Historian Nicolas describes an incident in Karbila in 1842 involving those people who had been persecuting Siyyid Kázim

Shrine of Imam Husayn

A. L. M. Nicolas, in his “Essai sur le Shaykhisme,” II, pp. 29–30, describes the event as follows:

“It was in the year 1258 (1842) that this event took place, on the day of the Feast of Qadr. The armies of Baghdád, under the leadership of Najíb Páshá, took possession of Karbilá whose inhabitants they massacred and whose rich Mosques they pillaged. About nine thousand people were killed, the majority of whom were Persians. Muhammad Sháh was seriously ill at the time of this disaster and therefore his officials had kept the news from him.

“When the Sháh heard later on of these events, he grew furiously angry and swore fierce vengeance, but the Russian and English representatives intervened in order to quiet things. Finally Mírzá Ja’far Khán Mushíru’d-Dawlih, on return from his ambassadorship at Constantinople, was sent to Erzeroum there to meet the English, Russian and Ottoman delegates.

“Having arrived at Tabríz, the Persian plenipotentiary fell ill and Hájí Mírzá Aqásí appointed in his place Mírzá Taqí Khán-i-Faráhání, Vazír Nizám: this man appeared in Erzeroum with two hundred officers.

“The Turkish delegate was Anvar Effendi who showed himself both courteous and conciliatory, but one of the men of the Amír Nizám committed an offense against the Sunnite religion; the population then attacked the camp of the Ambassador, two or three Persians were killed, everything was pillaged and the Amír Nizám was saved only through the intervention of Badrí Páshá.

“The Turkish Government expressed regret and paid an indemnity of 15,000 túmans.

“In his Hidayatut-Tálibín, Karím Khán asserts that during the sack of Karbilá, the victorious troops respected the homes of the Shaykhís. All those, he said, who sought refuge in them were saved, together with many precious objects which were gathered there. None of the companions of Siyyid Kázim were killed, while those who had sought refuge in the holy sepulchres were massacred without mercy. It is said that the Páshá entered on horseback within the sacred precincts.”

(Footnotes to Chapter 2 of the Dawn-Breakers, included by Shoghi Effendi)