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Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 190-, ascending — sort latest first

date event tags firsts
1900 (In the year)
190-		 The publication of Tablets Revealed by the Blessed Perfection and Abdul-Beha Abbas. 13p. It consisted of miscellaneous tablets "brought to this country by Haji Mirza Hassan, Mirza Assad' Ullah, and Mirza Hussien." Published in New York by the Board of Counsel.
  • The first two selections, including the Short Healing Prayer and the last one are from Bahá'u'lláh; the others are by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • Includes a "prayer for the confirmation of the American government." The most recent translation of this prayer can be found at bahai.org. [Collins4.278]
    		• * Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    c. 1900
    190-    		 For the state of affairs in Haifa just after the turn of the century see CB231-234. Covenant-breaking; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Haifa, Israel
    c. 1900
    190-    		 See Summon up Remembrance p10-15 by Marzieh Gail for a description of life in Persia 1880s -> early 20th Century.
  • Tehran had been the capital since 1788, before that it was Shiraz and before that Isfahan and Qazvin. None of the buildings had windows that opened onto the street to prevent noble ladies from being offended should they have a glance inside.
  • Upper class families enjoyed the benefits of the "Mustamarrí" (Perpetual), an annual stipend that came down to them from long-ago ancestors.
  • Women entertained with lavish parties, competing to outdo each other. There is a story which may not be apocryphal of a hostess who received her guest wearing a dress in the style of the latest Paris fashion. At the return party the following week the hostess had dressed all of her serving maid in gowns identical to the one the former hostess had worn. Women tried to amass large sums of money to ensure "good" marriages for their daughters.
  • The gentry functioned according to the unwritten rules of Sha'n which was rank, dignity, ancestral prestige, personal talent, intellectual attainment, family honour, and social prominence was always combined with ancient blood. It was like "noblesse oblige" or the Chinese concept of face. A noble man could not appear in public without a bevy of attendants. Such a man could not carry a package in public nor could he consort with tradesmen or even merchants as equals. Even relatives of lesser rank could not remain seated in his presence.
  • Slavery was still common, up to 1/4 of the population were slaves by some estimates.
  • The entire population was subject to "rasm". These were rules that had become crystallized and so reflexive that anyone daring to break these rules would be attacked. 'Abdu'l-Bahá said the Persians lay in a strange sleep [SDC8] Both the leaders and the masses were under the control of the clergy who acted in a predictable manner to the advent of a new Manifestation.
  • Graft was rampant in every government department. The Persian word f.or it "madákhil was a cherished national institution and could be translated as "commission", 'perquisite', 'douceur', or 'consideration'.
  • The custom of ta'áruf was rigidly observed. This was a long exchange of compliment and ritual courtesies, not necessarily heartfelt, the ceremonial greetings, and social formalities. If someone admires one of your possessions you must offer it as a gift but ritual courtesy forbids you to take the gift.
    		• Marzieh Gail; Iran
    1900 (In the year)
    190-    		 A Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the American believers was presented through 'Abdu'l-Karim Effendi, who had been the teacher of Dr. Ibrahim Kheiralla.
  • Mr. Arthur Pillsbury Dodge received the first Tablet ever to an American believer, written in Arabic by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in his own handwriting and translated by Mr. Anton Haddad.
  • A Tablet to the Hoboken Assembly was received through Mr. J.F. Brittingham. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p4]
    		• Abdel Karim Effendi Teherani; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Arthur Pillsbury Dodge; Anton Haddad; James F. Brittingham; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    1900 (Early part)
    190-    		 `Abdu'l-Bahá began to build the foundations of the Shrine of the Báb. [CB223]
  • Note that the number 8 is prominent in the design of the Shrine of the Báb and the gardens. Mr. Giachery noted that Shoghi Effendi reported 'Abdu'l-Bahá to have said that it was because the Báb was the eighth Manifestation of those religions whose followers still exist. [SER84]
    		•  Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); Mount Carmel; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; Eight (number); - Basic timeline, Expanded; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel
    1900 (In the year)
    190-    		 Charlotte and Henry Morton moved from Kenosha to Milwaukee, becoming the city's first Bahá'í residents. By 1906, the Milwaukee community had grown to fourteen members. [Encyclopedia of Milwaukee] Charlotte and Henry Morton; Charlotte and Henry Morton; Milwaukee, WI first Bahá'ís in Milwaukee
    1900 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of Prayers, Tablets, Instructions and Miscellany, together with pilgrim's notes of the second party of American Bahá'ís to visit Akka, Palestine: Edward and Lua Getsinger, Arthur and Elizabeth Dodge and William and Anna Hoar.
  • This book "appeared at a time when Khayru'lláh's total alienation was no longer in doubt". [AB87]
  • Ali-Kuli Khan was with that group of pilgrims. When one looks at this small book or only 91 pages, one is amazed at how little these early Western Bahá'ís had of the Words and the Writings...and how deep their faith was that so little sufficed. [AB88]
    		•  * Publications; * Translation; * Prayer texts; Edward Getsinger; Arthur Dodge; William Hoar; Lua Getsinger; Elizabeth Dodge; Anna Hoar; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    c. 1900
    190-    		 The Kitáb-i-Aqdas was translated by Anton Haddad. It was not published but circulated in typescript form. [BFA2:27; SA251]
  • He had made his second pilgrimage in 1988. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p3]
    		• Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book); * Translation; Anton Haddad; United States (USA)
    1900 Jan
    190-    		 The Behais Publishing and Supply Board was created in Chicago. It was the property of four Chicao Bah´'ís, Thornton Chase, Arthur Agnew, Charles Greenleaf and Frank Hoffman. This same entity is now called the Bahá'í Publishing Trust. [BFA1:XXIX; BFA2p24-25] - Publishing Trusts; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1900 8 Mar
    190-    		 At a meeting in Kenosha, Kheiralla publicly announced his doubts about `Abdu'l-Bahá's leadership of the Bahá'í community. He also said that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was not the return of Christ has be had been teaching. [BFA1:XXIX; SBBH1:96; SBBH2:117; SBBH1p96]
  • He he had allied himself with Muhammad-`Alí. [SSBH1:96]
  • The Bahá'ís effectively divided into two camps. There had been two to three thousand believers in North America in 1900, by 1902, 1,700 had left the Faith leaving six or seven hundred of whom three hundred were "Behaists" and the rest "Abbasites" or "Behais" (followers of 'Abdu'l-Bahá). By 1906 the US Census of Religions reported that the number of Bahá'ís had risen to 1,280 and the "Behaists" numbered on forty. The Kenosha Behaists continued to exist until the early 1950s. [SSBH1:96-97; WOB82; SBBH14p7] To counter the effects of this, Abdu'l-Baha, in 1900 and 1901, sent teachers to America who were completely loyal to the Center of the Covenant and well-informed on the teachings of Baha'u'llah. They were Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and Mirza Asad'u'llah. Mr. Chase wrote, with these teachers came the first opportunity for a correct and intimate knowledge of the true Bahá'í teachings...rather than psychic and occult experiments...Many persons who had conceived views imbued with imaginations and superstitions fell away from the Cause, but those who remained discovered such spiritual light,...and power in the teachings, that they were deeply confirmed in their belief, and clung to it.. ." [from a short paper entitled 'A Brief History of the American Development of the Bahá'í Movement,' printed in Star of the West, Volume V, number 17.]
  • For the changes to the Bahá'í community as a result of this schism see SSBH1:96–9 and SSBH2:117–20.
    		•  Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Mírzá Muhammad Ali; Covenant-breaking; Kenosha, WI; Wisconsin, USA; United States (USA)
    1900 c. 16 Mar
    190-    		 The Chicago community re-organized by selecting a ten-member Board of Council. Neither Kheiralla nor any of his supporters were on the Board. [BFA1:XXIX, 170; The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith] Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1900 22 or 23 Mar
    190-    		 On the 3rd of January, 1990 Sarah Farmer and her friend Maria Wilson boarded the SS Füst Bismark for the Mediterranean. On board they discovered two old friends, Josephine Locke and Elizabeth Knudson who were on their way to pilgrimage. The party sailed to Egypt and while awaiting 'Abdu'l-Bahá's permission to go to Akka, spent time with Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl. They arrived in Akka on the 23rd of March, 1900. In preparation Miss Farmer had prepared a list of 15 questions to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá but forgot them in her accomodations when she was called to meet Him. He answered all of questions in order. [GAP27-29; VAB37-39] Sarah Farmer; Maria Wilson; Pilgrimage; Haifa, Israel
    1900 (In the year)
    190-    		 Sarah Farmer put Green Acre at the disposal of the Bahá'ís after her pilgrimage to `Akká in 1900. [BFA2:144–5; GPB261]
  • After 1900 Green Acre effectively became the site of the first Bahá'í summer school in the world, although it was not officially so until 1929. [BBRSM:104; BW5:29–30; SBBH1:125]
    		•  Sarah Farmer; Green Acre, Eliot, ME; First summer and winter schools; Eliot, ME; Maine, USA; United States (USA) First Bahá'í summer school site
    1900 26 Apr
    190-    		 On the instructions of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Egyptian businessman Hájí `Abdu'l-Karím-i-Tihrání arrived in New York, the first Persian Bahá'í to visit North America. He had taught the Faith to Kheiralla in Egypt. His purpose was to try to bring Kheiralla back into the Faith and to explain the basic teachings of the Faith to the American believers. He was accompanied by Mirza Sinore Raffie, his translator. [BFA173–6; BFA2:17–29]
  • Muhammad-'Ali, having obtained Kheiralla's support, sent his son Shu'a'u'lláh to Kenosha to try to spread opposition to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [SBBH1p240]
  • `Abdu'l-Karím and Shu'a'u'lláh apparently met in Kenosha. The point that they disagreed on was Kheiralla's insistence that his teachings be regarded as authoritative. [SBBH!p240]
    		• Hájí `Abdu'l-Karim-i-Tihrani; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Mírzá Sinore Raffie; Covenant-breaking; Shuaullah; New York, USA; United States (USA) First Persian Bahá'í to visit North America
    1900 Apr
    190-    		 Dr Yúnis Khán arrived in `Akká to act as translator for `Abdu'l-Bahá. He remained for nine years. [BW12:679-681] Youness Afroukhteh (Yunis Afrukhtih); Translators; Akka, Israel
    1900 5 Aug
    190-    		 Hájí `Abdu'l-Karím-i-Tihrání left the United States, his efforts to win Kheiralla back to the Faith having failed. [BFA176]
  • Reports of his meetings in which he confronted Ibrahim Kheiralla over Kheiralla's renunciation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and defection to Muhammad-Alí were published under the title Reports of Proceedings of Meetings in New York City and Chicago, Illinois. [Collins7.2278]
    		•  Hájí `Abdu'l-Karim-i-Tihrani; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; New York, USA
    1900 4 Nov
    190-    		 The Persian teachers Mírzá Asadu'lláh-i-Isfahání (1826-1930) and Hájí Hasan-i-Khurásání, a merchant from Cairo, arrived in America. Their task was to consolidate the American community and to address the effects of Kheiralla's disaffection. [BFA2p35–43]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá provided them with two translators, Mírzá Husayn Rúhí, a young Persian Bahá'í who had learned English in Egypt, and Mírzá Burzurg.
  • They spent three weeks in New York then spent two days in Johnstown, NY then relocated to Chicago where he stayed for eighteen months.
  • Mírzá Asadu'lláh did not accompany 'Abdu'l-Bahá to America, however, shortly after His return, Mírzá Asadu'lláh and his son insisted on going to the West and did so against 'Abdu'l-Bahá's wishes. Both he and his son were expelled from the Faith. [APD143; AY119; SoW Vol 5 # 17 19 Jan 1915 pg 263; 265]
  • The four stayed in New York and then left for Chicago arriving on the 29th of November. Asadu'lláh stayed in Chicago until 12 May 1902, Khurásání, and Rúhí returned to Egypt in mid-July, 1901. [BFA2p38]
    		• Hájí Hasan-i-Khurasani; Mírzá Asadullah-i-Isfahani; Mírzá Husayn Ruhi; Mírzá Burzurg; Covenant-breaking; Johnstown, NY; New York, USA; New York, USA; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1900 26 Nov
    190-    		 Agnes Baldwin Alexander wrote to `Abdu'l-Bahá declaring her belief in Bahá'u'lláh. [BFA2:159; SBR176; PH32]
  • She had heard of the Bahá'í Faith from Charlotte Dixon while staying in a pension in Rome. She stayed in Rome for three months studying prophecies then travelled to Paris for further study with May Bolles for another three and one half months. [BFA2:159; SBR176]
  • She left Paris in the Spring of 1901 for London, New England, Oakland, Ca and finally Honolulu. On returning to Hawaii in December 1901 she became the first Bahá'í to set foot in Hawaii. [BFA2:159–60; SBR177]
    		• Agnes Alexander; May Maxwell (Bolles); Charlotte Dixon; Rome, Italy; Italy; Paris, France; France; Oakland, CA; California, USA; London, England; United Kingdom; Honolulu, HI; Hawaii, USA First Bahá'í to set foot in Hawaii
    1900 7 Dec
    190-    		 In New York, nine men were selected to govern the affairs of the Faith. Those serving were Arthur Dodge, Hooper Harris, William Hoar, Andrew Hutchinson, Howard MacNutt, Frank Osborne, Edwin Putnam, Charles Sprague and Orosco Woolson. Among the problems that they had to face was the effect of the disaffection of Kheiralla. [BFA2p36; Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p5]

    One of the men, William Hoar, had been present at the reading of the paper by Henry Jessop at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1892. Shortly after he began study of the Faith with Ibrahim Khayru'llah. Later Hoar moved to New York where he continued study with Anton Haddad. Haddad had learned of the Faith in Egypt from Haji 'Abdu'l-Karim-i-Tihrani. [WMSH59]

    		 Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Arthur Dodge; Hooper Harris; William Hoar; Andrew Hutchinson; Howard MacNutt; Frank Osborne; Edwin Putnam; Charles Sprague; Orosco Woolson; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Anton Haddad; Hájí `Abdu'l-Karim-i-Tihrani; New York, USA; United States (USA) first "Spiritual Assembly" meeting in America????
    1901 (In the Year)
    190-    		 The publication of Lessons on the Beha Revelation by W Hooper Harris. This publication was a series of lessons based on Christian prophecies that was used for teaching the Bahá'í Faith in the early days of the religion in the United States. [Collins7.1136] Hooper Harris; Bayonne, NJ
    1901 (In the Year)
    190-    		 The publication of Lesson on the Beha Revelation by W Hooper Harris. This publication was a series of lessons based on Christian prophecies that was used for teaching the Bahá'í Faith in the early days of the religion in the United States. [Collins7.1136] Hooper Harris; Bayonne, NJ
    1901 (In the year)
    190-    		 Arthur Pillsbury Dodge published his book The Truth of It, the first introductory book on the Bahá'í Faith written by a Western believer. [BFA2:93; Collins7.820] Arthur Pillsbury Dodge; Introductory; - First publications; * Publications; United States (USA) First introductory book on Bahá'í Faith written by Western believer
    1901 (In the year)
    190-    		 The Junayn Gardens northwest of Mazra`ih, owned by several Bahá'ís, was registered under the name of `Abdu'l-Bahá and a brother. [BBD124] Junayn gardens (Israel); House of Bahá'u'lláh (Mazraih); * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Akka, Israel; Mazraih, Israel
    1901 (In the year)
    190-    		 William Hoar, one of the first Bahá'ís in America, was asked by `Abdu'l-Bahá to meet with the Persian ambassador in Washington to request justice for the Bahá'ís of Iran, thus marking the beginning of the efforts of the American Bahá'í community to alleviate the persecution of their brethren. [BFA2:51] William Hoar; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; - Ambassadors; Human rights; Firsts, other; Washington, DC, USA; United States (USA); Iran First effort of American Bahá'í community to alleviate persecution of Persian brethren.
    1901 (In the year)
    190-    		 Siyyid Mustafá Rúmí sent from Rangoon a sample of the marble that the sarcophagus for the remains of the Báb was to be made from. Mishkin-Qalam asked for permission to design a Greatest Name for the sarcophagus, and, as was his custom, he signed the design. In the time of Bahá'u'lláh he signed his work with "The servant of the Threshold of Bahá, Mishkin-Qalam" but for this work his proposal had the signature, "The servant of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Mishkin-Qalam." 'Abdu'l-Bahá did not approve. Throughout His ministry, `Abdu'l-Bahá greatly disapproved of believers composing verses about, or glorifying, His Person in any way. He would admonish them to focus their praise on Bahá'u'lláh. [MBBA155-157] Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); Mount Carmel; Báb, Remains of; Báb, Sarcophagus for; Sarcophagus; Mishkin-Qalam; Siyyid Mustafa Rumi; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Yangon, Myanmar; Myanmar; Haifa, Israel
    1901 (In the year)
    190-    		 The Faith is introduced to China by a Persian. [Major events of the Century of Light prepared by Dr. Ahmadi] China
    1901 (In the year)
    190-    		 'Abdu'l-Bahá had Gabriel Sacy, a Bahá'í Frenchman of Syrian Christian origin, deliver a message to Leo Tolstoy. In speaking of the colonialism and the imperialism of the day He said in part: (emphasis added)
      For several centuries the West has been now attacking the East like bandits with its armies and cavalries and has not stopped yet. And it is going to continue this assault with all troops at its disposal until Doomsday. You observe the large armies impetuously assaulting like lions from the woods of the Western world onto the battlefields of the East. Among these are an army of finance (tharwa), an army of industries (saná`a), an army of commerce (tijára), an army of politics (siyása), an army of knowledge (ma´árif) and an army of discoveries (iktisháfát), numerous soldiers loaded with war materiel, assaulting from the West with their sharp and deadly weapons and conquering the East in all its parts.
    [Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu'l-Baha's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p7]     		Leo Tolstoy (author); Colonialism and imperialism; Gabriel Sacy
    1901 22 Jan
    190-    		 The passing of Queen Victoria.
  • Of all the leaders addressed by Bahá'u'lláh only she is reputed to have made a courteous reply. [CBM47; PDC65]
  • See CBM47–8 for Bahá'u'lláh's prophecy concerning the success of her reign.
  • See Baha'u'llah Addresses Queen Victoria by David Langness.
  • See Bahá'u'lláh's letter to Queen Victoria: Reform the World by Michael Curtotti.
  • See Baha'u'llah's letter to Queen Victoria on the British Library site.
    		•  Queen Victoria; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; London, England; United Kingdom
    1901 Apr
    190-    		 The Iranian ambassador to the Ottoman government at Istanbul, `Ala'u'l-Mulk, filed a report with the Office of Foreign Ministry in Tihran which was subsequently presented to the Shah. Shah, Reports to; Istanbul, Turkey; Turkey
    1901 May
    190-    		 Ghulám-Ridá was killed in Najafábád. [BW18:385] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Najaf, Iranabad, Iran; Iran
    1901 (approx 4 yrs after ascension of Bahá'u'lláh)
    190-    		 'Aqá Jamál Burújirdí had been a member of the Islamic clergy in Burujerd and was widely known and revered across Iran as a gifted teacher of the Faith. He was a proud and egotistical man but during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh, he received much praise and various honorary titles such as Ismu'lláh'u'l-Jamál (The Name of God Jamál) due to his many services. During his visit to 'Akká following the passing of Bahá'u'lláh he made contact with Mírzá Muhammad-Alí with the goal of securing a prominent place in the administration of the faith under his leadership, all the while feigning loyalty to 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • In God Passes By p247-248 Shoghi Effendi says of Mírzá Muhammad-Alí and those who tried to assist him in his nefarious efforts, "Closely-knit by one common wish and purpose; indefatigable in their efforts; assured of the backing of the powerful and perfidious Jamál-i-Burújirdí and his henchmen, Ḥájí Ḥusayn-i-Káshí, Khalíl-i-Khú'í and Jalíl-i-Tabrízí who had espoused their cause; linked by a vast system of correspondence with every center and individual they could reach; seconded in their labours by emissaries whom they dispatched to Persia, 'Iráq, India and Egypt; emboldened in their designs by the attitude of officials whom they bribed or seduced, these repudiators of a divinely-established Covenant arose, as one man, to launch a campaign of abuse and vilification which compared in virulence with the infamous accusations which Mírzá Yaḥyá and Siyyid Muḥammad had jointly levelled at Bahá'u'lláh."
  • He was publically unmasked after the Covenant-breakers printed letters with falsehoods and misleading statements. believed to be about four years after the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh. He became known in the Bahá'í community as "Hyena" or "Old Hyena" (pír-i-kaftár). He died in poverty and disgrace in Iran. The date of his death is not known. [M9YA6-7, 432, RoB2p118-9, 264-267, MMoB104-105, CB165-166, 209-15, Biographies of Jamal-i-Burujirdi]
  • Shogi Effendi described 'Aqá Jamál Burújirdí as being "Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí's tablet lieutenant in Persia, "all trey to a fatal an loathsome disease". ]GPB319]
  • He was the recipient of many tablets from both Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, one of which can be found in Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh p5-9 and a more complete provisional translation of the original tablet can be found here.
  • See also Tablet to Jamal-i-Burujirdi by Bahá'u'lláh translated by Khazeh Fananapazir.
  • See ARG168 for mention of him relation to a refutation he received from Fádil-i-Shirází.
    		• Jamal-i-Burujirdi; Covenant-breaking; Hájí Husayn-i-Kashi; Khalil-i-Khui; Jalil-i-Tabrizi; Names and titles; Fadil-i-Shirazi (Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim); Borujerd, Iran; Iran
    1901 15 May
    190-    		 Mirza Assad'u'llah, received a Tablet from Abdul-Baha, in which He has positively declared to be necessary the establishment here of the House of Justice by election by the believers with order and just dealing. According to this blessed Announcement, our believers have elected those whom they deemed best fitted, and thus The House of Justice was established.The Chicago Bahá'ís elected a nine-man Board of Council for a term of five years. Those elected were: George Lesch, Charles H. Greenleaf, John A. Guilford, Dr. Rufus H. Bartlett, Thornton Chase, Charles Hessler, Arthur S. Agnew, Byron S. Lane and Henry L. Goodall. [BFA2:XXV, 44–7; The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith]

    Only days after the election of the Chicago House of Justice, a Ladies' Auxilliary Board was organized at the suggestion of Mrs. Ella Nash and Mrs. Corinne True. This Board was later to be known as the Women's Assembly of Teaching. It appears that the Ladies' Auxilliary was able to maintain control of the funds of the Chicago Bahá'í community despite the election of the House of Justice.[The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith]

    		 Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; Local Spiritual Assembly, formation; Ladies Auxiliary Board; Ella Nash; Corinne True; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1901 20 May
    190-    		 The number of members on the Board of Council was raised to 12. [BFA2:47] Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1901 24 May
    190-    		 The name of the Chicago Board of Council was changed to the House of Justice. [BFA2:48]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá requested that this name be changed a year later. [BFA2:49]
    		•  Board of Council; House of Justice; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1901 29 May
    190-    		 The Bahá'í women of Chicago elected their own Board and held the first business meeting of the `Women's Auxiliary Board' or "Women's Teaching Assembly". [BFA2:XV, 49–50; SYH64-65] Women; Chicago, IL; United States (USA) First business meeting of `Women's Auxiliary Board'
    1901 summer
    190-    		 Thomas Breakwell, an Englishman living in the United States, learned of the Bahá'í Faith in Paris from May Bolles. Within three days he became a believer and immediately wrote to `Abdu'l-Bahá. [AB74–5; BW7:707]
  • For May Bolles' own account see BW7:707–11.
  • He is the first male British Bahá'í. [BFA2:154]
  • He is designated by Shoghi Effendi the `first English believer'. [GPB259]
  • He is the first Western Bahá'í to pay Huqúqu'lláh. [BW7:710]
  • See also AB74–80; BFA2:154; SEBW6572.
    		•  Thomas Breakwell; May Maxwell (Bolles); Huqúqu'lláh; - First Bahá'ís by country or area; Firsts, other; Paris, France; France First male British Bahá'í; first English believer; first Western Bahá'í to pay Huqúqu'lláh
    1901 (In the year)
    190-    		 Hippolyte Dreyfus heard of the Bahá'í Faith from May Bolles in Paris and soon after accepted it. [AB81–2]
  • He was designated by Shoghi Effendi the `first Frenchman to embrace the Faith'. [GPB259]
  • He was the first European Bahá'í to visit Iran. [AB81]
  • After his marriage to Laura Clifford Barney they adopted the surname Dreyfus-Barney. [AB81]
    		•  Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney; May Maxwell (Bolles); Laura Clifford Barney; Paris, France; France First Frenchman to embrace the Faith; first European Bahá'í to visit Iran
    1901 Mid-Jul
    190-    		 Hájí Hasan-i-Khurásání and his translator, Husayn Rúhí left the United States to return to Egypt. [BFA2:38] Hájí Hasan-i-Khurasani; New York, USA
    1901 Aug
    190-    		 Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl-i-Gulpáygání arrived in North America. [BFA2:XV]
  • Laura Barney financed the visit of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl to the United States in 1901-04 in order to propagate the Faith and to help publish the translation of his Ḥojaj al-bahīya (Cairo, 1342/1925; tr. Ali-Kuli Khan as The Bahá'í Proofs, New York, 1902; 2nd ed., ed. J. R. I. Cole, Wilmette, Ill., 1983) [Wikipedia, Laura Clifford Barney.]
  • See BFA2:80–7 and BW9:855–860 for accounts of his visit.
  • See Wikipedia, Green Acre and Wikipedia, Mary Hanford Ford for accounts of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl at Green Acre.
  • Mirza Ahmad Sohrab was sent to assist him. Sohrab remained and worked at the Iranian Consulate until 1912 and during this time he translated much of the correspondence between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Western believers. At the conclusion of the American tour he returned to the Holy Land. After the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he rejected the authority of Shoghi Effendi and was expelled. [APD155]
  • [LDNW17] says he was accompanied by Ali-Kuli Kahn.
    		• Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani; Proofs; * Publications; Laura Clifford Barney; Ahmad Sohrab; Covenant-breaking; Green Acre, Eliot, ME; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    1901 Aug
    190-    		 `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote His Will and Testament over this seven-year period. [AB124–5, 484; BBD236]
  • It was written in three parts. [AB124–5, 484; BBD236]
  • It `may be regarded as the offspring resulting from that mystic intercourse between Him Who had generated the forces of a God-given Faith and the One Who had been made its sole Interpreter and was recognized as its perfect Exemplar'. [GPB325]
  • Shoghi Effendi calls the Will the "Charter of the New World Order". [WOB144]
  • For an analysis of its content and its import see AB484–93 and GPB325–8.
  • For a photo of the opening pages of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament see Bahá'í Media Bank.
    		• Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá; Charters of the Bahá'í Faith; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Covenant; Akka, Israel
    1901 20 Aug
    190-    		 Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamíd re-imposed the restrictions confining `Abdu'l-Bahá and His brothers within the walls of `Akká. [AB94; CB226–7; DH67–8; GBP264]
  • This was the result of mischief stirred up by Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí. [AB92–5; CB227; GBP264]
  • See as well An Epistle to the Bahá'í World by Mirza Badi'u'llah, page 18.
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá was subjected to long interviews and detailed questioning. [AB95; GPB2645]
  • For the continued mischief and false allegations of the Covenant-breakers see CB227–30 and GBP265–7.
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá suspended the visits of the pilgrims for a time. [GBP267]
  • He directed that all the Bahá'í writings in the possession of His family and secretaries be transferred to Egypt and has His mail redirected through an agent in Egypt. [GBP267]
  • For the work of `Abdu'l-Bahá whilst in confinement 1901–8 see CB231–44 and GBP267–9.
    		•  Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamid; Mírzá Muhammad Ali; Covenant-breaking; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; Pilgrims; Pilgrimage; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Badiullah; Akka, Israel; Egypt
    1901 Sep
    190-    		 Thomas Breakwell went on pilgrimage to `Akká, the first Englishman to do so. He was accompanied by Herbert Hopper. [BFA2:154; BW7:709]
  • For an account of this pilgrimage see AB77 and BW7:710.
    		• Thomas Breakwell; Pilgrimage; - First pilgrims; Herbert Hopper; Akka, Israel First Englishman to go on pilgrimage to `Akká
    1901 12 Sep
    190-    		 The publication of tablets revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá "To the House of Justice at Chicago, To the Ladies' Assembly of Teaching, To Mirza Assad'ullah and to other individuals, also one to the Believers in Persia." translated by Ali-Kuli Khan. [Collins3.159; Tablets Revealed by the Master Abdul Beha Abbas.] * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1901 2 Nov
    190-    		 Birth of John Robarts, Hand of the Cause of God, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. John Robarts; - Births and deaths; Waterloo, ON; Ontario, Canada; Canada
    1901 26 Nov
    190-    		 The Day of the Covenant

    The Day of the Covenant is a Bahá'í holy day honouring the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, in particular, 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the "Centre of the Covenant" and as such, the successor, the interpreter and the exemplar of the Bahá'í Faith. Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant also provided for the extension of this covenant to the Guardian and to the Universal House of Justice.
    The first celebration of the Day of the Covenant in North America was marked on this day in Chicago. It was sponsored by "The Chicago House of Justice" and the "Women's Assembly of Teaching". It was attended by both Mírzá Assad'ullah and Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl. It can be presumed that they had educated the community in the commemoration of this Holy Day. [BFA2p56-57]

  • Prior to this time some of the believers celebrated the birth of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the 22nd of May. Others marked the 29th of May, the anniversary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and thusly, the day on which He acceded to the leadership of the Bahá'í community. 'Abdu'l-Bahá chose the day November 26th, as reckoned by the Gregorian calendar, as approximately half a year away from the day of Bahá'u'lláh's ascension, to commemorate His appointment of the Centre of the Covenant. This Holy Day is now celebrated on the 25th or 26th of November depending on the date of Naw-Rúz.
  • The day was know as Jashn-i-A'zam (The Greatest Festival) in the East because He was Ghusn-i-A'zam, the Greatest Branch or the "Most Might Branch" [GPB238, BFA2:XV, 56; SA247, Day of the Covenant by Christopher Buck, AB523]
    		•  Day of the Covenant; Firsts, other; Covenant; Holy days; `Abdu'l-Bahá, Birth of; Bahá'u'lláh, Ascension of; Chicago, IL; United States (USA) First celebration of Day of the Covenant in North America. First Holy Day celebrated in North America.
    1901 26 Dec
    190-    		 Agnes Alexander arrived back in Hawaii, the first Bahá'í to set foot in the islands. [BFA2:159–60] Agnes Alexander; Hawaii, USA First Bahá'í to set foot in Hawaii
    Two Persians from Ischabad, 'Aqá Mírzá Mihdi Rashti and 'Aqá Mírzá Abdu-i-Baki Yazdi arrived in Shanghi. Mirza Rashti passed away in Shanghi in 1924 [Video Early history of the Bahá'í Faith in China 5min10sec] China; Shanghai, China
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of the fourth edition of The Revelation of Baha-ullah in a Sequence of Four Lessons by Isabella D. Brittingham. Bahai Publishing Society printed made a large number of printings of this book with small variations. [Collins7.587] Isabella Brittingham; * Publications; Chicago, IL; Illinois, USA; United States (USA)
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 The house in Bandar Anzalí in which Hájí Mírzá Haydar-`Alí was staying was attacked and only the intervention of the governor saved the Bahá'ís. [BW18:385] Hájí Mírzá Haydar-`Alí (Angel of Carmel); Bandar Anzali, Iran
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 In Shíráz, Hájí Abu'l-Hasan was beaten so severely on the order of the mujtahid that he died a few months later from the effects. [BW18:385] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Shíráz, Iran; Iran
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 Pilgrims from the East and the West were once again permitted to visit `Abdu'l-Bahá. [CB232] Pilgrims; Pilgrimage; Haifa, Israel; Akka, Israel
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 Joseph Hannen, future Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, and Pauline Hannen became Bahá'ís in Washington DC. Joseph Hannen; - Disciples of `Abdu'l-Bahá; Pauline Hannen; Washington, DC, USA; United States (USA)
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 Bahá'í groups were established in Canada and in the Hawaiian Islands. [BBRSM:106-7; BFA2:160; SBBH1:135] - First Bahá'ís by country or area; Canada; Hawaii, USA
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 Shanghai was re-opened to the Bahá'í Faith by the arrival of two Bahá'ís from`Ishqábád, Áqá Mírzá Mihdí Rashtí and Áqá Mírzá `Abdu'l-Baqí Yazdí, who opened a branch of the Ummi'd company, an import-export firm. [PH25] Aqa Mírzá Mihdi Rashti; Aqa Mírzá `Abdu'l-Baqi Yazdi; Shanghai, China; Ashgabat; Turkmenistan
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of Le Livre des Sept Preuves in Paris by A. L. M. Nicolas. It was a French translation of the Báb's Dalá'il-i-Sab'ih. [BBR39]
  • It may be downloaded here.
  • English translation The Seven Proofs by Peter Terry.
    		•  * Báb, Writings of; Dalail-i-Sabih (Seven Proofs); A.L.M. Nicolas; * Translation; * Publications; Paris, France; France
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 An extract from a Tablet to Mr. Howard MacNutt from 'Abdu'l-Bahá refers to New York as the "City of the Covenant". [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p8] Howard MacNutt; City of the Covenant (New York); New York, USA; United States (USA)
    1902 18 Mar
    190-    		 Áqá Muhammad-Zamá-i-Sabbágh and Siyyid Ja`far were executed in Isfandábád and Abarqú, Fárs. Several Bahá'ís were expelled from the town and another Bahá'í was killed. [BW18:385] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Isfandabad, Iran; Abarqu, Yazd, Iran; Fars, Iran; Iran
    1902 8 May
    190-    		 May Bolles married Sutherland Maxwell in London and moved to Montreal later in the year. [BW8:635; GPB260, BFA2:156 ] May Maxwell (Bolles); Sutherland Maxwell; London, England; United Kingdom; Montreal, QC; Canada
    1902 10 May
    190-    		 The Chicago House of Justice (or the Board of Council) changed its name to the House of Spirituality. Membership was restricted to men. [BFA2:XV; SYH64] House of Justice; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1902 12 May
    190-    		 Mírzá Asadu'lláh-i-Isfahání left the United States. [BFA2:VI]
  • His contribution was to make the American believers aware of consultative assemblies and their functioning. See BFA2p25-53 for details.
    		•  Mírzá Asadullah-i-Isfahani; United States (USA)
    1902 13 Jun
    190-    		 Thomas Breakwell died from tuberculosis in Paris. (b. 31 May, 1872 in Woking) [AB77; BBD46; SEBW70]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá appeared to know this without being told. [AB78-9; SEBW70]
  • See AB79, SEBW71–2, SWAB187–9 and the Utterance Project for `Abdu'l-Bahá's eulogy.
  • Shoghi Effendi designated him one of three`luminaries shedding brilliant lustre on annals of Irish, English and Scottish Bahá'í communities', together with John Esslemont and George Townshend. [MBW174]
  • See Wikipedia for an account of his life.
  • For biographical information see The Early Years of the British Bahá'í Community 1898-1911 p82-83.
  • See Cimetière de Pantin for the location of his resting place c/w photos.
      Thomas Breakwell died in relative obscurity, a victim of tuberculosis in a poor quarter of the city of Paris. His earthly remains now lie in the communal charnel house at the cemetery of Pantin. It was not until the summer of 1997 that a dignified but suitably modest monument to mark his resting place was finally unveiled to the world. [The Life of Thomas Breakwell by Rajwantee Lakshiman-Lepain p10-11]
  • See The Life of Thomas Breakwell by Rajwantee Lakshiman-Lepain. iiiii
  • See the narration of the Tablet of Visitation for Thomas Breakwell by Àbdu'l-Bahá in Arabic with English subtitles. The transliteration and recitation of the Tablet was by Adib Masumiam with the design and editing of the video by Violetta Zein.
  • For the story of the revelation of the Tablet see Memories of Nine Years in Akká by Youness Afroukhteh as translated by Riaz Masrour, p. 132-137)
    		• Thomas Breakwell; - In Memoriam; Woking, England; United Kingdom; Paris, France; France
    1902 Sep c.
    190-    		 Kanichi Yamamoto, the first Japanese to accept the Faith, becomes a Bahá'í in Hawaii. [BFA2:160; BW13:932; SBR179]
    • He writes to `Abdu'l-Bahá in Japanese. [SBR179]
    • See also BW13:931–3 and SBR176–86.
    		Kanichi Yamamoto; Hawaii, USA First Japanese to accept the Faith
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 Since the assassination of the Sháh's father in 1896 the Bahá'í community in Iran had been scapegoated and the oppression was increasing. In 1902 Muzaffar al-Din Sháh and his prime minister were in Paris staying at the Elysèe Palace Hotel. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had a petition for him and Lua Getsinger was asked to deliver it. She and Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney requested an audience with the Sháh but they were refused by the prime minister. She was told that he was not receiving anyone as his son was gravely ill and likely to die. Lua asked if he would see her the following day should his son be healed and consent was granted. That night the Bahá'ís of Paris held a prayer vigil till dawn. As promised, Lua was granted access and put the petition directly in the Sháh's hand. She heard him say that he would do all that was within his power but in 1903 a savage rash of persecution broke out and, upon the advice of his prime minister, the Sháh did nothing believing that it was better to let the restless population vent rage on the Bahá'ís then on the rich and powerful foreigners who might have been victimized. The prime minister was replaced in mid-1903 and the persecutions eased. In 1907 the Sháh did intervene on behalf of the Bahá'ís. [Find a grave; LDNW18-19]
  • For other accounts see The Flame p66-70 and LGHC59-60.
  • See article by Mariam Haney entitled In Behalf of the Oppressed. [SoW Vol 15 No 8 November, 1924 p230]
    		• * Persecution, Iran; Lua Getsinger; Muzaffarid-Dín Sháh; - Shahs; Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney; Petitions; Paris, France; France
    1902 (In the year)
    190-    		 Lua Getsinger spent over a year in the household of 'Abdu'l-Bahá teaching English to His grandchildren. During this time she began to wear an outfit that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had designed for her. It consisted of a simple dress and coat and a hat with a a long, cloak-like veil. It was in royal blue. [LDNW20] Lua Getsinger; Akka, Israel
    1902 15 Sep
    190-    		 Mírzá `Azízu'lláh visited Count Leo Tolstoy, and spoke to him at length about the history and teachings of the Faith and of the station of Bahá'u'lláh. [EB185; RB3:172-3]
  • For Mírzá `Azízu'lláh's own account of the interview see EB186–9.
  • See BW10:569–70 for Tolstoy's response to the Faith.
    		•  Mírzá Azizullah; Leo Tolstoy (author); Russia
    1902 10 Oct
    190-    		 The Behais Supply and Publishing Board incorporates as the `Bahai Publishing Society', a non-profit company. It is the first Bahá'í institution to be legally incorporated. [BFA2:XVI, 74] - Publishing Trusts; Firsts, other; United States (USA) First Bahá'í institution to be legally incorporated
    1902 12 Oct
    190-    		 Birth of `Abdu'l-Hamíd Ishráq-Khávarí, Bahá'í scholar, author and translator, in Mashhad. `Abdu'l-Hamid Ishraq-Khavari; Bahá'í scholars; - Births and deaths; Mashhad, Iran; Iran
    1902 28 Nov
    190-    		 Construction began on the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár of `Ishqábád with the laying of its cornerstone. [BFA2:116-17; YSxvii]
  • BBRXXX says this was 12 December. The discrepancy may lie in the use of two different calendars.
  • The foundation stone was laid in the presence of General Subotich, governor-general of Turkistan. [BFA2:116–17; GPB300; see discussion of Krupatkin vs Subotich in The City of Love: Ishqábád and the Institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár by Bruce Whitmore] Also see BBR442-443 for the account of a Russian official, A D Kalmykov who says it was General Subotich.
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá commissioned Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-Taqí, the Vakílu'd-Dawlih, son of Hájí Siyyid Muhammad, the uncle of the Báb for whom Bahá'u'lláh had revealed The Kitáb-i-Íqán, to be in charge of the project. He largely paid for it. [AB109]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself delineated the general design and a Russian architect, Volkov, planned and executed the details of the construction. [AB109–10; Universal House of Justice 20 June 1991 para 8]
  • A meeting hall and some of its dependencies had been built before 1900.
  • The dependencies included two Bahá'í schools, a travellers' hostel, a medical dispensary and Hazíratu'l-Quds. [BBD122; BBR442; BBRSM:91]
  • For a Western account of this see BBR442–3.
  • See jacket of BBR for a photograph of work on the Temple.
  • See the message of the Universal House of Justice dated 1 August, 2014 for more on the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in `Ishqábád.
    • Specifics
      Location: In the heart of the city of `Ishqábád
      Foundation Stone: Late 1902 by General Subotich, the governor-general of Turkistan who had been delegated by the Czar to represent him.
      Construction Period: Initial step had been undertaken during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh. Superstructure: 1902 – 1907. External Ornamentation: 1919
      Site Dedication: No record of a dedication ceremony on completion of the building can be found although the external ornamentation was completed in 1919 it is probable that the building had been in use for some years by this time.
      Architects: `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself delineated the general design. More specific design was by Ustad Ali-Akbar-i-Banna and a Russian architect, Volkov, planned and executed the details of the construction under the supervision of Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-Taqí, the son of Hájí Siyyid Muhammad, the uncle of the Báb for whom Bahá'u'lláh had revealed The Kitáb-i-Íqán. [AB109]
      Seating:
      Dimensions:
      Cost:
      Dependencies: two Bahá'í schools, a travellers' hostel, a medical dispensary and Hazíratu'l-Quds
      Expropriation:1928
      Lease period: – 1938
      Seizure; the building was turned into an art gallery
      Earthquake: 1948
      Demolition: August 1963 the Universal House of Justice announced that it had been demolished by the authorities and the site cleared.
      References: AB109, BW14p479-481, GPB300-301, CEBF236, EB266-268, MF126-128
    		* Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Quick facts; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Ishqabad; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Dependencies of; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; Architecture; - Architects; Foundation stones and groundbreaking; General Subotich; Krupatkin; Hájí Muhammad-Taqi Afnan (Vakilud-Dawlih); Afnan; Báb, Family of; Hájí Siyyid Muhammad; Ustad `Alí-Akbar-i-Banna; Volkov; Haziratul-Quds (Bahá'í centres); - Bahá'í inspired schools; - Basic timeline, Expanded; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Ashgabat; Turkmenistan
    1902 - 1903 C.
    190-    		 One of the chief promoters of Mírzá Muhammad-'Ali in India was Mírzá Husayn-'Alíy-i-Jahrumí.
  • See LGHC57-58 for his encounter with Lua Getsinger.
  • Reference is made to this man in Memories of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Memoirs of Mírzá Habíbu'lláh Afnán edited and translated by Ahang Rabbani p96.
  • Also see CoB185 for more on the role played by Mírzá Husayn-'Alíy-i-Jahrumí in the plot by the Covenant-breakers to have Mírzá Áqá Ján incite an incident at the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh with a view to having those involved arrested and therefore discredited.
    		•  Mírzá Husayn-`Alíy-i-Jahrumí; Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí; Covenant-breaking; Mumbai, India; India; Akka, Israel
    1903 (In the year)
    190-    		 The passing of Mullá Zaynu'l-'Ábidín, surnamed Zaynu'l-Muqarrabín (the Ornament of the Near Ones) in 'Akká. He is sometimes referred to as Jináb-i-Zayn (The Excellent Zayn), or Harfu'z-Zá (the Letter Z). He was born in the month of Rajab, in one of the villages of Najafábád near Isfahán to a family of Muslim clerics in May 1818. He had first heard of the Báb's claim while on pilgrimage in Karbilá in 1844 and became a believer in 1851. He met Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád after His return from Kurdistán in 1856. He was among the believers who were exiled from Baghdád in July of 1868 and under his leadership and guidance the believers in Mosul became a model community. He was invited by Bahá'u'lláh to come to 'Akká in Sep-Oct 1885 and shortly after that Baha'u'lláh asked that the community in Mosul be abandoned. [EB274-276; MoF150-154; TN412-425]

    Jináb-i-Zaynu'l-Muqarrabín was well versed in Islamic jurisprudence. After the revelation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, he was authorized to submit questions concerning the laws. The treatise, titled Questions and Answers, an appendix to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, is a compilation he made of Bahá'u'lláh's answers to questions concerning the laws of the Most Holy Book. It took more than two decades for "Questions and Answers" to be published in Persian and much longer to be published in English and other languages. [KA9]

  • See Some Answered Questions" and Its Compiler by Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani published in Lights of Irfan, 18, pages 425-452. In this paper the author compares the similarities and differences of Questions and Answers and Some Answered Questions.
  • For an image Zaynu'l-Muqarrabín see Picture Gallery (miniature by Ethel Rosenberg). This image can also been found in RoB1p78
  • He was named as one of the Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh.
    		•  Zaynul-Muqarrabin (Mulla Zaynul-Abidin); Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book); Laws; Questions and answers; Su'al va Javab (Questions and Answers, Kitáb-i-Aqdas); Ethel Rosenberg; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; - Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh; Najaf, Iranabad, Iran; Iran; Mosul, Iraq; Iraq
    1903 (In the year)
    190-    		 The Danish-American Bahá'í, Emily Olsen, translated The Hidden Words from English into Danish, the English translation having been done by Anton Haddad. It was probably the first Bahá'í text published in Danish. [SRRB15p237] Kalimat-i-Maknunih (Hidden Words); Anton Haddad; Emily Olsen; * Translation; Denmark the first Bahá'í text published in Danish.
    1903 Feb
    190-    		 Mírzá Badí'u'lláh, the fourth surviving son of Bahá'u'lláh, wrote to the Bahá'ís announcing his break with Muhammad-`Alí and giving his loyalty to `Abdu'l-Bahá. [AB102; GPB264]
  • His letter gave details of the plots of Muhammad-`Alí against `Abdu'l-Bahá. [GPB264]
  • With him came Covenant-breaker Siyyid 'Alí Afnan.
  • His letter entitled An Epistle to the Bahá'í World was translated by Ameen Fareed and published in Chicago by the Bahá'í Publishing Society in 1907. [Collins7.106]
  • The document is important because reference was made to it in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament.

    "What deviation can be greater than breaking the Covenant of God! What deviation can be greater than interpolating and falsifying the words and verses of the Sacred Text, even as testified and declared by Badi'u'llah!"

    "...Ye know well what the hands of the Center of Sedition, Mirza Muhammad `Ali, and his associates have wrought. Among his doings, one of them is the corruption of the Sacred Text whereof ye are all aware, the Lord be praised, and know that it is evident, proven and confirmed by the testimony of his brother, Mirza Badi'u'llah, whose confession is written in his own handwriting, beareth his seal, is printed and spread abroad..."

    This reconciliation was short-lived. Badi'u'llah continued to plot unrepentantly against Abdu'l-Bahá and later, against Shoghi Effendi until his death in Israel 1950. [AB102] Again from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá...

    "Gracious God! After Mirza Badi'u'llah had declared in his own handwriting that this man (Muhammad `Ali) had broken the Covenant and had proclaimed his falsification of the Holy Text, he realized that to return to the True Faith and pay allegiance to the Covenant and Testament would in no wise promote his selfish desires. He thus repented and regretted the thing he had done and attempted privily to gather in his printed confessions, plotted darkly with the Center of Sedition against me and informed him daily of all the happenings within my household. He has even taken a leading part in the mischievous deeds that have of late been committed. Praise be to God affairs recovered their former stability and the loved ones obtained peace. but ever since the day he entered again into our midst, he began afresh to sow the seeds of sore sedition. Some of his machinations and intrigues will be recorded in a separate leaflet."

    		• Mírzá Badiullah; Mírzá Muhammad Ali; Covenant-breaking; Forgery and interpolation; Akka, Israel
    1903 9 Feb
    190-    		 Lua Getsinger made an attempt to take a message from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Eugénie, former Empress of France but she refused to meet her just as her husband, Napoleon III, had rejected two messages from Bahá'u'lláh. [LGHC80-81] Lua Getsinger; Eugenie de Montijo; Napoleon III; Travel Teaching; Paris, France; France
    1903 Mar
    190-    		 Myron H. Phelps completed his work, Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi, when in Cairo in March 1903. The book was published by The Knickerbocker Press in New York in 1903 and in London by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 1912.
  • A review says: "Phelps spent a lengthy period with 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká in 1902 and left this full account of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and His family. Inaccurate in many particulars but valuable for its contemporary atmosphere. [Collins7.2118-7.2119]
    		• Myron Phelps; * Publications; Cairo, Egypt; Egypt
    1903 7 Mar
    190-    		 Inspired by the news of the `Ishqábád Temple project, the Chicago House of Spirituality asked `Abdu'l-Bahá for permission to construct a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár. Two days later Mirza Asadu'lláh drafted a petition to be sent to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. His reply was received in late May and three other letters were received over the next several weeks containing statements about the Temple. [BFA2:XVI, 118; BW10:179; GPB348; DH4-5] * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Wilmette; Petitions; Spiritual Assemblies; Ashgabat; Turkmenistan; Wilmette, IL; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1903 21 Mar
    190-    		 The passing of Gabriel Sacy, (b. Alexandria c. 1860) a Syrian Christian who had become a Bahá'í after contacting Mírzá Ábu'l-Faḍl and others in Cairo. He was the author of Du Règne de Lieu et de l'Agneau conn sour le nom de Babysme: se trove chez l'Auteur au Caire. It was printed privately in Cairo and dated June 12, 1902. [Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion compiled by E G Browne p185; ABF135]

    Also written by him was a booklet called Proofs that was published in Arabic in Cairo in 1902. It is believed to be the first book published in Arabic about the Faith although unpublished manuscript written in Arabic were circulated in Russia and the UK prior to this time. [A posting by Rowshan Mustapha 17 February 2024 on the tk list]

    L'implantation de la foi baha'ie en France et impact de la venue de Abdu'l Baha à Paris au début du XXème siècle Mémoire D.E.S. de Natalia Behnam includes him among the first Bahá'ís in France. iiiii

    Àbdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said of him:

      His value will be known in the future. He enkindled for you a lamp which shall never be extinguished. He laid for you a foundation which shall not be destroyed throughout centuries and cycles. He planted for you a tree whose root is firm in the ground, whose branches have ascended to heaven and its fruits are shared by all throughout all the seasons. Mr De Sacy was in reality a divine man. In Syria there was no one like him. He was like a torch. He was the essence of sanctity. Whenever a person looked into his face, if he was unhappy, he wold be made happy. [ABF355-356]
    		 Ramleh, Egypt; Cairo, Egypt; Egypt
    1903 May
    190-    		 Russian poet Isabella Grinevskaya wrote the play "Báb" which was performed in St. Petersburg in 1904 and again in 1914 and once again in 1917. It was translated into French and Tatar (and later into German by Friedrich Fiedler) and lauded by Leo Tolstoy and other reviewers at the time. It is reported to have been Tolstoy's first knowledge of the Faith.
  • In 1910-11 she spent two weeks in Ramleh as a guest of `Abdu'l-Bahá and after she returned to Russia she had several letters and Tablets from Him.
  • Immediately upon her return from Egypt in January of 1911 she began work on the book "A Journey in the Countries of the Sun", an account of her visit with 'Abdu'l-Bahá. This work was not completed until 1914 because in the summer of 1912 she made a trip to Paris to work with the French translator of "Báb", Madame Halperin, and when she returned to Leningrad she began work on the drama entitled Bahá'u'lláh. It was published in Leningrad in 1912 but was never performed. "Journey", a book of some 550 pages did not get published because of the disruption caused by the advent of the war. See BW6p707-712 for the article "Russia's Cultural Contribution to the Bahá'i Faith" by Martha Root.
  • For a photo see BW6p709 or here.
  • Also see Notes on the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions in Russia and its territories by Graham Hassall.
  • Isabella Grinevskaya (the pen name of Beyle (Berta) Friedberg), born in Grodno in 1864, died in Istanbul in 1944. [Revolvy] In His message to Isabella Grinevskaya, 'Abdu'l-Bahá praised her efforts to stage theatrical performances about the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh but cautioned her that people's attention at that moment was focused on "war and revolution." However, He added, "the time for staging it will come" and it will "have a considerable impact" in Europe.

    Ms. Grinevskaya's play about the Báb was first staged in St. Petersburg in January 1904. Mr. Tolstoy read the play and wrote Ms. Grinevskaya to praise her and share his sympathy with the Baha'í teachings, according to an article by Martha Root in the 1934-1936 edition of The Bahá'í World.

    		• Isabella Grinevskaya; Leo Tolstoy (author); * Publications; - Drama; - Plays; * Arts and crafts; St. Petersburg, Russia; Ramleh, Egypt; Alexandria, Egypt; Egypt; Istanbul, Turkey; Turkey; Grodno, Belarus; Russia
    1903 03 May
    190-    		 Upheaval at Rasht. [BBRXXX, 373]
  • See BW18p385 for a chronicle of events.
    • 3 May: Agitation against Bahá'í's following publication of photograph of the Bahá'í community; several Bahá'ís beaten.
    • May: Mob disrupted a Bahá'í funeral, exhumed body and burned it.
    • May: Renewed uproar in the town following the placing of a forged placard at the door of the local mujtahid, Haji Khumami.
    • 17 May: Two leading Bahá'ís, Ibtihaju'l-Mulk and Mudabbiru'l-Mamalik, expelled from the town.
  • The Bahá'ís take sanctuary at the Russian Consulate. [BBR376]
  • For Western accounts of the episode see BBR377–385]
    		•  * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; Rasht upheaval; Isfahan upheaval; - Upheavals; Russian consulate; Rasht, Iran; Isfahan, Iran; Iran
    1903 23 - 28 May
    190-    		 Upheaval in Isfahan: Muhammad-Javad-i-Sarraf seized was by students of Aqa Najafi and beaten severely; this caused a large number of Bahá'ís to take sanctuary in the Russian Consulate.
  • 28 May: Large mob gathered outside Russian Consulate and beat Bahá'ís as they left; Sayyid Abu'l-Qasim-i-Mamani, aged 90, died as a result of the injuries he received. [BW18p385]
    		•  * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Russian consulate; - Persecution, Mobs; Russian consulate; Isfahan, Iran; Iran
    1903 30 May
    190-    		 A letter from `Abdu'l-Bahá was received by the Chicago House of Spirituality giving His approval for the building of a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in North America. [BFA2:119] Spiritual Assemblies; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Wilmette; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Petitions; Wilmette, IL; Chicago, IL; United States (USA) First Tablet approving building Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in North America
    1903 7 Jun
    190-    		 Eight days after `Abdu'l-Bahá's first Tablet arrived, a second Tablet arrived from Him approving the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár project. [BW10:179; CT41; GPB262, 349; MBW142] Spiritual Assemblies; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Wilmette; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Petitions; Wilmette, IL; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1903 8 Jun
    190-    		 Bahá'ís in Maláyir, Hamadán, are attacked, beaten and imprisoned. Two are killed. [BW18:385] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Maláyir, Iran; Hamadán, Iran; Iran
    1903 Jun-Jul
    190-    		 The Yazd Upheaval and in surrounding villages. [BBRXXX]

    See BW18p385 for a chronicle of events by Moojan Momen:

    • 14 June: Yazd: Sayyid Muhammad-Ibrahim, the new Imam-Jum'ih, preached against the Bahá'ís; rabble took to the streets; shop of Aqé Muhammad-Husayni-Attar and several other Bahá'ís looted.
    • 15 June: Yazd: Hajl' Mirzay-i-Halabf—Saz attacked with an axe and died later the same day.
    • 22 June: Taft: Rabble attacked Bahá'ís' houses killing six Bahá'ís.
    • 24 June: Ardikan: Rabble attacked Bahá'í houses killing four Bahá'í's.
    • 26 June: Yazd: Nine Bahá'ís killed and many houses pillaged.
    • Farashah: Haji' Sayyid Javad-i-Muhammadabédi' beaten to death.
    • 27 June; Yazd: Rabble killed six Bahá'ís; Citadel besieged in the belief that Mulla 'Abdu'l-Ghiani was there.
    • Manshad: Rabble killed six Bahá'ís.
    • Ardikan: Rabble set out for home of Sadru's-Sultan but were turned back.
    • 28 June; Yazd: On orders of the Governor, Jalalu'd—Dawlih, two Bahá'ís brought before him; one was blown from a cannon and another had his throat cut.
    • Taft: Mulla Muhammad-Husayn killed.
    • Manshad: Three Bahá'ís killed.
    • Ardikén: Sadru's-Sultan, his brothers, Nizamu'sh-Shiari'ih and Mu'tamadu'sh-Shari'ih, his nephew, Diya'u'sh~Shari'ih, and four others killed.
    • Hanza: Fatimih Bigum killed.
    • 29 June; Taft: Aqá Muhammad shot to death on decree of Shaykh Husayn-Daréz.gum; Aqa Muhammad-Háshim-Dalall killed as he fled Yazd.
    • 'Izzábéd: Hájí Ahmad-i-Muqani-Bashi' killed.
    • Hanzá: Mirzá Ahmad-i-Arzim beaten to death.
    • 30 June; Taft: Hájí Muhammad-Isma'il killed.
    • Manshád: Sayyid Husayn beaten to death.
    • 1 July; Manshád: Three Bahá'ís killed.
    • 2 July; Manshad: Mirzái Husayn stabbed to death.
    • 3 July; Manshad: Aqá 'Ali Muhammad shot to death.
    • Banádak: Aqá Mirzá Muhammad-Huda and Aqá Muhammad-Husayn Of Yazd killed.
    • 4 July; Manshád: Aqá Muhammad shot to death.
    • 'Abbásábád: Háji Muhammad-Husayn killed.
    • 5 July; Manshád: Aqá 'Alf-Akbar beaten then shot to death.
    • 'Abbásábéd: Hájí Ahmad-i-Kaffash beaten to death.
    • 6 July; Manshad: Khadijih Sultzán Khanum thrown from top of a building and killed.
    • Abbásábéd: Aqá 'Ali-Akbar-i-Qassab beaten to death.
    • 8 July; Manshad: Aqá Muhammad beaten and burned to death.
    • 9 July: Manshad: Aqá Muhammad-'Ali strangled to death.
    • 10 July; Manshad: Shatir Husayn, Khabbz'i-i-Yazdi and Mirzá Muhammad-Ibráhim, Tabib-i-Khuramshéhi beaten to death.
    • 11 July; Manshád Aqa Ghulám-Ridá shot and beaten to death.
    • 12 July; Manshad: Three Bahá'ís killed,
    • 13 July:Ibrihimabad;: Aqá Asadu'lláih killed and his head taken back 10 Manshad.
    • Gavafshad: Ustéd Ridá shot to death.
    • Banzadak: Aqa Ghulám-Ridá shot to death.
    • Hanzá: Sayyid Muhammad-'Ali and Mirzá Javád-i-Sabbagh shot to death.
    • 14 July; Hadafl: AqéTAbdu'r-Rasfil shot and his body burned.
    • 15 July: Manshéd: Aqé Mullá Bahá'í' burned alive then shot.
    • 19 July; Qavámzábéd: Aqá 'Ali-Ridáy-i-Sha'r-báf killed.
  • This is said to be one of the bloodiest events to take place during the ministry of `Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • For Western responses see BBR385–98 and SBBH1:67.
  • For details of the martyrdom of Hájí Mírzáy-i-Halabí-Sáz during the upheaval see RB2:358–66.
  • For the effect on Bahá'ís of Zoroastrian background see SBBH2:80.
    		•  Yazd upheaval; - Upheavals; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; - Zoroastrianism; Yazd, Iran; Iran
    1903 20 Jul
    190-    		 `Abdu'l-Bahá commissioned the second restoration of the House of the Báb in Shíráz under the supervision of Áqá Mírzá Áqá, an Afnán and a nephew of `Abdu'l-Bahá. He had closed his business affairs in Egypt and moved his entire family to Shiraz to handle the project. Having been raised in the House Áqá Mírzá Áqá was the only living person who remembered the details of the house as it had been before the first major renovation. [AB108; EB236; GPB300; MBBA154, 176-177]
  • Mi`mar-Bashi began the renovation project. They demolished the whole structure. The ground under the building was excavated until the original foundation of the House was uncovered. The workers began to raise the walls and rebuild the House on the same foundation and following the original design. Each day, in this small area, over 30 construction crew laboured devotedly. Within two months, as `Abdu'l-Bahá had commanded, the structural walls were completed in exactly the same design as that of the time of the Báb. Soon the rooms were finished and the doors and windows added.
  • Starting on the 23rd of October 1903 Áqá Mírzá Áqá fell ill and, day by day, his condition grew worse. However, until a week before his passing, he would come each day to the site of the construction and, although suffering from illness, spend the day supervising all the work. He passed away on the 15th of November 1903 after completing the task entrusted to him by `Abdu'l-Bahá. It was then that the wisdom of the Master's statement "delay will cause a colossal catastrophe" became clear, as Áqá Mírzá Áqá was the only one of all the kindred who knew the original design of the House. After his passing, the rest of the work, consisting of painting and decoration, was completed. [MBBA177]
  • Also see MBBA219-222 for a "back-story".
  • See MBBA177-185 for the story of how the Bahá'ís helped to renovate the mosque of Masjid-i-Shamshirgarha on the adjacent property.
  • The House of the Báb was located on Shamshirgarha Street. [MBBA161]
    		• Báb, House of (Shiraz); - Restoration and renovation; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Aqa Mírzá Aqay-i-Afnan (Nurud-Din); Afnan; Shíráz, Iran; Iran
    1903 Sep
    190-    		 At the request of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Hájí Mírzá Hadar-'Alí wrote Bahá'í Martyrdoms in Persia in the Year 1903 AD. * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Hájí Mírzá Haydar-`Alí (Angel of Carmel); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; Yazd upheaval; Yazd, Iran; Isfahan, Iran; Iran
    1903 Dec
    190-    		 Lua Getsinger made a second petition to the Sháh. It was presented through usual official channels. For several year following the presentation of these petitions there was a remarkable cessation of persecutions. [LGHC64-67]
  • See article by Mariam Haney entitled In Behalf of the Oppressed. [SoW Vol 15 No 8 November, 1924 p230]
    		•  * Persecution, Iran; Lua Getsinger; Muzaffarid-Dín Sháh; - Shahs; Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney; Petitions; Mariam Haney; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    1904 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of Bahá'í Martyrdoms in Persia in the Year 1903 AD by Hájí Mírzá Haydar-Alí Isfaháni* and translated by Youness Afroukhteh. A second edition was published in 1917. [Collins 7.1147-7.1149]

    When the persecutions throughout Iran were at their peak, in midsummer of 1903, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a proclamatory treatise outlining events leading to these pogroms, the motives and actions of the principle persecutors, and the intense sufferings of the Bahá'í community.

    In retrospect, it appears that 'Abdu'l-Bahá intended this treatise to be published in the West, galvanizing the support of prominent individuals, Bahá'í communities of the United States and Europe in general, and, the public at large. Towards this end, he instructed one of his secretaries, Dr. Younis Khan Afroukhtih, to translate this treatise, which presumably was done in collaboration with some English-speaking Bahá'ís visiting 'Akká at the time. This work was further assisted by an English-speaking pilgrim of Jewish-descent from Hamadan, Dr. Arastoo Hakim, and was completed on 19 September 1903.

    *The translated treatise was then sent to the United States It was received in Chicago on 29 October 1903 and its publication took place through the work of Bahá'í Publishing Society in 1904. However, for reasons not clear, it was published as a document prepared by Hájí Mírzá Haydar-'Alí, a prominent Bahá'í residing in Haifa at that time. In this reference can be found a 2007 translation by Ahang Rabbani [Bahá'í Studies Review Vol 14 2007 p53-67]

    		* Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Hájí Mírzá Haydar-`Alí (Angel of Carmel); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; * Publications; Yazd upheaval; Yazd, Iran; Isfahan, Iran; Rasht, Iran; Ardakan, Iran; Taft, Iran; Manshad, Iran; Dih-Bala, Iran; Iran
    1904 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of The Book of Ighan (Kitáb-i-Íqán) by George V. Blackburne Co in New York. It had been translated by Ali Kuli Khan with assistance by Howard McNutt. This was the earliest translation into English of this book and was superseded by the publication of the translation by Shoghi Effendi. [Collins1.12]
  • A second edition was published in 1907 in Chicago by the Bahá'í Publishing Society and a third in 1915. [Collins1.13, 1.14]
  • The Book of Ighan.
    		•  Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certitude); `Alí Kulí Khán; Howard MacNutt; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1904 (In the year)
    190-    		 A compilation of Bahá'í writings in English was published by the Board of Counsel of New York. [BW10:179]
  • The Book of Assurance (The Book of Ighan) translated by Ali Kuli Khan, assisted by Howard MacNutt was published in New York for the Bahá'í Publishing Committee. [Collins1.10]
    		• - Compilations; * Publications; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    1904 c.
    190-    		 The birth of Zikrullah Khadem, Hand of the Cause of God, in Tihrán. [ZK3] Zikrullah Khadem; - Births and deaths; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    1904 (In the year)
    190-    		 At this point there were separate Spiritual Assemblies for the Jewish and Zoroastrian Bahá'ís in Hamadán and Tihrán. [BBRSM:151; CB371; CT33]
  • See BW2:275–9 for a letter from the `Israelitish' Bahá'í Assembly of Tihrán of November 1904.
    		•  Local Spiritual Assembly; Hamadán, Iran; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    1904 (In the year)
    190-    		 Mahd-i-`Ulyá (Fátimih Khánum), the second wife of Bahá'u'lláh, died. She and all her four surviving children had been declared Covenant-breakers. [CB117] Mahd-i-Ulya (Fatimih Khanum); Covenant-breaking; Haifa, Israel; Akka, Israel
    1904 (In the year)
    190-    		 Through the year the Covenant-breakers plotted until the friendly governor of `Akká was replaced by one hostile to `Abdu'l-Bahá. Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí stirred up opposition in certain elements of the population. [AB111; CB232]
  • Newspapers in Egypt and in Syria wrote false reports about `Abdu'l-Bahá. [AB111; CB232]
  • Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí drew up an official indictment against `Abdu'l-Bahá full of false accusations. [AB112; CB232; MBBA82-83]
  • These actions resulted in the arrival of the first Commission of Inquiry, sent by Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamíd. [AB112; CB233]
  • The Commission summoned `Abdu'l-Bahá to answer the accusations levelled against Him and upon receiving His replies, the inquiry collapsed. [AB113–14; CB233]
    		•  Mírzá Muhammad Ali; Covenant-breaking; `Abdu'l-Bahá, Commission of inquiry; Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamid; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Haifa, Israel; Akka, Israel; Istanbul, Turkey; Turkey
    1904 (In the year)
    190-    		 Laura Clifford Barney made a number of extended visits to `Akká during this period. She brought with her questions to ask `Abdu'l-Bahá and she compiled His responses. These answers were approved by Him and published in the book Some Answered Questions. [AB81–2; BFA2:238]
  • For more complete history of the making of Some Answered Questions see "Some Answered Questions" and Its Compiler by Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani published in Lights of Irfán vol. 18 p425-452.
  • See AB81–2 for information about Laura Clifford Barney.
  • The translator during this period was Dr Yúnis Afrukhtih (Yúnis Khán), whose memoirs, translated in English as Memories of Nine Years in Akka, make a valuable contribution to the history of the Faith. [BW12:679–81; M9YA341-345]
    		•  Laura Clifford Barney; Some Answered Questions (book); * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; * Philosophy; Youness Afroukhteh (Yunis Afrukhtih); - Basic timeline, Expanded; Akka, Israel
    15 Apr - Jun
    190-    		 "Due to conflicting interpretations of the Teachings" a commission was appointed to "formulate a plan for the development of unanimity in work and effort for spreading the Bahá'í teachings." The report gave the "Outlines of the Bahá'í Teachings" and "Basic Concepts of the Bahá'í Revelation." [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p9] Teaching; New York, USA
    1904 28 Oct
    190-    		 Ali Kuli Khan married Florence Breed, the first marriage between a Persian and a Western Bahá'í. [BFA2:147]
  • For details of this marriage see SUR223–20.
  • When 'Abdu'l-Bahá heard the new of the marriage He said, 'This is the first sign of union between East and West.' Then He sent for candies to be brought and said, 'The event is so joyous that it must be celebrated!' And He distributed the candy to those present, as is the custom for the parents of the bridegroom to do at a Persian wedding banquet. [AY26]
  • See AY51-53 for the history of the Breed name.
  • See AY53-> for the relationship between Khan and the Hearst family.
    		•  `Alí Kulí Khán; Florence Breed; Firsts, other; Interracial marriage; Weddings; Hearst family; Phoebe Hearst; United States (USA) First marriage between a Persian and a Western Bahá'í
    1904 29 Nov
    190-    		 Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl departed from the United States after a four year stay. He spent most of that time in the Washington, DC area. [BFA2:XVI. ASK20] Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani; United States (USA)
    1904 1 Dec
    190-    		 Sydney Sprague arrived in Bombay, India. [BFA2:XVI]
  • He was the first American Bahá'í travelling teacher in Asia. [BFA2:XVI; 258-270; facing p335]
  • See Reflections on the Bahá'í Writings for the story of Kaykhusraw Isfandyár who sacrificed his life by travelling from his home in Bombay to Lahore to assist Sidney Sprague when he was mortally ill with typhoid fever. He was too ill to be taken back to Bombay as planned so Kaykhusraw prayed that he, a humble shop-keeper, might be accepted as a sacrifice for the life of Sydney, an international travel teacher. His request was accepted and he became the first Eastern Bahá'í to have sacrificed his life for his Western brother. When the news of this sacrifice reached `Abdu'l-Bahá, He immortalised Kaykhusraw by conferring upon him the rank of a martyr and He revealed a Tablet to Kaykhusraw's family.
    This story is also available in Andalib magazine, year 7, no 25 and can be found in YBIB55-60.
    		• Sydney Sprague; Travel Teaching; Firsts, other; Mumbai, India; India; - Asia First American travelling teacher in Asia; the first eastern Bahá’í to have sacrificed his life for his western brother.
    1905 (In the Year)
    190-    		 The publication of Hidden Words, Words of Wisdom and Communes from the Supreme Pen of Bahá'u'lláh by the Bahai Publishing Society of Chicago. In included two pages at the end in which Àbdu'l-Bahá answers questions about the Hidden Words. Translation was done by Mirza Ameen Fareed. It was republished in 1906 or between 1906 and 1910 and again in 1914. [Collins 1.70 - 1.70a] * Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; Hidden Words
    1905 (In the year)
    190-    		 The first publication of The Seven Valleys in the West. It was translated from Persian into French by Hippolyte Dreyfus and Chirazi and was bound with The Hidden Words (Les Paroles cachées). This French translation was further translated into English by Julie Chanler in 1933 (or 1936), accounts differ. [About the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys; Collins1.112] Haft Vadi (Seven Valleys); * Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; * Translation; * Publications; Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney; France; United States (USA) first publication of the Seven Valleys in the West.
    1905 (In the year)
    190-    		 A second Commission of Inquiry, under the chairmanship of `Árif Bey, arrived in `Akká further to investigate the charges laid against `Abdu'l-Bahá. [AB117–25; BBR320 3; CB234–7; GPB269–71]
  • See BBR322 for difficulties in dating this event. All Bahá'í sources indicate that this took place in 1907 but documents in the Ottoman State Archives indicate that it took place in 1905.
  • The Commission returned to Turkey amid political upheavals and its report was put to one side. [AB122–3; CB237; GPB271]
    		•  `Abdu'l-Bahá, Commission of inquiry; Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamid; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Haifa, Israel; Akka, Israel; Istanbul, Turkey; Turkey
    1905 (In the year)
    190-    		 The passing of Ahmad (of "Tablet of Ahmad" fame) in Tehran at the age of 100. He was born in Yazd in 1805. [A Flame of Fire by Abu'l-Qasim Faizi] Lawh-i-Ahmad (Tablet of Ahmad (Arabic)); Ahmad of Yazd; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    1905 (In the year)
    190-    		 A.L.M. Nicolas published his book Seyyed Ali dit le Bab. It was the first work by a western author dedicated entirely to the Báb, His movement and His teachings. (Conflict: See 1865)

  • English translation A Prophet of Modern Times by Peter Terry.

    It is "(a) history of the Bábí movement up to 1852. Nicolas gives a list of sources for this book on pp. 48-53. It is interesting to note that among his oral sources are four of the leading Bahá'ís of that period, who had been designated by Bahá'u'lláh as 'Hands of the Cause': Mírzá 'Alí-Muhammad, 'Ibn-i-Asdaq: Mullá 'Al-Akbar-i-Sháhmírzádí, Hají Akhund; Mírzá Muhammad-Táqíy-i-Abharí, 'Ibn-i-Abhar; and Mírzá Hasan-i-Adíb. The other two oral sources named are Siyyid 'Ismu'lláh, who was presumably Siyyid Mihdíy-i-Dihají, and Mírzá Yahyá, Subh-i-Azál." [BBR38-39]

  • The preamble to his book has an image that is supposedly of the Báb, but the portrait does not seem to be an authentic representation.

  • William Miller also reproduced Nicolas's image on page 17 of his polemical work, The Bahá'í Faith: Its History and Teachings. (South Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1974). ['The Bab in the World of Images', Bahá'í Studies Review, vol. 19, June 2013, 171–90.]
  • See also WOB83 for other missionaries who wrote polemics against the Bahá'í Faith.
    		• * Báb, Writings of; A.L.M. Nicolas; Criticism and apologetics; William McElwee Miller; Bábísm; - First publications; * Publications; Paris, France; France The first work by a western author dedicated entirely to the Báb
    1905 (or 1904)
    190-    		 A Bahá'í group was established in Germany soon after the arrival of the first Bahá'í in the country, Dr. Edwin Fischer, in Stuttgart. He was dentist and a returned emigrant to the United States. German-born Alma Knobloch also became a Bahá'í in the United States 1903, before Fischer, arrived in Germany in 1907. [BBRSM:107, 219; BWNS390]
  • The German Baha'i Community under National Socialism: by Harry Liedtke says he arrived in 1904.
    		•  Edwin Fischer; Alma Knobloch; - First Bahá'ís by country or area; Stuttgart, Germany; Germany first German Baha'i
    1905 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of Le Beyan Arabe in Paris by A. L. M. Nicolas. It was a French translation of the Arabic Bayán. [BBR39]
  • English translation The Arabic Bayán by Peter Terry.
    		•  * Báb, Writings of; Bayan-i-Arabi (Arabic Bayan); A.L.M. Nicolas; * Translation; * Publications; Paris, France; France
    1905 (In the year)
    190-    		 Muhammad-'Alí sent his eldest son Shu'á'u'lláh to North America as his representative. It would appear that he did not work with Kheiralla but rather aligned himself with the group of Behaists in Kenosha. [BFA1p180; GPB319]
  • He was the editor of the Behai Quarterly, a periodical published seven times from the Spring of 1934 to 1936 published from 7534 Twenty-sixth Ave in Kenosha. [BFA1p180; AB527n60]
  • When the Master visited Los Angeles in October of 1912 he was living in Pasadena and became a cause of grief for 'Abdu'l-Bahá through his machinations. [MD340-341]
  • It is believed that he stayed in North America until the 1930s or 1940s. [BFA1p180]
    		• Covenant-breaking; Muhammad-`Alí; Shuaullah; Kenosha, WI
    1905 (In the year or later)
    190-    		 Following the dispatch of his eldest son Shu'áu'lláh to North America, Muhammad-'Ali sent Mírzá Ghulámu'lláh, son of Áqá Muhammad-Javád-i-Qazvíní, one of the most inveterate adversaries of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Enroute he Ghlámu'lláh visited Professor E G Browne at Cambridge. [AB86]
  • Áqá Muhammad-Javád-i-Qazvíní was with Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad and went to Adrianople some years later to be of service to Him. He was exiled to Akká and served by transcribing Writings. After the passing of Bahá'u'lláh he became an adversary of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and attacked him in his venomous writings. [CoB165; GPB319]
    		•  Covenant-breaking; Shuaullah; Muhammad Ali; Ghulamullah; Aqa Muhammad Javiad Qazyini; Cambridge, England; United Kingdom
    1905 (In the year)
    190-    		 A Bahá'í group was established in Germany. [BBRSM219] Statistics; Germany first Bahá'í group was established in Germany.
    1905 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of The New Revelation: Its Marvelous Message by Nathan Ward Fitz-Gerald.288p
  • Collins7.974 describes the book as "A pot-pourri of introductory materials on the Bahá'í Faith, which includes much misinformation. Includes an early translation of The Hidden Words. Typography includes considerable bold typeface."
    		•  Nathan Ward Fitz-Gerald; * Publications; Tacoma, WA; Washington, USA; United States (USA)
    1905 (In the year)
    190-    		 Agnes Alexander arrived in Alaska, the first Bahá'í travelling teacher to visit the territory. [BBRSM:107] Agnes Alexander; Alaska, USA; United States (USA) First Bahá'í travelling teacher to visit Alaska
    1905 c. 30 Mar
    190-    		 Hájí Kalb-`Alí was shot and killed in Najafábád. [BW18:386] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Najaf, Iranabad, Iran; Iran
    1905 29 Apr
    190-    		 Birth of `Alí-Akbar Furútan, Hand of the Cause of God, in Sabzivár, Khurásán. `Alí-Akbar Furútan; - Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; - Births and deaths; Sabzevár, Iran; Khurásán, Iran; Iran
    23 May or 2 Jun
    190-    		 A Nineteen Day Feast was celebrated in New York City, the first known to have been held in North America. [BFA2:XVI, 245]
  • It consisted of a devotional portion and a social part. The administrative aspect of the Feast was developed in the 1930s. [BFA2:245; SA208]
  • Howard and Mary MacNutt, along with Julia Grundy, had been on pilgrimage early in the year and had been encouraged to hold Feasts by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • In a meeting of NY Board of Council at the home of Mr. Arthur Pillsbury Dodge on the 19th of May, Mr. Howard MacNutt described a Nineteen Day Feast he had attended in Acca. The Board then planned the First Nineteen Day Feast to be held the following Tuesday, June 2nd at the home of Mr. Fleming. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p10]
    		• Nineteen Day Feast; Howard MacNutt; Mary MacNutt; Julia Grundy; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Pilgrims; New York, USA; United States (USA) First Nineteen Day Feast celebrated in West
    1905 4 Jul
    190-    		 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been promising visiting pilgrims that He would visit America when the friends became united. A petition was sent to 'Abdu'l-Bahá signed by 422 of the American believers...
      They had covenanted together, so they wrote, to remain at one in all things, and the signatories one and all had pledged themselves to make sacrifices in the pathway of the love of God, thus to achieve eternal life. [SWABp243]
    • See 'Abdu'l-Bahá's response in a tablet translated by Ali Kuli Khan 3 January 1906 in By Thy Strengthening Grace Appendix I by Duanne Hermann iiiii
    • See an incomplete list of the signatories in Appendix II of the same book. iiiii
    		Petitions
    1905 5 Sep
    190-    		 The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904–05 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905,[1] after negotiations from August 6 to August 30, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, United States.[2] U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental in the negotiations and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Were it not for US diplomacy and the military restraint displayed by the other European nations, the Russo-Japanese war might have become the first world war. [Wikipedia]
  • According to some historians, the 1905 Russo-Japanese War was the first truly modern war, involving as it did both the telegraph and the telephone, along with machine guns, barbed wire, illuminating star shells, mine fields, advanced torpedoes, and armored battleships. The war's resolution might also be called the world's first modern "peace," inasmuch as its end came about through perhaps the first use of so-called multi-track diplomacy, involving not only the belligerents but also the United States and, significantly, input from civil society. [One Country]
    		• Portsmouth Peace Treaty; Theodore Roosevelt; Peace; War; History (general); Peace treaties; Kittery, ME; New Hampshire, USA; United States (USA); Russia; Japan
    1905 - 1911
    190-    		 The `Constitutional Revolution' took place in Iran. [BBRSM:87, 219]
  • The direct influence of the Bahá'ís in this movement was slight but many in Europe thought the Bahá'í influence was great. [BBR366]
  • The Constitutional Movement failed to bring the Bahá'ís any benefit; rather, they suffered as a result. [BBR366 g]
    		•  Constitutional Revolution (Iran, 1905-1911); Iran
    1906 c.
    190-    		 Birth of `Abu'l-Qásim Faizí, Hand of the Cause of God, in Qum. Abu'l-Qasim Faizi; - Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; - Births and deaths; Qom, Iran; Iran
    1906 (In the year)
    190-    		 The first translation of The Seven Valleys into English was done Ali Kuli Khan and reprinted frequently by the Bahá'í Publishing Committee. A revised translation done by him and his daughter, Marzieh Gail, in 1945. An introduction was added in 1952. [Collins1.114; About the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys; RG48]
  • The original, The Seven Valleys Revealed by Baha'u'llah at Baghdad, in answer to Questions Asked by Sheik Abdur Rahman, a Great Mohammedan, Mystic Sufi Leader.
  • The pdf.
    		• * Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; Haft Vadi (Seven Valleys); `Alí Kulí Khán; Marzieh Gail; United States (USA)
    1906 (In the year)
    190-    		 The first Bahá'í of Hungarian origin, Countess Aurelia Bethien, declares her faith in the USA. [http://www.bahai.hu] - First Bahá'ís by country or area; Hungary; United States (USA) First Hungarian Bahá'í
    1906 Mar
    190-    		 Mrs Whyte, the wife of a well-known Scottish clergyman, made a pilgrimage to `Akká with Mary Virginia Thornburgh-Cropper. In answer to a letter that Mrs Whyte left for `Abdu'l-Bahá upon their departure, He revealed the Tablet the `Seven Candles of Unity'. [AB361–2, SCU4554]
  • See AB360–2 and SWAB29–32 for text of the Tablet.
  • See AB355–9, BW4396-399 and SBR20–1 for accounts of Mrs Whyte's pilgrimage.
  • See also Anjam Khursheed's, The Seven Candles of Unity pg45-54.
  • Her account of the meeting with 'Abdu'l-Bahá can be found in Seven Candles of Unity: the Story of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Edinburgh (London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1991). [Scottish Women: A Documentary History, 1780-1914 by Esther Breitenbach and Linda Fleming p.213]
    		•  Seven Candles of Unity; Unity; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; Jane Whyte; Mary Virginia Thornburgh-Cropper; Pilgrims; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Akka, Israel
    1906 summer
    190-    		 Bahá'ís in Sangsar, Khurásán, were persecuted such that they took refuge in the hills. [BW18:386] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; Sangesar, Iran; Khurásán, Iran; Iran
    1906 summer/autumn
    190-    		 Hippolyte Dreyfus, Marianne Jerard and Laura Barney visited Russian Turkistan and Iran, specifically Tabriz, Máh-Kú ,and Ishqabad. While in Iran, they witnessed the disturbances associated with the constitutional revolution, which had reached its climax that summer. [BFA2:XVI]
  • They were the first Western Bahá'ís to do so. [For72; BFA2:XVI; Some Answered Questions" and Its Compiler by Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani published in Lights of Irfan, 18, pages 444; Prezi]
    		• Marianne Jerard; Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney; Laura Clifford Barney; Firsts, other; Iran First Western Bahá'ís to visit Iran
    1906 5 Aug
    190-    		 After an almost bloodless revolution Muzaffari'd-Din Sháh was forced to sign a royal decree called the "Golestān Palace Agreement" promising the establishment of a constitutional government with a National Assembly to be elected from amount the working guilds, landowners merchants and the nobles. The parliament was opened on the 7th of October and the constitution signed on the 30th of December. This marked the beginning of a period of constitutional governance in the country. [AY p24; Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Bahá's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East1 by Kamran Ekbal p6] Iran, General history; History (general); Muzaffarid-Dín Sháh; - Shahs; Iran
    1906 Oct-Nov
    190-    		 Several Bahá'ís in Sangsar and Shahmírzád were killed or injured by bullets; six Bahá'ís were arrested. [BW18:386] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Sangesar, Iran; Shahmirzad, Iran; Iran
    1906 10 Nov
    190-    		 Harlan Ober and Hooper Harris sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey for Naples and 'Akká on their teaching trip to India at the behest of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. (Tablet 12 March, 1906) Dr. William Moore, brother of Lua Getsinger, had been chosen to accompany Hooper Harris but he died unexpectedly. Harlan did not have the means for such a trip but Lua Getsinger loaned him the necessary funds. [BW13p868]
  • During their three days stopover in 'Akká 'Abdu'l-Bahá provided no instructions but promised them that "Whenever difficult questions or problems come to you, turn your hearts to the heart of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and you will receive help." They found that they were astonished with some of their own answers to questions put to them during the trip. [BW13p869]
  • Later 'Abdu'l-Bahá told Harlan, "Serve the people, speak in the meetings, love them in reality not through politeness, embrace them as I have embraced you. Even if you should never speak great good will be accomplished." This was to become Harlan's creed for teaching the Faith. [BW13p869]
  • They traveled across India, teaching the Faith, with Persian Bahá'ís Ibn-i-Abhar and Mírzá Mahmúd. See BFA266–71 for details of the trip. [Bahaipedia]
  • "Hooper Harris and Harlan Ober traveled, during no less than seven months, in India and Burma, visiting Bombay, Poona, Lahore, Calcutta, Rangoon and Mandalay." [GPB261]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent the "Tablet of Purity" to America with Hooper Harris on his return from Haifa and India. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p10]
    		• Harlan Ober; Hooper Harris; Travel Teaching; Hoboken, NJ; New Jersey, USA; India; Pakistan; Myanmar; Mumbai, India; Pune, India; Kolkata, India; Lahore, India; Yangon, Myanmar; Mandalay, Myanmar
    1906 29 Nov
    190-    		 The publication of Compilation of Utterances from the Pen of Abdul-Baha Regarding His Station. 19p. The compilation was prepared in response to "different opinions and statements" regarding the station of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It was prefaced by a letter from Mirza Assad'ullah. M. Ahmad Esphahani, credited as translator, is actually Mirza Ahmad Sohrab; this was before he adopted that last name for himself. The document does not state if it was compiled by Assad'ullah as well, but it seems likely from the cover letter. Similarly, it is not stated if the entire collection was translated by Sohrab or just the cover letter. [Collins3.35] * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of
    1906 30 Dec
    190-    		 The Constitution of Iran was re-established. The Bahá'ís were not included among the recognized religions. [BBR354; B114; CB57; GPB298]
  • For the prophecies of Bahá'u'lláh about the constitution see CBM56–8.
    		•  Constitutions (general); Iranian constitution; Human rights; Prophecies; Iran
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 `Abdu'l-Bahá started to move His family to the house that He had designed and built in the German colony at the foot of Mount Carmel in Haifa. [BBD107; DH145]
  • Laura Clifford Barney helped to purchase the land for the house and to pay for its construction. [DH145]
  • See Uplifting Words for photos and a history of the house.
  • Some members of the family occupied the house as early as February 1907, if not before. [DH145; GBF56]
    		•  `Abdu'l-Bahá, House of (Haifa); * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Laura Clifford Barney; Purchases and exchanges; Architecture; - Bahá'í World Centre buildings, monuments and gardens; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 Six rooms of the Shrine of the Báb were completed. [GBF103]
  • See BBD8 and DH103–4 for information on Mullá Abu-Tálib, the master mason from Bákú, Ádharbáyján, who worked on the Shrine.
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá named one of the exterior doors to the Shrine of the Báb after Ustad 'Ali Ashraf, named Báb-i-Ashraf. In years to come, one of the gates leading to the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá was named "Ali Ashraf Gate".
  • Two doors, one facing north towards 'Akka and the other on the eastern side of the Shrine, were named for Ustad Aqa 'Ali-Ashraf and Ustad Aqa Bala, sons of Mulla Abu-Talib. These two brothers were master-masons who went on pilgrimage from their native town of Baku, Russia, and with 'Abdu'l-Bahá's permission remained for some time in the Holy Land. During this period, they devoted their efforts to the construction of the Shrine and offered financial contributions towards the project.
  • Some members of the Ahmadpùr family had been in the presence of the beloved Master when the Shrine of the Báb had almost been completed. In their longing to have a share in that great and historic enterprise, they asked the Master if they could make a special carpet for the fioor and send it to Haifa. He accepted their request and gave instructions as to what design they should choose for the carpet. The Ahmadpùr family were those in whose silk factory the Báb's body had been kept after being taken from the edge of the moat outside the city of Tabriz. [BN No 403 October 1964 p1]
    		•  Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); Mulla Abu-Talib; Ahmadpúr family; Haifa, Israel; Bandar Anzali, Iran; Azerbaijan
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 Lady Blomfield and her daughter Mary learned of the Faith at a reception in Paris. [CH1–2; ER95; SBR22; SEBW101, SCU17]
  • For accounts of Lady Blomfield's life see ER88–97 and SEBW101–10.
    		•  Lady Sarah Louisa Blomfield; Mary Basil Hall (Mary Esther Blomfield, Parvine Khanum); Paris, France; France
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 It was estimated that there were from 1,000 to 1,100 believers in North America by this date, with about 12 believers in Montreal and six Bahá'ís in other localities in Canada. [BFA2:230] Statistics; United States (USA); Montreal, QC; Canada
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 Hájar, an elderly Bahá'í woman, was shot dead in Nayríz. [BW18:386] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Nayriz, Iran; Iran
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 Pritam Singh, an Assistant Master of Economics at Chiefs College in Lahore, accepted the Faith, the first Sikh to do so. [BFA2:269] Pritam Singh; - Sikhism; - First believers by background; Lahore, India; Pakistan First Sikh to accept Faith
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 The first Bahá'í fund (Šerkat-e ḵayrīya) was established in Tehran to financially support Bahá'í teachers, facilitate the education of Bahá'í children, provide sufficient care of Bahá'í orphans, the aged and handicapped, and be of assistance to students of higher education. [BAHAISM v. The Bahai Community in Iran by V. Rafati] Funds; Tehran, Iran; Iran first Baha'i fund to support education and support of children
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of A Call of Attention to the Behaists or Babists of America by August J Stenstrand. He was a member of the "Society of Behaists" founded by Ibrahim Kheiralla, and was voted out of that group in 1906 and became the only self-professed Azali in America. He published at least five of these booklets from 1907 to 1917. [Collinsp294, 12.125-12.127a] August Stenstrand; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Chicago, IL; * Publications; Covenant-breaking
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of Tablets Containing Instructions 19p. It was translated by Ahmad Sohrab and Ali-Kuli Khan and was published in Washington by the Bahai Assembly. Described by 'Abdu'l-Bahá as a few Tablets revealed for believers in Persia; if they are translated and spread in the West it will not be without effect ... Print them and circulate them amongst the believers in all those parts. (paraphrased from intro) [Collins3.147] * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; Washington, DC, USA; United States (USA)
    1907 (In the year)
    190-    		 Alma Knobloch, the sister of Pauline Hannen, settled in Stuttgart. [SYH13; BW9p642] Alma Knobloch; Stuttgart, Germany; Germany
    1907 (In the Year)
    190-    		 Edward 'Saffa" Kinney and his wife Carrie "Vaffa" were in pilgrimage during this year. 'Abdu'l-Bahá later described them as being "Pillars of th Faith in the City of the Covenant" for their steadfastness in the Cause. [SYH45] Pilgrimage; Edward Kinney; Carrie Kinney; - Bahá'í World Centre
    1907 8 Jan
    190-    		 The death of Muzaffari'd-Dín Sháh just a few days after he had signed the constitution. [BBR354, 482] Muzaffarid-Dín Sháh; - Shahs; Qajar dynasty; - Births and deaths; Iran, General history; History (general); Constitutions (general); Iranian constitution; Iran
    1907 19 Jan
    190-    		 The accession of Muhammad-`Alí Sháh to the throne of Iran. He reigned until 1909. He attempted to rescind the constitution and abolish parliamentary government. After several disputes with the members of the Majlis in June, 1908 he bombed the Majlis building, arrested many of the deputies and closed down the assembly. In July 1909 constitutional forces deposed him and he went into exile in Russia from where he attempted to regain his throne. [BBR354, 482, AY218]
  • The Bahá'í community received some measure of protection under this regime. [BBRSM:97–8]
    		•  Muhammad-`Alí Sháh; - Shahs; - Shahs, Throne changes; Qajar dynasty; History (general); Iran, General history; - Persecution; Iran
    1907 25 Feb
    190-    		 Corinne True travelled to `Akká to present `Abdu'l-Bahá with a scroll with the signatures of 800 (or 1,000) names of Bahá'ís calling for construction to start on the American House of Worship. [CT51–3]
  • BW13:847 says the petition contained over a thousand signatures.
  • Some four years earlier the Bahá'ís had asked permission to build a House of Worship in Chicago. He agreed but the project sat idle. 'Abdu'l-Bahá provided her with complete instructions. Corrine True would later server as financial secretary of the Executive Board of the Mother Temple of the West. For her role in the project Àbdu'l-Bahá called her the "Mother of the Temple." [239 Days (22)]
  • See PG108-109 for the story of the sacrifices on the part of poor villagers in rural Iran so that they could make contributions to the Temple Fund.
  • See Petition by the American Baha'is.
    		• Corinne True; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Wilmette; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Akka, Israel; United States (USA); Petitions
    1907 spring
    190-    		 A census of religions in the United States counted 1280 Bahá'ís. [BFA2:XVI] Statistics; United States (USA)
    1907 31 Mar
    190-    		 The Bahá'í calendar was used in North America for the first time. BFA2:247–8] - Badi calendar; Firsts, other; North America; United States (USA) First time Bahá'í calendar used in North America
    1907 Easter
    190-    		 Having obtained 'Abdu'l-Bahá's permission to publish in 1906, Laura Barney travelled to Paris to work on Some Answered Question by Easter Ethel Rosenberg come from London had settled into the same hotel and the collaboration began. [AB82; EJR85] Some Answered Questions (book); Ethel Rosenberg; Laura Clifford Barney; Paris, France
    1907 Apr
    190-    		 Roy Wilhelm, accompanied by his mother, went on a pilgrimage to attain the presence of 'Abdu'l-Bahá at 'Akka in the Holy Land. The words of welcome uttered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as translated into English, were written down by Mr. Wilhelm immediately afterward and quoted in a letter written to his fellow Bahá'í teacher, Mrs. Mariam Haney: "Welcome! Very welcome! I have been waiting for your coming. It is with God's help that you have reached 'Akka . . . You represent all the American believers . . . Thank God that you came." [Roy Wilhelm] Roy C. Wilhelm; Pilgrimage; Akka, Israel
    1907 25 Apr
    190-    		 Karbalá'í Sádiq was martyred in Tabríz. [BW18:386] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Tabríz, Iran; Iran
    1907 summer
    190-    		 The first Universal Congress of Esperanto was held in Boulogne. [BW2:270] World Esperanto Congress; Boulogne, France First Universal Congress of Esperanto
    1907 15 Jun – 18 Oct
    190-    		 The Second Peace Conference in The Hague was attended by the representatives of 44 states. Again the proposal for the limitation of armaments was not accepted. The conference did, however, adopt several conventions relating to comportment of nations in time of war. It was resolved to hold another conference in eight years and although the conference scheduled for 1915 failed to meet because of the outbreak of World War I, the conference idea strongly influenced the creation of the more highly organized League of Nations after the war. [Encyclopaedia Britannica] - International peace conferences; League of Nations; Central Organization for a Durable Peace; Peace; The Hague, Netherlands; Netherlands
    1907 19 Jul
    190-    		 The Chicago `Bahai Assembly' filed an affidavit of incorporation, the first Bahá'í community to acquire legal status. [BFA2:278]
  • The incorporation is in the name of the community rather than the governing body. [BFA2:278–9]
    		•  Spiritual Assemblies; Local Spiritual Assembly; Incorporation; Recognition (legal); Firsts, other; Chicago, IL; United States (USA) First Bahá'í community to acquire legal status
    1907 31 Aug
    190-    		 Anglo-Russian Convention relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet, was signed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The convention brought shaky British–Russian relations to the forefront by solidifying boundaries that identified respective control in the three countries. It delineated spheres of influence in Persia, stipulated that neither country would interfere in Tibet's internal affairs, and recognized Britain's influence over Afghanistan. [AY p47-48; Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Bahá's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p6] Iran, General history; History (general); Colonialism and imperialism; St. Petersburg, Russia; Russia; Iran; Afghanistan; Tibet
    1907 26 Nov
    190-    		 The first national Bahá'í conference was held in America. [BFA2:XVI; BW10:179]
  • At the invitation of the House of Spirituality of Chicago, nine Bahá'ís from various communities joined some ten from the Chicago area at a one-day conference to foster national cooperation on the Temple project and to choose a suitable site for the Temple. [BFA2:280; CT78; GPB262, 349]
  • M. Momen posits that this was probably the first Bahá'í convention. [BAHAISM xi. Bahai Conventions]
    		•  - Conferences; Conferences, Bahá'í; - Conferences, National; Spiritual Assemblies; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Wilmette; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - First conferences; Chicago, IL; United States (USA) First national Bahá'í conference; first Baha'i convention
    1908 (In the year)
    190-    		 `Abdu'l-Bahá's house in Haifa was completed. [BBD 107] `Abdu'l-Bahá, House of (Haifa); Haifa, Israel
    1908 (In the year)
    190-    		 `Alí Ádharí was martyred in Kirmán. [BW18:386] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Kirman, Iran; Iran
    1908 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of Daily Lessons Received at Acca January, 1908 by Helen S Goodall and Ella Goodall Cooper. Published by the Bahai Publishing Society in Chicago. Daily Lessons Received at Acca January, 1908; Helen Goodall; Ella Goodall Cooper; Chicago, IL
    1908 (In the year)
    190-    		 Marion Jack was in 'Akká and taught 'Abdu'l-Bahá's children. [FMH45] Marion Jack; Akka, Israel
    1908 (In the year)
    190-    		 The outer structure of the House of Worship in `Ishqábád was completed and the dome was in place. [AB110, EB267]
  • The outer decoration would not be completed until 1919.
  • For a description of the Temple, its gardens and environs see BW1:79–81, GPB300–1 and PUP71.
    		•  Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Ishqabad; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Ashgabat; Turkmenistan
    1908 Mar
    190-    		 The book Some Answered Questions; Collected and Translated from the Persian of Abdu'l-Baha was published simultaneously in Great Britain in English (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co in London) and was translated into French by Hippolyte Dreyfus under the title Les Leçons de Saint Jean-d'Acre (Ernest Leroux in Paris) and the Persian edition (Al-Núru'l-Abhá fi Mufavi∂áti-'Abdu'l-Bahá)(The Light of Bahá Shining in Discourse with 'Abdu'l-Bahá and had the sub-title Talks During Luncheon ( E.J. Brill in Holland). [AB82; BBD212–13; BFA2:238; ABF8; M9YA 314-219, 340-345; LB108-117]
  • See Some Answered Questions" and Its Compiler by Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani published in Lights of Irfan, 18, pages 425-452. Some details:
    • Laura Barney's first pilgrimage to met 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in 1900. As with other Western pilgrims the practice was to travel to Cairo and from there, after resting from the long travel and permission had been granted, to make the final leg of the journey to the Holy Land. Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl help prepare the visitors for the experience. He became her beloved teacher and friend.
    • Initially she made notes herself for her personal study but decided to make His answers available to others. During her third visit in 1904, when Western visitors were limited because 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been re-incarcerated, she asked permission to bring Ethel Rosenberg as stenographer. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's answers were also recorded in Persian. Mírzá Munír, the son of Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí, the faithful half-brother of Bahá'u'lláh, was given this task. These Persian transcripts were corrected by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, revised and then verified again by HIm and became the basis for the publications that were to follow. Due to this diligence the book can be considered as Bahá'í scripture. [M9YA 340-345; BFA2p238]
    • During this extended visit (winter 1904-1905) the visitors stayed with the Family in the house of 'Abdu'lláh Páshá. Youness Khán Afroukhteh served as interpreter as well as His daughters Rouha Khánum and Munavar Khánum when no men could be present and after Afroukhteh's departure for Europe.
    		• Some Answered Questions (book); Pilgrims notes; * Publications; * Translation; - Authenticity; House of `Abdu'lláh Páshá (Akká); Youness Afroukhteh (Yunis Afrukhtih); Laura Clifford Barney; Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl; Ethel Rosenberg; Mírzá Munir; United States (USA); United Kingdom
    1908 9 Apr
    190-    		 Two building plots for the future House of Worship were purchased in Wilmette for the sum of $2000. By 1909 they had purchase 12 more building plots. [BFA2:XVI; BW10:179, GPB262; SYH66] Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Wilmette; Purchases and exchanges; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Wilmette, IL; United States (USA)
    1908 25 Apr
    190-    		 Charles Mason Remey and Sydney Sprague sailed from New York for Iran and Russia. [BFA2:289]
  • For details of their journey see BFA2:289–95.
  • In Tihrán Táhirih Khánum, a Bahá'í woman with advanced ideas, hosted them at a meeting at which the women removed their veils. [BFA2:292–4]
  • They gave Táhirih Khánum the address of Isabella Brittingham and the two women began a correspondence. [BFA2:294]
    		• Charles Mason Remey; Sydney Sprague; Tahirih Khanum; Isabella Brittingham; New York, USA; United States (USA); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    1908 23 Jun
    190-    		 Muhammad-`Alí Sháh undertook a successful coup d'état in Iran and abolished the Constitution. [BBR369]

    During a tense period of political struggle, a bomb was thrown into the Iranian Majlis (parliament) while it was in session. The explosion caused damage to the building and injured several parliamentarians, but there were no fatalities. The identity of the individual or group responsible remains a subject of historical debate. Some believe it was an attempt to disrupt the growing influence of the constitutionalists and the Majlis, while others suspect foreign interference. The event had significant political repercussions. It galvanized public opinion and further fuelled the demand for constitutional government and the rule of law. [Wikipedia]

    		Muhammad-`Alí Sháh; - Shahs; - Shahs, Throne changes; Qajar dynasty; Iranian constitution; Constitutions (general); History (general); Iran, General history; Iran
    1908 23 Jul
    190-    		 The Young Turks issued a declaration demanding the restoration of the old constitution of Midhat Páshá and threatening the overthrow of the government. [AB123] Young Turks; History (general); Midhat Páshá; Istanbul, Turkey; Turkey
    1908 24 Jul
    190-    		 In Constantinople, a bomb intended for Sultán 'Abdu'l-Hamíd as he returned from the mosque on Friday, killed and injured a number of people. This event prompted the authorities to recall all the members of the Commission who were gathering evidence against 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the time. Some months later the "Young Turk" revolutionaries demanded the release of all political and religious prisoners. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was free by in September. [AB123; BBD4; BBRXXX; CB237; DH71; GPB272]
  • A cable was sent to Constantinople to enquire whether `Abdu'l-Bahá was to be included in the amnesty. `Abdu'l-Bahá was set free. [AB123; GPB272]
    		•  `Abdu'l-Bahá, Commission of inquiry; Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamid; Young Turks; History (general); * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Istanbul, Turkey; Turkey
    1908 30 Aug
    190-    		 A "Feast of Rejoicing" was held at the home of Howard MacNutt at 935 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn to celebrate the "freedom of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It had been forty years since the exiles had been sent to Akka. [Bahá'í Bulletin Vol 1 No 1 p6; WMSH58-59] * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Howard MacNutt; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    1908 31 Aug
    190-    		 "When the tyrannous regime of Sultan 'Abdu'l-Hamid ended, the gates of 'Akká were thrown open and 'Abdu'l-Bahá came forth free upon the fortieth anniversary of His entrance into that neglected and unspeakable place. This was August 31, 1908." [BW2p222; PUP Intro to the 1922 edition page xix]
  • As an indication of the gravity of the threat posed by 'Abdu'l-Hamíd, "when He stood ready to be deported to the most inhospitable regions of Northern Africa," and when even His life was threatened, 'Abdu'l‑Bahá wrote to Ḥájí Mírzá Táqí Afnán, the cousin of the Báb and chief builder of the 'Ishqábád Temple, commanding him to arrange for the election of the Universal House of Justice should the threats against the Master materialize." [Message 9 March 1965]
    		•  * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Universal House of Justice, Election of; Haifa, Israel
    1908 Sep
    190-
    (New York) Bahá'í Bulletin Published September, 1908 to May 1909 (5 issues) 
    Link (Will open in this window)
    		 
                  Dates             
                  URL   (For cut 'n' paste)      
    Volume 1, Issues 1
    September 1908
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_1
    		 
    Volume 1, Issues 2 and 3
    October 1908
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_2-3
    		 
    Volume 1, Issue 4
    December 1908
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_4
    		 
    Volume 1, Issue 5
    January-February-March 1909
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_5
    		 
    Volume 1, Issue 6
    April-May 1909
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_6

    The Bahá'í Bulletin was succeeded a year later by the Bahá'í News which subsequently became Star of the West a year after that. [BWNS1289] See 1910 21 March    		 Bahá'í Bulletin; Bahá'í News; - Periodicals; - First publications; * Publications; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); New York, USA; United States (USA) Believed to be the first English-language Baha'i news publication. [BWNS1289]
    1908 7 Sep
    190-    		 The birth of Hasan Muvaqqar Balyuzi, Hand of the Cause of God. [SBBR5:XI] Hasan Balyuzi; - Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; - Births and deaths
    1908 30 Sep
    190-    		 The passing of Amalie Knobloch (b.Böblitz Germany 11 May 1858 d. 30 September 1908 in Washington, DC) She was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Washington. She was the mother of Fanny Knobloch (1859-1949), Alma Knobloch (1865-1943) and Pauline Knobloch Hannen (1874-1939). [ASK5-6, 7]

    Janet Ruhe-Schoenin in Champions of Oneness: Louis Gregory and His Shining Circle p77, noted that 'Abdu'l-Bahá recognized race amity matriarch Mrs. Amalie Knobloch and revealed a Tablet to be read when visiting her grave:

      He is God! O, thou Pure Spirit, Amalie Knobloch! Although thou didst soar away from this terrestrial world, yet thou didst enter into the immeasurable, illumined Universe of the Almighty. While in this life thou didst hear the Divine Call, beheld the light of Truth, became alive by the Breaths of the Holy Spirit, tasted the sweetness of the Love of God, became the Maid-Servant of the Lord of Hosts and the object of the Bounties of His Highness the Desired one. Thou didst lead the erring ones into the Path of Truth and bestowed a portion of the Heavenly Food to those who are deprived. Thou didst consecrate the days of thy existence to the Service of His Highness the Clement and spent thy time in the diffusion of the Fragrances of the Paradise of Abha. There are many souls perfumed and many spirits illumined through thy services!

      O, thou divine, beloved Maid-Servant! Although thou didst disappear from the mortal eyes, yet thou didst train and educate thy daughters, each of whom has arisen to serve the Kingdom like unto thee and is engaged in the guidance of the souls. In the Assembly of wisdom they are the lighted candles; they sacrifice their lives in the Path of God; they are gardening in thy orchard and irrigating thy rose-garden. Happy is thy condition, for thou art enjoying Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Everlasting Glory and hast left in this world kind and loving Remembrances. Happy are those souls who visit thy luminous resting-place and through thy commemoration receive and acquire spiritual Powers!

    [Bahá'í Chronicles]

    See Aflame with Devotion Chapter 9, "Loss of a Matriarch" pp99-109 for moving description of the passing a believer that was so beloved of Àbdu'l-Bahá.

    		- In Memoriam; Amalie Knobloch; Böblitz, Germany; Germany; Washington, DC, USA; United States (USA)
    1908 Sep
    190-    		 The Bahá'í Publishing Society was founded in Chicago. [BW10:179] Bahá'í Publishing Society; - Publishing Trusts; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1909 (In the year)
    190-    		 Karl Kruttner, a professor in Bohemia, became a Bahá'í, the first person to do so in the Austro-Hungarian empire. [Bahaipedia 1909] Karl Kruttner; - First Bahá'ís by country or area; Bohemia, Czech Republic; Germany The first person to become a Bahá'í in the Austro-Hungarian empire..
    1909 (In the year)
    190-    		 Sutherland Maxwell, Hand of the Cause of God, became a Bahá'í. [BFA2:156]

    In the same year he was married to May Bolles. [WMSH16-17]

    		 Sutherland Maxwell; - Hands of the Cause; Montreal, QC; Quebec, Canada; Canada
    1909 (In the year)
    190-    		 The passing of Robert Turner (b. 15 October, 1855 or 1856, Virginia d. 1909 California)
  • the first African-American Bahá'í and a member of the first Western Pilgrimage to Haifa in 1898, led by his employer Mrs. Phoebe Hearst. He was a butler in her household for more than 35 years. He was taught the Bahá'í Faith by Lua Getsinger in the process of serving tea and remained a devoted believer his entire life. "Such was the tenacity of his faith that even the subsequent estrangement of his beloved mistress from the Cause she had spontaneously embraced failed to becloud its radiance, or to lessen the intensity of the emotions which the loving-kindness showered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá upon him had excited in his breast." (GPB259) [A Vision of Race Unity, Ving p101, AZBF475, An Early Pilgrimage by May Maxwell]
  • He received a Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá while on his deathbed and a tribute after his passing. [AY60, 61, 339, AB72]
  • He was one of the nineteen Western Bahá'ís designated as a Disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • A Tablet to him from 'Abdu'l-Bahá can be found in SWABpg114 #78 and 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America (website).
  • See also Bahaipedia, Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • Find a Grave. His grave was found in 1981 and identified with a gravestone placed by the National Spiritual Assembly. [Bahá'í News No 604 July 1981 p12]
  • Ask a Bahá'í.
    		• Robert Turner; - Disciples of `Abdu'l-Bahá; Firsts, other; Phoebe Hearst; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; Virginia, USA; California, USA; United States (USA) the first African-American Baha'i
    1909 (In the year)
    190-    		 Juliet Thompson made a pilgrimage to 'Akka and met with 'Abdu'l-Bahá., [ABF19] Juliet Thompson; Pilgrims; Akka, Israel
    1909 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of Observations of a Bahai Traveller 1908 by Charles Mason Remey. The book was a narrative of travels in 1908 among the Bahá'ís of the Holy Land, Iran and Turkestan. [Collins 7.2254] Observations of a Bahá'í Traveller 1908; Charles Mason Remey; East Lansing, MI
    1909 (In the year)
    190-    		 The publication of A Year With the Bahá'ís of India and Burma by Sydney Sprague. It was published by Priory Press in London. PDF1908 [Collins 7.2467]

    The book was republished in 1986 by Kalimat Press. PDF1986.

      This short memoir is the account of the first visit by a Western Bahá'í to South and Southeast Asia, at the behest of Master himself. Sprague has given us a priceless description of several early Bahá'í communities in the region. From the author's pilgrimage to 'Akka, and the instructions given to him by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, through trips to Bombay, Rangoon, and Mandalay, then to Delhi and Lahore, we see a broad spectrum of Bahá'í community and life at the turn of the twentieth century. Sprague paints a clear picture of the transforming power of the Faith's message of unity in diversity that could bring together Muslims, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, and Hindus as a single-family.
    		the first visit by a Western Bahá'í to South and Southeast Asia
    1909 (In the year)
    190-    		 The Bahá'í community of Saint Paul, Minnesota began in 1909 when Dr. Clement Woolson, who became a Bahá'í in New York City in 1899, moved to Saint Paul to establish a Bahá'í community there. Both Clement and his wife Leona were osteopathic doctors and active Bahá'ís. The Woolsons held weekly Bahá'í gatherings in their home in Saint Paul.

    In 1912 Clement was a delegate to the 4th Bahá'í National Convention in Chicago and Leona was the alternate delegate representing the Bahá'ís of Saint Paul. At the end of the convention, on May 1st, 1912, they were able to attend the large gathering in Wilmette, Illinois when Abdu'l-Bahá laid the cornerstone for the House of Worship.

    On September 20th, 1912, Abdu'l-Bahá spoke in the Woolson home on spiritual education. Dr. Clement Woolson was an eloquent speaker and as a result of their firesides, others were soon declaring their faith. By 1922 there were nine Bahá'ís in Saint Paul. Among those attending the gatherings at the Woolsons were the Abas, Kadrie and Hider families. These three families from Syria moved to New York in 1902 and on to Saint Paul in 1922. First Hassen Abas attended the gatherings and soon after Alex Kadrie and Kamel Hider were attending talks at the Woolson home. By 1930 or soon after all three had become Baha'is on fire with the Cause of Baha'u'llah. These were large families; Hassen Abas and his wife Madie had nine children of their own. Their daughter Gayle Abas accepted the Baha'i Faith in 1932 at the age of 19. Three years later, after Dr. Woolson's his first wife Leona died, Gayle Abas married Clement. Dr. Woolson passed away a few months later. In 1976 Gayle Woolson wrote a biography about the Abas, Kadrie and Hider families. [A Saint Paul Bahá'í Community History: The Early Years]

    		St. Paul, MN; United States (USA)
    1909 (In the Year)
    190-    		 Martha Root became a Bahá'í. [SYH58] Martha Root
    1909 Jan c.
    190-    		 Isabella Brittingham organized 12 Bahá'í women into a `Unity Band' to write monthly to the 12 Bahá'í women's clubs formed in Iran. [BFA2:294] Isabella Brittingham; Women; New Jersey, USA; United States (USA); Iran; Writing
    1909 Mar
    190-    		 The third upheaval in Nayriz. Eighteen or nineteen Bahá'ís were brutally assassinated in Nayríz when the Constitutionalists took control of the city. [BBR369; BW18:386; DH71, 138; GPB298; RB1:268] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Nayriz, Iran; Iran; Constitutional Movement (Iran)
    1909 21 Mar
    190-    		 `Abdu'l-Bahá laid the sacred remains of the Báb in their final resting place at the Shrine in Haifa. [AB126; BBD210; DH138; GBF103; GPB276]
  • See AB126–30, CT84 and GPB273–8 for details of the occasion and its history.
  • The Shrine was a simple rectangular structure of six rooms. [DH71, ZK284]
  • The marble sarcophagus used for the remains of the Báb was a gift from the Bahá'ís of Rangoon. [AB129; MC155]
  • For details of the sarcophagus see RB3:431.
    		• Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); Báb, Sarcophagus for; Sarcophagus; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Marble; Gifts; - Bahá'í World Centre buildings, monuments and gardens; - Bahá'í World Centre; - Basic timeline, Expanded; - Bahá'í World Centre; Mount Carmel; Yangon, Myanmar; Myanmar; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1909 21 Mar
    190-    		 The first printing of Volume 1 of Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by the Bahá'í Publishing Society in Chicago.
  • Laura Dreyfus-Barney was credited as being one of the translators. [ABF9not53]
    		•  Tablets of `Abdu'l-Bahá (book); * Publications; Laura Clifford Barney; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1909 21 Mar
    190-    		 On the same day as the interment of the sacred remains of the Báb on Mount Carmel the first American Bahá'í Convention opened in Chicago. [BFA2:XVII, 309; BW13:849; MBW142–3; SBBH1:146]
  • It was held in the home of Corinne True. [CT82–3]
  • It was attended by 39 delegates from 36 cities. [GPB262; SBBH1:146]
  • The Convention established the 'Bahá'í Temple Unity', incorporated to hold title to the Temple property and to provide for its construction. A constitution was framed and an Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity elected. This body became the future National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. [BBD39; BBRSM:106; BW10:179; GPB349; PP397; SBBH1:146] iiiii
    		• Conventions, National; Corinne True; Bahá'í Temple Unity; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Wilmette; First conventions; National Spiritual Assembly; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Chicago, IL; United States (USA); Canada; Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity First American Bahá'í Convention
    1909 (Months following Mar)
    190-    		 Construction of the Eastern Pilgrim House in Haifa begins. [BBD178]
  • Mírzá Ja`far Rahmání, (also know as Áqá Mírzá Ja'far Shírází) a believer from `Ishqábád, was given permission by `Abdu'l-Bahá to build it. [DH177, SES25-26]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá composed an inscription that was placed above the entrance that read, "This is a spiritual Hostel for Pilgrims, and its founder is Mírzá Ja'far Rahmani. AH 1327."
  • This was the first property to be granted tax exemption by the civil authorities. [GPB307, SES43-47]
    		•  Pilgrim House, Eastern (Haifa); Pilgrim Houses; Mírzá Jafar Rahmani; Aqa Mírzá Jafar Shirazi; Pilgrimage; - Bahá'í World Centre buildings, monuments and gardens; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel First property granted tax exemption
    1909 Mar–Apr
    190-    		 Bahá'ís of Námiq, Khurásán, were attacked and Kad-khudá Ismá'íl was killed. [BW18:386] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Námiq, Iran; Khurásán, Iran; Iran
    1909 22 Apr
    190-    		 Three Bahá'ís are killed in Hisár, Khurásán, and their wives seriously injured. [BW18:386] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Hisar, Iran; Khurásán, Iran; Iran
    1909 27 Apr
    190-    		 `Abdu'l-Hamid II was deposed. [BBR486]

    Sultan 'Abdu'l-Hamid II lived from 1842 to 1918) and reigned from 1876 to 1909. During his reign large portions of the Ottoman Empire were lost. Following his defeat in the war with Russia in 1878, Tunisia was occupied by France (1881), and Egypt was controlled by Britain (1882). In 1897, the Empire was forced by the Europeans to recognize the autonomy of Crete. The Sultán ruled as a despot, and brutally repressed the Armenians between 1894-6. In 1908, due to the lack of support among the army and the rise of the Young Turks, 'Abdu'l-Hamid was forced re-enact the Constitution of 1876 which he had suspended earlier, and which, for the first time in an Islámic state, defined the rights of both the ruler and his subjects. He was ultimately deposed when he attempted to plot a counterrevolution against the Young Turks and was exiled to Salonika, where he died in disgrace.

  • See AY189-191 for a description of his riches and his last years. He died in January of 1918.
  • Accession of Muhammad (-Rishád) V [BBR486]

    The last Ottoman Sultán, Muhammad VI, was deposed and was succeeded briefly by a cousin, but in 1924, the caliphate was abolished by Ataturk. The seat of the Caliphate had been located in Istanbul since 1517. [ALM3; PDC98-102]

    		•  `Abdu'l-Hamid II; - Sultans; Muhammad-Rishad VI; Armenian genocide; Caliphate; Ottoman Empire; History (general); Istanbul, Turkey; Turkey
    1909 Summer
    190-    		 Sir Ronald Storrs, then a student of Arabic of Edward Granville Browne, visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Akka. [BW10p192; CH226] Ronald Storrs; E. G. Browne; Akka, Israel
    1909 16 Jul
    190-    		 After an armed revolt, Muhammad-`Alí Sháh abdicated and the Iranian Constitution was resurrected. [BBR354, 482; Wikipedia]
  • The country soon deteriorated and anarchy prevailed. It was effectively partitioned into two spheres of influence, British and Russian. [BBRSM:87]
    		•  Muhammad-`Alí Sháh; Qajar dynasty; Iranian constitution; Iran
    1909 18 Jul
    190-    		 The accession of Ahmad Sháh Qajar, the boy-king, to the throne of Iran. He was twelve years old and because of his youth a regency was established under Azudu'l-Mulk, the head of the Qájár family. Ahmad's official coronation took place on the 21st of July, 1914. His reign formerly lasted until October 1925 when he was deposed by the Majles while he was absent in Europe. He was the last of the Qajar dynasty which had begun around 1789. [BBR482; CBM57]

    The period of this reign was of the so-called pénétration pacifique, the technical term used euphemistically in contemporary Western works, during which the country was subjugated by the Western Powers and lost its sovereignty as well as its natural resources. [Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Bahá's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p6]

    		Ahmad Shah; - Shahs; Qajar dynasty; - Shahs, Throne changes; History (general); Iran, General history; Colonialism and imperialism; Iran
    1909 July 23
    190-    		 Louis George Gregory accepted the Bahá'í Faith after investigating since 1907 when he attended a lecture given by Lua Getsinger. Joseph and Pauline Hannen were his teachers and became friends for life. At the time of his acceptance of the Faith the Washington community was not fully integrated. [Wikipedia] Louis G. Gregory; - Hands of the Cause; Washington, DC, USA; United States (USA)
    1909 28 Jul
    190-    		 Bahá'ís in Námiq, Khurásán, were killed. [BW18:386] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Námiq, Iran; Khurásán, Iran; Iran
    1909 20 Aug
    190-    		 Birth of Paul Haney, Hand of the Cause of God, in Chicago.
  • His given name was `Abdu'l-Bahá, bestowed upon him by `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself at his birth.
  • His mother was born Mary Ida Parkhurst. 'Abdul-Bahá gave her the name Mariam. [BW14p343-346]
    		•  Paul Haney; - Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; - Births and deaths; Mariam Haney; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    1909 Oct
    190-    		 `Abdu'l-Bahá gradually moved His family from `Akká to Haifa. [DH214] `Abdu'l-Bahá, House of (Haifa); Haifa, Israel; Akka, Israel
    1909 Oct
    190-    		 The Persian-American Educational Society was founded and inaugurated in Washington DC on the January 1910. [BFA2:XVII; 355–8; Washington Herald 9 January 1910]
  • Its primary purpose was to assist the Tarbíyat School in Iran by establishing scholarships. Mr. Sidney Sprague was the administrator of the school at this time. Many Americans contributed toward scholarships for children. [BFA2:357]
    		• Bahá'í associations; Tarbiyat School, Tihran; - Bahá'í inspired schools; Education; Washington, DC, USA; United States (USA); Iran
    1909 Nov
    190-    		 Charles Mason Remey and Howard Struven left the United States on the first Bahá'í teaching trip to circle the globe. [BFA2:348, GPB261]
  • They went to Hawaii, Japan, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong and to Burma, India and `Akká. [BFA2:348–50; Video Early history of the Bahá'í Faith in China 2min56sec]
    		• Charles Mason Remey; Howard Struven; Travel Teaching; Hawaii, USA; Japan; Shanghai, China; China; Singapore; Myanmar; India; Akka, Israel First teaching trip to circle globe
    1909 8 Nov
    190-    		 Hájí Haydar, a leading Bahá'í of Najafábád, was shot and killed at Isfahán. [BBR432]
  • BRXXX and BW18:387 says this occurred on 5 November.
  • For Western accounts of the incident see BRR432–4.
    		•  * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Isfahan, Iran; Iran
    1909 25 Nov
    190-    		 Dr Susan Moody, a famed American homeopathist, arrived in Tihrán. She and four Persian Bahá'í doctors started the Sehat Hospital. Because the hospital was only accessible to the wealthy she established a private practice that was open to all women regardless of their ability to pay. [BFA2:359-360]
  • She spent two days in 'Akká en route to Persia and 'Abdu'l-Bahá conferred upon her the title Amatu'l-'Alí (Handmaid of the Most High). [BFA2:358]
  • Dr Sarah A. Clock arrived from Seattle in 1911 to assist her followed by Miss Elizabeth Stewart (nurse). [BFA2:361]
  • In 1925-1926, after the murder of Robert Imbrie, she travelled the United States from the east to the west coast, raising awareness of the needs of the work in Iran.
  • Dr Sarah Clock sailed from New York for Iran on 8 December 1910. She served the Bahá'í community of Iran with great sacrifice for years. While her main task was treatment of the sick, she never ceased educating the youth. She was an energetic tolerant and contented woman. Very often needy people were not only exempted from paying her meagre honoraria, but also received medicaments for free. She was highly respected by the Bahá'í community and non-Bahá'í alike. Finally after twelve years of devoted service, she died of pneumonia in Tehran. [OLOMp43-44]
    		• Susan Moody; Sehat Hospital, Tehran; Sarah Clock; Elizabeth Stewart; Women; Social and economic development; Homeopathy; Names and titles; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    1909 26 Nov
    190-    		 Within a year of her arrival in Persia, Dr. Susan Moody opened the Tarbíyat School for Girls in Tihrán. [BBD221–2; BFA2:360–1]

    Some of those serving at the school were: Susan Moody, Sydney Sprague, Lillian Kappas, Sarah Clock and Elizabeth Stewart. [GPB261]

  • Miss Lillian Kappes of Hoboken, New Jersey arrived in December of 1911 to serve as a teacher. She stopped in Thonon to visit 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the way. [SoW Vol 2 No 17 Jan 19. 1912 p2] She died on the 1st of December, 1920 of typhus and was buried there.
  • She was replaced by Genevieve Coy, a qualified psychologist, a Ph.D. in 1922 who was followed by Adelaide Sharp in 1929. Her mother, Clara Sharp joined her in 1931. [BFA2p361, AY233]
  • Elizabeth Stewart who served as a nurse at the school accompanied Lillian Kappes on her arrival. Miss Stewart served until 1924 when she returned to Philadelphia where she died in 1926. [ABF43]
  • Munírih Khánum Ayádí, the mother of Dr Karím Ayádí (later famed as the Shah's much-trusted doctor) was Persia's first official Director of the Tarbíyat School for Girls. She was widely recognized as exceptional, at a time when Persia's Bahá'í women were only gradually emerging from their earlier state under Islam. Much respected by the men, her attitude toward them was one of total equality. Her greatness was in herself, her devotion to the Faith absolute, and she was made a member of such advanced committees as the Bahá'í Women's Committee. Her views were moderated by her sense of humour, which included self-deprecation so that she never subjected you to her piety. One day during the Bahá'í Fast, she asked Marzieh Gall: 'Do you think God would notice if I ducked into that room and sneaked a few puffs of tobacco?' [AY333]
    		• Tarbiyat School, Tihran; - Bahá'í inspired schools; Susan Moody; Lillian Kappes; Genevieve Coy; Adelaide Sharp; Clara Sharp; Elizabeth Stewart; Women; Social and economic development; Munirih Khanum Ayadi; Karim Ayadi; Tehran, Iran; Iran; Sydney Sprague First Tarbíyat School for Girls
    1909 Dec
    190-    		 Charles Mason Remey and Howard Struven spoke at the first Bahá'í public meeting held in Honolulu. [BFA2:348; SBR189] Charles Mason Remey; Howard Struven; Firsts, other; Honolulu, HI; Hawaii, USA First public meeting in Honolulu
    1909 24 Dec
    190-    		 The constitutional revolution effectively ended when the Shah's minister oversaw the expulsion of the deputies of the Second Majis with the support of 12,000 Russian troops. [Wikipedia] Iranian revolution (1979); Iran, General history; Iran
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