
"We want not your gifts," replies the Minister, "for
such of these things as we need men bring from Europe,
and we buy them. Besides, if our people were to become
rich, they would rise in rebellion."
After much discussion and argument, the Minister,
unable to raise any further objections, says in a soft and
wheedling tone, "Your remarks are perfectly just. Through
your influence countries prosper, peoples are made free, and
nations become great. But what can I do? With you here





I could neither govern nor subsist, but must at once re-
linquish my power, limit myself to the exercise of my
proper authority, and content myself with the fixed salary
paid to ine by the state. An annual income of two hundred
thousand t6mrins and an annual expenditure of one hun-
dred thousand would be no longer possible, inasmuch as I
should be prevented from accepting gifts and bribes, and
could no longer arrest, imprison, condemn, and acquit as~ I
please. In spite of my lofty rank 1 should be compelled to
abide by the law, nor should I be permitted even to apply
a simple abusive epithet to one of my subordinates without
causa. These things being -so, I cannot, so -long as I -live,
admit you. But even if I were to withdraw my opposition,
there is not one of the administrators of the state who would
stiffer you to remain here for a single instant. They would
all unite in representing you to the Privy Council as an
enemy to His Majesty the King, and would forthwith issue
orders for your execution. But even leaving this out of
account, the doctors of religion, on becoming aware of your
arrival, would at once assemble and produce a thousand
well-authenticated and accredited traditions against you.
That they would kill you is a mere nothing, for they regard
2-2





20 THE NEW HISTORY. PREFACE. 21"
i
it as obligatory on every MusuhnAn to drink your blood abasement is the prevailing lack of justice and absence
and eat your flesh, and if one should so much as mention of generous feeling. Not that they have not a certain
your name they declare him an infidel deserving of death. kind of justice of their own, but it is like the piety of
That they would not suffer~ you to remain in this country the Hindoos and Jews', which doth but conduce to their
for a single moment is also nothing, for wherever they greater error. Nor are they devoid of all social instincts
recognize one of your friends and admirers they slay him and power of combination, but their concord is the concord
without a moment's respite. They regard all Europeans as, of wolves, who appear friendly while face to face,'but, so
enemies who inay be lawfully plundered and slain solely soon as one relaxes his attention in the least degree and
because of the love which these bear you. The massacres suffers sleep to overcome him, they tear him in pieces. So
and persecutions of the BàbÕs-a sect so remarkable for do they combine to plunder, but afterwards quarrel over
their steadfastness and earnestness of purpose-were also the spoil.
brought about entirely by their devotion to you; else why How much better have the people of Europe ap-
do the MusulmAns refrain from interfering with the Nu- prehended the true ideal of friendship! Some years ago
aseyrfs and GhAlis (whom their clergy regard as utter they announced in all their newspapera-, that in the opinion
heretics), the KhArijfs, the eleven unorthodox sects of of experts all the coal-miDes in the world would be ex-
ImAmites, the SAdikfs and Ni'u'sfs (who hold that the hausted in a thousand (or, as others maintained, in less
linAmate ceased with the ImAm Ja'far-i-SAdik, and regard than four hundred) years; that then all the railways and
him as the promised Mahdf), and the MukhtArfs' (who factories in the world which are worked with coal would
assert that Muhammad ibiih Hanafiyya was the expected be brought to a standstill and rendered useless; and that
ImAm), all of w,hom are a hundred thousand times worse any one who should succeed in devising some substitute
than the BàbÕs?" It for coal would confer a benefit upon his own and all
What the learned author of this tract wished to shew nations, and would receive a pension for himself and his
was that these people have neither care nor compassion for heirs in perpetuity. Such people, who concern themselves
their agiibor(linates, being concerned only about the pre- about the welfare of those who shall come into the world
servation of their own power, and not at all about the several hundred years hence, may indeed be said to have
protection of those committed to their charge. Had it grasped the true meaning of affection 1 This is why they
been otherwise, the people would never have sunk into have made, and still continue to make, countless dis-
ago degraded a condition nor have become so despicable coveries in the application of electricity, compressed air,
in the eyes of foreign states, for the cause of this national and the like.
Accounts of these sects will be found as follows i When I was on my way to Persia I met in Alexandria
n
one of my friends who had reasided for some while in that
Shabrist~ufs Ifit(ibit'l-9nilal (ed. Cureton):-the Nuseyriyya, p.
143; the Ghulit or Ghiliya, p. 132; the Khirijiyya, p. 85; the
Iminiiyya, p. 122; the S6dikiyya or Ja'fariyya, 1). 124; the C. reads "'Alagians," but it seems unlikely that Aldnakjf
MYlsiyya, p. 126; the Mukhtiriyya, p. 109. would have gone out of his way to speak ill of his own people.





22 THE NEW HISTORY. PREFACE.  23
country, and lie remarked to me, " Persia has great natural the people toiadopt this custoin, it is best that they should'
resources, but the people are devoid of kindliness." Thia3 observe the second condition, and, by means of fair- dis-
was exactly what I ngiyself afterwards observed. it is this cussioD, remove dissent from their religion, so that concord
lack of kindliness which causes them to hold alooffrom may be established and peace succeed all this dissension
their fellow-men, and thereby to cut themselves off from and strife.
the possibility of happiness and progress. So, in course of Now although there are amongst the Muhannuadans
time, these misunderstandings and differences which have more than seventy different sects, each of which is further
ar
brought about their ruin C ose, and *Ttlie government was split up into several subdivisions, these, though they may
thus enabledl* to usurp a tyrannous sway. Now until hold aloof from each other, are not at enmity and strife;
they make the recovery of this concord and harniony the for ages have elapsed since their differences first appeared.
object of their endeavours it is impossible for them to But in the case of the Bdbis, who are of recent origin, they
make any progress in civilization. And the conditions make the most strenuous and persistent efforts to harass
under which the attainment of this end is possible are and hurt them in every way, seizing, imprisoning, and
two. The first is that they should follow the example of slaying them with unremitting enery and this notwit -
0y)
European nations, and refrain from interfering in any way standing that they know nothing of their beliefs, and
with the religious opinions of their fel