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youth, Sádiq of Tabríz, a confectioner, and Fathu’lláh ] of Qum, an engraver.39_ACT15 Both lived at that time in Tihrán. Together with a Hájí Qásim of Nayríz, they came up with a plan to assassinate the Sháh. The whole plan was so ill-conceived that, instead of proper guns, they took pellet shotguns which could not possibly kill a person. They did have some short daggers too.
On the morning of 15 August 1852, the Sháh went out for a horseback ride with his retinue. He was camped with the imperial army in Shimírán. As the Sháh rode, the three Bábís, who were waiting by the roadside, jumped up, ran to his horse, tried to pull him down and shot their pellet guns at him. 40_ACT15 The attempt was of course ineffectual. The Sháh’s guards immediately came to the rescue. The Sháh was injured; his right arm and back had been hit with the pellets. 41_ACT15 He was quickly taken away. The three attackers were captured. Sádiq, the youth who had pulled the Sháh off his horse, was killed right away, and his body cut into two. The other two were taken for torture to determine their co-conspirators, but they would not give any names. Both were then brutally killed: one with molten lead poured down his throat, and the other with holes cut into his flesh.
42_ACT15
During the first twenty-four hours after the assassination attempt, many were not clear about the outcome. Rumours had been spread the Sháh had been killed. But it soon became clear that was not the case. The bodies of the perpetrators were put on display to allay public fears. But the Sháh was enraged at this assassination attempt. The authorities now used this as the excuse they needed to begin a purge of the Bábís in the capital city. This persecution of the Bábís soon spread to other cities, towns and villages throughout the land.
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