Mullá Husayn-i-Bushru'i, one of the most prominent Bábís, marched with 202 of his fellow disciples, under instructions from the Báb, from Mashhad to the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí with the Black Standard raised, fulfilling an Islamic prophecy. The mission was most likely proclamatory but possibly also to rescue another Bábí leader, Quddús, who was under house arrest in Sárí. After being rebuffed at the town of Barfurush the group took up making defensive fortifications at the Shrine of the Shaykh. Upon arriving at the shrine, the Bábís, numbering alittle over 300 according to Bábí and Bahá'í sources and according to court historians was now under imminent attack from government forces.