The history of the Baháʼí Faith (Вера Бахаи) in Russia began soon after the founding in 1844 of the Bábí religion, viewed by Baháʼís as the direct predecessor of the Baháʼí Faith, with Russian diplomats to Qajar Persia observing, reacting to, and sending updates about the Bábís. The woman later known as Táhirih, who played a central role in the religion of the Báb, was from an influential clerical family from Azerbaijan, which was then ruled by Russia. Russian diplomats later protected Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, before and after his exile from Persia. Around 1884, the religion began to spread into the Russian Empire, where the Baháʼí community in Ashgabat built the first Baháʼí House of Worship, elected one of the first Baháʼí local administrative institutions and became