At the demand of her father, Tahirih left Baghdad for her home in Qazvin in the Spring of 1847, accompanied by about thirty of her followers, including Persians, Arabs, and women. In each town, she taught fearlessly about the appearance of a new revelation from God and met with both threats and enthusiastic acceptance.
In the village of Karand, hundreds of people—many of whom were Kurds—gave Tahirih their allegiance and volunteered to serve as her personal. In these villages of Western Iran, many people followed a religion from the 15th-century CE, called Ahl-e Haqq. This religion whose central rituals were secret for reasons of protection is based on the teachings of Sultan Shak, a Kurdish spiritual teacher born in Northern Iraq who migrated to Iran and his holy book the Kalam-e Saranjam.
Among the teachings of Ahl-e Haqq is the concept that God makes Himself incarnate in successive Manifestations so Tahirih’s claims about the Bab may have resonated with its followers. Similarly to Hinduism, there is a belief in the transmigration of souls, and that the human soul is reborn in successive physical bodies in its quest for ultimate perfection. This religion is practiced today mostly in Western Iran and Northern and Eastern Iraq.
Click below for some beautiful music from this religious tradition and a short TED talk on the Kurds, one of the most numerous trans-national people in the world.