Declaration at Ridvan near Baghdad
After much negotiation, at the request of the Persian Government, an order was issued by the Turkish Government summoning Baha'u'llah to Constantinople. On receipt of this news His followers were in consternation. They besieged the house of their beloved Leader to such an extent that the family encamped in the Garden of Najib Pasha outside the town for twelve days, while the caravan was being prepared for the long journey. It was on the first of these twelve days (April 22 to May 3, 1863, i.e., nineteen years after the Bab's Declaration) that Baha'u'llah announced to several of His followers the glad tidings that He was the One Whose coming had been foretold by the Bab - the Chosen of God, the Promised One of all the Prophets. The Garden where this memorable Declaration took place has become known to Baha'is as the "Garden of Ridvan," and the days Baha'u'llah spent there are commemorated in the "Feast of Ridvan," which is held annually on the anniversary of those twelve days. During those days Baha'u'llah, instead of being sad or depressed, showed the greatest joy, dignity and power. His followers became happy and enthusiastic, and great crowds came to pay their respects to Him. All the notables of Baghdad, even the Governor himself, came to honor the departing prisoner (24:4)

Constantinople and Adrianople
The journey to Constantinople lasted between three and four months, the party consisting of Baha'u'llah with members of His family and twenty- six disciples. Arrived in Constantinople they found themselves prisoners in a small house in which they were very much overcrowded. Later they got somewhat better quarters, but after four months they were again moved on, this time to Adrianople. The journey to Adrianople, although it lasted but a few days, was the most terrible they had yet undertaken. Snow fell heavily most of the time, and as they were destitute of proper clothing and food, their sufferings were extreme. For the first winter in Adrianople, Baha'u'llah and His family, numbering twelve persons, were accommodated in a small house of three rooms, comfortless and vermin infested. In the spring they were given a more comfortable abode. They remained in Adrianople for four and a half years. Here Baha'u'llah resumed His teaching and gathered about Him a large following. He publicly announced His mission and was enthusiastically accepted by the majority of the Babis, who were known thereafter as Baha'is. A minority, however, under the leadership of Baha'u'llah's half brother, Mirza Yahya, became violently opposed to Him and joined with their former enemies, the Shi'ihs, in plotting for His overthrow. Great troubles ensued, and at last the Turkish Government banished both Babis and Baha'is from Adrianople, exiling Baha'u'llah and His followers to 'Akka, in Palestine, where they arrived (according to Nabil)6 on August 31, 1868, while Mirza Yahya and his party were sent to Cyprus (25:1)

End of Quote