- 1847-04-00 — The Báb received a courteous message from the Sháh, who, on the advice of his prime minister, Hájí Mírzá Áqásí, assigned Him to the fortress of Máh-Kú in the province of Ádharbáyján. The Báb was taken to Máh-Kú via Tabríz. [Bab121–2, 124; DB229–32; GPB16; TN11–12]
- 1867-09-05 — Persecutions began anew in Ádharbáyján, Zanján, Níshápúr and Tihrán. [GPB178]
- 1892-05-29 —
At the time of His passing Bahá'u'lláh left approximately 50,000 believers scattered in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries (ʿAbd-al-Bahāʾ, Majmūʿa-ye makātīb, Tehran, 1975, no. 13, photocopied ms., p. 3)". [BAHAISM v. The Bahai Community in Iran by V. Rafati]
- From 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "...at the time of Bahá'u'lláh's ascension, more than two hundred thousand souls had taken shelter beneath His blessed shadow and had attained the station of certitude." Twelve table talks given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká in the selection entitled (Christ and Bahá'u'lláh).
- The Faith had spread to 15 countries. [MBW61]
- These countries were: Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Burma, Egypt, Georgia, India, Israel (Palestine), Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Turkmenistan. [Patheos website]
- 1897-00-00 —
Fifteen Bahá'ís were arrested in Saysán, Ádharbáyján. They were taken to Tabríz, imprisoned and fined. [BW18:384]
- Three Bahá'ís were arrested in Nayríz on the orders of Áqá Najafí, the `Son of the Wolf'. [BW18:384]
- The homes of several Bahá'ís in Hamadán were looted and ransacked after complaints by Jews of the town against Bahá'ís of Jewish background. [BW18:384]
- 1897-02-00 — Six Bahá'ís were arrested in Mamaqán, Ádharbáyján. Three were bastinadoed and three were imprisoned in Tabríz. [BW18:384]
- 1897-03-26 —
From the time of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, Abdu'l-Bahá endured significant family opposition to His authority and position as the Centre of the Covenant. For several years He had worked to contain the news of these defections and to prevent any word of them from reaching other Bahá'í communities. By 1896-7 the Bahá'ís of Egypt had heard enough of the details that when Mirza Habibu'llah Afnan was going on a pilgrimage, they asked him to learn as much as he could. To his great shock, the Afnan soon apprised that indeed Abdu'l-Bahá's brothers and the majority of his family had arisen against him in rebellion. They accused Him of claiming to be a manifestation Himself and for the mistreatment of the break-away part of the family. As instructed by 'Abdul-Bahá, he, on his return to Egypt, informed the Bahá'í community of the situation. Mirza Abu'l-Fadl found this hard to accept in view of Bahá'u'lláh instructions regarding the treatment of the Holy Family after His passing. Therefore, he wrote to Abdu'l-Bahá to confirm the truth of this news and received in response a lengthy tablet that has been called The First Thousand-Verse Tablet. ['Abdu'l-Baha's First Thousand-Verse Tablet: History and Provisional Translation by Ahang Rabbani and Khazeh Fananapazir]
In the Tablet 'Abdu'l-Bahá described how He had suffered from the activities of both "the waverers and the rebellious" from among the family and associates. They had deployed others to undermine the authority of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Persia (where Jamál-i- Burújirdí was foremost among the Covenant-breakers.) and in other lands and even used the name of steadfast believers to disseminate their messages to undermine His authority. Up until this time 'Abdu'l-Bahá had spent considerable effort in trying to contain the news of their activities and had amassed considerable debt in trying to appease their demands.
To compound 'Abdu'l-Bahá's woes and difficulties, in addition to opposition from within the Faith, the Azalis were active, particularly in Persia. Opposition also came from the Ottoman government in Istanbul, the local authorities and from the Islamic and possibly the Christian communities in Akka. iiiii
- Sometime later, in 1315 AH (which commenced on 2 June 1897), a similar tablet of the same name was composed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá for Mirza Jalíl Khu'í, a coppersmith who lived in the province of Adhirbayjan. He had been influenced by Jamál-i- Burújirdí and had been appointed as his agent in that country. Khu'í had also received correspondence from Muhammad-'Alí. The tablet was read to Khu'i but a copy not given to him at 'Abdu'l-Bahá's instruction. Scholars have labelled this as the Second Thousand-Verse Tablet. [Tablet of Splendors (Lawh-i-Ishráqát): Tablet study outline; CoBp148-9, 157, 158, 229]
- See how this Tablet became the source of the undoing of Mírzá Muhammad-Ali and Majdu'd-Dín in their plot to deceive the governor of Syria in Damascus, Názim Páshá, into believing that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was planning an insurrection. [CoB226-230]
- 1907-00-00 —
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]
- 1926-00-04 —
For most of the year severe restrictions were placed on the Bahá'ís of Marághih in Ádharbáyján, the governor of the district effectively suspended all constitutional and civil rights of the Bahá'í community. [BBR472; BW18:388]
- For a list of deprivations see BBR473.
- 1932-04-00 — Keith Ransom-Kehler travelled to Persia at the request of the Guardian where she served for sixteen months before she fell ill. She entered from the Western frontier and started by visiting the friends of Kirmansháh, Hamadán and Qazvín. After staying some time in Iṣfahán and recovering from sickness she travelled to Adhirbáyján. She then made another journey through the East and North, and the friends of Khurásán and Mázindarán and Gilán had the bounty of her presence. After spending time in Tehran where she made seven attempts to sent petitions to the Shah requesting that he lift the ban on Bahá'í literature and the restriction on holding Bahá'í meetings, she travelled to the village of Hasan-Ábád near Qom, then to Qom, Kashán, the village of Árán, the town of Jaushiqán and back to Kashán. She departed on the 5th of October for Isfahán and arrived the next day and continued with the program arranged for her. She fell it with chills and high fever and was confined to bed on the 10th of October. She was constantly attended by Najmiyyih Khánum ’Alá’í, the graduate nurse who had been her Ṭihrán hostess. In accordance with the Guardian’s instructions, this lady and her husband, Raḥmatu’lláh Khán ’Alá’í, had placed themselves entirely at Keith's disposition during her sojourn in this country. She passed away on the 23rd of October 1933 and was diagnosed as having smallpox with a complication of dysentery. [BW5p23-28]
entered Peria from the western frontie
- 1941-00-01 — Shaykh Kázim was martyred in Bunáb, Ádharbáyján. [BW18:389]
- 1954-12-08 — Bahá'ís in Ádharbáyján were dismissed from their employment in the Ministries of Health and Public Highways. [BW18p390]
- 1960-04-30 —
- 1966-12-00 — A campaign was launched against the Bahá'ís of Saysán, Ádharbáyján, by Mullá Mihdí Sultánpúr. [BW18:391]
- 1967-01-01 — A Bahá'í was beaten to death by a mob in Saysán, Ádharbáyján, and other Bahá'ís were attacked and beaten. [BW18:391]
- 1978-10-02 —
Mobs destroyed the Hazíratu'l-Quds in Mihán-du-´Ab followed by the burning or looting of 80 homes and the murder of two believers, a father and son who bodies were dragged through the streets, cut into pieces and consigned to the flames.
Throughout the country the hostility towards the Bahá'ís resulted in 4 deaths, the loss of millions in property and the displacement of some 700 people.
- The National Spiritual Assembly of Iran instituted a special fund for relief of the needy and suffering. [BN 136 April 1979 p2-3]
- 1992-04-21 — The National Spiritual Assembly of Azerbaijan was re-formed after half a century of prohibition and persecution. The seat was in Baku. [BINS270:4; BW92–3:119; VV121]
- 2009-00-00 — Azerbaijan is a secular state that stipulates the separation of state and religion in its constitution. Although the constitution protects the freedom of conscience and provides for the right to "profess individually or together with others any religion or to profess no religion, and to express and disseminate...beliefs concerning...religion," the government has in practice limited such rights through the 2009 law On Freedom of Religious Beliefs, the administrative code, and the criminal code.
[US Commission on International Freligious Freedom - Annual Report 2021 p59]
- 2009-02-21 — Regional Conferences were held in Baku, Azerbaijan and Accra, Ghana. [BWNS700]
- 2018-07-08 —
The opening of the play about Tahirih called Daughter of the Sun to an audience of 450 people at the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama. The dramatic presentation was produced by journalist Kamale Selim Muslimgizi and came at a time when the life of Tahirih was gaining renewed attention and interest in Azerbaijani society due, in part because a book on Tahirih's life and works that were translated and published in 2016 which catalyzed a growing interest among the people of Azerbaijan about the life of this iconic champion of women's emancipation.
- Tahirih wrote in Persian, Arabic, and Azeri, a widely spoken language in Qazvin and the surrounding region. Azeri is also the main language of Azerbaijan. Tahirih has long attracted interest among scholars. Western Orientalists of the 19th century wrote of her influence on literature and gender equality. In recent years, there have been numerous academic articles and books about her as well as translations of three volumes of her poetry into English.
-
The play continued its run in Baku and in the following months on stage in other cities across the country.
[BWNS1276; 30 April, 1960]
- 2019-10-11 —
'Ali Nakhjavani, (b. 19 September, 1919 in Baku, Azerbaijan) former member of the Universal House of Justice (1963-2003), passed away in Molsheim, Alsace, France. He was 100 years old. The Universal House of Justice requested all National Assemblies that memorial services be held for him. [BWNS1361]
- After his father's death when he was two years old, his family was advised by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to move to Haifa where he grew up. In 1939 he received the Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction from the American University of Beirut, and then in the early 1940s he relocated to Iran, residing first in Tehran, then Tabriz and finally in Shiraz. In 1950 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís Iran where he served until the following year.
-
In 1951 he and his family moved to Uganda to assist with the development of the Bahá'í community in that country. He made his living as a teacher and lecturer. During his early years there, Enoch Olinga became a Bahá'í, and in 1953 Mr Nakhjavání and his wife Violette, along with Mr Olinga and two other Bahá'ís, travelled from Uganda to Cameroon to help spread the Bahá'í Faith in that country.
- From 1954-61 he was a member of the Auxiliary Board in Africa, and later from 1956 to 1961 he was served on the Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East Africa.
-
In 1961 he was elected to the International Bahá'í Council and so moved to Haifa. In 1963 he was elected to the Universal House of Justice during its inaugural convention, and served as a member of that body until 2003.
[Find a grave]
- For a video tribute to Mr Nakhjavani see YouTube.
- See Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of His Pen by 'Ali Nakhjavani.
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