The Rise of Baha
4. Alleged Meeting Between The Primal Point and Baha
Baha’s meeting with the Primal Point near Kinar-gird or Kulayn Khanlik on his way to his confinement in Maku, and Baha’s message to him is devoid of historical foundation.
According to Prof. Browne’s:
a) footnote 2, P. 14, The Traveller’s Narrative, “Kinar-gird is a station on the old Isfahan road (now, abandoned for one bearing more towards the West) distant about 28 Miles from Teheran”.
b) Footnote 3, P. 14, ibid, Kalin or Kulayn is “nom de la premiere station gue recontu la voyagear an allant de Ray a Khawar.” Barlier de Dictionaire Geog. Hist. Et Lith. De la Perse (Paris, 1861).
According to Prof. Browne’s footnote 3, P. 216, Tarikh-i-Jadid “Suppl. Pers. 1071, f. 96a. Khanlik is there described as “Near Kinar-gird.’ “
According to the Tarikh-i Jadid, PP. 216-217, “After leaving Kashan, the BÁB came to Khanlik, …. But which he was still at Khanlik many persons of note visited him. Amongst these wee His Holiness Baha.”
According to Sir Abbas Effendi’s The Traveller’s Narrative:
a) (P. 14) “When he [i.e. the Primal Point] reached Kinar-Gird a fresh order came from the Prime Minister appointing the village of Kalin as an abode for dwelling place.”
b) (P. 62) “After the death of the late Prime Minister, Muhammad Shah, he [i.e. Baha] returned to Tehran, having in his mind [the intention of] corresponding and entering into relations with the BÁB.”
Muhammad Shah died on September 4, 1848. According to the Dawn-Breakers, Nabil’s Narrative, P. 225, “After a march of two days from that village [i.e. Qumrud] ibid, p. 224], “they [i.e. the Primal Point and his escort] arrived at the fortress of Kinar-Gird.”
(P. 226) A fresh message from Teheran instructed the officer in charge of the escort “to proceed immediately with the BÁB to the village of Kulayn.”
(P. 227) The party reached “the neighbourhood of that village where a special tent was erected for the BÁB on Rabi-al-Thani 11, A.H. 1263 (March 29, 1847).”
(P. 228) “On Rabi-al-Thani 14, A.H. 1263 (April 1, 1847) Mulla Mahdiy-i-Khu’i and Mulla Muhammad Mahdiy-i-Kandi arrived from Tehran. The latter, who had been closely associated with Baha in Tehran, had been commissioned by him to present to the BÁB a sealed letter together with certain gifts which, as soon as they were delivered into his hands, provoked in his soul sentiments of unusual delight. His face glowed with joy as he overwhelmed the bearer with marks of his gratitude and favour.”
The contents of Baha’s alleged message to the Primal Point are not quoted by Nabil.
According to Shoghi Effendi’s god passes by:
a) (P. 16) When “the captive youth [i.e. the Primal Point] and his mounted escort reached Kinar-Gird.” a written order from Teheran instructed the head of the escort to proceed to Kulayn, and then await further instructions. Muhammad Shah himself addressed a letter to the BÁB dated Rabi-al-Thani A.H 1263 (March 19-April 17, 1847)” appointing Maku as the Point’s place of incarceration.
b) (PP. 67-68) “It was solely due to the potency of written message entrusted by him [i.e. Baha] to Mulla Mahdiy-Kandi and delivered to the BÁB which in the neighbourhood of the village of Kulayn, that the soul of the disappointed Captive was able to rid itself, at an hour of uncertainty and suspense, of the anguish that had settled upon it ever since his arrest in Shiraz.”
According to Appendix II. Mirza Jani’s history, Tarikh-i-Jadid, P.349 Prof. Browne states that “the halt at Khanlik is briefly noticed by Mirza Jani as in the New History, except that he says nothing about Baha having visited the BÁB there.” This is also confirmed once again by Prof. Browne in his Persian Introduction to the Nuqta-al-Kaf by Mirza Jani, PP. 58-59, when the original text of the relevant passage as appearing in the Nuqta-al-Kaf and the New History are quoted in full.
Baha’s alleged message to the Primal Point is not noticed by Prof. Browne as he had no access to Nabil’s Narrative.
Shoghi Effendi’s story is based on Nabil’s story which Nabil speaks of Baha’s sealed letter to the Primal Point, the Tarikh-i-Jadid speaks of Baha’s visit to the Point. If Baha visited the Primal Point as alleged by the Tarikh-i-Jadid, what was the sense of Baha’s sending a sealed letter to the Primal Point as alleged by Nabil.
If Baha sent a sealed letter to the Primal Point as alleged by Nabil, what was the sense of Baha’s visiting the Primal Point as alleged by the Tarikh-i-Jadid.
The truth is that Baha neither visited the Primal Point nor sent him a sealed letter as alleged.
These allegations are poor attempts by Bahai historians to establish a link, by hook or crook, between the Primal Point and Baha.
The falsehood of these historians is nailed to the counter by Mirza Jani’s Nuqta’al-Kaf and Sir Abbas Effendi’s Traveller’s Narrative, where he says that Baha thought of corresponding and entering relations with the Primal Point after the death of Muhammad Shah, which took place on September 4, 1848, and not before.
To read more about Baha's members of family, got to the main page, select 'Bahaism -> THe Rise of Baha' and navigate through the index.