Today is Friday; 12th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 5th of the Islamic month of Muharram 1441 lunar hijri; and October 4, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1996 solar years ago, on this day in 23 AD, rebels captured and sacked the Chinese capital Chang'an during a peasant rebellion. They killed and decapitated the emperor, Wang Mang, two days later.

1409 solar years ago, on this day in 610 AD, Heraclius arrived by ship in Constantinople from Africa, overthrew Byzantine Emperor Phocas and declared himself Emperor in the midst of the ongoing war against Iran's Sassanid Empire. Born into an Armenian family he was the son of Heraclius the Elder, who had served as governor of the province of North Africa and was a veteran general of the Byzantine wars against Bahram Chobin the usurper of the Persian Empire. The year he came to power, the Byzantine Empire was threatened on multiple fronts. He immediately took charge of the ongoing war against the Sassanid Empire. The first battles of the campaign ended in defeat for the Greeks as the Iranian army fought its way to the Bosporus and besieged the capital Constantinople, which because of impenetrable walls was able to avoid total defeat. Soon Heraclius rebuilt the military and managed to drive the Persians out of Asia Minor. He pushed deep into Iranian territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh in Iraq. Soon the Sassanid Emperor, Khosrow II, was assassinated and peace was restored to the two deeply strained empires. However, shortly after his victory, Heraclius, who some years earlier had received a letter of invitation to Islam from Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), faced Arab armies in Syria, where he was defeated and withdrew, as the Muslims swept across the Levant, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Egypt, before the crestfallen Byzantine Emperor died in 641 after a 31-year reign that saw him lose half the Empire.

1380 lunar years ago, on this day in 61 AH, Hazrat Ruqayya (SA), the 4-year old daughter of the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS), succumbed to her torture and sufferings and attained martyrdom in Damascus. The youngest child of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), she was very much attached to her father, whose heartrending martyrdom and the mounting of his severed head on a lance, the thirsty little girl watched with horror. Her wailing knew no bounds and the orphan, despite her tender age, was bound by the Omayyad hordes with rope along with her elder sisters, Hazrat Fatema and Hazrat Sakina, as well as her aunts, Hazrat Zainab and Hazrat Omm Kulthum (peace upon them), and dragged to the court of the tyrannical governor of Kufa, Obaidollah ibn Ziyad, who taunted the noble captives and poured salt on their wounds by playing with the severed head of the Imam. On the way to the Syrian capital, Ruqayyah (SA) suffered the pains of the arduous journey on foot, often through hot desert terrain, during which she was subjected to scolding and whipping by the Omayyad ruffians. In Damascus, she was mocked in front of the whole court by the Godless Yazid as he blasphemously hit with his cane the head of her father that was placed in a tray. The Prophet’s family was confined to the ruins of a dilapidated edifice, where her wailing in the night disturbed the tyrant’s sleep and forced him to send the head of Imam Husain (AS) in a bid to calm her down. At the sight of her father’s head, little Ruqayya (SA) rushed and took it in her lap, and placing her own head upon it, recounted the pains, sufferings, and tortures she had endured for the past 25 days since the fateful day of Ashura (Moharram 10). She suddenly became motionless as her soul flew to the ethereal heavens. Her brother, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) laid her to rest in the ruins, which today is a magnificent mausoleum visited by pilgrims from all over the world.

1275 solar years ago, on this day in 744 AD, Yazid ibn al-Waleed or Yazid III, the 12^th ruler of the Omayyad usurper regime, died of a brain tumour, less than six months after seizing the caliphate through a coup against his immoral, drunkard and debauched cousin, Waleed Ibn Yazid or Waleed II, who was killed and his head mounted on a lance and paraded around Damascus. The mother of Yazid III was an Iranian and he was known as “an-Naqqes” (the Diminisher) for his austerity measures in contrast to the profligacy and sinning habits of the Omayyads. It is worth noting that in 6 years from 126 to 132 AH, six Omayyad caliphs died one after another as this tyrannical dynasty came to its end.

890 lunar years ago, on this day in 551 AH, the theologian, physician, astronomer, and mathematician, Kamal od-Din Ibn Yunus, was born in Mosul, in Iraq. A prominent scientist of his era, in addition to Islamic knowledge, he was an expert on other religions, to the extent that Jews and Christians referred to him for explanation of passages of the Torah and the Evangel. He was also well versed in literature and was a poet. He was a student of the Iranian astronomer, Sharaf od-Din Muzaffar ibn Mohammad Tusi, and in turn taught mathematics and astronomy to the celebrated Iranian Islamic genius, Khwajah Naseer od-Din Tusi. Ibn Yunus died at the age of 88.  He authored several books including "Asraar as-Sultaniyyah" on astronomy.

792 solar years ago, on this day in 1227 AD, the al-Muwahhedeen ruler of Morocco and Islamic Spain, Abdullah al-Adel, was assassinated. He had seized power through a coup three years earlier, plunging the realm into instability that lasted well beyond his death. He is often regarded as one of the most disastrous rulers. His coup divided the dynasty and set in motion the loss of Andalusia or Islamic Spain, and the eventual collapse of the al-Muwahhedeen state.

756 solar years ago, on this day in 1363 AD, the Battle of Lake Poyang ended; the Chinese rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the rival Chen Youliang, in one of the largest naval battles in history. Following this victory, Zhu emerged as the strongest of warlords fighting for supremacy in China, and in 1367 he defeated Zhang Shicheng's Kingdom of Dazhou, which granted him authority over the lands north and south of the Yangtze River. The other major warlords surrendered to him and on 20 January 1368, Zhu proclaimed himself the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing and adopted the title "Hongwu". His dynasty's mission was to drive away the Mongols and restore Han Chinese rule in China. The Hongwu Emperor ruled for 30 years, and although born a Buddhist, he embraced the Confucian doctrine and showed inclination towards Islam. He ordered the construction of several mosques in Nanjing, Yunnan, Guangdong, Xijing and Fujian, and had inscriptions placed in them in praises of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He rebuilt the Jinjue Mosque in his capital Nanjing, and large numbers of the Muslim Hui people moved to the city during his rule. He had some ten Muslim generals in his military, including Chang Yuchun, Lan Yu, Ding Dexing, Mu Ying, Feng Sheng and Hu Dahai. He personally wrote the 100-word praise known as ‘baizizan’ on Islam, Allah and the Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

555 lunar years ago, on this day in 886 AH, Mahmoud Gawan, the able Grand Vizier of the Bahmani kingdom of Iranian origin of the Deccan in south India, was unjustly executed at the age of 73 by Mohammad Shah II, after being falsely accused of treason by his rivals at the court. Born in the Caspian Sea Province of Gilan in northern Iran, Mahmoud Gawan was a man of letters and a successful merchant plying the lucrative route from the Persian Gulf port of Gombroun (presently Bandar Abbas) to the Konkan coast of India with cargos of silken fabrics, pearls, Arabian horses, etc, for the Bahmani capital of Bidar – where Persian culture was prevalent and where earlier the elders of the Ne’matollahi Sufi order of Kerman (adhering to the path of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt) were settled. On one such visit at the age of 42, he was given the title of “Malik-ut-Tujjar” (Chief of Traders) by Feroze Shah and offered a post. He stayed in India, and in the reigns of the subsequent kings, he steadily rose in the administrative hierarchy because of his efficient management, earning the titles “Wakeel os-Saltanah” and “Khwaja-e Jahan” or Prime Minister – a post that he held for almost two decades, during which he carried out many reforms, strengthened the military, increased the revenues through proper utilization of the agricultural lands, and eradicated corruption. As a patron of arts and literature, he was in correspondence with the political elite and literati of the other parts of the Persianate World, ranging from Central Asia to the Ottoman Sultanate and the Subcontinent. He authored several books such as “Riyaz al-Insha” and built a magnificent college in Bidar, where scholars from Iran, Iraq, and Arabia used to teach. This aroused the jealousy of his rivals, who by bribing his servants obtained Gawan's seal, affixed it on a blank paper and forged a letter inviting the Rajah of Orissa to attack the Bahmani Kingdom. The letter was shown to the king in a drunken state and he promptly summoned Gawan and executed him. The end of this scholar statesman brought about the decline of the kingdom, which in the next two decades splintered into five independent sultanates.

417 solar years ago, on this day in 1582 AD, Thursday was the last day of the use of the Julian calendar in Italy and the three other Catholic countries of Spain, Portugal, and Poland. The next day Friday instead of being October 5 became October 15, as per the new Gregorian calendar established by Pope Gregory XIII. Ten days had thus been skipped to realign the calendar, and Easter, with the equinoxes. The Julian calendar, and its leap years as introduced by the Roman dictator, Julius Caesar, did not quite fit the solar year. An error of one day accumulated for each 128 years. Britain resisted this Catholic change until 2^nd September 1752, while Russia until 31 January 1918. The Islamic solar hijri calendar which starts on the exact time of the spring equinox and is in use in Iran, Afghanistan and the peoples of neighbouring countries, is far more perfect than the Gregorian calendar that was imposed by the colonial powers on the rest of the world after World War I.

350 solar years ago, on this day in 1669 AD, Dutch painter and illustrator, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, died at the age of 63. He is considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in Europe and the most important in Dutch history.

224 solar years ago, on this day in 1795 AD, Napoleon Bonaparte rose to national prominence with a "Whiff of Grapeshot", using cannon to suppress armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the French Legislature (National Convention).

189 solar years ago, on this day in 1830 AD, a new country called Belgium was created as a kingdom after separation of the southern parts of the Netherlands. The area used to be under the control of Austria before its seizure by France in the late 18th century. In 1815, it formed a union with Holland and this union did not last long because of the difference between the Catholics and Protestants. Leopold was chosen as the first king of Belgium, which today has a constitutional monarchy. It covers an area of more than 30,000 sq km, and shares borders with France, Germany, Holland, and Luxemburg.

166 solar years ago, on this day in 1853 AD the Crimean conflict started on the Black Sea coast of what is now Ukraine, with the declaration of war against the expansionist Russian Empire by the Ottoman Turkish Empire, supported by France and Britain. The Crimean War, which lasted three years without any tangible results on either side, was one of the first wars to be documented extensively in written reports and photographs. News correspondence reaching Britain from the Crimea was the first time the public were kept informed of the day-to-day realities of war. It was also the first war in which railways and the electric telegraph were used. The Russian navy in the Black Sea was totally destroyed, but the Turks failed to restore the rights and sovereignty of the Tartar Muslims in Crimea.

69 lunar years ago, on this day in 1372 AH, the religious scholar, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ma’soumi, passed away in the city of Behbahan, in southern Iran at the age of 84. He was a product of the famous Islamic seminary of the holy city of Najaf in Iraq, where he reached the status of ijtehad. His works strongly defend the tenets of Islam and the interests of Muslims. He authored several books, including “Sharh-e Lum’a”, and “Nejat al-Ebaad”.

62 solar years ago, on this day in 1957 AD, the first spacecraft was launched into space by Soviet scientists. It was named Sputnik 1, and orbited round the Earth 1400 times in 92 days, telecommunicating radio messages from space for the first time. It weighed 83 kg and was equipped with two radio transmitters.

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1963 AD, Hurricane Flora devastated Cuba and Haiti killing at least 6,000 people. Its speed was 150 km per hour.

53 solar years ago, on this day in 1966 AD, Lesotho gained independence from British colonial rule. Prior to independence it was known as Basutoland, and had become a British colony in 1884. Lesotho covers an area of 30355 sq km. This landlocked country is situated in southern Africa.

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1996 AD, Iranian author, translator, and university lecturer, Dr. Morteza As’adi, passed away. He was an authority on translation of literary and Islamic texts and besides Persian, was fluent in Arabic and English languages. He wrote several books and articles. His books include “Crusades”, and “World of Islam”. He translated into Persian “Political Philosophy”, and “Bayt al-Moqaddas”.

16 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, in Somalia a group of US invasion troops committed a heinous war crime in the Bakara Market in Mogadishu by indiscriminately firing on unsuspecting shoppers and massacring over 500 men, women and children, besides injuring over a thousand others, before fleeing. One US soldier was caught and killed by the Somalis, who dragged the body of this war criminal in jubilation through the streets of the capital.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, a kangaroo court set up by the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime in Bahrain, sentenced 26 peaceful protestors to prison, raising to 60 the total number of persons imprisoned in the sham trial. The overwhelming majority of the people of Bahrain are continuing their peaceful protests for freedom of the Persian Gulf island state that was occupied in the early 19^th century by the Aal-e Khalifa pirates, with British help, at a time when Qajarid Iran had become weak. The aspiration of the Bahraini people for democracy has faced the torture of the regime, which with the assistance of the equally tyrannical Aal-e Saud regime has destroyed mosques and husseiniyahs, and desecrated copies of the holy Qur’an.

AS/SS