Iran: Province of Isfahan
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moojan Momen, Iran: Province of Isfahan, bahai-library.com.
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Iran: Province of Isfahan

Moojan Momen

1994

The city of Isfahan is situated in the center of Iran and was, under the
Safavid dynasty, the capital of the country. The province of Isfahan is
situated on the high semi-arid plateau of central Iran. Despite the dry
conditions, there is, with the help of irrigation, much agriculture in
the province. The city has the best architectural monuments of Islamic
Iran and has been famous as a center of the textile trade and of many crafts.

Isfahan and the surrounding villages were Bábí strongholds,
as evidenced by the fact that some 10% of the participants at Shaykh
Tabarsí (q.v.), were from the area (Momen 164). The Báb was
in Isfahan from October 1846 to March 1847. Since he was staying for part
of the time in the house of the Imám-Jum`ih, many of the `ulamá
and theological students of the city took the opportunity of meeting him
and some were favorably impressed. It was while he was there that the Báb
wrote his Commentary on the Qur'anic Súrih of Wa'l-Asr for the Imám-Jum`ih
and his treatise on the specific prophetic mission of Muhammad (Nubuwat-i-Kháss)
for the governor Manúchihr Khán (q.v.), who
was to become his most prominent follower. A considerable number of converts
was made, some from among the most influential sectors of the population.

The foundations for the conversion of the Bábís of this
area to the Bahá'í Faith were laid through those Bábís
who visited Bahá'u'lláh during his exile in Baghdad. The
Book of Certitude (q.v.) was greeted with enthusiasm when copies of it
began to arrive in Isfahan. Many of the prominent Bábís of
the area became Bahá'ís, such as Mullá Zaynu'l-`Ábidín
of Najafábád (known to Bahá'ís as Zaynu'l-Muqarrabín,
q.v.), Mírzá Ashraf of Najafábád, Mírzá
Muhammad `Ali Nahrí (see "Nahrí family"), Mírzá
Haydar `Alí Ardistání, Sayyid Ismá`íl
Dhabíh Zavári'í and others. A number of important
figures in this area, however, became Azalís (q.v.): Mullá
Rajab-`Alí Qahír (whose sister had married the Báb
while he was in Isfahan), his brother Mullá `Alí Muhammad
Siráj, and Mírzá Hádí Dawlatábádí.
To these figures was added Mírzá Nasru'lláh Maliku'l-Mutakallimín,
an important figure in the Constitutional movement. As a consequence, a
number of the Bábís in the area also remained Azalís,
especially in the villages of Sidih, Tár, Tarq, and Dawlatábád.

This area saw numerous episodes of persecution instigated by the leading
`ulamá: Hájí Mullá Muhammad Báqir Isfahání
(q.v.; named by Bahá'u'lláh "the Wolf"), his son Mullá
Muhammad Taqí (q.v., Áqá Najafí), and Mír
Muhammad Husayn Imám-Jum`ih (q.v.; named by Bahá'u'lláh
Raqshá, she-serpent); and by the governor Zillu's-Sultán
(q.v.), who ruled the province from 1874 to 1907. During the time of Bahá'u'lláh,
there were seven major outbursts of persecution in the Isfahan area, including
the execution of several prominent Bahá'ís, including Sayyid
Muhammad Hasan and Sayyid Muhammad Husayn, the King and Beloved of Martyrs
(see "Nahrí family") in 1879 and Mírzá Ashraf
in 1888. In the villages around Isfahan there were also numerous episodes
of persecution and some martyrdoms: in Najafábád in 1864,
1889, 1899, and 1910; in Sidih in 1890; and in Zavárih in 1926.

As a consequence of the persecutions, many of the Bahá'ís
of Isfahan migrated to other areas. Some, like the merchant Hájí
Muhammad Ridá, went to Sabzivár and then on to Ashkhabad
(see "Turkmenistan"), while others moved to the Haifa-Akka area.

Despite the persecutions, the number of Bahá'ís in the
area grew both in Isfahan itself and in villages such as Sidih where three
well-known poets, Mírzá Na`ím, Nayyir, and Siná,
became Bahá'ís in about 1297/1879-80. In towns such as Ardistán
where there had been conversions in the Bábí period, there
was continued growth with the number of Bahá'ís reaching
some 300 by the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá. There was also some geographical
diffusion in that the religion was introduced to some new villages. Near
Ardistán, a large number from the village of Bábu'r-Ruhá
became Bahá'ís after the conversion of the landowner there,
Mírzá Fath-`Alí (Fath-i-A`zam). The Bahá'í
Faith also spread among the nomadic tribes in this area. In particular,
among the Búyir Ahmad section of the Kúh-Galú tribes
there were several hundred conversions during the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá.
There were also converts in Burújin in Bakhtiyárí
country.

Surprisingly, in view of the intense persecutions of the Faith in this
region, a number of prominent citizens managed to remain Bahá'ís.
For example, Mírzá Asadu'lláh Khán was
the finance minister of the province from about 1878 to 1908.

The Bahá'í community of the small town of Najafábád
has been a particularly large and important one. A Bahá'í
school was established at Najafábád, and when this was closed
down by the government in 1934, Mr. Abu'l-Qásim Faizi (q.v.) went
to the town to act as tutor to the four hundred Bahá'í children
affected by the closure.

In 1933 Keith Ransom-Kehler (q.v.) died in Isfahan while on a tour of
Iran. She was buried next to the graves of the King and Beloved of Martyrs.
Shoghi Effendi referred on several occasions to these three graves and
they became a site frequently visited by Bahá'ís.

Holy places

Holy places associated with the stay of the Báb in this city include
the house of the Imám-Jum`ih; the palace of Manúchihr
Khán at Chihil Sutún; the house of Mírzá
Asadu'lláh Vazír where the remains of the Báb were
kept for a short time; and the house and tombs of the King of Martyrs and
Beloved of Martyrs, together with the adjacent tomb of Ransom-Kehler.

Bibliography

History of the Bahá'í Faith in Isfahan (author unknown),
photocopy of mss. in Afnán Library; Áqá Husayn `Alí
Núr, memoirs written in 1346, photocopy of mss in Afnán Library,
partially published as Khátirát-i-Muhájirí
az Isfahán dar zamán shahádat-i-Sultánu'sh-Shuhadá
va Mahbúbu'sh-Shuhadá, Mu'assisih Millí
Matbu`át-i-Amrí, 128/1971; ZH 3:89-105; 6:137-300; 8a:121-174.
M. Momen, "Social Basis of the Bábí Upheavals in Iran (1848-53):
a preliminary analysis", International Journal of Middle East Studies
1983, 15:157-183.

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-- Iran: Province of Isfahan (Used by permission of the curator)