Section Four: The Siege of Fort ‘Alí-Mardán Khán
A Long Siege: May 1850 to December 1850
The siege of the Fort of ‘Alí-Mardán Khán and its surrounding area was long and protracted. It began near the end of May 1850 and ended after Hujjat’s death on 8 January 1851. 42_ACT14
During this period, as army reinforcements arrived, even with their large numbers and weapons, the Bábís continued to resist. With each attack, particularly the later ones with heavy artillery, many of the Bábís were killed. The conditions inside the fort for the besieged got more and more dire as the siege progressed, but the will of the besieged Bábís just could not be broken; they would not surrender.
Describing what took place time and again, month after month, Nabíl records:
Neither their [the attacking army’s] overwhelming numbers nor the superiority of their equipment and training could enable them to reduce the intrepid companions to an unconditional surrender. Undeterred by the fire of the cannon with which they were deluged, and forgetful of both sleep and hunger, they rushed in a headlong charge out of the fort, utterly unmindful of the perils incurred by such a sally [a sudden charge]. To the imprecations with which an opposing host greeted their appearance …, they shouted their answer of “Yá Sáhibu’z-Zamán!” and, carried away by the spell which that invocation threw upon them, hurled themselves upon the enemy and scattered his forces. The frequency and success of these sallies demoralised their assailants and convinced them of the futility of their efforts. They were soon compelled to acknowledge their powerlessness to win a decisive victory. 43_ACT14
Conditions in the Fort
The fort of ‘Alí-Mardán Khán was a mud-fort. As the months went on, steps were taken to fortify it. Amongst these steps was the erection of twenty-eight barricades, each of which was entrusted to nineteen of the companions, and another nineteen
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