| date |
event |
locations |
tags |
see also |
| 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]
|
Cairo; Egypt |
Nabil-i-Azam; Haji Mirza Haydar-Ali; Faris Effendi; Imprisonments; First believers by background; Christianity; Conversion; Interfaith dialogue |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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
|
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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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]
|
Ecuador |
Eduardo Gonzales; First believers by background; Indigenous people |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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] |
|
First Bahais by country or area; First believers by background |
|
| 1955 c. Jan |
The first Tswana Bahá’í, Stanlake Kukama, enrolled in Mafikeng. |
Mafikeng; South Africa |
First believers by background |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 1957 c. Apr - 1958 Apr |
The first Tuareg to become a Bahá’í enrolled in Rabat, Morocco. |
Rabat; Morocco |
First believers by background |
|
| 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 |
|
| 1960 Dec |
Philip Suning, the first member of the Iban tribe to become a Bahá’í, enrolled. |
Brunei |
First believers by background |
|
| 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 |
|
| 1966 Feb |
The first members of the Yao tribe become Bahá’ís in Laos enrolled. [BW14:150] |
Laos |
First believers by background |
|
| 1967 (In the year) |
The first Mataco Indians to become Bahá’ís enrolled in Argentina. [BW14:150] |
Argentina |
First believers by background |
|
| 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 |
|
| 1970 (In the Year) |
The first native of Mauritania to become a Bahá’í enrolled. |
Mauritania |
First believers by background |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 1974 Jun |
The first Alacalufe Indians to become Bahá’ís enrolled in Puerto Eden, Chile. [BW16:215] |
Puerto Eden; Chile |
First believers by background |
|
| 1975 Jul |
The first Katio Indians to become Bahá’ís enrolled in northern Colombia. [BW16:217] |
Colombia |
First believers by background |
|
| 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 |
|
| 1988 Nov - Dec |
The first members of the Jhana tribe to become Bahá’ís enrolled in India. [BINS189:5] |
India |
First believers by background |
|
| 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 |
|
