A Reformist, a Diplomat, and a Benevolent Merchant: Hājī Mīrzā Sayyīd Muhammad-Taqī Shīrāzī (Afnān), the Shīrāzī Trading House and the Propagation of the Babi-Baha⁠ʾi Faith

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to offer a glimpse into the Baha⁠ʾi mercantile community in Iran during the second half of the nineteenth century and its reformist and modernist attitudes through the accounts of one of its leading merchants, Hājī Mīrzā Sayyīd Muhammad-Taqī Shīrāzī (Afnān).