Grand Vizier of Persia under Muḥammad S̲h̲áh and called by Shoghi Effendi the 'Antichrist of the Bábí Dispensation'. Described
as cruel and treacherous, affecting religious piety although intolerant and bigoted,
his misrule of Persia brought the country to the edge of ruin. Jealous fear for his
own power and position led him to prevent the meeting of Muḥammad S̲h̲áh and the Báb.
He ordered the Báb imprisoned
in Máh-Kú and later in Chihríq.
Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí was also a bitter
enemy of Mírzá Buzurg, the father of Bahá'u'lláh,
although for some time he admired Bahá'u'lláh.
However, his mind became poisoned against him and he obtained an order from Muḥammad S̲h̲áh for Bahá'u'lláh's
arrest, intending to kill Him. His plan was frustrated by the death of the S̲h̲áh and Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí
fell from power soon afterwards. He died poor and abandoned in Karbilá in 1849. |