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Even in Gallipoli, where three nights were spent, no one knew what Baha'u'llah's destination would be. Some believed that He and His brothers would be banished to one place, and the remainder dispersed, and sent into exile. Others thought that His companions would be sent back to Persia, while still others expected their immediate extermination. The government's original order was to banish Baha'u'llah, Aqay- i- Kalim and Mirza Muhammad- Quli, with a servant to Akka, while the rest were to proceed to Constantinople. This order, which provoked scenes of indescribable distress, was, however, at the insistence of Baha'u'llah, and by the instrumentality of Umar Effendi, a major appointed to accompany the exiles, revoked. It was eventually decided that all the exiles, numbering about seventy, should be banished to Akka. Instructions were, moreover, issued that a certain number of the adherents of Mirza Yahya, among whom were Siyyid Muhammad and Aqa Jan, should accompany these exiles, whilst four of the companions of Baha'u'llah were ordered to depart with the Azalis for Cyprus.
(181:2)
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