Table of Contents
Section Five: Táhirih’s Last Days and Her Martyrdom
Nabíl writes, referring to the days after the attempted assassination of the Sháh on 15 August 1852:
Those days of unceasing turmoil witnessed the martyrdom of yet another eminent disciple of the Báb. A woman, no less great and heroic than Táhirih herself, was engulfed in the storm that was then raging with undiminished violence throughout the capital. 71_ACT15
Background: Táhirih’s confinement in Tihrán [1850-1852]
Táhirih had been brought to Tihrán in January of 1850. After meeting the Amír-Kabír and the Sháh, she was placed under house arrest at the residence of Tihrán’s chief of police, Mahmúd-Khán-i-Kalántar [DB 21, Section 2].
[Note: “In Tihrán there are said to be three kinds of prison: the subterranean cells beneath the Ark, where criminals guilty of conspiracy, or high treason are reported to have been confined [the Síyáh-Chál]; the town prison, where the vulgar criminals may be seen with iron collars round their neck, sometimes with their feet in stocks, and attached to each other by iron chains; and the private guard-house, that is frequently an appurtenance of the mansions of the great.” 72_ACT15]
Táhirih remained confined at the Kalántar’s residence for about two and a half years until her martyrdom in August 1852. 73_ACT15 During this period, in spite of her confinement, Táhirih was besieged by her women admirers. They thronged her doors, eager to be in her presence and to seek the benefit of her knowledge. This was in large part because of the wife of the chief of police, the Kalántar, who had become one of Táhirih’s greatest admirers. Acting as Táhirih’s hostess, she served Táhirih with extraordinary enthusiasm and facilitated women from her wide network of noble families to come and meet Táhirih. Referring to Táhirih by her title Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, one historian records this incident as an example of Táhirih’s influence:
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