Curious Facts About Babists

1905

At a recent meeting of the Imperial Geographical society at Weadikawkas, Russia, the explorer Arakelyani made some interesting statements about the religious sect of the Babists.

This Mohammedan organization was founded in 1844 by the Persian Mirsa Ali Mohamed, and now numbers about 5,000,000 members. According to the "Bejan" — the Koran of this sect — all men are brethren, and should speak and write the same language. The year is divided into nineteen months and nineteen days, of which the latter five are devoted to repentance.

Of these 5,000,000 members, over 3,000,000 live in Persia, where they have been allowed to build their own churches, while the remainder is spread over Egypt, Arabia, Turkestan and even China.

The present head of the sect is Abbas-Effendi, who resides in Persia. The founder of the organization, Mirsa Ali Mohamed, was killed in Persia some three years ago.