At the beginning of 1850, seven Bábís were arrested in Ṭihrán, charged with plotting to assassinate the Grand Vizier. They are known as the Seven Martyrs of Ṭihrán. The accusation was palpably false. There were many Bábís in Ṭihrán better equipped to engage in such an exercise. But more significant, all seven were men of outstanding character and repute, and respected by their countrymen. The real reason for their arrest was their espousal of the Faith of the Báb. Although efforts were made by men high in the professions they represented, to persuade them to give lip-denial to their most sacred beliefs, they steadfastly refused and were beheaded. The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith has vividly described this terrible scene, which was enacted in a public square of Ṭihrán (the Sabzih-Maydán): The defiant answers which they flung at their persecutors; the ecstatic joy which seized them as they drew near the scene of their death; the jubilant shouts they raised as they faced their executioner; the poignancy of the verses which, in their last moments, some of them recited; the appeals and challenges they addressed to the multitude of onlookers who gazed with stupefaction upon them; the eagerness with which the last three victims strove to precede one another in sealing their faith with their blood; and lastly, the atrocities which a bloodthirsty foe degraded itself by inflicting upon their dead bodies which lay unburied for three days and three nights in the Sabzih-Maydán, during which time thousands of so-called devout [_Sh_]í`ahs kicked their corpses, spat upon their faces, pelted, cursed, derided, and heaped refuse upon them--these were the chief features of the tragedy of the Seven Martyrs of Ṭihrán, a tragedy which stands out as one of the grimmest scenes witnessed in the course of the early unfoldment of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.[21] Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí, the uncle of the Báb, was one of these martyrs. He had recently returned from his visit to the Báb in [_Ch_]ihríq (see p. 150) and could easily have left the capital, when rumours were rife following the events of Mázindarán and Yazd. But he fearlessly stayed on, spurned all efforts made to induce him to recant, and met death gladly in the path of his Nephew. The other six were: Mírzá Qurbán-`Alí of Bárfurú[_sh_], Ḥájí Mullá Ismá`íl-i-Qumí, Siyyid Ḥusayn-i-Tur[_sh_]ízí, Ḥájí Muḥammad-Taqíy-i-Kirmání, Siyyid Murtaḍáy-i-Zanjání and Áqá Muḥammad-Ḥusayn-i-Mará[_gh_]i'í. Mírzá Qurbán-`Alí had been a Ni`matu'lláhí dervish, and a leading figure of that mystic order. He was well-known in the ruling circles of the capital and greatly respected. Mírzá Taqí [_Kh_]án (the Grand Vizier) particularly wished to save him, but the faith of the dervish remained unshakable. At his execution, the first blow of the executioner's sword only knocked his turban off his head, whereupon he recited aloud: