A new religious sect

We've seen the initial news and the naming of its Central Figure. The next mention makes it clear this is a new religion with a new Book. The main such Book, if that is what is being referred to, is the Persian Bayan, which was written end of 1847 or early 1848. A short news story is inserted in a number of newspapers echoing fairly widely from July 1850.

It is unclear what the event or events are that are that are the reason this coverage began but the coverage was in English and French.

English

July 16, 1850, in the London St James Chronicle Whiteltall And General Evening Post:

A new religious sect has arisen in Persia, in consequence of the preachings of a man named Bab, who has written a new book to take the place of the Koran. He is said to have already made several thousand proselytes; and eighteen of these Babees, as his followers are called, have been publicly beheaded by order of the Shah.

This was soon followed 18 July 1850, the London Morning Post, p. 5: It was reprinted several times. Except for the French August 1850 account (below) none of these references appear to be in The Bábí and Bahá'í religions 1844-1944: some contemporary western accounts.

If July 1850 is the beginning of the newspaper coverage the original events might have taken place as late as April or as early February. The siege at the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi, known as the beginning of the Mázindarán Upheaval, began Oct 1848 and ended in early May 1849. In early 1850 there is the Yazd episode and the beginning of the Zanjan upheaval as well as the episode of the Seven Martyrs of Tihrán.

This mention does cross coverage of events of the Zanján Upheaval (see below.) The fact that the story appears in July, a week after the hiding of the body of the martyred Báb, is an interesting coincidence.

A later version from October has a fuller account somewhat overlapping:

The London Mail of August 7th arrived at Bombay on Sept 8th, per Sesostris… New Sect in Persia - The Rev. Mr. Bowen, of the American Mission, reported that a new sect of Persians and assembled in various part of Persia and the countries adjoining. The name of the leader of the sect is Mirza Ali Mahomed, and the number of his followers is at present 30,000. Mirza Ali Mahomed is about thirty years of age, and supports the claims of his religion by the working of pretended miracles. This statement, along with the following facts, is substantiated by a relation of the new prophet, who is a wealthy merchant in Bombay. The sect has been subjected to great persecution, in which the leader has lost four members of his family, with twenty-eight or thirty of his followers, who have been decapitated, by order of the Shah of Persia, in the presence of the assembled Baudies (the denomination of the new body), who refuse to acknowledge the Koran, having substituted a creed of their own in its place. The new prophet himself has ben imprisoned, and was sentenced to be beheaded; but, as he is a Syed, the relatives of the prophet interfered in favour of their kinsman, on the ground of his being a fanatic and belonging to their order. Thus, notwithstanding the opposition of the Shah, the reformation goes apace, and the examples made in order to obstruct have merely proved an assistance to the cause. The sufferers themselves, believed to have entered into a state of bliss and happiness, induce others, at all hazards, to seek the same reward; and enthusiasm, as is always the case, triumphs over the obstacles placed in the way to its progress by persecution. – Bombay Telegraph.

French

The French journal Revue de l'Orient in the August 1850, page 124 published an account that begins with the same initial content however Momen maintains there are events reported in the story that have no parallel in standard Babí history and may be confused with something else.

Une nouvelle secte religieuse a été fondée en Perse par un nommé Bab, qui a écrit un livre remplacer le Koran. Ses prosélytes s'élèvent déjà à plusieurs milliers. 18 d'entre eux ont été décapités publiquement par les ordres du shah.

Des lettres de Tabriz nous apprennent qu'il vient d'éclater dans celte ville une vaste conspiration ayant pour but de renverser le gouvernement du schah dans la province d'Aderbidjan, dont Tabriz est la capitale; mais que, grâce aux mesures énergiques prises à temps par le prince-gouverneur, uncle du jeune souverain, la tentative a complétement échoué.

Cinq des principaux conspirateurs ont eu la téte tranchée le 20 mai, après la prière que les musulmans font le soir; et ils furent exposés sur les portes de la ville, tenant chacun sa téte sous le bras, comme on tient le chapeau, ce qui voulait dire qu'ils s'étaient résignés humblement à leur fatale destinée. D'autres exécutions faites dans la foule des complices quelques jours auparavant, avaient frappé la population d'une terreur salutaire, et rendu à l'autorité une partie du prestige due la faiblesse lui avait fait perdre dans les temps passés.

Le chef de l'insurrection du Khorassan a été pris et condamné à une mort cruelle, dont les détails font horreur. Le supplice le moins douloureux par lequel on sit préludé, a été d'arracher les yeux de leur orbite trois jours avant la mort, afin de faire endurer aux malheureux insurgés la torture morale, en même temps que physique, d'une cécité soudaine.

Le différend survenu entre le ministre britannique à Téhéran et le gouvernement du schah, à propos de la bastonnade infligé à un Arménien protégé anglais, vient d'étre réglé à l'amiable; mais, comme d'habitude, les Anglais en ont profité pour placer les intérêts de leur commerce et de leur politique dans des conditions play avantageuses et plus durables.

which translates roughly as

A new religious sect was founded in Persia by a man named Bab, who wrote a book replace the Koran. Proselytes already amount to several thousand. 18 of them were beheaded publicly by the orders of Shah.

Tabriz letters we learn that just burst in this city a vast conspiracy aimed at overthrowing the Shah in the province of Aderbidjan which Tabriz is the capital, but, thanks to the energetic measures taken time by the prince-governor, uncle of the young king, the attempt completely failed.

Five of the principal conspirators had cut the head on May 20, after the prayer that Muslims in the evening and they were exposed on gates of the city, each holding his head under his arm, as is the hat, which meant they were resigned to their fatal destiny humbly. Other executions made ​​accomplices in the crowd a few days earlier, had struck the people with a salutary terror, and report to the Authority a part of prestige due to weakness he had lost in the past.

The leader of the insurrection of Khorassan was caught and sentenced to a cruel death, details of which are horror. The least painful ordeal through which we sit prelude was to tear his eyes from their sockets three days before his death, in order to endure the unfortunate insurgents moral torture, along with physical, sudden blindness.

The dispute between the British Minister in Tehran and the Shah's government, about the beating inflicted on a protected Armenian English, just be settled amicably, but as usual, the English took the opportunity to put the interests of their business and their political conditions play advantageous and more durable.

It is unclear if there is a common source for both the English and French articles or if there is a related issue for the delay....

The French account adds some probably unrelated events giving a feel of a general review. The oldest of these is the "leader" in Khorassan mentioned is the Salar. References to the arrest of the Salar occur as early as the Morning Post 20 May, p. 3 which cites an earlier story in the Manchester Guardian. It may be useful to note British Diplomat Robert Grant Watson's published history of the 19th century Persia directly mentions an insurrection in "Khorassan" in relation to "the Salar" directly before covering events related to the Báb. This series of events seems to have happened from 1848 to 1850 following the passing of the previous Shah in late 1848. The events about the Armenian English person appear as early as London Standard, 7 June, p. 3 (citing correspondence from May 11.) The events in Tabriz and beheading in May are mentioned as early as the London Daily News, 21 June, p. 4.

Spanish

Dr Amin Egea has identified several articles starting October 1850.

Chronology

1850
18 July, Morning Post, p. 5
19 July, Church and State Gazette, Middlesex, London, p. 3 and Newcastle Courant, p. 3, and Freeman's Journal, p. 3, and Stamford Mercury, p. 2
20 July, Preston Chronicle, p. 7 and Leeds Intelligencer, p. 7, and in The Leader
23 July, Sussex Advertiser, p. 2
24 July, Dumfries and Galloway Standard, p. 3
26 July, Elgin Courier, p. 1, and Coventry Herald, p. 2,
27 July, Newcastle Journal, p. 6, and Chester Chronicle, p. 4, and Norfolk News, p. 4, and Hertford Mercury and Reformer, p. 2
1 Aug, Stirling Observer, p. 3
2 Aug, Chelmsford Chronicle, p. 4
6 Aug , Dundee, Perth, p. 3
7 Aug, Derby Mercury, p. 1 and the London Nonconformist, page 21, and NY Daily Tribune p. 6.
8 Aug, Christian Intelligencer (New York, New York) Page: 3 16 Aug, Hull Packet, p. 6, and Essex Standard, p. 1
17 Aug, Preston Chronicle, p. 6−7
21 Aug, Derby Mercury, p. 1 and Tioga Eagle, Wellsborough, Pennsylvania, p. 3
31 Aug, Huddersfield Chronicle, p. 3
31 Aug, Christian Citizen (Worcester, Massachusetts) Page: 3 3 Sept the Huntingdon Journal, p. 3,
4 Sept, Weekly Wisconsin, page 1.
5 Sept, Janesville Gazette, Wisconsin,
12 Sept, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, (Brooklyn, New York)
12 Oct, Allens Indian mail (London, UK)
4 Nov, Melbourne Australia, The Argus, p. 2
23 Nov, Tasmanian Launceston Examiner, p. 5.
29 Nov, Christian Alliance and Family Visiter (Boston, Massachusetts) Page: 3
30 Nov, The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, p. 4.
14 Dec, Mining Register, and Pottsville Emporium (Pottsville, Pennsylvania) Page: 1
1851
28, Jan, Westchester Herald (Ossining, New York) Page: 4

Intersecting with the events in Zanjan

After the coverage of "A new religious sect" appeared, the following appeared The Morning Post of 20 July, p. 6:

Persia - We are in possession, through our correspondents at Erzeroom and Constantinople, of dates from the capital of the Schah's dominions to the commencement of June, which report the country as generally quiet, with the sole exception of Tenjaun, where the Babees hold the town, and have gone the length of forming a Nizam. A military expedition has been dispatched against them from Tabreez, from when the constituted authorities have claimed the delivery up, for public execution, of the prophet Bawb, under confinement in the fortress of Tchehrik; but it would seem that his gailers have become proselytes to Babeeism, for they stoutly refuse to give him up. The Bab-el-Bale, or wise beauty of Kazoeen, is a close prisoner at Teheran, where rumour says, she has all but converted some of the influential officers of state, who have been allowed to visit her dungeon. We have a confirmation of the execution of the salar, and many of his followers, under circumstances of unheard-of barbarous tortures. Bagdad has suffered greatly from an inundation of the Tigris, and though the loss of life is not heavy that of property is very much so. Erzerzoom continuous healthy, though trade is anything but flourishing. The British Consul's lady, of Armenian origin, has presented him with a second pledge of her love and affection.

Clearly this intersects with Newspaper coverage of the Zanjan Upheaval. According to diplomatic reports in Momen's "Contemporary Account"s about Zanjan these begin in early March. According to Nabil's Narrative the bloodshed in Zanjan began in later May. However, either way, most of the coverage of events in Zanjan are from September on.

See also

Historical mentions of the Bábí/Bahá'í Faiths