Bahá'í Faith in India

Even though the Bahá'í Faith in India is tiny in proportion of the national population, it is numerically large and has a long history culminating in recent times with the notable Lotus Temple, various Bahá'í schools, and increasing prominence. According to the 2016 World Religion Database India had just over 2 million Bahá'ís in 2015, on top of the 2010 Association of Religion Data Archives data of some 1,898,000 Bahá'ís in India, however the 2011 Census of India recorded only 4,572.

The roots of the Bahá'í Faith in India go back to the first days of the Bábí religion in 1844. Four Babís are known from India in this earliest period. The first was Sa'id Hindi, one of the Letters of the Living, and a second was only known as Qahru'llah. Two other very early Bábís were Sa'in Hindi and Sayyid Basir Hindi. Additionally, four other Indians are listed among the 318 Bábís who fought at the Battle of Fort Tabarsi. There is little evidence of any contact from these early Indian Babis back to their homeland.

During Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime, as founder of the religion, he encouraged some of his followers to move to India. Some who settled in India including Hájí Sayyid Mírzá and Sayyid Muhammad who had become Bábís after meeting Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad in the 1850s. Hájí Sayyid Mahmúd also traded in Bombay. These individuals were very successful as general merchants and commission agents but it was near another 50 years before native converts began. A Baha'i teacher was asked for and Jamál Effendi was sent approximately 1875. Still in these early years another member of the family of the Báb, Mírzá Ibrahím, helped establish the first Bahá'í printing and publishing company, the Násirí Press, in Bombay and began to publish Bahá'í books from about 1882-3 onwards.The Book of Certitude and the Secret of Divine Civilization were both published in 1882. Much later - in the 1891 - Jamál Effendi was confused with a terrorist and reported on by British agents among the Indian population and those records have been found (though Indian government national archives.) Following the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, as the leadership of the religion fell to `Abdu'l-Bahá, he in turn sent further emissaries in his stead - both Persian and American.

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