Baha'i History of Kirmanshah, Hamadan, Kurdistan and Luristan
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KIRMÁN
SH
ÁH, HAMADÁN, KURDISTÁN AND
LURISTÁN, IRAN
(including Burújird and Maláyir)
These provinces lie in the mountains of the west of Iran. There is more
rainfall here than in much of the rest of Iran and cereals are grown. Around
Kirmán
sh
áh the population is predominantly Kurdish
but towards Hamadán the majority become Iranians with a large Turkish
minority. The Lurs are nomadic tribespeople speaking a language akin to
Persian. Hamadán itself is one of the most ancient cities of Iran.
In the seventh century B.C.E. it was the capital of the Median Empire.
The Biblical figures, Esther and Mordecai, are supposed to be buried here
and there has been a considerable Jewish settlement of the area since at
least the fourth century.
Kirmán
sh
áh and Hamadán stand on the road
between Tehran and Baghdad. As such, a number of prominent Bábí
and Bahá'í passed through and spent time in both of these
towns: Táhirih spent time in both towns in about 1273/1847; Mírzá
Ahmad Kátib, the Báb's secretary, and Nabíl Zarandí
spent several months in Kirmán
sh
áh in 1267/1851; Bahá'u'lláh
himself spent one month in Kirmán
sh
áh in 1267/1851;
Mírzá `Abdu'lláh
Gh
aw
gh
á lived
in Kirmán
sh
áh until his death in 1289/1872 but his
association with the new religion was somewhat ill-defined; and Mírzá
Muhammad Tabíb Zanjání spent a few years in both towns
from about 1850. And yet despite this, no permanent Bábí
community became established in either town.
It was only in later years that the Bahá'í Faith was established
in these towns. In 1280/1863 two brothers Áqá Muhammad-Javád
and Áqá Muhammad-Báqir of Naráq migrated to
Hamadán and settled there. It was through the latter that a physician,
Hakím Áqá Ján, the first of a stream of Jewish
converts, became a Bahá'í in about 1294/1877. In 1299/1881-2
another Jewish physician, the Hakím-bá
sh
í,
was visiting Hamadán from Kirmán
sh
áh. Here
he met some of the Jewish Bahá'ís and was converted. He returned
to Kirmán
sh
áh and succeeded in converting a large
number of the Jews of that town. Apart from these Jewish converts there
were also Muslim converts in these two towns and also in surrounding towns
and villages such as Maláyir, Asadábád and Bahár.
Of particular interest among these converts were a number of minor members
of the Qajar royal family (see under Maláyir below); several members
of the Ahl-i Haqq religious minority from among the Kurds; and some Sufis.
Among the last category was Hájí Qalandar, who traveled extensively
throughout the Middle East and was the cause of conversion of many other
Sufis.
A number of prominent Bahá'ís from parts of the country
came to help in establishing the Bahá'í community. Mírzá
Abu'l-Fadl Gulpáygání, who was in Hamadán and
Kirmánsháh in 1887-8, was of particular help in view of his
extensive knowledge of the Jewish holy books and traditions. He reports
that at that time, there was an active group of Azalís in Kirmán
sh
áh
who had taken it upon themselves to oppose everything the Bahá'ís
did (Mihráb
kh
ání 142-43).
Of the episodes of persecution of the Bahá'ís of this
area, several were instigated by the Jewish rabbis and were aimed specifically
at the Jewish converts. Mullá `Abdu'lláh Burújirdí,
mujtahid of Hamadán, was the main opponent of the Bahá'ís.
The Bahá'ís were also victims in a number of anti-
Sh
ay
kh
í
riots, the most serious being in 1315/1897. In the following year, some
nine Bahá'ís gathered for Naw-Rúz celebrations were
arrested and their houses looted.
In 1327/1909, the Ta'yíd School for boys and the Mawhibat School
for girls were established by the Bahá'í community of Hamadán
with the particular assistance of Mírzá Áqá
Ján Tabíb. In 1331/1913, they were officially recognized
by the government.
Luristán
Siyyid Basír-i-Hindí, a blind Indian Bábí,
was killed in this province by the governor Ildirím Mírzá
in about 1851. In later years there were a number of Bahá'ís
resident in
Kh
urramábád (now
Kh
urram
sh
ahr),
among them Mírzá Abu'l-Qásim Hakím-bá
sh
í.
He succeeded in converting Mírzá Báqir
Kh
án
(d. 1317/1899), the secretary of the governor, who was, however, forced
to flee to Tehran when the governor took steps against him because of his
faith. `Abdu'n-Nabí ibn Ázád
Kh
án (d.
1354/1935) was a leader of the Lur tribe and had much wealth and property.
But when he became a Bahá'í he lost his wealth and was compelled
to leave for Tehran.
Maláyir
Husayn-Qulí Mírzá, a Qájár prince (a
great-grandson of Fath-`Alí
Sh
áh) with the poetic
sobriquet of Mawzún, became a Bahá'í in 1292/1875
in Tabriz. He returned to Maláyir where he succeeded in converting
several members of his family in Maláyir and Túysargán
as well as Hakím Dáwúd a Jewish physician and others.
In 1310/1892,
Sh
ay
kh
Diyá'u'd-Dín mujtahid
and his brother Áqá Mihdí plotted a major persecution
of the Bahá'ís in the town and arranged with the head of
the telegraph and post services that no-one would be able to appeal for
help. Husayn-Qulí Mírzá was, however, able to slip
out to Sultánábád and telegraph to the Shah from there.
Burújird
Siyyid Jamál Burújirdí, who was a member of an important
family of `ulamá, became a follower of Bahá'u'lláh
in Baghdad in about 1280/1863. After the death of Bahá'u'lláh,
he was to become the leading supporter of Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí
in Iran. The growth of the Bahá'í Faith in Burújird,
however, did not begin until about 1328/1910 with the conversion of the
three Ávárigán brothers. After this a number of towspeople
became Bahá'ís. With the presence of many notable `ulamá
in this town, however, there was much pressure against the Bahá'ís.
For events after 1921, see entry "
Iran
".
Bibliography
On Kirmán
sh
áh (and Maláyir), see ZH 3:405;
6:695-702; 8b:745-757. On Hamadán, see memoires of Mírzá
Mihdíy-i-Tabíb, photocopy of mss in Afnán Library;
ZH 6:702-726; 8b:882-894. On Luristán, see ZH 6:974-5. On Burújird,
see ZH 6:300-316; 8a:174-199. See also Mihráb
kh
ání,
Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl
125-153
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