# Iran: History of the Baha'i Faith

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moojan Momen, Iran: History of the Baha'i Faith, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Iran:
> 
> History of the Bahá'í Faith
> 
> Moojan Momen
> 
> 1994
> 
> Contents:
> 1. Geography and history
> 
> 2. Conversions
> 
> 3. Geographical spread
> 
> 4. Spread among religious and ethnic Minorities
> 
> 5. Persecutions and migration
> 
> 6. Communications
> 
> 7. Organisational development
> 
> 8. Finances
> 
> 9. Social and economic development
> 
> 10. Social location
> 
> 11. Leadership of the Bahá'í community
> 
> 12. Principal events of Bábí and Bahá'í history 1844-1921
> 
> 13. Events in Iran 1921-79
> 
> 14. Recent history, 1979 onwards
> 
> 15. The contribution of Iranian Bahá'ís
> 
> The Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths originated
> in Iran and the early Bahá'í community was thus largely
> Iranian. Until recently the Iranian Bahá'í community was the
> largest in the world, and remains one of the largest.
> 
> Iran has been the stage for many of the key
> historical events in Bahá'í history and many of the
> organizational and structural developments in the Bahá'í
> community originated here. Iran has also been important as a source of
> large numbers of individuals who have migrated to other parts of the world
> and have played and continue to play an important part in the spread and
> administration of the religion.
> 
> 1. Geography and history
> 
> Iran as an identifiable entity has existed for many centuries.
> Geographically it consists of high mountains stretching across the north
> and west with a high plateau occupying the center of the country. The
> center and east of this plateau is a desert, but with irrigation the west
> and south of the plateau can be farmed.
> 
> The empires of the Medes and Persians were among the greatest of the ancient world. Although
> those empires were swept away, Iran as a cultural entity remained. The boundary that marks the
> western edge of present-day Iran forms one of the most significant and enduring cultural
> boundaries of the world. The ancient civilizations that occupied Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, and
> North Africa were almost obliterated by the Arab Islamic invasion and that whole area came
> under Arab cultural domination. Iran, however, although it was among the first countries to fall to
> the advancing Arab armies, never completely lost its culture and language. Centuries later, the
> Iranian culture re-established itself and the Persian language re-emerged, now much influenced by
> Arabic, to become the dominant language of the eastern Islamic world (as far afield as Tajikistan
> and eastern India, Persian was the lingua franca of the eastern Islamic world until the advent of
> the British armies). The northern and western boundaries of Iran have, however, been under
> pressure from invading Turkish tribes and have contracted since ancient times.
> 
> Iran reached another peak of influence and culture during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
> under the Safavid monarchs. It was they who established Shí`í Islam as the state religion of Iran.
> By the end of the seventeenth century, however, signs of a decline were clearly evident. This
> decline became a steep fall during the next century worsened by civil war and invasions.
> 
> The Qájár dynasty succeeded in establishing its rule over Iran at the end of the eighteenth century.
> While the Safavids had legitimized their rule by claiming descent from the Imáms, the Qájárs, who
> were a Turkic tribe, could not take that path. They were forced therefore to try to gain the favor
> of the Shí`í `ulamá in order to obtain their assistance in buttressing their legitimacy and authority.
> Under the second shah of this dynasty, Fath-`Alí Sháh, a number of threads began to come
> together that were eventually to result in the emergence of the Bábí and Bahá'í movements. The
> first of these was the teaching of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í (q.v.). His most radical teaching, and
> the one that eventually led to his being declared an infidel by some of the Shí`í `ulamá, was the
> idea that many of the teachings of Islam, such as the resurrection, did not refer to a physical
> reality but to a spiritual one. Shaykh Ahmad was succeeded in the leadership of what was to
> become known as the Shaykhí movement (see "Shaykhism") by Sayyid Kázim Rashtí (q.v.),
> whose classes the Báb attended briefly. During Fath-`Alí Sháh's reign there appears to have been a
> general heightening of millennialist expectation. The Shí`í teachings hold that the twelfth in the
> line of Imáms who succeeded the Prophet Muhammad did not die but will re-appear shortly
> before the Day of Judgment. Numerous individuals appear to have predicted that this was about
> to happen (see Amanat 89-105).
> 
> Against this background of heightened expectation, it is not suprising that the Báb's claim,
> originating as it did in A.H. 1260/A.D. 1844 exactly a thousan years after the occultation of the
> Twelfth Imám, created a stir as it gradually became known throughout Iran. The Báb's followers
> travelled throughout Iran and Iraq spreading the news of his coming and of his claims. Many
> thousands, especially from among the Shaykhís, accepted the claim, and the Bábí following grew
> in most parts of Iran.
> 
> The Bahá'í community of Iran thus began with the Bábí community and this article will look at a
> number of themes which describe the growth and workings of the Bábí-Bahá'í community of Iran
> primarily from 1844 to 1921. It will also briefly survey the main events from 1921 onwards.
> 
> 2. Conversions
> 
> The Bábí community began with the first group of eighteen of the Báb's disciples, who were
> called the "Letters of the Living" (q.v.). However, only seventeen of these were gathered around
> the Báb in Shiraz in 1844 when he first declared his mission. One, Táhirih (q.v.), was not present,
> but was accepted into the group by virtue of a letter that she wrote to the Báb. This group of
> seventeen had come together mainly because, as followers of the Shaykhí movement, they were
> searching for a new leader after the death of their previous leader, Sayyid Kázim Rashtí. They
> became convinced of the truth of the Báb's claim through personal contact with him. These
> seventeen disciples traveled through Iran and spread the Bábí movement primarily through the
> existing Shaykhí network. They had a good deal of success. Many people were converted while
> others were sufficiently interested to come to Shiraz and seek out the Báb.
> 
> One of the major modes of contact and conversion for the Bábís and later the Bahá'ís appears to
> have been through social networks. Each individual converted others in his family and then would
> speak to some among his social contacts. Religious patronage networks also seems to have been
> of great importance in some areas, especially during the Bábí period. In several instances a leading
> religious figure was converted and this was followed by the conversion of a substantial number of
> those who followed him in religious matters. Zanján, Nayríz, and several villages such as
> Shahmírzád are examples of such a phenomenon. Later, during the Bahá'í period, it was harder for
> such group conversions to occur because of the atmosphere of repression and the hardening of
> opinion.
> 
> Direct meeting with the Báb and later Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá was to prove an important
> factor in the conversion and confirmation of many individuals. This was true even when the
> meeting occurred before a claim had been put forward. Some later became Bábís on account of
> their memory of meeting the Báb in Karbalá before he had advanced any claim; others, having
> come to Baghdad and met Bahá'u'lláh before he put forward a claim, would, years later, accept his
> claim on the strength of that meeting. Many would make lengthy journeys in order to meet with
> the head of the movement. Such a meeting often convinced those who were wavering on the brink
> of acceptance, while it confirmed the faith of those who had already been converted.
> 
> Peripatetic Bábí and Bahá'í propagandists were of major importance throughout the whole of the
> nineteenth century. They were often persons who had been Muslim `ulamá before their conversion
> and were therefore knowledgable. Since learning was highly valued in Iranian society, these
> individuals (the muballighs, see 7 below) were often appealed to as sources of authority. Some
> were resident in one community but many would travel from one city to another staying different
> lengths of time. The Bahá'ís in each locality would bring anyone who had shown any interest in
> the Bahá'í Faith to meetings with these individuals. This proved a highly successful formula and
> became more or less institutionalized until such time as there were more educated and informed
> Bahá'ís and an administrative structure throughout Iran in the middle of the twentieth century.
> 
> In more recent times, there has been a greater emphasis on the need for individual Bahá'ís to
> propagate the Bahá'í Faith and so there has been less tendency to rely on a small corps of
> knowledgable individuals. Furthermore, the planning and strategy of the propagation of the
> religion has become the concern of the administrative institutions and set within the context of
> plans (q.v.) drawn up by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Iran. From 1946, all
> propagation and other activities have been conducted within a framework of successive plans.
> 
> 3. Geographical spread
> 
> The Bábí movement spread throughout most of Iran in its initial phase of propagation. Within the
> first few years, groups were formed in most of the major cities. The spread in the villages was
> more haphazard. Where a person converted in one of the major cities came from one of the
> villages, he might return to his village and spread the new teaching among his family and, after a
> short time, a considerable community might come into existence in that village. There may
> however have been no converts in any of the surrounding villages. During the Bábí period, the
> spread of the religion to the villages occurred principally in Ádharbáyján, Mázandarán, Fárs,
> Khurásán, and some of the central provinces. It was only during the time of Bahá'u'lláh that the
> spread to the villages began to occur over a wider area.
> 
> The initial spread of the Bábí movement was to the Iranian heartlands--such areas as Mázandarán,
> Khurásán, central Iran, Fárs, and Yazd. The Turkic population of Ádharbáyján also responded
> well to the new teaching. There were, however, few converts in some areas such as Hamadán,
> Kirmánsháh, Gílán, and Kirmán until the start of the Bahá'í period. In the case of Kirmán this was
> probably because of the presence there of the Shaykhí leader, Hájí Muhammad Karím Khán
> Kirmání, who effectively blocked all moves to spread the new religion there from its earliest days.
> In the case of the other areas it would appear to have been more the result of the fact that none of
> the prominent early Bábís came from these areas and so there was no propagation of the Bábí
> movement there. Spread to more peripheral areas such as Khúzistán, the Gulf littoral, and
> Balúchistán did not occur to any appreciable degree until the end of the nineteenth century.
> 
> From the 1940s on, under systemic plans, the Bahá'í administrative institutions were established in
> all parts of Iran, and many smaller towns and villages that had remained closed to the new religion
> were now opened by the planned movement of Bahá'ís from other parts of the country.
> 
> 4. Spread among religious and ethnic minorities
> 
> Until the 1880s the spread of the Bahá'í Faith had remained largely within the framework of the
> Iranian Shí`í majority in the Iranian heartlands and the Turkic Shí`ís of Ádharbáyján. A few of the
> Ahl-i Haqq (`Aliyu'lláhís, a Shí`í minority group) had been converted over the years but there had
> been no conversions of other minority groups. Then in the 1870s and 1880s, there were some
> important breakthroughs with the beginnings of the conversions of a large number of Jews (in
> Hamadán, Kirmánsháh, Khurásán, Káshán, and Tehran) and Zoroastrians (in the Yazd area).
> 
> At first, these converts were not fully integrated into the Bahá'í community. They remained within
> their communities of origin and there was little to tell them apart from other Jews and
> Zoroastrians. As late as the early years of the twentieth century, separate meetings were being
> held for the "Jewish Bahá'ís" and "Zoroastrian Bahá'ís" in some cities. But gradually over the
> years, these converts cut their links with their communities of origin and the Bahá'í community
> became more integrated.
> 
> There was some spread of the religion among the settled tribes from the Bábí period, although it
> was extremely patchy. Some seventy members of the Afshár tribe settled at Hindiján in Fars were
> converted, as were some Kurds and others. This pattern was continued into the early Bahá'í
> period with the conversion of some Lurs who had migrated to Mázandarán, some Kurds in
> Ádharbáyján and Kurdistán, and a few other groups. There were no conversions among the
> nomadic tribes until the twentieth century when there began to be a few such among the Búyir
> Ahmad tribes of the southern Zagros mountains.
> 
> With regard to other ethnic minorities in Iran, Bahá'ís were well represented among the
> Ádharbáyjání Turks but there appear to have been relatively few among the nomadic Turkic
> tribes, the Kurds of western Iran, the Arabs of Khúzistán, and the Balúchís of the southeast. One
> reason for this may be that most of these groups are Sunní.
> 
> 5. Persecutions and Migration
> 
> The Bábí and Bahá'í communities of Iran have been persecuted from their inception to the present
> day. The persecution has been, in the worst periods, intense and unrelenting, and even in the best
> times, it has been an ever-present threat. (On the pattern of persecutions, see the article "Bahá'í
> History".)
> 
> After the more dramatic and violent episodes associated with the Bábí era, there followed a period
> in which continuous pressure and harrassment were punctuated by frequent outbursts of violence;
> the 1979 Revolution in Iran has re-created circumstances more akin to the original Bábí period. In
> the atmosphere of hatred and terror engendered by these persecutions, Bahá'ís lived under
> enormous pressures, particularly the more prominent ones who were publicly known as Bahá'ís.
> There was no way in which the Bahá'í movement could operate openly in Iran and therefore no
> way in which it could publicly state its case. This situation created favorable conditions for the
> proliferation of every type of rumor and accusation against them.
> 
> Bahá'ís whose religious affiliation became known or who chose openly to identify themselves as
> such were at all times under a great deal of pressure. They and their families were subjected to
> persistent abuse, dismissal from employment, trade and commercial boycott, and not infrequent
> beatings and looting of property. In addition to this continuous background level of harrassment,
> from time to time there would be a major local outburst of persecution during which a number of
> Bahá'ís would be killed and all the Bahá'ís in that locality threatened and their property looted.
> The murderers and looters would plead that as apostates from Islam, Bahá'ís could be killed or
> despoiled with impunity. There are almost no examples of anyone being punished by the
> authorities for any actions taken against the Bahá'ís, even where murder was involved. A major
> outburst of persecution would have consequences not only in the locality where it occurred but
> also in other places where the news would encourage some to try to extort money from the
> Bahá'ís on the threat of stirring up similar trouble.
> 
> Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that many Bahá'ís chose to migrate. Many of these
> moves were precipitated by an episode of persecution. Not every area in Iran was equally prone
> to such episodes. In Ádharbáyján and Khurásán there were, for much of the last half of the
> nineteenth century, a number of Bahá'ís in high government positions who were able to protect
> the Bahá'ís to a certain extent. Tehran, also, was relatively safe, probably because the central
> government was more able to exert its authority there and because it did not want the foreign
> ambassadors to witness such outbursts of persecution. In general, then, the migrations that
> occurred were from areas of intense persecution, such as Isfahan and Yazd, to areas of less
> persecution, such as Tehran, Ádharbáyján, and Khurásán. Many Bahá'ís migrated from Iran
> altogether. Some went to the Caucasus and to the Haifa-Akka area, but the largest number went
> to Ashkhabad (see "Turkmenistan").
> 
> As an example of this phenomenon of migration, one may look at Yazd, an area of much
> persecution. There are a hundred persons named as leading Bahá'ís of Yazd in the time of
> Bahá'u'lláh (see Table 1 and note under Table 3). Of these, 64 migrated from Yazd; 25 are
> specifically stated to have moved as a direct result of persecution, and most of the rest probably
> moved as an indirect result of the persecutions. 14 migrated to the Haifa-`Akka area; 22 migrated
> to Ashkhabad. Migration was however a feature of all parts of the Bahá'í community; and even
> from a comparatively safe province such as Ádharbáyján, 29 of 145 leading Bahá'ís (20%) listed in
> Bahá'u'lláh's period of leadership migrated, mostly to Ashkhabad (12), the Caucasus (7) and the
> Haifa-Akka area (4).
> 
> 6. Communications
> 
> For most of their history, the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths have existed with their leadership in exile
> and prison. Therefore the question of communications between the leadership in exile and the
> main mass of the believers has always been of critical concern.
> 
> From the time that the Báb was imprisoned in the remote mountains of Ádharbáyján until the first
> decades of the twentieth century, the solution to the problem was much the same: use was made
> of particular individuals who acted as full-time couriers. These individuals--Sayyáh in the time of
> the Báb, and ShaykhSalmán, Amínu'l-Bayán, and Hájí Amín in the time of Bahá'u'lláh--would
> travel among the Bahá'í communities in Iran collecting letters, gifts, and offerings and take these
> to wherever the leader of the religion then was (Mákú, Chihríq, Baghdad, Edirne, or Akka). They
> would then collect the replies to the letters, and go to another place where these were transcribed
> (Tehran in the time of the Báb, Mosul for much of Bahá'u'lláh's time in Akka, or Akka itself), so
> that multiple copies of the latest tablets could be made available. They would then proceed to
> travel throughout Iran where they would distribute these and collect the next batch of letters.
> Much use for communications was also made of the very extensive flow of individual Bábís and
> Bahá'ís making the journey to see the leader of the religion. They would also become, in effect,
> couriers.
> 
> 7. Organizational development
> 
> Although there are indications in the writings of the Báb that he intended to set up an
> organizational network based on a hierarchy of Letters of the Living, Mirrors, etc., it would
> appear that little came of this, probably due to the persecutions of the Bábís.
> 
> During the early days of the Bahá'í community in Iran there was little attempt at organization. In
> the main, the Bahá'í community in each locality was led by whoever was socially most highly
> placed. In particular, many of those who had been `ulamá when Muslims became leaders in the
> Bahá'í community. Holy Days were observed from an early date, while the Nineteen Day Feast
> (q.v.) became the regular meeting of the community. Meetings were also held for the saying of
> prayers and the reading of the latest "tablets" arriving from the head of the religion. Meetings
> were also held for the benefit of potential converts.
> 
> When copies of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (q.v.) reached Iran, some of the Bahá'ís of Tehran decided, in
> about 1294/1877, to set up a House of Justice in that city. As there are no instructions in the book
> regarding the establishment of this institution, however, they merely called together an ad
> hocgroup of prominent Bahá'ís and called that the Assembly of Consultation (majlis-i-shawr) and
> the house in which they met the House of Justice. They consulted about the affairs of the
> community but they were a self-appointed body and even kept their existence a secret from the
> main body of the Bahá'ís (presumably for security).
> 
> Another development was the evolution of a number of persons who taught the Bahá'í Faith on a
> full-time basis, either resident in a locality or traveling around the community. These individuals,
> called muballighs, reached their greatest importance at the end of the nineteenth century.
> Sadru's-Sudúr (q.v.) set up an institute for training muballighs in Tehran in the early twentieth
> century.
> 
> In 1304 /1887 Bahá'u'lláh began to name certain prominent Bahá'ís as Hands of the Cause (q.v.).
> The number of Hands of the Cause reached four with the appointment of Mírzá Hasan Adíb (q.v.)
> some time after his conversion in about 1889. Others were given the title of Ismu'lláh (Name of
> God). Whereas the latter group never evolved into an institution and died out, the former was
> continued by `Abdu'l-Bahá and eventually made into an important branch of the Bahá'í
> administration by Shoghi Effendi.
> 
> In 1897 `Abdu'l-Bahá instructed the Hands of the Cause to begin the consultations that resulted
> eventually in the setting up in Tehran in 1899 of the Central Spiritual Assembly, consisting of the
> four Hands of the Cause and nine who were elected by special electors appointed by the Hands.
> From then on the spiritual assemblies became the principle administrative organs of the Bahá'í
> community.
> 
> Already by 1920 a considerable degree of organizational sophistication existed with the Central
> Spiritual Assembly in Tihran having committees for education, teachers' training, poor relief,
> publishing, international correspondence, hospitality, adjudication of commercial and other
> disputes, and for teaching. In 1934 a national spiritual assembly was formed with its headquarters
> in Tehran.
> 
> The propagation and study of the Bahá'í Faith was backed by the publication of Bahá'í literature.
> The Bahá'ís were forbidden by the government to print their books using letterpress. Áqá Bábá
> Nayrízí, who ran the first Bahá'í primary school (maktab) in Tehran, also reproduced tablets and
> other material by lithograph. In 1899 Mírzá `Alí Akbar Rawhání Muhibbu's-Sultán began to
> produce material by jellygraph or mimeograph (see "Calligraphy.6"). Over the years this
> developed into a large-scale production of books, periodicals, pamphlets, and audio-visual
> material (see "Literature.6").
> 
> 8. Finances
> 
> Not a great deal is yet known about the financial basis of the Bahá'í community of Iran. There was
> undoubtedly a small nucleus of rich individuals whose donations of money supported much of the
> activity of the community. These were mainly merchants and included a number of the members
> of the Báb's family, the Afnáns. It was, for example, Muhammad-Taqí Afnán who financed much
> of the building of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (q.v.) of Ashkhabad.
> 
> The Bahá'ís of Iran also sent money to support the leader of the religion in exile in Edirne or
> Akka. This was formalized as the Huqúqu'lláh (q.v.). Amínu'l-Bayán and Hájí Amín (q.v.) were
> appointed as the trustees of the Huqúqu'lláh and would travel around Iran receiving this money
> from Bahá'ís and then taking it to `Akká. In later years, Hájí Amín appointed assistants to help
> him in this work and the money was remitted through merchants such as Mírzá `Alí Haydar
> Shírváni and Sayyid Nasru'lláh Báqiroff. Hájí Amín's principal assistant was Mírzá Ghulám-Ridá
> Amín-i-Amín, who succeeded him as the Trustee of the Huququ'lláh in 1928. He in turn was
> succeeded upon his death in 1938 by Valiyu'lláh Varqá (q.v.).
> 
> In 1907 a Bahá'í fund (sandúq-i khayriyyih) was established in Tehran to finance the full-time
> Bahá'í teachers (muballighs) and for the assistance of Bahá'í education and the support of
> orphans, the aged and handicapped (Rafati 458). From the early 1920s, Shoghi Effendi
> encouraged the development of a national Bahá'í fund to finance the Bahá'í administration.
> 
> 9. Social and economic development
> 
> From the earliest days of the Bábí and Bahá'í communities, observers noted some differences
> between them and the Shí`í majority of Iran. The first area in which this was seen was in relation
> to the greater freedom given to women in the Bahá'í Faith (See comments by various Europeans,
> BBR 27, 75; Momen, "Christian missionaries", p. 74). While no women in Bahá'í history achieved
> the same fame in history as Táhirih (q.v.) in the Bábí period, there are many examples of
> individual women who took an important role in the propagation and social development of the
> Bahá'í Faith in Iran.
> 
> The persecutions necessitated a communal initiative to help the victims. Efforts were also
> extended to relief during the famines that affected Iran in the nineteenth century. Mutual
> assistance extended into other areas and was probably largely responsible for the growing wealth
> and improving social circumstances of the Bahá'í community over the decades.
> 
> At the village level also some efforts were made. As early as the 1870s in Mahfurúzak in
> Mázandarán, for example, Mullá `Ali Ján and his wife, `Alaviyyih Khánum (q.v.), were
> instrumental in instituting agricultural reforms and a co-operative for selling the cotton they
> produced. They set up elementary schools for both boys and girls.
> 
> The number of such activities increased markedly during the period of `Abdu'l-Bahá's leadership.
> Bahá'í schools for both boys and girls were set up in many towns and even some villages, and
> medical facilities were established. With the assistance of a number of American Bahá'ís, these
> institutions became among the best in Iran and many prominent people who were not Bahá'ís
> would use them. Bahá'í students (male and female) went to Europe and North America to
> improve their education.
> 
> Education and literacy, especially of women, continued to be of prime concern to the Bahá'í
> community. After the Bahá'í schools were closed by government order in 1934, the Bahá'ís
> continued to hold moral education classes (dars-i-akhláq) on Fridays. By 1973 the Bahá'í
> community was able to report the eradication of illiteracy among Bahá'í women under forty years
> of age (BW 15:248).
> 
> Other social and economic development projects included hospitals and medical clinics; the
> Nawnahálán Company, formed to encourage children to save (1917); and an institution for Bahá'í
> orphans (BW 9:120).
> 
> Within the Iranian context, the Bahá'í Faith may be seen as one of the major forces towards the
> "modernization" of the country, particularly during the late nineteenth and early twentieth
> centuries. Its role in this regard has yet to be properly assessed, but it appears to have exercised a
> particular appeal to the better educated, and through its own promotion of relative female
> emancipation, education, and modern medicine significantly contributed towards the
> socio-economic development of at least one segment of Iranian society. In addition to fully
> committed adherents it also attracted a wider circle of sympathizers.
> 
> 10. Social location
> 
> It is difficult to make any general statements about the social location of the Bábí- Bahá'í
> community of Iran. The evidence available suggests that they were and are fairly well distributed
> among all sections and classes of Iranian urban society. There were also numerous rural Bahá'ís.
> Many of the latter drifted to the towns for purposes of education and better opportunities.
> 
> While the intense persecutions often resulted in some Bahá'ís being made destitute, the emphasis
> on education in the Bahá'í community meant that overall there was a tendency during the
> twentieth century for the Bahá'í community in Iran to climb the social scale. Many Bahá'ís became
> part of the middle classes that emerged in Iran during the twentieth century.
> 
> In the main, the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths spread through established social networks. At first, the
> main network was the existing Shaykhí network throughout Iran. More than 50% of leading Bábís
> converted before 1264/1848 had been Shaykhís (Smith and Momen, "The Báb Movement", p.
> 60). Later, other social networks were utilized. In Isfahan the religion spread particularly among
> the guilded craftmen (asnáf); in Qazvin, among the merchants (tujjár); in most areas there was
> spread through the network of `ulamá, except in Zanján, where the pre-eminent Bábí, Mullá
> Muhammad-`Ali Hujjat, had belonged to the minority Akhbárí school, and thus further spread
> through the `ulamá network was blocked by the pre-existing hostility of the other `ulamá.
> 
> 11. Leadership of the Bahá'í community
> 
> There is more information regarding the leadership of the Bábí and Bahá'í movement. It is
> therefore possible to make an assessment of the geographical and social background of the
> leading Bábís and Bahá'ís.
> 
> In Table 1, the gradual changes in the relative importance of the various Bahá'í communities of
> Iran can be seen as they emerged from their Bábí past. A number of areas such as Gílán,
> Kirmánsháh, and Hamadán, which had virtually no community during the Bábí period, had by the
> time of `Abdu'l-Bahá grown to equal in importance such older communities as Qazvín and Zanján,
> and even Fárs. The steep rise in importance of Tehran can also be seen; Yazd had also grown
> much in importance.
> 
> In Table 2, the leading Bábís and Bahá'ís are analyzed according to their origins in terms of
> whether this was urban or rural. Despite the imprecise nature of this analysis, the proportions of
> leading Bábís and Bahá'ís from each of the categories listed remained remarkably constant. This is
> all the more interesting in view of the marked rise in the importance of Tehran and the other cities
> as a focus of migration over the past century. This would seem to indicate that there was a
> simultaneous equal expansion of the Bahá'í Faith among rural communities.
> 
> In Table 3 the occupational background of the leading Bábís and Bahá'ís is examined. Not
> unexpectedly, with the hardening of attitudes against the new religion among the `ulamá, there is a
> decrease in the proportion of Bahá'ís from that section of the population. The bazaar, being the
> most conservative and religious section of the traditional Iranian city, was also a difficult place for
> Bahá'ís to exist and this probably accounts for the decline among the guilded retail merchants and
> skilled urban workers. The number of wholesale merchants (tujjár), on the other hand, increased
> during this period, partly because they were less subject to the pressures of the bazaar and partly
> because many Bahá'í tujjár chose to establish themselves outside Iran. Interestingly, despite the
> high level of persecutions, membership and conversions from among the court, nobility, and high
> government officials remained at a high level throughout this period.
> 
> 12. Principal events of Bábí and Bahá'í history 1844-1921.
> 
> As the Bábí and Bahá'í religions were founded in Iran, the history of these religions in this country
> is closely bound up with the overall history of the religion itself and with the biographies of the
> central figures of the Bahá'í Faith. Thus much information on the Bábí and Bahá'í history of Iran
> can be gained from the separate articles on "Bahá'í History" and on each of the central figures (see
> especially "The Bab", and the early part of the life of "Bahá'u'lláh").
> 
> Iran cannot be considered a unitary country in the period when the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths first
> began. The people of the country regarded themselves as Yazdís or Shírázís much more than they
> regarded themselves as Iranians. Each of the major cities and provinces of Iran was run by a
> governor who held a very high degree of authority and thus was to a large extent independent of
> the central authorities. Because of the long distances and poor communications, the central
> government was only able to exert a limited influence over what went on in the provinces. Iran
> became a unitary country only under Ridá Shah, the first of the Pahlavis, who took control of the
> government in 1921 and acceded to the throne in 1925. In this Encyclopedia, therefore, Bábí and
> Bahá'í history is surveyed in the provinces individually up to 1921 and in Iran as a whole from
> 1921 onwards. Therefore for the period 1844-1921, see the following
> articles:
> 
> Ádharbayján
> 
> Fárs
> 
> Gílán
> 
> Isfahan
> 
> Káshán and Central Provinces (Sultánábád, Mahallát, and Gulpáygán)
> 
> Khamsih (Zanján)
> 
> Khurásán
> 
> Khúzistán
> 
> Kirmán and Sístán
> 
> Kirmánsháh, Hamadán, Kurdistán, and Luristán
> 
> Mázandarán and Gurgán
> 
> Qazvín
> 
> Tehran (including Qumm, Simnán, and Dámghán)
> 
> Yazd
> 
> 13. Events in Iran 1921-79
> 
> The beginning of the Pahlavi dynasty saw an outburst of persecutions in Iran. In 1926 eight
> Bahá'ís were killed at Jahrum, three at Zavárih, and other Bahá'ís were harassed and Bahá'í
> properties looted in Nayríz and Marághih (BBR 465-73; BW 2:287; PP 98).
> 
> Following the accession of Ridá Shah Pahlavi, there was great hope among the Bahá'ís that a new
> era of toleration of the Bahá'í Faith in Iran would arise from the anti-clerical and secularizing
> stance of the new shah. At first fulfillment of this hope seemed to be in prospect and there was a
> general improvement in the conditions for Bahá'ís. The new regime took measures that limited the
> influence of the `ulamá over such areas as education and law. Although the Bahá'í Faith was not
> recognized, the Bahá'ís were allowed to do a number of things that had not previously been
> possible. Large public meetings were held in the 1920s at which government officials were often
> present. The Bahá'ís expanded the number of new schools, modern public baths, libraries, and
> cemetries owned and run by the community. Steps were taken to increase the role of women in
> the community and to find ways of developing the community socially and economically. National
> conventions with elected delegates were held from 1927 on, at first electing the Central Spiritual
> Assembly, and culminating in 1934 with the election of the first National Spiritual Assembly. A
> national Bahá'í center, the Hazíratu'l-Quds, was begun in about 1930, and progress was made in
> identifying and purchasing Bahá'í holy places throughout Iran. The free publication or importation
> of Bahá'í material was, however, never permitted nor was Bahá'í marriage ever officially
> recognized.
> 
> Whatever benefits there may have been to the Bahá'ís from the new regime were abruptly reversed
> in 1934 when the government moved to close all of the Bahá'í schools throughout the country as
> well as forbidding Bahá'í meetings and dismissing Bahá'ís from government employment in several
> places (BW 6:26-31). Bahá'ís were imprisoned for contracting Bahá'í marriages (BW 8:73-5,
> 185-188) and on such charges as closing their shops and businesses on Bahá'í holy days
> (BW7:137; 9:97). The tide of attacks swelled during the 1940s with increasing violence used
> against the Bahá'ís and decreasing efforts on the part of the authorities to quell the
> trouble-makers. Events culminated in the murder of three Bahá'ís in Sháhrúd by a mob in 1944.
> This was followed by a period of several months during which Bahá'ís in almost every part of Iran
> were attacked, many injured and much property looted.
> 
> A further serious episode occurred in 1949 when, following the death of a woman and her
> children in Abarqúh, her murderers tried to throw the blame onto the Bahá'ís. A large number of
> Bahá'ís of Yazd and Isfandábád were arrested, including all of the Local Spiritual Assembly of
> Yazd. After months in prison awaiting trial, the accused were brought to Tehran. A mockery of a
> trial ensued; four Bahá'ís were sentenced to ten years imprisonment, while the members of the
> local spiritual assembly were sentenced to three years.
> 
> The Bahá'ís of Iran continued to depend for the propagation of the Faith upon a team of
> officially-appointed teachers, some of whom were resident and some itinerant (see for example list
> BW 8:173, 191-3). Most of the propagation work was done by these individuals and they were
> the sources of authority in each community at first. Gradually, however, the Bahá'í institutions,
> the local spiritual assemblies, came to represent the source of authority in each locality and classes
> were established in many areas to enable a wider range of Bahá'ís to undertake the work of
> propagation. In 1936 Shoghi Effendi ordered that the paying of salaries to full-time teachers of
> the Faith should cease.
> 
> From the 1930s onwards Shoghi Effendi began to encourage the Bahá'ís of Iran to spread the
> Bahá'í Faith to the surrounding countries in the Middle East. Sustained efforts were therefore
> made to settle Bahá'ís in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Arabian peninsula. From 1943 onwards,
> "pioneers" were also sent to areas within Iran where there were no Bahá'ís. Many of these Bahá'í
> pioneers were forced by the local authorities to return home but some managed to stay.
> 
> On 11 October 1946 a Forty-Five Month Plan was inaugurated by the National Spiritual
> Assembly of Iran. This Plan called for a large increase in the number of Bahá'í communities in Iran
> and the dispatch of many pioneers to surrounding countries. The goals of the Plan were allocated
> to each of the twenty provinces and every individual Bahá'í was encouraged to take responsibility
> for some aspect of the Plan. The result was that the goals of the Plan were exceeded.
> 
> After the initial Forty-Five Month Plan finished in 1950, a Four-Year Plan was inaugurated. One
> of the major objectives of this plan was the elevation of the status of women and, at the end of
> this Plan, women were for the first time made eligible to be elected to local and national spiritual
> assemblies.
> 
> During the Ten Year Crusade (q.v.) inaugurated by Shoghi Effendi in 1953, Iran was given a
> large number of goals, particlularly in Asia, to which pioneers had to be sent. With the exception
> of Mongolia, all of these goals were achieved.
> 
> The Iranian Bahá'í community was developed greatly in organization and complexity (see Table
> 4). By the 1960s there were some 150 national committees. The Tehran Bahá'í community
> became increasingly the focal center of the Iranian Bahá'í community. The national
> Hazíratu'l-Quds came to house both the national offices, the Tehran Assembly's offices, as well as
> a library, a printing facility, a youth club, and a guest house. In Tehran alone there were by 1960
> some 3,000 Bahá'ís serving on various administrative bodies and about the same number involved
> in the education of Bahá'í youth and children. The growth and vibrancy of the Tehran Bahá'í
> community, however, encouraged many Bahá'ís from the less privileged towns and villages to
> migrate to Tehran, thus weakening many of these local communities.
> 
> Another goal of the Ten Year Crusade was the building of a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Tehran. Plans
> were proceeding for this when there was a sudden outburst of persecution in 1955.
> ShaykhMuhammad Taqí Falsafí, a Tehran mullá, made a vitriolic attack on the Bahá'ís and their
> beliefs in his mosque. These speeches were repeated every day and broadcast on the radio,
> inciting the populace to attack the Bahá'ís. On 7 May 1955 the Hazíratu'l-Quds of Tehran was
> closed and persecutions of the Bahá'ís errupted in all parts of the country. The dome of the
> Hazíratu'l-Quds was destroyed and the military authorities occupied the National Bahá'í Office for
> use as their own headquarters. Bahá'ís were attacked, young women raped and, in Hurmuzak near
> Yazd, seven were killed. Bahá'í cemteries were desecrated and many Bahá'ís lost their jobs. Bahá'í
> houses, shops, and businesses were looted and razed to the ground. It was international pressure
> orchestrated by Shoghi Effendi and carried out by the Bahá'í communities throughout the world
> that eventually caused the persecution to be brought under control by the Pahlavi government.
> Plans for the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár had to be abandoned and Shoghi Effendi instructed that, as a
> direct reply to the clerical enemies of the Bahá'í Faith in Iran, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkárs of Kampala,
> Sydney, and Frankfurt be built instead.
> 
> As result of the international campaign launched in 1955, there was some amelioration of
> conditions for the Bahá'ís during the 1960s and early 1970s. No official recognition was given to
> the Bahá'ís, but on the other hand they were not unduly harrassed by officials either.
> 
> This period of relative peace came to an end in 1975 when the shah introduced his single political
> party, the Rastákhíz Party. When the Bahá'ís, in obedience to their strict rule of not becoming
> involved in partisan politics, refused to join, they were again subjected to harrassment. A short
> time later the Iranian Revolution errupted.
> 
> 14. Recent history, 1979 onwards
> 
> Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Bahá'ís of Iran have been subjected to intense
> persecution. Every attempt has been made to eradicate the community. Members of the
> Tablíghát-i-Islámi (Hujjatiyyih), an organization that had been set up specifically as an anti-Bahá'í
> society, achieved important positions in the revolutionary government and were given a free hand
> against the Bahá'ís.
> 
> In the early days of the Revolution, the offices of the National Spiritual Assembly were raided and
> membership lists and other information removed. Based on this information large numbers of the
> leading Bahá'ís of Iran were arrested and many of them were executed. All property held by Bahá'í
> institutions was confiscated. As this included Bahá'í cemetries, great problems were created for
> Bahá'ís whose family members died. Bahá'í children and youth were expelled from schools and
> universities; Bahá'í government employees were dismissed and ordered to pay back salaries that
> they had received while employed; other employers were also put under pressure to dismiss
> Bahá'ís and to refuse them pay or pensions; Bahá'í businesses were boycotted; many Bahá'ís had
> their property looted and suffered beatings and harrassment.
> 
> The Iranian government claimed that no one was punished on account of religion and that anyone
> suffering must have committed other offences. Numerous documents exist, however, that
> demonstrate that these measures were taken solely because the victims were Bahá'ís and
> frequently the offer was made in writing to reverse such measures if the person would convert to
> Islam. The Bahá'í institutions were formally declared illegal in August 1983, whereupon they were
> disbanded and remain so.
> 
> An intense effort was made by the other Bahá'í communities of the world to mitigate these
> persecutions. Representations were made directly to the Iranian government. When these failed,
> other national governments and international organizations such as the European Community and
> the United Nations were approached. These efforts culminated in the adoption by the United
> Nations General Assembly in December 1985 of a resolution on human rights in Iran, in which the
> Bahá'ís were specifically named, and the appointment of a special representative to monitor the
> situation.
> 
> Since about 1985 the situation of the Bahá'ís in Iran has ameliorated to the extent that few
> executions have occurred and most Bahá'í prisoners have been released. Some unofficial
> relaxation of some of the other measures taken against the Bahá'ís has also occurred. But overall
> the Bahá'ís of Iran remain unable to exercise full human rights and the Bahá'í administrative
> institutions remain disbanded.
> 
> 15. The contribution of Iranian Bahá'ís
> 
> Since Iranians were the majority of the earliest people to enter the religion and the Iranian Bahá'í
> community was until recent decades overwhelmingly the largest Bahá'í community, it is inevitable
> that Iranians have played a major role in the development of the religion. Even as recently as
> 1954, Iranian Bahá'ís constituted 94% of the world Bahá'í population; with the recent growth of
> the Bahá'í Faith, this proportion has now dropped dramatically to 6-7% (Smith and Momen, "The
> Bahá'í Faith," 72). Almost all of the leading Bábís as well as Bahá'ís in the time of Bahá'u'lláh were
> Iranians. During the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, there was considerable worldwide
> spread of the religion but Iranians remained very important. Twenty-one of the fifty Hands of the
> Cause appointed were Iranians.
> 
> Although it is more difficult for Iranians than for Europeans and North Americans to obtain visas
> and residency rights in other countries, the Iranian Bahá'ís have provided a large proportion of the
> pioneers that have settled in all parts of the world up to the present day. They were particularly
> important in founding the Bahá'í communities in the Middle East and North Africa and in building
> up the numbers of Bahá'ís in Europe to allow the institutions of the Bahá'í Faith to be established.
> Even today, several European Bahá'í communities have appreciable proportions of Iranians (up to
> 40%).
> 
> See also: Individual provinces as listed in section 12 above. Much information can also be found
> in the biographies of the prominent Iranian Bábís and Bahá'ís in this Encyclopedia, for a partial list
> of these see "Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh". "Literature.6"; "Poetry.2"; "Opposition and Persecution"
> 
> Moojan Momen
> Bibliography
> 
> The most detailed examination of the Iranian Bahá'í community is to be found in Fádil
> Mázandarání, Zuhúr al-Haqq. A number of general histories of the Bahá'í Faith also exist which
> cover events in Iran. Notable among these are Mírzá Husayn Hamadání, Ta'ríkh-i Jadíd (trans. E.
> G. Browne); `Abdu'l-Bahá, Traveller's Narrative (trans. E.G. Browne); Ávárih,
> Kavákibu'd-Durriyyih; and manuscript histories such as Hájí Mu'ínu's-Saltanih's history. See also
> article V. Rafati "Bahai Faith V. The Bahai Communities of Iran" in EIr 3:454-460. A number of
> histories of local Bahá'í communities in Iran have been written but exist only in manuscript form.
> Details of these can be found in the bibliography for the entry of each province.
> 
> On the early history of the institution of the House of Justice in Tehran, see R. Mehrabkhani,
> "Maháfil-i-shawr dar `ahd-i Jamál-i Aqdas-i Abhá" Payam-i-Bahá'í, 28 February 1982, pp. 9-11;
> 29 March 1982, pp. 8-9.
> 
> For materials in European languages, see Peter Smith, The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions; M.
> Momen, "The social basis of the Bábí upheavals in Iran (1848-53): a preliminary analysis"
> International Journal of Middle East Studies 1983, 15:157-813; P. Smith and M. Momen, "The
> Bábí movement: a resource mobilization perspective" in SBBR 3:33-93; ibid, "The Bahá'í Faith
> 1957-1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments," Religion 1989, 19:63-91. A summary of
> events since the 1920s can be found in the section "International Survey of Current Bahá'í
> Activities" in successive volumes of Bahá'í World.
> 
> A list of the persecutions affecting the Bahá'í community of Iran from 1844 to 1978 appears in
> BW 18:380-91. An account by Geoffrey Nash of the persecutions since 1979 can be found in BW
> 18:249-336.
> 
> TABLE ONE: LEADING BÁBÍS AND BAHÁ'ÍS BY PROVINCE (1844-1921)
> 
> Ministry
> of the Báb
> Ministry
> of
> Bahá'u'lláh
> Ministry of
> `Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> 1844-1853
> 1853-1892
> 1893-1921
> 
> Tot
> %
> Tot
> %
> Tot
> %
> 
> Khurásán (& Bastám &
> Qá'inát)
> 38
> 13.5
> 112
> 13.6
> 144
> 12.7
> 
> Mázandarán &
> Gurgán/Astarábád
> 23
> 8.2
> 19
> 2.3
> 51
> 4.5
> 
> Gílán
> 0
> 0
> 32
> 3.9
> 78
> 6.9
> 
> Ádharbáyján
> 46
> 16.3
> 145
> 17.5
> 114
> 10.1
> 
> Qazvín &
> Khamsih/Zanján
> 47
> 16.7
> 49
> 5.9
> 45
> 4.0
> 
> Tehran, Simnán &
> Dámghán
> 21
> 7.4
> 113
> 13.7
> 204
> 18.0
> 
> Kashán & Central
> Provinces (Sultánábád,
> Mahallát and Gulpáygán)
> 27
> 9.6
> 89
> 10.8
> 83
> 7.3
> 
> Isfahan
> 24
> 8.5
> 82
> 9.9
> 75
> 6.6
> 
> Kirmánsháh, Hamadán
> Kurdistán, & Luristán
> 3
> 1.1
> 29
> 3.5
> 78
> 6.9
> 
> Fárs
> 39
> 13.8
> 37
> 4.5
> 70
> 6.2
> 
> Yazd
> 12
> 4.3
> 100
> 12.1
> 157
> 13.9
> 
> Kirmán & Sístán
> 2
> 0.7
> 14
> 1.7
> 31
> 2.7
> 
> Khúzistán
> 0
> 0
> 4
> 0.1
> 1
> 0.1
> 
> Totals
> 282
> 
> 825
> 
> 1131
> 
> TABLE TWO: RURAL/URBAN ORIGINS OF LEADING BÁBÍS AND BAHÁ'ÍS OF IRAN (1844-1921)
> 
> Ministry
> of the
> Báb
> 1844-1853
> Ministry
> of
> Bahá'u'lláh
> 1853-1892
> Ministry of
> `Abdu'l-Bahá 1893-1921
> 
> Tot
> %
> Tot
> %
> Tot
> %
> 
> Large towns
> (>22,000)
> 109
> 38.6
> 349
> 44.1
> 463
> 40.9
> 
> Medium towns
> (7,000-22,000)
> 67
> 23.8
> 140
> 17.7
> 239
> 21.1
> 
> Small towns
> (2,000-7,000)
> 37
> 13.1
> 67
> 8.5
> 82
> 7.3
> 
> Villages (
> 64
> 22.7
> 228
> 28.8
> 342
> 30.2
> 
> Tribesmen
> 
> 5
> 1.8
> 8
> 1.0
> 5
> 0.4
> 
> Total
> 282
> 
> 792
> 
> 1131
> 
> TABLE THREE: LEADING BÁBÍS AND BAHÁ'ÍS OF IRAN BY OCCUPATION (1844-1921)
> 
> Ministry
> of the Báb
> 1844-1853
> Ministry of
> Bahá'u'lláh
> 1853-1892
> Ministry
> of
> `Abdu'l-Bahá
> 1893-1921
> 
> No
> %
> No
> %
> No
> %
> 
> 1a - Major `ulama
> 18
> 7.2
> 23
> 3.7
> 16
> 2.2
> 
> 1b - Minor `ulama
> 120
> 47.8
> 133
> 21.5
> 113
> 15.7
> 
> 1c - Sufi darvishes
> 2
> 0.8
> 16
> 2.5
> 13
> 1.8
> 
> 2a - Nobility and high
> government officials
> 23
> 9.2
> 64
> 5.8
> 106
> 14.7
> 
> 2b - Minor government
> officials
> 7
> 2.8
> 33
> 5.3
> 34
> 4.7
> 
> 3 - Wholesale
> merchants (tujjar)
> 34
> 13.6
> 115
> 18.6
> 145
> 20.1
> 
> 4 - Retail merchants
> 9
> 3.6
> 48
> 7.8
> 55
> 7.6
> 
> 5 - Skilled urban
> workers
> 20
> 8.0
> 145
> 23.5
> 110
> 15.3
> 
> 6 - Unskilled urban
> workers
> 0
> 0
> 18
> 2.6
> 0
> 0
> 
> 7 - Peasant and rural
> workers
> 13
> 5.2
> 13
> 2.1
> 16
> 2.2
> 
> 8 - Tribal peoples
> 5
> 2.0
> 9
> 1.5
> 13
> 1.8
> 
> 9 - Modern professional
> 0
> 0
> 0
> 0
> 89
> 12.4
> 
> 10 - Full-time Bahá'í
> teachers
> 0
> 0
> 0
> 0
> 10
> 1.4
> 
> TOTAL
> 251
> 
> 618
> 
> 720
> 
> Notes on the above tables: The source for the leading Bahá'ís of each period has been the
> respective volumes of Fadil Mázandarání, Zuhúr al-Haqq. Provinces are delineated according to
> the traditional 19th century pattern; see Persia, Geographical Handbook Series B.R. 525, Naval
> Intelligence Division, British Government, 1945, p. 8 and end map. For the purposes of these
> tables, Kashan has been put together with Mahallát, Sultánábád, and Gulpaygán; Kirmánsháh and
> Hamadan includes Burújird, Maláyir, Luristán, and Ardilán. Tehran province extends as far south
> as Qumm and includes Simnán and Dámghán. The list of towns given by Thompson in
> Parliamentary Papers, vol. 69 for 1867-68. pp. 507-15 (reprinted in C. Issawi, Economic History
> of Iran, London, 1971, p. 28) has been used for the large and medium-sized towns. Additional
> information has been gathered, particularly with respect to small towns and villages, from
> Gazetteer of Persia published by the General Staff of British India, 1914.
> 
> Occupations
> 
> 1a - Major `ulamá: mujtahids, Imám-Jum`ihs and any `ulamá who are stated to have had religious
> leadership in a given area or held a honorific title such as Amínu'l-`Ulamá
> 
> 1a - Minor `ulamá: those with the prefix of mullá before their name but with no indication that
> they were of any particular prominence; religious students (tulláb); rawdih-kháns;
> 
> 1c - Sufi darvishes
> 
> 2a - Nobility, members of the royal court, Qájár princes, governors, high government officials and
> military commanders of rank of sartíp and above; major land-owners and factory-owners
> (sáhib-kár)
> 
> 2b - Minor government officials; secretaries, couriers, and soldiers
> 
> 3 - Wholesale merchants (tujjár) and financiers (sarráf)
> 
> 4 - Retail merchants: usually guilded: shop-keepers, petty commodity producers, and agents for
> tujjár.
> 
> 5 - Skilled urban workers: Guilded craftsmen (asnáf) usually ustád (master craftsman), and
> traditional service workers (eg tabíb, doctor)
> 
> 6 - Unskilled urban workers: laborers and those in apprenticeship to an ustád
> 
> 7 - Peasant and rural workers
> 
> 8 - Tribal peoples
> 
> 9 - Modern professionals: doctors, dentists and teachers (if trained in modern as distinct from
> traditional methods)
> 
> 10 - Bahá'í teachers: full-time muballighs
> 
> TABLE FOUR: GROWTH OF BAHÁ'Í ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS
> 
> 1928
> 1936
> 1946
> 1954
> 1963
> 
> Loc
> Loc
> LSAs
> Loc
> LSAs
> Loc
> LSAs
> Locs
> 
> Khurásán (&
> Bastám & Qá'inát)
> 96
> 114
> 26
> 88
> 26
> 66
> 44
> 116
> 
> Mázandarán &
> Gurgan/Astarábád
> 21
> 26
> 24
> 46
> 28
> 36
> 62
> 118
> 
> Gílán
> 8
> 12
> 9
> 29
> 12
> 25
> 25
> 65
> 
> Ádharbáyján
> 33
> 56
> 39
> 64
> 36
> 71
> 54
> 112
> 
> Qazvín &
> Khamsih/Zanján
> 
> 13
> 14
> 9
> 23
> 9
> 16
> 9
> 17
> 
> Tehran, Simnán &
> Dámghán
> 22
> 45
> 29
> 100
> 42
> 105
> 99
> 248
> 
> Káshán & Central
> Provinces
> (Sultánábád/Arák,
> Mahallát, &
> Gulpáygán)
> 23
> 27
> 20
> 41
> 16
> 39
> 19
> 51
> 
> Isfahan
> 14
> 60
> 30
> 72
> 25
> 63
> 42
> 108
> 
> Kirmansháh,
> Hamadán
> Kurdistán &
> Luristán
> 26
> 37
> 23
> 57
> 18
> 32
> 26
> 79
> 
> Fárs
> 20
> 55
> 35
> 60
> 40
> 78
> 59
> 171
> 
> Yazd
> 45
> 62
> 27
> 48
> 22
> 35
> 30
> 71
> 
> Kirmán & Sistán
> 19
> 29
> 14
> 48
> 16
> 33
> 23
> 55
> 
> Khúzistán
> 6
> 23
> 6
> 18
> 17
> 30
> 29
> 60
> 
> Totals
> 346
> 560
> 291
> 694
> 307
> 629
> 521
> 1271
> 
> Key: Loc = Localities where Bahá'ís reside; LSAs = Local Spiritual Assemblies
> Sources: BW 2:187-90; 6:521-4; 10:574-8; 12:744-53; 13:1019-1020
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views36825 views since posted 1999; last edit 2022-03-01 23:31 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../momen_encyclopedia_iran;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> — *Iran: History of the Baha'i Faith (Used by permission of the curator)*