- 1797-00-00 — Birth of Siyyid Kázim-i-Rashtí, in Rasht.
- 1864-03-27 — Birth of A. L. M. Nicolas (pen name of Louis Alphonse Daniel Nicolas), who later became an important European scholar on the life and teachings of the Báb, in Rasht. [BBR516]
- 1883-03-19 — Sixteen Bahá'í traders of the bazaar were arrested in Rasht; three others are brought from Láhíján. [BW18:383]
- 1903-05-03 —
Upheaval at Rasht. [BBRXXX, 373]
- See BW18p385 for a chronicle of events.
- 3 May: Agitation against Bahá'í's following publication of photograph of the Bahá'í community; several Bahá'ís beaten.
- May: Mob disrupted a Bahá'í funeral, exhumed body and burned it.
- May: Renewed uproar in the town following the placing of a forged placard at the door of the local mujtahid, Haji Khumami.
- 17 May: Two leading Bahá'ís, Ibtihaju'l-Mulk and Mudabbiru'l-Mamalik, expelled from the town.
- The Bahá'ís take sanctuary at the Russian Consulate. [BBR376]
- For Western accounts of the episode see BBR377–385]
- 1904-00-00 — The publication of Bahá'í Martyrdoms in Persia in the Year 1903 AD by Hájí Mírzá Haydar-Alí Isfaháni* and translated by Youness Afroukhteh. A second edition was published in 1917. [Collins 7.1147-7.1149]
When the persecutions throughout Iran were at their peak, in midsummer of 1903, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a proclamatory treatise outlining events leading to these pogroms, the motives and actions of the principle persecutors, and the intense sufferings of the Bahá'í community.
In retrospect, it appears that 'Abdu'l-Bahá intended this treatise to be published in the West, galvanizing the support of prominent individuals, Bahá'í communities of the United States and Europe in general, and, the public at large. Towards this end, he instructed one of his secretaries, Dr. Younis Khan Afroukhtih, to translate this treatise, which presumably was done in collaboration with some English-speaking Bahá'ís visiting 'Akká at the time. This work was further assisted by an English-speaking pilgrim of Jewish-descent from Hamadan, Dr. Arastoo Hakim, and was completed on 19 September 1903.
*The translated treatise was then sent to the United States It was received in Chicago on 29 October 1903 and its publication took place through the work of Bahá'í Publishing Society in 1904. However, for reasons not clear, it was published as a document prepared by Hájí Mírzá Haydar-'Alí, a prominent Bahá'í residing in Haifa at that time. In this reference can be found a 2007 translation by Ahang Rabbani [Bahá'í Studies Review Vol 14 2007 p53-67]
- 1920-00-00 —
Mírzá Ibráhím Khán, Ibtiháju'l-Mulk, was martyred in Rasht at the hands of the Jangalís. [BW18:387]
- Momen reports the year of martyrdom as 1921. [Bahá'í History of Gílán by Moojan Momen]
- 1939-02-28 —
The passing of Louis Alphonse Daniel Nicolas, signing A.L.M. Nicolas , (b. March 27 , 1864 in Rasht, Iran) in Paris. He was an historian and French orientalist, official interpreter of the Legation French abroad, and France's consul general in Tabriz.
After reading Gobineau's Trois ans en Asie, 1855-1858 he checked all the information Gobineau had written in his book, corrected some of it, and then began to translate the writings of the Báb. Attracted by this young doctrine, he converted to Bábism and thus became the first Western Bábí. He was the first to translate works of the Báb into French: The Arabic Bayán and the Persian Bayán, and wrote various works, including Seyyed Ali Mohamed dit le Báb (1905), an Essai sur le Chéikhisme (1911) and several articles in newspapers such as Review of the Muslim World. Nicolas became knight of the Legion of Honour in 1909.
- Moojan Momen says of him, "No European scholar has contributed so much to our knowledge of the life and teachings of the Báb as Nicholas. His study of the life of the Báb and his translations of several of the most important books of the Báb remain of unsurpassed value." [BBR36]
- His important collection of manuscripts were auctioned and the items relevant to the Bahá'í and Bábí Faiths were purchased by the Bahá'í World Centre.
- See BW8p885-887 for An Interview with A. L. M. Nicolas of Paris by Edith Sanderson.
- See a short biography by Nader Nasiri Moghaddam in Encyclopaedia Iranica Online.
- A chronological list of his publications:
- Le Livre des Sept Preuves [Dalá'il-i-Sab'ih translated from Persian into French], Paris, 1902, 68 pp.
- A propos de deux manuscrits 'Bábís' de la Bibliothèque Nationale, Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, Paris, volume 47, 1903, pp. 58-73
- Le Béyan Arabe [Bayán al-'arabiyya translated from Arabic into French], Paris, 1905, 235 pp.
- Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Báb [biography of the Báb, selections translated into English in this volume], Paris, 1905, 458 pp.
- En Perse: Constitution [translation by A.L.M. Nicolas], Revue du Monde Musulman, Paris, volume 1, 1907 (décembre 1906), p. 86-100
- Sur la Volonté Primitive et l'Essence Divine d'après le Báb, Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, Paris, volume 55, 1907, pp. 208-212
- Essais sur le Chéïkhisme, 4 volumes :
- Cheïkh Ahmed Lahçahi, Paris, volume 1, 1910
- Séyyèd Kazem Rechti, Paris, volume 2, 1914
- Le Chéïkhisme. La Doctine, Paris, volume 3, 1911 [extract from Revue du Monde Musulman]
- La Science de Dieu, Paris, volume 4, 1911
- Le Club de la fraternité [translation of an article by Atrpet by A.L.M. Nicolas], Revue du Monde Musulman, Paris, volume 13, 1911, pp. 180-184
- Le Dossier russo-anglais de Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Báb, Revue du Monde Musulman, Paris, volume 14, 1911, pp. 357-363
- Le Béyan Persan [Bayán-i-fársí translated from Persian into French], four volumes, 1911-1914
- Abdoul-Béha et la situation, Revue du Monde Musulman, Paris, volume 21, 1912, pp. 261-267
- Le Béhahis et le Báb, Journal Asiatique, Paris, volume 222, 1933, pp. 257-264
- Qui est le successeur du Báb? Paris, 1933, 16 pp.
- Quelques Documents relatifs au Babisme, Journal Asiatique, Paris, volume 224, 1934, pp. 107-142
- Le Báb astronome, Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, Paris, volume 114, 1936, pp. 99-101
- Massacres de Babis en Perse, Paris, 1936, 42 pp.
[A Short Biography of A. L. M. Nicholas by Peter Terry 2008]
- 1955-05-08 — The Bahá'í centre at Rasht, Iran, was attacked and taken over. [BW18:390]
- 1997-07-06 — Shahram Reza'i, a conscript in the army, was shot in the head by his superior officer at a military base near Rasht, Iran. The officer, who said the bullets were fired in error, was released a few days after a court excused him from paying the blood money normally required in such cases because the dead soldier was a Bahá'í.
[One Country Jul-Sep 1998 Vol 10 Issue 2]
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