Masterchron

Master Chronology

Scanned by John Taylor; 24 July 2007

The following information is from A Basic Baha’i Chronology, by Glenn Cameron, with Wendy Momen, George Ronald, Oxford, 1996, pp. 100 – 200. As always, I do this for my own information but share it for those other students of the Master who may be interested. This is not casual reading, I know, but such things have their uses, especially for the Baha’i speakers I am serving on this Badi’ list. I have concentrated on what covers the ministry of the Master, a period that I find is very hard to get your head around without a chronology, since the events are described in dozens of books unrelated to each other.

As you also see, many of the dates of early Baha’i history are vague and antsy, even with the assiduous tracing of these scholars. I have scanned and corrected the following segment. It is very long, boring and tedious work, so if anybody knows that this chronology has already been scanned and is available on the Web somewhere, please let me know. I have left out many of the birth dates of prominent later Baha’is in this chronology, leaving only what is relevant to the Master. The abbreviations of the books referenced are to be found in the front section of Cameron’s book. I may scan that too, if I live long enough. I have tried to remove all the scanning errors I saw but there are a million of them, so let me know which ones slipped through.  

 A Chronology of the Ministry of the Master (this installment, 1886-1900)
 
1886 Sep Mishkin-Qalam leaves Cyprus on a Syrian vessel going direct to 'Akka.

1887

1887 Mirza Musa, Aqay-i-Kalim, the faithful brother of Baha'u'llah, dies in 'Akka. He is buried in the Baha'i section of the Muslim cemetery. He was designated by Shoghi Effendi as one of the 19 Apostles of Baha'u'llah.

1887 April The first mention of the concept of 'Hand of the Cause’ in Baha'u’llah's writings is within a Tablet revealed in honour of Ibn-i-Asdaq

1887 – 1888 EG Browne, the noted orientalist, spends 12 months in Persia. An important purpose or his journey is to contact the Babis.

1888

1888 Nabil begins his chronicle, The Dawnbreakers

1888 Jamal Effendi, accompanied by Haji Faraju’llah-i-Tafrishi, embarks on a long journey to the East, visiting Burma, Java, Singapore, Kashmir, Tibet, Yarqand, Khuqand in Chinese Turkistan, and Afghanistan.

1888 c. Jul-Aug Two Baha'is are arrested in Sarvistan, Fars, and are sent to Shiraz, where one is imprisoned, [BWI8:383]

1889

1889 Mar The first lecture in the West on the Baha'i Faith ('Babism') is given by E. G. Browne at the Essay Society, Newcastle, England.

1889 Apr E. G. Browne gives a paper on the Baha'i Faith ('Babism') at the Royal Asiatic Society, London.

1889 Jun E. G. Browne gives a paper on the Baha'i Faith ('Babism') at the Royal Asiatic Society, London.

1889 Jun Aqa Najafi, the 'Son of the Wolf', initiates a campaign against the Baha'is in Isfahan, Sidih and Najafabad. [BWI 8:383]

1889 Jul 17 Upheaval in Najafabad: Aqa Najafi, the 'Son of the Wolf', drives over a hundred Baha'is out of Sidih and Najafabad. They take sanctuary in the Telegraph Office and in the stables of the governor of Isfahan. [BWI8:383] cf. BBR 280-4 for Western reporting of the episode.

1889 Jul 18 The Baha'is are persuaded to leave the Telegraph Office after being assured that they will receive protection in their villages, [BWI 8:383] Baha'is of Sidih and Najafabad, having received no help or protection, go to Tihran to petition the Shah, [BWJ 8:383]

1889 Sep 8 Haji Muhammad Riday-i-Isfahani is martyred in 'Ishqabad. Czar Alexander III sends a military commission from St. Petersburg to conduct the trial of those accused of the murder. Mirza Abu'l-Fadl serves as chief Baha'i spokesman at the trial. [ABI09] Two are found guilty and sentenced to death, six others are ordered to be transported to Siberia. (ABI 09; BBR 297; GPB203) Baha'u'llah attaches importance to the action as being the first time Shi'is received judicial punishment for an attack on Baha’is. The Baha'i community intercedes on behalf of the culprits and has the death sentences commuted to transportation to Siberia. [ABI09; BBR'297; GPB'203] For Western accounts of the episode see BBR296-300.

1890

1890 In the decade of 1890, Baha'i books are published for the first time, in Bombay and Cairo. [GPB 195; SA250]

c. 1890 Nabil presents his chronicle, The Dawn-Breakers, to Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha for approval. [DB XXXVII] In the year 1890 By 1890 about a thousand Baha'is have settled in 'Ishqabad ... [BBRSM9 I]

1890 E. G. Browne is in 'Akka. Baha'u'llah is staying in the Templer colony in Haifa when he arrives. [BBR'253]

1890 A number of people of the Jewish, Zoroastrian and Buddhist Faiths become Baha'is. [BBR 248-9; GPB 195]

1890 Ibrahim George Kheiralla (Khayru'llah) becomes a Baha'i in Cairo under the tutelage of 'Abdu'l-Karim-i-Tihrani. [BFA 19] It is probable that he is the first Baha'i from Syrian Christian background. [BFA 19, cf. BFA:175 for pictures.)

1890 25 Feb Seven Baha'is from Sidih who had gone to Tihran to petition the Shah for protection secure a decree from him permitting them to return home. When they try to enter Sidih they are killed. [BBRXXIX, 285-9; BWI 8:383]

1890 April Baha'u'llah visits Haifa for a third time. He first stays near Bayt-i-Zahlan, near the town. [BKG374] He then moves to Oliphant House in the German colony. His tent is pitched on a piece of land opposite. [BKG374; BPPI73]

1890 15-20 April E. G. Browne is granted four successive interviews with Baha'u'llah at Bahji. [BBD 43; BBR 225; BKG 37I; GPB 193] See BBR225-32 for Browne's own account of the visit. See BBR229-3I, BKG37r-3 and DHIIO for Browne's pen portrait of Baha'u'llah. Browne is given the manuscript of A Traveller's Narrative in the handwriting of Zaynu'l-Muqarrabin. [EGB 54] Cf. also BFAI:44-5; Balyuzi, EDWARD GRANVILLE BROWNE AND THE Baha'i FAITH and Momen, SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF E. G BROWNE.

1891

1891 In the year: On the instructions of Baha'u'llah, the Kitab-i-Aqdas is published for the first time in Bombay. [SA250] It is published in Arabic. [SA250]  

1891 A Traveller's Narrative is published in two volumes by the Cambridge University Press. [BBD226; EGB55]  

1891 Baha'u'llah reveals the Kitab-i-'Ahd. [BBD32; CBI42; GPB236-4o} It was probably written at least one year before His Ascension. [CBI42] Baha'u'llah alludes to it in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf as the 'Crimson Book'. [DGI6; ESW32; GPB238] In it Baha'u'llah explicitly appoints Abdu'l-Baha His successor, the Centre of the Covenant and the Expounder of the revealed word. [BKG420; GPB239]

1891 Baha'u'llah reveals Epistle to the Son if the Wolf, addressed to Shaykh Muhammad-Taqiy-i-Najafi (Shaykh Najafi), the son of Shaykh Muhammad-Baqir. [BBD78, 164; BKG382; GPB2Ig; RB4:368] It was revealed about a year before the ascension of Baha'u'llah. [GPB220 ] It was Baha'u'llah's 'last outstanding Tablet'. [BBD 78; BKG 382; GPB 219] For an analysis of its content, themes and circumstances of its revelation, see RB4:368-412. For a study guide to the Tablet see RB4:433-40. Baha'u'llah reveals the Tablet to the Times in which He recounts the circumstances of the martyrdoms in Yazd. [RB4:348-50]

1891 Feb 15, First public lecture in the West on the Baha'i Faith, given by E. G. Browne at the Southplace Institute, London.

1891 May 19 The execution of the Seven Martyrs of Yazd. [BBRXXIX, BWI8:384] Seven Baha'is are executed on the order of the governor of Yazd, Jalalu'd-Din-Dawlih, at the instigation of the mujtahid, Shaykh Hasan-i-Sabzivari. [BWI8:384] For their names see BWI8:384. For details of the executions see GBP201-2. For Western reports of the episode see BBR30I-5, 357-8.

1891 summer: Baha'u'llah visits Haifa for the fourth time. [BKG374; DHI 109; GPB 194; RB4:351] He stays three months. [BBD94; BKG374; DHI09; GPBI94; RB4:351] He lives in the house of Ilyas Abyad, near the Templar colony, his tent pitched nearby. [BKG374; DHIS6] It is during this visit that Baha'u'llah points out to 'Abdu'l-Baha the site for the Shrine of the Bab. [AB45; BKG374; DHI34-5; GPB194] One day He pitches His tent a few hundred yards east of the Carmelite monastery and visits the monastery. [DHI86] Baha'u'llah visits the cave of Elijah. [BKG375; DH174; RB4:351-2] He reveals the Lawh-i-Karmil (Tablet of Carmel), the 'Charter of the World Spiritual and Administrative Centres of the Faith’ the site of the future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. [BBD118-119; BKG375 DH174; MBW63; RB4:352] For the text of this Tablet see BKG376-7, GI4-I7 and TB3-5. For an analysis of the text see RB4:353-67.

1891 Jul – Aug Members of the Afnan family meet Baha'u'llah in Haifa. [BKG374,406] For details of this visit see BKG406-13

1892

1892 In the year, Mu'tuminu's-Saltanih is poisoned in Tihran on the orders of Nasiri'd-Din Shah. [BWI8:384]

1892 May 8 Baha'u'llah contracts a slight fever. [GPB221] See RB4:414-17 for the progress of this illness.

1892 c. 24 May Baha'u'llah calls to His bedside all the believers, including many pilgrims, for their last audience with Him. [GPB222]

1892 May 29; The Ascension of Baha'u'llah Baha'u'llah dies at Bahji in His seventy-fifth year. [AB47; BBRXX1X, 233; BKG420; CB148; GPB221; RB4:411] For an account by Tuba Khanum see CHI05-9. Baha'u'llah has spent 23 years, 8 months and 29 (or 30) days in the Holy Land. [DH12] He passes away eight hours after sunset. [GPB221; UD170] The news of His passing is immediately communicated to Sultan 'Abdu'l-Hamid by 'Abdu'l-Baha: 'the Sun of Baha has set'. [AB47; BKG420; GPB222] Shortly after sunset, on the very day of His passing, Baha'u'llah is buried beneath the floor of a room in the house adjacent to the mansion of Bahji, the Qiblih of the Baha'i Faith. [AB47; BBD211; BKG427; GPB222] see CBI49 and RB4:149 for the effect of Baha'u'llah's ascension on 'Abdu'l-Baha. See AB52-3, CBI48-9 and RB4:148-9 for the theft of Baha'u'llah's cases containing His seals, papers and other items. See AB52-61, CBI48-51 and RB4:148-54 for the Covenant-breaking activities of Baha'u'llah's family immediately following His death. See GPB222-3 for the mourning following the ascension of Baha'u'llah. At this time the Faith has spread to 15 countries. [MBW61] See BBR234-6 for a list of Europeans who met Baha'u'llah.

1892 Sometime after the Ascension of Baha’u’llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha asks Nabil to choose a number of passages from the writings of Baha'u'llah to be used as a Tablet of Visitation. This Tablet is also used at observances commemorating the Martyrdom of the Bab. [BBD234; BKG427; GPB222; RB4:419] For an analysis of this Tablet, see SAI21-2. 'Abdu'l-Baha rents the house now known as the Pilgrim House at Bahji from its Christian owner Iskandar Hawwa', the husband of 'Udi Khammar's daughter Hani. [DHI114, 226]

1892 7 Jun On the ninth day after Baha'u'llah's passing the Will and Testament of Baha'u'llah, the Kitab-i-'Ahd, is read at Bahji before a large assembly in His Most Holy Tomb. [AB51-2; BBD132; CBI50; DHII3 GPB238; RB4:419-20] See CBI50, I64 for the effect this has on the believers.

1892 16 Jun 'Abdu'l-Baha sends a message to the Baha'is of the world calling for steadfastness. [AB48-9; DHI 13] This is 'Abdu'l-Baha's first message. [AB48-9; CHIIO]      For the text of the message see AB48-9, CHIW-II, DHII3 and SWAB17-18.

1892 Summer 'Abdu'l-Baha goes to Haifa and Mount Carmel and isolates Himself in a small apartment in the stone building west of the lower cave of Elijah. [DHS9, 188]

1892 Summer Aqa Murtada of Sarvistan, who has been in prison for five years, is executed in Shiraz. [BWI8:384]

1892 Summer Anton Haddad arrives in the United States. [BFAI:26] He is probably the first Baha'i to reach American soil. [BFAI:26]

1892 Jul 06; Death of Nabil-i-Akbar, Hand of the Cause, Apostle of Baha'u'llah, in Bukhara. [EB115] The Lawh-i-Hikmat was addressed to him. [EB115] For details of his life see EB112-15

1892 Dec 20; Ibrahim Kheiralla arrives in New York. [BBDI29; BFAI:26; SSBHI:88] See BFA1 for Kheiralla's life, work for the Baha'i Faith and defection.

1892-3 Nabil, inconsolable at the death of Baha’u’llah, commits suicide by drowning himself in the sea. [AB56; BBD167; BKG427-8; DH81; EB270: GPB222] He leaves a note paying homage to 'Abdu'l-Baha, writing the date of his death in the single Arabic word 'Ghariq' (drowned), the numerical value of which is 1310 AH (AD 1892-3). [MF35; RBI:205] See DH81 for his own epitaph. He is buried in the Muslim Cemetery near 'Akkit. [DH81]

1892-3 'Abdu'l-Baha writes Risdliy-i-Siydsiyyih (Treatise on Politics). [ABMM]

1893

1893 Aqa Muhammad-Riday-i-Muhammadabadi is killed by three men on the orders of two of the 'ulama of Yazd. [Bw18:384; GPB296] He is the first to suffer martyrdom in the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Baha. See GPB296 for details of his martyrdom.

1893 Sep 23; First public reference in North America to the Baha'i Faith. Reference was made to it in a paper entitled 'The Religious Mission of the English Speaking Nations' by Rev. Henry H. Jessup, a retired missionary from north Syria, read by Rev George A. Ford at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. [AB63-4; BBD241-2; BBR57; BFAI:32-3; BW2:230; GPB256; SBBH1:76, 88, 202] See AB63-4; BW2 169 for text

1894

In the year Green Acre is founded by Sarah J. Farmer in the aftermath of the World Parliament of Religions. [BBRSM:I04; BFA2:r42-7; BWS:2g; GPB26r; SBBHI:r2S]

In the year Two Baha'is are arrested and bastinadoed in Nishapur. One dies seven days later, the other two years later. [Bw18:384]

1894 Haji Yari, a Baha'i of Jewish background, is arrested and imprisoned in Hamadan. [Bw18:384] A Baha'i in Dastjirdan, Khurasan, Aqa 'Abdu'l- Vahhab Mukhtari, is beaten and expelled from the village. [BWI8:384] Baha'is in Faran, Khurasan, are beaten and Baha'i homes are looted. [BW18:384]

1894 Feb Ibrahim George Kheiralla settles in Chicago. [BFAI:xxvii] Owing to his work, the first Baha'i community in North America is soon formed in Chicago. [BBRSM:100; BW10:179]

1894 Jun 5; Thornton Chase becomes a Baha'i in Chicago. [BBD53; BFAI:35-6] He is designated by 'Abdu'l-Baha the first American believer. [BBD53; GPB257] See BFAI:35 for his own account of how he became a Baha'i. See BFAI:33-7 for other Americans who became Baha'is around the same time. He was given the name Thabit (Steadfast) by 'Abdu'l-Baha. [BBD53; GPB257]

1895

1895 Mrs Kate C. Ives of Orleans, Cape Cod, Massachusetts becomes a Baha'i, making her the first woman born in the United States to accept the Baha'i Faith. [BFAI:37] c. summer Miss Marion Brown becomes a Baha'i in London, the first European to accept the Baha'i Faith. [BFAI: 37]

1896

c. 1896 Mirza Muhammad-'Ali sends letters with misleading statements and calumnies against 'Abdu'l-Baha, thus making widely known his Covenant-breaking activities. [CB151,178]

In the year 1896 'Abdu'l- Baha is forced to withdraw from 'Akka to Tiberias owing to the accusations levelled against Him by Mirza Mul;tammad- 'Ali. [SBBR1:77 ]

1896 Diya'iyyih Khanum, the eldest daughter of 'Abdu'l-Baha, marries Mirza Hadi Afnan of Shiraz. [BW4:234 (GENEALOGY); DR59-6o] These are the parents of Shoghi Effendi. For a picture of Diya'iyyih Khanum see MA105.

1896 Aqa Siyyid Mihdiy-i-Yazdi is martyred in Tabriz. [BW18:384]

1896 Mulla Hasan Khaza'i is arrested in Khuzistan. [BW18:384]

1896 Apr 19; Nasiri'd-Din Shah is assassinated on the eve of his jubilee. [BKG455] BBRXXIX and BBRSM2 19 say it was 1 May. His assassin is a follower of Jamalu'd-Din-i-Afghani, one of the originators of the Constitutional movement in Iran. [BBRSM87; GBP296]   For an account of his assassination see PDC67-8. See BKG430-55 for a history of his reign. He is succeeded by his son Muzaffari'd- Din. [GPB296]

1896 May 1; Martyrdom of Mirza 'Ali-Muhammad, Varqa, and his l2-year-old son Ruhu'l1ah, in Tihran. [BBRXXIX] For the method of their martyrdom see [GPB296] Their martyrdom is a consequence of the assassination of the Shah, for which the Baha'is are erroneously blamed. [GPB296] For the story of their lives see MRHK405-22. For a Western account of the episode see BBR 361-2., see also BBD199, 234,

1896 Jun-Jul Several Baha'is are beaten and four are imprisoned in Turbat-i-Haydari when two mujtahids stir up the townspeople against them. [BW18:384]

1896 July 21; Haji Muhammad Sadiq is stabbed to death in Turbat-i-Haydari. [BWI8:384]

1896 July 24 Four Baha'is are executed in Turbat-i-Haydari on the order of the mujtahid. [BWI8:384; BBR405] BBRXXIX says the four Baha'is were martyred in August. These four together with Haji Muhammad Sadiq are known as the Shuhaday-i-Khamsih (Five Martyrs). [GPB296] Their martyrdom is the result of the assassination of the Shah, for which the Baha'is are erroneously blamed. [GPB296] For Western accounts of the episode see BBR40S-6.

1896 c. Oct; 'Abdu'l-Baha rents the former Governorate of 'Abdu'llah Pasha in the northwest corner of the city of 'Akka at the inner moat. [BBDI3, 108; DH60] He establishes it as His residence and as the home for His daughters, their husbands and families. [DH60]

1897

c. 1897 Mirza Aqa Jan, Baha'u'llah's amanuensis for 40 years, throws in his lot with Mirza Muhammad-'Ali and becomes a Covenant-breaker. [CEl8I] For the story of his downfall see CB 181-92.

In the year 1897 In the year Haji Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, the first Baha'i to have settled in China, dies in Bombay on his way back to Shiraz. [PH24]

1897 The Hands of the Cause appointed by Baha'u'llah are instructed by 'Abdu'l-Baha to gather to begin the consultations regarding the future organization of the Baha'i community in Tihran. This gathering leads to the formation of the Central Spiritual Assembly of Tihran in 1899. [BBD 98, 114, 115; EB268]

1897 Fifteen Baha'is are arrested in Saysan, Adharbayjan. They are taken to Tabriz, imprisoned and fined. [BW18:384] Three Baha'is are arrested in Nayriz on the orders of Aqa Najafi, the 'Son of the Wolf'. [BW18:384] The homes of several Baha'is in Ramadan are looted and ransacked after complaints by Jews of the town against Baha'is of Jewish background. [BWI8:384]

1897 Feb; Six Baha'is are arrested in Mamaqan, Adharbayjan. Three are bastinadoed and three are imprisoned in Tabriz. [BW18:384]

1897 March 1; The birth of Shoghi Effendi, in the house of 'Abdu'llah Pasha. [BBD208; BKG359; DH60, 214; GBF2] He is descended from both the Bab and Baha'u'llah: his mother is the eldest daughter of 'Abdu'l-Baha; his father is an Afnan, a grandson of Haji Mirza Abu'l-Qasim, a cousin of the mother of the Bab and a brother of His wife. [CB280; GBF2] He is the Ghusn-i-Mumtaz, the Chosen Branch. [BBD87] 'Shoghi' means 'one who longs'. [CB281] 'Abdu'l- Baha commands everyone, even Shoghi Effendi's father, to add the title 'Effendi' after his name. [CB28 1; GBF2] 'Abdu'l-Baha gives him the surname Rabbani in the early years of his study in Haifa so that he will not be confused with his cousins, who are all called Afnan. Rabbani is also used by Shoghi Effendi's brothers and sister. [BBD191-2; DH60-1] See GBF6 for the schools he attends. See also: Rabbani, THE PRICELESS PEARL, Rabbani" THE GUARDIAN OF THE BAHA’I FAITH, Giachery, SHOGHI EFFENDI: RECOLLECTIONS.

1897 May 21; Lua Getsinger becomes a Baha'i in Chicago. [BFAI:xxvii]

1898

1898 In the year 'Abdu'l-Baha instructs that the remains of the Bab be brought from their hiding place in Tihran to the Holy Land. [BBD209]

1898 The Tarbiyat School for boys is established in Tihran by the Baha'is. [BBD221]
1898 The first anti-Baha'i polemical tracts are published by Christian missionaries in Iran. [SBBHI:69]

1898 Several Baha’is are arrested and imprisoned in Qazvin. [BW18:384]

1898 Jan 1; Eighteen people become Baha’is in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the visit of Kheiralla in the autumn of 1897. This marks the establishment of the third Baha’i community in North America.

1898 Feb Kheiralla arrives in New York and begins classes on the Baha’i Faith.

1898 Feb 9; Haji Muhammad-i-Turk is shot, beaten and then burned to death in a main street in Mashhad by four religious students. [BBRXXX, 406: BWI8:384] For Western accounts of the episode see BBR406-17.

1898 April Nine Baha'is attending a Ridvan meeting are arrested, beaten and imprisoned in Hamadan. [BWI8:384]  

1898 Jun; In New York City, 141 people become Baha'is in the five months since Kheiralla's arrival. [BFAI:XXVIII, 125]

1898 Aqa Ghulam-Husayn-i-Banadaki is killed by a mob in Yazd after refusing to deny his faith. [BWI8:384]

1898 summer Phoebe Hearst becomes a Baha'i in California through the efforts of Lua and Edward Getsinger. [BFAI:XXVIII, 139] note: BFAI:XXVIII suggests this might have been August.

1898 Aug 20; Jamal Effendi dies in 'Akka. [EBI28]

1898 Sep 22; The first Western pilgrims depart for 'Akka, travelling via New York and Paris. [BFAI:XXVIII, 140-1, 230] Notes SBBHI:93 says this was July, based on Kheiralla's autobiography; BFAI is based on a letter from Phoebe Hearst. It is arranged by Phoebe Hearst, who had already planned a journey to Egypt for the autumn. [BFAI:140] There are 15 pilgrims in all. [AB68]

1898 Nov 11; Kheiralla arrives in 'Akka. [BFA J: XXVIII, 141] 'Abdu'l- Baha confers titles on him: 'Baha's Peter', the 'Second [Columbus' and 'Conqueror of America'. [BFAI:142-3; SBBH2:112]

1898 Nov 13; Abdu’l-Baha commemorates Kheiralla’s arrival by ending the period of mourning for Baha’u’llah and by opening His Tomb to pilgrims for the first time.

1898 Dec 10 The first Western pilgrims arrive in Akka. They divide themselves into three parties, using Cairo as a staging post. [AB68: BFAI:143; SBBHI:93] See AB68-72; BFA2:9; DH61; GPB257, 259 for those included in the pilgrimage group. See BFA1: 143-4 for those included in the first group. Among the group is Robert Turner, the first member of the black race to become a Baha'i. [AB72; BBD227; BFAJ:139; GPB259] 'Abdu'l-Baha receives the pilgrims in the House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha. [BBD13, 108; DH61] See AB68-71; BW16:I04-5; CH235-6 and GPB257-9 for the pilgrims' responses to the pilgrimage. Edward Getsinger makes a recording of 'Abdu'l-Baha chanting a prayer. [BFAI:160] The Getsingers returned from the pilgrimage with an Arabic copy of the Kitab-i-Aqdas which was later translated by Anton Haddad. [BFA2:11]

c. 1898 Dec 20; The second group of Western pilgrims arrive in 'Akka, staying three days before returning to Cairo. [BFA1: 145] See BFAI:I45 for those included in this group.

1899

1899 In the year Miss Olive Jackson of Manhattan becomes the first black American woman Baha'i. [BFAI:126-7]

1899 The Serpent by Thornton Chase, an 18-page pamphlet on the image of the serpent in the Bible, is published in Chicago. This is probably the first published essay written by an American Baha'i. [BFA2:26]

1899 The Consulting Assembly of Tihran, a forerunner of the National Spiritual Assembly, is established. [EB175-6] Four Hands of the Cause are permanent members; nine others are elected by special electors appointed by the Hands. [EB17S-6]
1899 Siyyid Mustafa Rumi and others carry to the Holy Land the marble casket made by the Baha'is of Mandalay to hold the remains of the Bab. [BW10:517] The remains of the Bab arrive in the Holy Land. [BBD209; DH66; GPB274] They are stored in the room of the Greatest Holy Leaf in the house of 'Abdu'llah Pasha until the Shrine of the Bab is completed. [DH66]

1899 Feb; The first Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha arrive in America. [BFA I: 143] See BFAI:143 for the recipients.

1899 c. Feb-Mar 'Abdu'l-Baha, accompanied by Kheiralla, lays the foundation stone for the Shrine of the Bab. [BFA1:XXVIII,142; BBD2og; GPB27S; SBBH2:112]

1899 Feb 16; The third group of Western pilgrims arrives in the Holy Land. [BFAI:145] See BFAI:145 for those in the group.

1899 Spring On her return from pilgrimage, May Bolles establishes the first Baha'i group on the European continent in Paris. [AB159; BBRSM:106; BFA2:151; GPB259; SBBHI:93] For those who became Baha'is in Paris, including Thomas Breakwell, the 'first English believer', and Hippolyte Dreyfus, the 'first Frenchman to embrace the Faith', see BFA2:151-2, 154-5; and GBP259

1899 Apr 9; Upheaval at Najafabad. [BBRXXX, 426; BW18:384-5] Mirza Baqir-i-Ha'i is arrested, several Baha'is are beaten. Baha'i homes are looted in Najafabad. [BBR426; BWI8:384-S] Some 300 Baha'is occupy the British telegraph office hoping the Shah will intervene on behalf of the Baha'is. [BBR427-8] For Western accounts of the episode see BBR426-30.

1899 May; A council board of seven officers, a forerunner of the Local Spiritual Assembly, is established in Kenosha. [BFAI:112; GPB260]

1899 Kheiralla returns to the United States from 'Akka. [BFAI:XXIX 158] His ambitions to lead the Baha'i Faith cause a crisis in the American Baha'i community. [BFAI:158-67; GPB259-60;SBBHI:94, 239] In the coming months 'Abdu'l-Baha dispatches successive teachers to heal the rift: Haji 'Abdu'l-Karim-i-Tihrani, who had taught Kheiralla the Faith, from c. 26 Apr to 5 Aug 1900. [BFAI:173-6; BFA2:17-29] Haji Hasan-i-Khurasani, from 29 Nov 1900 to Aug 1901. [BFA2:35,38-9] Mirza Asadu'llah-i-Isfahani, from 29 Nov 1900 to 12 May 1902. [BFA2:VI, 35-43FF] Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, from Aug 1901 to Dec 1904. [BFA2:XVI, 80-7; BW9:855-60] See BFAI:177-8 for lists of believers who sided with Kheiralla, left the Faith or remained loyal to 'Abdu'l-Baha. See SBBHI:98-101 for Kheiralla's teachings.

1899 Summer; Ethel Jenner Rosenberg accepts the Baha'i Faith, the first English woman to become a Baha'i in her native land. [AB73-4; ER39; GPB260;SBR20, 33; SEBW56] See also Weinberg, ETHEL JENNER ROSENBERG; SEBW55-64

1899 Oct- Nov Stoyan Vatralsky, a Harvard educated, Bulgarian Christian, attacks the Baha'is, 'Truth-knowers', in a series of talks in a church in Kenosha, Wisconsin. [BFAI:XXIX, 114-15; SBBH2:111] By this time two per cent of the population of Kenosha are Baha'is. [BFAI:114]

1899 Charles Mason Remey becomes a Baha'i in Paris through May Bolles. [BFA2:151-2]

1900

c. 1900 For the state of affairs in Haifa just after the turn of the century see CB223-4. The Kitab-i-Aqdas is translated by Anton Haddad. It is not published but circulates in typescript form. [BFA2:27; SA25I]