Edward Granville Browne, who visited Zanján nearly forty years later, could find no natural advantages in the fort to account for the 'desperate resistance offered by the Bábís', and concluded that their success in holding off the vastly superior regiments of the [_Sh_]áh should 'be attributed less to the strength of the position which they occupied than to the extraordinary valour with which they defended themselves'.[24] They were sustained in their cruel ordeal by the indomitable Ḥujjat, whom no calamity could overcome, and by the tenacity of their own devotion to the Báb, their promised Qá'im. A British observer in the 'Persian camp before Zenjan' reported to Sheil in Ṭihrán: They [the Bábís] fight in the most obstinate and spirited manner, the women even, of whom several have been killed, engaging in the strife--and they are such excellent marksmen that up to this time a good many have fallen of the Government troops.[25] The most celebrated of the women was a village girl, Zaynab, who dressed as a man and, for five months until her death in the struggle, guarded the ramparts with the men. Ḥujjat gave her the name of Rustam-`Alí. Finding that all efforts to defeat the Bábís were fruitless, the commander determined to adopt the same treacherous tactics as had succeeded at Ṭabarsí and Nayríz. He drew up a proposal for peace, assuring the defenders of the forgiveness of the [_Sh_]áh and pledging with a sealed copy of the Qur'án the safety of all who would leave the fort. Ḥujjat, fully conscious of their intentions but honouring the Qur'án, sent a delegation of nine young children and men over eighty to the camp of the commander. They were insolently received and most were thrown into a dungeon. It was the signal for a final month-long siege, in which some eighteen regiments were brought into action, subjecting the now famished and depleted Bábís to a constant bombardment of cannon. With the wounding of Ḥujjat, the fort was captured, but its occupants continued their struggle from nearby houses, throwing the opposing army into despair. Then Ḥujjat's wife and baby son were killed, and a few days later he himself died of his wounds. There were left of the Bábís only two hundred able-bodied men who were struck down in a fierce attack. When the survivors had been inhumanly tortured, killed and their bodies mutilated, the body of Ḥujjat was discovered and exposed for three days to dishonour in the public square. Hands unknown rescued and carried it away. Already Ḥujjat's eight-year-old son had been 'literally cut into small pieces', and the wives and daughters of the Bábís were handed over to the soldiers.[26][FM] [Footnote FM: See Appendix 5.]