Seven followers of the Báb, prominent and distinguished men, were arrested in 1850 on the false charges of plotting against the life of the Grand Vizier. Despite offers to spare their lives if they recanted their faith, they refused to do so. They were beheaded on February 19/20 and their corpses left three days in the public square to endure the desecration of the mobs. The Seven Martyrs were Haji Mirza Siyyid 'Ali, maternal uncle of the Báb; Mirza Qurban-'Ali, a leading figure of a dervish order; Haji Mulla Isma’il-i-Qumi, a former disciple of Siyyid Kazim; Siyyid Husayn-i-Turshi zi, an esteemed mujtahid; Haji Muhammad-Taqiy-i-Kirmani, a leading merchant; Siyyid Murtada, a noted merchant of Zanjan; and Muhammad-Husayn-i-Maraghi’i. The last three were so eager to be martyrs that each pleaded with the executioner to be allowed to die first. The executioner's answer was to behead them together. (Adapted from ‘A Basic Baha’i Dictionary’, by Wendi Momen; ‘The Babi and Baha’i Religions’ by Peter Smith, p. 28)