1. A Brief History on the
Life of the Bàb
The Life and Travels of the Bàb in a
Historical Perspective

2. Early Life
• Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází was born on
October 20th 1819 in Shiraz, Persia.

3. • Raised by his maternal uncle, Hájí Mírzá Siyyid
`Alí.
• Joined the family business in Bushehr.
• Did not enjoy the family business and instead
applied himself to the study of religious
literature.
• Married Khadíjih-Bagum in 1842.
• Had one child but he died.
• Never had any other children
• They stayed in Shiraz with his mother.

5. • Around 1839–40 the Báb went on pilgrimage
to Iraq. Stayed mostly in Karbala.

6. Declaration to Mullá Husayn
• Mullá Husayn travelled to Shiraz. Met the Bàb.
• On May 22, 1844 the Bàb declared to Mullá
Husayn that he was Siyyid Kázim's successor
and the bearer of divine knowledge.
• The Bàb wrote the Surah of Joseph, which has
come to be known as the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá‘.
His first revealed work.
• Mullá Husayn accepted the Báb's claims as the
gateway to Truth and as the initiator of a new
prophetic cycle.

7. Letters of the Living
• Within five months, seventeen other disciples of
Siyyid Káẓim had independently recognized the
Báb as a Manifestation of God.
• A woman, Fátimih Zarrín Táj Baragháni, a poetess,
who later received the name of Táhirih (the Pure).
• These Letters of the Living were given the task of
spreading the new faith across Iran and Iraq.
• They were given the metaphorical identity of as
the Fourteen Infallibles in Shí'í Islam
(Muhammad, the Twelve Imams, and Fatimah
and the four archangels).

8. Travels
• The Báb and the 18th Letter of the Living,
Mullá ammad ‘Alí-i-Bárfurúshi (Quddús),
left on a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.
• The Báb wrote to the Sharif of Mecca,
Custodian of the Kaaba, proclaiming his
mission.
• The Báb and Quddús returned to Bushehr.
• Preaching by the Letters of the Living led to
opposition by the Islamic clergy. Governor of
Shiraz ordered the Báb's arrest.
• Went to Shiraz in June 1845 and presented
himself to the authorities

10. • Placed under house arrest at the home of his
uncle until a cholera epidemic broke out in the
city in September 1846.
• Released and departed for Isfahan.

11. • After an informal gathering where the Báb
debated the local clergy and displayed his
speed in producing instantaneous verses, his
popularity soared.
• After the death of the Governor of Isfahan,
who had become his supporter, pressure from
the clergy of the province led to the Shah,
Mohammad Shah Qajar, ordering the Báb to
Tehran in January 1847.
• After spending several months in a camp
outside Tehran, and before the Báb could
meet the Shah, the Prime Minister sent the
Báb to Tabriz, where he was confined.

13. • After 40 days, the Báb April 1848.
was sent to the fortress • There also, the Báb's
of Máh-Kú. popularity grew and his
• The Báb began his most jailors relaxed
important work, the restrictions on him.
Persian Bayán, which he
never finished.
• Because of the Báb's
growing popularity and
the governor of Máh-Kú
converting, the prime
minister sent him to the
fortress of Chihríq in

16. • The PM ordered the Báb back to Tabriz where the
government called on religious authorities to put
the Báb on trial for blasphemy and apostasy.

17. Trial
• The trial did not bring a decisive result.
• The Shaykh al-Islam (a very prominent local cleric),
the champion of the anti-Bábí campaign, issued a
conditional death sentence if the Báb was found to
be sane.
• A fatwa was issued establishing the Báb's apostasy
and stated, "The repentance of an incorrigible
apostate is not accepted, and the only thing which
has caused the postponement of thy execution is a
doubt as to thy sanity of mind.“
• The Báb was ordered back to the fortress of Chihríq.

19. Execution
• In mid 1850 a new prime-minister, Amir Kabir,
ordered the execution of the Báb.
• The Báb was brought back to Tabríz from Chihríq, so
that he could be shot by a firing squad.

20. • The night before his execution, as he was being led
to his cell, Muḥammad-`Alíy-i-Zunúzí (Anís), threw
himself at the feet of the Báb and begged to be
killed with him.
• He was immediately arrested and placed in the
same cell as the Báb.
• On the morning of July 9, 1850, the Báb was taken
to the courtyard, where thousands of people had
gathered to watch his execution.
• The Báb and Anís were suspended on a wall and a
large firing squad of Christian soldiers prepared to
shoot.

21. • Numerous eye-witness reports, including those of
Western diplomats, recount the result.
• The order was given to fire and the barracks square
filled with musket smoke.
• When it cleared the Báb was no longer in the
courtyard and Anis stood there unharmed; the
bullets apparently had cut the rope suspending
them from the wall.
• There was a great commotion, many in the crowd
believing the Báb had ascended to heaven.
• The Báb was found in another part of the
barracks, giving his final instructions to his
secretary.

22. • A 2nd firing squad of Muslim soldiers was ranged in
front of them, and a 2nd order to fire was given.
• This time, the Báb and his companion were killed.
• Their remains were dumped outside the gates of
the town to be eaten by animals.

23. • The remains were taken by some Bábis and were
hidden.
• Over time the remains were secretly transported by
way of Isfahan, Kirmanshah, Baghdad and
Damascus, to Beirut and thence by sea to Acre on
the plain below Mount Carmel in 1899.
• On March 21, 1909, the remains were then interred
in a special tomb, erected for this purpose by
`Abdu'l-Bahá, on Mount Carmel.

24. Route of the Bàb’s Remains