- 1778-00-00 — Birth of Mírzá Muhammad Riday-i-Shírází, the father of the Báb.
- 1819-10-20 —
Birth of Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad (The Báb), before dawn, in Shíráz. [B32; GH13; DB14, 72]
- The Primal Point (Nuqtiy-i-Úlá). [BBD185]
- The Promised One of Islam, the Qá'im. [BBD188]
- Siyyid-i-dhikr (Lord of Remembrance). [BBD212]
- His mother was Fátimih-Bagum. [Bab33, 46; KBWB20; RB2:382]
- In the latter years of her life while she was living in Iraq, Bahá'u'lláh instructed two of His devoted followers, Hájí Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'í and the wife of Hájí 'Abdu'l-Majíd-i-Shírází, to acquaint her in the principles of the Faith and she became aware of the bountiful gifts which God had conferred upon her. [DB191]
- His father was Mírzá Muhammad Ridá. [BW4:234–5; LOG351; SE206; TN4]
- He was a direct heir of the House of Háshim and descended thus from Muhammad and through Him from Abraham. [BW8:874]
- Designations of the Báb include `Abdu'dh-dhikr (Servant of the Remembrance), Bábu'lláh (the Gate of God) and Hadrat-i-A`lá (His Holiness the Most Exalted One). [BBD1, 30, 93]
- For biblical reference see LOG378. See RB1:304 for extracts from Shoghi Effendi re: His station.
- See BBD39, GPB157–8 for a condensed history.
- See Bab32 and TN4 for discussion of the date of His father's death
- See DB28–30. See DB75 for the extent of His schooling. See DB75 n1 for his education.
- Also see Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p15-18.
- 1820-00-01 — Birth of Khadíjih Bagum (daughter of Mírzá `Alí, a merchant of Shíráz), first wife of the Báb, in Shíráz.
- 1828-00-01 —
Passing of Mírzá Muhammad Ridá, the father of the Báb.
- The Báb was placed in the care of His maternal uncle, Hájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí, Khál-i-A`zam (the Most Great Uncle). He was a leading merchant of Shíráz and was the first, after the Letters of the Living, to embrace the new Cause in that city. He was one of the Seven Martyrs of Tihrán. [BBD14]
- In the household was an Ethiopian servant named Mubarak who nurtured and tutored Him throughout His later childhood and adolescence. "the Bab, in fact, places Mubarak on the same plane as his father." [The Ethiopian King by Nader Saiedi translated by Omid Ghaemmaghami Baha'i Studies Review, Volume 17 p181-186] This servant was not, in fact, the Hají Mubarak who later accompanied Him to Mecca.
- According to Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl-i-Gulpáygání, the Báb was still an infant and had not yet been weaned when His father passed away. [DB72]
- 1830-01-00 — Birth of Hájí Mírzá Muhammad Taqí Afnán (Vakílu'd-Dawlih), maternal uncle of the Báb, who supervised and largely paid for the building of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in `Ishqábád.
- 1842-08-00 —
The marriage of Siyyid `Alí Muhammad (the Báb) in Shíráz to Khadíjih-Bagum (b. 1821) the daughter of Mirzá 'Ali, a merchant of Shiraz. She had been a childhood friend and sometimes playmate. Their family homes were adjacent. [Bab46; BBD28, 127; BKG402; RB2:382; DoH107; DB76note3]
- See Bab80 for a reproduction of the marriage certificate.
- He returned to live in the House after His marriage. [RoB4429]
- 1843-00-01 —
Birth of Ahmad, son of the Báb. He passed away shortly after he was born (or was still-born). [Bab46-47; DB76note4; 77; KBWB6-9]
- DB74 for a picture of his resting-place. Also see KBWB7.
- 1845-02-28 —
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]
- 1845-07-07 —
The Báb arrived in Shíráz.
-
Note: Other estimates for the time of His arrival in Shíráz are from about the 8th to 16th of August based on the fact that Husayn Khán ordered His arrest after the beating of Mullá Sádiq and Quddús. "According to A. L. M. Nicolas' "Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad dit le Báb" (footnote 175, p. 225), this meeting took place on August 6, 1845 A.D." [DB146n2]
- Bab105 says it must have taken the Báb another week at least to reach Shíráz;
- SBBH1:24 says He arrived in Shíráz in early July.
- Upon arrival in Shíráz the Báb was taken to the governor who publicly interrogated Him, rebuked Him and ordered his attendant to strike Him across the face. He was struck such a violent blow that His turban fell to the ground. Due to the intervention of Shay Abú-Turáb, the head ímam of the region He was released into the custody of His maternal uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí. [Bab85–9; BBRSM216; DB150–1; GPB11]
- Note: DB155 states that after He was released and "regained His home" He was able to celebrate Naw-Rúz that fell on 10 Rabí'u'l-Avval, 1261 (19 March, 1945). This is an error. GPB11 says He was able to "celebrate the Naw-Rúz of that and the succeeding year in an atmosphere of relative tranquillity in the company of His mother, His wife and His uncle.'' This too appears to be in error. If He left Shíráz in September of 1846 He would not have been present In March of 1847.
- Three of the divines of Shíráz passed a verdict of death upon The Báb. But for the intercession of Zahrá Bagum, the sister of the wife of The Báb, Khadíjih-Bagum, the mother of The Báb, Fátimih Bagum, with Shay Abú-Turáb, the Imám-Jum'ih of Shíráz, the Báb would have been executed. [LTDT12]
- 1845-08-00 —
The Báb was released to the custody of His uncle, Hájí Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí. [DB151, LTDT13]
- Báb was asked by Mírzá Abu'l-Qásim to attend a Friday gathering at the Mosque of Vakíl to appease the hostility and the curiosity of some of the residents of Shíráz and to clarify His position. The exact date of His attendance is unknown. He made a public pronouncement that He was neither the representative of the Hidden Imám nor the gate to him, that is, His station was higher. Many of those who witnessed His address became partisans. [Bab94–8; DB153–157]
- see DB152 for pictures of the above mosque.
- This time has been described by Shoghi Effendi as the `most fecund period' of the Báb's ministry. It marks the birth of the Bábí community. [Bab89–90]
- During this time He was asked to speak in mosques and in colleges and He addressed gatherings in His home. The clergy sent their most able mullas to refute and humiliate Him without success. He never attacked the government or Islam but rather called out the corrupt clergy and the abuses of all classes of society. His fame and acceptance among the population grew. [DB157note1]
- A considerable number of the Báb's followers had congregated in Isfahan at His instruction when He informed them He would not go to Karbilá when He returned from Mecca as He had previously stated. Upon hearing the news of the confinement of the Báb, Mullá Husayn and his companions, his brother and nephew, left Isfahán where they have been awaiting further instructions. They travelled to Shíráz in disguise. Mullá Husayn was able to meet secretly with the Báb several times in the house of His uncle. The Báb sent word to the remainder of His followers in Isfahán to leave and to travel to Shíráz in small, inconspicuous numbers. Among those gathered were some who were jealous of Múllá Husayn and the attention he received from the Báb. They threw their lot in with the detractors and were eventually expelled from the city for the unrest they caused. [DB160-162; Bab102–3; MH128–9]
- After a time the presence of Mullá Husayn in Shíráz threatened to cause civil unrest. The Báb instructed him to go to Khurásán via Yazd and Kirmán and told the rest of the companions to return to Isfahán. He retained Mullá 'Abdu'l-Karím to transcribe His Writings. [Bab90, 102–3; DB170; MH130]
- The Sháh sent one of the most learned men in Persia, Siyyid Yahyáy-i-Dárábí, (a town near Nayriz) surnamed Vahíd, (the peerless one) to investigate the claims of the Báb. He became an adherent of the Cause of the Báb. To him He revealed some 2,000 verses at one sitting of five hours and among the the Surih of Kawthar. Vahíd and 'Abdu'l-Karím spent three days and three nights transcribing this Tablet. Siyyid Yahyáy-i-Dárábí wrote to the Sháh and resigned his post. On the instructions of the Báb he journeyed home to acquaint his father with the new Message. As a result of his conversion most of the inhabitants of the town of Nayríz later became Bábís. [Bab90–4; BBD216; BBRSM41; CH21; DB171–7; GPB11–12; TN7–8; DB171-172note 2; Tablet of Patience (Surih Íabr): Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh and Selected Topics by Foad Seddigh p370; RoB1p325-331] iiiii
- See as well Light of Faith: A collection of stories by Paris Sadeghzadeh and Behnam Golmohammadi p34-37.
- Another learned scholar, Muhammad-`Alíy-i-Zanjání, surnamed Hujjat, became a believer after reading only one page of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá'. Several thousand of his fellow townspeople in Zanján became Bábís. [Bab100–2; BBD111; BBRSM16; GPB12; DB177-179]
- Mírzá Ahmad-i-Azghandí, yet another learned man, who had compiled traditions and prophecies concerning the expected Revelation, became a believer as well. [GPB12–13]
- 1846-03-19 —
The Báb bequeathed all His possessions to His mother and His wife and revealed a special prayer for His wife to help her in times of sorrow. He told His wife of His impending martyrdom. He moved to the house of His uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí. He told the Bábís in Shíráz to go to Isfahán. [GPB14; KB21–2; TB103–5, LTDT13; DB190-192]
- See KBWB.
- 1851-12-00 —
When the news of the martyrdom of the Báb reached Shiraz, Fatimah Bagum, the mother of the Báb, having previously
consulted with her Son about the journey to the `Atabat, (literally means the sublime thresholds.Thea are the shrines of six Shia Imams which are in four cities of Iraq, namely Najaf, Karbala, Kadhimiya and Samarra) decided to leave Shiraz. She wanted to put behind her the constant barrage of insults aimed at her family by the city's divines.
- Before she left, it was decided that Khadíjih Bagum would live with her half-sister in the house of the martyred-uncle of the Báb, Háji Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí, and the Blessed House be entrusted to Mírzá Muhammad-Husayn-i-Bazzaz, son of Mírzá Asadu'llah. He was not a believer in the Báb but a native of Shiraz and a close acquaintance of the family. This decision ushered in a period where the House was in the hands of non-believers. [MBBA167-168]
- 1861-01-00 —
Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Íqán (The Book of Certitude), 'a comprehensive exposition of the nature and purpose of religion'. In the early days this Tablet was referred to as the Risáliy-i-Khál (Epistle of the Uncle). [BBD134, 162; BKG159; BBD134; BBRSM64–5; GPB138–9; RB1:158]
- Online at bahai.org: Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude.
- The Tablet was revealed in answer to four questions put to Bahá'u'lláh by Hájí Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad, a maternal uncle and caregiver of the Báb (the Greater Uncle, the eldest of the three brothers). He had been persuaded by a devout Bábí, Aqá Mírzá Núru'd-Dín, to make a pilgrimage to the holy Shrines of the Imáms in Iraq and where he could put these questions to Bahá'u'lláh as well as visit his sister, the mother of the Báb, who was not yet herself a Bábí. [BBD134, 162; BKG163–5; RB1:158]
- It was revealed in the course of two days and two nights in early January. [BBS107; BBD 134; BKG165; GPB238; RB1:158]
- The original manuscript, in the handwriting of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, is in the Bahá'í International Archives. See Reflections p149 for the story of the receipt of the original tablet, written in the hand of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Shoghi Effendi in the Holy Land. [BKG165; RB1:159]
- It was probably the first of Bahá'u'lláh's writings to appear in print. [BKG165; EB121]
- For a discussion of the circumstances of its revelation, its content and major themes see RB1:153–97.
- BEL1.77 gives the year of Revelation as 1862.
- 1862-00-02 —
Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí, a cousin of the Báb, lived in Shanghai during this period. This is the first record of a Bábí or Bahá'í living in China. [PH24]
- From 1870 he lived in Hong Kong dealing as a merchant and was joined by his brother, Hájí Mírzá Muhammad Husayn. [PH24; Video Early history of the Bahá'í Faith in China 2min56sec]
- 1902-11-28 —
Construction began on the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár of `Ishqábád with the laying of its cornerstone. [BFA2:116-17; YSxvii]
- BBRXXX says this was 12 December. The discrepancy may lie in the use of two different calendars.
- The foundation stone was laid in the presence of General Subotich, governor-general of Turkistan. [BFA2:116–17; GPB300; see discussion of Krupatkin vs Subotich in The City of Love:
Ishqábád and the Institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár by Bruce Whitmore] Also see BBR442-443 for the account of a Russian official, A D Kalmykov who says it was General Subotich.
- `Abdu'l-Bahá commissioned Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-Taqí, the Vakílu'd-Dawlih, son of Hájí Siyyid Muhammad, the uncle of the Báb for whom Bahá'u'lláh had revealed The Kitáb-i-Íqán, to be in charge of the project. He largely paid for it. [AB109]
- `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself delineated the general design and a Russian architect, Volkov, planned and executed the details of the construction. [AB109–10; Universal House of Justice 20 June 1991 para 8]
- A meeting hall and some of its dependencies had been built before 1900.
- The dependencies included two Bahá'í schools, a travellers' hostel, a medical dispensary and Hazíratu'l-Quds. [BBD122; BBR442; BBRSM:91]
- For a Western account of this see BBR442–3.
- See jacket of BBR for a photograph of work on the Temple.
- See the message of the Universal House of Justice dated 1 August, 2014 for more on the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in `Ishqábád.
Specifics
Location: In the heart of the city of `Ishqábád
Foundation Stone: Late 1902 by General Subotich, the governor-general of Turkistan who had been delegated by the Czar to represent him.
Construction Period: Initial step had been undertaken during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh. Superstructure: 1902 – 1907. External Ornamentation: 1919
Site Dedication: No record of a dedication ceremony on completion of the building can be found although the external ornamentation was completed in 1919 it is probable that the building had been in use for some years by this time.
Architects: `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself delineated the general design. More specific design was by Ustad Ali-Akbar-i-Banna and a Russian architect, Volkov, planned and executed the details of the construction under the supervision of Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-Taqí, the son of Hájí Siyyid Muhammad, the uncle of the Báb for whom Bahá'u'lláh had revealed The Kitáb-i-Íqán. [AB109]
Seating:
Dimensions:
Cost:
Dependencies: two Bahá'í schools, a travellers' hostel, a medical dispensary and Hazíratu'l-Quds
Expropriation:1928
Lease period: – 1938
Seizure; the building was turned into an art gallery
Earthquake: 1948
Demolition: August 1963 the Universal House of Justice announced that it had been demolished by the authorities and the site cleared.
References: AB109, BW14p479-481, GPB300-301, CEBF236, EB266-268, MF126-128
- 1911-08-00 —
Hájí Muhammad-Taqí Afnán, Vakílu'd-Dawlih, the cousin of the Báb largely responsible for the building of the House of Worship in `Ishqábád, was buried in the newly acquired Bahá'í cemetery in Haifa, the earliest recorded burial in the cemetery. [BBD51; DH182]
- He was appointed as one of the Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh.
- 1955-04-21 —
The Báb's only child, Ahmad, was still-born or died soon after birth. Khadíjih Bagum had a very difficult delivery and almost died as a result. The child was buried under a pine (or cypress) tree in the shrine of Bíbí-Dukhtarán (meaning Matron or Mistress of the Maidens).
- In the opening days of 1955, the Shíráz municipality decided to construct a school on the site which would have destroyed the grave. When advised of the situation Shoghi Effendi responded: "Guardian approves transfer remains Primal Point's Son Gulistán Jávíd. Ensure befitting burial."
- The Spiritual Assembly arranged for the remains to be exhumed, laid in a silk container, and placed in a cement coffin. For three months, the coffin was kept in the western part of the local Hadiratu'l-Quds. On the 21st of April 1955, which coincided with the day of the Báb's martyrdom reckoned by the lunar calendar, a special ceremony for the reinterment was held. It was the largest Bahá'í gathering in Shíráz in the history of the Bahá'í Faith. Multitudes of believers from all parts of the country participated in the historic event. In a prayerful atmosphere, the remains were reinterred in the Bahá'í cemetery of Shíráz. The Guardian heard the details and, on 24 April, cabled his joy: "SHIRAZ ASSEMBLY CARE KHADEM TEHERAN. OVERJOYED HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT CONGRATULATE VALIANT FRIENDS LOVING REMEMBRANCE SHRINES SUPPLICATING BOUNTIFUL BLESSINGS. SHOGHI." [The Afnán Family:
Some Biographical Notes by Ahang Rabbani 2007 Note <44>]
- In the first báb of the fifth vahíd of the Persian Bayán, the Báb asks for a befitting structure to be built over the resting-place of Ahmad for the faithful to worship God. [Bahaipedia]
.
- 1975-11-01 — In Iran, the house of the maternal uncle of the Báb and the adjacent house in which the Báb was born were destroyed on the pretext that the sites needed to be cleared. [BW17:79]
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