Hájí Mírzá Abú'l-Qásim

Hájí Mírzá Abú'l-Qásim.

Hájí Mírzá Abú'l-Qásim (1811 - November 18, 1887) also known as Saqqá-Khánih was an elder brother of Khadíjih Bagum, the wife of the Báb. He is notably the paternal great-grandfather of Shoghi Effendi.

Biography

Abú'l-Qásim was born in 1811. His father was Áqá Mírzá ‘Alí who was a merchant, and he was raised in his fathers house in Shiraz which was adjoining the house of Khál A’zam, the Uncle of the Báb who raised Him, allowing Abú'l-Qásim to associate with the Báb when they were children.

Abú'l-Qásim followed in his fathers footsteps becoming a successful merchant and he established a printing press and publishing house in Bombay, India, although he remained based in Shiraz. He built a public fountain near his office which is how he earned the title Saqqá-Khánih. He married Sáhib-Sultán Bagum of Jahrum and their children were Maryam-Sultán Bagum, Siyyid Muhammad-Husayn, Mírzá Abu'l-Hasan, Mírzá Mahmúd, Mírzá ‘Alí, Mírzá Ibráhím, Fátimih-Sultán Bagum, and Sárá-Sultán Bagum.

As of the 1840s he had business relations with the Báb. After the Martyrdom of the Báb in 1850 there was persecution of Bábís in Shiraz and Abú'l-Qásim went on pilgrimage to Mecca to avoid the situation. He also supported his sister after the Martyrdom of the Báb and later became a Bahá’í before he passed away in Shíráz in 1887. He was buried next to his sister.

Regarding his less notable children, Abú'l-Qásim's son Mírzá ‘Alí pursued a career as a merchant in Bandar 'Abbás where he passed in 1887 having never married and Mírzá Ibráhím worked as a merchant in China but returned to Shiraz in 1893 and passed away in the city having never married. Maryam-Sultán Bagum married fellow Afnán and prominent Bahá’í Núri'd-Dín, Fátimih-Sultán Bagum married a merchant from Búshihr and Sara-Sultán Bagum married fellow Afnán Hájí Siyyid Mírzá.