Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moojan Momen, Iran: Province of Gilan, bahai-library.com.
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Iran: Province of Gílán

Moojan Momen

1994

Gílán is a northern province of Iran occupying the western
half of the south Caspian littoral. Like Mázandarán, it has
a semi-tropical climate and dense vegetation. The people speak a distinctive
dialect of Persian called Gílakí.
The Bahá'í Faith was slow in becoming established in Gílán.
There had been some Bábís in Rasht who had followed
Mírzá Asadu'lláh Dayyán in the confused state
that followed the martyrdom of the Báb. Nothing much is known of
these Dayyánís and they presumably died out as a group (ZH6:923).
A small group of Bábís migrated from Qazvín to Láhíján
and established a community there. One of their number, Áqá
Siyyid Javád, had been a Shaykhí and he succeeded
in converting a number of Láhíján residents. When
Áqá Siyyid Javád became an Azalí and he tried
to keep his small group of converts from the other Bábís
of Láhíján who had become Bahá'ís. One
day, however, when Áqá Siyyid Javád was away in Qazvín,
one of these converts, Mírzá `Alí-Ashraf (better
known as the poet `Andalíb, q.v.), searched out the Bahá'ís
and became convinced of their truth. Later, Mírzá `Alí-Ashraf
succeeded in converting Áqá Siyyid Javád as well as
the others of the Azalí group (EB 62-64).

These Qazvíní and Láhíjání
Bahá'ís were responsible for taking the Bahá'í
Faith to Rasht. Hájí Nasír Qazvíní,
a survivor of Shaykh Tabarsí, together with `Andalib
and others moved to Rasht and, by 1296/1879, there were some 20
Bahá'ís in the community there and the numbers continued
to increase thereafter. During the general persecution of Bahá'ís
which erupted in 1300/1882 and affected several Iranian cities, 11 of the
Bahá'ís of Rasht and 3 Bahá'ís in Láhíján
were imprisoned and Hájí Nasír and one other died
in prison (ZH 6:928-30; EB 69-72).

After the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, Áqá Jamál
Burújirdí travelled through the province and tried to raise
support for Mírzá Muhammad `Alí, but had little success.
There was an upheaval against the Bahá'ís in 1903 when a
picture of the Bahá'í community of Rasht fell into
the hands of the mullás who tried to get the people in the photograph
arrested and punished. One prominent Bahá'í, Mírzá
Ibrahím Khán Ibtiháju'l-Mulk, was banished
for a time to Tehran but the governor managed to maintain the peace. In
1340/ 1921, however, Ibtiháju'l-Mulk was killed during the disturbances
caused by the uprising of the Jangalís.

With the development of Russian territory, the ship from Rasht
to Baku became one of the commonest routes for Bahá'í pilgrims
to `Akká. Numerous prominent Bahá'í teachers travelled
through Rasht. The first Spiritual Assembly of Rasht was
established in about 1315/1897. A number of Jewish families became Bahá'ís.

Bibliography

Mírzá Yahyá `Amídul-Atibbá, History
of the Bahá'í Faith in Rasht, written 1345/1926, photocopy
of mss in Afnán Library. Also memoires of Mírzá Mihdíy-i-Tabíb,
photocopy of mss in Afnán Library. ZH6:923-974; 8b:757-799.

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