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chapter 8 | start page | single page | chapter 10 |  |
Chapter 9
LIST OF THE DESCENDANTS OF MÍRZÁ
BUZURG, OF NÚR, THE FATHER BOTH
OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH AND OF SUBH-I-AZAL
This list was sent to me in June, 1912, by the already-mentioned Azalí scribe of Isfahán, resident in Tihrán, with whom I succeeded in establishing relations, and who supplied me with numerous precious documents. The original is written, not very distinctly, by a certain Mírzá Ibráhím Khán, the son of Fátima Khánim, the niece of Mírzá Buzurg's daughter (the half-sister of both Bahá'u'lláh and Subh-i-Azal) Sháh Sultán Khánim, commonly known as Hájji (or Hájjiya) Khánim-i- Buzurg. It is accompanied by a more legible transcript by the aforesaid scribe.
Mirzá Buzurg seems to have had six wives (unnamed in the list) who bore him children, and who are here distinguished by Roman numbers.
1 The only one of Mirza Musa's sons with whom I was acquainted was Majdu'd-Din, but he had three other sons named `Ali Rizá, Jamil and Kamál.
- I.
- (1) Mírzá Yahyá Subh-i-Azal.
- II.
- (2) Mírzá Husayn `Ali Bahá'u'lláh: (3) Mírzá Músá Kalimu'lláh1, who followed Bahá: (4) an unnamed daughter
- III.
- (5) Mírzá Muhammad Hasan (Azalí).
- IV.
- (6) Mírzá-quli: (7) an unnamed daughter (both Bahá'ís).
In 1912 five of Fátima Khánim's children, three daughters (Fakhriyya, Hamída and Zamzam) and two sons (Muhammad Khán and Ibráhím Khán), all Azalís, were still living.
- V.
- (8) Hájji Mírzá Rizá-qulí, known as Hakím (the Philosopher), d. A.H. 1311 (=A.D. 1893-4), aet.90: (9) Sháh Sultán Khánim, commonly called Hájji Khánim-i-Buzurg, d. A.H. 1322 (=A.D. 1904-5), aet. 84. She wrote in 1310/1892-3 a refutation of `Abdu'l-Bahá (`Abbás Efendi) known as Risála-i-`Amma ("the Aunt's Epistle")1: (10) Mírzá Muhammad Taqí, known as Paríshán, d. A.H. 1292 (=A.D. 1875-6), aet. 45: (11) Mírzá Ibráhim, aet.30: (12) Fátima Khánim, still living in A.D. 1912, aet. 70. All these five were Azalís.
- VI.
- (13) Husayniyya (Azalí).
Bahá'u'lláh had two wives, each of whom bore him six children.
In 1251/1835, when 18 years of age, he married Nawwáb, who bore him:
(1) Sádiq, who died at the age of 3 or 4.
(2) `Abbás, now known as `Abdu'l-Bahá, who was born in 1257/1841. He had four daughters, two of whom were married to Mírzá Hádí and Mírzá Muhsin respectively.
(3) Bahiyya Khánim, b. 1260/1844 (unmarried).
(4) `Alí Muhammad, d. aged 7 in Mázandarán.
(5) Mahdí, who died at `Akká 1287/1870-1.
(6) `Alí Muhammad, b. and d. at Baghdád, aged 2.
In 1266/1849 he married his cousin Mahd-i-`Ulyá, who bore him:
(1) Muhammad `Alí in 1270/1853, the rival claimant to `Abbás. He has three sons, Shu`á`u'lláh, Amínu'lláh and Músá.
(2) Samadiyya Khánim, b. at Baghdád, d. aged 49 in 1322/1904-5. She was married to her cousin Majdu'd-Dín (son of Mírzá Músá) and had two daughters.
(3) `Alí Muhammad, d. at Baghdád, aged 2
(4) Sádhajiyya Khánim1, b. at Baghdád, d. aged 2 at Constantinople.
(5) Ziyá'u'lláh, b. at Adrianople 1282/1865, d. at Hayfá, aged 34, 1316/1898. He was married, but died without issue.
(6) Badí`u'lláh, b. at Adrianople
1285/1868.
Concerning those of Subh-i-Azal's family who came with him to Cyprus and resided or were born there full particulars, abstracted from official documents preserved in the island, were published by me in Vol.ii of my Traveller's Narrative, pp. 376-386. They included two wives, Fátima and Ruqayya; nine sons, of whom the two eldest, Núru'lláh
1 I have been informed that Bahá'u'lláh had another daughter named Fárúqiyya, who married Sayyid `Alí Afnán and bore him two sons.
and Hádí, seem to have resided in Persia and only to have visited their father occasionally, while a third, Ahmad, left Cyprus for Constantinople (probably with his wife Fátima and his four-year old daughter `Adila) in 1884; and five daughters. Of the sons whom I met in Cyprus the eldest and most intelligent was `Abdu'l- `Alí1. The next, Rizwán `Alí, who was for some time in the service of the late C. D. Cobham, Esq., Commissioner of Larnaca, turned Christian and took the name of "Constantine the Persian." He died recently. Most of the Azali MSS. in the British Museum were transcribed by him.
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