Search

The Online Encyclopedia and Dictionary

 
     
 

Encyclopedia

Dictionary

Quotes

   
 

Mirza Yahya Nuri Subh-i Azal

Mirza Yahya Nuri Subh-i Azal (1831 - 1912) was a Persian religious leader. He was a disciple of the Báb's and after the Báb's martyrdom in 1850, Mirza Yahya became his successor. He then escaped to Baghdad in the Ottoman Empire, and under the title of Subh-i Azal (the Dawn of Eternity), became the pontiff of the Bábís. He lived, however, in great seclusion, leaving the direction of affairs almost entirely in the hands of his elder half brother, Bahá'u'lláh.

In 1963, after Bahá'u'lláh claimed that he was the one whom the Báb prophesized about and asked the Bábís to follow him, Mirza Yayha became the leader of Azali sect of Bábism. Mirza Yahya followed Bahá'u'lláh through his exiles to Constantinople and Adrianople and was constantly at odds with him. In Adrianople Mirza Yahya poisoned Bahá'u'lláh, for which Bahá'u'lláh was left with a shaking hand until the end of his life.

In 1868 Mirza Yahya was exiled to Cyprus and died in Famagusta, Cyprus in 1912. His followers are usually called Azalis or Azali Bábis; their populations are likely to be quite low. He is sometimes considered to be the antichrist by Bahá'ís.

References

  • Browne, E.G. (1891). A Traveller’s Narrative. Cambridge.
  • Britannica (Eds.) (1911). Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Chicago.



Last updated: 02-19-2005 01:21:53
Last updated: 05-03-2005 17:50:55