# Iran: Province of Yazd

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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 Yazd, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Iran: Province of Yazd
> 
> Moojan Momen
> 
> 1994
> 
> This city and province is in the eastern part of central Iran situated
> on the high, desert plateau that forms much of the country. The climate
> is extremely dry and agriculture is only possible with the assistance of
> underground irrigation channels that bring water many miles. Yazd itself
> was a center for textiles and for the production of glass and other goods.
> The people of the area are Persian-speaking Iranians and there is a small
> group of Zoroastrians in Yazd itself and in some of the villages around.
> It was Mullá Sádiq-i-Muqaddas (q.v) who first openly proclaimed
> the cause of the Báb from the pulpit of a mosque in Yazd in 1845.
> He was assaulted and had to leave the town immediately; a similar fate
> befell Mullá Yúsif-i-Ardibílí. Mullá
> Ahmad-i-Azghandí was a nephew of Siyyid Husayn-i-Azghandí,
> one of the leading mujtahids of Yazd. He had become a Bábí
> in Khurásán and came to Yazd where he managed to assist
> Mullá Sádiq and Mullá Yúsif when it became
> necessary (DB 183-187). Quddús also passed through Yazd in that
> earliest period.
> 
> Vahíd-i-Dárábí (q.v.) arrived in Yazd in
> early 1850. His presence and his open preaching of the message of the Báb
> caused a great commotion in the city, made worse by the fact that the main
> leaders of one of the factions in the town Muhammad-`Abdu'lláh who
> had risen in revolt against the governent previously now declared himself
> a Bábí and supporter of Vahíd. The situation worsened
> with an open confrontation between the Bábís and the governor
> and eventually Vahíd was forced to leave the town (DB 466-75). Muhammad-`Abdu'lláh
> was captured and killed a short time later and there were several executions
> of Bábís in 1852 following the attempt on the life of the
> Shah (Malmírí 9-15).
> 
> When news came that the Bábí leadership had established
> itself in Baghdad after 1852, many of the Bábís of the area
> travelled there. Several of these stayed while others returned bringing
> the news that rather than Mírzá Yahyá, it was Bahá'u'lláh
> who had won their respect and admiration in Baghdad. Among those who returned
> were Mullá Muhammad-Ridá Radiyu'r-Rúh Manshádí
> (martyred 1284/1867) and Mírzá Husayn (brother of Varqá,
> d. 1334/1915). The latter brought back the first copy of Bahá'u'lláh's
> Hidden Words to the Yazd area while the former brought back the Qasida
> `Izz Varqá'iyya (see "Poetical Works of Bahá'u'lláh").
> Therefore when Bahá'u'lláh's claim became known, he already
> had a strong basis of support in this area. As elsewhere, one of the first
> to bring news of Bahá'u'lláh's claim to this area was Nabíl-i-A`zam
> and it was not long before the majority of Bábís had become
> Bahá'ís.
> 
> Of those Bábís who did not become Bahá'ís,
> a small group of about half a dozen followed Mírzá Ja`far
> Kaffásh who put forward a claim to leadership and called
> his group the Kullu-Shay'ís. Mírzá Ja`far later
> moved to Karbalá and withdrew his claims. He died in Yazd in 1309/1891
> and no trace of his group remained (ZH 6:854-5; Dihají 179-80; Browne
> 233). The only supporter of Mírzá Yahyá in Yazd was
> ShaykhMuhammad. He had been in Shiraz when Nabíl-i-A`zam
> first brought the news of Bahá'u'lláh's claim to that city
> and had been the only person to raise any objections there. Finding himself
> without any support and fiercely opposed in Shiraz he returned to his native
> Yazd. Here he debated and disputed with the Bahá'ís to no
> avail until 1306/1888 when he moved to Istanbul, which had become a center
> of Azalí activity. He returned to Yazd in the early 1890s but, since
> he was known as a Bábí, he was unable to live there and moved
> to Karbalá. (ZH6:855; BKG 389-97).
> 
> Yazd was well-known throughout Iran as being rather fanatical in its
> Islam. Therefore there was always a repressive atmosphere towards the Bahá'ís
> of the city. At first matters were moderated by the fact that several of
> the leading religious figures in Yazd were indifferent to the new religion
> while others were supporters, like Mírzá Muhammad-Ridá,
> or even secret believers, like Áqá Siyyid Abu'l-Qásim
> Mujtahid. However as the older generation of `ulamá died, leadership
> of the `ulamá in Yazd fell into the hands of the mujtahid ShaykhMuhammad-Hasan
> Sabzivárí and his son
> 
> Shaykh Muhammad-Taqí
> who together with Sayyid `Alí Mudarris were much opposed to the
> Bahá'ís.
> 
> From about 1290/1873 onwards the persecutions intensified. The first
> culmination of this was the episode of the Seven Martyrs of Yazd in 1891.
> Quite apart from the seven Bahá'ís that were killed in that
> episode, there was widespread harrassment and looting of Bahá'í
> property (Malmírí 32-61; BBR 301-5). Twelve years later there
> was the much more serious 1903 upheaval. For one entire month, the mob
> went on the rampage through the streets of Yazd and in the nearby villages
> killing Bahá'ís wherever they found them and looting and
> destroying their property. Over 70 Bahá'ís were killed in
> Yazd, Taft, Manshád and other villages (Malmírí
> 80-591; BBR 385-402). On both occasions the governor Jalálu'd-Dawlih
> made no attempt to protect the Bahá'ís.
> 
> Despite the persecutions, the Bahá'í Faith spread in Yazd.
> Indeed Captain Henry Vaughan who chanced to be in Yazd a few days after
> the episode of the Seven Martyrs in 1891 comments that "these persecutions
> would give a great impetus to the movement, and that each death caused
> numerous converts" (BBR 301). Among those who became Bahá'ís
> were the members of the Afnán family resident in Yazd. They were
> converted by Hájí Muhammad-Ibráhím Muballigh,
> who was a son-in-law of the Báb's younger uncle Hájí
> Mírzá Hasan-`Alí. Numerous others from all walks of
> life also became Bahá'ís or at least supporters of the religion.
> These ranged from government officials, such as the deputy governor for
> a time, Iskandar Khán, to religious leaders, such as Áqá
> Shaykh Sádiq who taught at the Madrissih Shafí`iyyih.
> Several Shaykhís were also converted.
> 
> Among the prominent Bahá'ís of Yazd were Mullá
> Muhammad-Ridá Radá'r-Rúh (killed 1284/1867); Mullá
> Muhammad-Ridá Muhammadábádí (q.v.), one of
> the Hands of the Cause; Hájí
> Sháh-Muhammad-i-Manshádí
> (killed 1297/1879) and Hájí Abu'l-Hasan-i-Ardikání
> (q.v.), the first and second Trustees of the Huqúqu'lláh;
> Hájí Mullá Mahdí `Atrí (d. 1297/1879)
> and his son `Alí-Muhammad Varqá (q.v.); Mírzá
> Ahmad (d. 1320/1902) for whom the Arabic Tablet of Ahmad (q.v.) was written;
> Hájí Mírzá Muhammad Afshár; Mullá
> `Abdu'l-Ghaní (d. 1335/1916); Hájí Muhammad-Táhir-i-Malmírí
> (d. 1953); Áqá Muhammad-Husayn Ulfat (d. 1345/1926); and
> Fádil-i-Yazdí.
> 
> Perhaps the most interesting development was the conversion of large
> numbers of Zoroastrians. The first conversion occurred in Káshán
> (q.v.). Several other Zoroastrians had become very attracted to the Bahá'í
> Faith in Tehran during the time that Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygání
> had been working for Manikji Limji Hatari, the first Parsi agent in Tehran.
> But real progress in this area of Zoroastrian conversions did not occur
> until Mullá Bahrám Akhtar-Khávarí
> (d. 1349/ 1930) became a Bahá'í in about 1298/1881. Since
> he had a thorough knowledge of Zoroastrian prophecies, he, together with
> Hájí Qalandar, developed a successful approach to the Zoroastrians
> of Yazd and some of the villages around. Among the more eminent of the
> Zoroastrian converts were Ustád Javánmard (d. 1347/1928)
> and Arbáb Siyávash Sifídvash. At one
> stage, the majority of the Anjuman-i Násirí, the elected
> body which led the Zoroastrian community in Yazd, were either Bahá'ís
> or very sympathetic to the Bahá'í Faith (Stiles, see also
> "Zoroastrianism").
> 
> There were also conversions in many of the villages around Yazd. In
> Yazd, Maryamábád and Mihdiyábád, Bahá'í
> schools were established (BBR 475-6). In `Aliyábád, Husaynábád,
> `Izzábád,
> Sharafábád and Hurmuzak strong
> Bahá'í communities grew up.
> 
> Because of the persecutions many of the Bahá'ís of this
> town moved to other areas, especially to Ashkhabad. Bahá'ís
> from Yazd formed almost one-third of the Bahá'í emigrants
> to Ashkhabad (Momen 296) and included such persons as Hájí
> Muhammad-Taqí Afnán (see "Afnan Family"), who was one of
> the leading merchants of Yazd before he left for Ashkhabad where he spent
> much of his wealth in the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár,
> and Ustád `Ali-Akbar-i-Yazdí, who supervised the building
> work involved.
> 
> Bibliography
> 
> On the martyrs in Yazd, the most detailed account is by Mírzá
> Abu'l-Qasim-i-Baydá, photocopy of manuscript in Afnan Library; also
> Hájí Muhammad Táhir-i-Malmírí, Tárikh-i-Shuhadáy-i-Yazd,
> second printing, Pakistan, 135 B.E./1978. Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí
> Khán-i-Bahá'í, history of the Seven Martyrs
> of Yazd, photocopy of mss in Afnán Library. ZH 3:458-483; 6:726-855;
> 8:895-978. Also cited: E.G. Browne, Materials for the Study of the Báb
> Religion, Cambridge, 1918; Risala of Siyyid Mihdí Dihají,
> University of Cambridge Library, Browne mss, F. 59; Moojan Momen 1991,
> "The Bahá'í Community of Ashkhabad; its social basis and importance in
> Bahá'í history" in Cultural Change and Continuity in Central Asia
> 
> (ed. S. Akiner), London: Kegan Paul, 1991; S. Stiles, "Early Zoroastrian
> conversions to the Bahá' Faith in Yazd, Iran",
> From Iran East
> and West (ed. Juan R. Cole and M. Momen), Studies in Báb and
> Bahá' History, Los Angeles, 1984, pp. 67-93. "Madrisi-yi-dukhtarániy-i-Húshangíy-i-Yazd
> va du madrisih dígar,"
> Payám-i-Bahá'í
> October 1992, 155:29-31. See also Michael Fischer, "Social change and the
> Mirrors of Tradition: the Bahá'ís of Yazd" in The Bahá'í
> Faith and Islam (ed. H. Moayyad), Ottawa: Association for Bahá'í
> Studies, 1990, pp. 25-55.
> 
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> — *Iran: Province of Yazd (Used by permission of the curator)*