In 1844, a young merchant from Shiraz called Sayyid &;Ali-Muhammad declared himself the &;gate&; (the Bab) to the Truth and, shortly afterwards, the initiator of a new prophetic cycle. His messianic call attracted a significant following across Iran and Iraq. Regarded as a threat by state and religious authorities, the Babis were subject to intense persecution and the Bab himself was executed in 1850. In this volume, leading scholars of Islam, Baha&;i studies and Iranian history come together to examine the life and legacy of the Bab, from his childhood to the founding of the Baha&;i faith and beyond. Among other subjects, they cover the Bab&;s writings, his Qur&;an commentaries, the societal conditions that underlay the Babi upheavals, the works of Babi martyr Tahirih Qurratu&;l-&;Ayn, and Orientalist Edward Granville Browne&;s encounters with Babi and Baha&;i texts.