Bahá'í Library Online
. .
  Home  
Author search
Title search
Date search
  Journals/Series  
    Chronology    
    New    
    Tags    
  Site map  
. .
.

Search for tag "Russia"

from the chronology

date event locations tags see also
1804 - 1813 Russo-Persian War resulted in a Russian victory. The Battle of Aslan Duz on 31 October 1812 was the turning point in the war, which led to the complete destruction of the Persian army, thus leaving Fath Ali Shah with no other option but to sign the Treaty of Gulistan on 24 October 1813. Numerically, Persian forces had a considerable advantage during the war, a ratio of 5 to 1 over their Russian adversaries, however, the Persian forces were technologically backwards and poorly trained - a problem that the Persian government failed to recognize. With the Treaty of Gulistan Persia ceded what is now Georgia, Dagestan, parts of northern Armenia, and most of what now comprises modern Azerbaijan to Russia. Gulistan; Aslan Duz; Iran; Russia Russo-Persian War; Treaty of Gulistan; War (general); History (general); Iran, General history
1845. 28 Jun Prince Dolgorukov was appointed Russian ambassador to Tihrán. He was previously first secretary of the Russian legation at Constantinople. He arrived in Tihrán in January 1846.
  • See Conspiracies and Forgeries: The Attack upon the Bahá'í Community in Iran by Moojan Momen where it says "Prince Dolgoruki....was Russian Minister in Tehran from 1845 to 1854".
    		•  Istanbul (Constantinople); Turkey; Tihran; Iran; Russia Prince Dolgorukov; Ambassadors; History (general); Iran, General history find reference
    1848. 9 Apr The Báb was removed from Máh-Kú. Prior to this He had communicated His higher claims to His followers.
  • Hájí Mírzá Áqásí was alarmed by the developments at Máh-Kú and ordered that the Báb be moved to Chihríq. [Bab131; DB259; GPB1920]
  • The Báb's presence in Máh-Kú, so close to the Russian frontier, was also a cause for concern for the Russian government. Prince Dolgorukov, the Russian Minister in Tihrán, asked that He be removed. It is likely that this request was made in 1847 but not carried out until this time. [Bab131; BBR72; TN13]
  • The Báb had been in Máh-Kú for nine months. [DB259]
    		•  Mah-Ku; Chihriq; Tihran; Iran Bab, Life of; Haji Mirza Aqasi; Russia; Prince Dolgorukov; Bab, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded
    1848 Sep Bahá'u'lláh was in Bandar-Jaz (now Bandar-e Gaz). An edict came from Muhammad Sháh ordering His arrest. The man who was to have made the arrest was, on that very day, preparing a feast for Bahá'u'lláh and so delayed the arrest. News of the death of the flizih cancelled the decree. [DB 298-300; BW19p381 Bandar-Jaz; Iran Bahaullah, Life of; Muhammad Shah; Russian officials
    1850. 10 Jul The Russian Consul had an artist make a sketch of the body of the Báb. [Bab159; DB518; TN28]
  • See BBR43 for details of the drawing made by Consul Bakulin.
    		•  Tabriz; Iran Russian officials; Consuls; Bab, Sketches of; Bab, Martyrdom of; Bab, Life of
    1852. 16 Aug Bahá'u'lláh rode out towards the headquarters of the imperial army. At the time, He had been in ‘The Abode of the Birds’ (MurghMaḥallih), a garden which had been His summer residence. He stopped at Zargandih at the home of Mírzá Majíd Khán-i-Áhí, secretary to the Russian legation. [BKG77; DB603, AY235]
  • Bahá'u'lláh was invited to remain in this home. [DB603]
  • The Sháh was informed of Bahá'u'lláh's arrival and sent an officer to the legation to demand the delivery of Bahá'u'lláh into his hands. The Russian minister, Prince Dolgorukov, refused and suggested that Bahá'u'lláh be sent to the home of the Grand Vizier. [BKG77; DB603]
  • Bahá'u'lláh was arrested. [BKG77; DB603]
    		•  Zargandih; Iran Bahaullah, Life of; Mirza Majid Khan-i-Ahi; Russian officials; Shahs; Prince Dolgorukov; Grand Viziers; Nasirid-Din Shah, Attempt on; Bahaullah, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded
    1852 Dec Bahá'u'lláh was released from the Síyáh-Chál.
  • This was owing to: the efforts of the Russian Minister Prince Dolgorukov; the public confession of the would-be assassin; the testimony of competent tribunals; the efforts of Bahá'u'lláh's own kinsmen; and the sacrifices of those followers imprisoned with Him. [GPB104–5]
  • Mírzá Májíd-í-Ahi, the Secretary to the Russian Legation in Tehrán and brother-in-law of Bahá'u'lláh, Prince Dolgorki, the Russian Ambassador, pressured the government of Násirí'd-Din Sháh to either produce evidence against Bahá'u'lláh or to release Him. In absence of any proof, Bahá'u'lláh, Who was initially condemned to life in prison, was forced by the King to choose a place of exile for Himself and His family. {BKG99]
  • See CH43–4 for the role of the Russian Consul in securing His release. He invoked his full power as an envoy of Russia and called out the Sháh and his court for their barbaric behaviour.
  • See BKG101–2, CH44 and DB647–8 for the physical condition of Bahá'u'lláh upon release.
  • See BKG101, DB648–9 and GPB105 for the words of Bahá'u'lláh to Mírzá Áqá Khán upon His release.
  • The Russian minister invited Bahá'u'lláh to go to Russia but He chose instead to go to Iraq. It may be that He refused the offer because He knew that acceptance of such help would have been misrepresented as having political implications. [BBIC:8; DB650]
    		•  Iran; Iraq Bahaullah, Life of; Siyah Chal (Black Pit); Nasirid-Din Shah, Attempt on; Russia; Minister; Prince Dolgorukov; Mirza Aqa Khan; Bahaullah, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded
    1853. 12 Jan Bahá'u'lláh and His family departed for Baghdád after a one month respite in the home of his half-brother Mírzá Ridá-Qulí. During the three-month journey Bahá'u'lláh was accompanied by His wife Navváb, (Who was six weeks from giving birth upon departure.) His eldest son ‘Abdu'l-Bahá (9), Bahíyyih Khánum (7) and two of His brothers, Mírzá Músá and Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí. Mírzá Mihdí (2), was very delicate and so was left behind with the grandmother of Àsíyih Khánum. They were escorted by an officer of the Persian imperial bodyguard and an official representing the Russian legation. [BKG102–5; GPB108]
  • CH44–5 says the family had ten days after Bahá'u'lláh's release to prepare for the journey to Iraq.
  • ‘Never had the fortunes of the Faith proclaimed by the Báb sunk to a lower ebb'. [DB651]
  • This exile compares to the migration of Muhammad, the exodus of Moses and the banishment of Abraham. [GPB107–8]
  • See BKG104 and GPB108–9 for conditions on the journey. During His crossing of the Atlantic on his way from Naples to New York He said the His feet had become frostbitten during the trip to Baghdad. [SYH52]
  • Bahá'u'lláh's black servant, Isfandíyár, who had managed to evade capture during this dark period, after he had paid all the debts to various merchants, went to Mazandaran where he was engaged by the Governor. Years later when his master made a pilgrimage to Iraq Isfandíyár met Bahá'u'lláh and stated his preference to return to His service. Bahá'u'lláh said that he owed his master a debt of gratitude and could not leave his employ without his permission. It was not granted and Isfandíyár returned to Mazandaran and stayed with the Governor until his passing. [PUP428; SoW IX 28 April, 1918 p38-39]
  • Also see A Gift of Love Offered to the Greatest Holy Leaf (compiled and edited by Gloria Faizi, 1982), by Hand of the Cause Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, which includes a brief summary of the character of Isfandiyar and his services to the Holy Family on pages 14-16.
    		•  Iran; Baghdad; Iraq Bahaullah, Life of; Bahaullah, Banishment of; Mirza Rida-Quli; Navvab (Asiyih Khanum); Abdul-Baha, Life of; Bahiyyih Khanum (Greatest Holy Leaf); Mirza Musa; Mirza Mihdi (Purest Branch); Mirza Muhammad-Quli; Isfandiyar; Russian officials; Bahaullah, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded
    1865 (In the year) Mírzá Kazem-Beg of St Petersburg University published Bab Babidy, the first Western book written entirely on the subject of the Bábí religion. [BBR26] (Conflict: see 1905.) St Petersburg; Russia Babism; Mirza Kazem-Beg; First publications
    1870 19 Jul – 1871 10 May Franco-Prussian War was a conflict between the Second French Empire of Napoleon III and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. The conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend German unification and French fears of the shift in the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded.
  • See KA90 for Bahá'u'lláh's reference to this and KAN121 for `Abdu'l-Bahá's interpretation.
    		•  Germany; France Franco-Prussian War; War (general); History (general); Napoleon III
    1870 1 - 2 Sep Battle of Sedan. Napoleon III suffered defeat at the hands of Kaiser Wilhelm I. It resulted in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and large numbers of his troops and for all intents and purposes decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, though fighting continued under a new French government. Napoleon went into exile in England, where he died in 1873.
  • Bahá'u'lláh referred to this in KA86.
    		• Sedan; France; Germany; United Kingdom Franco-Prussian War; War (general); History (general); Napoleon III; Kaiser Wilhelm I; Kitab-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book)
    1877 – 1878 As a result of the war between Russia and Turkey some 11 million people were freed from the Turkish yoke. Adrianople was occupied by the Russian ally, Bulgaria. The Ottoman enemies were brought to the gates of Istanbul. [BKG262; GPB225]
    • See BKG460 for the Siege of Plevna.
    		 Edirne (Adrianople); Plevna; Turkey; Russia War (general); History (general)
    1892. 29 Sep Russian Orientalist, Baron Viktor Romanovich Rosen (1849–1908), at a meeting of the Oriental Section of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society in St. Petersburg, read a paper written by a junior colleague and former student, Aleksandr Grigor’evich Tumanski (1861–1920). He was a Russian soldier and orientalist who took a close interest in the Bahá'ís and spent some time in the Bahá'í community in Ashkhabad. He published the text and a translation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas as well as a number of papers.
  • In 1893 the author published this document in the original Persian, with Russian translation, together with a eulogy composed by the celebrated Bahá'í poet, Mírzá ‘Alí-Ashraf-i Laehíjání, known by his sobriquet, Andalíb (‘Nightingale’; d. 1920). Since ‘Andalíb was an eyewitness to the events he describes, his eulogy may be treated as a historical source. Tumanski’s scholarly publication of the Kitáb-i ‘Ahdí in the Proceedings of the Oriental Department of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society. [The 1893 Russian Publication of Baha’u’llah’s Last Will and Testament: An Academic Attestation of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s Successorship by Christopher Buck and Youli A. Ioannesyan; Baha’i Studies Review 19 (cover date, 2013; publication date, 2017)] iiiii
    		• St Petersburg; Russia Baron Rosen; Alexander Tumansky; Andalib (poet)
    1902 15 Sep Mírzá `Azízu'lláh visited Count Leo Tolstoy, and spoke to him at length about the history and teachings of the Faith and of the station of Bahá'u'lláh. [EB185; RB3:172-3]
  • For Mírzá `Azízu'lláh's own account of the interview see EB186–9.
  • See BW10:569–70 for Tolstoy's response to the Faith.
    		•  Russia Mirza Azizullah; Leo Tolstoy
    1903 May Russian poet Isabella Grinevskaya wrote the play "Báb" which was performed in St. Petersburg in 1904 and again in 1914 and once again in 1917. It was translated into French and Tatar (and later into German by Friedrich Fiedler) and lauded by Leo Tolstoy and other reviewers at the time. It is reported to have been Tolstoy's first knowledge of the Faith.
  • In 1910-11 she spent two weeks in Ramleh as a guest of `Abdu'l-Bahá and after she returned to Russia she had several letters and Tablets from Him.
  • Immediately upon her return from Egypt in January of 1911 she began work on the book "A Journey in the Countries of the Sun", an account of her visit with 'Abdu'l-Bahá. This work was not completed until 1914 because in the summer of 1912 she made a trip to Paris to work with the French translator of "Báb", Madame Halperin, and when she returned to Leningrad she began work on the drama entitled Bahá'u'lláh. It was published in Leningrad in 1912 but was never performed. "Journey", a book of some 550 pages did not get published because of the disruption cause by the advent of the war. See BW6p707-712 for the article "Russia's Cultural Contribution to the Bahá'i Faith" by Martha Root.
  • For a photo see BW6p709 or here.
  • Also see Notes on the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions in Russia and its territories by Graham Hassall.
  • Isabella Grinevskaya (the pen name of Beyle (Berta) Friedberg), born in Grodno in 1864, died in Istanbul in 1944. [Revolvy] In His message to Isabella Grinevskaya, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá praised her efforts to stage theatrical performances about the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh but cautioned her that people’s attention at that moment was focused on “war and revolution.” However, He added, “the time for staging it will come” and it will “have a considerable impact” in Europe.

    Ms. Grinevskaya’s play about the Báb was first staged in St. Petersburg in January 1904. Mr. Tolstoy read the play and wrote Ms. Grinevskaya to praise her and share his sympathy with the Baha'í teachings, according to an article by Martha Root in the 1934-1936 edition of The Bahá'í World.

    		• St Petersburg; Ramleh (Alexandria); Alexandria; Egypt; Istanbul (Constantinople); Turkey; Grodno; Russia Isabella Grinevskaya; Leo Tolstoy; Publications; Drama; Plays; Arts
    1903. 03 May Upheaval at Rasht. [BBRXXX, 373]
  • See BW18p385 for a chronicle of events.
    • 3 May: Agitation against Bahá’í’s following publication of photograph of the Bahá’í community; several Bahá’ís beaten.
    • May: Mob disrupted a Bahá’í funeral, exhumed body and burned it.
    • May: Renewed uproar in the town following the placing of a forged placard at the door of the local mujtahid, Haji Khumami.
    • 17 May: Two leading Bahá’ís, Ibtihaju'l-Mulk and Mudabbiru’l-Mamalik, expelled from the town.
  • The Bahá'ís take sanctuary at the Russian Consulate. [BBR376]
  • For Western accounts of the episode see BBR377–385]
    		•  Rasht; Isfahan; Iran Persecution, Iran; Persecution; Rasht upheaval; Isfahan upheaval; Upheavals; Russian consulate
    1903. 23 - 28 May Upheaval in Isfahan: Muhammad-Javad-i-Sarraf seized was by students of Aqa Najafi and beaten severely; this caused a large number of Bahá’ís to take sanctuary in the Russian Consulate.
  • 28 May: Large mob gathered outside Russian Consulate and beat Bahá’ís as they left; Sayyid Abu’l-Qasim-i-Mamani, aged 90, died as a result of the injuries he received. [BW18p385]
    		•  Isfahan; Iran Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Deaths; Persecution; Russian consulate; Persecution, Mobs; Russian consulate
    1905. 5 Sep The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904–05 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905,[1] after negotiations from August 6 to August 30, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, United States.[2] U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental in the negotiations and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Were it not for US diplomacy and the military restraint displayed by the other European nations, the Russo-Japanese war might have become the first world war. [Wikipedia]
  • According to some historians, the 1905 Russo-Japanese War was the first truly modern war, involving as it did both the telegraph and the telephone, along with machine guns, barbed wire, illuminating star shells, mine fields, advanced torpedoes, and armored battleships. The war's resolution might also be called the world's first modern “peace,” inasmuch as its end came about through perhaps the first use of so-called multi-track diplomacy, involving not only the belligerents but also the United States and, significantly, input from civil society. [One Country]
    		• Portsmouth; New Hampshire; United States; Russia; Japan Portsmouth Peace Treaty; Theodore Roosevelt; Peace; War (general); History (general); Peace treaties
    1907 31 Aug Anglo-Russian Convention relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet, was signed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The convention brought shaky British–Russian relations to the forefront by solidifying boundaries that identified respective control in the three countries. It delineated spheres of influence in Persia, stipulated that neither country would interfere in Tibet’s internal affairs, and recognized Britain’s influence over Afghanistan. [AY47-48] St Petersburg; Russia; Iran; Afghanistan; Tibet Iran, General history; History (general)
    1926 (In the year) Opposition to the Faith began in Russia. [BW3:35; BBR473]
  • For details see BW3:34–43.
    		•  Russia; Soviet Union Persecution, Russia; Persecution
    1928 Apr The Soviet authorities abrogated the constitution of the Spiritual Assembly of ‘Ishqábád (now Ashgabat, Turkmenistan) and the assembly was dissolved. [BW3:37, BW8p88, SETPE1p154]
  • Bahá’í schools and libraries were closed. [BBRSM173]
  • Not long after, the government ordered that all religious buildings in the Soviet Union were the property of the government and the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár was expropriated and leased back to the Bahá’ís. [BBD122; BBR473; BBRSM161; BW3:37]
  • For the history of the persecution of the Bahá’ís in the Soviet Union see BBR473 and BW3:34–43.
  • PP364–5 says it was 1929.
  • See The Bahá'í Community of Ashkhabad; Its Social Basis and Importance in Bahá'í History by Moojan Momen.
    		•  Ishqabad; Turkmenistan; Soviet Union; Russia Persecution, Russia; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Ishqabad; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Moojan Momen
    1932. 23 Nov The passing of George Adam Benke (b. Fredericksfelt, south Russia in 1878) in Sofia, Bulgaria. Shoghi Effendi declared him to be "the first European martyr. [BW5:416–418, LDG1p263]
  • He had become a Bahá'í as a result of the visit of Harlan and Grace Ober to Leipzig in 1920 and the further efforts of Miss Alma Knoblock. [BW5p416]
  • He translated the works of Bahálláh that had been translated into Russian by Thomansky and Rosenberg.
  • In June of 1931 he was called upon to help Marion Jack in Sofia where is knowledge of Russian facilitated his efforts. He stayed for three months.
  • Again in 1932 he was asked to go to Sofia where he passed away after a very short period of discomfort.
  • Shoghi Effendi called him the first European martyr. [LDG1:263; MC359]
  • Photo 1 of his gravesite in Sofia.
  • Photo 2 of his headstone.
    		•  Fredericksfelt(Russia); Russia; Sofia; Bulgaria George Benke; In Memoriam; George Adam Benke; Names and titles; Martyrs; Firsts, Other
    1938 5 Feb Bahá'ís in the Soviet Union were persecuted by the authorities. [BBR473, BW8p87-90, 179-81, BW14p479-481, SETPE1p155]
  • Five hundred Bahá'í men were imprisoned in Turkistán. [Bw8p89]
  • Many Persian Bahá'ís living in various cities of the Soviet Union were arrested, some are sent to Siberia, others to Pavladar in northern Kazakhstan and yet others to Iran. [BW8p87, 179, 184]
  • Six hundred Bahá'í refugees-women, girls, children and a few old men, went to Iran, most to Mashhad. [BW8p89]
  • The Bahá'í Temple in Ishqábád (now Ashgabat, Turkmenistan) was confiscated and turned into an art gallery. [BDD122, BW8p89]
  • The Bahá'í schools were ordered closed. [BW8p89]
  • Spiritual Assemblies and all other administrative institutions in the Caucasus were ordered dissolved. [BW8p89]
  • Shoghi Effendi included all these territories in his Ten Year Plan, unveiled in 1953, as follows:
    • The National Spiritual Assembly of Germany and Austria was made responsible for opening Albania, Estonia, Finno—Karelia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia (Moldova), Romania and White Russia (Belarus) and for consolidating Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (S.F.S.R.), and Yugoslavia.
    • The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of lran was made responsible for opening Kirgizia (later named Kyrgyzstan), Mongolia, Tajikistan (Tadzhikistan) and Uzbekistan, and for consolidating Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Turkmenistan.
    • The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States was responsible for opening Kazakhstan, Sakhalin, and the Ukraine. [BW20p196-197]
    		•  Soviet Union; Russia; Caucasus; Turkistan; Ishqabad; Turkmenistan; Kazakhstan; Iran; Mashhad Mashriqul-Adhkar, Ishqabad; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Persecution, Russia; Persecution, Arrests; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Bahai schools; Local Spiritual Assembly
    1954 May Elinore Putney arrived in the Aleutian Islands and was named a Knight of Bahá’u‘lláh. [BW13:449] Aleutian Islands; Alaska; United States; Russia Knights of Bahaullah
    1963 25 Aug The Universal House of Justice announceed the demolition of the House of Worship in ‘Ishqábád (now Ashgabat, Turkmenistan) by the Soviet authorities owing to earthquake damage. [BBD122; BW14:479–81]
  • For a picture of the damaged Temple see BW14:481.
    		•  Ishqabad; Turkmenistan; Soviet Union; Russia Mashriqul-Adhkar, Ishqabad; Earthquakes; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship)
    1981 23 May Helmut Winkelbach, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for Belarus, married Olga Grigorevna Dolganova, a Russian, their wedding ceremony was the first Bahá’í wedding in the Soviet Union. Soviet Union; Russia Helmut Winkelbach; Olga Grigorevna Dolganova; Knights of Bahaullah; Firsts, Other; Weddings
    1989. 9 Apr The Bahá'ís of Moscow celebrated the first Feast since the 1930s. The event took place in the Hainsworth home. [BW20p229] Moscow, Russia Feast
    1989 Ridván The Local Spiritual Assembly of ‘Ishqábád (now Ashgabat, Turkmenistan) was re-formed after a lapse of 61 years, the first local assembly to be formed in the Soviet Union. [AWH73; VV111] Ishqabad; Turkmenistan; Soviet Union; Russia Local Spiritual Assembly
    1989 18 Dec - 1990 2 Jan During the Youth Winter School in Traben-Trarback participants from 12 countries including East Germany, Romania, Hungary and the Soviet Union gathered for the first time since the Second World War. [BINS215:2] Traben-Trarback; Germany; Eastern Europe; Soviet Union; Russia Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Youth; Youth; Conferences, International; Winter schools; First conferences
    1990. 15 Jan Carl Sagan, a professor of astronomy and director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University, appealed for religion and science to join hands in preserving the global environment. He was joined in his appeal by 22 well-known scientists. He made this appeal on the first day of a conference on the environment and economic development sponsored by the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival. More than a thousand religious, political and scientific leaders from 83 nations attended the conference. [NY Times 16Jan90; The Global Forum on Environment and Development for Survival] Moscow; Russia Carl Sagan; Science; Environment; Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival
    1990 24 Jan – 5 Feb The first All-Union Bahá'í Conference was held in Moscow with 250 people gathered from all over the Soviet Union and from 17 other countries. This was the first national Bahá'í conference held in the USSR in about 60 years. [BINS224:8; VV112] Moscow; Russia Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, National; First conferences
    1990. Feb - Apr Between February and April 1990, the South American Bahá’í musical group El Viento Canta toured Russia, leading to emerging of strong Bahá’í groups in Ulan-Ude and Severobaikalsk in Siberia. This tour was one of the many organized by the US/USSR Initiatives and lead by Lynda Godwin. [Bahaipedia] The musical group El Viento Canta was founded in 1987 in the Holy Land and between 1988 and 1990 did tours in Western and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Mongolia, China, Macau and Hong Kong. Ulan-Ude; Russia; Severobaikalsk; Russia El Viento Canta; Lynda Godwin; US/USSR Initiatives
    1990 24 Mar Abbas and Rezvanieh Katirai opened the Sakhalin Islands and became Knights of Bahá'u'lláh after 35 years of pioneering in Japan. This last goal was achieved 37 years after the Guardian had designated it as a goal of the Ten Year Crusade. [DM345; AWH73; VV112; Russia by Moojan Momen] Sakhalin Island; Russia; Japan Knights of Bahaullah
    1990 Ridván The re-formation of the Spiritual Assembly of Moscow with Hand of the Cause 'Alí-Akbar Furútan in attendance. [VV111-2] Moscow; Russia Local Spiritual Assembly; Local Spiritual Assembly, reformed
    1990 - 1992 The launching of a subsidiary Two Year Subsidiary Plan for the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc countries. [Message 8 February 1990; Ridván Message 1992; BW20p195-224].

    Goals were:

    1. attraction of numerous supporters
    2. great increase in the translation, publication and dissemination of Bahá'í literature
    3. the extension of the administrative order in the region by the erection of local and national spiritual assemblies [AWH71]
    		Eastern Europe; Soviet Union; Russia Teaching Plans; Two Year Subsidiary Plan
    1990 Jun Nicolai Gejnze, from Bishkek and a crew member in one of three boats in which Bahá'ís made a trip down the Volga River in June and July 1990, enrolied, the first person from Kirgizia known to have become a Bahá'í. Bishkek; Kirgizia; Kyrgyzstan; Central Asia; Volga River; Russia Nicolai Gejnze Find ref
    1990 8 Sep The first local spiritual assembly on Sakhalin Island was formed in Yuzhno. [BINS232:5] Yuzhno; Sakhalin Island; Russia Local Spiritual Assembly
    1990 8 - 9 Dec The first All-Union Bahá'í Consultative Conference was held in Moscow attended by Bahá'ís from every part of the Soviet Union, members of three Continental Boards of Counsellors and representatives of all those National Spiritual Assemblies having responsibility for the work of the Faith in that area. [BINS 238:6] [CBN Mar91Vol3no8] [VV112] Moscow; Russia Conferences, Bahai; First conferences
    1990. 8 - 9 Dec The Moscow Conference was attended by Bahá’ís from every part of the Soviet Union, members of three Continental Boards of Counsellors, David Smith, Paul Semenoff and Patrick O'Mara as well as representatives of all those National Assemblies having responsibility for the work of the Faith in that area.

    See the message that was sent to the Conference date the 21st of November 1990 by the Universal House of Justice found at Mess86-01p178 which included messages from Shoghi Effendi dated the 11th of January 1923 and the 2nd of January 1930 with predictions about the future of Russia. [CBN Vol 3 No 8 March 1991 p1-3]

    		 Moscow; Russia David Smith; Paul Semenoff; Patrick OMara; Moscow Conference
    1992. 7 Apr The establishment of Unity Publishing, an independent, registered publishing company in St. Petersburg, Russia. At the National Convention in May of 1992, Unity Publishing sponsored a translation seminar. [from their brochure] iiiii St Petersburg; Russia Publishing
    1992 Ridván The former National Spiritual Assembly of the USSR with its seat in Moscow became the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Russia, Georgia and Armenia. [CBN Jan92 p2, CBN Jan91 pg2, BW92–3:119; VV121] Russia; Georgia; Armenia National Spiritual Assembly, formation
    1992 23 – 26 Nov The Second World Congress was held in New York City to commemorate the centenary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and the completion of the Six Year Plan. It was attended by some 28,000 Bahá'ís from some 180 countries. [BBD240; VV136-141; BW92-93p95-102, 136]
  • Nine auxiliary conferences were held in Buenos Aires, Sydney, New Delhi, Nairobi, Panama City, Bucharest, Moscow, Apia and Singapore. [BINS283:3-4]
  • For pictures see [BINS283:9-10], [BW92-3p100] and [VV136-141]
  • "New York will become a blessed spot from which the call to steadfastness in the Covenant and Testament of God will go forth to every part of the world." - 'Abdu'l-Bahá [AWH77-8 90-1 105-6]
  • On the 25th of November a concert was held in Carnegie Hall as a birthday tribute to Dizzy Gillespie called "Celebrating the Bahá'í Vision of World Peace". [VV141]
  • On the 26th of November Bahá'ís around the world were linked together by a live satellite broadcast serving the second Bahá'í World Congress, the nine auxiliary conferences and the Bahá'í World Centre and it was received by those with access to satellite dish antennas. [BINS283:1–5, 8; BINS286:10; BINS287:4]
  • For the message of the Universal House of Justice read on the satellite link see BW92–3:37–4.
  • For accounts of personal experiences by some of the attendees see In the Eyes of His Beloved Servants: The Second Bahá'í World Congress and Holy Year by J. Michael Kafes.
  • The film, 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Mission to America, made by Elizabeth Martin, was prepared for the World Congress program and also used in the Theme Pavilion. [HNWE45]
    		• New York; United States; Buenos Aires; Argentina; Sydney; Australia; New Delhi; India; Nairobi; Kenya; Panama; Bucharest; Romania; Moscow; Russia; Apia; Samoa; Singapore World Congresses; Carnegie Hall; Centenaries; Bahaullah, Ascension of; Dizzy Gillespie; - Basic timeline, Expanded; film; Abdul-Baha: Mission to America; Elizabeth Martin
    1993 29 - 31 Oct The founding conference of the Association for Bahá'í Studies in Russia was held in St Petersburg. [BINS305:5] St Petersburg; Russia Bahai Studies, Associations for; Conferences, Bahai; Conferences
    1994 Jul 20 – 25 The European Bahá'í Youth Council sponsored five regional ‘Shaping Europe' conferences, in Berlin, Bucharest, St Petersburg, Barcelona and Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. [BINS323:3–5; BW94–5:177–8, 189] Berlin; Germany; Bucharest; Romania; St Petersburg; Russia; Barcelona; Portugal; Wolverhampton; United Kingdom; Europe Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Youth; Conferences, International; Youth
    1999 19 Jan The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Russia formally received its re-registration documents under the new law on religious organizations that was passed by the Russian Parliament in the fall of 1997.
  • Formal recognition as a “centralized religious organization” entitled the community to full rights to teach and proclaim the Faith, publish and import literature, rent and own property, invite foreign nationals etc. [From “European Bulletin” Issue 60 February 1999]
    		•  Russia National Spiritual Assembly; Russian Parliament

    from the main catalogue

    1. Bahá'ís of the Caucasus, The, by Bayram Balci and Azer Jafarov, in Caucaz Europe News (2007). Three short articles: "Who are the Baha’is of the Caucasus?," "From Russian Tolerance to Soviet Repression," and "An Independent Azerbaijan." [about]
    2. Biography of Tsar Alexander: Tablet to Tsar Alexander II (Lawh-i-Malik-i-Rus), in Encyclopedia Britannica (1999). Short biography of Tsar Alexander ll describing him as a great historical figure without the charisma of a great man. Suggests history should view what he did, such as abolishing serfdom and building railroads, as more important than who he was. [about]
    3. Development of the Babi/Bahá'í Communities, The: Exploring Baron Rosen's Archives, by Youli A. Ioannesyan (2013). 19th-century private letters and diplomatic correspondence from a prominent Russian scholar, one of the first to study the rise of the Babis. Excerpt from book: contents and Introduction. (Offsite.) [about]
    4. Les Bahaïs du Caucase: b.a.-ba d'une communauté méconnue, by Azer Jafarov and Bayram Balci, in Religion et politique dans le Caucase post-soviétique (2007). Chapter on "the Bahá'ís of the Caucasus, the basics [lit. the ABCs] of an unknown community." [about]
    5. Lev Tolstoi and the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions: A Bibliography, by William P. Collins and Jan T. Jasion, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3:3 (1991). The great spiritual crisis of Tolstoi’s life led him to a search for a pure faith. Late in life, this search led to his examination of the Bábí–Bahá’í religions. A bibliography of material on Tolstoi’s association with the Bahá'í Faith. [about]
    6. Notes on the Babi and Bahá'í Religions in Russia and its territories, by Graham Hassall, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 5:3 (1993). Overview of the history of Bábí and Bahá'í communities in Russia and Russian territories. [about]
    7. Scholar Meets Prophet: Edward Granville Browne and Bahá'u'lláh (Acre, 1890), by Christopher Buck and Youli A. Ioannesyan, in Bahá'í Studies Review, 20 (2018). Details of E.G. Browne's handwritten notes about his meeting with Bahá'u'lláh, his stay in Akka in April 1890, and his correspondence with Russian academics. [about]
    8. Seizure of the Ishqabad Temple: Horace Holley Interview with State Department Officials (1939). Brief report of an interview with the secretary of the US National Spiritual Assembly on whether and why the Soviet government had appropriated the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Ashkhabad. [about]
     
    See all tags, sorted numerically or alphabetically.

    See all locations, sorted numerically or alphabetically.

    Home Site Map Forum Links Copyright About Contact
    		.
    . .