As an institution in its own right it was established by the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, in 1891.  According to him, the primary purpose of such an annual gathering was the enhancement of religious knowledge in addition to secondary benefits of strengthening the bonds of fraternity within the Community.  The first ‘Jalsa Salana’ that was held had an attendance of just 75 people yet some 115 years later the Community has such Conventions in over 150 countries in the world with attendances of up to 70,000 people at each of these Conventions.  Even still however, the purposes and significance of the Convention have remained true to the initial aims as explained by the founder of the Community.