The Babi and Baha'i Religion — Page 48
THE B Ā B Ī AND BAH Ā ’ Ī RELIGION 48 day, until the Turkish Government sent Bah a ’ull a h and his friends to ‘Akk a , while Mirz a Ya h y a was sent to Cyprus, This happened in August 31, 1868" 61. When Bah a ’ull a h reached ‘Akk a , his party com- prised 72 members. Since the Turkish Government had some suspicions in regard to the B a b i s in general, it took this precaution that in the group of Bah a ’ull a h four Azal i s (followers of S ub h -e-Azal) were included, while four followers of Bah a ’ull a h were put in Subh- e-Azal’s party. Professor Browne has given the names of these eight men, and added that of these four the Bah a ’ i s poisoned one even before they had left for ‘Akk a , and the remaining three were disposed of in similar manner after reaching ‘Akk a. Mirz a Na s rull a h Tafrash i was the name of the man poisoned before leaving for ‘Akk a "After reaching ‘Akk a the remain- ing three were killed by the Bah a ’ i s in one night" 62. Following these murders, the Turkish Government for a brief period brought a hard hand to bear upon the Bah a ’ i s, but they managed to bribe some of the corrupt officials and obtained a considerable measure of facilities locally 63 , so that they were not subjected to any restrictions. 61 ‘A s r-e-Jad i d , Urdu, page 37. 62 Muqaddamah Nuq t atul K a f. 63 Al-B a biyun fit T a r i kh , page 22.