Martyrdom of Hujjat and End of the Siege1

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Section 6

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Section Six: Martyrdom of Hujjat and End of the Siege

As the siege continued, the Amír-Túmán who oversaw the main attacking force got more and more exasperated. On the one hand, the Bábís tenaciously hung on and would not surrender despite facing a well-trained, well-armed considerably larger force. On the other, he was now getting rebuke and protests from the authorities in the capital with his lack of success in overcoming this group of what were civilians untrained in fighting and with very little arms.

The Amír-Túmán resorts to deception

As with what happened at Fort Shaykh Tabarsí and Nayríz, the Amír-Túmán resorted to deception. He ordered the forces to stop attacking the Bábís and spread word in Zanján and neighboring villages that the Sháh had ordered that he should negotiate a friendly settlement with Hujjat. He then drew up an appeal for peace, in which he assured Hujjat that his sincere intention was to have a peaceful settlement for him and his supporters. He sent this appeal with a sealed copy of the Qur’án. He wrote:

My sovereign has forgiven you. You, as well as your followers, I hereby solemnly declare to be under the protection of his Imperial Majesty. This Book of God is my witness that if any of you decide to come out of the fort, you will be safe from any danger.

Nabíl records what happened then:

Hujjat reverently received the Qur’án from the hand of the messenger, and, as soon as he had read the appeal, bade its bearer inform his master that he would send an answer in the course of the following day. That night he gathered together his chief companions and spoke to them of the misgivings he entertained as to the sincerity of the enemy’s declarations. “The treacheries of Mázindarán and of Nayríz are still vivid in our minds. That which was perpetrated against them, the same they purpose to perpetrate against us. In deference to the Qur’án, however, we shall respond to their invitation, and shall despatch to their camp a number of our companions, that thereby their deceitfulness may be exposed.”