What’s gained by the analysis of the book called “a year among the Iranian people (written by Edward Browne) is trying to create an oppressed figure and the acceptable one out of the Babis. Browne tries to follow the aims by stating the story of Babis oppression and exaggerating about them.
First, he perks their resistance as the reason for their legitimacy and second, he opens another gate to show Muslims’ violence paid attention by the UK. When Browne achieves the explanation for the problem of Babis execution, he writes:
“These executions were quite false. They caused excitement and instigation instead terror and horror among the Babis.”[۱]
Browne tries to create an innocent face out of Seyyed Ali Muhammad Shirazi although he was aware of this fact that Bab hasn’t expressed a belief, but a false claim and he has written a book called Bayan to deviate Shia beliefs and to cause mortal riot in Zanjan and Qazvin ended in the massacre of thousands of people. Browne evaded to reveal the facts that Bab was tried and condemned and even he repented for his false claim and then once again he claimed so. He has mentioned Bab’s execution to be without trial. Hiding reality, Browne writes in several lines about the oppressed Bab against the ruthless Nasser Al-Din and makes each reader to sympathy with Bob!!!
Not only inside but also outside Iran, Browne tried to make the public thoughts of foreigners to be along with this organization because at his time the Babis who has been exiled to Aderneh were afflicted by differences and both groups who were in favor of Sobhi Azal and Hussein Ali Baha were continuously accused by many problems such as violence and spying. Consequently, Browne had to present an oppressed figure out of them to the world. Concerning Nasser Al-Din’s assassination by three Babis, Browne made the government and Seyyed Ali Muhammad’s killers guilty who had made the Babis be under the pressure to do this action and next during the adventure of Zarrin Taj (Gorratul Ein)’s murder, he admired her and wrote:
“These kinds of bravery stated by the Iranian people to be influential on by the participants and made them think and say to themselves if these people don’t figure out a reality in Babi religion, how do they welcome these horrible tortures?”[۲]
Brown wrote what he had heard about Babi’s bravery stated by themselves:
“One day when a poor man from Yazd city was present while a Babi was being executed as he was smiling and composing gnostic poems, he was influenced and said: “I want to be a Babi… kill me, too.”[۳]
Browne expresses the issue of Babis bravery and their interest in them and writes:
“The more I become aware of the Babis, the more I become interested. in visiting them. I had been astonished by their bravery and resistance against kinds of horrible tortures and I thought these people had figured out something to resist so.”[۴]
He declares this interest in various occasions concerning the Babis and he mentions commonplace stories to such an extent that he considers Bab’s questioning his teacher in his childhood as his extraordinary intelligence!!!
Brown presumes to introduce the Iranian as rough people and the Islamic commandments as bigoted and illogical and to weaken Shia-Iranian culture.
He writes speaking with a Muslim:
“… I asked him: Is there any Babi person in foreign countries? However, he reacted with extreme horror and added proudly: “We break everybody who is suspected to obey that cult; because all are of the followers of Morteza Ali (P.H.).”[۵]
While; according to the western authors’ works and even England and Russia’s attached ones who have tried hard to strengthen this cult, Baha’is massacres and remorseless deeds were famous. According to Abdul Hussein Awareh, the ex-Baha’i author and proselytizer:
“When we look at the history of Bab’s period of time, we observe nothing but remorseless attacks of Babis…”[۶] Grant Watson, the ,… member of British embassy in Tehran has written: “After stating the severe resistance. of Babis of Zanjan against the governmental troops, they smirked the surrending message suggested by the Iranian commander and killed the one who mediated. When the Iranians were taken captive by the Babis, they were behaved like animals. They were being hanged in one of their hands and roasted.”[۷]
Kiniaz Dalgourki, the Russian ambassador in Iran has confirmed the violent report of the Babis of Zanjan city.
Edward Abbott, one of the other British officials writes in a report dated Aug 30, 1850 A.D. sent to Britain about the inner military camp of the Iranian government in Zanjan pointing the severe conflict between the governmental troops headed by Muhammad Khan Biglarbeygi and the Babi rioters at that city:
“The Babis fight having really strong spirit and splenetic method… Additionally, they were aiming so well that they have killed too many governmental troop people… As soon as the people of the troop were exposed, they were shot… Today, it is confirmed that they immediately killed a poor man who was going to mediate and killed other unlucky people. The Babis committed all kinds of tragic actions and savageries and they even shoed some people like horses and hanged some people in one hand and one leg and put them into fire alive!!!”[8]
According to Abbott:
“Mullah Ali who is the head of the bigoted defenders encourages them giving good news: If they are martyred in the war, their spirit will be eternal – to fight against the governmental troops to be martyred to be included in the holy people or to be victorious to ride the wish horse and to expand their territory from the east to the west. Additionally, they assure them that the Russian government will help them in the war.”[۹]
Dalgourki, the Russian ambassador has confirmed the violent reports of the Babis of Zanjan in a report dated October, 26, 1850 A.D.:
“The Babis are busy fighting severely and according to the reports, from Zanjan, the brigadier-general Farrokh Khan who had been commissioned from Kermanshah goes to Zanjan to See Biglar Beygi. He is afflicted by the Fanatic. He is burnt.”[۱۰]
Even, Sir Percy Sykes has written pointing out the Babi riot in Zanjan in the book “the Iranian history”:
“They were torturing the prisoners to death following Khawarj.”[۱۱]
The tragic violence of the Babis wasn’t limited to Zanjan riot, fort Tabarsi riot war of savage ones recorded in the history.
Mister Nicola, the member of French embassy of Iran in that era explains narrated by Mahmoud Khan Kalantar’s nephew (Qorratul Ein’s jailor in Tehran city):
“Babis have created honor too much that it wasn’t imaginable.[12]
All in all, Browne was describing Babi’s being oppressed because he was responsible to create religion differences and to expand it. He was trying to humiliate the Iranian people. Browne writes: “The Iranian servants are of the greediest and the most covetous people and I think so.”
Consequently, investigating the foreign tourists’ writings who have traveled to Iran indicates that most of them have humiliated the Iranian people which is one of the main aims of the western Colonialism.
[۱] A year among the Iranian, Edward Browne, translated by Mani Salehi Allameh, p.132.
[۲] Ibid, p.109.
[۳] Ibid, p. 108.
[۴] Ibid, p. 148.
[۵] A year among the Iranian people, Edward Browne, Translated by Mani Salehi Allameh, p. 257.
[۶] Kawakeb-al-Dorrieh, 508.1, the overt collaboration of the universal organization of Bahaism in our era with the most merciless current governments of the world, America and Israel is a special manifestation of that cruelty.
[۷] The Iranian history, Qajar periods of time, Robert Grant Watson, translated by A. Vahid Mazandarani, Tehran: Amir the Great, 1354, P. 263.
[۸] The Iranian contemporary history, year 12, fall and winter 1387 S.H., No.47&48, pp. 322-323.
[۹] Ibid.
[۱۰] Sheikism, Babism…, Morteza Modarresi Chahardehi, p.188.
[۱۱] The history of Iran, translated by Seyyed Muhammed Taghi Fakhr Daee, 495.2.
[۱۲] The religions of civilized nations, the history of Seyyed Ali Muhammad known as Bab, Mister Nika, translated by Muhammad Farah
