Religion founded in 19th century, growing out of Babism. Mirza Hussayn Ali Nuri saw himself as the promise made by Bab, the prophet of Babism. Mirza Hussayn was first a follower of Bab, but took the name Baha'ullah at the death of Bab in 1850. Soon after the followers of Bab faced the first persecutions, with the killing of 20,000 by the Persian governments in 1852, and expulsion of Baha'ullah to Baghdad soon after. The Ottoman Empire, controlling Baghdad, did not treat him much better, and he, his family and followers finally ended up in Acre in Palestine (now in northern Israel)
While the group of Baha'ullah for a long time after the death of Bab was known as belonging to Babism, it changed in 1863 when Baha'ullah declared himself the promised manifestation of God, the one that Bab had foretold 19 years earlier. This manifestation is in Baha'i considered the latest in God's manifestations, of which Zarathustra, Buddha (Buddhism), Krishna (Hinduism) Jesus and Muhammad are other prominent ones. Yet Baha'ullah is by far the most revered as he brought the last revelation to man.
The teachings of Baha'ullah was spread with his son, Abdu l-Baha'. He was imprisoned for years by the Ottomans, but was released in 1908, where after he travelled to Europe and North America, where he preached the message of Baha'i. By 1920 the largest community of Baha'is were in the USA, but that is surpassed today. Local congregations are called "spiritual assembly", baytu l-adl made up of 9 members. The spiritual assembly takes care of the treasury.
Today there are 2- 5 million Baha'is in the world (Baha'i itself claims more than 5 million, but observers estimates sometimes the numbers as low as 2 million), in almost all countries of the world, and the religion's literature has been translated into more than 350 languages. The Baha'is that live in Iran have faced terrible persecution by the governments since the Iranian revolution of 1979. The headquarters of the religion is situated to Mount Carmel, near Haifa in Israel. Here there is a shrine of Bab, a grand archive, and the world administrative centre. The tomb of Baha'ullah is in nearby Acre.
Baha'i claims to be a universal religion. It calls for better social conditions for the underprivileged, loving one another harmoni between races and religions, equality of the sexes, one language for all, one education for all, nonresistance, bearing injustice with rebellion, and one religion that takes the essence from all the big religions. Austerities are not welcomed in Baha'i, man should be happy. There are no priests of Baha'i, but the guardian of the faith was until 1957 an ancestor of Baha'ullah, and since then an elected leader. There are no rituals, and except the writings of Baha'ullah and Abdu l-Baha', no sacred texts either.