# Iran: Province of Isfahan

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moojan Momen, Iran: Province of Isfahan, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Iran: Province of Isfahan
> 
> Moojan Momen
> 
> 1994
> 
> The city of Isfahan is situated in the center of Iran and was, under the
> Safavid dynasty, the capital of the country. The province of Isfahan is
> situated on the high semi-arid plateau of central Iran. Despite the dry
> conditions, there is, with the help of irrigation, much agriculture in
> the province. The city has the best architectural monuments of Islamic
> Iran and has been famous as a center of the textile trade and of many crafts.
> 
> Isfahan and the surrounding villages were Bábí strongholds,
> as evidenced by the fact that some 10% of the participants at Shaykh
> Tabarsí (q.v.), were from the area (Momen 164). The Báb was
> in Isfahan from October 1846 to March 1847. Since he was staying for part
> of the time in the house of the Imám-Jum`ih, many of the `ulamá
> and theological students of the city took the opportunity of meeting him
> and some were favorably impressed. It was while he was there that the Báb
> wrote his Commentary on the Qur'anic Súrih of Wa'l-Asr for the Imám-Jum`ih
> and his treatise on the specific prophetic mission of Muhammad (Nubuwat-i-Kháss)
> for the governor Manúchihr Khán (q.v.), who
> was to become his most prominent follower. A considerable number of converts
> was made, some from among the most influential sectors of the population.
> 
> The foundations for the conversion of the Bábís of this
> area to the Bahá'í Faith were laid through those Bábís
> who visited Bahá'u'lláh during his exile in Baghdad. The
> Book of Certitude (q.v.) was greeted with enthusiasm when copies of it
> began to arrive in Isfahan. Many of the prominent Bábís of
> the area became Bahá'ís, such as Mullá Zaynu'l-`Ábidín
> of Najafábád (known to Bahá'ís as Zaynu'l-Muqarrabín,
> q.v.), Mírzá Ashraf of Najafábád, Mírzá
> Muhammad `Ali Nahrí (see "Nahrí family"), Mírzá
> Haydar `Alí Ardistání, Sayyid Ismá`íl
> Dhabíh Zavári'í and others. A number of important
> figures in this area, however, became Azalís (q.v.): Mullá
> Rajab-`Alí Qahír (whose sister had married the Báb
> while he was in Isfahan), his brother Mullá `Alí Muhammad
> Siráj, and Mírzá Hádí Dawlatábádí.
> To these figures was added Mírzá Nasru'lláh Maliku'l-Mutakallimín,
> an important figure in the Constitutional movement. As a consequence, a
> number of the Bábís in the area also remained Azalís,
> especially in the villages of Sidih, Tár, Tarq, and Dawlatábád.
> 
> This area saw numerous episodes of persecution instigated by the leading
> `ulamá: Hájí Mullá Muhammad Báqir Isfahání
> (q.v.; named by Bahá'u'lláh "the Wolf"), his son Mullá
> Muhammad Taqí (q.v., Áqá Najafí), and Mír
> Muhammad Husayn Imám-Jum`ih (q.v.; named by Bahá'u'lláh
> Raqshá, she-serpent); and by the governor Zillu's-Sultán
> (q.v.), who ruled the province from 1874 to 1907. During the time of Bahá'u'lláh,
> there were seven major outbursts of persecution in the Isfahan area, including
> the execution of several prominent Bahá'ís, including Sayyid
> Muhammad Hasan and Sayyid Muhammad Husayn, the King and Beloved of Martyrs
> (see "Nahrí family") in 1879 and Mírzá Ashraf
> in 1888. In the villages around Isfahan there were also numerous episodes
> of persecution and some martyrdoms: in Najafábád in 1864,
> 1889, 1899, and 1910; in Sidih in 1890; and in Zavárih in 1926.
> 
> As a consequence of the persecutions, many of the Bahá'ís
> of Isfahan migrated to other areas. Some, like the merchant Hájí
> Muhammad Ridá, went to Sabzivár and then on to Ashkhabad
> (see "Turkmenistan"), while others moved to the Haifa-Akka area.
> 
> Despite the persecutions, the number of Bahá'ís in the
> area grew both in Isfahan itself and in villages such as Sidih where three
> well-known poets, Mírzá Na`ím, Nayyir, and Siná,
> became Bahá'ís in about 1297/1879-80. In towns such as Ardistán
> where there had been conversions in the Bábí period, there
> was continued growth with the number of Bahá'ís reaching
> some 300 by the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá. There was also some geographical
> diffusion in that the religion was introduced to some new villages. Near
> Ardistán, a large number from the village of Bábu'r-Ruhá
> became Bahá'ís after the conversion of the landowner there,
> Mírzá Fath-`Alí (Fath-i-A`zam). The Bahá'í
> Faith also spread among the nomadic tribes in this area. In particular,
> among the Búyir Ahmad section of the Kúh-Galú tribes
> there were several hundred conversions during the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá.
> There were also converts in Burújin in Bakhtiyárí
> country.
> 
> Surprisingly, in view of the intense persecutions of the Faith in this
> region, a number of prominent citizens managed to remain Bahá'ís.
> For example, Mírzá Asadu'lláh Khán was
> the finance minister of the province from about 1878 to 1908.
> 
> The Bahá'í community of the small town of Najafábád
> has been a particularly large and important one. A Bahá'í
> school was established at Najafábád, and when this was closed
> down by the government in 1934, Mr. Abu'l-Qásim Faizi (q.v.) went
> to the town to act as tutor to the four hundred Bahá'í children
> affected by the closure.
> 
> In 1933 Keith Ransom-Kehler (q.v.) died in Isfahan while on a tour of
> Iran. She was buried next to the graves of the King and Beloved of Martyrs.
> Shoghi Effendi referred on several occasions to these three graves and
> they became a site frequently visited by Bahá'ís.
> 
> Holy places
> 
> Holy places associated with the stay of the Báb in this city include
> the house of the Imám-Jum`ih; the palace of Manúchihr
> Khán at Chihil Sutún; the house of Mírzá
> Asadu'lláh Vazír where the remains of the Báb were
> kept for a short time; and the house and tombs of the King of Martyrs and
> Beloved of Martyrs, together with the adjacent tomb of Ransom-Kehler.
> 
> Bibliography
> 
> History of the Bahá'í Faith in Isfahan (author unknown),
> photocopy of mss. in Afnán Library; Áqá Husayn `Alí
> Núr, memoirs written in 1346, photocopy of mss in Afnán Library,
> partially published as Khátirát-i-Muhájirí
> az Isfahán dar zamán shahádat-i-Sultánu'sh-Shuhadá
> va Mahbúbu'sh-Shuhadá, Mu'assisih Millí
> Matbu`át-i-Amrí, 128/1971; ZH 3:89-105; 6:137-300; 8a:121-174.
> M. Momen, "Social Basis of the Bábí Upheavals in Iran (1848-53):
> a preliminary analysis", International Journal of Middle East Studies
> 1983, 15:157-183.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views8690 views since posted 2010-08-10; last edit 2022-02-05 04:08 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../momen_encyclopedia_isfahan
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> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/3493
> Citation: ris/3493
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> — *Iran: Province of Isfahan (Used by permission of the curator)*