Issue 9525, Page 2
This is a very nice newspaper report on the life of Tahirih.
As with all newspaper reports, it does contain errors, and is provided for research purposes and for the enthusiasm with which it is written.
Facsimile Image of Original Article • Source on Web
("The Queen.")
Perhaps the most backward of all civilised or semi-civilised countries so far as the status of women is concerned is Persia. This is in a great measure due to Mahommedanism, which relegates women to a very subordinate position indeed, and also to the jealousy and mistrust with which all new ideas are received. Turkey has long since felt the stirring influence of a larger freedom; Western ideas have permeated all grades of society, and women of the upper classes are now highly educated. In Persia, however, a very different state prevails. In matters of education, moral, mental and physical, the inmates are very much as they were in the days when Hadji Baba was written, the state in which they have been since Persia's ancient faith fell before victorious Islam. There is a difference, however, small indeed, but gradually and silently increasing, which shows that the women of the Shiah sect are beginning to feel the need of a better position and a wider scope for their energies.
The pioneer of what may be called the progressive movement (small and apparently insignificant as that movement is) was a young Persian girl, who some fifty years ago threw off the yoke of the Moslem law and preached a purer faith and a larger sphere of influence for her sex, declaiming against the degrading conditions of polygamy and seclusion, and the many injustices and disabilities under which her sisters laboured. In Western Europe, where freedom and independence of action have been for centuries the birthright of women, heroines are plentiful; but the conditions of Moslem rule make freedom of thought and action all but impossible. In spite of apparently insurmountable difficulties and the crushing opposition of creed and custom, the girl shook off their trammels and set herself to improve the conditions of her sex.
"She would have been a wonder in any age or climate," writes one of her historians, "but in a country like Persia she is little short of marvellous."
Somewhere in the late twenties - the exact date has not been recorded, for little attention is paid to the birth of a female, which is something of a misfortune - a girl was born to Hadji Mahommed Saleh, a member of a learned priestly family, himself a lawyer, living in Kazwyn. She was named Zenyn Taj, but was more commonly known as Karrattu'l Ayn, or "Consolation of the eyes," on account of her extreme beauty. Living in an atmosphere of learning, she received a good education from her father, and the remarkable aptitude she showed for knowledge made her a quick pupil.
She became an expert Arabic scholar, besides being well learned in philosophy, science and rhetoric, and an adept in interpreting the Koran. She also wrote poetry. In a country which denied nearly every kind of learning to its women she passed, with good reason, as a prodigy. Her wit and brilliant ideas made her competent to take part in the literary and theological discussions between her father, uncles and her husband, for, like the majority of Persian women, she had been married without her consent at an early age to a cousin.
This was a time of great spiritual awakening, for a reformer, popularly known as the Bab, or Gate, had arisen, and, like an Oriental Martin Luther, attacked the grosser features of Mahommedanism and preached a reformed creed. In her family circle Karratt first heard the doctrines of the reformer discussed, and was attracted to the new faith, which condemned feminine seclusion and a plurality of wives, and actually went so far as to declare that women were the equals of men. One of her relatives, Mullah Houseyn, was also much struck by these doctrines, and, after some consideration, determined to start for Shiraz and obtain a fuller knowledge from the Bab himself. Karratt sent letters by him to be placed in the hands of the prophet, and a correspondence ensued between them, which resulted ultimately in her conversion. So great an impression was made upon the Bab by the girl's enthusiasm and ability that he made her one of the hierarchy called the eighteen "Letters of the Living," which composed the first unity of the Babis, and gave her a mission to preach the new faith. Such an unheard-of innovation as a woman teaching in public staggered even those who had embraced the new tenets, and they remonstrated with their chief. But he confirmed his orders, and bestowed upon Karratt the title of Hezret-e-Takerels [Tahirih] (Her Highness the Pure). By making a public confession of her faith she scandalised orthodox Mussulmans, who had never before witnessed the novel spectacle of a woman daring to assert her views upon important matters, and her male relatives tried to keep her in seclusion and prevent her making converts. But Karratt had received her, "call." The work of her life was to deliver her countrymen from the blighting influences and injustice of Mahommedanism, and the laws by which her countrywomen were deprived of their natural rights. Wearied at last by the petty tyrannies and suppressions of her male relatives, who did their best to keep her a prisoner, she left her home and threw in her lot with the reformers, consecrating her life to the cause. Henceforth her future lay far from the luxuries of the anderun, with its round of self-indulgences, sloth, and petty jealousies and intrigues, and she shared the hardships of the new sect, which had now aroused the violent opposition of the priesthood, and were driven from place to place, frequently being compelled to shelter in forests and caves of the earth.
The Bab now appointed her one of his lieutenants, and ordered her to go west to propagate the new doctrine, while her colleague, the Mullah Houseyn, went south, and a third disciple, named Balforoushy, went north. Daily she preached in public, expounding the new faith, answering questions and debating with opponents, her learning and eloquence converting hundreds daily, and increasing the army of partisans, among whom were numerous Jews. It is said that during her discourses she even cast aside her veil, but this is now denied by a man who knew her well; if by chance it slipped down during her preaching, she always carefully replaced it. It is noteworthy that, in spite of her action, unprecedented in the annals of Islam, and taken in a country where woman's reputation is held at its lowest value, no breath of scandal was ever breathed against her fair fame, even by her bitterest enemies. It was her greatest ambition to go to Teheran and convert the Shah, and after hearing her preach many who still remained antagonistic to this cause were fain to admit that the new tenets had a beneficial and civilising influence upon the people.
Liberty of conscience being as unknown in Persia to-day as it was in Europe during the Middle Ages, the orthodox were exhorted to crush the new faith, and bitter persecutions, with actions of cruelty and violence, followed, so that the Babis were driven to take arms to defend their lives. Karratt, like an Eastern Joan of Arc, led a contingent of soldiers to battle against the persecutors, sharing in every way their dangers and hardships. Her men were all devoted to her, and she exercised the most complete authority over them. For a time the Babis were victorious, and the death of the Shah Mahmud, their bitter enemy, proved a blessing. For a short time there was peace, and Karratt taught the new doctrines to the people of Mazenderan, where she and her little army were then encamped. But this peaceful state of affairs was of short duration; the Bab died, and was succeeded by Mirza Jahya, second of the hierarchy of eighteen, Karratt herself being the third.
Mahommedan fanaticism broke into an excess of brutality against the more inoffensive portion of the Babis. The new Shah, Nasirud'-Din, proved as antagonistic to the Babis as his predecessor, and their little armies were defeated and scattered to the winds. Many of their leaders were cruelly put to death, while others escaped and remained hidden for a long time. Karratt being among the latter. Goaded to desperation by the cruelties of their persecutors, some Babis in the year 1852 made an attempt on the life of the Shah. Then ensued such a reign of terror as was never before witnessed. Dr Jakob-Polak, the German physician to the Shah, and professor at the Medical College at Teheran, states that the scenes of bloodshed were revolting in the extreme, the luckless Babis being nearly extirpated. Amongst others of her co-religionists, Karratt was taken prisoner and brought before the Shah in order that she might be condemned to death; but Nasirud'-Din, struck by her beauty and eloquence, acquitted her with the words, "I like her looks; let her go."
She was given into the charge of Mahmud Khan, the Kalantar or Governor, who was to be her gaoler, for, although her life was spared, she was to be kept a close prisoner. Her beauty and cheerful spirit made the same impression upon the Kalantar as it had done upon his master, and he did all in his power to mitigate her confinement and make her life a pleasant one. She lived as an honoured guest in his anderun, and was allowed free communication with her co-religionists, who were permitted to see her, and she taught her doctrines to all inquirers. Brutalities towards the Babis were, however, by no means abated, and the ruthless slaughter went on. Karratt was again brought before a tribunal, and ordered to cease teaching her faith. Not only life, but perfect freedom was offered her if she would consent to deny the Bab and his works, and undertake to refrain from preaching. In an eloquent speech she defended her religion, and refused to abandon it, and was condemned to a painful and lingering death. Her friend and gaoler, Mahmud Khan, made a last effort to save her, and appealed to the Shah, over whom he had great influence, to save the girl's life. The greatest favour he could obtain - which at a time when every Babi discovered was slain on the spot was certainly a great one - was that Karratt might keep her life if she would return to seclusion and undertake to make no converts. This she refused to do.
Dr Polak was present at her death; but, although he says it was lingering and cruel, he omits to state the exact manner in which it took place.
"I was witness of the martyrdom of Karrattu'l Ayn, who was murdered by the Minister of War and his adjutants. The beautiful woman endured a lingering death with superhuman fortitude."
Accounts of her death vary. Some say that she was burnt alive and her ashes scattered to the winds; others that she was cast alive into a dry well in the palace gardens, which was then filled up with stones. But all accounts agree that it was brutal, and heroically endured.
Her heroism and refusal to purchase her life by denying her faith and deserting her friends inspired the Babis, who bless her name, with new vitality, while orthodox Mussulmans, although disagreeing with her views, admire her high principles and heroic character, and speak of her with respect, and those still alive who were acquainted with her give enthusiastic accounts of her charming personality and her powers of eloquence and reason. Her fame and much of the doctrine she so successfully taught have left their mark upon the ignorance and indifference that surround the lives of Persian women, and the faint stirrings of a desire for higher ideals may be attributed directly or indirectly to her influence.