Mírzá Aḥmad Sohráb (March 21, 1890 – April 20, 1958) was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

- American author and Baháʼí who served as

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: ‎, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás ( fa, عباس), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh and served as head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was later canonized as the ...

's secretary and interpreter from 1912 to 1919. He co-founded the New History Society and the

Caravan of East and West The Caravan of East and West is a tax-exempt, educational foundation for brotherhood, established in 1929 by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler and his wife Julie and located at 132 East 65th Street in New York City, at '' Caravan House'' ...

in New York and was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

from the Baháʼí Faith in 1939 by

Shoghi Effendi Shoghí Effendi (; 1 March 1897 – 4 November 1957) was the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, appointed to the role of Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. He created a series of teaching plans that over ...

Biography

Early life

Born a Baháʼí in Sedeh, Isfahan Province, Persia (now

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

), Sohrab's father ʻAbdu'l-Baghi was a descendant of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

. ʻAbdu'l-Baghi was the chief dyer of the town. Both sides of Sohrab's family, his mother and his father, claimed descent from the Imam Husayn, grandson of Muhammad. His mother died when Sohrab was a few months old, while she herself was still a teenager, and he was taken to live with his maternal grandmother in Isfahan.

New History Society

By 1911, he had founded an organization called the Persian-American Educational Society. Later that year he sailed to Europe "in the interests of his work". Sohrab was secretary and interpreter to

from 1912 to 1919. He emigrated to the United States in 1919, sailing as a first class passenger from Port Said, Egypt to New York, on board the S/S ''Yeboshi Maru''. In the 1920s, while living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, he helped write a scenario for a movie dealing with Mary Magdalene, for the actress

Valeska Surratt Valeska Suratt (June 28, 1882 – July 2, 1962) was an American stage and silent film actress. Over the course of her career, Suratt appeared in 11 silent films, all of which are now lost, mainly due to the 1937 Fox vault fire. Early life and ...

. In 1927

Cecil B. Demille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

released The King of Kings which the duo claimed he had stolen from their scenario. Suratt sued

and others in 1928, and mentioned that Sohrab had helped her write the play. The case went to trial in 1930 and was quietly settled out of court. He found it necessary to go to New York to discuss business matters with Miss Surratt and it was through her that he was introduced to

Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler (September 24, 1869 in Newport, Rhode Island – February 28, 1942 in New York City) was an American lawyer and politician who served as Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1907 to 1908. Early life He was the fifth ...

and his wife Julie. Together they formed the "New History Society" in 1929 as an indirect way of spreading the teachings of the Baháʼí Faith. On Mar 10, 1930, "Mirza Ahmad Sohrab" filed a petition for naturalization in the US District Court of New York City. The petition states that he is 39 years old and residing at 28 W 50th Street.

Caravan of East and West

The New History Society gave rise in 1930 to the

, and the Chanler's New York house was now called ''Caravan House''. This foundation was designed to prepare children and youth to join the New History Society. This group had a quarterly magazine called ''The Caravan'', where Sohrab's partial autobiography first appeared. (The autobiography appeared again in 1959, shortly after his death, with a few additional paragraphs which add little.) :"The Caravan of East and West is an educational movement, the chief activity of which is international correspondence. It numbers 1,300 Chapters in 37 countries, with an aggregate membership of 100,000 children, young people and adults. Its publications, The Caravan and Pen Friends Guide, respectively appearing quarterly and monthly, keep the large circle of its readers informed as to the growth and influence of the movement. The New History Society and the Caravan is a movement in itself for the spreading of the Baháʼí ideals and principles, independent of and unaffiliated with the Baháʼí organization." Sohrab had already published a few books, pamphlets and a movie scenario, when in 1933, with Julie Chanler he wrote a book that provided an overview of many of the events of the Baháʼí movement; it contained a description of the events of the

Báb The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the messianic founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar Iran who, in 1844 at the age of 25, claimed ...

, Baháʼu'lláh — his claim in the Garden of Ridván—

Táhirih Táhirih (Ṭāhira) ( fa, طاهره, "The Pure One," also called Qurrat al-ʿAyn ( "Solace/Consolation of the Eyes") are both titles of Fatimah Baraghani/Umm-i Salmih (1814 or 1817 – August 16–27, 1852), an influential poet, women's rights ...

, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. The book also contains several pictures, including some which may be unique.

The Split

Mrs. Chanler attempted to patch things up between Sohrab and Horace Holley, "one of the chief men in the American Baháʼí Administration". But Sohrab refused to allow the New York

Spiritual Assembly Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...

to have oversight of the affairs of the New History Society. Since Holley sat on the National Spiritual Assembly at this time, this led to a confrontation which resulted in Sohrab and the Chanlers being expelled from the Baháʼí community about 1939.

Marriage

It was while accompanying Abdul Baha in 1912, that Ahmad briefly met and began wooing Juanita Marie Storch, when she was brought by her father to meetings with Abdul Baha in Oakland and San Francisco in 1912. The Storch family, at that time was living in Oakland, Alameda County, California. Sohrab returned to Palestine, but the wooing took place long-distance by means of "five hundred letters". The coming of World War I, put a temporary halt to the letters as they were apparently being confiscated or at least not allowed through the lines, but at the end of the war, the lovers re-made their acquaintance (see The Oakland Tribune, 26 Dec 1919). Sohrab's wife and daughter remained faithful to Shoghi Effendi and changed their names.

Lawsuit

In 1941, Allen McDaniel and others, as members of the National Spiritual Assembly, filed suit against Sohrab to try to stop him from using the name Baháʼí. The NSA felt this created the impression that Sohrab was "connected with and authorized to represent the Baháʼí religion..." This suit was filed in the Supreme Court of New York County. The judge granted a motion to dismiss, stating that "the plaintiffs have no right to a monopoly of the name of a religion. The defendants, who purport to be members of the same religion, have an equal right to use the name of the religion..." The judge mentioned that the complaint could be further amended and the NSA appealed but the Appellate Court affirmed the decision of the lower court.

Collaboration with other opponents of Shoghi Effendi

After his excommunication, Sohrab joined forces with other people who opposed

. Part of this combination was a court case raised by Qamar Baháʼí, Jalal the grandson of

Mírzá Músá Mírzá Músá ( fa, ‎; d. 1887) was the only full brother of Baháʼu'lláh, meaning that they shared the same mother and father. He was later named by Shoghi Effendi as one of the nineteen Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh. The life of Mírzá M ...

and others in about 1950-1, challenging Shoghi Effendi's right to carry out major construction work around the

Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh The Mansion of Bahjí ( ar, قصر بهجي, Qasr Bahjī, ''mansion of delight'') is a summer house in Acre, Israel where Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, died in 1892. He was buried in an adjacent house, which became the Shrin ...

. One of their key witnesses, Nayyir Afnan, died shortly before the case was due to open, and it all came to nothing. One of the culminations of this was a meeting that was held in Famagusta in the late 1950s. Representatives of all three main generations of what Baha'is call "

Covenant-breaker Covenant-breaker is a term used by Baháʼís to refer to a person who has been excommunicated from the Baháʼí community for breaking the 'Covenant': actively promoting schism in the religion or otherwise opposing the legitimacy of the chain ...

s" were present including: Jalal Azal representing the followers of

Mirza Yahya Ṣubḥ-i-Azal (1831–1912, born Mírzá Yaḥyá) was an Iranian religious leader of Azali Bábism, known for his conflict with his half-brother Baháʼu'lláh over leadership of the Bábí community after 1853. In 1850, when he was just 19 ...

, ʻIsmat and others represented the followers of

Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí ( fa, 1853–1937) was one of the sons of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was the eldest son of his father's second wife, Fatimih Khanum, later known as Mahd-i-'Ulya, whom Baháʼu'lláh ...

, and Ahmad Sohrab represented those opposed to any form of administration. One of the aims of this conference was to build a mausoleum over the grave of Mírzá Yahyá. To this end, an amount of money was collected but it "disappeared" and nothing came of the project.

Moojan Momen Moojan Momen is a retired physician and historian specializing in Baháʼí studies who has published numerous books and articles about the Baháʼí Faith and Islam, especially Shia Islam, including for Encyclopædia Iranica* * * the British L ...

notes that: :"In theory, the second generation, who accepted Baháʼu'lláh, should have had nothing to do with the first generation followers of Azal, the enemy of Baháʼu'lláh. Similarly, the third generation, accounting themselves loyal followers of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, should have had nothing to do with the second generation who were vehement opponents of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá; even less should they support the first generation. But in fact strong links formed between these generations."

Final years

Caravan eventually severed the links with the Baháʼí Faith, but Sohrab, Mrs. Chanler, and their organizations continued claim association with the Baháʼí Faith as long as they both were living. The Caravan existed for a time as a worldwide pen-pal club with social ideals. In addition, there are various references to the Caravan Art Gallery at this same address. There are also references in Mrs. Chanler's and Sohrab's writings to art showings. Sohrab died April 20, 1958.''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', April 22, 1958; p. 33 "Obituary" In his obituary he is described as "leader of the Reform Baháʼí Movement in the United States and co-director of the

". The New History Society is now defunct, not outliving Sohrab, however the Caravan of East and West persisted and currently operates at the same address as Caravan Institute, an adult-education Italian language school with no connection to the Baháʼí Faith.

Works

*
The Diary of Ahmad Sohrab: Diary Letters and Notes (1912-1915)
'.
''ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in Egypt''
New York: J. H. Sears & Co for the New history Foundation, 1929. Approved by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States and Canada. *

', 1924. *''The New Humanity'', appeared daily for some time in a Santiago newspaper, (sometime before 1929), date uncertain. *''The Song of the Caravan''. Another ed. also 1930, New York, The Grayzel Press ed., xii, 410. New York: George Dobsevage for the New History Foundation, 1930.

(with Julie Chanler) New York: The New History Foundation, 132 E 65th St, New York, 1933. Reprinted. H-Bahai: Lansing, Michigan, 2004.

New York: The New History Foundation, 1937. Digitally republished, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2004 *''The Bible of Mankind'', (ed.) 743 pp., Universal Publishing Co., 132 E 65th St, N.Y., 1939. *''A Persian Rosary of Nineteen Pearls''. 2nd. ed. New York, Caravan of East & West, n.d. 94-?3rd. ed. New York, Caravan of East & West, n.d. 95-?ed., New York: New History Society, n.d. 939 *
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's Grandson
Story of a Twentieth Century Excommunication''. New York: Universal Publishing Co for The New History Foundation, 1943. Reprinted. H-Bahai: Lansing, Michigan, 2004. *Brand, Max and Mirza Ahmad Sohrab ibretto Max Brand, and Julie Chanler; Music Max Brand The Gate: Scenic Oratorio for Soli, Chorus, and Orchestra in Two Parts (19 Scenes). 61. New York: Associated Music Publishers, 1944.
''The Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, An Analysis''
New York: Universal Publishing Co, 1944. Reprinted. H-Bahai: Lansing, Michigan, 2004. *

Taking Place during, and immediately following World War I''. New York: The New History Foundation, 1947. Digitally republished, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2004. *Ioas, Leroy, Mrs Lewis Stuyvesant ulie ChanlerChanler, and Ahmad Sohrab. ''Three Letters''. 1leaves. New York: Caravan of East and West, 1954.
''Living Schools of Religion''
Vergilius Ferm, ed. Ames, Iowa: Littlefield, Adams & Co., 1956. Chapter 19, "The Baháʼí Cause," by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab (pages 309-14)

New York: New History Foundation, 1959. Reprinted. H-Bahai: Lansing, Michigan, 2004.

Works about him

*''Biographical Sketch of Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, Director of the Caravan of East and West, Inc''. 3. n.p. ew York? n.d.

954 Year 954 ( CMLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – A Hungarian army led by Bulcsú crosses the Rhine. He camps at Worms in th ...

Collins 12.10.
''Light-Bearer Magazine: A Persian Rosary''
Winter 2000, pg 50 (reprint from ''The Theosophist'', 1978)

References

Biographical Notes