- 1951-08-03 —
The establishment of the Faith in Uganda with the arrival of Mr. Músá Banání, his wife Samí'ih Banání, their daughter, Mrs. Violette and her husband, Mr. Ali Nakhjavani, of Iran, with their baby daughter Bahiyyih, and Mr. Philip Hainsworth who arrived in Kampala from England. [Wiki Bahá'í Uganda]
- See BWNS135 for an account of the celebration of 50 years of the Faith in Uganda and the accomplishments.
- 1953-08-25 — Soon after becoming a Bahá'í in Kampala, Enoch Olinga, together with fellow new believers Max Kanyerezi and Samson Mungono,
responded to the Guardian's call and left his home in Uganda, to fulfill pioneering goals accompanied by Persian pioneers
Ali and Violette Nakhjavání. Leaving in late August 1953 they traveled for almost 3 months, covering a distance
of over 5000 kilometers.
The first leg took them to Samson Mungono's post in
Kamina, in the Katanga region of the Belgian Congo. They then took a grueling route to
Brazzaville, where Max was dropped off and continued through the thick forests of French
Congo and Gabon, hoping to pass through French Cameroons and finally reach the British
Cameroons. The car broke down in the tropical forest of Gabon leaving the three remaining friends unable to continue. Enoch volunteered to walk
to a town 50 miles ahead through the forbidding jungle to get help.
Upon arrival Enoch was so ill he was hospitalized for two days and could not travel for a week. He told of a dream he had in which Shoghi Effendi took him in his arms to comfort and reassure him in his desperation.
In mid-October they reached the British Cameroons on the very evening of the conclusion of the Holy Year.
Confirmations of the monumental efforts these first African pioneers made soon followed:
Enoch, Max and Samson all successfully brought many local people under the banner of the
Greatest Name.
[A Brief Account of the Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nancy Oloro-Robarts and Selam Ahderom p4] - 1953-10-50 — Max Kanyerezi, a Ugandan, was brought to Brazzaville by Violette and 'Alí Nakhjavání and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for French Equatorial Africa. [BW13:451]
- 1964-02-03 — Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and her companion Violette Nakhjavání left Haifa at the start of their 55,000 mile, 9-month journey through India, Ceylon, Nepal and Sikkim. [AV114; VV11]
- 1969-08-04 —
Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and her companion, Violette Nakhjavání, arrived in Kampala, Uganda, at the start of the 'Great African Safari'. [BN No 468 March 1970 p2-12]
On August 5, 1969, the wheels of our plane touched down at Entebbe airport, Kampala, Uganda—at last the long-promised visit of Amatu'l-Bahá to the believers of Africa was commencing. In 1961, at the time when she dedicated the Mother Temple of Africa for public worship, Rúḥíyyih Khánum promised the friends to come back and really visit them, touring as many Centres as possible. After nine years, this has now been fulfilled. [BW15p594]
It was the start of a four-leg journey that took the Hand of the Cause to 34 African countries, travelling 36,000 miles, addressing 40,000 people including 19 heads of state in some 400 gatherings. Beginning her
Safari in East Africa, she crossed the whole breadth of the continent to the Gambia, turned back
to the center of the Congo, and went down to the tip of South Africa in Cape Town before
returning to East Africa. She met nineteen Heads of State
among them Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, President Hamani Diori of Niger, President
Dr. William V.S Tubman of Liberia, King Motlotletlehi Sobhuza II of Swaziland, President
Gregoire Kayibanda of Rwanda, and President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia.
- For a map and details of the safari as well as pictures see BW15:593–607.
- See The Great African Safari: The travels of Rúhíyyih Khánum in Africa, 1969-73 by Violette Nakhjavani published by George Ronald in 2003.
- A diary of Rúhíyyih Khánum's travels through Africa was serialized in Bahá'í News in 26 issues (468-513) from 1970 through 1973.
These travels lead
to significant exposure of the Faith in the public domain, from governments to civil leaders to
mass media, propelling the development of national institutions across the continent in a new
dimension of work. One can say these events greatly contributed to the emergence of the Faith
from obscurity in Africa. [A Brief Account of the Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nancy Oloro-Robarts and Selam Ahderom p9]
- 1969-08-05 —
The itinerary for the first leg of the Great African Safari was as follows:
- Aug 4 - 14, 1969, Uganda
- Aug 15 - Sept 1,1969, Kenya
- Sept 2 - 26, 1969, Tanzania (and Mafia Island)
- Sept 28 - Oct 14, 1969, Kenya
- Oct 15 - Nov 17, 1969, Ethiopia. See BW15p186-187 where it is reported that over a thousand new Bahá'ís joined the ranks.
- Nov 17 - Dec 2, 1969, Kenya
- Dec 3, 1969 - Jan 2,1970, Uganda
- Jan 3 - 12, 1970, Zaire (now Central African Republic)
- Jan 13 - 24, 1970, Zaire (now Central African Republic)
- Jan 25 - Feb 7, 1970, Chad
- Feb 8 - 10, 1970, Nigeria
- Feb 11 - 18, 1970, Niger
- Feb 19 - 26, 1970, Dahomey (now Benin)
- Feb 27 - Mar 1, 1970, Togo
- Mar 2 - 11, 1970, Ghana [BW15p606]
- 1970-11-20 —
Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and her companion, Violette Nakhjavání, arrived in Ghana, at the start of the second leg of the 'Great African Safari' covering Western Africa. The itinerary was as follows:
- Nov 20 - 28, 1970, Ghana
- Nov 29 - Dec 21, 1970, Ivory Coast (now Côte d'Ivoire)
- Dec 23, 1970 - Jan 14, 1971, Liberia
- Jan 13 - 14, 1971, Ivory Coast (now Côte d'Ivoire)
- Jan 15 - Feb 1, 1971, Mali
- Feb 2 - 11, 1971, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso)
- Feb 12 - 21, 1971, Ghana
- Feb 22 - Mar 2, 1971, Ivory Coast (now Côte d'Ivoire)
- Mar 3 - 15, 1971, Liberia
- Mar 16 - 25, 1971, Sierra Leone
- Mar 26 - Apr 8, 1971, Senegal
- Apr 9 - 26, 1971, Gambia (now The Gambia)
- Apr 26, 1971, Senegal
- Apr 27 - May 10, 1971 Ivory Coast (now Côte d'Ivoire)
- May 11 - 28, 197l, Ghana [BW15p606-607]
- 1971-08-06 —
- 1972-05-11 —
- 1973-02-00 —
Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and her companion Violette Nakhjavání completed their tour of Africa.
- For details of the safari see BW15:593–607.
- They drove some 36,000 miles to visit more than 30 countries. [BW15:596; VV12]
- See BW15:606–7 for the countries, islands and territories visited and the heads of state and other dignitaries who received them.
- 2001-05-15 — A tribute to Ruhiyyih Khanum, much in the form of music and drama, was held at Canada House in Trafalgar Square in London. It was attended by some 150 prominent people including Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The main focus of the evening was a theatrical performance entitled A Life So Noble, which had been inspired by Ruhiyyih Khanum's life. Written by Canadian-born actress/writer Beverley Evans and directed by Annabel Knight, the show took four major aspects of Khanum's life and character and personified them in four women actresses, Maria Friedman, Beverley Evans, Sarah Clive and Kerry-Ann Smith, who told her story using words taken from Ruhiyyih Khanum's own lectures and writings.[BWNS124] - 2003-08-29 —
The celebration of the Jubilee of the opening of the Faith in the Republic of the Congo was commemorated in Brazzaville by 200 attendees. It was in 1953 that Ali and Violette Nakhjavani dropped off pioneer Max Kanyerezi in Brazzaville in the Middle Congo as it was then called, subsequently the "French Congo" and now "The Republic of the Congo".
-
All Bahá'í activities were suspended by law from 1978 until 1992 when a democratically elected government replaced the Communist regime. The new government granted legal recognition of the Faith. During the years 1992 to 2003 the country endured two civil wars which further disrupted activity. There are now 20 local spiritual assemblies. [BWNS246]
- 2007-09-01 —
In memory of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and because the Native people had such a special place in her heart and that of the Guardian, Violette and 'Ali Nakhjanání travelled throughout North America during the months of August and September visiting aboriginal believers. They visited Vancouver, Anchorage, Juneau before going to South Dakota, Montana, Arizona and Atlanta, Georgia where they spoke with 450 African-American believers. They visited the temple in Wilmette and then the Eskasoni First Nation in Nova Scotia.
- The primary purpose of their visit was to meet with and encourage the aboriginal believers and to remind the of their responsibility and high destiny in the Faith. [CBN Vol 20 No 3 Winter 2007/2008 p23-25]
- 2019-10-11 —
'Ali Nakhjavani, (b. 19 September, 1919 in Baku, Azerbaijan) former member of the Universal House of Justice (1963-2003), passed away in Molsheim, Alsace, France. He was 100 years old. The Universal House of Justice requested all National Assemblies that memorial services be held for him. [BWNS1361]
- After his father's death when he was two years old, his family was advised by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to move to Haifa where he grew up. In 1939 he received the Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction from the American University of Beirut, and then in the early 1940s he relocated to Iran, residing first in Tehran, then Tabriz and finally in Shiraz. In 1950 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís Iran where he served until the following year.
-
In 1951 he and his family moved to Uganda to assist with the development of the Bahá'í community in that country. He made his living as a teacher and lecturer. During his early years there, Enoch Olinga became a Bahá'í, and in 1953 Mr Nakhjavání and his wife Violette, along with Mr Olinga and two other Bahá'ís, travelled from Uganda to Cameroon to help spread the Bahá'í Faith in that country.
- From 1954-61 he was a member of the Auxiliary Board in Africa, and later from 1956 to 1961 he was served on the Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East Africa.
-
In 1961 he was elected to the International Bahá'í Council and so moved to Haifa. In 1963 he was elected to the Universal House of Justice during its inaugural convention, and served as a member of that body until 2003.
[Find a grave]
- For a video tribute to Mr Nakhjavani see YouTube.
- See Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of His Pen by 'Ali Nakhjavani.
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