Introduction of the Babi faith and the Babi revolts.

The interaction of internal discontent with growing foreign influences produced a series of social-religious movements in Iran, the most important of which was that of the Babis. Much has been written about the Babis and their successors the Baha'is and we shall but briefly review their history here. 'Ali Muhammad, called the Bab or 'Gate', was born in Shiraz in 1819 of a merchant family. He journeyed to Nejef in Mesopotamia where the young man met a sayyid (descendant of the prophet) called Kazem Reshti, head of the Shaykhi sect which believed in the immanent return of the messiah, the hidden, twelfth imam. After the death of Kazem in 1843 ‘Ali Muhammad proclaimed himself the Bab or forerunner of the messiah or mahdi, but in 1847 he declared himself the mahdi and wrote a book the Bayan which became a holy book for his disciples. The Bab, as he is usually called, taught that he had come with a new message for the present age replacing Muhammad and the Qur’an which had replaced Jesus and the Evangiles, which had replaced Moses and the Pentateuch. A new order of society, a new prophet and new laws had now become necessary because the previous system had decayed and had become corrupted. His teachings were in a good Shiite tradition plus new ideas of tax revision, social reform, and the like, in which he was accused of exhibiting old Mazdakite, or other heretical tendencies.

In 1849 and 1850 Babi uprisings occurred in several parts of the country but they were cruelly suppressed, and in July 1850 the Bab himself was executed in Tabriz. New Babi revolts were put down and an unsuccessful attempt on the shah's life brought bloody reprisals. Many Babis fled to the Ottoman Empire and Russia. A split in their ranks occurred and the majority followed the leadership of one Mirza Husain ‘Ali, called Baha'ullah. He led the group, now called Bahais, on a new path, emphasizing liberal ideas and thought, primarily of Western Europe, over the Shiite religious elements, such that Bahaism became a universal, cosmopolitan religion with a centre at Haifa, Palestine and with adherents all over the world as well as in Iran. Bahaism still has followers in Iran and it is a potent force for change and reform. The Iranian government has been harsh on the Bahais, usually under the instigation of the orthodox Shiite religious leaders.

Soviet scholars have characterized the Babi movement as a genuine peasant mass movement, but Bahaism becomes for them a bourgeoisie, capitalist sect with certain liberal but antiquated religious ideas. 

(Routledge Library Editions: Iran Mini-Set A: History 10 vol set - Page 81)

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