The Handbook of Palestine
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Harry Charles Luke, The Handbook of Palestine, bahai-library.com.
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The Handbook of Palestine

Harry Charles Luke
pp. 33, 58-59, 105, 107

London: Macmillan and Company, 1922

1. Text

[page 33]

...
The population of Palestine (exclusive of Trans-jordania
and exclusive of the British garrison) is estimated as follows
(1922):

Moslems - - - - 583,188
Christians - - - - 84,559
Jews - - - - 79,293
Druses - - - - 7,034
Metawileh - - - - 160
Bahá'ís - - - - 158
Samaritans - - - - 157
---
Total - 754,549

[page 58]

Part II., § 18. The Bahá'ís

In 1844 a Persian, Mirza 'Ali Mohammed, proclaimed
himself in Tabriz as the 'Bab,' or Gate, whereby communication was
to be re-established with the 'hidden' or Twelfth
Imam, or Mahdi, whose return to earth is awaited by a large
number of Shiah Moslems. Later he stated that he himself
was the expected Imam, but his ministry was cut short by
martyrdom in Tabriz in 1850. Before his death he
appointed as his successor a lad named Mirza Yahya,
called Subh-i-Ezel ('the Dawn of Eternity'), who, with his
half-brother Mirza Husein 'Ali, afterwards better known as
Bahá'u'lláh, and other Babi leaders, took refuge in Baghdad
in consequence of the persecution to which the sect was
subjected by the Shah. After they had spent twelve years
in Baghdad the Persian Government persuaded the Porte to
have them removed, and they were taken to Adrianople,
where they remained from 1864 to 1868. In A.H. 1283
(A.D. 1866-67) occurred an event which rent the sect in
twain. Bahá'u'lláh, who was of more assertive character
than the retiring Subh-i-Ezel, suddenly announced that he
himself was the expected Imam, and that the 'Bab' had

[page 59]

been no more than his fore-runner; and he called upon all
Babis, including Subh-i-Ezel, to acknowledge him. This
the latter refused to do, and Babis were now divided between
Ezelis, who acknowledged the original Bab and his
successor Subh-i-Ezel, and Bahá'ís, or followers of Bahá'u'lláh.
Meanwhile both sections were again deported by the Turks,
Subh-i-Ezel and his family to Famagusta in Cyprus, Bahá'u'lláh and his followers to Acre. From Acre the Bahá'í
faith has spread over Asia and America and into Europe,
and counts two millions of adherents; the Ezelis have
dwindled to a handful.

Bahá'u'lláh died on the 16th May, 1892, leaving, among
other children, two sons, 'Abbas Effendi and Mirza Mohammed
'Ali, who for a while disputed the succession. Ultimately
there prevailed the claims of the elder, 'Abbas Effendi,
who took the spiritual title of 'Abdu'l Baha, meaning 'The
Servant of the Glorious.' 'Abdu'l Baha was born in Teheran
on the 23rd May, 1844, the day of the Declaration of the
Bab, and died at Acre on the 27th November, 1921. His
successor is his grandson, Shawki Effendi, who is Life-President
of the Council of Nine, which regulates the affairs
of the community. The number of Bahá'ís in Palestine
is 158. Sir 'Abbas Effendi 'Abdu'l Baha had travelled
extensively in Europe and America to expound his
doctrines, and on the 4th December, 1919, was created by
King George V. a K.B.E. for valuable services rendered
to the British Government in the early days of the Occupation.
For farther information on Babism and Bahá'ism
the reader is referred to the works of Professor E.G. Browne,
published by the Cambridge University Press.

[page 105]

Acre. — The varied history of Acre has been touched upon
in Part I., §§ 5 and 6. It is mentioned only once in the
Old Testament (Judges, i., 31), under the name of Accho,
and once also in the New Testament (Acts, xxi., 7), under
its Greek name of Ptolemais. According to the Talmud
the Jews regarded Acre as being outside the confines of
the Holy Land, whose frontier was its outer wall. The
town became of importance during the Crusades, and was
the favourite seat of the Court of the Latin Kingdom. On
the fall of Jerusalem it succeeded that city as the capital
and as the headquarters of the Knightly Orders, owing its
full name of S. Jean d'Acre to the Knights Hospitallers.
It was for several years, until its fall in May, 1291, the last
outpost of the Crusaders in Palestine.

Even after the disappearance of the Franks Acre remained
the usual landing-place for Christian pilgrims from the
West. In more recent times it has stood several sieges,
notably by Napoleon in 1799; was captured by Ibrahim
Pasha in 1831; and was bombarded in 1840 by the British,
Austrian and Turkish fleets under Stopford and Napier.
In later Turkish times Acre was the capital of the Sanjaq
which bore its name. Its connexion with the Bahá'í sect
is described in Part II., § 18 [above].

[page 107]

...
About half a mile to the east of the walls is Tel al-Fukhar,
where King Richard pitched his tent in 1190-1; from this
place Napoleon directed operations in 1799. About one
mile to the north-east is the village of Menshieh, where was
the French Camp, and close by are the orange gardens of
Baghche and the tombs of Bahá'u'lláh and Sir Abbas
Effendi 'Abdu'l Baha. Across the plain to the north can
be traced the aqueduct — rebuilt by Jezzar and 'Abdallah,
probably on the ruins of a Roman aqueduct — conveying
the water a distance of 8 miles into Acre. To the north-east
on the hillside can be seen the late Arab castle of
Jeddin, and to the north the white cliff of Ras al-Nakura
(the boundary between Palestine and Syria) and the beginning
of the "Ladder of Tyre." The beautiful Wadi
Qurn, well wooded and with a strongly flowing stream,
deserves a visit, together with the ruins of the Crusaders'
castle of Montfort (Qala'at Qurein). This castle of Mons
Fortis was begun in 1229 by Hermann von Salza, the Grand
Master of the Teutonic Order, and was the principal strong-hold
of the Order in Palestine. It was destroyed by Bibars.

Acre is connected with Haifa by a narrow-gauge railway,
which crosses the rivers Kishon (Nahr Muqatta) and Belus
(Nahr Na'mein). The latter provided and still provides the
murex, from which the Phoenicians extracted the famous
Tyrian purple; and Pliny records that glass was made from
its exceptionally fine sand.

There is a local prophecy to the effect that when the
waters of the river Belus reach the east gate of Acre the
English will take the town. This possibility arose from
the fact that Belus changes his course every year. In 1910 the
river approached so close to the gate that, in view of the
prophecy, the Turkish authorities became anxious. Numbers
of sheep were publicly sacrificed on the spit of land
between the river and the gate, and that winter Belus moved
himself away from the walls.

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-- The Handbook of Palestine (Used by permission of the curator)