Hájí Mírzá Jání

The room where the Báb slept in the house of Ḥájí Mírzá Jání.

Ḥájí Mírzá Jání surnamed Parpa (d. August 1852) was the first Bábí of Kashan and the first person to write a historical account of the Bábí religion.

Background

Jání was a prominent merchant in Kashan. He did not receive an education in his youth. He was introduced to the Bábí Faith by Mullá Ḥusayn when he visited Kashan in 1845 to proclaim the claims of the Báb and accepted the new religion. His two brothers, Haji Mirza Ahmad and Haji Muhammad-Isma'il-i-Dhabih, also became Bábí's however Ahmad ultimately accepted Mírzá Yaḥyá following the Martyrdom of the Báb.

In March 1847 Jání reportedly had a dream of the Báb arriving in Kashan through the gate of Aṭṭár and informing him that He was to be his guest for three days and advising him to make preparations. Jání then made preparations and waited at the Aṭṭár gate where he greeted the Báb, kissing His stirrups, and the Báb went to his home staying there for three days from March 20 to March 23. During the Báb's stay in Jání's home the Letter of the Living Siyyid Ḥusayn-i-Yazdí, the amanuensis of the Báb, also visited and took dictation when the Báb revealed a Tablet in Jání's honor in which He prayed that Jání would be able to proclaim His Faith. Another visitor during the Báb's stay was Jání's nephew Aqa Muhammad-Javad-i-Kashani.

After the Báb's visit Jání actively taught the Bábí Faith in Kashan and was able to answer arguments and objections raised by the clergy including by the notably eloquent Mullá Ja’far-i-Naráqí. In December 1848 he accompanied Bahá’u’lláh and others from Núr to the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí where Mullá Ḥusayn and many Bábí's had fortified themselves due to conflict with the authorities. While attempting to reach Tabarsí the group was arrested and sentenced to being bastinadoed however Bahá’u’lláh stated that Jání was a tradesman and his guest requesting that He be bastinadoed in his stead. The imprisonment prevented Jání from participating in the Battle of Fort Tabarsí.

After the Martyrdom of the Báb in July 1850 Jání settled in Tehran and continued to participate in the Bábí community attending meetings held in Tehran and surrounding villages. While living in Tehran he began writing a chronicle of the history of the Bábí Faith, however his work was later tampered with before being published as the Nuqtatu'l-Kaf.

Jání was martyred in August 1852 during the wave of intense persecution the Bábí community was subjected to following an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the Shah of Iran by two Bábís acting alone. The Grand Vazír of Iran knew him and did not want him to be harmed so he was murdered in secret, being attacked by Aqa Mihdi who was a prominent trader in Tehran who assaulted him with various weapons.