Baha'i Allegations Against Subh-i Azal - The Order of Banishment
17. The Order of Banishment
"These notable developments, some synchronizing with, and others flowing from, the proclamation of the Faith of Baha, and from the internal convulsion which the Cause had undergone, could not escape the attention of the external enemies of the Movement …. No less active were Mirza Husayn-Khan [the Iranian ambassador], and his associates, who, determined to take full advantage of the troubles that had recently visited Baha, arose to encompass His destruction. The authorities in the capital were incensed by the esteem shown Him by the governor Muhammad Pashay-i-Qibrisi, a former Grand Vizir, and his successors Sulayman Pasha, of the Qadiriyyeh Order, and particularly Khurshid Pasha, who, openly and on many occasions, frequented the house of Baha, entertained Him in the days of Ramadan. They were well aware of the challenging tone Baha had assumed in some of His newly revealed Tablets, and conscious of the instability prevailing in their own country. They were disturbed by the constant comings and goings of pilgrims in Adrianopole, and by the exaggerated reports of Fuad Pasha, who had recently passed through on a tour of inspection. The petitions of Mirza Yahya [Subh-i-Azal] which reached them through Sayyid Muhammad [of Isfahan], his agent, had provoked them. Anonymous letters (written by this same Sayyid and by an accomplice, Aqa Jan [Beg Kaj-Kulah], serving in the Turkish artillery) which perverted the writings of Baha, and which accused Him of having conspired with Bulgarian leaders and certain ministers of European powers to achieve, with the help of some thousands of His followers, the conquest of Constantinople, had filled their breasts with alarm. And now, encouraged by the internal dissensions which had shaken the Faith, and irritated by the evident esteem in which Baha was held by the consuls of foreign powers stationed in Adrianopole, they determined to take drastic and immediate action which would extirpate that Faith, isolate its Author and reduce Him to powerlessness. The indiscretions committed by some of its over-zealous followers, who had arrived in Constantinople, no doubt, aggravated an already acute situation. "
“The fateful decision was eventually arrived at to banish Baha to the penal colony of Akka, and Mirza Yahya [Subh-i-Azal] to Famagusta in Cyprus. This decision was embodied in a strongly worded Farman, issued by Sultan Abdu'l-Aziz. The companions of Baha, who had arrived in the capital, together with a few who later joined them, as well as Aqa Jan [Beg Kaj-Kulah], the notorious mischief-maker, were arrested, interrogated, deprived of their papers and flung into prison. The members of the community in Adrianopole were, several times, summoned to the governorate to ascertain their number, while rumours were set afloat that they were to be dispersed and banished to different places or secretly put to death. “
Suddenly, one morning, the house of Baha was surrounded by soldiers, sentinels were posted at its gates, His followers were again summoned by the authorities, interrogated, and ordered to make ready for their departure.”
“Some of the consuls of foreign powers called on Baha, and expressed their readiness to intervene with their respective governments on His behalf suggestions for which He expressed appreciation, but which He firmly declined.”
The Iranian ambassador had no jurisdiction over Baha and other BÁBi exiles, who had already acquired the Ottoman nationality whilst in Baghdad. He was, however, on the alert to frustrate BÁBi propaganda calculated to effect adversely the Shia faith by making representations to the Ottoman government for appropriate action, whose head the Sultan, as the Caliph of the Sunni world, would not tolerate such activities in his dominions.
The authorities in the capital were not incensed by courtesy visits, if any, paid by the governor to Baha. The authorities were not aware of Baha’s tablets kept under the carpet, section 17 refers, as otherwise they would have clamped down on him.
The authorities were not disturbed by periodic coming and goings of a small number of pilgrims, who posed as Moslems. The Foreign Minister Fuad Pasha’s tours of inspections were done as a matter of routine. Serious view was taken by the authorities and Baha’s fraternization with the consuls of foreign powers situated in Edirne.
Ostensibly Baha refused their offer of aid, but actually had already appealed to Napoleon III through Count Gobineau to become a French protégé.
PP. 177-182: No documentary evidence is produced in support of the allegation that Baha’s writings were tampered with by Sayyid Muhammad of Isfahan and Aqa Jan Beg Kaj-Kulah. The allegation is devoid of foundation.
No documentary evidence is produced to substantiate the allegation that anonymous letters were written by Sayyid Muhammad of Isfahan and Aqa Jan Beg Kaj-Kulah, in which Baha was accused of having plotted with Bulgarian leaders and certain ministers of European powers to achieve the conquest of Istanbul. The allegation is dismissed as groundless.
On the other hand it is claimed, section 12.4.13.1 refers, that a number of letters were written in different hand-writings by Mirza Aqa Jan of Kashan, Mushkin Qalam, Abbas Effendi and other partisans of Baha to sundry-statesmen and officials to the following effect: “About thirty thousand of us BÁBis are concealed in disguise in and around Istanbul, and in a short while we shall rise. We shall first capture Istanbul, and, if Sultan Abd al Aziz and his ministers do not believe [in our religion], we shall depose and dismiss them from their administration and our king is Mirza Yahya Subh-i-Azal.”
These letters were left by night at the Sultan’s palace and the houses of the different ministers by Mushkin Qalam and other partisans of Baha.
On the face of the account of forged letters circulated by Baha would appear to be improbable in itself as it was found to boomerang on him. The account is, however, quite true, and the documentary evidence is furnished by none other person than Baha himself in the form of his information lodged by him with the governor-general of Edirne province against Subh-i-Azal. Facsimile of the information and its translation appears in section 12.4.13.2.
In the information Baha alleges that Subh-i-Azal is due “to rise [i.e. make revolt] on a certain date.” Baha refers to “seditious letters left at the doors of houses, “concerning which his partisans have already been “questioned” by the authorities to trace “the author of those letters”. Baha describes Subh-i-Azal and Sayyid Muhammad of Isfahan as the source of these mischiefs.” Whose “mischief-making” was brought by him to the note of the governor-general “time after time, and over and over again”. Baha concludes by saying that “during this period this servant wrote no letters to any of the inhabitants of these dominions, and sought no association and intercourse with anyone.”
It was this information that brought the internal dissensions into open, and led to administrative enquiry which resulted in the banishment of Baha to Acre and Subh-i-Azal to Famagusta in Cyprus.
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