Today is Friday; 1st of the Iranian month of Azar 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 24th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1441 lunar hijri; and November 22, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1094 lunar years ago, on this day in 347 AH, the Arabic grammarian and Hadith scholar, Abdullah ibn Ja’far ibn Mohammad ibn al-Marzuban al-Farisi ibn Durustawayh, passed away at the age of 89. Born in Baghdad in a family of Iranian stock, he learned the intricacies of the Arabic language from Ali ibn Eisa Rommani and was also an exegete of the holy Qur’an, besides being a transmitter of Hadith masters, such as Abbas ad-Durri. Among the books authored by him are: “al-Kuttab”, “Akhbar an-Nahwiyin”, “Ma’ani She’r”, and “Ibtaal al-Addaad” (Refuting the Opposites).

1056 lunar years ago, on this day in 385 AH, the famous Iranian statesman and man of letters, Abu’l-Qasem Ismail Ibn Hassan Taleqani, known as Saheb Ibn Abbad, passed away in Isfahan at the age of 58. A staunch follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), he served as the Grand Vizier to the Buwaiyhid Dynasty of Iran-Iraq-Oman for 18 years. He wrote mostly in Arabic on theology, history, grammar, and lexicography, in addition to literary criticism and composing of excellent Arabic poetry. He learnt Hadith from his father and the holy Qur’an from his mother. In Isfahan he studied under such great masters as Ahmad Ibn Farres Raazi and Abdullah Ibn Farres. Saheb Ibn Abbad was a patron of scholars and poets, and respected jurists and theologians. He had a great library in the city of Rayy – a suburb of Tehran today – containing over 100,000 books. He authored over 30 books including one on Imamate, or divinely-decreed leadership to prove the superiority of Imam Ali (AS) over others. His other books include a Diwan of poetry, a book on medicine, the 7-volume work on lexicography titled "al-Moheet", and a treatise on the biography of Seyyed Abdul Azim al-Hasani, the great-great-grandson of Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), whose shrine is the main centre of pilgrimage in Tehran.

772 solar years ago, on this day in 1247 AD, Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw in English folklore, died according to the 1400 ballad “A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode”. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, the legend of Robin Hood, often portrayed as robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, is believed to extend into antiquity.

770 solar years ago, on this in 1249 AH, al-Malik as-Saleh Najm od-Din Ayyub, the 7^th sultan of the Kurdish dynasty of Egypt, died in al-Mansourah after a 9-year reign, while facing the invasion by the 7^th Crusade led by Louis IX of France. His death and burial was kept concealed by his wife, Shajar ad-Dur, until the arrival of his son and successor Turanshah from Syria several months later, during which the Crusaders were defeated and King Louis of France captured. Made ruler of Syria in 1232 by his father, Malik al-Kamel – nephew of the founder of the Kurdish dynasty, Salah od-Din Ayyubi (Saladin to Europe) – Saleh Najm od-Din seized Egypt from his brother Malik al-Adel Sayf od-Din II in 1240 two years after his father’s death. Divided loyalties amongst the Kurdish clans, however, made him feel insecure and to strengthen his position he imported from Central Asia thousands of Turkic Qipchaq slaves, who a year after his death, killed Turanshah, and established the Mamluk dynasty, thus ending the 81-year rule of the House of Salah od-Din, who had treacherously seized Egypt from the Fatemid Ismaili Shi’a Dynasty in 1169 and destroyed the heritage of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt.

522 solar years ago, on this day in 1497 AD, Portugal’s Vasco da Gama, with the help of Muslim Arab navigators, became the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope off the southernmost tip of Africa and discover the sea route to India. A treacherous and murderous person, on landing in Calicut (presently Kozhikode), he indiscriminately massacred Hindus and Muslims, including the Arab navigator who had guided him. Later, when 800 Arab merchants landed on the southern Indian coast for buying rice, he seized them; tortured them to death by cutting their hands, ears, and noses, and burned their ships.

445 solar years ago, on this day in 1574 AD, Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile were discovered by Spanish sailor Juan Fernandez, who was sailing south between Callao and Valparaíso, hundreds of miles west of the coast of Chile to avoid the northerly Humboldt Current. Situated 670 km off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe, Alejandro Selkirk and Santa Clara. The islands, which in the past centuries had earned notoriety as pirate hideouts and later become penal colonies, are primarily known for having been the home to the marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk for over four years from 1704, which may have inspired Daniel Defoe to write the popular novel, “Robinson Crusoe”.

402 solar years ago, on this day in 1617 AD, Ottoman ruler, Sultan Ahmad I, died after a reign of 14 years, during which he suffered setbacks both in Europe and against the Safavid Empire of Iran. Shah Abbas I and his famous general Allahverdi Khan shattered the Ottoman forces in Azarbaijan and regained Georgia and the parts of the Caucasus occupied by the Turks, forcing Grand Vizier Damad Nasuh Pasha to sign the treaty recognizing Iran’s rights and settling the border between the two empires. Ahmad I is remembered mainly for construction of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (known as Blue Mosque), one of the masterpieces of Islamic architecture in Istanbul.

268 solar years ago, on this day in 1751 AD, the Maratha army was decisively defeated by the forces of Salabat Jang Asef od-Dowla of Hyderabad-Deccan in the first of three such victorious encounters that forced the Peshwa, Balaji Rao, to end his raids and agree to peace. Salabat Jang’s troops were supported by French artillery units under Marquis De Bussy, who was given the titles Saif od-Dowlah Umdat ol-Mulk by the Muslim ruler. Sa’eed Mohammad Khan Salabat Jang was the 4th Nizam ul-Mulk and the 3rd son of the founder of the dynasty, Asef Jah I. He was deposed in 1762 by his younger brother, Nizam Ali Khan, who took the title Asef Jah II, and during his 41-year rule stabilized the kingdom, whose court language was Persian and which lasted for 224 years till 1948 when it was invaded and annexed by India. 

245 solar years ago, on this day in 1774 AD, British soldier of fortune, Robert Clive, who established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company in Bengal, died in London at the age of 49. He reportedly committed suicide. A highly controversial and unprincipled character, whom historians have dubbed a “psychopath”, he secured through hook and by crook for Britain, a large swath of what are now Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, and the wealth that filled British coffers, in addition to amassing a personal fortune. A regular troublemaker at schools, as a teenager he led a gang to establish a protection racket that vandalised the shops of uncooperative merchants in Market Drayton. Arriving in India in 1744 as a clerk, he spent two years as assistant shopkeeper, before circumstance thrust military command upon him in the petty battles with the French and their allies in the southern Deccan or Peninsular India. He now resorted to treachery to undermine Muslim rule – first in the Deccan where the death of the powerful ruler Asaf Jah Nizam ul-Mulk gave the British an opportunity to interfere, and then in Bengal and northeast India, where the ruler Nawab Siraj od-Dowlah of Iranian origin, was betrayed and executed. Through foul means, Clive secured from the weak Mughal emperor of Delhi, the governorship of Bengal for the East India Company, which enabled the British to establish a firm foothold on Indian soil that would pave the way a century later for gradual subjugation of the whole subcontinent and establishment of the British Empire. He has been criticized by historians for his atrocities, for high taxes, and for the forced cultivation of crops which exacerbated famines, especially the Great Famine of Bengal from 1770 to 1773 that left at least ten million people dead.

200 solar years ago, on this day in 1819 AD, English writer Mary Ann Evans, who wrote under the masculine penname “George Eliot”, was born. Her books include “Silas Marner” and “Middlemarch”. She was driven out of England with her companion, G.H. Lawrence, for living an adulterous life without being married.

129 solar years ago, on this day in 1890 AD, Charles Andre Joseph de Gaulle, French general, writer and statesman was born in the industrial region of Lille in the Nord department. He joined the army and distinguished himself during the First World War. He rose to the rank of general and was leader of Free France during 1940–44, finally, and headed the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–46). In 1958, he founded the Fifth Republic and was elected as the 18th President of France, until his resignation in 1969. He gauged the seriousness of the Algerian people’s struggle for freedom and granted Algeria independence in 1962 against the wishes of the army which favoured annexing of this Arab Muslim North African country to France. He later gradually granted independence to other French colonies. As a military officer who saw action in both the First and Second World Wars, later as president of France during the Cold War Era, de Gaulle initiated his "Politics of Grandeur", asserting that France as a major power should not rely on other countries, such as the United States, for its national security and prosperity. To this end, he pursued a policy of "national independence" which led him to withdraw from NATO's military integrated command and to launch an independent nuclear development program that made France the fourth nuclear power. He restored cordial Franco-German relations in order to create a European counterweight between the "Anglo-Saxon" (American and British) and Soviet spheres of influence. He used to say that the Anglo-Saxons have always exploited France and the rest of Europe for their own vested interests, and twice he vetoed Britain's entry into the European Community. He also openly criticised the US intervention in Vietnam and the "exorbitant privilege" of the US dollar, in addition to supporting an independent Quebec, which should not be part of English-speaking Canada. Many French political parties and figures continue to claim the Gaullist Legacy. He died in Paris at the age of 80.

114 solar years ago, on this day in 1905 AD, the solidarity pact known as “Seyyedain Sanadain” was sealed in Tehran between two prominent ulema, Seyyed Abdullah Behbahani and Seyyed Mohammad Tabatabai, for confronting oppression and despotism of the Qajar regime until victory of the Constitutional Movement. The move followed failure of the government to respect people’s sentiments and breach of promises by Mozaffar od-Din Shah. The two religious scholars, who were excellent preachers and models of virtue, guided the people till materialization of demands.

103 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, American author, journalist, and social activist, Jack London, died in Glen Ellen, California at the age of 40, of a kidney disease, gastrointestinal uremic poisoning. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. He wrote 50 books, produced 200 short stories, 400 nonfiction articles and 20 novels. Some of his famous works include “The Call of the Wild” and “White Fang”, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, and the wolves in the area. His short stories include “To Build a Fire”, and “An Odyssey of the North”. He also wrote of the South Pacific in such stories as “The Pearls of Parlay” and “The Heathen”, and of the San Francisco Bay area in “The Sea Wolf”. A passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers, he wrote several powerful works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel “The Iron Heel”, his non-fiction exposé “The People of the Abyss”, and “The War of the Classes”. As a war correspondent, London was sent to Korea to cover the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 for the daily San Francisco Examiner.

93 solar years ago, on this day in 1926 AD, Iran’s master classical musician Gholam Hussein Khan Darvish, died at the age of 54 in an accident, when his carriage was hit by a lorry automobile. It is said he was the first Iranian to be killed in a car accident. An excellent player of the Tar, he added a sixth cord to this instrument in order to extend its tuning possibilities and to enhance its sound. He invented 'pish-daramad', a free-standing composition played at the beginning of a performance. He visited Europe and was honoured by France. He trained many students.

76 solar years ago, on this day in 1943 AD, during World War II, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese Premier Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan.

76 solar years ago, on this day in 1943 AD, Lebanon was separated from Syria and declared independent by the French colonialists, who had seized Syria from the Ottoman Empire after the defeat of the Turks in World War 1. The French intended to make Lebanon a stronghold of the Christians but could not succeed in view of the strong presence of Muslims in the country, especially the Shi'ite Muslims, who today form the largest single group, accounting for over 40 percent of the population. Lebanon covers an area of 10400 sq km, and its capital is Beirut.

66 solar years ago, on this day in 1953 AD, the prominent jurisprudent, Ayatollah Habibollah Askari Ishtehardi, passed away at the age of 61 in holy Qom. Born in Ishtehard near Karaj, west of Tehran, he attained the status of Ijtehad at the famous Islamic seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq. His teacher, the celebrated Grand Ayatollah Mirza Abu’l-Hassan Isfahani, sent him to holy Samarra in northern Iraq, where he taught jurisprudence for 30 years. A month after his return to Iran, he passed away.   

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1963 AD, President John F. Kennedy of the US was assassinated during a visit to Dallas in the State of Texas. It has never been known who his real assassin was, since a certain Lee Harvey Oswald, accused of firing the shot, was killed on the spot by Jack Ruby, who also soon died in prison, because of alleged cancer – if US officials are to be believed.

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1963 AD, British author, Aldous Leonard Huxley, died at the age of 67. He was a product of Oxford University, and became acquainted with eastern Gnosticism during his visit to India. He visited the US and was highly critical of radical hedonism in that country. A prolific writer, he penned 47 books, including "Shakespeare and Religion". In the view of Huxley, the highly advanced technology will lead mankind toward material pleasures, but will deprive humanity of spirituality and ethics.

52 solar years ago, on this day in 1967 AD, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 242 on the chronic issue of the Zionist-usurped land of Palestine. This resolution, which has never been implemented because of US backing for Israel, calls on Zionist troops to withdraw from all those Arab territories occupied in the June 1967 war, including a fair solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, scientists discovered the first orchid known to flower at night. Named Bulbo-Phyllum-Nocturnum, it is found in the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea.

AS/SS