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Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 1875-00-0, descending sort earliest first

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1875 (In the year)
187-
Theosophy was established as a religious philosophical movement in New York City by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891). It contained elements of Hinduism and Buddhism and held that the purpose of all the religions was to assist humanity toward perfection and that all religions had a portion of the "truth". It has since split into a number of conflicting ideologies. [ABF9note54, Wikipedia (Blavatskian)]
  • The cordial relations between the Theosophical Society and the Bahá'í Faith helped in the spreading of the Faith in the United States, Europe and in South America.
  • Theosophy; Theosophical Society; Helena Blavatsky; Esotericism; Occultism; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    1875 (In the year)
    187-
    At the request of Baha'u'lláh,`Abdu'l-Bahá wrote The Mysterious Forces of Civilization, a treatise on the establishment of a just, progressive and divinely-based government. [SDCv; Baha'u'llah on the Circumstances of the Composition of "The Secret of Divine Civilization" a provisional translation of a Tablet by Bahá'u'lláh by Adib Masumian]
  • It was lithographed in Bombay in 1882. It was first published in English under the title The Mysterious Forces of Civilization in London in 1910. [SDCv] It was re-issued in 1918 and later translated as The Secret of Divine Civilization by Marzieh Gail and published by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust in Wilmette in 1957.
  • See Marzieh Gail's Summon Up Remembrance pg46-47 for a description of Persia at the time. The nation was ostensibly ruled by a self-serving monarch who had little regard for the county or its people. The government administered the chessboard where Russia and England played out their competing imperialistic designs to increase their respective spheres of influence. Through bribery and intrigue, they contended to raise up ministers who would do their bidding. They thwarted the progress of the nation by manipulating the clergy to oppose any Western ideas, threatening that such would threaten Islam. If required these measures were supplemented with the bribery of the ulamas, accepted eagerly either for their personal gain or for contributions to their communities. Thus Iranians were kept divided, deprived, and ignorant; all the better to exploit them. [SUR62]
  • Shoghi Effendi called The Secret of Divine Civilization "`Abdu'l-Bahá's outstanding contribution to the future reorganization of the world". [WOB37]
  • See the English translation of the message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of Iran dated 26 November 2003 in which they make reference to this book.
  • See a comment about the book.
  • Secret of Divine Civilization (book); - Publishing; * Publications; - First publications; Corruption; Reform; Iran, General history; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Adib Masumian; Akka, Israel; Mumbai, India; India; Iran
    1875 (In the year)
    187-
    `Abdu'l-Bahá rented a small garden near `Akká for Bahá'u'lláh's use. [BBD196–7; DH95]
  • See DH95 for its situation.
  • This garden on the river Na`mayn was later named Ridván by Bahá'u'lláh. [DH95]
  • Ridván garden (Akká); * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * Bahaullah (chronology); Gardens; Akka, Israel
    1875 (In the year)
    187-
    Bahá'u'lláh sent Sulaymán Khán Ilyás, Jamál Effendi, to India. [BW4:285; GPB195; MC155]
  • See EB120–1, 122–8 and MF134–8.
  • BBRSM90, 193 say he was sent in 1871 and left in 1878. BW18p246 says he arrived in 1872. EB122 says he reached Bombay in 1878 and stayed 11 years on the subcontinent.
  • His work helped establish Bahá'í communities in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras as well as in Burma. [BBRSM91; GPB225]
  • See Momen-Jamal Effendi for a map of his travels in India (1876-1879) and South-east Asia (1884-1886) as well as to Central Asia 1888-1896.
  • Among those he taught was Siyyid Mustafá Rúmí, who later found the Bahá'í community of Burma. [BW10:517] iiiii
  • Sulayman Khan Ilyas; Jamal Effendi; Siyyid Mustafa Rumi; Mumbai, India; Kolkata, India; Chennai, India; India; Myanmar first..
    1875 (In the year)
    187-
    The `ulamá arouse the rabble against the Bahá'ís in Sidih, Isfahán. Several Bahá'ís were imprisoned, including Nayyir and Síná. [BW18:383] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Sidih, Iran; Isfahan, Iran; Iran
    1875 (In the year)
    187-
    Ḥakím Áqá Ján was the first Jewish believer from Hamadán. Given his position of leadership in the Jewish community, his acceptance of the Cause guided countless other Jews of Hamadán to do the same. He was convinced of the truth of the Faith after attending the talks of Hand of the Cause Ibn-i-Aṣdaq who had come from Khurásán to Hamadán and would hold gatherings for teaching the Cause.

    The wife of Ḥakím Áqá Ján, Ṭúṭí Khánum, was a deeply faithful believer and his son, Mírzá Mihdí Khán, a doctor of medicine like his father, became the personal physician of Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh.

    In 1881, on his deathbed, Ḥakím Áqá Ján was reported to have seen Bahá'u'lláh standing in his room although He was in the Holy Land. In a tablet addressed to his son after his passing, Bahá'u'lláh said that He was with him at the moment of his ascension. [An Account of the Life of Ḥakím Áqá Ján translated by Adobe Masumian]

    For more information on the enrolment of Persian Jews see Jewish Identities in Iran: Resistance and Conversion to Islam and the Baha'i Faith by Mehrdad Amanat as well as Arsalan Geula's Iranian Bahá'ís from Jewish Background: A Portrait of an Emerging Bahá'í Community.]

    Jews; Hamadán, Iran; Iran the first Jewish believer from Hamadán.
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