The early history of all the Bahá'í communities of northern Iran, narrated here for the first time and drawn from original sources including manuscript histories, letters, family records and material previously published only in Persian.

Dr Moojan Momen provides a panoramic yet detailed account of the largest and the smallest Bahá'í communities during the period 1851 to 1921. During this time they acquired characteristics that differentiated them from the rest of the population – their ethos and outlook, their system of administration and social institutions – and the persecution they faced as a result.

Using a narrative style, he presents an account of the Bahá'í communities in the northern half of Iran, province by province, during the early years of their formation and development. The starting point is the execution of the Báb in 1850 and the holocaust of 1852 when the shah gave orders for the extermination of the Bábi community and thousands of Bábis were killed.