A Bahá'í Glossary
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Bahá'í Chronology - The Ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá - 78 B.E. (A.D. 1921)
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< 77 B.E. | 78 B.E. The Guardianship >
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[ 24 Articles ]
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 21 March A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Construction begins on the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette. DP108]
  • See DP107 for a picture of Bahá'ís inaugurating the construction of Foundation Hall.
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• April A.D. 1921
• A.M.
The Minister of Justice overturns an earlier ruling and possession of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád is returned to the Bahá'ís. [SETPE1p25]
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• Spring A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Dr Genevieve Coy is chosen as the director of the Tarbíyat School for Girls in Ṭihrán to replace Lillian Kappes. [SBR203]
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 19 / 21 May A.D. 1921
• A.M.
The first Race Amity Conference is held in Washington DC. [BW2:281]
  • Mabry and Sadie Oglesby and their daughter Bertha from Boston as well as Agnes Parsons and Louis Gregory were involved. [SETPE1p141-145
  • For details of the conference see BW2:281-2.
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 29 May A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Alessandro Bausani, the Italian Bahá'í who was an Islamic scholar, linguist and historian of comparative religions, is born in Rome.
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• Summer A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Siegfried Schopflocher, Hand of the Cause of God, becomes a Bahá'í.
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• July / August A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Bahá'ís of Zoroastrian background are harassed by the Zoroastrian agent in Qum. [BW18:388]
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• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 9 July A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Mírzá Asadu'lláh Fádil-i-Mázandarání left the United States for the Holy Land. [AB443footnote]
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 20 August / 20 September A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Agnes Alexander visits Korea, the first Bahá'í to do so. [BW2:44]
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• September A.D. 1921 / April 1922
• A.M.
Roy Wilhelm had sent three generators to the Holy Land and had asked permission from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to have Curtis Kelsey come and install them. His request was granted and Curtis spent from September, 1921 until April, 1922 in the Holy Land. The units were installed at the Shrine of the Báb, (See SETPE1p38) at Bahjí (See SETPE1p55) and at the home of 'Abdu'l-Bahá at #7 Haparsin Street and the work was completed at all three locations on the last day of Ridván, 1922. [BW15p468-473]
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• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 20 October A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Áqá Siyyid Mustafá Tabátabá'í is poisoned in Sangsar. Continual agitation prevents the burial of the body for several days. [BW18:388]
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• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 23 November A.D. 1921
• A.M.
A second suit for the possession of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad is decided in favour of the Shi'a claimants. This allows them to apply to the Peace Court in 1922. [SETPE1p25]
  • Before the application goes before the Court the Shi'a group prevail upon King Faisal to give an illegal personal order to the Governor of Baghdád to evict the Bahá'ís and the return the keys to them. All this is against the opinion of the British High Commissioner. [SETPE1p25]
  • The case is passed from court to court and finally brought before the Court of Appeal in Baghdád which, by a majority of four (the Iráqí members) to one (the British Presiding Justice), decides in favour of the plaintiffs. [SETPE1p25]
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• Kamál 6 Qawl 78 B.E.
• Yawm al-Ithnayn 27 Rabī' al-awwal
   A.H. 1340
• Monday 28 November A.D. 1921
• Yom Sheni 27 Cheshvan  A.M. 5682
The Ascension of `Abdu'l-Bahá: `Abdu'l-Bahá passes away at about 1:00 a.m., in Haifa. [AB452; BBD4; BBR347; GPB311; UD170]
  • For details of His passing see AB452, BW1:19-23; BW15:113-15 and GPB310-11.
  • This marks the end of the Apostolic, Heroic or Primitive Age of the Bahá'í Faith and the beginning of the Transitional Formative or Iron Age. [BBD35-6]
  • For a photograph of the cable sent announcing His passing see SW12, 15:245.
  • See The Passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Shoghi Effendi and Lady Blomfield.
  • For a pen portrait of 'Abdu'l-Bahá see The Oriental Rose by Mary Hanford Ford pg 158-159
  • Also see AB452-83; HLS93-100.
__________ __________
• Fidál 7 Qawl 78 B.E.
• Yawm ath-Thulāthā' 28 Rabī' al-awwal
   A.H. 1340
• Tuesday 29 November A.D. 1921
• Yom Shlishi 28 Cheshvan  A.M. 5682
The funeral of `Abdu'l-Bahá. [BW15:115]
  • For details of the funeral see AB464-74; BW1:23-6; BW15:115-19; GPB312-14; and SW12, 17:259-67.
  • For Western and newspaper accounts see AB474-80; BBR347-9; BW1:26-8; and BW15:119-20.
  • For eulogies to `Abdu'l-Bahá see AB481-2, BW1:28-9 and BW15 120-1.
  • Ten thousand people attend `Abdu'l-Bahá's funeral. [v7]
  • For a number of pictures of the funeral procession see SW12, 91:290, 292-8.
  • Bahíyyih K̲h̲ánum looks for instructions on where to bury `Abdu'l-Bahá and, finding none, entombs Him in a vault next to the one where the remains of the Báb lie. [AB464; GBF14]
  • The Faith has spread to 35 countries. [MBW61; PP391]
  • The Bahá'í property at Bahjí does not exceed a thousand square metres; the Bahá'í property on Mount Carmel is about ten thousand square metres. [PP267]
  • Also see Balyuzi, `Abdu'l-Bahá; Blomfield, The Chosen Highway; Honnold, Vignettes from the Life of `Abdu'l-Bahá; SW12, 15:245 and several following issues.
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 29 November A.D. 1921
• A.M.
A cable is sent to London with news of `Abdu'l-Bahá's death. Shoghi Effendi learns of his grandfather's passing about noon. [GBF13]
  • See GBF13 and PP39-40 for Shoghi Effendi's reaction.
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Following `Abdu'l-Bahá's passing
• 78 B.E.

• A.H.
• A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Mírzá Muḥammad-`Alí publishes far and wide that he is the successor to `Abdu'l-Bahá. [CB277]
  • The Egyptian Bahá'ís respond to this by publishing a refutation of his claims. [CB276; SW12, 19:294-5]
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 2 December A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Ethel Rosenberg arrives in the Holy Land, having learned on the train from Port Said of the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá. [ER181-2]
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 4 December A.D. 1921
• A.M.
On the seventh day after the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá, corn is distributed in His name to about a thousand of the poor.
  • Up to this day 50 to 100 poor are fed daily at the Master's House. [BW15:122]
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 5 / 6 December A.D. 1921
• A.M.
The second Convention for Amity between the White and Coloured Races is held in Springfield, Massachusetts. [BW2:282; SBR92]
  • Over a thousand people attend. [SW13, 3:51]
  • For a report of the convention see SW13, 3:51-5, 601.
  • For a photograph see SW13, 3:50.
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 16 December A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Shoghi Effendi leaves England for Haifa in the company of Lady Blomfield and his sister Rouhangeze [Rúhangíz]. Lady Blomfield stayed on in the Holy Land for several months to assist Shoghi Effendi in his new role as the Guardian. [GBF13-14; PP42; SBR66]
  • Owing to passport difficulties Shoghi Effendi cannot leave sooner. [GBF13; PP42; SBR66]
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• 29 December A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Shoghi Effendi arrives in the Holy Land from England by train from Egypt. [GBF14; PP42]
  • An envelope addressed to him from 'Abdu'l-Bahá is waiting for him. It contained the Will and Testament. [Ruhi8.2p2]
  • He is so worn and grief-stricken that he has to be assisted up the stairs and is confined to bed for a number of days. [CB285]
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• Late in the year A.D. 1921
• A.M.
Mírzá Ḥusayn Tútí arrives in the Philippines, the earliest known visit by a Bahá'í to this country. He stays for four months.
__________ __________
• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• In the year A.D. 1922
• A.M.
The publication of The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu'l‑Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Compiled by Howard MacNutt.
  • From the preface to the 1922 edition..."This treasury of His words is a compilation of informal talks and extemporary discourses delivered in Persian and Arabic, interpreted by proficient linguists who accompanied Him, and taken stenographically in both Oriental and Occidental tongue."
  • From the same preface is a letter from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Howard MacNutt dated 13 April, 1919 approving his idea to publish the compilation of His talks in America and urging him to be most careful to reproduce the exact text as well as promising an "effulgent face" in the Abhá Kingdom as well as the praise and gratitude of the friends.
  • And again from the same source is a letter from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Albert Windust written on the 20th of July, 1919 asking him to name the book The Promulgation of Universal Peace and to direct that the Introduction must be written by Howard MacNutt. Prior to His coming to America the friends were unclear about His station and their differences in understanding was a major source of disunity. On one extreme were those that believed that 'Abdu'l-Baha was a man who, through the application and complete obedience to the Faith, had earned a high station, like the Christ's disciple Peter, implying that others could do the same. In the other camp were those who insisted that He was the return of Christ. Little wonder that they were confused because never in religious history had there been someone like 'Abdu'l-Bahá, one Who held the station of "The Mystery of God". Howard's failure to understand 'Abdu'l-Bahá's station and disobedience to Him and taken him precariously close to the company of Covenant-breakers but through 'Abdu'l-Bahá's unfailing love and guidance he was able to come to a true understanding. The Introduction to the 1922 edition was his testament to the station of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [DJT369-372]
  • The Promulgation of Universal Peace, although not "scripture", could be compared to Some Answered Questions in that it is a carefully transcribed record of His talks. Unlike that publication where He answered questions, in The Promulgation of Universal Peace it was 'Abdu'l-Bahá who chose the subject. Upon arrival in New York He said, "It is my purpose to set forth in America the fundamental principles of the revelation and teachings of Bahá'u'lláh." [PUPxii]
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• 78 B.E.
• A.H.
• In the year A.D. 1922
• A.M.
Oswald Whitaker, a Sydney optometrist, and Euphemia Eleanor `Effie' Baker, a photographer, become Bahá'ís, the first Australians to accept the Faith. [BW14:320; SBR160-1, BW2p129]
  • In the 1930s Effie Baker travelled to Persia to take photographs of historical sites. [BW14:320]
  • See SETPE1p105-107 for her contribution while serving in Haifa.
  • For Effie Baker's obituary see BW14:320-1.
 
[ABBC Online] [ABBC #]
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< 77 B.E. | 78 B.E. The Guardianship >
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Most of the Gregorian Calendar dates, A.H. 1166 (A.D. 1753) to 153 B.E (A.D. 1996), are from the original book, A Basic Bahá'í Chronology. From 153 B.E (A.D. 1996) to present the Gregorian Calendar dates are from A Basic Bahá'í Chronology online. The Hebrew, Islamic and Bahá'í dates were calculated by the ABG staff and may be subject to error, despite the great care that was taken. When the Gregorian date is "In the year", "c. Mar 1797", etc., we list the nearest approximate Hebrew, Islamic and Bahá'í dates.
 
Notes:
  • The dates in the left column do not always match the dates in the text. This is due to the plethora of calculations and calculators available. We use the calendar conversions from Calendar Home - Convert a date.
  • Continuous time periods, e.g., Monday thru Friday or June thru August, are annotated as Monday / Friday and June / August rather than Monday-Friday and June-August in all four calendars. This is to avoid confusion with Islamic days and months which contain a hyphen (or dash), e.g. Yawm ath-Thulatha', Jumadá al-akhirah.
  • Date Format = Day of the Week Name, Day of the Month Number, Month Name, Year Number -
  • c. = circa - meaning: "Around, round about, about. The prep. is often used in Eng. with dates, as circa 1400 (c 1400)." (Oxford English Dictionary)
  • Items with a greenish background are publications 
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A Bahá'í Glossary
 
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