Chronology: Date 1852-0

date	event	tags	firsts
1852 Aug-Dec	Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment in the Síyáh-Chál See AB10–11, BBD211–12, BKG79–83, CH41–2, DB631–3, GPB109 and RB1:9 for a description of the prison and the conditions suffered by the prisoners. No food or drink was given to Bahá'u'lláh for three days and nights. [DB608] Photo of the entrance to the Siyah-Chal (Black-Pit) where Baha'u'llah was imprisoned in Tehran. Bahá'u'lláh remained in the prison for four months. [CH41; ESW20, 77; GPB104; TN31] A silent video presentation on Bahá'u'lláh's time in the Síyáh-Chál made for the 150th anniversary of the event. "Upon Our arrival We were first conducted along a pitch-black corridor, from whence We descended three steep flights of stairs to the place of confinement assigned to Us. The dungeon was wrapped in thick darkness, and Our fellow prisoners numbered nearly a hundred and fifty souls: thieves, assassins and highwaymen. Though crowded, it had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered. No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell. Most of these men had neither clothes nor bedding to lie on. God alone knoweth what befell Us in that most foul-smelling and gloomy place!" [ESW20-21] See CH42–3 for the effect of Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment on His wife and children. Friends and even family were afraid to be associated with His immediate family. During this period Mírzá Músá helped the family surreptitiously and Mírzá Yúsif, who was married to Bahá'u'lláh's cousin, a Russian citizen and a friend of the Russian Consul, was less afraid of repercussions for his support of them. They were also assisted by Isfandíyár, the family's black servant that had been emancipated in 1839 on the order of Bahá'u'lláh. This man's life was in great danger. At one time they had 150 policemen looking for him but he managed to evade capture. They thought that if they questioned (tortured) Isfandíyár he would reveal Bahá'u'lláh's nefarious plots. [SoW Vol IX April 28, 1918 p38-39] Another who helped the family was Mírzá Muhammad Tabrizi who rented a house for them in Sangelak. [PG122] 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as a child of eight, was attacked in the street of Tihrán. [DB616] See AB11–12, RB1:9 for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's account of His visit to His father. Bahá'u'lláh's properties were plundered. [CH41; RB1:11] See BBD4–5; DB663; BKG94–8 and Bahá'í Stories for the story of 'Abdu'l-Vahháb-i-Shírází who was martyred while being held in the Síyáh-Chál. See BBD190, 200 and ESW77 about the two chains with which Bahá'u'lláh was burdened while in the Síyáh-Chál. Five other Bábís were chained to Him day and night. [CH41] Bahá'u'lláh had some 30 or 40 companions. [BBIC:6, CH41] For the story of His faithful follower and his martyrdom, 'Abdu'l-Vahháb see TF116-119. An attempt was made to poison Him. The attempt failed but His health was impaired for years following. [BBIC:6; BKG99–100, GPB72] Bahá'u'lláh's half-brother Mírzá Yahyá fled to Tákur and went into hiding. He eventually went to Baghdád. [BKG90, 107, CH41]	Bahá'u'lláh, Life of (chronology); Bahá'u'lláh, Attempts on; Siyah Chal (Black Pit); Prison; `Abdu'l-Bahá, Life of (chronology); `Abdu'l-Vahhab-i-Shirazi; Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Poison; Chains; Mírzá Yahya (Subh-i-Azal); - Basic timeline, Condensed; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Bahá'u'lláh, Basic timeline; Tehran, Iran; Takur, Iran; Iran; Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
1852 Aug	In Mílán, Iran, 15 Bábís were arrested and imprisoned. [BW18:382] Many Bábís were tortured and killed in the weeks following the attempt on the life of the Sháh. [BKG84] See BBR171 for the story of Mahmud Khán, the Kalántar of Tihrán, and his role in the arrest and execution of the Bábís. See BKG84–93 for a description of the tortures and executions of Bábís. Thirty–eight Bábís were martyred. See BKG86–7 and DB616–21 for the torture and martyrdom of Sulaymán Khán. Holes were gouged in his body and nine lighted candles were inserted. He joyfully danced to the place of his execution. His body was hacked in two, each half is then suspended on either side of the gate. The persecutions were so severe that the community was nearly annihilated. The Bábí remnant virtually disappeared from view until the 1870s. [BBRSM:30; EB269]	Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; - Sháh; Mahmud Khan; Kalantar, Iran; Sulayman Khan; Milan, Italy; Tehran, Iran; Iran
1852 26 Aug	An account of the punishment meted out to those who participated in the attempt on the life of the Sháh and those who happened to be followers of the Báb, was published in the Vaqayi-yi Ittifáqíyyih, a Tihran newspaper. In addition, the newspaper reported that Mírzá Husayn 'Ali-i Nuri (Bahá'u'lláh) and five others who did not participated were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Sháh. See Bahá'u'lláh's Prison Sentence: The Official Account translated by Kazem Kazemzadeh and Firuz Kazemzadeh with an introduction by Firuz Kazemzadeh published in World Order Vol 13 Issue 2 Winter 1978-1979 page 11.	Nasirid-Din Shah, Attempt on; - Persecution; Persecution, Iran; Newspaper articles; Bahá'u'lláh, Life of (chronology); Tehran, Iran; Iran
1852 22 Aug – 27 Aug	After the initial executions, about 20 or more Bábís were distributed among the various courtiers and government departments to be tortured and put to death. [BBR135–6 BW18:382]	Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Iran
1852 16 – 22 Aug	A large number of Bábís were arrested in Tihrán and its environs following the attempt on the life of the Sháh. A number were executed. [BBR134–5; BW18:382] Eighty–one, of whom 38 were leading members of the Bábí community, were thrown into the Síyáh-Chál. [BKG77]	Siyah Chal (Black Pit); Nasirid-Din Shah, Attempt on; Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Tehran, Iran; Iran
1852 (days following 16 Aug)	Bahá'u'lláh was then taken on foot and in chains, with bared head and bare feet' to Tihrán, a distance of 15 miles, where He was cast into the Síyáh-Chál. [BKG77; DB606–7, 631-634; ESW20; GPB71] See BKG77–8 and DB606–608 for a description of Bahá'u'lláh's journey. See CH40–1 for the effect on Bahá'u'lláh's family. See Epistle to the Son of the Wolf p20. Where He had a dream: "Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy Pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Erelong will God raise up the treasures of the earth—men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him." [Epistle to the Son of the Wolf p21] In God Passes By p101-102 Shoghi Effendi quotes Bahá'u'lláh's Súrih of the Temple where He describes the moment that He had a vision of the Maiden symbolizing the 'Most Great Spirit" proclaiming His mission.	Bahá'u'lláh, Life of (chronology); Siyah Chal (Black Pit); Chains; Nasirid-Din Shah, Attempt on; Bahá'u'lláh, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Tehran, Iran; Iran
1852 16 – 27 Aug	The martyrdom of Táhirih (Qurratu'l-'Ayn) in Tihrán. [BBR172–3; BBRSM:30; BW18:382; BKG87; MF203] She was martyred in the Ílkhání garden, strangled with her own silk handkerchief which she had provided for the purpose. Her body was lowered into a well which was then filled with stones. [BBD220; DB622–8; GPB75] See GPB73–5 for a history of her life. See the story of her martyrdom and her life in the article in Radio France International. 'Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said: She went to that garden with consummate dignity and composure. Everyone said that they were going to kill her, but she continued to cry out just as she had before, declaring, "I am that trumpet-call mentioned in the Gospel!" It was in this state that she was martyred in that garden and cast into a well. [Talk by Abdu'l-Baha Given in Budapest to the Turanian Society on 14 April 1913 (Provisional) iiiii	Tahirih; Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Women; Gender; Equality; - Letters of the Living; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Tehran, Iran; Iran
1852 16 Aug	Bahá'u'lláh rode out towards the headquarters of the imperial army. At the time, He had been in 'The Abode of the Birds' (MurghMaḥallih), a garden which had been His summer residence. He stopped at Zargandih at the home of Mírzá Majíd Khán-i-Áhí, secretary to the Russian legation. [BKG77; DB603, AY235] Bahá'u'lláh was invited to remain in this home. [DB603] The Sháh was informed of Bahá'u'lláh's arrival and sent an officer to the legation to demand the delivery of Bahá'u'lláh into his hands. The Russian minister, Prince Dolgorukov, refused and suggested that Bahá'u'lláh be sent to the home of the Grand Vizier. [BKG77; DB603] Bahá'u'lláh was arrested. [BKG77; DB603]	Bahá'u'lláh, Life of (chronology); Mírzá Majid Khan-i-Ahi; Russian officials; - Shahs; Prince Dolgorukov; - Grand Viziers; Nasirid-Din Shah, Attempt on; Bahá'u'lláh, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Zargandih; Iran
1852 -1853	"In the hecatomb of 1852-1853 the ranks of the Bábís were drastically thinned. Most of the leading disciples were killed, only a few surviving in distant exile. The next ten years were hopelessly dark. Within the Bábí community there was much confusion and fear. It seemed at times that all the heroism, all the sacrifices, had been in vain. Enemies gloated over the virtual extermination of what they saw as a pernicious heretical sect. Sympathetic outsiders concluded that the movement that had shown so much promise cracked under persecution and collapsed, leaving behind only a glorious memory." [Varqá and Rúhu'lláh: Deathless in Martyrdom by Kazem Kazemzadeh, World Order, Winter 1974-75 p.29]	Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Bábí history; Iran
1852 15 Aug	Attempt on the life of the Sháh in Afcha, near Tehran. [BBR128; BBRSM:30; BKG74–5; DB599; ESW20; GPB62; TN2930] See BKG74–5 for circumstances of the event. See BKG76 for the fate of the perpetrators. See BBR128–46 for reporting of the event in the West. Ja'far-Qulí Khán wrote immediately to Bahá'u'lláh telling Him of the event and that the mother of the Sháh was denouncing Bahá'u'lláh as the 'would-be murderer'. Ja'far-Qulí Khán offered to hide Bahá'u'lláh. [BKG77; DB602]	Nasirid-Din Shah, Attempt on; Nasirid-Din Shah, Mother of; - Shahs; History (general); Iran, General history; Jafar-Quli Khan; Bahá'u'lláh, Life of (chronology); Bahá'u'lláh, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Iran
1852 summer	Bahá'u'lláh stayed at the summer residence of Ja'far-Qulí Khán, the brother of the Grand Vizier, in Afchih, Lavásán, near Tihrán. [BKG77; DB599]	Bahá'u'lláh, Life of (chronology); Jafar-Quli Khan; - Grand Viziers; Afchih, Iran; Lavasan, Iran; Tehran, Iran; Iran
1852 Apr - May c.	Bahá'u'lláh returned to Iran from Karbalá. [DB598] He was the guest of the Grand Vizier for one month. [BKG74; DB598–9]	Bahá'u'lláh, Life of (chronology); - Grand Viziers; Bahá'u'lláh, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Karbala, Iraq; Iraq; Iran
1852 20 Mar	The publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible. It is credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. In recent years, the negative associations with Uncle Tom's Cabin have, to an extent, overshadowed the historical impact of the book as a "vital antislavery tool. [Wikipedia] Harriet Beecher Stowe was an ancestor of Ellen "Mother" Beecher who was a grandmother of Hand of the Cause of God Dorothy Baker.	Uncle Toms Cabin: Life Among the Lowly; Literature, English; Literature; Race; Harriet Beecher Stowe; Ellen Beecher; - Hands of the Cause; Dorothy Baker; USA
1852 21 Feb	Birth of Isabella Brittingham, prominent American Bahá'í teacher, in New York City.	Isabella Brittingham; Births and deaths; New York, USA; USA
1852 Jan	Mírzá Taqí Khán was killed in the public bath in Káshán by order of the Sháh on the instigation of the Sháh's mother and Mírzá Áqá Khán. [BBR164–5; BKG72] He chose to have his veins opened and he bled to death. [BBR164; BKG72] Shoghi Effendi described him has being "arbitrary, bloodthirsty and reckless". [GPB4]	Mírzá Taqi Khan; - Prime Ministers; Assassinations; Public baths (bathhouses); Nasirid-Din Shah, Mother of; Mírzá Aqa Khan; Kashan, Iran; Iran
1852	Birth of Aqa Buzurg Khurasani (Badí'), Apostle of Bahá'u'lláh, in Mashhad.	Badi (Mírzá Aqa Buzurg-i-Nishapuri); - Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh; Births and deaths; Mashhad, Iran; Iran
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