Baha, Abdul, Sir

Persian-born religious leader.

1844 - Born on the 23rd of May in Tehran, Persia.

1850 - Witnessed social instability and the persecution of his father and other religious leaders by Shi'ite Muslims.

1853 - Accompanied his father and seventy other devout Baha'ists into exile in Baghdad, Arabia, where they initiated a thriving Babi community.

1866 - Proclaimed himself the third religious leader of the Baha'is as well as the slave of Baha, interpreter of divine revelation, and the promised successor described in the Bab's covenant.

1904-1907 - The hostile agents jailed him at a Turkish prison, where he continued to receive representatives of all faiths and races.

         - During this period he married Munirih Khanum, mother of their four daughters.

1908 - He was freed from the jail because the Turkish revolution resulted in the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire and the freeing of political and religious prisoners.

1911 - He visited France and England.

1912 - Dispatched reformers to the United States, which he toured in April.

1920 - The King of England knighted him for promoting peace in the Middle East.

1921 - Abdul-Baha died peacefully in his sleep on the 28th of November.