Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

World Canada

1700s 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 1700s 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

Date 1896-05-02, descending — sort earliest first

date	event	tags	firsts
1896 1 May [189-]	The martyrdom of Hand of the Cause of God Varqa ('Dove'), Mírzá 'Ali-Muhammad. (b.1856 in Yazd, d. in Tehran) He and his young son, Ruhu'lláh, were killed by, Hajib'ud-Dawleh, one of the Qajar courtiers, in fact, the Chief Steward, in the aftermath of the assassination of Nasir'd-Din Shah. Varqá was slashed to death before the eyes of his twelve-year-old son who, still refusing to recant, was strangled. [GPB296; BBRXXIX; SUR77; BW18p384; Bahá'í Encyclopedia Project] For the story of their lives see MRHK405–22 and World Order: Winter 1974-1975, Vol. 9 No.2 p29-44 as well as LoF42-49. For a Western account of the episode see BBR361–2. 'Abdu'l-Bahá named him posthumously as a Hand of the Cause and Shoghi Effendi designated him as one of the Apostles of Bahá-u-lláh. [EB75-97 LoF42-49, BBR361-362, SoBSNBp225-229] See Varqá and Son: The Heavenly Doves by Darius Shahrokh. See also Bahá'í Chronicles. See SoW Vol 12 No 4 (17 May 1921 (Volume 7 pg93) for a photo of Varqá, Ruhu'lláh and their two companions.	Varqa; Varqá, Mírzá `Alí-Muhammad; Varqa, Ruhullah; In Memoriam; - Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh; - Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, referred to as such by `Abdu'l-Bahá; Hands of the Cause, Appointments; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; Hands of the Cause, Activities; Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Yazd, Iran; Tehran, Iran; Iran