Today is Thursday; 6th of the Iranian month of Tir 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 23nd of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1440 lunar hijri; and June 27, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1190 lunar years, on this day in 250 AH, the city of Amol in Mazandaran was taken by the Prophet’s venerable descendant, Hassan Ibn Zayd, known as “Da’i al-Kabeer” (Elder Missionary) and “Da’iil-al-Haq” (Inviter to Truth), who was invited earlier the same year by the people of the Caspian region of Iran to deliver them from the tyranny of the usurper Abbasid regime. Sixth in line of descent from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the elder grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), he had been born in Medina and was living in Rayy as faqih or jurisprudent. After taking Amol from the Taherids, who were Abbasid governors of Khorasan, he liberated Sari and the whole Tabaristan to establish the Alawid state that included Rayy. Hassan bin Zayd enlightened the people with the teachings of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, and was known for his resolute resistance against the Abbasids and their regional agents. Historians have praised him as a just and equitable ruler, possessing rare energy as a sincerely religious man, well educated, and a patron of letters. He passed away in Amol on 3^rd Rajab 270 AH, after a twenty-year reign. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Mohammad, known as “Da’i as-Sagheer” (Younger Missionary), who during his 16 year-rule, until martyrdom while fighting the invading Samanid forces, continued his brother’s enlightened policies and rebuilt the holy shrines in Karbala and Najaf.

807 lunar years ago, on this day in 633 AH, Cordoba (Qurtuba in Arabic), the former capital of the Omayyad state of Andalusia or Islamic Spain, fell to King Ferdinand III of Castile after a 7-month siege, thus ending 520 glorious years of Muslim rule, which saw the city win worldwide acclaim as a centre of science and civilization at a time Christian Europe was immersed in darkness. Although Cordoba's political and administrative decline had begun half-a-century earlier when the al-Muwahhedin Dynasty shifted the capital to Seville after defeating the al-Murabetun Dynasty, it was still the cultural centre of Andalusia, with libraries and schools that over the centuries produced outstanding scholars in various fields such as Ibn Hazm the poet and grammarian, Ibn Saffar the mathematician, al-Bakri the historian and geographer, al-Ghafiqi the botanist, az-Zahrawi the physician, al-Qurtubi the exegete of the holy Qur'an, and Abbas ibn Firnas, the polymath who experimented with a flying machine some thousand years before the airplane was invented. The decline of Muslims in Spain was the result of fratricide and treachery. The death of Yusuf II in 621 led to a crisis of succession, providing the Christian rulers an opportunity for intervention, especially when the claimant, Abdullah al-Adel, began to ship the bulk of his forces across the straits to Morocco to contest the succession with his rival there, leaving Andalusia undefended. At this, al-Adel's cousin, Abdullah al-Bayyasi appealed to Ferdinand III for military aid and with the help of the Christian army was installed as Amir in Cordoba, in return for surrendering strategic frontier strongholds. Soon, when al-Bayyasi was killed by a popular uprising of the people of Cordoba, Ferdinand occupied more Muslim territory. In 625 AH when the al-Muwahhedin ruler in Seville, Abdul-Ala Idris I, made the fatal mistake of abandoning Spain, and left with the remnant of his forces for Morocco, Andalusia was left fragmented in the hands of local chiefs, led loosely by Mohammad ibn Yusuf ibn Houd al-Judhami. At this, the Christian kings - Ferdinand III of Castile, Alfonso IX of Leon, James I of Aragon and Sancho II of Portugal - immediately launched a series of raids. Houd's army was destroyed and the Christian armies romped through the south virtually unopposed, as Muslim cities fell one by one, with little or no prospect of rescue from North Africa. Ferdinand seized Badajoz and Mérida, followed by Cazorla, Ubeda and Cordoba, from where he continued his march over the next 12 years to occupy Murcia, Cartagena and finally Seville, the al-Muwahhedin capital, leaving only a rump Andalusian state, the Emirate of Granada, unconquered.

445 solar years ago, on this day in 1574 AD, Giorgio Vasari, Italian historian, painter, and architect, died at the age of 63 in Florence. He is famous for writing the book “Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects”, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing. Born in Arezzo, Tuscany, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia, a skillful painter of stained glass. At the age of sixteen he moved to Florence and became apprentice to leading painters. He was befriended by the famous Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own. He was more successful as an architect, and designed some still flourishing passageways and churches including the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility in Pistoia. His book is notoriously in favour of Florentines and tends to attribute to them all the new developments in Renaissance art – for example, the invention of engraving. Venetian art in particular let alone other parts of Europe is systematically ignored. Vasari often wrote with carelessness, confusing dates and places, and taking no pains to verify the truth of his assertions, but despite these shortcomings, it is one of the basic sources for information on the Renaissance in Italy.

289 lunar years ago, on this day in 1151 AH, the scholar Mir Mohammad Hussain Khatoonabadi, passed away. He learned Islamic sciences under his father Mohammad Saleh and maternal grandfather the famous Allamah Mohammad Baqer Majlisi. An authority in hadith, jurisprudent and both Arabic and Persian literature, he wrote several books, including “al-Alwah as-Samawiyya” (Heavenly Tablets). The family traced its descent from Hasan al-Aftas, a grandson of the Prophet’s 4^th Infallible Heir, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), and had been invited to Iran from Medina.

259 solar years ago, on this day in 1760 AD, Cherokee Amerindian warriors defeated British forces at the Battle of Echoee near present-day Otto, North Carolina during the Anglo-Cherokee War.

184 solar years ago, on this day in 1835 AD, the Iranian statesman and political figure, Mirza Abu’l-Qasem Qa’em Maqaam Farahani, was killed for carrying out political and administrative reforms that the colonialists and their local agents deemed against their interests. He served as regent to the young Mohammad Shah Qajar, and later as Grand Vizier. But within a year, due to the intrigues of John Campbell, the British representative in Iran, Farahani was arrested and subsequently murdered. He was kept for five or six days in a room in the basement of Negarestan without any food so that he would die when his strength diminishes. Eventually, the executioner, Safar Ismael Khan Qarajeh Daghi entered the basement and thrusting a handkerchief in his mouth, suffocated him. Farahani had mastered many sciences of the day in addition to literary techniques and initiated a new style in Persian prose. Among his works is a Divan of Persian poetry and the “Mansha’at” in prose.

180 solar years ago, on this day in 1839 AD, the Sikh ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, died after a reign of nearly forty years and within ten years the empire he had built up by conquering Punjab, Kashmir, and the Pashtu areas up to the frontier of Afghanistan, was annexed by the British. Acquainted with the Persian language, he began as a young soldier in the service of the Afghan king, Zamaan Shah Durrani, who made him governor of a part of Punjab. He then assembled his Sikh army and began war with his Afghan benefactors by seizing Lahore and ending their rule in Punjab. He desecrated the grand Badshahi Mosque of Lahore by turning it into a stable. In 1818, he occupied Multan and advanced upon Peshawar. His dreams of invading Afghanistan did not materialize, but when Shah Shuja sought asylum with the Sikhs, Ranjit Singh forced him to give up the fabulous Koh-e Noor diamond which Nader Shah of Iran had taken from the Mughal Emperor Mohammad Shah of Delhi and which after him had fallen to the share of the Afghan general, Ahmad Shah Abdali Durrani. In 1849, when the British defeated the Sikhs, they seized Koh-e Noor (Persian for Mountain of Light), which is currently in the crown of the British queen.

139 solar years ago, on this day in 1880 AD, US researcher and author, Helen Keller, was born. She lost her eyesight and hearing ability in childhood due to illness and started learning as of the age of seven. She learned the alphabet of the blind within three years. She gradually recovered her hearing ability, learning to speak with the hard efforts of her teacher, thereby opening a new window to her surrounding environment. Following completion of her academic studies, she penned and published numerous books. She also delivered speeches in different circles and assemblies and founded several educational centers for the blind in the US and other countries, out of the revenues of her speeches. Among her most important books is “The Story of My Life”.

111 solar years ago, on this day in 1908 AD, people of the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, rose against the tyrannical rule of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, under the leadership of Sattar Khan (Sardar Milli) and Baqer Khan (Salar Milli), following artillery shelling of the parliament and the constitutionalists in the capital Tehran by government’s forces in league with Russian troops. A force of 40,000 troops sent from Tehran by the Shah to besiege Tabriz was held at bay for several months by the resistance of people under these two leaders, who instantly became national heroes and inspired people of other cities and provinces to rise against the dictatorship of the Qajarid regime. On mediation by the British and Russians, the situation was eased and the siege was lifted, but with the entry of Russian troops, Sattar Khan feeling danger to his life, sought refuge in the Ottoman consulate in Tabriz. In 1910, Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan set out for Tehran with 300 soldiers, where they were greeted by large numbers of supporters on April 3. They refused to obey the order to disarm, and were violently attacked, resulting in the wounding of Sattar Khan who died at the age of 48 on November 9, 1914, and was buried in the mausoleum of Seyyed Abdul-Azim al-Hassani in Rayy.  

65 solar years ago, on this day in 1954 AD, the world's first atomic power station began producing electricity in Obninsk, USSR, a small town 60 miles south of Moscow. The plant used a small, graphite moderated, water-cooled reactor, and could produce 5 megawatts. The reactor was used for both civilian power needs and military purpose, such as research into the possibility of propelling submarines with nuclear power. It generated electricity until 1968, but continued in use for experiments and to warm the town's centrally distributed hot water supply. Final shutdown took place in 2002 for reason of being unprofitable.

65 solar years ago, on this day in 1954 AD, CIA-sponsored rebels overthrew the elected government of Guatemala. A US supported force of mercenaries invaded from Honduras to topple President Arbenz whose government was replaced by 30 years of military rule.

42 solar years ago, on this day in 1977 AD, Djibouti was granted independence by France after 81 years of occupation and this day is marked as National Day in this country situated in the Horn of Africa. It was one of the last countries to join the Arab League. Djibouti is situated in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who at the time was representative of the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), at the Supreme Defence Council, in addition to being Tehran’s Permanent Friday Prayer leader, became the target of an assassination attempt by MKO terrorists. Known widely as hypocrites, the terrorists detonated a bomb severely wounding him while he was delivering a speech at a Tehran mosque. He survived this assassination attempt to become the elected president of the country for two consecutive terms (8 years), before becoming Leader of the Islamic Revolution in 1989. His right hand was severely damaged in this assassination attempt. Imam Khomeini (RA), in his message pointed out that the evil enemies of the Islamic Republic are desperately trying to undermine Ayatollah Khamenei, who as a descendent of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), has spared no efforts to serve the holy religion of Islam and the Islamic country.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, the US targeted the Iraqi capital, Baghdad and its outskirts, with 23 long-range missiles under the pretext of involvement of the Ba’th regime in an assassination attempt against former US president, George Bush Senior, during his visit to Kuwait on April 1993. Bush Senior, during his presidency, had ordered the offensive to drive out the Iraqi army from Kuwait.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1995 AD, Hamad Aal-e Thani toppled his father Khalifa bin Hamad Aal-e Thani and seized power as ruler of the Persian Gulf Sheikhdom of Qatar, on the orders of the US, while the latter was in Geneva, Switzerland on a pleasure trip. On June 25, 2013, after 18 years in power, Hamad was ordered by the US to hand over power to his 33-year son Tamim. It is interesting to note that Khalifa who died in 2016 at the age of 84, had come to power himself by deposing his cousin, Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali on 22nd February 1972 while the latter was on a hunting trip in Iran and had ruled since 1960 when his own father, Ali bin Abdullah had abdicated in his favour under British pressure.

22 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, Tajik President, Emomali Rahman, and the leading Tajik Islamist, Seyyed Abdullah Nouri, signed a peace treaty in Moscow, thereby terminating the five-year civil war in the Central Asian Persian speaking republic. A year after Tajikistan’s independence, civil war broke out between Islamists and the former communist rulers. The UN and regional countries including Iran tried to restore peace, and an agreement was signed in Tehran in May 1997 which was finalized in Moscow with Iran’s mediation. Based on the accord, 30% of governmental posts were given to the opponents and the opposition forces were merged in the Tajik army. Several articles of the constitution were amended to meet the demands of Islamists in Tajikistan. Tajikistan covers an area of almost 143,000 sq km. Its capital is Dushanbe and it shares borders with China, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, in Indian-controlled Kashmir tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets, burning flags and effigies of Indian leaders on the fifth day of protests against the transfer of land to a Hindu shrine in the Muslim-majority region.

AS/SS