Bahai Library Online

Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

World Canada
any   all   exact phrase

Date 1921, descending — sort earliest first

date event tags firsts
1921 (Late in the year)
192-		 Mírzá Husayn Tútí arrived in the Philippines, the earliest known visit by a Bahá'í to this country. He stayed for four months. Mírzá Husayn Tuti; Philippines
1921 29 Dec
192-		 Shoghi Effendi arrived in the Holy Land from England by train from Egypt. [GBF14; PP42]
  • An envelope addressed to him from 'Abdu'l-Bahá was waiting for him. It contained the Will and Testament. [Ruhi8.2p2; PP42]
  • He was so worn and grief-stricken that he had to be assisted up the stairs and was confined to bed for a number of days. [CB285]
    		•  `Abdu'l-Bahá, Ascension of; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); * Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; United Kingdom; Egypt; Haifa, Israel
    1921 16 Dec
    192-    		 Shoghi Effendi left 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]
  • Due to passport difficulties Shoghi Effendi could not leave sooner. [GBF13; PP42; SBR66; PG202]
    		• * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); * Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; Lady Sarah Louisa Blomfield; Rouhangeze (Ruhangiz); London, England; United Kingdom; Haifa, Israel
    1921 5-6 Dec
    192-    		 The second Convention for Amity between the White and Coloured Races was held in Springfield, Massachusetts. [BW2:282; SBR92; SYH113-114, 126]
  • Over a thousand people attended. [SW13, 3:51]
  • For a report of the convention see SW13, 3:51-5, 601.
  • For a photograph see SW13, 3:50.
    		•  Race; Race amity; Race unity; Conferences, Race Amity; Springfield, MA; Massachusetts, USA; United States (USA)
    1921 4 Dec
    192-    		 On the seventh day after the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá, corn was distributed in His name to about a thousand of the poor.
  • Up to this day 50 to 100 poor were fed daily at the Master's House. [BW15:122]
    		•  `Abdu'l-Bahá, Ascension of; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); `Abdu'l-Bahá, House of (Haifa); Haifa, Israel
    1921 2 Dec
    192-    		 Ethel Rosenberg arrived in the Holy Land, having learned on the train from Port Said of the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá. [EJR181-2] Ethel Rosenberg; Haifa, Israel
    1921 1 Dec - 7 Dec
    192-    		 Dr Esslemont made a trip from Bournemouth to London to visit Shoghi Effendi and offer support. He invited him back to Bournemouth where he stayed from the evening of the 2nd of December until the morning of the seventh. [PG199]
  • Shoghi Effendi wrote to a Bahá'í student in London describing his reaction to the news of the Master's passing. It would appear he had reconciled himself to the situation. [PG100; PP40-41]
  • See PG201 for the observations of others.
  • On the 7th of December he received a cable from the Greatest Holy Leaf urging him to return to the Holy Land. He left for London immediately. [PG100]
    		•  Esslemont; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); London, England; Bournemouth, England; United Kingdom
    1921 (Following `Abdu'l-Bahá's passing)
    192-    		 Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí published far and wide that he was the successor to `Abdu'l-Bahá. [CB277]
  • The Egyptian Bahá'ís responded to this by publishing a refutation of his claims. [CB276; SW12, 19:294-5]
    		• Mírzá Muhammad Ali; Covenant-breaking; Succession; Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá; Egypt
    1921 29 Nov
    192-    		 A cable was sent to London with news of `Abdu'l-Bahá's passing. Shoghi Effendi was summonsed to the office of Wellesley Tudor Pole, probably at at 61, St. James St. in London, and learned of his grandfather's passing about noon after seeing the cable on Tudor Pole's desk. [GBF13]
  • See GBF13, PG199 and PP39-40 for Shoghi Effendi's reaction.
    		•  `Abdu'l-Bahá, Ascension of; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Shoghi Effendi at Oxford; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); * Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; Wellesley Tudor Pole; Oxford, England; London, England; United Kingdom
    1921 29 Nov
    192-    		 The Faith had spread to 35 countries, an increase of 20 since the passing of Bahá'u'lláh. [Patheos website]
  • The additional countries were: Saudi Arabia, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Treat Britain, Hawaiian Islands, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Jordon, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the United States.
    		•  Statistics
    1921 29 Nov
    192-    		 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 Khánum looked for instructions on where to bury `Abdu'l-Bahá and, finding none, entombed Him in a vault next to the one where the remains of the Báb lay. [AB464; GBF14]
  • 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.
  • Photo.
  • The Greatest Holy Leaf engaged a locksmith to change all the locks in the Master's house. During the funeral procession she remained there and asked that a policeman be assigned to stand outside the door. During the procession Mirza Muhammad-Ali and his brother, feigning sadness, asked the policeman if they could enter the Master's house to express their condolences to the Greatest Holy Leaf. She turned them away at the door saying that this was not the time. He had attempted a kind of a palace coup. The Greatest Holy Leaf had foreseen that he would attempt just that. The House of the Master was more than a residence; it was the visible administrative centre of the Cause. Other than the Shrine of the Báb, it was the only Bahá'í edifice in the Holy Land at that time. [An account of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá p42]
    		• `Abdu'l-Bahá, Ascension of; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Bahiyyih Khanum (Greatest Holy Leaf); Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shrine of; - Basic timeline, Expanded; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; Haifa, Israel; Bahji, Israel; Mount Carmel; Covenant-breaking; Mírzá Muhammad Ali
    1921 28 Nov
    192-    		 Ascension of `Abdu'l-Bahá

    `Abdu'l-Bahá passed away at about 1:00 a.m., in Haifa. [AB452; BBD4; BBR347; GPB311; UD170]

  • For details of His passing see DOMH210-216, AB452, BW1:19-23; BW15:113-15 and GPB310-11. Westerners who were present in the Holy Land at the time included: Grace and Florian Krug, Louise and John Bosch from the USA, Ethel Rosenberg from London and Fräulein Johanna Hauff from Stuttgart as well as American Curtis Kelsey who was in the Holy Land to attend to the electrical installations in the Shrine of the Báb at the time. [AB462-463]
      Note: In fact, Ethel Rosenberg was en route to visit the Master when He ascended. She arrived from Port Said by train on the 2nd of December having learned of His ascension from a member of the staff on the train. [EJR182]
  • Sir Herbert Samuel and Sir Ronald Storrs led the funeral procession. [CH226]
  • This marked 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.
  • This date marks the beginning of the First Epoch of the Transitional, Formative or Iron Age of the Faith.
  • See an account of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá compiled by David Merrick.
  • See Part IX of The Utterance Project by Violetta Zein.
  • See WMSH26-52 for an account by John and Louise Bosch of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the funeral, the reading if the Will, their subsequent time in the Holy Land and Egypt, and their teaching trip to Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. They arrived in New York on the 23rd of April and proceeded to Chicago to attend the National Convention. Shoghi Effendi had entrusted them with eight passages from the Will to be presented to the North American friends.
  • See The Station and Titles of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in The Bahá'í World on line.
    		• `Abdu'l-Bahá, Ascension of; Cycles, Eras, Ages and Epochs; Heroic age; Formative Age; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); - Basic timeline, Condensed; - Basic timeline, Expanded; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); * Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; Holy days; Covenant; Ronald Storrs; Herbert Samuel; Florian Krug; Grace Krug; John Bosch; Louise Bosch; Ethel Rosenberg; Johanna Hauff; Curtis Kelsey; Haifa, Israel
    1921 23 Nov
    192-    		 A second suit for the possession of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad was decided in favour of the Shi'a claimants. This allowed them to apply to the Peace Court in 1922. [SETPE1p25]
  • Before the application went before the Court the Shi'a group prevailed upon King Faisal to give an illegal personal order to the Governor of Baghdád to evict the Bahá'ís and then return the keys to them. All this was against the opinion of the British High Commissioner. [SETPE1p25]
  • The case was 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), decided in favour of the plaintiffs. [SETPE1p25]
    		• House of Bahá'u'lláh (Baghdad); Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
    1921 19 Nov
    192-    		 The passing of Mírzá Abu'l-Ḥasan Afnán, a Persian nobleman and descendant of the family of the Báb. He had lived a long time in the Holy Land, and was very close and attached to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He realized the impending passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he threw himself into the sea. [The Utterance Project; SoW Vol 12 No 18] Mírzá Abu'l-Hasan Afnan; Suicide
    1921 20 Oct
    192-    		 Áqá Siyyid Mustafá Tabátabá'í was poisoned in Sangsar. Continual agitation prevented the burial of the body for several days. [BW18:388] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Sangesar, Iran; Iran
    1921 6 Oct
    192-    		 Shoghi Effendi at Oxford - The Michaelmas Term 1921
  • Shoghi Effendi continued his translation work. During his time in Oxford he acquired a love for The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon and could often be seen reading his abridged copy. He also admired the translation of the King James version of the Bible. [PG191-197]
  • 29 November: Shoghi Effendi was summoned to the office of Major Tudor-Pole at 61 St. James Street in London. [PG198]
    		•  Shoghi Effendi at Oxford; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); Oxford, England; United Kingdom
    1921 (early) Oct
    192-    		 Shoghi Effendi visited the Bahá'í community of Manchester. At his first meeting with the friends he reported on 'Abdu'l-Bahá's reaction to the news that Nora Crossley had cut off her hair and offered it for auction to raise funds as her contribution for the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Chicago.
  • See Some Bahá'ís to Remember p56 for the Tablet that 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent to Nora Crossley and the circumstances under which Shoghi Effendi presented it, as well as gifts from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, to her in the presence of the Bahá'ís of Manchester.
  • Although not one to allow pictures to be taken of himself, Shoghi Effendi insisted that a photo be taken of himself with the Manchester group. It can be seen at Worldwide Community of Bahá'u'lláh.
  • See as well Memoirs of Nora Crossely: 1921. She writes that ...all the honours that were showered on me by the Beloved Master, were NOT solely because of my gift to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, as most people think, but because I loved Him so much, I was prepared to obey Him, and carry out His wishes, AT ALL COST."
  • See also A Tribute to Nora Crossley by Rob Wienberg and the video based on Rob's paper.
    		•  Manchester, England
    1921 Fall 1921 - Spring 1922
    192-    		 Louis Gregory set out on his teaching trip that was described as "one of the most brilliant Baha'i Teaching Tours we have ever been privileged to have in they country". [TMW122]

    He visited the following cities: Oberlin, OH; Cleveland, OH; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MH; St Paul, MN; Duluth, MN; Lincoln, NE; Omaha, NE; Denver, CO; Pueblo, CO; Salt Lake City, UT; Butte, MT; Helena, MT; Spokane, WA; Seattle, WA; Vancouver, BC; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Berkley, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City, OK; Tulsa, OK; Topeka, KS; Kansas City, MO; St Louis, MO; Springfield, IL; Urbana, IL

  • The following Spring Louis Gregory was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly which precluded such long tours although he did continue his shorter trips to the South. [TMW122]
    		•  Louis G. Gregory; Teaching; United States (USA)
    1921 21 Sep
    192-    		 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a 4,000 word Tablet for Dr Auguste Forel in response to a letter He received from him. The Tablet can be found at bahai.org, as well as in The Bahá'í World Vol. XV, pp. 37–43.

    Shoghi Effendi wrote of this Tablet: [GPB307]

      The famous scientist and entomologist, Dr. Auguste Forel, was converted to the Faith through the influence of a Tablet sent him by 'Abdu'l‑Bahá—one of the most weighty the Master ever wrote.
  • See The Kingdom of Existence by Dr Ali Murád Dávudí. In addition to Dr. Forel´s biography and the text of the tablet addressed to him by Abdu´l-Bahá, contains Dr. Dávúdí's extensive studies of the tablet, as well as a glossary of terms that offers more explanations about its contents.
    		•  Auguste Forel; Tablet to Auguste Forel; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; Haifa, Israel; `Alí Murad Davudi
    1921 Sep - Apr 1922
    192-    		 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. The work was completed at all three locations on the last day of Ridván, 1922. [BW15p468-473] Electrification of the Shrines; Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); Bahá'u'lláh, Shrine of (Bahjí); * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); Roy C. Wilhelm; Curtis Kelsey; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel; Bahji, Israel first lighting of the Holy Shrines.
    1921 20 Aug-19 Sep
    192-    		 Agnes Alexander visited Korea, the first Bahá'í to do so. [BW2:44] Agnes Alexander; Korea the first Bahá'í to visit Korea.
    1921 9 Jul
    192-    		 Mírzá Asadu'lláh Fádil-i-Mázandarání left the United States for the Holy Land. [AB443footnote] Mírzá Asadullah Fadil-i-Mazandarani; United States (USA); - Bahá'í World Centre
    1921 Jul-Aug
    192-    		 Bahá'ís of Zoroastrian background were harassed by the Zoroastrian agent in Qum. [BW18:388] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; Qom, Iran; Iran
    1921 20 Jun - 3 Oct
    192-    		 Shoghi Effendi at Oxford - The Long Vacation 1921

  • Those students who wished to continue their studies during the vacation were required to move to an annex situated near Manchester College known as Holywell Annexe.
  • His English style was influenced by his reading of the King James Bible as well as British historians Thomas Carlyle and Edward Gibbons, the author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. [SEO106; PP37]
  • At some point during this period of his residency in England Shoghi Effendi made the acquaintance of Sir E Denison Ross, the first director of the University of London's School of Oriental Studies. He was the British Empire's leading scholar of the Persian and Arabic languages. His opinion was the gold standard and he had high praise for Shoghi Effendi's translation of The Dawn-Breakers. [PP216]
  • Shoghi Effendi met with Edna True at her hotel in London as she was passing through. [PG178]
  • He visited Dr. Esslemont in Bournemouth probably around the 20th of July for two weeks. [PG179]
  • 26 July: He went to London to meet his sister and went with her to the home of Mrs Thornburgh-Cropper. [PG179]
  • At some point during the vacation he visited Crow-borough. [PG179]
  • Obedient to the instructions of the Master he spent some time during the break in rest in Torquay in August, at least from the 10th to the 29th of the month. [PG179-180]
  • 25 September (approx.) He travelled to London to sent his sister to Scotland to resume her studies. She had been staying with Mrs Thornburg-Cropper (at 20 Bloomsbury Square?). While there he met with Lady Blomfield. [PG181]
  • 1 to 6 October: Shoghi Effendi and his friend Díyá'u'lláh Asgharzádih travelled to Manchester, a community of some thirty believers. They stayed at the home of Jacob Joseph where a meeting of the community was held that evening. The group sent a letter to the Master which Shoghi Effendi translated the following day. He also sent a report of the situation in Manchester to the Master. [PG182-190]
  • See PG206-207 for a photo of Shoghi Effendi with the Manchester Bahá'ís and with the Joseph brothers.
  • See PG193 for a subsequent note from Shoghi Effendi to the friends in Manchester.
  • See PG193-194 for the Master's response to their joint supplication dated 18 October, 1921 and excerpts from Tablets to individuals.
    		•  Shoghi Effendi at Oxford; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); Oxford, England; London, England; Bournemouth, England; Torquay, England; Manchester, England; United Kingdom
    1921 summer
    192-    		 Siegfried Schopflocher, Hand of the Cause of God, became a Bahá'í. Siegfried Schopflocher; - Hands of the Cause
    1921 29 May
    192-    		 Alessandro Bausani, the Italian Bahá'í who was an Islamic scholar, linguist and historian of comparative religions, was born in Rome. Alessandro Bausani; Rome, Italy; Italy
    1921 19-21 May
    192-    		 The first Race Amity Conference was held in Washington DC at the old First Congregational Church, 10th & G Streets NW. This church had a reputation for opposition to racial prejudice and had close ties with Howard University. It had a capacity of 2,000. [BW2:281; CoO197; SYH126]

    Referring back to this historic event, Abdu'l-Baha, in a Tablet to Roy Williams (an African-American Baha'i from New York City), wrote:

      I hope that the Congress of the White and the Colored that was instituted will have great influence in the inhabitants of America, so that everyone may confess and bring witness that the teachings of His Holiness, Baha'u'llah, assembles the White, the Black, the Yellow, the Red and the Brown under the shade of the pavilion of the Oneness of the World of Humanity; and that if the teachings of His Holiness, Baha'u'llah, be not enforced, the antagonism between the Colored and the White, in America, will give rise to great calamities. The ointment for this wound and the remedy for this disease is only the Holy Breaths [Holy Spirit]. If the hearts be attracted to the Heavenly Bounties, surely will the White and the Colored, in a short time, according to the teachings of Baha'u'llah, put away hatred and animosity and [abide in] perfect love and fellowship. (Haifa, August 2, 1921, translated by Touhi [Ruhi] M. Afnan.) [The Bahá'í "Pupil of the Eye" Metaphor—What Does it Mean? by Christopher Buck]
  • Martha Root handled the newspaper publicity for the conference and 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent a message to it via Mountfort Mills. [SYH126]
  • Mabry and Sadie Oglesby and their daughter Bertha from Boston as well as Agnes Parsons and Louis Gregory were involved. Agnes Parsons, during her pilgrimage in 1920, was instructed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "I want you to arrange in Washington a convention for unity between the white and colored people."[SETPE1p141-145, BW2p281]
  • For details of the conference see the article by Louis Gregory entitled "Inter-racial Amity". [BW2:281-2]
  • See article The Bahá'í 'Race Amity' Movement and the Black Intelligentsia in Jim Crow America:Alain Locke and Robert Abbot by Christopher Buck [Bahá'í Studies Review, 17, pages 3-46, 2011] (includes a chronology of 29 Race Amity conferences organized in the United States between 1921 and 1935).
  • The Washington Bee (which, as part of its masthead, billed itself "Washington's Best and Leading Negro Newspaper") published the text of the entire speech on May 25, 1912, in an article headlined, "Abdue [ sic] Baha: Revolution in Religious Worship."
  • Documentary: 'Abdu'l-Baha's Initiative on Race from 1921: Race Amity Conferences.
  • See the film Root of the Race Amiy Movement.
  • See the trailer for the film An American Story: Race Amity and the Other Tradition.
  • See the website for the National Centre for Race Amity.
    		•  Race; Race amity; Race unity; Conferences, Race Amity; - First conferences; Mabry Oglesby; Sadie Oglesby; Agnes Parsons; Louis G. Gregory; Martha Root; Mountfort Mills; Washington, DC, USA; United States (USA) First Race Amity Conference
    1921 25 Apr - 23 Jun
    192-    		 Shoghi Effendi at Oxford - The Trinity Term at Balliol College 1921

  • The Trinity Term — 15 Sundays to 21 Sundays after the feast day of St Hilary.
  • In order to not waste any time during his stay at Oxford, in the first part of this term he made plans for a competent tutor to work with him during the upcoming long vacation. [PG173]
    • He sought the assistance of Ethel Rosenburg and Miss Cropper to secure a place with Reynold Nicholson as his tutor. He was professor of Persian and Arabic at Cambridge and was known for his translation of Rumi into English. [SEO106]
    • During this term he was able to socialize with his fellow students and participate in college clubs such as the Lotus Club where he presented a paper. [PG177]
    • 4 May: Shoghi Effendi presented a paper to the Bahá'í community in London. [PG177]
    		• Shoghi Effendi at Oxford; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); Reynold Nicholson; Oxford, England; United Kingdom
    1921 spring
    192-    		 Dr Genevieve Coy was chosen as the director of the Tarbíyat School for Girls in Tihrán to replace Lillian Kappes. [SBR203] Genevieve Coy; Tarbiyat School, Tihran; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    1921 Apr
    192-    		 The Minister of Justice overturned an earlier ruling and possession of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád was returned to the Bahá'ís. [SETPE1p25] House of Bahá'u'lláh (Baghdad); Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
    1921 21 Mar
    192-    		 Construction began on the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette. DP108]
  • See DP107 for a picture of Bahá'ís inaugurating the construction of Foundation Hall.
  • Note: The Bahá'í Faith 1844-1952 Information Statistical & Comparative p.5 says construction commenced in December 1920.
    		•  Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Wilmette; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Wilmette, IL; United States (USA)
    1921 mid Mar - 20 Apr
    192-    		 Shoghi Effendi at Oxford - Spring Vacation 1921
  • 27 March: He visited his sister Rúhangíz in Scotland during the early part of his spring vacation.
  • In all likelihood, at some point he visited London and stayed at the home of Mírzá Yúhaná Dáwúd. [PG171]
  • Shoghi Effendi and spent the latter part of the vacation period in Sussex where he spent a few days in Fermote Villa for rest following 'Abdu'l-Bahá's instructions to do so. [PG171]
  • He continued to work on translations during this period. [PG171]
    		•  Shoghi Effendi at Oxford; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); Oxford, England; Scotland; Sussex, England; United Kingdom
    1921 Mar
    192-    		 Two Bahá'í publications began, Sonne der Wahrheit, meaning Sun of Truth, and Wirklichkeit, meaning Reality. [BWNS1289; German Bahá'í website archive] Sonne der Wahrheit (Sun of Truth); Wirklichkeit (Reality); - Periodicals; - First publications; * Publications; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Germany first Baha'i publications in Germany
    1921 Feb
    192-    		 Ahmad Sháh, who succeeded to the throne at age 11, (reigned 1909–25) was deposed in a coup d'état led by Reza Khán who appointed himself prime minister. He ruled as Reza Sháh Pahlaví between 1925–41. Ahmad Shah; Reza Shah Pahlavi; - Shahs; Qajar dynasty; - Shahs, Throne changes; History (general); Iran, General history; Iran
    1921 1 Feb
    192-    		 Leonora Holsapple Armstrong, the first Bahá'í pioneer in Latin America, arrived in Rio de Janeiro. She had departed New York on the SS Vasari on the 15th of January. [Baha'iBlog]
  • See a talk by Kristine Ascunsion Young, the great-grand niece of Leonora Holsapple Armstrong. The discourse begins at about 2:30.
    		•  Leonora Holsapple Armstrong; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Brazil
    1921 Feb
    192-    		 The Shi'a petition for the possession of the House in Baghdád was granted and the Bahá'is were evicted. [SETPE1p25] House of Bahá'u'lláh (Baghdad); Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
    1921 23 Jan
    192-    		 Mírzá Ya`qúb-i-Muttahidih was assassinated in Kirmánsháh. [BBRXXX, 446-50; BW18:387; GPB299]
  • He was the last to lay down his life in the ministry of `Abdu'l-Bahá. GPB299]
    		•  * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Kirmánsháh, Iran; Iran
    1921 Jan - mid Mar
    192-    		 Shoghi Effendi at Oxford - The Hilary Term 1921
  • Permission was issued by the Non-Collegiate Delegacy for the migration of Shoghi Effendi into Balliol. He now had the privilege of living in the college and fully participating in college life. [PG161]
  • Shoghi Effendi continued his translation work while at Oxford. During the second term (Jan - Easter or, more formally Hilary term — 1 Sunday to 9 Sundays after the feast day of St Hilary). Some examples are: Persian Hidden Words, the Tablet of Visitation, Arabic Hidden Words and the Epistle to Queen Victoria.
  • He read a paper on the Faith to the Oxford University Asiatic Society. For the full text of the paper see PG227-240. The paper was serialized in "The Dawn", a monthly Bahá'í journal of Burma in 1923 - 1924. [PG168-169, 259]
    		•  Oxford University Asiatic Society; Shoghi Effendi at Oxford; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); Shoghi Effendi, Writings of; Dawn, The (newsletter); - Newsletters; * Translation; Oxford, England; United Kingdom; Myanmar
    1921 (In the year)
    192-    		 The first publication in Chinese was published by the Bahá'ís in Shanghai. [Video Early history of the Bahá'í Faith in China 7min40sec] Shanghai, China the first publication in Chinese was published by the Bahá'ís in Shanghai.
    1921 (In the year)
    192-    		 Mohi al-Din al-Kurdi, (Sheikh Muhyí's-Dín Sabrí) a Bahá'í from Egypt, from the noble elders of Al-Azhar, arrived in Tunisia to make known the message of Bahá'u'lláh. [Website of the Bahá'ís of Tunisia]
  • 100 year later this event was commemorated. [BWNS1577]
    		•  Mohieddine Kurdi; Pioneering; Tunisia
    1921 (In the year)
    192-    		 The publication of Abdul Baha in London; Addresses, & Notes of Conversations (American edition). Published by the Bahai Publishing Society in Chicago. Chicago, IL
    1921 (In the year)
    192-    		 The publication of Bahai: The Spirit of the Age by Horace Holley. It was published in New York by Brentano's Publishers. Bahá'í, The Spirit of the Age; Horace Holley; * Publications; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    1921 (After Mandate)
    192-    		 After the establishment of British control of Iraq and the appearance of religious freedom and greater security, 'Abdu'l-Bahá authorized repairs to begin on the House. The renovations attracted the attention of neighbouring Shi'as and, after the passing of the custodian, Muhammad Husayn Bábí, they sued for possession on the grounds that he had no heirs. [SETPE1p25] House of Bahá'u'lláh (Baghdad); Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
    1921 (In the year)
    192-    		 A journal called Bahá'í News started publishing in English and Persian. [BWNS1289] Bahá'í News; - Periodicals; - First publications; * Publications; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); India first Baha'i periodical in India
    1921 (In the year)
    192-    		 The Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration or Mandatory Iraq began. It would last until 1932. [Mandatory Iraq] House of Bahá'u'lláh (Baghdad); Iraq
    1921 (In the year)
    192-    		 The birth of Eduardo Duarte Vieira, the first African Bahá'í martyr, was born in Portuguese Guinea. Eduardo Duarte Vieira; - Births and deaths; Portuguese Guinea; Guinea Bissau
    1921 - 1936
    192-    		 The years 1921 to 1936 were labelled by the Guardian as a "Period of Preparation" during which there were no concerted plans of action assigned to national communities.

    "Its initiation, (The Tablets of the Divine Plan) officially and on a vast scale, had, for well nigh twenty years, been held in abeyance, while the processes of a slowly emerging administrative Order, were, under the unerring guidance of Providence, creating and perfecting the agencies for its efficient and systematic prosecution." [WOB78]

    		 Period of Preparation; - Teaching Plans
    1921 - 1944/46
    192-    		 The beginning of The First Epoch of the Formative Age. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 5 February 1986; Mess63-86 p710-716]
  • See the attachment for the above-referenced message entitled The Epochs of the Formative Age prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice.
  • It began with the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and ended with the conclusion of the first Seven Year Plan pursued by the Bahá'ís of North America under Shoghi Effendi's direction in which the skeleton of the Administrative Order was set up. [Mess86-01p815]
    		•  Cycles, Eras, Ages and Epochs; Formative Age
    1921 - 1980
    192-    		 The Bahá'í community of Iran began publishing a monthly magazine called Aḵbār-e amrī, a publication whose name means "News of the Cause". Containing the holy writings of the Bahá'í faith, domestic and foreign Bahá'í news, official announcements of Bahá'í administrative bodies, and articles on various aspects of the Faith, the magazine became a vital means of communication and a register of the main historical events for six decades until its closing in 1980. It was published by "Lajnih-yi Nashr-i Nafahát" (Committee for the Diffusion of the Divine Fragrances) until 1978 and then by Mahfil-i Ruhání-yi Millí-yi Baháiyán-i Írán (National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Iran) [BAHAISM v. The Bahai Community in Iran by V. Rafati; BWNS1289]
  • Scanned copies from B.E. 102 to B.E. 111 and B.E. 116 were taken from bound copies of the journal originally owned by Mr Hormuzdiar Sabet and contain his annotations, frequently noting the original English text that has been translated in the journal.
    		• Akhbar-i-Amri (News of the Cause); - Periodicals; - Newsletters; - First publications; * Publications; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Iran
    Home divider Site Map divider Tags divider Search divider Series
    Chronology divider Links divider About divider Contact divider RSS
    smaller font
    larger font