Mírzá Buzurg

Mírzá Buzurg

Mírzá ‘Abbás-i-Núrí (Persian: ميرزا عباس نوري,) (d. 1839), more commonly known as Mírzá Buzurg, was the father of Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith.

He was a nobleman from the Persian district of Núr and worked for a time in the service of Fatḥ-‘Alí Sháh which allowed him to accumulate a large amount of property and wealth, however he lost the vast majority of his holdings and station at the beginning of the reign of Muhammad Sháh due to conflict with the Prime Minister Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí.

Biography

Buzurg was born into the Núrí family of nobility reportedly descended from the Sasanian dynasty of ancient Persia. He lived in Núr in the province of Mazindaran in his youth.

Ruins of the room where Mírzá Buzurg was born.

Buzurg came to prominence in the aristocracy of Iran due to his talent for calligraphy when Fath-Ali Shah, who was seeking talented calligraphers, summoned him to Tehran on the recommendation of one of his sons. The Shah was impressed by his calligraphy and granted him the title Mírzá Buzurg, gifted him one of his own royal robes, and appointed him as the Vizier to his twelfth son, Imam-Virdi Mirza, who was the chief of the Qajar tribe.

Buzurg relocated to Tehran in the early 1810's and became a prominent and successful member of the nobility under the reign of Fath-Ali Shah, establishing a close friendship with Qá'im-Maqám who served as the Grand Vizier of Persia. He was also able to marry Diya'u's-Saltanih who was one of the daughters of Fath-Ali Shah.

Entrance to the House of Mírzá Buzurg in Tehran.

In 1834 Fath-Ali Shah passed and was succeeded by Muhammad Shah. Initially Buzurg's position in the court was unaffected and he was granted the governorship of Burujird and Luristan by Qá'im-Maqám shortly after Muhammad Shah assumed the throne, however in 1835 the new Shah had Qá'im-Maqám executed. Buzurg felt that the new Grand Vizier, Haji Mirza Aqasi, was responsible for the execution and around this time Áqásí began purging the aristocracy of those who had been loyal to Qá'im-Maqám and appointing his own allies to their positions.

Buzurg wrote letters criticizing Áqásí one of which came into Aqasi's possession which resulted in Aqasi becoming hostile towards him in 1835. Aqasi had Buzurg relieved of the governorship of Burujird and Luristan, had his annual income from the government cancelled, and utilized his relationship with the nephew of Diya'u's-Saltanih to have her divorce Buzurg. These actions placed Buzurg under severe financial pressure and he began selling off his properties to be able to continue funding his household.

Buzurg's divorce from Diya'u's-Saltanih, which took place in approximately 1835, involved an exorbitantly high divorce settlement being set which he was unable to pay and she used her resources to have him imprisoned in his own house and physically assaulted daily to pressure him to meet the settlement. He sold off a complex of houses and their furnishings which he owned in Tehran and where his family had been residing for a much lower amount than they were worth to pay the amount owing. He later attempted to regain ownership of the properties securing documents from two clergymen which argued that the sale was illegal as he was placed under undue pressure to sell them but he was unsuccessful in receiving any restitution. His son, Bahá’u’lláh, rented a property near the Shimran gate of Tehran in 1835 where his wives and young children resided after he sold the properties.

Buzurg ultimately decided to retire from pursuing any sort of political career and to move to Iraq however he passed away in 1839 before being able to emigrate. He was buried in Najaf, Iraq, near the tomb of the Imam ‘Alí.

Family

Buzurg's father was named Mirza Rida-Quli Big who was the son of Mirza 'Abbas, son of Haji Muhammad-Rida Big, son of Aqa Muhammad-'Ali, son of Aqa Fakhr, son of Shahriyar-Hasan.

He had four brothers, Shaykh Aziz'u'llah, Safi Quli Big, Mulla Zaynu’l-‘Abidin, and Mirza Muhammad who was also known as Karbila'i Zaman. Aziz'u'llah and Quli were opposed to the Bábí Faith when introduced to it by Bahá’u’lláh but Zaynu'l-'Abidin and Karbila'i became staunch Bábí's. He also had a sister named Malik Nisa’ Khanum.

He had four wives and three concubines. His wives and children by them were:

• Khan-Nanih, who he married in Núr before he came under the patronage of the Shah
  • Mírzá Aqa, passed away before Buzurg.
  • Mírzá Muḥammad-Ḥasan
• Khadíjih Khánum
  • Sárih Khánum
  • Mirza Mihdi, passed away before Buzurg.
  • Bahá’u’lláh
  • Mírzá Músá
  • Nisá’ Khánum
• Kulthum Khanum-i-Nuri
  • Shah-Sultan Khanum
  • Mírzá Taqi Parishan, became a Shaykhi but was opposed to Bahá’u’lláh and the Bahá’í Faith.
  • Hají Mírzá Riḍa-Quli
  • Mírzá Ibrahim, passed away before Buzurg.
  • Fatimih-Sultan Khanum
• Diya'u's-Saltanih, who he had no children with.

The women he married as concubines were:

• Kuchik Khánum, of Kirmanshah
  • Mírzá Yaḥyá
• Nabat Khanum, of Georgia
  • Husniyyih Khanum
• Turkamaniyyih
  • Mírzá Muḥammad-Quli

Buzurg's brother Mirza Muhammad married Sakínih Khánum, the daughter of his wife Khadíjih from a previous marriage, and they had three daughters, Havva, Fatimih, and Ruqiyya, and a son named Abu’l-Qasim. Fatimih and Ruqiyya married Buzurg's son Mírzá Yaḥyá.

His sister Malik Nisa’ Khanum married Mirza Karim-i Namadsab and they had two daughters, Maryam and Mahd-i-‘Ulya, and a son, Mirza Muhammad-i-Vazir. Maryam married Buzurg's son Hají Mírzá Riḍa-Quli, Mahd-i-‘Ulya married Bahá’u’lláh, and Mirza Muhammad-i-Vazir married Mirza Muhammad and Sakínih's daughter Havva.

External links

• Destruction of Mirza Buzurg's house