History of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Tihran, Iran

edited by Robert Stauffer
1978

The following history was received during my visitation to the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Tihran (on July 9, 1978), from a member of the East-West Pilgrimage Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Iran. Since the Iranian revolution, so far as I know, the House remains standing, but was confiscated from the Bahá'ís and is now a home for one of the Shi'a clerics. - Rob Stauffer

The House of Bahá'u'lláh in Tihran, being the birth-place of the Blessed Beauty as well as His residence in His childhood, is one of the holiest historical Bahá'í Shrines of Iran.

The land for this House was purchased in 1800 by Bahá'u'lláh's father, Mirza Buzurg-i-Nuri. The construction of the House was completed in 1802. The House was called "Saray-i-Naw Sakht" or "The Newly built House". It was later known as "Hayat-i-Bagh". This was the first house built by Bahá'u'lláh's father in Tihran. The adjacent buildings were later added to this main House. This House is located in Udlajan district of Tihran and in days gone by, along with six other houses, comprised the houses of Mirza Buzurg-i-Nuri. After the murder of the Chief Minister Qa'im Maqam-Farahani, Mirza Aqasi succeeded him. Haji Mirza Aqasi did not spare any effort to eliminate his potential rivals from the political scene. One of them being Bahá'u'lláh's father who was on intimate terms with the late Chief Minister. Mirza Aqasi first dismissed Mirza Buzurg from the post of Governor of Borujerd and Bakhtiari and later through various schemes attempted to harm him. His next move was to persuade and force Zia'u'l Saltanih, the daughter of Fath-i- Ali Shah , one of the wives of Mirza Buzurg, to divorce him. In payment of the large dowery of this lady Mirza Buzurg was forced to vacate and sell this House as well as all the adjacent houses.

Mirza Buzurg sought another residence and the Blessed Beauty took independently another House in Shimiran Gate, the present Paminar district of Tihran. In the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf He writes:

"..In the early days, we all lived in one house which was sold in auction for a negligible sum, and the two brothers, Farman-Farma and Hissamu-Saltanih, purchased it and divided it between themselves. After this occurred, We separated from our brother (Mirza Rida Quli). He established his residence close to the entrance of Masjidi-Shah, whilst We lived near [the]Gate of Shimiran."

The houses of Mirza Buzurg, as already mentioned, were purchased in auction by the two brothers, sons of Abbas Mirza, the Crown Prine of Fath-i-Ali Shah, and later on these houses changed hands.

In 92 B.E. (1936) the Beloved Guardian instructed the N.S.A. of Iran to set up a committee for the Holy Places in Iran. The first step taken by this committee was to find and purchase the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Tihran. After years of search and study of the relevant documents and deeds, and having established the authenticity of the House, it was purchased on the 25th of June 1942.

After about a year or two the small garden and yard adjacent to the House, which was one of the six annexed buildings, was also acquired.

In the course of 108 years of the life of this House naturally some alterations were introduced. At the instruction of the Beloved Guardian the committee undertook the restoration and repair work in order to bring it back to the original form. Lately this work of restoration and repair has continued with the collaboration of the Omana Company.