Bahá'í timeline

The following is a basic timeline of the Bábí and Bahá'í religions emphasizing dates that are relatively well known. For a more comprehensive chronology see the references at the bottom.

1795

• (1210 AH), Shaykhi sect is started by Shaykh Ahmad.

1817

• November 12, Bahá'u'lláh is born.

1819

• October 20, the Báb is born.

1826

• Shaykh Ahmad dies and Siyyid Kázim is appointed leader of the Shaykhi sect.

1828

• Mírzá Muhammad Ridá, the Father of the Báb, dies. The Báb is placed in the care of his maternal uncle, Hají Mirzá Siyyid 'Alí

1835

• September 24 - October 22, Bahá'u'lláh marries Navváb.

1843

• Siyyid Kázim dies. Before his death he instructs his students, including Mulla Husayn, to find the Promised One, the Mahdi.

1844

• May 23, the Báb declares his mission to Mulla Husayn in Shiraz, Iran.
• May 23, `Abdu'l-Bahá is born to Navváb and Bahá'u'lláh.
• By late Sept. Bahá'u'lláh accepts the Bábí religion.

1845

• September, restrictions are enforced on the Báb's movement within Shiraz after he declares himself to be the Mahdi publicly.
• Government reports initiate coverage in the West first mentions the arrest and imprisonment of Mullá 'Alíy-i-Bastámí of the Bábí religion. It was published in The Times of London in the autumn.

1846

• Bahíyyih Khánum is born to Navváb and Bahá'u'lláh.
• September, the Báb leaves Shiraz for Isfahan.

1847

• July, The Báb is imprisoned at Maku and writes the Bayán.

1848

• Mírzá Mihdí is born to Navváb and Bahá'u'lláh.
• Munirih Khánum, wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá is born in Isfahan to prominent Bábís of the city.
• March 20, Mullá Husayn visits the Báb in Maku
• April 10, the Báb is moved to the prison of Chihriq, due to his growing influence in Maku. He was largely kept there until a few days before his execution.
• June - July, the Conference of Badasht was held.
• July, during public interrogation at Tabriz the Báb makes a dramatic public declaration. He is returned to Chihriq.
• July 21, Mullá Husayn hoists the Black Standard and marches with 202 other Bábís to Mashhad.
• October 10, Mullá Husayn and a host of other Bábís are besieged at fort Tabarsi.
• October 20, Quddús arrives at fort Tabarsí.

1849

• Bahá'u'lláh marries Fátimih in Tihrán.
• February 2, Mullá Husayn dies in battle at fort at the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí.
• May 10, Battle of fort Tabarsí ends after a negotiated surrender in which the victors promise to let the Bábís go. Immediately afterward, the victors break their oath and kill many of the defenders.
• May 16, Quddús is tortured and executed.

1850

• July 9, the Báb is publicly executed in Tabriz.
• Brief newspaper coverage of the Bábí religion reaches several newspapers in Britain and the United States in the autumn.

1852

• August 15, angry Bábís (acting on their own volition) make a failed attempt to kill Nasser al-Din Shah, who retaliates by imprisoning Bahá'u'lláh and executing several thousands of Bábís, including Táhirih and Siyyid Husayn-i-Yazdi.
• September to December, while imprisoned for four months in the Síyáh-Chál in Tehran, Bahá'u'lláh receives the first intimations that he is the promised one foretold by the Báb.
• Mírzá Muhammad `Alí is born to Fátimih and Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad

1853

• January 12, Bahá'u'lláh is exiled from Tehran to Baghdad.

1854

• April 10, Bahá'u'lláh retreats to the Sulaymaniyah mountains within Kurdistan due to a rising tensions between Mírzá Yahyá and himself.

1856

• After being discovered in Kurdistan, Bahá'u'lláh returns to Baghdad, by the request of `Abdu'l-Bahá.

1857

• The Hidden Words and the Four Valleys are written by Bahá'u'lláh

1860

• Seven Valleys are written by Bahá'u'lláh

1861

• The Book of Certitude is written in late 1861 or early 1862 in two days and nights

1862

• May 10, the Persian ambassador requests that the Ottomans move the Bábís farther from Persia.

1863

• April 21, Bahá'u'lláh declares himself to be He whom God shall make manifest in the Garden of Ridván in Baghdad on the eve of his exile to Constantinople (Istanbul).
• December 12, Bahá'u'lláh is exiled into formal confinement in Adrianople (Edirne) after four months in Constantinople.

1865

• The Tablet of Ahmad is written by Bahá'u'lláh
• Arthur de Gobineau publishes book describing the Babí religion in French.

1867

• Bahá'u'lláh begins writing and sending his Tablets to the Kings.

1868

• August 5, Bahá'u'lláh and a large group of followers are sent from Edirne to the penal colony of Akká, Palestine (now Acre, Israel).
• August 31, Bahá'u'lláh arrives in `Akká.

1869

• Bahá'u'lláh sends a letter to the Shah of Persia, Nasser al-Din Shah, and the messenger, Badí‘, is put to death.

1870

• June 23, Mirzá Mihdí dies after falling through a skylight.

1873

• Bahá'u'lláh writes the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

1886

• Navváb dies.

1889

• February 25, E.G. Browne mentions the Bahá'í Faith as part of a series academic talks and papers through 1889 in England.

1892

• May 29, Bahá'u'lláh dies, his mortal remains are placed in a Shrine dedicated to him next to the Mansion of Bahjí where he spent his final years. In his will he appointed 'Abdu'l-Bahá to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith.

1893

• September 23, the Bahá'í Faith is mentioned publicly for the first time in America in an address by Dr. Henry H. Jessup at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago.

1894

• Thornton Chase is the first of five Bahá'ís in the United States this year

1897

• March 1, Shoghi Effendi, the great-grandson of Bahá'u'lláh, is born.

1898

• The first Western pilgrims arrive in `Akká, including Phoebe Hearst and the first African-American believer, Robert Turner.

1901

• The cornerstone of first Bahá'í House of Worship, in `Ishqábád (Ashgabat), Turkmenistan, is laid.

1903

• More than 100 Bahá'ís are killed in the first significant persecution of Bahá'ís of the century in Yazd, Iran.

1908

• September, `Abdu'l-Bahá is released from a lifetime of exile and imprisonment at 64 years of age.

1909

• March 21, the mortal remains of the Báb are laid to rest in the Shrine of the Báb after 59 years in hiding.

1910

• August `Abdu'l-Bahá arrives in Egypt. See `Abdu'l-Bahá's journeys to the West
• Mary Maxwell, later to be known as Rúhíyyih Khanum, is born in New York City

1911

• August–December, `Abdu'l-Bahá travels across Europe visiting cities such as London, Bristol, and Paris. See `Abdu'l-Bahá's journeys to the West
• September 10, `Abdu'l-Bahá gives his first address to a Western audience in City Temple, London. English translation spoken by Wellesley Tudor Pole.

1912

• April 11, `Abdu'l-Bahá arrives in New York City for his visit to North America. See `Abdu'l-Bahá's journeys to the West.
• `Abdu'l-Bahá dedicates the cornerstone Nettie Tobin brought for the planned North American Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, IL.
• December 5, `Abdu'l-Bahá sets sail away from North America, heading back to Europe.

1916

• `Abdu'l-Bahá writes the first eight of the fourteen Tablets of the Divine Plan.

1917

• `Abdu'l-Bahá writes six more Tablets of the Divine Plan.

1918

• September 19, `Abdu'l-Bahá is threatened with death just before the Ottoman military is destroyed at the Battle of Megiddo.

1920

• April 27, `Abdu'l-Bahá is knighted by the British Empire in recognition of his humanitarian work during WWI.

1921

• November 28, `Abdu'l-Bahá dies in Haifa and appoints Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian in his Will and Testament.

1932

• July 15, Bahá'u'lláh's daughter Bahiyyih Khánum dies.

1935

• Shoghi Effendi translates the Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh from Persian and Arabic into English.

1937

• Mírzá Muhammad `Alí, labeled the arch-Covenant breaker by `Abdu'l-Bahá, dies.
• Shoghi Effendi launches the "Divine Plan" for the diffusion the Bahá'í Faith across the globe.
• Shoghi Effendi marries Mary Maxwell, later known as Rúhíyyih Khanum, the daughter of a prominent Canadian Bahá'í.

1944

• Shoghi Effendi releases God Passes By to mark the 100th anniversary of the Bahá'í dispensation.

1951

• Eleven functioning National Spiritual Assemblies exist in the world.
• 32 additional "Hands of the Cause of God" are appointed by Shoghi Effendi.
• The International Bahá'í Council, first multi-national Bahá'í body, is appointed by Shoghi Effendi.

1953

• Shoghi Effendi launches the Ten Year Crusade.
• The North American Bahá'í House of Worship is dedicated in Wilmette, IL.
• The superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb is completed.

1957

• November 4, Shoghi Effendi dies without children and without appointing a successor Guardian. The temporary role of 'Head of the Faith' is taken up by 27 Hands of the Cause with plans to complete the Ten Year Crusade and elect the Universal House of Justice.

1963

• A wave of persecution of Bahá'ís in Morocco ends in mid April with a royal pardon against death sentences for being Bahá'í in Morocco after months of diplomatic newspaper and television coverage in the United States.
• April 21, the first Bahá'í World Congress takes place in London. The first Universal House of Justice is elected by representatives of 56 National Spiritual Assemblies gathered in Haifa, in synchronization with the end of the Ten Year Crusade and the centenary of the Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh in the Garden of Ridván.

1979

• Iran's Islamic Revolution begins multi-generation Persecution of Bahá'ís with over 200 killed by 2006.

1983

• January 31, the Universal House of Justice takes up its permanent seat.

1985

• October, the Universal House of Justice publishes The Promise of World Peace

1986

• December 24, the Indian Bahá'í House of Worship (aka the "Lotus Temple") is dedicated.

1992

• April 21, a Holy year begins marking the centenary of the death of Bahá'u'lláh.
• November 22 - 26th, the second Bahá'í World Congress takes place in New York.
• The Ruhi Institute reaches a milestone in development as a formal organization, although its efforts have been evolving since 1970s by the FUNDAEC Foundation.

1993

• March 21, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas is released in English with commentary.

2000

• January 19, Rúhíyyih Khanum dies, representing the last remnant of the family of Bahá'u'lláh who remained loyal to Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice.

2001

• The terraces on Mount Carmel are completed, surrounding the Shrine of the Báb and the Arc.
• there are 182 National Spiritual assemblies representing most of the countries of the planet (see Worldwide Bahá'í statistics)

2006

• March 20 Iranian Islamic Revolution government documents are released by the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations. The Anti-defamation League notes these government policies signify steps towards Nuremberg-type laws (see monitoring activities of Bahá'ís)
• the Supreme Administrative Council of Egypt on December 16 rules against the Bahá'ís, a key event of the Egyptian identification card controversy.

2008

• The Universal House of Justice announced the convocation in October of a series of 41 regional conferences around the world which finished by March 2009.

References

• Cameron, G.; & Momen, W. (1996). A Basic Bahá'í Chronology. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853984022. 
• Amanat, Abbas (1989). Resurrection and Renewal. Cornell University Press, 124 Roberts Place, Ithica, New York 14850. ISBN 0801420989. 
• Nabíl-i-Zarandí (1932). Shoghi Effendi (Translator). ed. The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative (Hardcover ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0900125225. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/nz/DB/. 
• Smith, Peter (1999). A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1851681841. 

External links

• A Brief History of the Bahá'í Faith - Website of the Bahá'í Community of Boise, Idaho, U.S.A.
• Timelines, Genealogies, Chronologies
• Bahá'i Chronology
• Bibliography for the Tablets of Baha'u'llah: List of citations and resources for Tablets revealed 1853-1863 (first of four sections)
• First Public Mentions of the Bahá'í Faith prepared by the Bahá'í Information Office (United Kingdom) for the UK. Bahá'í Centenary 1998-99 and is based on research and articles by Dr Moojan Momen (Bahá'í Journal, September 1989) and Derek Cockshutt (Bahá'í Journal, March 1993).