# Turkmenistan

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moojan Momen, Turkmenistan, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Turkmenistan
> 
> Moojan Momen
> 
> 1995
> 
> Turkmenistan. Area 488,100 sq. km. (188,405 sq. mi.). Pop. 3,600,000
> (1990). Prior to the mid-nineteenth century this area of Central Asia had
> been under Iranian suzerainty. In 1880, however, it was conquered by Russia.
> With the collapse of the Soviet Union, it became an independent republic
> in October 1991. The capital is Ashkhabad. The peoples are predominantly
> Turkmens, but there are many Iranians, Russians, and other nationalities
> in the cities. The predominant religion is Sunni Islam.
> 
> 1. Early history. There is one report of a Bahá'í, Ibn-i-Asdaq
> (q.v.), venturing into this area in about 1875, prior to its conquest by
> Russia. He went at the invitation of a Turkman chief to the fortress of
> Karim-Virdi Ishan, where the chief and twelve others, who were all Sunni
> Muslims, became Bahá'ís. Nothing more is known of this group.
> After the Russian conquest, it was one of the relatives of the Bab,
> Haji Mirza Hasan, known as Afnan-i-Kabir, who traveled through Ashkhabad
> in 1299/1881-22 on his way to Akka and realized the potential of the area
> which was just being built up by Russia to be the capital of their newly-acquired
> province. He sent instructions to his son to proceed to the area and buy
> land for him there. In 1883, there was a general persecution of Bahá'ís
> in many parts of Iran, and the next year, four of those affected by persecutions
> arrived in Ashkhabad. They were followed by a steady stream of Bahá'ís,
> mostly builders and merchants who could take advantage of the opportunities
> of the developing town. In December 1887, the Bahá'í community decided
> to build a public bath and a meeting room.
> By 1889, the number of Bahá'ís in Ashkhabad was about four hundred.
> It was at this juncture that an important event occurred which was to be
> a turning-point in the history of the community. On 8 September 1889, one
> of the most prominent of the Bahá'ís, Haji Muhammad Rida Isfahani, was
> assassinated in broad daylight in the town's bazaar. The perpetrators of
> this crime were a group of Shi`i Muslim who had been urged on by the `ulama.
> They maintained that they were entitled to do this under Islamic law. The
> fact that the government took no notice of this line of argument, brought
> the criminals to trial, and convicted them, was a shock to the Shi`i community.
> The Bahá'ís were, of course, jubilant, and Bahá'u'lláh commended the action
> of the Russian government. It was the first time in the history of the
> Bahá'í Faith that an attack on one of its members had been dealt with justly.
> The trial had one other major consequence. During the trial, the judges
> ordered the different religious communities to sit separately. This was
> the first occasion on which many who had secretly been Bahá'ís openly identified
> themselves. It was also the first occasion on which official recognition
> was given by any government body to the Bahá'í Faith as a religion independent
> of Islam. The Bahá'ís intervened on behalf of the two who had carried out
> the crime and had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
> This action was also praised by Bahá'u'lláh.
> One of the consequences of the episode of the assassination of Haji
> Muhammad Rida was that the Bahá'í community was forced to develop its own
> social institutions. As the community grew, these became more and more
> sophisticated. A traveler's hospice, and a dispensary and hospital were
> built. In 1312/1894, a boys' school was founded and a building for this
> was completed in 1897. A cemetery was also acquired. The culmination of
> these efforts was however, the building of a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (q.v.).
> On 31 October 1902, work was started on the project under the supervision
> of Haji Muhammad Taqi Afnan, Vakilu'd-Dawlih. The foundation-stone was
> laid by General Subotich, the governor-general of the province, in November
> 1904, and the outer structure was completed by 1907, although it was 1919
> before the building with its extensive external decorative work was completed.
> It was the most imposing building in Ashkhabad. Other institutions such
> as a girls' school (1907), two kindergartens (1917-18) and a Bahá'í Reading
> Room and Library were added. All of these institutions were clustered around
> the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in precisely the way envisaged by Bahá'u'lláh and
> `Abdu'l-Bahá in their writings.
> The social structure of the community was developing also. By 1902 there
> were about one thousand Bahá'ís in Ashkhabad. The leading figures included
> a group of merchants: Mirza `Abdu'l-Karim Ardibili, Mashhadi Yusuf Milani,
> Haji `Abdu'r-Rasul Yazdi (Aliov), Aqa Muhammad Rida Arbab Isfahani (Kazemov),
> Aqa Husayn `Ali Ahmadov, and Mirza Ja`far Rahmani (Hadiov). This group
> was known by the Russian term "Khozyain" (the "bosses"). Intellectual leadership
> was provided by some of the leading scholars of the Bahá'í Faith. Mirza
> Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani (q.v.), his nephew Sayyid Mahdi Gulpaygani, Shaykh
> Muhammad Nabil-i-Akbar (q.v.), and his nephew Shaykh Muhammad `Ali Qa'ini
> (q.v.) all spent periods of time in Ashkhabad. They were perhaps the leading
> Bahá'í intellectuals of their time, and with their presence in Ashkhabad,
> the city became a major center of learning and intellectual life in the
> Bahá'í world.
> In 1313/1895-96, the Bahá'ís of Ashkhabad elected a Spiritual Board
> of Counsel (Mahfil Shawra Rawhani), possibly the first such elected body
> in the Bahá'í world. Its name was later changed to the Local Spiritual
> Assembly of Ashkhabad. Although several of the prominent merchants and
> intellectuals were elected onto this body, others such as Ustad `Ali-Akbar
> Banna (a builder) were also elected. A number of committees were also appointed,
> including a women's committee, a youth committee, and committees to run
> the social institutions.
> Because the law prohibited Christians from converting to other religions,
> there was no attempt to teach the Bahá'í Faith to the Russians resident
> in Ashkhabad. Nevertheless, a small number, such as Mr. Lankovitch, did
> become Bahá'ís. Mirza Habibu'llah Isra`ili succeeded in teaching the Faith
> to some sixty Jews in a regiment from Poland. Two of these, Ya`qub and
> Varsil, insisted that their new religion be registered formally by the
> authorities. They sent a petition to the government, prompting the reply
> that it was only Slavs who were prevented by law from changing their religion.
> 
> 2. After the Revolution of 1917. At first, the Communist Revolution
> did not have a detrimental effect on the Bahá'í community. Activities were
> expanded, publications increased, and, freed from the legal restriction
> against converting Christians, the Bahá'ís began to teach the religion
> to Russians. As many as five hundred attended public meetings convened
> for this purpose. Although there was some state-sponsored anti-religious
> propaganda, this only served to bring the Bahá'í teachings to public attention.
> The first decade after the Russian Revolution thus marks the apex of
> the development of the Ashkhabad Bahá'í community. The community numbered
> some four thousand, of whom one thousand were children (perhaps 3% of the
> world Bahá'í population at this time). They were mostly merchants, shopkeepers,
> and craftsmen, but an increasing number were going to university and joining
> the emerging professional classes. A National Spiritual Assembly of Turkistan
> was elected in 1925.
> Gradually, however, the attacks on the Bahá'í community increased in
> intensity. From 1926 onwards, a close watch was kept on Bahá'í activities.
> Then, in 1928, the police began to raid Bahá'í meetings, arrest Bahá'ís,
> and confiscate Bahá'í communal assets. A particular focus of attack was
> the youth committee, whose activities had rivaled those of the officially-sponsored
> Komsomol youth organization. In 1928, the temple building was confiscated,
> although then leased back to the Bahá'ís; in 1929, the schools were closed,
> and in the same year some of the Bahá'ís were arrested and exiled to Siberia.
> There was some easing of the situation in the early 1930s, but on 5 February
> 1938, the final blow came. There were at this time some 1,400 families
> of Bahá'ís resident in Ashkhabad. The authorities suddenly arrested every
> adult male Bahá'í. The women and children were deported to Iran, while
> the men were either also deported or sentenced to long terms of imprisonment
> or exile. Many were sent to Pavlodar, in Northern Kazakhstan (Siberia).
> The temple building was again confiscated and made into an art gallery.
> 
> 3. Recent developments. The survivors of the exile to Siberia
> returned to Ashkhabad in 1956. Among those who kept the Bahá'í Faith alive
> in Ashkhabad was Mr. `Ali-Akbar Naji. Although no formal meetings were
> allowed, he kept in touch with all of the remaining Bahá'ís informally.
> Whenever possible and when he could get a visa, he would travel to Germany
> to visit relatives and meet with the Bahá'ís there. In 1963, the building
> of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, having suffered damage in an earthquake, had
> to be pulled down.
> The progress of the Bahá'í Faith in Turkmenistan was the responsibility
> of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran from 1964. In 1979 this responsibility
> was transferred to India. and then to Germany in 1986. It was in Ashkhabad
> that the first local spiritual assembly in the Soviet Union was elected
> when conditions permitted at Ridvan 1989. Sixty-one Bahá'ís were listed
> as eligible for election. Hand of the Cause Ali Akbar Furutan (q.v.) visited
> Ashkhabad for two weeks in early 1990 immediately after the election of
> the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Moscow. The Local Spiritual Assembly
> of Ashkhabad was officially registered by the City Council of Ashkhabad
> was given on 31 January 1990.
> The local spiritual assembly has been active, meeting regularly and
> establishing classes for children and deepening the knowledge of the Bahá'ís
> with the help of many traveling teachers and visitors from abroad. One
> of its first projects was to find a Bahá'í center for the community to
> meet.
> 
> 4. Marv (Mary). This ancient city, situated about 300 kilometers
> from Ashkhabad, had an active Bahá'í community and a local spiritual assembly
> in early years of the twentieth century. Among those who moved to this
> town were Aqa Rahmatu'llah and Aqa Asadu'llah Namdar, two Bahá'ís of Jewish
> background from Khurasan. Ibn-i-Asdaq (q.v.) spent some years in this city.
> When the Bahá'ís of Marv heard of the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar
> in Ashkhabad, they wrote to `Abdu'l-Bahá for permission to build one in
> Marv also. `Abdu'l-Bahá gave permission and a much smaller building was
> constructed.
> In September 1990, Mr. Habibullah Namdar, a Bahá'í from Frankfurt, Germany,
> revisited the place of his birth. He met with members of his family and
> found that there were enough Bahá'ís to form an assembly. He deepened the
> knowledge of the Bahá'ís about the Bahá'í administration and, on 23 September
> 1990, twenty-six Bahá'ís gathered together for the election of the first
> Local Spiritual Assembly of Marv to be formed in recent times.
> 
> 5. National Spiritual Assembly. By September 1991, there were
> about 125 Bahá'ís in Turkmenistan with two local assemblies and two groups
> (in Balakhanih and Bayranali). When the National Spiritual Assembly of
> the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1992, a Regional Spiritual Assembly for
> the whole of Central Asia (Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Tajikistan,
> and Uzbekistan) was formed with its seat in Ashkhabad.
> 
> Bibliography. BW 2:30-31, 121-22; 3:34, 160, 165; 5:33-43;
> 6:73; 7:100-102; 8:87-90. MH 3:9-62, 549-615. Anthony Lee, "The Rise of
> the Bahá'í community in `Ishqabad," Bahá'í Studies 1977, 5:1-13.
> M. Momen, "The Bahá'í Community of Ashkhabad; its social basis and historical
> importance," in Cultural Change and Continuity in Central Asia (ed.
> Shirin Akiner) 278-305. Gitta Schumann, notes compiled from records of
> ELA-D committee of German National Spiritual Assembly, dated 12/11/92.
> Bruce Whitmore, "The City of Love," Bahá'í News July 1975, 6-12.
> `Ali-Akbar Banna Yazdi, "Tarikh `Ishqabad," unpublished manuscript in Afnan
> Library, England.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views23146 views since posted 1999; last edit 2015-02-22 20:18 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../momen_encyclopedia_turkmenistan;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
> Language
> English
> Permission
> author
> Share
> 
> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/458
> Citation: ris/458
> 
> select Collection:
> Archives
> Articles
> Articles-unpublished
> Audio
> Bibliographies
> BIC
> Biographies
> Books
> Chronologies
> Compilations
> Compilations-NSA
> Compilations-personal
> Documents
> East-asia
> Encyclopedia
> Essays
> Etc
> Excerpts
> Fiction
> Glossaries
> Guardian
> Histories
> Introductory
> Letters
> Maps
> Music
> Newspapers
> NSA-documents
> NSA-letters
> Personal
> Pilgrims
> Poetry
> Presentations
> Resources
> Reviews
> Scripts
> Software
> Statistics
> Study
> Talks
> Theses
> Transcripts
> Translations
> UHJ-documents
> UHJ-letters
> Video
> Visual
> Writings
> 
> home
> 
> sitemap
> 
> series
> 
> chronology
> 
> search:
> author
> 
> title
> 
> date
> 
> tags
> 
> adv. search
> languages
> 
> inventory
> 
> bibliography
> 
> abbreviations
> 
> links
> 
> about
> 
> contact
> 
> RSS
> 
> new
>
> — *Turkmenistan (Used by permission of the curator)*