The Bahá’í Faith is the most recent in the line of the world’s independent, monotheistic religions. It was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by Bahá’u’lláh, who Bahá’ís recognize as the Manifestation of God for this Day, one of a succession of divine Messengers sent by God to humanity throughout the progression of history, including Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ, Muhammad and Bahá’u’lláh’s forerunner: the Báb.

“We, verily,” Bahá’u’lláh stated, “have come to unite and weld together all that dwell on earth.” In the course of its development, human civilization has passed through such stages as family, tribe, city-state and nation. Bahá’u’lláh’s express purpose was to usher in the next and ultimate stage in its evolution, world unity, the harbinger of the Great Peace foretold in the world’s religions. This central principle of His Faith implies the organic and spiritual unity of the whole body of nations and signalizes the “coming of age of the entire human race.”

One among many distinguishing historical features of the Bahá’í Faith is the Covenant He established with His followers. These provisions set down by the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith in His own Writings establish authoritative guidance on the intent of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation and on the administration of the affairs of the international Bahá’í community. Throughout the critical first century of the Faith’s development, these provisions have both protected the community from sectarianism, and have enabled it to adapt to the requirements of a rapidly evolving civilization. The role and station appointed by Bahá’u’lláh to His son and immediate successor, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His Will and Testament as the Center of His Covenant are also unique in religious history.

The rise of the Bahá’í Faith is similar to the formative period of each of the earlier world religions. Theimplications of a new stage in the unfoldment of God’s will are often unwelcome to influential segments of existing society. The result has frequently been bitter persecution of followers of the new faith. In its first century-and-a-half of life, the Bahá’í Faith has met with several periods of such oppression.

What follows is a brief chronology of the Bahá’í Faith from its birth in Persia in the mid-nineteenth century to its emergence as a world religion which today has over five million adherents from virtually every country in the world, and more than 2,000 ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

1863 – Bahá’u’lláh’s Declaration

While in Baghdad, Bahá’u’lláh won the hearts of most of the city’s citizens and even local government officials, and the new Faith grew and spread further. In an effort to remove Him further from Persia, He was exiled again, to Constantinople. Just before His departure He stayed in a garden just outside Baghdad where many followers of the Báb and admirers came to bid Him farewell. It was here that Bahá’u’lláh revealed to His followers that He is the Promised One foretold in the Báb’s Message, turning an occasion of sadness into a celebration of joyful tidings. Henceforth, the religion was known as the Bahá’í Faith. The festival of Riḍván, celebrated by Bahá’ís worldwide each year, commemorates the twelve days Bahá’u’lláh stayed in the garden outside Baghdad which He gave the name meaning “paradise,” and during which He made His Declaration.

1863-1892 – Bahá’u’lláh’s Ministry

Bahá’u’lláh revealed numerous volumes of Sacred Scriptures, outlining His Teachings, answering theological questions, and establishing the laws and institutions of His Faith. Bahá’u’lláh is a unique figure in world history in that He establishes in writing the future pattern of the Organization of His Faith.

1863 – The public proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh’s Mission

After only four-and-a-half months in Constantinople, Bahá’u’lláh was banished further, to the city of Adrianople. It was during His relatively brief time here that He wrote many letters to the kings and rulers of the time, informing them of the advent of the Day of God, calling upon them to answer the summons of the One promised in the sacred scriptures of all the religions professed by His recipients, and exhorting them to rule with justice and devote themselves to the reduction of armaments, the establishment of peace, the elimination of poverty, and tending to the service of their subjects.

1868 – Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival in the Holy Land

After four-and-a-half years in Adrianople, Bahá’u’lláh, along with about 70 of His family members and followers, was sentenced by the authorities of the Ottoman empire to perpetual confinement in the prison city of Acre, in what is now northern Israel. The order of confinement was never lifted, but due to the growing recognition of the greatness of His character, Bahá’u’lláh was eventually allowed to move outside the walls of the city to a nearby estate called Bahjí.

1873 – Bahá’u’lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Aqdas

Circa 1873, during His confinement in Acre, Bahá’u’lláh revealed His book of laws, designated by Him as the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the “Most Holy Book” of His Dispensation.

29 May 1892 – The Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh

Bahá’u’lláh passed away and was interred at Bahjí. For Bahá’ís, His Shrine is the holiest place on earth and a place of pilgrimage. At His instruction, the spiritual and administrative center of His Faith was permanently fixed in the area of the two cities of Acre and Haifa in Israel. Bahá’u’lláh left a written will in which He appointed His eldest Son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as head of the Faith after Him, Center of His Covenant, perfect exemplar of His Teachings, and the authorized interpreter of His Writings. The name ‘Abdu’l-Bahá means “Servant of Glory”.