a descendant of Muhammad, a Sayyid, with both parents tracing their lineage through Husayn ibn Ali. His father was Muhammad Riḍá, and his mother was Fátimih (1800–1881), a daughter of a prominent Shiraz merchant. She later became a Baháʼí. His father died when he was quite young, and his maternal uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ʿAlí, a merchant, reared him. In Shiraz his uncle sent him to a maktab primary school, where he remained for six or seven years. In contrast to the formal, orthodox theology which dominated the school curriculum of the time, which included the study of jurisprudence and Arabic grammar, the Bab from a young age felt inclined towards unconventional subjects like mathematics and calligraphy, which were little studied. The Bab's preoccupation with spirituality, creativity and imagination also angered his teachers and was not tolerated in the atmosphere of the 19th century Persian school system. This led the Bab to become disillusioned with the education system, he later instructs adults to treat children with dignity, to allow children to have toys and engage in play and to never show anger or harshness to their students. Sometime between age 15 and 20 he joined his uncle in the family business, a trading house, and became a merchant in the city of Bushehr, Iran, near the Persian Gulf. As a merchant, he was renowned for his honesty and trustworthiness in his business, which was focused on trade with India, Oman, and Bahrain. Some of his earlier writings suggest that he did not enjoy the business and instead applied himself to the study of religious literature. Marriage In 1842, at age 23 and following his mother's wishes, he married 20 year old Khadíjih-Sultán Bagum (1822–1882), the daughter of a prominent merchant in Shíráz. The marriage proved a happy one, though their only child — a boy named Ahmad — died the year he was born (1843) and Khadijih never conceived again. The young couple occupied a modest house in Shiraz along with the Báb's mother. Later, Khadijih became a Baháʼí. Shaykhi movement In the 1790s in Iraq, Shaykh Ahmad (1753–1826) began a religious school of thought within Shia Islam. His followers, who became known as Shaykhis, were expecting the imminent return of divine guidance through the appearance of the Mahdi, the Hidden Imam, or a deputy of the Hiden Imam. He took a less-literalist approach to Islamic teachings, for example teaching