This Month in Bahá’í History:

The Conference of Badasht (June 26 – July 17, 1848)

Between June 26 and July 17, 1848, 81 of the Báb’s foremost followers gathered in the gardens of Badasht for a conference hosted by Bahá’u’lláh. “On each of the twenty-two days of His sojourn in that hamlet He revealed a Tablet, which was chanted in the presence of the assembled believers. On every believer He conferred a new name, without, however, disclosing the identity of the one who had bestowed it. He Himself was henceforth designated by the name Bahá. Upon the Last Letter of the Living was conferred the appellation of Quddús, while Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was given the title of Ṭáhirih. By these names they were all subsequently addressed by the Báb in the Tablets He revealed for each one of them.” Ṭáhirih’s courageous unveiling became the defining symbol of the conference, proclaiming the dawn of a new religious era and the independence of the Báb’s Revelation from the past.