The Afnans, relatives of the Bab, had extensive commercial interests. Haji Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, a son of Haji Mirza Siyyid Muhammad (a maternal uncle of the Bab), was resident in Hong Kong; his brother, Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi, the Vakilu'd-Dawlih, resided in Yazd (later in 'Ishqabad). There were also always one or two of the Afnans in Bombay, where they managed a prosperous publishing house and printing press, from which the first Baha'i books ever to be printed were issued, such as Kitab-i-Iqtidarat* and Kitab-i-Mubin,[The contents of these books Were Tablets of Baha'u'llah.] in the handwriting of Mishkin-Qalam. Aqa Mirza Aqa, Nuri'd-Din, was in Port Sa'id, trading under the name of Nuri'd-Din Hasan; Haji Mirza Siyyid Hasan, Afnan-i-Kabir (the Great Afnan), a brother of the wife of the Bab, and his son Haji Siyyid 'Ali, married to Furughiyyih Khanum, a daughter of Baha'u'llah, were in Beirut.
In addition, the Afnans had partners or agents in a number of other commercial centres. Aqa 'Ali-Haydar-i-Shirvani (before he moved to Tihran) was a partner in Caucasia; Haji Shaykh Muhammad-'Ali, another partner in Istanbul. A third partner in the Ottoman capital was Aqa Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Isfahani. This man gradually fell under the influence of the supporters of Subh-i-Azal. Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ruhi and Mirza Aqa Khan-i-Kirmani were the most prominent of these followers of Mirza Yahya. But there were others, equally as active and mischief-making, such as Shaykh Muhammad-i-Yazdi, Aqa Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Tabrizi (who had been expelled by Baha'u'llah, because of his continuously-repeated misdeeds), and Najaf-'Ali Khan, who had connections with the Persian Embassy. Allied with Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ruhi and Mirza Aqa Khan-i-Kirmani, in furthering the aims of Siyyid Jamalu'd-Din-i-Asadabadi (Afghani), was Haji Mirza Hasan Khan, the Khabiru'l-Mulk (sometime the Persian consul-general in Istanbul), but it cannot be ascertained whether he too was an Azali or not. Eventually all the three suffered the same fate together. They were beheaded in Tabriz, in the year 1896, in the presence and on the orders of Muhammad-'Ali Mirza (later Shah), the Crown-Prince of Persia. Although, before long, there came a break between Mirza Aqa Khan and Aqa Muhammad-Tahir, the founder and owner of the newspaper Akhtar, at the height of the crisis resulting from the activities of the Azalis this paper was completely dominated by Mirza Aqa Khan and his associates. Strangely enough, it seems that the break was caused by the marriage of a daughter of Aqa Muhammad-Tahir with Mirza Husayn-i-Sharif-i-Kashani, a son of Mulla Muhammad-Ja'far-i-Naraqi, one of the ardent supporters of Subh-i-Azal in earlier times. Mulla Muhammad-Ja'far (author of a book entitled Tadhkiratu'l-Ghafilin - A Reminder to the Heedless - which he wrote in refutation of Baha'u'llah), after roving round 'Iraq in search of Mirza Yahya, who had not bothered to inform his zealous champion of his departure, had taken refuge in Kazimayn. But this township, adjacent to Baghdad, was always teeming with pilgrims, and because Mulla Muhammad-Ja'far was known to be a Babi, Kazimayn was not, in the estimation of Mirza Buzurg Khan, the Persian consul-general, a safe place for Mulla Muhammad-Ja'far. Therefore, in the year 1869, when Mirza Buzurg Khan was returning to Iran, he took with him Mulla Muhammad-Ja'far together with his son, Mirza Husayn, then a boy young in years, as well as Mirza Nuru'llah,[1] a son of Mirza Yahya then stranded in 'Iraq. In Kirmanshah, Mulla Muhammad-Ja'far fell ill and was unable to travel. Mirza Buzurg Khan was forced to abandon him and the two boys, and leave them in charge of Prince Imam-Quli Mirza, the 'Imadu'd-Dawlih, Governor of Kirmanshah. When Mulla Muhammad-Ja'far had recovered, 'Imadu'd-Dawlih sent the three, under escort, to Tihran, where they were taken to the Siyah-Chal. Mulla Muhammad-Ja'far was poisoned in the gaol and the boys were set free.
(Baha'u'llah - The King of Glory by Hasan Balyuzi - p. 389-390)
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