# Iran: Province of Qazvin

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

---

> 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 Qazvin, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Iran: Province of Qazvín
> 
> Moojan Momen
> 
> 1994
> 
> This province lies to the north-west of Tehran on the important road between
> Tehran and Tabriz. The area is populated by a mixture of Ádharí
> Turks in the villages and Persians in the towns, predominantly Shi`is.
> It is an important agricultural area but towards the east of this province
> there is increasing reliance on irrigation as the climate becomes drier.
> The Bábís of Qazvín sprang from a strong Shaykhí
> community that had existed here previously, despite the opposition of Shaykh
> 
> Muhammad-Taqí Baraghání, the uncle and father-in-law
> of Táhirih. Three of the Letters of the Living were from Qazvín.
> The Bábí community appears to have been well organized under
> the leadership of such persons as the Farhádí family and
> Nabíl-i-Qazvíní. The assassination of ShaykhMuhammad-Taqí
> Baraghání in 1847 prompted the first major outbreak
> of persecution of the new religion on Iranian soil. As a consequence, the
> first Bábí martyrdom in Iran occurred and Táhirih
> (q.v.) was imprisoned.
> 
> In the aftermath of the persecutions of 1848-52, the situation in Qazvín
> was rather chaotic. The Bábís had split into a number of
> factions: one group followed Mullá Hádí Qazvíní,
> the Letter of the Living; one group regarded Karbalá'í Muhammad
> Hasan-i-Fatá, a merchant, as the successor of Táhirih and
> followed him (on this man, see Samandar 273-4, 287; on his links with Táhirih,
> see DB 294); another group followed Mullá `Abdu'r-Rahím (presumably
> the same person as is referred to in Samandar 138-142, 231-2); some called
> themselves Bayánís; while another group called themselves
> A`yánís (statement of Nabíl Zarandí in ZH6:525
> - presumably the Bayánís did not follow any particular leader
> while the A`yánís are the ones mentioned above who followed
> Qurratu'l-`Ayn's - i.e. Táhirih's - representative - although A`yán
> is not in fact the correct plural for `Ayn in this sense). A number
> of the leading Bábís of the town accepted Bahá'u'lláh's
> claim when it first became known in early 1282/1865-6 and became Bahá'ís.
> These included such figures as Nabíl Qazvíní and his
> son Shaykh Kázim Samandar, Hájí Nasír,
> a survivor of Shaykh Tabarsí, and Áqá
> Muhammad Javád Farhádí.
> 
> Of the factional groups, Muhammad-Hasan-i-Fatá eventually became
> an Azalí as did Mullá Hádí Qazvíní,
> while Mullá `Abdu'r-Rahím became a Bahá'í.
> However, despite the strong initial base, the Azalís diminished
> in importance. Áqá Mírzá Yahyá Sarráf,
> the son of the Azalí leader Muhammad Hasan-i-Fatá, after
> discussions with the Bahá'ís of Qazvín decided to
> travel to Cyprus and `Akká to investigate the truth for himself.
> He returned a Bahá'í (ZH6:540; Samandar 277-287). Another
> Azalí of Qazvín, Siyyid Javád, became a Bahá'í
> in Láhíján (EB 62-4). By the time that he was writing
> his history in 1332-3/1913-4, ShaykhKázim Samandar
> reported that there were no Azalís left in Qazvín (Samandar
> 289).
> 
> Among those who became Bahá'ís later in Qazvín
> were Mírzá Hasan-i-Vá`iz whose open preaching of the
> new religion caused him to be driven from one town to another; Mírzá
> Muhammad-`Alí Kad-khudá, who was the cousin of Mírzá
> Husayn Khán Mushíru'd-Dawlih, the Prime Minister;
> and Hájí Munis, a Sufi who became a Bahá'í
> succeeded in converting several other Sufis. Mullá `Abdu'r-Rahím
> acted as a judge and religious authority in several of the villages around
> Qazvín. Through this work, he succeeded in converting a number of
> the villagers of Kakan. It was also from Qazvín that the new religion
> spread to Láhíján and Rasht (see "Gilán").
> 
> Compared to the intense early persecutions of the Bábís
> in this area, there were comparatively few episodes during the later periods.
> In 1883, when there was a major persecution of Bahá'ís in
> Tehran, some of the Bahá'ís of Qazvín, such as Shaykh
> 
> Kázim Samandar, were harassed and their property destroyed.
> 
> Initially the followers of Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí
> were strong in Qazvín following the death of Bahá'u'lláh.
> Áqá Jamál Burújirdí, whose wife was
> from Qazvín, and Mírzá Muhammad-Javád Qazvíní
> had strong connections in the town, and Samandar's daughter, Thurayyá,
> was married to Diyá'u'lláh, the brother of Mírzá
> Muhammad-`Alí. But through the efforts of Ibn-i-Abhar and Hájí
> Mírzá Haydar- `Alí, the situation was turned in `Abdu'l-Bahá's
> favor. Samandar visited `Akká in 1317/1899 and subsequently wrote
> a tract supporting `Abdu'l-Bahá that was published in Egypt.
> 
> In 1324/1908, the Bahá'ís of Qazvín founded the
> Tavakkul School under the directorship of Hájí Ibrahím-i-Vá`iz
> and with the financial support of Mírzá Músá
> Hakímbáshí and Mírzá Ridá
> Khán-i-Taslímí.
> Among the teachers at this school was Mírzá Muhammad Labíb
> who played a prominent role in promoting Esperanto in Iran and also founded
> the Nawnahálán company which became a national Bahá'í
> institution to encourage saving among the Bahá'í children.
> 
> Bibliography
> 
> Samandar, Táríkh-i-Samandar, Tehran: Mu'assisih
> Millí Matbú`át Amrí, 131B.E./1974. ZH 3:301-389;
> 6:525-559; 8a:600-29.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views7812 views since posted 2010-08-10; last edit 2022-02-05 04:10 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../momen_encyclopedia_qazvin
> Language
> English
> Permission
> author
> Share
> 
> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/3520
> Citation: ris/3520
> 
> select Collection:
> Archives
> Articles
> Articles-unpublished
> Audio
> Bibliographies
> BIC
> Biographies
> Books
> Chronologies
> Compilations
> Compilations-NSA
> Compilations-personal
> Documents
> East-asia
> Encyclopedia
> Essays
> Etc
> Excerpts
> Fiction
> Glossaries
> Guardian
> Histories
> Introductory
> Letters
> Maps
> Music
> Newspapers
> NSA-documents
> NSA-letters
> Personal
> Pilgrims
> Poetry
> Presentations
> Resources
> Reviews
> Scripts
> Software
> Statistics
> Study
> Talks
> Theses
> Transcripts
> Translations
> UHJ-documents
> UHJ-letters
> Video
> Visual
> Writings
> 
> home
> 
> sitemap
> 
> series
> 
> chronology
> 
> search:
> author
> 
> title
> 
> date
> 
> tags
> 
> adv. search
> languages
> 
> inventory
> 
> bibliography
> 
> abbreviations
> 
> links
> 
> about
> 
> contact
> 
> RSS
> 
> new
>
> — *Iran: Province of Qazvin (Used by permission of the curator)*