…without trial or recourse, Bahá’u’lláh was released from
prison [Siyah-Chal] and immediately banished from His native land, His wealth
and properties arbitrarily confiscated. The Russian diplomatic representative,
who knew Him personally and who had followed the Bábí persecutions with growing
distress, offered Him his protection and refuge in lands under the control of
his government. In the prevailing political climate, acceptance of such help
would almost certainly have been misrepresented by others as having political
implications.[1] Perhaps for this reason, Bahá’u’lláh chose to accept
banishment to the neighboring territory of Iraq, then under the rule of the
Ottoman Empire. This expulsion was the beginning of forty years of exile,
imprisonment, and bitter persecution.
(From ‘Baha’u’llah’; A statement prepared
by the Bahá'í International Community Office of Public Information, at the
request of the Universal House of Justice and published in 1992)
[1] There was, understandably, great suspicion in Persia
about the intentions of the British and Russian governments, both of which had
long interfered in Persian affairs.
