1. 2007. Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in South Africa since 1911. Author unknown. Overview of the Bahá'í communities in South Africa, 1911-2007.

1. 1868-05-00 —
   Bahá'u'lláh sent Nabíl-i-A`zam Zarandi to Cairo to enquire after Hájí Mírzá Haydar-`Alí. He was instructed by Bahá'u'lláh to appeal to the officials for the release of several Bahá'ís who had been imprisoned in Cairo at the instigation of their enemies. He was thrown into prison in Cairo for two months and then in the Alexandria jail for a few more months. While there he befriended a Christian cellmate, Fáris Effendi, who soon becomes a Bahá'í. [BKG248, 265–8; EB268; GPB178; "Nabil-e aʿzam Zarandi, Mollā Mohammad," by Vahid Rafati, Encyclopædia Iranica]
   See more details at 1868 May 26.
   • See BKG265–8 for an account of Nabíl's arrest and imprisonment.
   • Fáris Effendi was probably the first Christian to become a Bahá'í. [RB3:10]
     • Lawh-i-Aqdas ("Most Holy Tablet," otherwise known as "The Tablet to the Christians" late 1870s?) is thought to have been addressed to Dr Fáris Effendi but this cannot be substantiated.
2. 1886-00-02 — Birth of Narayanrao Rangnath Vakil, the first Hindu to become a Bahá'í in Surat, Gujarat, India.
3. 1890-00-04 —
   Ibrahim George Kheiralla (Khayru'lláh) became a Bahá'í in Cairo under the tutelage of `Abdu'l-Karím-i-Tihrání. [BFA1:19]
   • It was probable that he was the first Bahá'í from Syrian Christian background. [BFA19]
   • See BFA1:175 for pictures.
4. 1898-12-10 —
   The first Western pilgrims arrived in `Akká. [AB68; BBD13; BBRXXX; DH214; GPB257; SCU13; Bahá'í Teachings]
   • See MBBA146-152 for a description of how arrangements were made to accommodate the Western visitors in a relatively new city with no hotels and few houses. The city was built to accommodate the construction of the Suez Canal which had been completed in 1869. Other sources indicate that the pilgrims were accommodated in Cairo.
   • 'Abdu'l-Bahá expressed His appreciation to Mírzá Áqá Nuri'd-Din for his service in accommodating the Western pilgrims. His Tablet seems to indicate that he was kept in place for that purpose. [MBBA152]
   • They divided themselves into three parties, using Cairo as a staging post. [AB68; BFA1:143; SBBH1:93]
   • See AB68–72; BFA2:9; DH61; GPB257, 259 for those included in the pilgrimage group.
   • Included were Mrs Hearst's nieces, a few American friends and, joining in London, Mrs Mary Thornburgh-Cropper and her mother. [SCU13. CH234-236; LDNW15]
   • In Paris the group was joined by two nieces of Mrs Hearst, Mrs Thornburgh, her daughter Miriam Thornburgh-Cropper and May Bolles. [AB68]
   • LDNW15 says that Ella Goodall and Nell Hillyer and May Bolles joined the party in Paris.
   • There were further additions in Egypt. [AB68]
   • See BFA1:143–4 for those included in the first group.
   • Among the group was Robert Turner, the first member of the Black race to become a Bahá'í. For 35 years, Turner faithfully served as butler to Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Senator George Hearst, parents of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. [AB72; BBD227; BFA1:139; GPB259]
   • `Abdu'l-Bahá received the pilgrims in the House of `Abdu'lláh Páshá. [BBD13, 108; DH61]
   • See AB68–71; BW16:104–5; CH235–6 and GPB257–9 for the pilgrims' responses to the pilgrimage.
   • Edward Getsinger made a recording of `Abdu'l-Bahá chanting a prayer. [BFA1:160]
   • Getsinger also took photographs that he later tinted and published as an album. [LDNW16]
   • On the 18th of January, 1899, Lua received her first Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in fact, it was the first Tablet addressed to a North American believer. [LGHC23]
   • See TF31-52 for details of Lua Getsinger's pilgrim experience and TF44-46 for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's parting remarks to the pilgrims.
   • The Getsingers returned from the pilgrimage with an Arabic copy of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas which was later translated by Anton Haddad. They departed on the 23rd of March, 1899. [BFA2:11; LGHC30]
   • See Star of the West, vol. VII, No. 4 or "Lua Getsinger - Herald of the Covenant" By Amine DeMille for a description of how 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave Lua the power to speak eloquently. [LDNW15] iiiii
5. 1907-00-00 — Pritam Singh, an Assistant Master of Economics at Chiefs College in Lahore, accepted the Faith, the first Sikh to do so. [BFA2:269]
6. 1936-12-31 —
   Khusraw Bimán (Thábit) passed away in Bombay at the age of 103 or 104. [Imm:56]
   • He is the first Zoroastrian to accept the Faith in India. [Imm:44–6]
   • For the story of his life see Imm:39–60.
7. 1940-12-00 —
   Eduardo Gonzales, a university student, accepted the Faith and became the first native Bahá'í of Ecuador. He was accepted as a Bahá'í on the occasion of his 21st birthday on the 15th of October 1943. Eduardo (Les) Gonzalez performed outstanding service for the Cause both as an itinerant teacher abroad and pioneer to Spain and Venezuela. Sadly, in later years he became a Covenant-breaker and had to be ex-communicated.
   • He was not formally registered until his twenty–first birthday on 15 October 1941. [Heroes of God: History of the Bahá'í Faith in Ecuador, 1940-1979 p4; 8; 24]
8. 1951-00-08 — By this year the first Canadian Inuit had become a Bahá'í.
9. 1953-00-00 — With the announcement of the Ten-Year Crusade, the third phase of the development of the Faith in South Africa began. By the end of 1953, no less than 13 Bahá'ís had left their homes in the United States and settled in South Africa. William and Marguerite Sears and son Michael, Harry and Margaret Ford as well as Robert and Helen Miller (with their three young children) all settled in Johannesburg. Ruth and Bishop Brown, who were Margaret Ford's mother and step-father settled in Durban. Lowell and Edith Johnson settled in Cape Town whilst Eleanor and Lyall Hadden settled in Pretoria.

   During the course of the Ten-Year Crusade, 65 other pioneers from the United States, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and England came with some settling permanently.

   Following the instructions of the Guardian during this phase, the pioneers concentrated their teaching work on the black and colored people of South Africa. "Coloured" in South Africa indicates people of mixed heritage as distinct from native black Africans. During these 10 years a few others declared their faith in Bahá'u'lláh, i.e. descendants of Malays who were imported as slaves over 300 years ago by the Dutch settlers, Indians and a few whites. The first black African to become a Bahá'í was Klaas Mtsweni, a Zulu in Pretoria in 1954.

   By April 1956 the Bahá'í Faith had spread thinly over 15 countries of Southern Africa including the islands of the Indian Ocean and St. Helena, and a regional governing body, the Regional Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa was formed with its seat in Johannesburg. The National Convention was held at the farm owned by the Sears family.

   Because of the system of apartheid practiced and legislated in South Africa, the Bahá'í Faith, the principles of which include the Oneness of Mankind, was taught for 32 years on a one-to-one basis mainly without publicity. Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed by plurality vote in all localities where there were 9 or more believers aged 21 years and over. These Assemblies were charged with making their own teaching plans and living a life based on the moral principles outlined by Bahá'u'lláh.

   During this period of gestation, the Bahá'í Faith was being watched continually by the security police. Both the individual Bahá'ís and the administrative bodies were under police investigation and surveillance. However, although the believers never compromised the principles of the Faith and gradually developed racially integrated Bahá'í communities, the numbers were too small and peaceful to be considered a threat to the apartheid regime. By 1985 the marriage laws were relaxed. In 1990 a series of steps began that led to the repeal of apartheid legislation on the 17th of June 1991 and a democratic government was elected in 1994. [Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in South Africa since 1911]

10. 1954-00-00 — The first black African to become a Bahá'í was Klaas Mtsweni, a Zulu in Pretoria, South Africa. There being several different tribes and peoples in South Africa, there were several "firsts" in relation to declarations of faith. Tswana - Dorothy and Ephens Senne of Phokeng; Xhosa - Reginald Bukula of Cofimvaba; Southern Sotho - Andrew Mofokeng; Northern Sotho - William Masehla; Coloured - Max and May Seepe of Western Township, Johannesburg; Cape Coloured - Annie and Tommy Heuvel in Cape Town; Malay - the Gallow family in Cape Town; White - Florence Norman in Durban, Norman Bailey in Grahamstown, Afrikaner - Sue Hofmeyr in Cape Town. [Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in South Africa since 1911]
11. 1954-04-06 — The first native Fijian, the first Pygmy, the first Berber and the first Greenlander to accept the Bahá'í Faith enrolled. [MBWp62]
12. 1955-01-02 — The first Tswana Bahá'í, Stanlake Kukama, enrolled in Mafikeng.
13. 1955-03-04 — The first Tongan to become a Bahá'í in Tonga, Tevita Ngalo'afe, enrolled.
14. 1957-00-00 — The first indigenous person to become a Bahá'í in the Dutch West Indies, Rhoma Matthew enrolled.
15. 1957-00-00 — The first member of the Newari ethnic group of Nepal to become a Bahá'í, Rishi Prasad Joshi, enrolled.
16. 1957-00-00 — The Berbers in Algeria were first contacted by the Bahá'ís and a number of Berber families enrolled.
17. 1957-04-00 — The first Tuareg to become a Bahá'í enrolled in Rabat, Morocco.
18. 1959-00-02 — The first Inuit in Alaska to become a Bahá'í, William Wiloya, enrolled in Nome.
19. 1960-12-01 — Philip Suning, the first member of the Iban tribe to become a Bahá'í, enrolled.
20. 1965-00-00 — Nils and Sigrid Rutfjäll, the first Samer (Lapps) to become Bahá'ís, enrolled in northern Norway. [BW5:483]
21. 1966-02-01 — The first members of the Yao tribe become Bahá'ís in Laos enrolled. [BW14:150]
22. 1967-00-00 — The first Mataco Indians to become Bahá'ís enrolled in Argentina. [BW14:150]
23. 1970-00-00 — The first Gypsy in Spain to become a Bahá'í, Maria Camacho Martinez, enrolled in Sabadell.
24. 1970-00-00 — The first native of Mauritania to become a Bahá'í enrolled.
25. 1971-00-00 — The first Gypsies, six adults and six youth, the first to become Bahá'ís in France, enrolled at a campsite near Le Bourget airport.
26. 1971-00-00 — The first Pingelapese to become a Bahá'í enrolled in the East Caroline Islands.
27. 1974-06-00 — The first Alacalufe Indians to become Bahá'ís enrolled in Puerto Eden, Chile. [BW16:215]
28. 1975-07-01 — The first Katio Indians to become Bahá'ís enrolled in northern Colombia. [BW16:217]
29. 1986-00-00 — Hundreds of members of the Aeta tribe in Tarlac and Pampanga, Philippines, became Bahá'ís. [BINS158:13]
30. 1988-11-00 — The first members of the Jhana tribe to become Bahá'ís enrolled in India. [BINS189:5]
31. 1988-11-01 — Pietro Pandolfini, the first from the Albanian minority in Sicily to become a Bahá'í, enrolled. [BINS189:5]

1. 1943-00-00 — Mrs. Rose Shaw, from San Francisco, in her seventies, moved to Halifax to strengthen the work in that city which had the highest concentration of Blacks in Canada at that time. She became the first Black member of the Halifax Spiritual Assembly and chose to live in the black slum area of the city, where she stayed for about a year. [Black Roses in Canada's Mosaic: Four Decades of Black History by Will C. van den Hoonaard and Lynn Echevarria-Howe; OBCCp229 Note58]

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