Brief History

The Ministry of the Báb

23 May 1844 – The Declaration of the Báb

Siyyid ‘Alí-Muḥammad, then a young merchant living in the city of Shíráz, Persia, announced that He has been sent by God to prepare humanity for the coming of a new age and the advent of another, greater Messenger Whose coming has been promised in the sacred scriptures of all the religions that have come before. He took the title of the Báb, which in Arabic means “the Gate.” This date is now celebrated by Bahá’ís worldwide as a Holy Day commemorating the Báb’s Declaration and the birth of the Bahá’í Faith.

   
^{The Shrine of the Báb in Haifa,
Israel, situated on Mount Carmel}

1844-1850 – The Báb’s Message embraced

Denounced as heretical and vehemently opposed by the clergy and the government, still the Báb’s religious teachings spread rapidly and were embraced by thousands of followers. The Báb Himself was imprisoned and more than 20,000 of His followers, known as Bábís, were put to death for their beliefs in a storm of persecution marked by violent massacres throughout the country.

9 July 1850 – Martyrdom of the Báb

The Báb was publicly executed by a firing squad in the city of Tabríz. Some 10,000 people were there to witness the execution.

1852 – Bahá’u’lláh’s imprisonment and Revelation

Bahá’u’lláh, then known as one of the Báb’s foremost followers, was arrested, beaten and thrown into a terrible underground dungeon known as the Síyáh-Chál (Black Pit). A wave of intense persecution following the martyrdom of the Báb resulted in many others of the Báb’s followers being executed or imprisoned from 1850 to 1852, in an attempt to finally end the fledgling Faith’s still spreading Message from progressing any further. While in the darkness of the pestilential dungeon, Bahá’u’lláh received the Revelation that He is the Messenger foretold by the Báb. After four months Bahá’u’lláh was released and He and His family were exiled from Persia over the mountains to Baghdad.