Babis

Babis (Per. bab-ed-Din, gate of the faith), a modern Persian sect founded in 1843 by Mirza Ali Mohammed of Shiraz, who took the title of Bab. Their theology is a mixture of Pantheism with Gnostic and Buddhist doctrines, and they are adverse to asceticism, polygamy, divorce, and the subjection of women. They tried to raise a revolution in Persia in 1848, and three of their members attempted to assassinate the Shah in 1852. Both attempts failed and were followed by terrible persecution. Their doctrines are a development of Sufism (q.v.).