On the morning ofJuly 9, 1850 in Tabriz, a young Persian merchant known as the Báb, at the age of thirty, was charged with apostasy and shot by order of the Prime Minister of the Persian Empire. The events surrounding his execution have been the subject of controversy among researchers, and are regarded as miraculous by Baháʼís, who consider him to be a Manifestation of God. The Báb and one of his companions were suspended on a wall and a large firing squad prepared to shoot. When the smoke cleared after the first firing of bullets, the Báb was missing. Reports continue by stating that the Báb was found back in his prison room finishing dictation to his secretary. Other sources, which include Persian and European reports, give a variety of accounts, some in agreement with the miracle-like Baháʼí story, and some indicating a less miraculous event. All agree that he survived the first firing squad, and was killed by the second. For many years after his death, the remains of the Báb were secretly transferred from place to place until they were brought to their final resting place at the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa on the middle terrace of the Baháʼí Gardens. The anniversary of this event is commemorated by members of the Baha'i Faith at noon on Rahmat 16 . It is one of nine Holy Days when work is suspended.
Execution order
In 1850 a new prime-minister, Amir Kabir, ordered the execution of the Báb; he was brought to Tabriz, where he would be killed by a firing squad. The night before his execution, as he was being conducted to his cell, a young man, Anís, threw himself at the feet of the Báb, wanting to be killed with the Báb. He was immediately arrested and placed in the same cell as the Báb. On the morning of July 9, 1850, the Báb was taken to the Tabriz courtyard filled with nearly ten thousand people wishing to watch his execution. The Báb and Anís were suspended on a wall and the firing squad of 750 rifles prepared to shoot.
Bábi/Baháʼí account
Here is an account which is in line with the common Baháʼí view by H.M. Balyuzi, a Hand of the Cause of God, who published several carefully researched histories about the Baháʼí Faith and its central figures:
Mírzá Mihdí Khán Zaímu'd-Dawlih was the son of a Shiʻite cleric who was present at the execution of the Báb and who took his son to the barracks square to review the events he witnessed. Zaímu'd-Dawlih recounted his father's version in a book, Miftáh-i-Bábu'l-Abváb ya Taríkh-i-Báb va Bahá, published about A.H. 1310. The work is a polemically anti-Baháʼí book. But the account of the execution includes the following details:
