MIRZA AHMAD SOHRAB

The Free Baha'i Team came up with the another edition of The Caravan Magazine- Nawruz special issue. Click here to read the complete magazine.

Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, a Persian-American author and a renowned Baha’i who served as a secretary and interpreter to Abdul Baha from 1912 to 1919 along with  Lewis Chanler  and his wife  Julia  formed the New History Society in 1929, in order to spread the teachings of the Baha’i faith. It was their independent effort to teach the principles of the Cause. Mirza Ahmad  used to take lectures in New York and many people used to attend it. Once at the end of a similar lecture demand came from a group of people who used to attend them regularly. These people wanted to be a part of the Cause and did not wish to be disbanded so Sohrab, Lewis and Julia all decided to form a little society. . Initially, no name was decided for the group. Sohrab wanted to name it Soldiers of Light but no one liked this name and at the same time Julia suggested to call it the New History Society and Sohrab found it ideal and thus the said name got finalised. Having settled with the name

           The most significant judgement in the history of the Baha’i Faith One morning the Caravan House was served a legal notice by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States and Canada, that the Caravan has no right to use the designation Baha’i Bookshop on the windowpane of the little store because the word Baha’i is registered in the US Patent Office, No. 245,271. The Caravan was therefore advised to discontinue use of the word Baha’i, not only on the show window but also on all the Caravan publications as well. Sixteen months later, on April 1, 1941,Justice Valente of the the Supreme Court of New York State declared that the plaintiffs have no right to a monopoly of the name of a religion and the defendants have an equal right to use the name of the religion in connection with their activities. Reference:   “From Gaslight to Dawn” , an autobiography by Julia Chanler. New York: New History Foundation, 1956 Law journal screenshot

THE CARAVAN MAGAZINE The Caravan of East and West was established in 1929 by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler and his wife Julie. The Caravan was a foundation that had a quarterly magazine called The Caravan in 1929. They also had a quarterly magazine called The Children’s Caravan in 1935, which ‘helps to keep children in touch with each other’. (Educational Digest). They also apparently published some other works. Originally a part of the Bahá’í Faith, that relationship ended shortly after the New York administration was denied oversight by its founders. Sohrab refused and was ex-communicated in 1939, which then led Julie to also refuse to appear to answer questions. The foundation severed ties, but continued to do work for the Bahá’í cause, without official sanction. “At its height, just after World War II, the Caravan had grown to a membership of almost 250,000…. and its business soon overshadowed the New History Society.” Chapter 15 An article in the N