# Iran: Provinces of Kirman and Sistan

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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: Provinces of Kirman and Sistan, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Iran: Provinces of Kirmán and Sístán
> 
> Moojan Momen
> 
> 1994
> 
> The town and province of Kirmán lie in south-east Iran on the edge
> of the great central desert. The town is famous for its carpets while the
> countryside produced cotton and, in the nineteenth century, opium.
> The Bábí movement found it difficult to become established
> in the town of Kirmán due partly to the intense opposition of the
> Shaykhí leader, Muhammad-Karím Khán
> Kirmání. Quddús was the first to attempt to establish
> it but was driven from the town (DB 180-2). He was followed by Mullá
> Sádiq-i-Muqaddas and Mullá Yúsif-i-Ardibílí,
> who also met the same fate (DB 187). The Imám-Jum`ih of Kirmán,
> Hájí Siyyid Javád, a paternal relative of the Báb,
> however, did his best to mitigate the activities of Karím Khán.
> 
> This difficulty was compounded for the Bahá'ís in subsequent
> years by the presence of a strong Azalí group in Kirmán.
> The leading Azalí was Mullá Muhammad Ja`far, a prominent
> Islamic scholar and a teacher at a religious college (d. before 1300/1882;
> Tihrání, no. 470, p. 230). Through him a number of others
> became Azalís including his son, Shaykh Ahmad Rúhí,
> and Mírzá Áqá Khán. (Bayat 1971;
> Bayat 1982:157-161; Balyuzi 18-28). Another, somewhat strange, figure was
> Mírzá Ahmad Kirmání who vacillated between
> the Azalí and Bahá'í positions, sometimes supporting
> and sometimes attacking the Bahá'ís. Eventually he became
> a supporter of the Constitutional Movement. He was arrested and his accusations
> led to the arrest of Hájí Amín and Hájí
> Akhúnd in 1891. Mírzá Ridá Kirmání,
> the assassin of Násiru'd-Dín Sháh, stayed with
> him immediately before he shot the Shah. Mírzá Ahmad fled
> Tehran for Hamadán. Here he persuaded a certain Siyyid Hasan to
> claim to be the Imam Mahdí. The two of them were arrested and Mrzá
> Ahmad died in prison in Tehran. (Browne 1910:78, 405-6. Bámdád
> 1:99-100, 339). After the death of Bahá'u'lláh, Ustád
> Muhammad Haddád was won over to the side of Mírzá
> Muhammad `Alí but, after he died, there was no further support for
> that position.
> 
> Even of those who were Bahá'ís in Kirmán, it would
> appear from E.G. Browne's account of his stay there that several were somewhat
> dissolute in their habits (Browne 1926:475-594). It is of interest to note
> that Browne's Bahá'í acquaintances in Yazd appear not to
> have held a high opinion of the Kirmán Bahá'ís and
> tried to dissuade Browne from going there. It is perhaps therefore little
> wonder that Bahá'u'lláh addresses Kirmán so reproachfully
> in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
> 
> Despite these obstacles, a number of conversions to the Bahá'í
> Faith occurred in the city and the community did grow albeit more slowly
> than elsewhere. A few of the Shaykhís and Zoroastrians
> of the town became Bahá'ís as well as some other persons.
> A Bahá'í school was established in this town (Momen 1981:476-7).
> 
> In Rafsinján, between Kirmán and Yazd, a strong Bahá'í
> community was formed. Áqá Muhammad-`Alí Yazdí
> moved to that town in order to look after the properties of Hájí
> Mírzá Muhammad-Taqí Afnán (see "Afnán
> Family"). He married into one of the notable families of the town who were
> Shaykhís. Little by little he established himself
> as one of the most prominent citizens of Rafsinján such that even
> the governor of the town was beholden to him. Many became Bahá'ís,
> including his wife's family. Several of the prominent Bahá'í
> teachers such as Hájí Mírzá Haydar-`Alí
> and Áqá Shaykh Muhammad `Arab were able to
> teach openly here (Momen 134-137, esp. note on p. 134). As a result many
> became Bahá'ís including Mírzá `Alí-Akbar
> Rafsanjání (d.1921).
> 
> The most prominent Bahá'í from Sístán was
> Muhammad Khán-i-Balúch. He was a dervish who
> travelled much and ended his life in `Akká.
> 
> Bibliography
> 
> ZH 3:396-405; 6:900-922; 8b:730-45. Hasan Balyuzi, Edward Granville
> Browne and the Bahá' Faith, Oxford, 1970. Mihdi Bámdád,
> 
> Tarkh-i-Rijál-i-Írán, 4 vols., Tihran, 1347
> A.H.S.; Mangol Bayat, "Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani: 19th century Persian Revolutionary
> Thinker", PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, 1971; idem, Mysticism
> and Dissent: socioreligious thought in Qajar Iran, Syracuse, 1982.
> Browne, Persian Revolution, Cambridge, 1910; Browne, A Year among
> the Persians, Cambridge, 1926. M. Momen, Selections from the writings
> of E.G. Browne on the Báb and Bahá' Religions, Oxford:
> George Ronald, 1987. Ághá Buzurg Tihrání,
> Tabaqát A`lám ash-Shi`a (13th Century).
> 
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> Views7788 views since posted 2010-08-10; last edit 2022-02-05 04:11 UTC;
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> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/3517
> Citation: ris/3517
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> — *Iran: Provinces of Kirman and Sistan (Used by permission of the curator)*