Persia had been encouraged by
'Abdu'l-Baha to create had assumed responsibility for the administration
of their affairs. In the light of what was to follow, no one with a sense
of history can fail to be struck by the fact that the Faith's first
Spiritual Assembly, that of Tehran, was founded in 1897, the year of
Shoghi Effendi's own birth. Under the Master's guidance, intermittent
meetings held by the four Hands of the Cause in Persia had gradually
evolved into this institution that served simultaneously as Persia's
"Central Spiritual Assembly" and as the governing body of the local
community in the capital. By the time of 'Abdu'l-Baha's passing, there
were more than thirty Local Spiritual Assemblies established in Persia. In
1922 Shoghi Effendi called for the formal establishment of Persia's
National Spiritual Assembly, an achievement delayed until 1934 by the
demands related to the taking of a reliable census of the community as a
basis for the election of delegates.

Outside Persia, the believers in 'I_sh_qabad, in Russian Turkestan,
elected their first Local Spiritual Assembly, a body that assumed an
important role in the project for the construction of the first Baha'i
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in 'I_sh_qabad. In North America a variety of
consultative arrangements--"Boards of Council", "Council Boards", "Boards
of Consultation" and "Working Committees"--performed analogous functions,
evolving gradually into elected bodies that constituted the forerunners of
Spiritual Assemblies. By the time of the Master's passing, there were
perhaps forty such councils functioning in North America. These
developments prepared the way for the eventual emergence of the first
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and
Canada, which evolved from the "Temple Unity Board", a body created in
1909 to coordinate construction of the future House of Worship. It was
formed in 1923, although the administrative requirements set by the
Guardian for this step were met only in 1925. Before this latter date
arrived, National Assemblies had been established in the British Isles, in
Germany and Austria, in India and Burma, and in Egypt and the Sudan.(73)

As the formation of National and Local Spiritual Assemblies was taking
place, the Guardian began to lay emphasis on the importance of their
securing recognition as "corporate persons" under civil law. By securing
such formal incorporation, in whatever fashion proved practicable