Two hours and eleven minutes after sunset Siyyid 'Alí-Muḥammad makes His declaration to Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bushrú'í.

• See SI231 for information on the anticipated return of the Hidden Imám. See BBR2pg42-3 and DB57 for a list of signs by which the Promised One would be known.
• See BW5p600-4 for a brief biography of William Miller the founder of the Adventist sect who, after intense study of the Bible, had predicted the return of Christ on March 21, 1844. See BW5p604 for mention of other Christians who made similar predictions.
• See DB383 and BBR2pg25 for information on Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bus̲h̲ru'i. See CoB110 for the significance of the first believer.
• See SBBH1:14 for a possible explanation for Mullá Ḥusayn's presence in S̲h̲íráz at this time.
• Nabíl-i-A'ẓam relates that Mullá Ḥusayn was welcomed at the Báb's mansion by Mubárak, His Ethiopian servant. [DB53]
• He reveals the first chapter of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', the Commentary on the Súrih of Joseph. The entire text will later be translated by Ṭáhirih. [B19-21; BBD190-1; BBRSM14-15; BKG28; BW12:85-8; BWMF16; DB52-65, 264, 216, BBR2pg14-15, GPB23, 73; MH56-71; SBBH17, HotD30]
• Bahá'u'lláh has described this book as being 'the first, the greatest, and mightiest of all books' in the Bábí Dispensation. [GPB23]
• See SBBH5pg1 for discussion on the Qayyumu'l-Asma'.
• This text was the most widely circulated of all the Báb's writings and came to be regarded as the Bábí Qur'an for almost the entirety of His mission. [BBRSM32]
• This date marks the end of the Adamic Cycle of approximately six thousand years and the beginning of the Bahá'í Cycle or Cycle of Fulfilment. [BBD9, 35, 72; GPB100] Shoghi Effendi is quoted as saying that this is the second most important anniversary on the Bahá'í calendar. ZK320
• The beginning of the Apostolic, Heroic or Primitive Age. [BBD35, 67]
• See MH86-7 for an explanation of the implication of the word 'Báb' to the S̲h̲í'í Muslims.
• Three stages of the Báb's Revelation:
  1. He chooses the title 'Báb' and Mullá Ḥusayn is given the title Bábu'l-Báb (the gate of the Gate).
  2. In the second year of the Revelation (from His confinement in the house of His uncle in S̲h̲íráz) He takes the title of Siyyid-i-d̲h̲ikr (d̲h̲ikr means 'remembrance of God') and gives the title 'Báb' to Mullá Ḥusayn. At Fort Ṭabarsí Mullá Ḥusayn is called 'Jináb-i Báb' by his companions.
  3. At His public declaration the Báb declares Himself to be the promised Qá'im. [MH87-8]

• To Mullá Ḥusayn He had given the task of delivering a Tablet to Bahá'u'lláh in Ṭihrán and going to the court of the S̲h̲áh to apprise him of the Báb's cause. Mullá Ḥusayn is not able to gain access to the S̲h̲áh. [B48-57; BBRSM15; BKG32-3; CH22-3; DB85-87, 97; MH90-2, 102]
• Mullá Ḥusayn carries to Ṭihrán a Tablet revealed by the Báb for Muḥammad S̲h̲áh. This is the first of a number of unsuccessful attempts to enlist his aid. [BBRSM20-1; MH102; SWB13]
• Note: MH118-119 and DB127-128 indicate that Mullá Ḥusayn had been in Tehran "between the months of Jámádí and Rajab". The first day of Jámádí, 1260 corresponds to 18 June, and the last day of Rajab to 15 August, 1844.
• See RB2:303, 'The Báb … sent Tablets to only two monarchs of His day — Muḥammad S̲h̲áh of Persia and Sultán 'Abdu'l-Majíd of Turkey.'
• From S̲h̲íráz he journeys north to Iṣfahán where Mullá Ja'far, the sifter of wheat, is the first to embrace the Cause of the Báb in that city. Mullá Ḥusayn then travels to Kás̲h̲án, about 130 miles from Iṣfahán. He then goes to Qum, another 100 miles from Kás̲h̲án. After Qum he goes to Ṭihrán. [MH98-101, DB99]
• See B53-6; DB104-7, MH104-110 for the delivery of the Báb's Tablet to Bahá'u'lláh. Mullá Ḥusayn does not meet Bahá'u'lláh on this occasion.
• On receiving the Tablet of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh accepts His Cause. He immediately journeys to Mázindarán, His native province, to promote the Cause of the Báb. He returns after the death of the S̲h̲ah in 1848 [BKG39-40; BW8:782; DB109; TN35, SoB6, BPP45, 48, SoG4]
• Mullá Ḥusayn leaves for K̲h̲urásán, as he had been instructed, winning supporters for the Báb's Cause while there he writes to the Báb regarding these new believers and Bahá'u'lláh's immediate response to the Báb's Revelation. [B56, DB128-9, MH118]
• See MH121-2 for a discussion of the speed of Mullá Ḥusayn's journey before the letter was dispatched to the Báb. It assumes that Mullá Ḥusayn departed after The Báb met with all the Letters of the Living (date not before 2 July, 1844.) In fact both Mullá Ḥusayn and Mullá 'Alíy-Basṭámí had been dispatched before this meeting. [DB85-86, 92, HotD46] .

• The S̲h̲ayk̲h̲'s rejection of the claim leads to violent debate. Mullá 'Alí is taken to Bag̲h̲dád and imprisoned there. After a public trial, a joint tribunal of Sunní and S̲h̲í'í 'ulamá, he is sent to Istanbul. He is the first martyr of the Bábí Dispensation. It is significant that Mullá Ḥasan Gawhar, a leading figure of the S̲h̲ayk̲h̲í school, participated in the condemnation as it marks the first major challenge to Babism from a S̲h̲ayk̲h̲í leader. [B27, 37-8, 58; BBR83-90; BBRSM17; BKG31; DB90-2; MMBA, BBR2p17, GPB10]

• B77 and GPB10 say the Báb arrived in Bús̲h̲ihr in February - March.
• SSBH1p23 and BBRSM216 say 15 May, 1845.
• Before leaving on pilgrimage the Báb had stated that He would return to Karbalá and asked His followers to congregate there. An explanation in part for the large following that have gathered there is the messianic expectation associated with the year 1261, a thousand years after the Twelfth Imám's disappearance in 260 A.H.. This gathering is perceived as a threat by the authorities. [BBRSM15, 45, 216; DB157-8; SBBH1p23, 32]
• The Báb changes His plan to meet His followers in Karbalá and instructs them to go to Iṣfahán instead. A number abandon Him, regarding this as badá', 'alteration of divine will'. [BBRSM16; DB158; MH125; SBBH23]
• Some speculate that He did not go to Karbalá to avoid conflict and sedition. Many Bábís had gone to Karbalá armed in preparation for holy war, 'jihád'. [BBRSM21-2; SBBH1:23]

• Among those Ṭáhirih meets in Bag̲h̲dád is Ḥakím Masíḥ, a Jewish doctor who years later becomes the first Bahá'í of Jewish background. [B165]
• Ṭáhirih is sent back to Persia by Najíb Pás̲h̲á. She is accompanied by a number of Bábís; they make a number of stops along the way, enrolling supporters for the Cause of the Báb. [B163-4; BBRSM216]
• Ma'ani says Ṭáhirih left Bag̲h̲dád early in 1847.
• In Kirand 1,200 people are reported to have volunteered to follow her. [B164; DB272; TN20]
• B164 says the number is 12,000; DB272 says it was 1,200.
• In Kirmáns̲h̲áh she is respectfully received by the `ulamá. [B164; DB272]
• Ṭáhirih arrives in Hamadán. Her father has sent her brothers here to persuade her to return to her native city of Qazvín. She agrees on condition that she may remain in Hamadán long enough to tell people about the Báb. [B165; DB273]
• MF180 says Ṭáhirih remained in Hamadán for two months.

• As an act of piety, he makes the whole 1,200-mile journey on foot. Along the route he visits the Bábís and in Ṭihrán meets secretly with Bahá'u'lláh. No account of their interview survives. In Qazvín, Mullá Ḥusayn meets Ṭáhirih for the first time. [DB255; MH137]

Mullá `Abdu'lláh confesses to the murder of Ḥájí Mullá Muḥammad Taqí and is helped to escape. [BKG41-2; DB278]

• See BKG42 for why Bahá'u'lláh was thought to have engineered his escape. Bahá'u'lláh is imprisoned for a few days for having assisted in Mullá `Abdu'lláh's escape.
• This was Bahá'u'lláh's first imprisonment. [BKG41; BW18:380; DB585]
• Shayk̲h̲ Ṣáliḥ-i-Karímí, one of the imprisoned Bábís, is publicly executed in Ṭihrán.
• He is the first to suffer martyrdom on Persian soil. His remains are interred in the courtyard of the shrine of the Imám-Zádih Zayd in Ṭihrán. [B166; BW18:380; DB280]
• The remaining captives are returned to Qazvín. Ḥájí Asadu'lláh-i-Farhádí is secretly put to death in prison. Mullá Táhir-i-S̲h̲írází and Mullá Ibrahím-i-Maballátí are also put to death. [B166; BW18:380; DB280-3]
• DB280-3 says `the rest of' the detainees were put to death by the relatives of Ḥájí Mullá Muḥammad Taqí.

• This constitutes the formal declaration of His mission. [GPB22]
• The purpose of the public forum is to force the Báb to recant His views; instead He takes control of the hearing and embarrasses the clergy. After considerable argument and discussion, they decide He is devoid of reason. [GPB22]
• The Báb is bastinadoed. [B145; BBD44; DB320; GPB22; TN14-15] This is the first formal punishment He receives. [BBRSM20]
• He is first attended by an Irish physician, Dr William Cormick, to ascertain His sanity and later to treat Him for a blow to the face that occurred during the bastinado. Cormick is the only Westerner to meet and converse with Him. [B145; BBR74-5, 497-8 DBXXXIL-XXXIII]
• The clergy issue a fatwa or legal pronouncement against the Báb condemning Him to death for heresy, but to no purpose as the civil authorities are unwilling to take action against Him. [BBRSM19-20]
• For an account of the life of Dr. William Cormick see Connections by Brendan McNamara.

• He is 17 years old. [BBR158; GPB37]
• He ruled from 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated on the eve of his jubilee. [BBD168; BBR482]
• The first four years of his reign were marked by the `fiercest and bloodiest of the persecutions of the religion of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh'. During the whole of his reign there were `sporadic persecutions and, in at least some cases, he himself was directly responsible for the death of the martyrs'. [BBR157]
• For the first time in the Faith's history the civil and ecclesiastical powers banded together in a systematic campaign against it, one that was to `culminate in the horrors experienced by Bahá'u'lláh in the Síyáh-C̲h̲ál' and `His subsequent banishment to Iraq'. [GPB37]
• See BBRSM25 for an explanation of why the Bábí religion was a challenge to the secular regime.
• See SB86 for a reason for Náṣiri'd-Dín S̲h̲áh's cruelty towards the Bábís and Bahá'ís.
• See RB3:201 for an explanation of his lengthy reign.
• He chose as his prime minister Mírzá Taqí K̲h̲án-i-Faráhání, known as a great reformer and a founder of modern Iran. [BBD221; BBR160]
• It was not until the spring of 1849 that the new regime was in firm control.

Vahíd travels from Yazd towards S̲h̲íráz, eventually coming to Nayríz. He goes to the Mosque of Jum‘ih where he ascends the pulpit and proclaims the Cause of God. The Governor makes moves against him and Vahíd orders his companions to occupy the fort of K̲h̲ájih. The siege that follows lasts a month. [B178, 204–5; BBR109–13; BW18:381]

• See BW18:381 for a chronicle of events.
• See RB1:325–31 for the story of Vahíd. See also GPB50, KI223.
• See also B178–82; BBD171; BBR109–13; BBRSM28, 216; DB485–99; GPB42–4; RB1:264; TN245.

• He was born in the first year of Bahá'u'lláh's arrival in Bag̲h̲dád. CB125]

  Bahá'u'lláh reveals the Lawḥ-i Kullu't-ta‘ám (Tablet of All Food). [BBRSM:62; BKG112]

• The revelation of this Tablet points up Mírzá Yaḥyá's lack of ability. [BKG 112]