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Search for tag "First believers"
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| 1844 Jul - Aug |
The intention of the Báb was to introduce the new Revelation slowly so as not to cause estrangement. He instructed the Letters of the Living to spread out and teach His Faith and to this end He assigned each one a special task, most often to their own native provinces. This is analogous to Christ's instructions to His disciples. He instructed them to record the name of every believer who embraced the Faith and to send their lists to His uncle, Hájí Mírzá 'Alí in Shíráz in a sealed envelope. His intention was to classify these lists once received into 18 sets of names with 19 names each (one Vahid meaning "Unity"). A list with the names of 18 Letters of the Living plus His own name would constitute the 19th set making one Kull-i-Shay (meaning "all things" with a value of 361). Thus fourteen Letters of the Living were dispatched; only Mullá Husayn and Quddús remained with Him. [BBRSM14–16, 36; SWB119; BBR2p36; DB92–4, 123; MH82–6; SBBH1:19]
To Mullá Husayn He had given the task of delivering a Tablet to Bahá'u'lláh in Tihrán and going to the court of the Sháh to apprise him of the Báb's cause. Mullá Husayn was not able to gain access to the Sháh. [B48–57; BBRSM15 BKG32–3; CH22–3; DB85-87, 96, 97; MH90–2, 102] He was also directed to send Him a written report on the nature and progress of his activities in Isfáhán, Tehran and in Khurásán. Not until He received this letter from Khurásán would He depart on pilgrimage. [DB123]
Mullá Husayn carried a Tablet revealed by the Báb for Muhammad Sháh to Tihrán . This was the first of a number of unsuccessful attempts to make him aware of the Revelation. [BBRSM20–1; MH102; SWB13]
Note: MH118-119 and DB127-128 indicate that Mullá Husayn had been in Tehran "between the months of Jámádí and Rajab". The first day of Jámádí, 1260 corresponds to 18 June, and the last day of Rajab to 15 August, 1844.
See RB2:303, `The Báb … sent Tablets to only two monarchs of His day — Muhammad Sháh of Persia and Sultán `Abdu'l-Majíd of Turkey.'
From Shiraz Mullá Husayn journeyed north to Isfahán where his message was rejected by the 'ulamás. Mullá Ja'far, the sifter of wheat, was the first and only one to embrace the Cause of the Báb in that city. There was however, a disciple of Siyyid Kazim, Mírzá Muhammad-'Alíy-i-Nahrí, who had been instructed to go to Isfahan some five years earlier to prepare the way for the advent of the new Revelation, who was receptive to the message of Mulla Husayn. He was instructed to go to Kirmán and acquaint Hájí Mírzá Karím Khán with the Message and then to travel to Shiraz. (This man's daughter was subsequently joined in wedlock with 'Abdu'l-Bahá.)[DB100]
Mullá Husayn then traveled to Káshán, about 130 miles from Isfahán. He had great success in that city but news of his conversion brought the wrath of the official clergy down upon him. [DB101note1; DB123-125]
He then went to Qum, another 100 miles from Káshán where he met with no success. After Qum he went to Tihrán. [MH98–101, DB101]
In Tihrán he took residence in a madrisih and first met with the leader of the shaykhí community, Hájí Mírzá Muhammad, but he failed to win him over. He did, however, manage to convince a number of souls in private conversations. [DB103note1] This same reference seems to indicate that his well-wishers assisted in delivering the Tablet to Muhammad Sháh and his minister, Hájí Mírzá Àqásí but they did not receive it. " the book was not submitted to thy presence, through the intervention of such as regard themselves the well-wishers of the government." [Selections from the Writings of the Báb page 13]
See Bab53–6; DB104–7, MH104–110 for the delivery of the Báb's Tablet to Bahá'u'lláh by the young student, Mullá Huhammad-i-Mu'allim, a native of Núr. Mullá Husayn did not meet Bahá'u'lláh on this occasion.
On receiving the Tablet of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh accepted His Cause and asked that a gift of a loaf of Russian sugar and a package of tea be given to Mulla Husayn for delivery to the Báb. [DB106-107] See DB123-125 for his activities in Khán.
Mullá Husayn left for Khurásán, as he had been instructed, winning supporters for the Báb's Cause while there he wrote to the Báb regarding these new believers and Bahá'u'lláh's immediate response to the Báb's Revelation. [Bab56, DB128–9, MH118]
After Khurásán he travelled to Najaf and Karbilá where he was to wait for further instructions from the Báb. [DB86]
See MH121–2 for a discussion of the speed of Mullá Husayn's journey before the letter was dispatched to the Báb. It assumes that Mullá Husayn departed after the Báb met with all the Letters of the Living (date not before 2 July, 1844.) In fact both Mullá Husayn and Mullá 'Alíy-Bastámí had been dispatched before this meeting. [DB85-86, 92, HotD46]
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Kashan; Shiraz; Isfahan; Tihran; Mazandaran; Khurasan; Qum; Iran; Turkey |
Bab, Life of; Bab, Writings of; Bab, Speech to the Letters of the Living; Letters of the Living; Mulla Husayn; Bahaullah, Life of; Tablet to Bahaullah; Shahs; Mulla Jafar (sifter of wheat); Muhammad Shah; Sultan Abdul-Majid; First believers; Letters of the Living; Bab, Basic timeline; Bahaullah, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Kull-i-Shay |
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| 1845 Feb - Mar |
The Báb returned to Búshihr. He sent Quddús to Shíráz with a letter addressed to His uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí who, upon receiving it, embraced his Nephew's Cause, the first, after the Letters of the Living, to do so in Shíráz. The Báb also entrusted Quddús with a treatise for him entitled Khasá'il-i-Sab`ih (`the Seven Qualifications') and promised him his impending martyrdom. Later he gave his life as one of the Seven Martyrs of Tehran, see 1850 19 or 20 Feb. [Bab77–8; DB142–3; MS2, GPB9-10]
To the departing Quddus He promised intense suffering in Shíráz and eventual martyrdom. [DB142-143]
Bab77 and GPB10 say the Báb arrived in Búshihr in February - March.
SSBH1p23 and BBRSM216 say 15 May, 1845.
Before leaving on pilgrimage the Báb had stated that He would return to Karbalá and asked His followers to congregate there. An explanation in part for the large following that had gathered there is the messianic expectation associated with the year 1261, a thousand years after the Twelfth Imám's disappearance in 260 A.H.. This gathering was perceived as a threat by the authorities. [BBRSM15, 45, 216; DB157–8; SBBH1p23, 32]
The Báb changed His plan to meet His followers in Karbalá and instructed them to go to Isfahán instead. A number abandon Him, regarding this as badá', `alteration of divine will'. [BBRSM16; DB158; MH125; SBBH23]
Some speculate that He did not go to Karbalá to avoid conflict and sedition. Many Bábís had gone to Karbalá armed in preparation for holy war, `jihád'. [BBRSM21–2; SBBH1:23] |
Bushihr; Iran; Shiraz |
Bab, Life of; Bab, Pilgrimage of; Bab, Family of; Bab, Uncles of; Uncles; Quddus; Haji Mirza Siyyid Ali; Dhasail-i-Sabih (Seven Qualifications); Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Deaths; Persecution; First believers; Bab, Writings of |
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| 1868. c. May |
Bahá'u'lláh sent Nabíl-i-A`zam 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, 265–6; EB268; GPB178]
Fáris Effendi was probably the first Christian to become a Bahá'í. [RB3:10, “Nabil-e aʿzam Zaranadi, Mollā Mohammad,” by Vahid Rafati, Encyclopædia Iranica]
- Law˙-i-Aqdas (“Most Holy Tablet,” late 1870s?) was most probably addressed to (“Dr.”) Fáris Effendi.
See BKG265–8 for an account of Nabíl's arrest and imprisonment.
After his release he travelled to Cyprus and Beirut and then joined the Bahá'u'lláh's exiled community in Akka in late October of 1969. He spent the last two decades of his life in that area. [“Nabil-e aʿzam Zaranadi, Mollā Mohammad,” by Vahid Rafati, Encyclopædia Iranica]
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Cairo; Egypt |
Nabil-i-Azam; Haji Mirza Haydar-Ali; Faris Effendi; Imprisonments; First believers by background; Christianity; Conversion; Interfaith dialogue |
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| 1886 (In the year) |
Birth of Narayanrao Rangnath Vakil, the first Hindu to become a Bahá'í in Surat, Gujarat, India. |
Surat; Gujarat; India |
Narayanrao Rangnath Vakil; Births and deaths; First believers by background; Conversion; Hinduism; Interfaith dialogue |
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| 1890 c. |
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. |
Cairo; Egypt |
Ibrahim George Kheiralla; First believers by background; Christianity; Conversion; Interfaith dialogue |
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| 1898. 10 Dec |
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
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Akka; Cairo; Egypt |
Pilgrims; Pilgrimage; First pilgrims; Mary Virginia Thornburgh-Cropper; Robert Turner; First believers by background; Edward Getsinger; Lua Getsinger; Anton Haddad; Kitab-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book); House of Abdullah Pasha; Abdul-Baha, Voice recordings of; Abdul-Baha, Life of |
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| 1907 (In the year) |
Pritam Singh, an Assistant Master of Economics at Chiefs College in Lahore, accepted the Faith, the first Sikh to do so. [BFA2:269] |
Lahore; Pakistan |
Pritam Singh; Sikhism; First believers by background |
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| 1936 31 Dec |
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. |
Mumbai (Bombay); India |
Khusraw Biman; In Memoriam; First believers by background; Zoroastrianism; Conversion |
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| 1939 28 Feb |
The passing of Louis Alphonse Daniel Nicolas, signing A.L.M. Nicolas , (b. March 27 , 1864 in Rasht, Iran) in Paris. He was an historian and French orientalist, official interpreter of the Legation French abroad, and France's consul general in Tabriz.
After reading Gobineau's Trois ans en Asie, 1855-1858 he checked all the information Gobineau had written in his book, corrected some of it, and then began to translate the writings of the Báb. Seduced by this young doctrine, he converted to Bábism and thus became the first Western Bábí. He wrote various works Seyyed Ali Mohamed dit le Báb (1905) and was the first to translate a work of the Báb into French: the Arabic Beyan and the Persian Beyan, an Essai sur le Chéikhisme (1911) and several articles in newspapers such that Review of the Muslim World. Nicolas became knight of the Legion of Honour in 1909.
Moojan Momen says of him, "No European scholar has contributed so much to our knowledge of the life and teachings of the Báb as Nicholas. His study of the life of the Báb and his translations of several of the most important books of the Báb remain of unsurpassed value." [BBR36]
His important collection of manuscripts were auctioned and the items relevant to the Bahá’í and Bábí Faiths are purchased by the Bahá’í World Centre.
See BW8p885-887 for An Interview with A. L. M. Nicolas of Paris by Edith Sanderson.
See a short biography by Nader Nasiri Moghaddam in Encyclopaedia Iranica Online.
A chronological list of his publications:
- Le Livre des Sept Preuves [Dalá'il-i-Sab'ih translated from Persian into French], Paris, 1902, 68 pp.
- A propos de deux manuscrits 'Bábís' de la Bibliothèque Nationale, Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, Paris, volume 47, 1903, pp. 58-73
- Le Béyan Arabe [Bayán al-'arabiyya translated from Arabic into French], Paris, 1905, 235 pp.
- Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Báb [biography of the Báb, selections translated into English in this volume], Paris, 1905, 458 pp.
- En Perse : Constitution [translation by A.L.M. Nicolas], Revue du Monde Musulman, Paris, volume 1, 1907 (décembre 1906), p. 86-100
- Sur la Volonté Primitive et l'Essence Divine d'après le Báb, Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, Paris, volume 55, 1907, pp. 208-212
- Essais sur le Chéïkhisme, 4 volumes :
- Cheïkh Ahmed Lahçahi, Paris, volume 1, 1910
- Séyyèd Kazem Rechti, Paris, volume 2, 1914
- Le Chéïkhisme. La Doctine, Paris, volume 3, 1911 [extract from Revue du Monde Musulman]
- La Science de Dieu, Paris, volume 4, 1911
- Le Club de la fraternité [translation of an article by Atrpet by A.L.M. Nicolas], Revue du Monde Musulman, Paris, volume 13, 1911, pp. 180-184
- Le Dossier russo-anglais de Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Báb, Revue du Monde Musulman, Paris, volume 14, 1911, pp. 357-363
- Le Béyan Persan [Bayán-i-fársí translated from Persian into French], four volumes, 1911-1914
- Abdoul-Béha et la situation, Revue du Monde Musulman, Paris, volume 21, 1912, pp. 261-267
- Le Béhahis et le Báb, Journal Asiatique, Paris, volume 222, 1933, pp. 257-264
- Massacre de Babis en Perse, Paris, 1936, 42 pp. [A Short Biography of A. L. M. Nicholas by Peter Terry 2008]
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Rasht; Iran; Paris; France |
A.L.M. Nicolas; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Translation; First believers; Nader Nasiri Moghaddam; Edith Sanderson |
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| 1940 Dec |
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]
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Ecuador |
Eduardo Gonzales; First believers by background; Indigenous people |
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| 1951 (In the year) |
By this year the first Canadian Inuit had become a Bahá’í. |
Canada |
First Bahais by country or area; First believers by background; Inuit |
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| 1954 (In the year) |
The first native Fijian, the first Pygmy, the first Berber and the first Greenlander to accept the Bahá’í Faith enrolled. [MBW262] |
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First Bahais by country or area; First believers by background |
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| 1955 c. Jan |
The first Tswana Bahá’í, Stanlake Kukama, enrolled in Mafikeng. |
Mafikeng; South Africa |
First believers by background |
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| 1955 4 Mar |
The first Tongan to become a Bahá’í in Tonga, Tevita Ngalo’afe, enrolled. |
Tonga |
First believers by background; First Bahais by country or area |
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| 1957 (In the year) |
The first indigenous person to become a Bahá’í in the Dutch West Indies, Rhoma Matthew enrolled. |
Dutch West Indies (Lesser Antilles); Lesser Antilles |
First believers by background |
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| 1957 (In the year) |
The first member of the Newari ethnic group of Nepal to become a Bahá’í, Rishi Prasad Joshi, enrolled. |
Nepal |
First believers by background |
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| 1957 (In the year) |
The Berbers in Algeria were first contacted by the Bahá’ís and a number of Berber families enrolled. |
Algeria |
First believers by background; Berbers |
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| 1957 c. Apr - 1958 Apr |
The first Tuareg to become a Bahá’í enrolled in Rabat, Morocco. |
Rabat; Morocco |
First believers by background |
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| 1959 (In the year) |
The first Inuit in Alaska to become a Bahá’í, William Wiloya, enrolled in Nome. |
Nome; Alaska; United States |
First Bahais by country or area; First believers by background; Inuit |
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| 1960 Dec |
Philip Suning, the first member of the Iban tribe to become a Bahá’í, enrolled. |
Brunei |
First believers by background |
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| 1965 (In the year) |
Nils and Sigrid Rutfjäll, the first Samer (Lapps) to become Bahá’ís, enrolled in northern Norway. [BW5:483] |
Sapmi (Lapland); Norway |
First believers by background; Indigenous people; Sami people |
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| 1966 Feb |
The first members of the Yao tribe become Bahá’ís in Laos enrolled. [BW14:150] |
Laos |
First believers by background |
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| 1967 (In the year) |
The first Mataco Indians to become Bahá’ís enrolled in Argentina. [BW14:150] |
Argentina |
First believers by background |
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| 1970 (In the Year) |
The first Gypsy in Spain to become a Bahá’í, Maria Camacho Martinez, enrolled in Sabadell. |
Sabadell; Spain |
Maria Camacho Martinez; First believers by background |
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| 1970 (In the Year) |
The first native of Mauritania to become a Bahá’í enrolled. |
Mauritania |
First believers by background |
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| 1971 (In the year) |
The first Gypsies, six adults and six youth, the first to become Bahá’ís in France, enrolled at a campsite near Le Bourget airport. |
France |
First believers by background |
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| 1971 (In the year) |
The first Pingelapese to become a Bahá’í enrolled in the East Caroline Islands. |
East Caroline Islands |
First believers by background |
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| 1974 Jun |
The first Alacalufe Indians to become Bahá’ís enrolled in Puerto Eden, Chile. [BW16:215] |
Puerto Eden; Chile |
First believers by background |
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| 1975 Jul |
The first Katio Indians to become Bahá’ís enrolled in northern Colombia. [BW16:217] |
Colombia |
First believers by background |
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| 1986 (In the year) |
Hundreds of members of the Aeta tribe in Tarlac and Pampanga, Philippines, became Bahá’ís. [BINS158:13] |
Philippines |
First believers by background |
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| 1988 Nov - Dec |
The first members of the Jhana tribe to become Bahá’ís enrolled in India. [BINS189:5] |
India |
First believers by background |
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| 1988 Nov c. |
Pietro Pandolfini, the first from the Albanian minority in Sicily to become a Bahá’í, enrolled. [BINS189:5] |
Sicily |
First believers by background |
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