Bahá'í Faith: Bahá'ís are from various parts of the world. The Bahá'í Faith is the youngest of the world's independent religions. The central theme of Bahá'u'lláh's message is that humanity is one single race and that the day has come for its unification in one global society. God, Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892) (literally the Glory of God), the founder, said, has set in motion historical forces that are breaking down traditional barriers of race, class, creed, and nation and that will, in time, give birth to a universal civilization. The principal challenge facing the peoples of the earth is to accept the fact of their oneness and to assist the processes of unification. One of the purposes of the Bahá'í Faith is to help make this possible. A worldwide community of some five million Bahá'ís, representative of most of the nations, races and cultures on earth, is working to give Bahá'u'lláh's teachings practical effect.

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The history of the Bahá'í Faith in India started with the inception of the Faith in Iran when Bahá’u’lláh appointed one of the Indian believers as the 'Letter of Living' in 1844-45, the first year of His Ministry. Since then, India is spiritually connected with the Bahá’i Faith.

He dispatched one of the distinguished Bahá'í teachers, Jamal Effendi, to teach the Cause of God in the years 1874-75. Jamal Effendi travelled to various parts of India and was successful in attracting many learned people to the Faith. In the beginning of this century, in the early twenties, a few Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed in the primary Indian cities, and by 1944, India had 24 Spiritual Assemblies. At the present, in the 26 Indian States, the Indian Bahá'í Community has 24 State Baha'í Councils, the state level Bahá'í administrative institutions, managing the affairs of over 1450 Local Spiritual Assemblies (locally elected Bahá'i Institutions), and over 2.3 million believers spread over 31829 localities in all parts of the country. 

India was the 6th country to have the Baha'i Faith introduced to it.  The Faith was introduced to the following countires in order: Iraq, Persia, Burma, Caucasus, Egypt, India, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Turkey and Turkistan.

Further reading:  "The Revelation of Baha'u'llah", vol 4, chapter 12, page 177 onwards, Adib Taherzadeh.