Today is Tuesday; 20th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 3rd of the Islamic month of Rajab 1440 lunar hijri; and April 9, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1826 solar years ago, on this day in 193 AD, Lucius Septimius Severus seized power of the Roman Empire on the death of Emperor Pertinax, after deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, during the “Year of the Five Emperors”. Of Syrian-Punic stock, he fought his rival claimants, the generals, Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus, to consolidate his power. Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus in Cilicia in what is now south-central Turkey. Later that year Severus waged a punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier by annexing the Kingdom of Osroene, which was under protection of the Parthian Empire, thereby starting a new phase of Roman-Iranian hostilities. The Battle of Lugdunum (modern Lyon in France) against Albinus was the bloodiest-ever battle between rival Roman armies that resulted in the death of over a 100,000 soldiers. A ruthless pagan, Septimius Severus persecuted monotheists, especially the followers of Prophet Jesus, and waged war against Iran’s Parthian Empire in Iraq, sacking the capital Ctesiphon in 197. Like Trajan a century earlier, he was not much successful, as the Iranians regrouped and forced him to pull back. Although he briefly annexed the upper part of Mesopotamia in what are now northern Syria and southern Turkey, despite two lengthy sieges he failed to subdue the impregnable fortress of Hatra near Mosul in what was then the Iranian province of Khavaran. After a reign of 18 blood-soaked years, he died in York in Britain and was succeeded by his equally bloodthirsty and treacherous son, Caracalla, who six years later in 217 was destined to meet a miserable death, following his deceitful slaughter of the unarmed wedding party of the Parthian Emperor’s daughter whom he had tricked into marriage. 

1436 lunar years ago, on this day in 4^th AH, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3^rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was born in Medina. Hailed by the Prophet as the Twin Leader of the Youths of Paradise, along with his elder brother, Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the Martyr of Karbala needs no introduction. Later in our programme you will listen to a special feature on the life and times of Imam Husain (AS), whose birthday is marked in the Islamic Republic of Iran as Roz-e Pasdar or Day of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), in view of their self-sacrificing role in defence of the values of the Islamic Revolution and national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We extend hearty felicitation to conscientious people all over the world.

1380 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, Imam Husain (AS) arrived in Mecca after leaving his hometown Medina on the night of Rajab 29, following the demand of the Godless Yazid conveyed through governor Waleed ibn Otbah of Medina, to give oath of allegiance to his illegitimate rule. The Meccans received the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) with great rejoicing and reverence as they had seen the Prophet openly showering his love and affection for him. They also remembered the Prophet’s oft-repeated words of praise for his two grandsons, including the famous hadith, “Hasan and Husain are the Two Leaders of the Youth of Paradise.” They gathered around him, and in view of the approaching Hajj pilgrimage that brought more and more people from far-off places, such gatherings swelled as Muslims swarmed around him to clarify their doubts in matters of religion, science, commerce, rights, obligations, morals, ethics, etc. This alarmed the tyrant Yazid in Damascus, and he sent assassins in the garb of pilgrims. To avoid any bloodshed in the most inviolable place, the Imam left for Iraq four months later on Zilhijja 8, especially in view of the fact that he had received thousands of letters from the people of Kufa.

778 solar years ago, on this day in 1241 AD, in the Battle of Liegnitz, Mongol forces defeated the Polish and German armies. The Mongols invaded Hungary, but the death of the Khaqaan (Great Khan), Ogedei, made them withdraw from Europe.

741 solar years ago, on this day in 1288 AD, Mongol invasions of Vietnam ended in disastrous defeat for the invaders in the naval Battle of Bach Dang River, resulting in the capture and execution of Mongol Muslim commander, Omar Khan. It was one of the greatest victories in Vietnamese military history.

683 solar years ago, on this day in 1336 AD, Amir Timur Gorkani, the fearsome Turko-Mongol conqueror, was born in the city of Kesh, now known as Shahr-e Sabz, 80 km south of the famous Iranian city of Samarqand, in what is now Uzbekistan. He started life as leader of a band of raiders, and during one such raid was shot by arrows that crippled his right leg for life; hence his epithet in Persian “Taimour-e Lang” (Timur the Lame), corrupted by Europeans to “Tamerlane”. He took over the Chaghatay Mongol Khanate of Central Asia and Khorasan, destroyed the Golden Horde of Eurasia, defeated the Mamluk Empire of Egypt-Syria, conquered the Sultanate of Delhi, and subjugated the emerging Ottoman Empire, whose sultan, Bayazid I, he captured in battle and took as prisoner to Samarqand. Timur died in 1405 at the age of 69, while intending an expedition against China, after conquering all the lands from the Mediterranean coast of Syria to the River Ganges in India, and from the Persian Gulf in the south to Moscow in the north. He was of ferocious nature and at times used to destroy entire cities and massacre whole populations. At the same time he patronized art, architecture and literature, especially the Persian language. He was buried in his capital Samarqand in a beautiful mausoleum called Gur-e Amir. His empire was inherited by his youngest son, Shahrukh, whose mother was an Iranian and who during his long and peaceful reign did not pursue any expansionist policy. A century after Timur’s death, his empire was no more as all his descendants vanished from the political scene, except for a great-great grandson, Zaheer od-Din Mohammad Babar, who established the Moghal Empire of the Subcontinent that ended in 1857 with the fall of Delhi to the British and the exiling to Burma of Bahadur Shah Zafar.

410 solar years ago, on this day in 1609 AD, Philip III issued expulsion order for the Moriscos of Valencia, at the instigation of the Duke of Lerma and the Viceroy of Valencia, Archbishop Juan de Ribera. Hundreds of thousands of Spanish who under compulsion outwardly appeared as Catholics but inwardly were Muslims, had to leave. This was the beginning of the expulsion of all Moriscos from Spain by 1614, and led to the migration of over a one million Spanish Muslims to North Africa. They were ordered to depart "under the pain of death and confiscation, without trial or sentence with just what they could carry, but no money, bullion, jewels or bills of exchange." The charge against them was that they were secretly planning to facilitate the invasion of Spain by the Ottoman Turks from the sea and by the Huguenots or Protestant Christians of France from the northern land route.

393 solar years ago, on this day in 1626 AD, English philosopher and mathematician, Francis Bacon, died at the age of 65. He initially engaged in politics and was imprisoned on the charge of bribery. While serving his prison term, he took to writing and advocated revival of science and philosophy. He authored several books, including “New Atlantis”, which presents a utopian picture of life.

189 lunar years ago, on this day in 1251 AH, the Iranian Gnostic and poet, Mirza Mohammad Hussain Isfahani, popular as Safi Ali Shah was born in Isfahan. He followed the Ne’matollahi Sufi Order. He visited India at the age of 27 on the invitation of the self-styled Imam of the Ismaili sect, Aqa Ali Shah Mahallati, and after performing the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, settled in Tehran, where he established a hospice and a printing press. Safi Ali Shah composed a versified interpretation of the holy Qur’an. He has to his credit four versified works and three books on prose. He passed away at the age of 65 and was buried in his hospice.

154 solar years ago, on this day in 1865 AD, the 4-year long US Civil War, during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, ended with the surrender of the Northern Virginia army of 26,765 troops led by Confederate general, Robert E. Lee, to Unionist general, Ulysses S. Grant, at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. The cause of the war was the refusal of the southern states to grant freedom to the black African people who were enslaved to work on plantations and in households, as cheap sources of labour. Within a week of General Lee’s surrender, President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, who was in contact with the Confederate secret service.

122 solar years ago, on this day in 1897 AD, Iranian Gnostic, Abu’l-Hassan Tabatabai, known by his penname “Jalweh”, passed away at the age of 74. After completion of his studies in Isfahan, he came to Tehran where till the end of his life he groomed students and wrote books. Besides his diwan of Persian poetry, his books include Annotation of Mullah Sadra’s “Mabda wa Ma’ad”, and Ibn Sina’s “Shifa”. 

121 lunar years ago, on this day in 1319 AH, the scholar, Ayatollah Seyyed Hussein Khademi, was born. He was a product of the Najaf Seminary and attained Ijtehad. He was also politically active and stood up against the repressive policies of the British-installed Reza Khan Pahlavi, who brutally suppressed Islamic culture and values. Ayatollah Khademi participated in the campaign for nationalization of Iran’s oil industry. With the start of the struggles of The Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), for establishment of the sacred Islamic system in Iran, he stepped up his political activities that culminated in the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, the Zionist terror group Irgun slaughtered residents of the Palestinian village of Dayr Yasin, west of Bayt al-Moqaddas. Some 270 men, women and children were massacred by these illegal migrants from Europe, as part of the plot to set up the illegal state of Israel.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1980 AD, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer as-Sadr, and his venerable sister, Amena Haidar, known as Bint al-Hoda, after days of torture in prison were martyred by Saddam, the tyrannical ruler of the Ba'th minority regime of Baghdad. Ayatollah Sadr was a brilliant scholar and studied under such Grand Ayatollah Mohsin al-Hakeem and Grand Ayatollah Abu’l-Qassem Khoie. At a young age he reached the status of Ijtehad – independent reasoning based on Holy Qur'an and Prophet's Hadith. His lectures at the Najaf Seminary, during which he used to critically evaluate western and eastern materialistic schools of thought, were widely attended by youths and academicians. He wrote outstanding Islamic works such as “Iqtasadona” (Our Economy) and “Falsafatona” (Our Philosophy). The awareness which he instilled in the Iraqi people, especially political consciousness, greatly alarmed the oppressive Ba'thist regime, in view of his attachment to the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). Following victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and jubilation of the Iraqi people for repeating this experience in Iraq, Ayatollah Sadr and his equally learned and socially active sister, were imprisoned, tortured and brutally martyred by Saddam. Ayatollah Baqer Sadr’s religious-political legacy is alive today, as many in the Iraqi administration are either his students or inspired by his thoughts.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the Caucasus land of Georgia emerged as an independent republic. Georgia was long part of Iran both before and after the advent of Islam. After being a bone of contention between the Safavid and Ottoman Empires, it was occupied by Czarist Russia in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today, Georgia, which has allowed the US to tighten its yoke upon it, is grappling with independence seeking movements in the Muslim populated region of Abkhazia on the Black Sea and South Ossetia in northwest. Georgia covers an area of almost 70,000 sq km. It has a long coastline on the Black Sea and shares borders with Russia, the Azerbaijan Republic, Armenia, and Turkey.

16 solar years ago, on this day in 2003 AD, Baghdad fell to the US army and Iraqis took to the streets to celebrate the end of the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Saddam. In the next 8 years, the US killed, either directly or indirectly, as many as 1.5 million Iraqi men, women, and children, before withdrawing in December 2011.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, Bahraini journalist, Zakariya Rashid Hassan al-Ashiri, was tortured to death in prison by agents of the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime, a week after his arrest. He was the first journalist in Bahrain to die in direct relation to his work since the Committee to Protect Journalists started keeping records in 1992. He regularly reported on human rights, business, culture, and politics. Photos later surfaced of al-Ashiri's corpse, which displayed cuts and gashes, and added further evidence that he was beaten to death.

AS/SS