Martyrdom of the Báb

Tomb where the remains of the Báb are enshrined

Gregorian equivalent dates
Year	Date
2023	July 10
2024	July 9
2025	July 9
2026	July 10
2027	July 10

On the morning of July 9, 1850 in Tabriz the Báb was charged with apostasy and shot by order of the Prime Minister of the Persian Empire. The events surrounding His execution are regarded as miraculous by Bahá’ís.

The Báb and one of His companions were suspended on a wall and a large firing squad prepared to shoot. When the smoke cleared after the first firing of bullets, the Báb was missing. Reports continue by stating that the Báb was found back in His prison room finishing dictation to his secretary. Other sources, which include Persian and European reports, give a variety of accounts, some in agreement with the miracle-like Bahá’í story, and some indicating a less miraculous event. All agree that He survived the first firing squad, and was killed by the second.

For many years after His death, the remains of the Báb were secretly transferred from place to place until they were brought to their final resting place at the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa on the middle terrace of the terraces.

Execution order

In 1850 a new prime-minister, Amir Kabir, ordered the execution of the Báb; He was brought to Tabriz, where He would be killed by a firing squad. The night before His execution, as He was being conducted to his cell, a young man, Anís (sometimes called Mulla Muhammad Ali), threw himself at the feet of the Báb, wanting to be killed with the Báb. 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 a courtyard filled with nearly ten thousand people wishing to watch his execution. The Báb and Anís were suspended on a wall and the firing squad of 750 rifles prepared to shoot.

Bábi/Bahá’í Account

Here is an account which is in line with the common Bahá’í view by Hasan Balyuzi, a Hand of the Cause of God, who published several carefully researched histories about the Bahá’í Faith and its central figures:

“ Sam Khan approached the Bab: 'I profess the Christian Faith and entertain no ill will against you. If your Cause be the Cause of truth, enable me to free myself from the obligation to shed your blood.' To this the Báb replied: 'Follow your instructions, and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity.'

The Báb and His disciple were suspended by ropes from a nail in the wall, the head of Mirza Muhammad-'Ali resting on the breast of the Báb. Seven hundred and fifty soldiers were positioned in three files. Roofs of the buildings around teemed with spectators.

Each row of soldiers fired in turn. The smoke from so many rifles clouded the scene. When it lifted the Báb was not there. Only His disciple could be seen, standing under the nail in the wall, smiling and unconcerned. Bullets had only severed the ropes with which they were suspended. Cries rang out from the onlookers: 'The Siyyid-i-Báb has gone from our sight!'

A frantic search followed. The Báb was found, sitting in the same room where He had been lodged the night before, in conversation with His amanuensis. That conversation had been interrupted earlier in the day. Now it was finished and He told the farrash-bashi to carry out his duty. But the farrash-bashi was terror-stricken and ran away, nor did he ever return to his post. Sam Khan, for his part, told his 158 superiors that he had carried out the task given to him; he would not attempt it a second time. So Aqa Jan Khan-i-Khamsih and his Nasiri regiment replaced the Armenians, and the Báb and His disciple were suspended once again at the same spot. The Nasiri regiment fired. The bodies of the Báb and His disciple were shattered, and their flesh was united. ”

Western accounts

These events were witnessed by western journalists. Provided below is one source that is attributed to Sir Justin Shiel, Queen Victoria's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Tehran and written to Lord Palmerston, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs July 22, 1850.

“ The founder of the sect has been executed at Tabreez. He was killed by a volley of musketry, and his death was on the point of giving his religion a lustre which would have largely increased his proselytes. When the smoke and dust cleared away after the volley, Báb was not to be seen, and the populace proclaimed that he had ascended to the skies. The balls had broken the ropes by which he was bound, but he was dragged [not literally, of course] from the recess where after some search he was discovered and shot. His death, according to the belief of his disciples, will make no difference as Báb must always exist. ”

Shoghi Effendi also prints a large selection of western quotes in his book God Passes By (p55), however most are unsourced.

Maulana

Another view is recorded by Muhammad Ali Maulana, a member of the Ahmadiyya Islamic Community, in his book History and Doctrines of the Bábí Movement (1933):

“ Mulla Muhammad [Anís] Ali was the only man who was executed along with him. It happened, however that when the smoke of musket fire cleared, Mirza Ali Muhammad [the Báb] was not there. The bullet[s] instead of hitting him hit the rope with which he was hung and Mirza Ali Muhammad fled to a closet from which he was brought again. Mirza Jani [an early Bábí historian] is sure that the escape was due to the fact that he was not yet willing to be killed and therefore could not be killed, but willing or unwilling he had to submit to the same process a second time, and this time was killed. ”

Some people see this as a biased attempt by the Ahmadiyya community to discredit the Báb, so their own leader, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, can be credited with the station of the Mahdi. The account is not an original source, but is based on other published accounts.

Miller

Another documentation was made by Miller, a Presbyterian missionary, in his polemic book The Bahá’í Faith: Its History and Teachings (1974): Miller lived many years after the event and thus his account is secondary at best. He seems to have used details in Mírzá Muhammad Taqí Khán Lisánu'l-Mulk Sipihr's book, Násikhu't taváríkh, which also speculates that the Báb could have won the crowd over if he had tried.

“ The execution was carried out by firing squads of soldiers, who fired three volleys. The first firing party was composed of Christian soldiers, and the second of Muslims.

In the presence of a great crowd Mirza Muhammad Ali was suspended by ropes from the parapet, and his body was riddled by the first volley of bullets. Then a second volley was fired by the same firing squad at the Báb, who was similarly suspended. When the smoke rolled away, 'a cry of mingled exultation and terror arose from the spectators – for the Báb had disappeared from sight! It seemed, indeed, that his life had been preserved by a miracle, for, of the storm of bullets which had been aimed at him, not one had touched him; nay, instead of death they had brought him deliverance by cutting the ropes which bound him, so that he fell to the ground unhurt.

Had the Báb been able to maintain his presence of mind and rush out alive and unhurt among the crowd, the spectators would without doubt have hailed his escape from death as a miracle of God, and would have eagerly espoused his cause. No soldier would have dared shoot at him again, and uprisings would have occurred in Tabriz which might have resulted in the overthrow of the Qajar dynasty. However, dazed by the terrible experiences he had passed through, the Báb took refuge in one of the rooms of the barracks. There he was soon found, “was seized, dragged forth, and again suspended; a new firing party was ordered to advance (for the men who had composed the first refused to act again); and before the spectators had recovered from their first astonishment, or the Bábís had time to attempt a rescue, the body of the young prophet of Shiraz was riddled with bullets. ”

Mírzá Mihdí Khán Zaímu'd-Dawlih

Mírzá Mihdí Khán Zaímu'd-Dawlih was the son of a Shi'ite cleric who was present at the execution of the Báb and who took his son to the barracks square to review the events he witnessed. Zaímu'd-Dawlih recounted his father's version in a book, Miftáh-i-Bábu'l-Abváb ya Taríkh-i-Báb va Bahá (Key to the Gate of Gates, or the History of the Báb and Bahá), published about A.H. 1310 (about 1896). The work is a polemically anti-Bahá’í book. But the account of the execution (which is lengthy) includes the following details:

1. The Báb and Anís were suspended about three meters above the ground on a rope and fired on by a Christian regiment.

2. The bullets cut the rope and one bullet wounded Anís.

3. The Báb ran into one of the rooms in the barracks.

4. The Báb was brought back out and he and Anís were shot again, this time fatally.

References

• Nabíl-i-Zarandí (1932). The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative. Translated by Shoghi Effendi (Hardcover ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0900125225.
• Amanat, Abbas (1989). Resurrection and Renewal. Cornell University Press, 124 Roberts Place, Ithica, New York 14850. ISBN 0-8014-2098-9.
• Gobineau, Conte (1864). Les Religions et les Philosophies dans l’Asie Centrale.
• Browne, E.G. (1893). The New History of the Báb. Cambridge. Includes a lengthy introduction, the translation and then appendices.

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Execution of the Báb.