Specimen of the calligraphy of Mirza Buzurg,
Baha'u'llah's
father
|
Bahá'u'lláh’s father was a close associate of Qa'im-M'aqam,
the Prime Minister to Muhammad Shah. Qa'im-Maqam was one of the few Iranians
who had woken up to the fact that the world was passing Iran by and that the
country needed to modernize if it was not to be swallowed up by the colonialist
forces that threatened it: Russia from the north and Britain from the south.
But in 1835, Muhammad Shah turned against Qa'im-Maqam and had him executed, a
not uncommon fate for Qajar Prime Ministers. As a result, Bahá'u'lláh's father
fell into disfavour also, particularly as he was at odds with the new Prime
Minister, Haji Mirza Aqasi. He lost his position and much of his wealth, and
even his mansion in Takur was all but destroyed in a flood. He fell ill and
eventually died in the spring of 1839.
(Adapted from ‘Bahá'u'lláh, a Short Biography’, by Moojan
Momen)