Women and the Religious World of Nineteenth Century Qazvin

Nineteenth Century Qazvin was a maelstrom of religious controversy and conflict. Usulis, Akhbaris, Shaykhis, Babis, and Baha'is all interacted in conflict with each other and sometimes even in violence. The central figure for much of this conflict was Qurrat al-`Ayn Tahirih, the daughter of an Usuli scholar, who became a Shaykhi and then a Babi. This paper will look at the circle of women around her and how she interacted with them. Although she herself was killed in 1852, the impact that she had on the women of the city had a lasting direct effect to the end of the nineteenth century and an indirect one up the present time.