Timeline of the Twin Manifestations

This page is dedicated to providing a basic timeline of the lives of the Twin Manifestations of the Bahá’í Faith, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. For a more comprehensive chronology, see the references at the bottom.

Year	Date	Life of the Báb	Life of Bahá'u'lláh
1817	Nov 12		Bahá’u’lláh is born.
1819	Oct 20	The Báb is born in Shíráz two years after Bahá’u’lláh, fulfilling a Shi'a tradition.
1823			Bahá'u'lláh's father, Mírzá Buzurg, dreams that his son was swimming in a sea with multitudes of fish clinging to the strands of His hair. He related this dream to a soothsayer, who prophesied that Bahá'u'lláh will achieve supremacy over the world.
1828		Mírzá Muhammad Ridá, the Father of the Báb, dies. The Báb is placed in the care of his maternal uncle, Hají Mirzá Siyyid 'Alí.
1835	Sep 24– Oct 22		Bahá’u’lláh marries Navváb.
	late in the year	The Báb moves to Bushihr to manage his uncles’ business interests in that city. He stays there for five or six years.
1839			Mírzá Buzurg passes away. As the eldest son, after the passing of Mírzá Buzurg, Bahá'u'lláh assumes His place as the head of the family. According to the custom He is expected to succeed to His father's position in the Ministry, but He refuses. One of His first acts as the head of the family is to free the slaves who were engaged in serving the household. All take the liberty to leave but Isfandíyár and one woman, who elect to remain in service.
1841		The Báb travels to Karbalá, in Iraq, where He attends the lectures of Siyyid Kázim-i-Rashtí, Shaykh Ahmad's successor. From Karbalá He travels to Najaf before returning to Shíráz.
1842	Aug	The Báb marries Khadíjih-Bagum (b. 1821), in Shíráz. She is the daughter of Mirzá 'Ali, a merchant of Shiraz. She had been a childhood friend and sometimes playmate.
1843		Ahmad, son of the Báb, is born, but passes away shortly afterward (or is still-born).
1844	May 23	The Báb declares his mission to Mullá Ḥusayn in Shiraz, Iran.	‘Abdu’l-Bahá is born to Navváb and Bahá’u’lláh.
	Jul–Aug	The Báb tasks Mullá Ḥusayn with delivering a Tablet to Bahá’u’lláh in Tihrán.	The Báb's Tablet is delivered to Bahá'u'lláh by the young student, Mullá Huhammad-i-Mu'allim, a native of Núr. Mullá Husayn did not meet Bahá'u'lláh on this occasion. On receiving the Tablet, Bahá'u'lláh accepted His Cause and asked that a gift of a loaf of Russian sugar and a package of tea be given to Mullá Husayn for delivery to the Báb. Mullá Husayn then left for Khurásán, where he wrote to the Báb regarding Bahá'u'lláh's immediate response to the Báb's Revelation. To promote the Cause of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh immediately journeyed to the village of Tákur in the province of Mázindarán, His native province. As a result Mázindarán in general and Núr in particular were the first among the provinces and districts of Persia to embrace the new Cause.
1848	early in the year	While in prison in Máh-Kú, the Báb, addressing His companions, proclaims Himself to be the Imam Mahdi, the promised Qá'im (He who will arise), the inaugurator of the Resurrection and the abrogator of the Islamic holy law.
	c.Jun 26– Jul 17	The Báb is removed to Tabríz for interrogation.	The Conference of Badasht is held near the village of Sháhrúd in Semnan province. Bahá'u'lláh, who hosted and directed the event, rented three gardens, one for Quddús, another for Táhirih and the third for Himself. It was attended by 81 believers and lasted 22 days.