Geographical glossary

This is a glossary of geographical terms used in Bahá'í contexts, both historical and modern.

A

‘Akká

A penal colony of the Ottoman Empire (now part of northern Israel) to which Bahá'u'lláh was banished by Sultan 'Abdu'l-'Aziz.

Antipodes, The

Australia and New Zealand, referring to their location in the Earth's southern hemisphere.

Arc, The

The area of Mount Carmel in Haifa along which the international administrative buildings of the Bahá’í Faith have been built: The International Archives Building, the Centre for the Study of the Texts, the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, and the International Teaching Centre.

B

Baghdád

The capital city of Iraq, to which Bahá’u’lláh was exiled in 1853. He took up residence and lived there for the greater part of a decade. His House in the Karkh sector of the city is a site of pilgrimage, although it was destroyed in 2013; a garden in the city's Rusafa sector was the site of the events celebrated during Riḍván.

Bahá’í World Centre

The administrative and spiritual headquarters of the Bahá’í Faith, located in Haifa and ‘Akká, in present-day Israel.

Bahjí

A site outside the city of ‘Akká where Bahá'u'lláh spent His final years, in the Mansion of Bahjí.

C

Carmel

See Mount Carmel.

Cluster

A geographic area or region somewhere around a large metropolitan area or a state or province in size, whose boundaries are defined by "culture, language, patterns of transport, infrastructure, and the social and economic life of the inhabitants," among other factors.

Cluster agencies

Institutions which operate at the level of a single cluster, such as a Cluster Growth Committee

G

German Templer Colony

A neighbourhood of Haifa at the foot of Mount Carmel which was established in 1863 by members of the Society of the Temple, a Christian group from Germany, who settled there to await the second coming of Christ.

Goal

A place or area which is designated as an area of particular focus for the duration of some kind of effort, such as a Plan, a cycle of growth, an expansion phase, etc.

H

Haifa

A city in the north of modern-day Israel which is the home to the Bahá'í World Centre.

Holy Land

The area roughly located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Traditionally, it is synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine.

House of Bahá’u’lláh

The House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád, in modern-day Iraq, where Bahá’u’lláh lived in from 1853 to 1863. The House was designated as a site of Bahá'í pilgrimage. It was confiscated in 1920 by Shí'ih authorities who were hostile to the Bahá’í Faith; the Council of the League of Nations upheld the Bahá’ís' claim to the house, but it was never returned to the Bahá’í community. It was demolished in 2013.

House of the Báb

The House of the Báb in Shiraz, in which the Báb declared to Mullá Husayn that He was the Promised One of Islám. It was destroyed in 1979.

K

Khán

A caravanserai, i.e., a roadside inn where travelers (caravaners) could rest and recover from their day's journey.

Khán-i-‘Avámid

The caravanserai in ‘Akká where Bahá'u'lláh used to receive guests, and later the site for a Bahá'í school.

Khurásán

A historical region lying in the northeast of Greater Persia, including part of Central Asia and Afghanistan, as well as modern-day Iran's North, South and Razavi Khorasan provinces.

Kurdistán

A western province of Iran, mainly inhabited by Kurds.

L

Locality

A settlement; a populated place; a community where people live.

M

Mandatory Palestine

A geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1923 in the region of Palestine as part of the Partition of the Ottoman Empire under the terms of the British Mandate for Palestine. See also Palestine.

Mansion of Bahjí

The house in ‘Akká where Bahá’u’lláh spent the last 13 years of His life, from 1879 to 1892.

Mashhad

A city in Iran's Khurásán province.

Mázindarán

A northern province of Iran, located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range.

Mount Carmel

A mountain in the north of modern-day Israel on which the Shrine of the Báb, the Terraces and the Arc are located. The term is sometimes used to refer to the entire mountain range of which the headland (located in Haifa) is the most northwesterly part.

Bahá'u'lláh himself set foot on Mount Carmel, and designated the spot where the Shrine of the Báb should be erected. The Tablet of Carmel, in which Bahá'u'lláh addresses and extols the mountain, is regarded as one of the charter documents for the establishment of the Bahá'í World Centre.

N

Neighbourhood

A geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members, in which residents seek to socialise and realise common values."

P

Palestine

A geographic region in Western Asia usually considered to include Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and in some definitions, some parts of western Jordan. See also Mandatory Palestine.

Persia

The historical name of Iran. From the Greek Persís (Περσίς; from Old Persian Pārsa), meaning "land of the Persians", while Persis itself was one of the provinces of ancient Iran that is today defined as Fars.

Q

Qiblih

The location that Bahá’ís should face when saying their daily obligatory prayers, fixed at the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, near ‘Akká, in present day Israel.

S

Sabzih-Maydán

A public square.

Shaykh Ṭabarsí

A shrine where Bábís under the direction of Mullá Ḥusayn and Quddús built a fort for self defense.

Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh

The resting place of Bahá’u’lláh, near the spot where he died in the Mansion of Bahjí. It is the most holy place in the world for Bahá’ís, and acts as the Qiblih, or direction of prayer.

Shrine of the Báb

The resting place of the Báb, located on Mount Carmel in Haifa. Its precise location on Mount Carmel was designated by Bahá’u’lláh himself. It is the second holiest place in the world for Bahá’ís.

Síyáh-Chál

The dungeon south east of the palace of the Sháh and near the Sabzih-Maydán in Tehran in which Bahá'u'lláh was incarcerated for some months in 1852. It was originally built as a reservoir, storing water for the public baths nearby. In the Persian language, "Síyáh-chál" (Persian: سیاه چال, literally "black pit") is the common name for a dungeon.

T

Terraces

Garden terraces extending outwards from the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel within Haifa.

W

World Centre

See Bahá’í World Centre.