Khadíjih-Sultán
Template:Short description K͟hadíjih-Sulțán Bagum (1822 – September 15, 1882)Template:Sfn was the wife of the Báb. She is sometimes referred to as K͟hadíjih Bagum, K͟hadíjih Bigum or K͟hadíjih K͟hánum.Template:Sfn
Biography
Background
The second daughter of her parents, Khadíjih Bagum, was born in 1822 in Shiraz, with the given name K͟hadíjih-Sultán Shírází.Template:Sfn The appellation "Bagum" (meaning "Lady") should be understood as a mark of respect and not as part of her name. Her father, Áqá Mír ʻAlí, was a merchant involved in importing goods from Bushehr,Template:Sfn contributing to the family's mercantile business, though he was the least successful among its members.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Khadíjih's mother, Ḥájíyyih Bíbí of Jahrum, had been widowed before marrying Khadíjih's father.Template:Sfn From her mother's first marriage, Khadíjih had a half-brother named Muhammad-Mihdí, a renowned poet, and a half-sister known as ʻAmmih Ḥájí, who later married Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ʻAlí, the guardian of the Báb during his childhood Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ʻAlí.Template:Sfn Khadíjih had three full siblings: two brothers, Ḥájí Mírzá Abu'l-Qasim, who continued the family tradition in commerce, and Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Hasan, who pursued a career as a teacher of medicine and also studied theology. Additionally, she had one sister named Zahrá.Template:Sfn
During her childhood, Khadíjih was familiar with the Báb, as they were second cousins once removed and often played together.Template:Sfn However, as they matured, societal customs dictated that they no longer met.Template:Sfn In his early adulthood, the Báb embarked on prolonged pilgrimages to Karbala, causing distress to his mother, who sought a means to anchor the 23-year-old Báb in Shiraz – leading to the expedited arrangement of his marriage to Khadíjih Bagum, perhaps as a strategy to dissuade him from leaving the city.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Marriage life and developments
At the age of 20, Khadíjih Bagum married the Báb on August 25, 1842, in Shiraz, officiated by the city's imam, Shaykh Abú-Turáb.Template:Sfn The newlywed couple established their home in a modest compound alongside the Báb's mother, Fátimih Bagum. In 1843, Khadíjih gave birth to their sole child, a son named Ahmad, who died a few months later.Template:Sfn Ahmad was initially interred near Bíbí-Dukhtarán in Shiraz, although his remains were later relocated.Template:Sfn The childbirth was fraught with difficulties, endangering Khadíjih's life, and she never conceived again. The loss of her only child was a profound sorrow, but the Báb provided solace, assuring her of their son's place in heaven. The death of her only child was very hard for her to bear, and the Báb consoled her, assuring her that their son was in heaven.Template:Sfn Recollecting the early days of their marriage, Khadíjih later remarked that they were among the happiest moments of her life.Template:Sfn Khadíjih played a significant role as the first witness to her husband's purported revelation in early April 1844, just before the declaration to Mulla Husayn.Template:Sfn After her husband's journey to Isfahan for safety, she lived a solitary life with the Báb's mother and her closest confidante, an African servant named Fiddih. Despite the separation, she found comfort in the letters sent by her husband, revealing their loving relationship.Template:Sfn Updates regarding the Báb were infrequent for Khadíjih and Fátimih Bagum. Family members often harbored resentment and embarrassment about their connection to the Báb, distancing themselves from Khadíjih. Only her sister Zahrá, dressing incognito as a peasant, ventured to bring news of the Báb.Template:Sfn
At the age of 28, Khadíjih was widowed when the Báb was killed by a firing squad. She then moved into the house of her sister Zahrá. Fearing for her health, the men of the household thought it prudent to keep the Báb's death a secret from her and his mother for almost a year.Template:Sfn However, with the death of the uncle of the Báb, as well as his 18-year-old son, the secret could not be kept. The women were distraught, and all three men were mourned together.Template:Sfn The mother of the Báb was horrified, and decided to retire to Karbala.Template:Sfn This departure meant that Khadíjih was dependent only on Fiddih and her sister.Template:Sfn "Her departure from Shiraz added greatly to my burden of sorrow and deepened the sadness of my heart. I had no longer by my side a comforter whose love and sympathy and care had sustained me over the years," she remarked.Template:Sfn
Later life
According to her own later account, she had recognized the Báb's religious station before the Báb had declared his mission to Mulla Husayn. She later recognized Baháʼu'lláh's claim,Template:Sfn and became a Baháʼí.Template:Sfn She kept in correspondence with Baháʼu'lláh while she had returned to Shiraz and lived in her previous home. She was greatly revered by the Baháʼís; many visited her whilst journeying to see Baháʼu'lláh. One occasion the very young Fátimih Nahrí of Isfahán, accompanied by her brother, visited. “They stayed for fifteen days, and those were some of the happiest days of my life” she later reflected.Template:Sfn
Later she was to make a journey to 'Akká to visit Baháʼu'lláh in 1882 with her nephew who was to come from Yazd. However, when her nephew went straight to Ottoman Syria, she was not able to go, as women could not travel alone.Template:Sfn After hearing the news, her health rapidly decreased.Template:Sfn She died on September 15, 1882, at the age of sixty, and was buried in Shiraz.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The same night her devoted maid and closest friend, an African named Fiddih, died too.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn In the Kitáb-i-Badíʻ, Baháʼu'lláh gives her the title of Khayru'n Nisa (The Most Virtuous of Women) and forbids all women, save Fátimih Bagum, the Báb's mother, from adopting the title.Template:Sfn
See also
- Ásiyih Khánum — Baháʼu'lláh's wife
- Munirih Khánum — ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's wife