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Constantinople and Adrianople |
The journey to Constantinople lasted between three and
four months, the party consisting of Bahá’u’lláh with members
of His family and twenty-six disciples. Arrived in Constantinople
they found themselves prisoners in a small house in
which they were very much overcrowded. Later they got somewhat
better quarters, but after four months they were again
moved on, this time to Adrianople. The journey to Adrianople,
although it lasted but a few days, was the most terrible they had
yet undertaken. Snow fell heavily most of the time, and as they
were destitute of proper clothing and food, their sufferings were
extreme. For the first winter in Adrianople, Bahá’u’lláh and
His family, numbering twelve persons, were accommodated
in a small house of three rooms, comfortless and vermin
infested. In the spring they were given a more comfortable
abode. They remained in Adrianople over four and a half
years. Here Bahá’u’lláh resumed His teaching and gathered
31
about Him a large following. He publicly announced His
mission and was enthusiastically accepted by the majority of
the Bábís, who were known thereafter as Bahá’ís. A minority,
however, under the leadership of Bahá’u’lláh’s half brother,
Mírzá Yaḥyá, become violently opposed to Him and joined
with their former enemies, the Shí’ihs, in plotting for His overthrow.
Great troubles ensued, and at last the Turkish Government
banished both Bábís and Bahá’ís from Adrianople, exiling
Bahá’u’lláh and His followers to ‘Akká, in Palestine, where
they arrived (according to Nabíl)
1
on August 31, 1868, while
Mírzá Yaḥyá and his party were sent to Cyprus.
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1. | Author of an early history of the Faith, The Dawn-Breakers, Nabíl was a participant in some of the scenes he describes and was personally acquainted with many of the early believers. [ Back To Reference] |