Heroic Age

The Bahá’í era depicted graphically.

The Heroic Age, also known as the Primitive and Apostolic Age, of the Faith is the period from the Declaration of the Báb in 1844 up until the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921. Shoghi Effendi described it as the most violent and dramatic period in Bahá'í history. A quote from him regarding the sacrifices made during the Heroic Age:

"No sacrifice can be deemed too great, no expenditure of material resources, no degree of renunciation of worldly benefits, comfort and pleasures, can be regarded as excessive when we recall the precious blood that flowed, the many lives that were snuffed out, the wealth of material possessions that was plundered during these most tumultuous and cataclysmic years of the Heroic Age of our Faith."

The Heroic Age consists of three Epochs, the first spanning the Ministry of the Báb, beginning with His Declaration in 1844, the second spanning the Ministry of Bahá'u'lláh, beginning with His imprisonment in the Síyáh-Chál in 1853, where He first knew His station as a Manifestation of God, and the third spanning the Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, beginning with the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh in 1892.

The close of the Heroic Age is the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921, but Shoghi Effendi also identified the passing of Bahíyyih Khánum, who he identified as the last survivor of the Heroic Age, as being representative of its close:

"With ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ascension, and more particularly with the passing of His well-beloved and illustrious sister the Most Exalted Leaf—the last survivor of a glorious and heroic age—there draws to a close the first and most moving chapter of Bahá’í history, marking the conclusion of the Primitive, the Apostolic Age of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh." - Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh

Shoghi Effendi characterized the Heroic Age as being a period of intense spiritual fertility that did not result in the world adopting Bahá'í principles, with the next and current Age, the Formative Age, being the period where the formation of a Bahá'í society will occur.