In Mázindarán amongst other places the people of the city of
Barfurúsh at the command of the chief of the lawyers the
Sa’ídu’l-‘Ulamá’ made a general attack on Mullá Husayn of Bushrúyih and
his followers, and slew six or seven persons. They were busy compassing the
destruction of the rest also when Mullá Husayn ordered the adhán to be
sounded and stretched forth his hand to the sword, whereupon all sought flight,
and the nobles and lords coming before him with the utmost penitence and
deference agreed that he should be permitted to depart. They further sent with
them as a guard Khusraw of Qádí-Kalá with horsemen and footmen, so that,
according to the terms of the agreement, they might go forth safe and protected
from the territory of Mázindarán. When they, being ignorant of the fords and
paths, had emerged from the city, Khusraw dispersed his horsemen and
footmen and set them in ambush in the forest of Mázindarán, scattered and
separated the Bábís in that forest on the road and off the road, and began to
hunt them down singly. When the reports of muskets arose on every side the
hidden secret became manifest, and several wanderers and other persons were suddenly
slain with bullets. Mullá Husayn ordered the adhán to be sounded to
assemble his scattered followers …Of Khusraw’s host some were slain and
others wandered distractedly over the field of battle. Mullá Husayn quartered
his host in a fort near the burial-place of Shaykh Tabarsí …,
and, being aware of the wishes of the community, relaxed and interrupted the
march. This detachment was subsequently further reinforced by Mírzá Muhammad-‘Alí
of Mázindarán with a number of other persons, so that the garrison of the fort
numbered three hundred and thirteen souls. Of these, however, all were not
capable of fighting, only one hundred and ten persons being prepared for war.
Most of them were doctors or students whose companions had been during their
whole life books and treatises; yet, in spite of the fact that they were
unaccustomed to war or to the blows of shot and sword, four times were camps
and armies arrayed against them and they were attacked and hemmed in with
cannons, muskets, and bomb-shells, and on all four occasions they inflicted
defeat, while the army was completely routed and dispersed.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘A Traveler’s Narrative’)
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘A Traveler’s Narrative’)
