The Babi and Baha'i Religion — Page 28
THE B Ā B Ī AND BAH Ā ’ Ī RELIGION 28 day in the political aims of the movement. Following the claim of the B a b that he was the Mahdi, distur- bance took place in many places, with varying degrees of bloodshed, culminating in the arrest of the B a b and his imprisonment in the fortress of M a k u. In the Badasht Conference held in 1264 Hijra resolution was passed to the effect that all B a b i s should converge on M a k u in an organised manner, so that all possible efforts should be made to encompass liberation of the B a b from imprisonment. 27 The B a b i s who responded to this call have been thus described by B a h a ’ i historians: "Most of them carried arms and moved in bands of about twenty or more" 28. In 1264 Hijra the B a b i s took possession of the fort of Tabras i , put it in good repair and installed them- selves in it. Muhammad Sh a h of Iran died at about this time, which greatly encouraged the B a b i s. Even prior to the execution of the B a b, distur- bances had occurred in a number of places, with clashes between the B a b i s and Government forces. In places like Zanj a n M a zandar a n and N i r i z the army had suffered considerable losses. According to a B a h a ’ i historian in one clash alone about four hundred 27 Al-Kaw a kib , 227. 28 Al-Kaw a kib , page 225.