to the faithful; the Báb later repeated the same in front of a congregation at the Vakil Mosque. This renunciation saved him from immediate execution. Abbas Amanat states, "in conformity with his own policy of prudence" during the early stages of his mission, the Báb wrote a statement, apparently under pressure, recanting his claims to the position of Babiya (gatehood). He disowned those who advocated such beliefs about him in these words: "If certain words flowed from my pen, they are purely instinctive and entirely against the accepted norms and thus not to be taken as proofs of any cause." The Báb was placed under house arrest at the home of his uncle until a cholera epidemic broke out in the city in September 1846. Once released he departed for Isfahan. There, many came to see him at the house of the Imam-Jum'ih, who became sympathetic. After an informal gathering where the Báb debated the local clergy and displayed his speed in producing instantaneous verses, his popularity soared. After the death of the governor of Isfahan, Manouchehr Khan Gorji, his supporter, pressure from the clergy of the province led to Mohammad Shah Qajar ordering the Báb to Tehran in January 1847. After spending several months in a camp outside Tehran, and before the Báb could meet the Shah, the Prime Minister sent the Báb to Tabriz in the northwestern corner of the country, to his confinement. After 40 days in Tabriz, the Báb transferred to the fortress of Maku, Iran in the province of Azerbaijan near the Turkish border. During his incarceration there, the Báb began his most important work, the Persian Bayán, that remained unfinished. Because of the Báb's growing popularity in Maku, even the governor of Maku converting, the prime minister transferred him to the fortress of Chihríq in April 1848. There too the Báb's popularity grew and his jailors relaxed restrictions on him. Trial in Tabríz In June 1848, the Báb was brought from Chihríq to Tabríz to face trial for apostasy in front of a body of Islamic clergy. On the way, he spent 10 days in the town of Urmia, where the only known portrait of him was made, a copy of which was later sent to Baháʼu'lláh and is still held in the International Archives at the Baháʼí World Centre. The trial, attended by the Crown Prince, occurred in July 1848 and involved numerous