In 1844, at a time of widespread moral breakdown in Persia, present-day Iran, a young merchant from Shiraz took the title of 'The Báb', meaning 'the Gate' in Arabic. Calling for spiritual and moral reformation, He announced that He was the bearer of a message destined to transform the life of humanity. As the symbolic gate between past ages of prophecy and a new age of fulfilment for humanity, the Báb founded a distinct independent religion of His own. His revolutionary message of spiritual renewal attracted tens of thousands of followers who became known as Bábí's. 

However He was also the Herald of a new Revelation from God, with a role to prepare the way for the coming of a new Divine Educator, who would usher in the era of peace and justice promised by all religions. The religious authorities of the day, disturbed by the upheaval surrounding the Báb’s message, clamoured for His arrest and imprisonment. He was eventually tried and sentenced to death by firing squad in the town square of Tabriz on 9 July 1850. Twenty thousand of His followers were also killed in a series of brutal massacres throughout Persia. 

In 1909, after more than half a century, the Báb’s remains were finally interred in His Shrine on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land, today a sacred place of pilgrimage for Bahá’ís from all over the world.