Chronology: Date 1901

Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 1901, descending — sort earliest first

date	event	tags	firsts
1901 26 Dec 190-	Agnes Alexander arrived back in Hawaii, the first Bahá'í to set foot in the islands. [BFA2:159–60]	Agnes Alexander; Hawaii, USA	First Bahá'í to set foot in Hawaii
1901 26 Nov 190-	The Day of the Covenant The Day of the Covenant is a Bahá'í holy day honouring the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, in particular, 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the "Centre of the Covenant" and as such, the successor, the interpreter and the exemplar of the Bahá'í Faith. Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant also provided for the extension of this covenant to the Guardian and to the Universal House of Justice. The first celebration of the Day of the Covenant in North America was marked on this day in Chicago. It was sponsored by "The Chicago House of Justice" and the "Women's Assembly of Teaching". It was attended by both Mírzá Assad'ullah and Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl. It can be presumed that they had educated the community in the commemoration of this Holy Day. [BFA2p56-57] Prior to this time some of the believers celebrated the birth of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the 22nd of May. Others marked the 29th of May, the anniversary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and thusly, the day on which He acceded to the leadership of the Bahá'í community. 'Abdu'l-Bahá chose the day November 26th, as reckoned by the Gregorian calendar, as approximately half a year away from the day of Bahá'u'lláh's ascension, to commemorate His appointment of the Centre of the Covenant. This Holy Day is now celebrated on the 25th or 26th of November depending on the date of Naw-Rúz. The day was know as Jashn-i-A'zam (The Greatest Festival) in the East because He was Ghusn-i-A'zam, the Greatest Branch or the "Most Might Branch" [GPB238, BFA2:XV, 56; SA247, Day of the Covenant by Christopher Buck, AB523]	Day of the Covenant; Firsts, other; Covenant; Holy days; `Abdu'l-Bahá, Birth of; Bahá'u'lláh, Ascension of; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)	First celebration of Day of the Covenant in North America. First Holy Day celebrated in North America.
1901 2 Nov 190-	Birth of John Robarts, Hand of the Cause of God, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.	John Robarts; - Births and deaths; Waterloo, ON; Ontario, Canada; Canada
1901 12 Sep 190-	The publication of tablets revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá "To the House of Justice at Chicago, To the Ladies' Assembly of Teaching, To Mirza Assad'ullah and to other individuals, also one to the Believers in Persia." translated by Ali-Kuli Khan. [Collins3.159; Tablets Revealed by the Master Abdul Beha Abbas.]	* `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
1901 Sep 190-	Thomas Breakwell went on pilgrimage to `Akká, the first Englishman to do so. He was accompanied by Herbert Hopper. [BFA2:154; BW7:709] For an account of this pilgrimage see AB77 and BW7:710.	Thomas Breakwell; Pilgrimage; - First pilgrims; Herbert Hopper; Akka, Israel	First Englishman to go on pilgrimage to `Akká
1901 20 Aug 190-	Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamíd re-imposed the restrictions confining `Abdu'l-Bahá and His brothers within the walls of `Akká. [AB94; CB226–7; DH67–8; GBP264] This was the result of mischief stirred up by Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí. [AB92–5; CB227; GBP264] See as well An Epistle to the Bahá'í World by Mirza Badi'u'llah, page 18. `Abdu'l-Bahá was subjected to long interviews and detailed questioning. [AB95; GPB2645] For the continued mischief and false allegations of the Covenant-breakers see CB227–30 and GBP265–7. `Abdu'l-Bahá suspended the visits of the pilgrims for a time. [GBP267] He directed that all the Bahá'í writings in the possession of His family and secretaries be transferred to Egypt and has His mail redirected through an agent in Egypt. [GBP267] For the work of `Abdu'l-Bahá whilst in confinement 1901–8 see CB231–44 and GBP267–9.	Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamid; Mírzá Muhammad Ali; Covenant-breaking; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; Pilgrims; Pilgrimage; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Badiullah; Akka, Israel; Egypt
1901 Aug 190-	`Abdu'l-Bahá wrote His Will and Testament over this seven-year period. [AB124–5, 484; BBD236] It was written in three parts. [AB124–5, 484; BBD236] It `may be regarded as the offspring resulting from that mystic intercourse between Him Who had generated the forces of a God-given Faith and the One Who had been made its sole Interpreter and was recognized as its perfect Exemplar'. [GPB325] Shoghi Effendi calls the Will the "Charter of the New World Order". [WOB144] For an analysis of its content and its import see AB484–93 and GPB325–8. For a photo of the opening pages of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament see Bahá'í Media Bank.	Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá; Charters of the Bahá'í Faith; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Covenant; Akka, Israel
1901 Aug 190-	Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl-i-Gulpáygání arrived in North America. [BFA2:XV] Laura Barney financed the visit of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl to the United States in 1901-04 in order to propagate the Faith and to help publish the translation of his Ḥojaj al-bahīya (Cairo, 1342/1925; tr. Ali-Kuli Khan as The Bahá'í Proofs, New York, 1902; 2nd ed., ed. J. R. I. Cole, Wilmette, Ill., 1983) [Wikipedia, Laura Clifford Barney.] See BFA2:80–7 and BW9:855–860 for accounts of his visit. See Wikipedia, Green Acre and Wikipedia, Mary Hanford Ford for accounts of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl at Green Acre. Mirza Ahmad Sohrab was sent to assist him. Sohrab remained and worked at the Iranian Consulate until 1912 and during this time he translated much of the correspondence between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Western believers. At the conclusion of the American tour he returned to the Holy Land. After the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he rejected the authority of Shoghi Effendi and was expelled. [APD155] [LDNW17] says he was accompanied by Ali-Kuli Kahn.	Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani; Proofs; * Publications; Laura Clifford Barney; Ahmad Sohrab; Covenant-breaking; Green Acre, Eliot, ME; New York, USA; United States (USA)
1901 Mid-Jul 190-	Hájí Hasan-i-Khurásání and his translator, Husayn Rúhí left the United States to return to Egypt. [BFA2:38]	Hájí Hasan-i-Khurasani; New York, USA
1901 (In the year) 190-	Hippolyte Dreyfus heard of the Bahá'í Faith from May Bolles in Paris and soon after accepted it. [AB81–2] He was designated by Shoghi Effendi the `first Frenchman to embrace the Faith'. [GPB259] He was the first European Bahá'í to visit Iran. [AB81] After his marriage to Laura Clifford Barney they adopted the surname Dreyfus-Barney. [AB81]	Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney; May Maxwell (Bolles); Laura Clifford Barney; Paris, France; France	First Frenchman to embrace the Faith; first European Bahá'í to visit Iran
1901 summer 190-	Thomas Breakwell, an Englishman living in the United States, learned of the Bahá'í Faith in Paris from May Bolles. Within three days he became a believer and immediately wrote to `Abdu'l-Bahá. [AB74–5; BW7:707] For May Bolles' own account see BW7:707–11. He is the first male British Bahá'í. [BFA2:154] He is designated by Shoghi Effendi the `first English believer'. [GPB259] He is the first Western Bahá'í to pay Huqúqu'lláh. [BW7:710] See also AB74–80; BFA2:154; SEBW6572.	Thomas Breakwell; May Maxwell (Bolles); Huqúqu'lláh; - First Bahá'ís by country or area; Firsts, other; Paris, France; France	First male British Bahá'í; first English believer; first Western Bahá'í to pay Huqúqu'lláh
1901 29 May 190-	The Bahá'í women of Chicago elected their own Board and held the first business meeting of the `Women's Auxiliary Board' or "Women's Teaching Assembly". [BFA2:XV, 49–50; SYH64-65]	Women; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)	First business meeting of `Women's Auxiliary Board'
1901 24 May 190-	The name of the Chicago Board of Council was changed to the House of Justice. [BFA2:48] `Abdu'l-Bahá requested that this name be changed a year later. [BFA2:49]	Board of Council; House of Justice; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
1901 20 May 190-	The number of members on the Board of Council was raised to 12. [BFA2:47]	Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
1901 15 May 190-	Mirza Assad'u'llah, received a Tablet from Abdul-Baha, in which He has positively declared to be necessary the establishment here of the House of Justice by election by the believers with order and just dealing. According to this blessed Announcement, our believers have elected those whom they deemed best fitted, and thus The House of Justice was established.The Chicago Bahá'ís elected a nine-man Board of Council for a term of five years. Those elected were: George Lesch, Charles H. Greenleaf, John A. Guilford, Dr. Rufus H. Bartlett, Thornton Chase, Charles Hessler, Arthur S. Agnew, Byron S. Lane and Henry L. Goodall. [BFA2:XXV, 44–7; The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith] Only days after the election of the Chicago House of Justice, a Ladies' Auxilliary Board was organized at the suggestion of Mrs. Ella Nash and Mrs. Corinne True. This Board was later to be known as the Women's Assembly of Teaching. It appears that the Ladies' Auxilliary was able to maintain control of the funds of the Chicago Bahá'í community despite the election of the House of Justice.[The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith]	Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; Local Spiritual Assembly, formation; Ladies Auxiliary Board; Ella Nash; Corinne True; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
1901 (approx 4 yrs after ascension of Bahá'u'lláh) 190-	'Aqá Jamál Burújirdí had been a member of the Islamic clergy in Burujerd and was widely known and revered across Iran as a gifted teacher of the Faith. He was a proud and egotistical man but during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh, he received much praise and various honorary titles such as Ismu'lláh'u'l-Jamál (The Name of God Jamál) due to his many services. During his visit to 'Akká following the passing of Bahá'u'lláh he made contact with Mírzá Muhammad-Alí with the goal of securing a prominent place in the administration of the faith under his leadership, all the while feigning loyalty to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. In God Passes By p247-248 Shoghi Effendi says of Mírzá Muhammad-Alí and those who tried to assist him in his nefarious efforts, "Closely-knit by one common wish and purpose; indefatigable in their efforts; assured of the backing of the powerful and perfidious Jamál-i-Burújirdí and his henchmen, Ḥájí Ḥusayn-i-Káshí, Khalíl-i-Khú'í and Jalíl-i-Tabrízí who had espoused their cause; linked by a vast system of correspondence with every center and individual they could reach; seconded in their labours by emissaries whom they dispatched to Persia, 'Iráq, India and Egypt; emboldened in their designs by the attitude of officials whom they bribed or seduced, these repudiators of a divinely-established Covenant arose, as one man, to launch a campaign of abuse and vilification which compared in virulence with the infamous accusations which Mírzá Yaḥyá and Siyyid Muḥammad had jointly levelled at Bahá'u'lláh." He was publically unmasked after the Covenant-breakers printed letters with falsehoods and misleading statements. believed to be about four years after the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh. He became known in the Bahá'í community as "Hyena" or "Old Hyena" (pír-i-kaftár). He died in poverty and disgrace in Iran. The date of his death is not known. [M9YA6-7, 432, RoB2p118-9, 264-267, MMoB104-105, CB165-166, 209-15, Biographies of Jamal-i-Burujirdi] Shogi Effendi described 'Aqá Jamál Burújirdí as being "Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí's tablet lieutenant in Persia, "all trey to a fatal an loathsome disease". ]GPB319] He was the recipient of many tablets from both Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, one of which can be found in Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh p5-9 and a more complete provisional translation of the original tablet can be found here. See also Tablet to Jamal-i-Burujirdi by Bahá'u'lláh translated by Khazeh Fananapazir. See ARG168 for mention of him relation to a refutation he received from Fádil-i-Shirází.	Jamal-i-Burujirdi; Covenant-breaking; Hájí Husayn-i-Kashi; Khalil-i-Khui; Jalil-i-Tabrizi; Names and titles; Fadil-i-Shirazi (Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim); Borujerd, Iran; Iran
1901 May 190-	Ghulám-Ridá was killed in Najafábád. [BW18:385]	* Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Najaf, Iranabad, Iran; Iran
1901 Apr 190-	The Iranian ambassador to the Ottoman government at Istanbul, `Ala'u'l-Mulk, filed a report with the Office of Foreign Ministry in Tihran which was subsequently presented to the Shah.	Shah, Reports to; Istanbul, Turkey; Turkey
1901 22 Jan 190-	The passing of Queen Victoria. Of all the leaders addressed by Bahá'u'lláh only she is reputed to have made a courteous reply. [CBM47; PDC65] See Napoleon III and Queen Victoria, Responses to the Tablets of Baha'u'llah written by/on behalf of the Universal House of Ousted 1997-11-06. See CBM47–8 for Bahá'u'lláh's prophecy concerning the success of her reign. See Baha'u'llah Addresses Queen Victoria by David Langness. See Bahá'u'lláh's letter to Queen Victoria: Reform the World by Michael Curtotti. See Baha'u'llah's letter to Queen Victoria on the British Library site.	Queen Victoria; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; London, England; United Kingdom
1901 (In the year) 190-	'Abdu'l-Bahá had Gabriel Sacy, a Bahá'í Frenchman of Syrian Christian origin, deliver a message to Leo Tolstoy. In speaking of the colonialism and the imperialism of the day He said in part: (emphasis added) For several centuries the West has been now attacking the East like bandits with its armies and cavalries and has not stopped yet. And it is going to continue this assault with all troops at its disposal until Doomsday. You observe the large armies impetuously assaulting like lions from the woods of the Western world onto the battlefields of the East. Among these are an army of finance (tharwa), an army of industries (saná`a), an army of commerce (tijára), an army of politics (siyása), an army of knowledge (ma´árif) and an army of discoveries (iktisháfát), numerous soldiers loaded with war materiel, assaulting from the West with their sharp and deadly weapons and conquering the East in all its parts. [Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu'l-Baha's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p7]	Leo Tolstoy (author); Colonialism and imperialism; Gabriel Sacy
1901 (In the year) 190-	The Faith is introduced to China by a Persian. [Major events of the Century of Light prepared by Dr. Ahmadi]	China
1901 (In the year) 190-	Siyyid Mustafá Rúmí sent from Rangoon a sample of the marble that the sarcophagus for the remains of the Báb was to be made from. Mishkin-Qalam asked for permission to design a Greatest Name for the sarcophagus, and, as was his custom, he signed the design. In the time of Bahá'u'lláh he signed his work with "The servant of the Threshold of Bahá, Mishkin-Qalam" but for this work his proposal had the signature, "The servant of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Mishkin-Qalam." 'Abdu'l-Bahá did not approve. Throughout His ministry, `Abdu'l-Bahá greatly disapproved of believers composing verses about, or glorifying, His Person in any way. He would admonish them to focus their praise on Bahá'u'lláh. [MBBA155-157]	Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); Mount Carmel; Báb, Remains of; Báb, Sarcophagus for; Sarcophagus; Mishkin-Qalam; Siyyid Mustafa Rumi; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Yangon, Myanmar; Myanmar; Haifa, Israel
1901 (In the year) 190-	William Hoar, one of the first Bahá'ís in America, was asked by `Abdu'l-Bahá to meet with the Persian ambassador in Washington to request justice for the Bahá'ís of Iran, thus marking the beginning of the efforts of the American Bahá'í community to alleviate the persecution of their brethren. [BFA2:51]	William Hoar; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; - Ambassadors; Human rights; Firsts, other; Washington, DC, USA; United States (USA); Iran	First effort of American Bahá'í community to alleviate persecution of Persian brethren.
1901 (In the year) 190-	The Junayn Gardens northwest of Mazra`ih, owned by several Bahá'ís, was registered under the name of `Abdu'l-Bahá and a brother. [BBD124]	Junayn gardens (Israel); House of Bahá'u'lláh (Mazraih); * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Akka, Israel; Mazraih, Israel
1901 (In the year) 190-	Arthur Pillsbury Dodge published his book The Truth of It, the first introductory book on the Bahá'í Faith written by a Western believer. [BFA2:93; Collins7.820]	Arthur Pillsbury Dodge; Introductory; - First publications; * Publications; United States (USA)	First introductory book on Bahá'í Faith written by Western believer
1901 (In the Year) 190-	The publication of Lesson on the Beha Revelation by W Hooper Harris. This publication was a series of lessons based on Christian prophecies that was used for teaching the Bahá'í Faith in the early days of the religion in the United States. [Collins7.1136]	Hooper Harris; Bayonne, NJ
1901 (In the Year) 190-	Dr Frederick D'Evelyn, born in Belfast about 1855 was the first person of Irish birth to accept the Faith. In the year became a Bahá'í, he was in the party (along with Helen Goodall, Ella Goodall Cooper, and Mr and Mrs W. C. Ralston) that officially welcomed 'Abdu’l-Bahá on His arrival in San Francisco in October 1912, and his name appears first of the list of recipients of a tablet from the Master published in Star of the West on 19 January 1915. Dr D'Evelyn's account of the historic meeting is reproduced in Marion Carpenter Yazdi's Youth in the Vanguard which describes his involvement in Bahá'í activities a number of times. His service is mentioned in other books, such as Mahmud's Diary and Leroy Ioas - Hand of the Cause of God by Anita Ioas Chapman, and he appears a number of times in Star of the West, sometimes referred to as "Frederick W. Evelyn". In addition to his local position he was a member of the Temple Unity Board, the forerunner of the National Spiritual Assembly. In August 1932 he died after a brief illness and was interred at Cypress Lawn cemetery. The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of San Francisco expressed its "grief and sense of serious loss" and paid tribute to "the untiring services and inspiring leadership of their first Chairman, Dr Frederick W. D'Evelyn". [Bahá'í Council website]	Ireland	The first person of Irish birth to accept the Bahá'í Faith.


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