Irish Bahá'í community has produced 19 videos to mark the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb
Updated: Nov 8, 2019
To mark the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb and to celebrate the Life, Mission and Heroism of the Báb and His followers, the Irish Bahá'í community has produced 19 short videos.
Bicentenary 2019: 1/19 The Irish Physician who met the Báb
Dr. William Cormick, whose family came from Co. Kilkenny in Ireland, is the only Westener known to have met the Báb. Here is the the story of Dr. Cormick's meetings with the Báb.
Bicentenary 2019: 2/19 - The Search for the Promised One
On a hot afternoon in May 1844 a young man named Mulla Husayn arrived in Shiraz with his two companions, they had no idea what was about to happen...
Bicentenary 2019: 3/19 The Childhood and Youth of the Báb
When the Báb announced his Mission in May 1844, He was still only 25 years old. But, the truth was, He’d always shown signs of being extraordinary...
Bicentenary 2019: 4/19 The Letters of the Living
The very first people to recognise and follow the Báb were known as the Letters of the Living...
Bicentenary 2019: 5/19 The Secret Hidden in Tihrán
By autumn 1844 only two of the Letters of the Living remained in Shiraz with the Báb - Mulla Husayn and Quddús...
Bicentenary 2019: 6/19 The Journey and Pilgrimage
Having received a letter from Mulla Husayn about his meeting with Bahá’u’lláh in Tehran, the Báb and Quddús left for pilgrimage...
Bicentenary 2019: 7/19 - The Unique One
In the months that followed His pilgrimage, the Báb lived under surveillance in Shiraz. His influence grew stronger and the authorities made every effort to discredit Him, but this didn’t always work out as they’d planned. Such as the time the renowned scholar, Siyyid Yahya was sent by the Shah to investigate the claims of the Báb…
Bicentenary 2019: 8/19 The Transformation of Manúchihr Khán
Manúchihr Khán was a tyrant whose reputation for cruelty was well known...This man was the last person you’d think the Báb would turn to when the authorities in Shiraz began to persecute Him and His followers.
Bicentenary 2019: 9/19 - The Public Examination
By 1848 the influence of the Báb was so widespread that the authorities were very worried and they imprisoned Him first in Mahkú and then in Chihríq - both remote towns in Azerbaijan. This didn’t work. His influence grew His followers continued to multiply. Even the wardens of the prison and the prison guards became friendly towards Him. In July 1848, the Báb was brought from His prison in Chihríq to the city of Tabríz for public examination.
Bicentenary 2019: 10/19 - The Pure One
Around the same time as the Báb faced a public tribunal in Tabríz, a group of Bábís gathered in a small hamlet called Badasht.
Central to the consultations at this meeting was the only female Letter of the Living and the only one never to meet the Báb face to face - Tahirih.
Bicentenary 2019: 11/19 - The Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí
By the end of 1848 Persia had a new king. Muhammad Sháh had died and his 17 year old son, Násiri'd-Dín Sháh, was now on the throne. The new young Shah was easily convinced that this Bábí movement should be destroyed.
This change of regime brought the first official state action taken against the Bábís at the Fort of the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí.
Bicentenary 2019: 12/19 Fort Tabarsí - Heroism & Treachery
In late 1848, 500 Bábís under the leadership of Mulla Husayn and Quddus, took refuge at the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí in the province of Mazindaran. The provincial and government authorities were confident that they would soon destroy this band of civilians and thereby stem the growth of this new religion which was trying to bring change to Persian society.
Bicentenary 2019: 13/19 - The Broken Oath of Nayríz
In 1850, as the number of followers of the Báb grew, so did the persecution. The authorities were now willing to take any and all measures to achieve the extermination of the Bábís.
Bicentenary 2019: 14/19 - Zaynab of Zanján
The siege of Zanjan, which began in May 1850, is known as the most devastating of all the Bábí upheavals. There were many acts of valour during this time but one of the Bábí defenders in particular became known to friend and foe alike. This brave fighter was a young woman named Zaynab.
Bicentenary 2019: 15/19 The time was then, the time in now...
“Though separated from our own time by two centuries, the society in which the Báb appeared resembles the present-day world for the sense of oppression and for the longing of so many to find answers to slake the soul’s thirst to know.” - Universal House of Justice
1848 is known as the Year of Revolutions. During that year popular uprisings broke out all over the world. Ireland was no exception with the Young Irelander’s Rebellion of July 1848.
The remarkable thing about these uprisings was that most were not about regime change but instead were calling for justice, equality and human rights.
Of all the ‘revolutions’ of 1848 there are two that are often overlooked - though in fact they were among the most ambitious and far-reaching because they called for justice for the largest oppressed group of all - women.
Bicentenary 2019: 16/19 The Martyrdom of the Báb
By 1850, thousands of people from every walk of life across Persia had become Bábís and the authorities decided that the only way to stop this new religion was to execute the Báb.
And so, it was decreed that on July 9th,1850, the Báb was to be executed by firing squad in Tabríz.
Bicentenary 2019: 17/19 - The Nature of Religion
Many religious scriptures contain prophecy about the advent of two Messengers of God, one following closely on the other. Bahá’ís believe that the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh are the expected Twin Manifestations and that Their Missions are inextricably linked...
Bicentenary 2019: 18/19 - An Irish Star
Sarah Louisa Ryan - Lady Blomfield - was born in Tipperary in 1859 and was one of the first Irish people to become a Bahá'í. Dedicated throughout her life to the alleviation of suffering and the building of a safe and just society, in 1919 she assisted in the founding of the Save The Children Fund.
In her book, 'The Chosen Highway,' Lady Blomfield speaks about the day the Báb's Mission began - "What a day in the history of the world! The Báb, the Herald of Bahá'u'lláh, the Promised One, opened the new age of mankind."
Bicentenary 2019: 19/19 - The Dawn Song of the Breaking Day of Days
Nabíl's Narrative', the history of the heroism and suffering of the Báb and His Followers is based on contemporary accounts of the earliest days of the Bahá'í Revelation. It was translated by Shoghi Effendi who gave the task of naming this priceless history to an Irish man - George Townshend.
