Today is Sunday; 9th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 22nd of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1437 lunar hijri; and May 29, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1643 solar year ago, on this day in 363 AD, the Battle of Ctesiphon occurred between the armies of the Sassanid King Shapur II and the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate (who renounced Christianity and reverted to paganism). It was fought outside the walls of the Persian capital Ctesiphon (Mada’en, near Baghdad), and was an unsuccessful European attempt to seize Iraq for possible infiltration into the Iranian Plateau and domination of the east – like Alexander of Macedonia. The battle was a Roman tactical victory, although Julian, who failed to take Ctesiphon and fled when the Iranian army regrouped for counterattack (equipped with war elephants from the Indian satrapies), was killed in the subsequent Battle of Samarra on June 26. The treaty that followed, forced his successor Jovian, to cede five provinces to the Iranians and make a pledge against interfering in the affairs of Armenia. The great success for Shapur II – known as Dhu’l-Aktaaf or Broad-Shouldered to the Arabs for his conquest years earlier of Yamama in central Najd in the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula – is represented in the rock-carving in Bishapur near Kazeroun in Fars Province, where under the hooves of the Persian king's horse lies the body of a Roman enemy (i.e. Emperor Julian), as a supplicant Roman (Emperor Jovian), begs for peace.

908 solar years ago, on this day in 1108 AD, the Battle of Ucles was fought in Spain resulting in the resounding victory of the al-Moravid troops under the command of Tamim ibn Yusuf over an alliance of Christians of the kingdom of Castile and Leon under the command of Prince Sancho Alfonsez. A great number of Christians were killed including Alfonsez.

849 lunar years ago, on this day in 588 AH, the Kurdish ruler of Syria and Egypt, Salah od-Din Ayyoubi and England's King Richard I concluded the "ar-Ramla Accord" after the third Crusade failed in retaking the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas, which the European invaders called Jerusalem. It was agreed that Christian pilgrims could visit Bayt al-Moqaddas in security and safety.

712 lunar years ago, on this day in 725 AH, the virtuous Syrian poet and calligrapher Abus-Sana Shehab od-Din Mahmoud al-Halabi ad-Dameshqi, passed away at the age of 81 in his hometown Damascus and was laid to rest in the foothills of the Qasiyoun mountain. He was an authority on the scholars and poets of the past and has left behind several works, mostly in the form of manuscripts.

664 lunar years ago, on this day in 773 AH, the hadith scholar, poet, and historian, Shahab od-Din Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Mohammad Ibn Hajar Asqalani, was born in Cairo. He memorized the Holy Qur'an at the age of ten and thereafter traveled to different lands to acquire knowledge and sciences. A prolific writer, he compiled some 150 books and treatises on various topics including the God-given merits of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He died in 852 AH at and his funeral was attended by an estimated 50,000 people including the Sultan.

636 lunar years ago, on this day in 801 AH, Malik Ahmad Raja Faruqi, the founder of the Khandesh Sultanate of Central India, died after a reign of 17 years. On separation of the Deccan or southern India, he had cast his lot with Ala od-Din Hassan Bahman Shah, the general of Iranian stock who founded the Bahmani Dynasty, but a few years later turned against his son, Mohammad Shah Bahmani, by joining the abortive rebellion of the governor of Daulatabad, Bahram Khan Mazandarani. As a result, he fled the Deccan and settled in Thalner, which was conferred upon him as fiefdom by Sultan Ferouz Shah Tughlaq of the northern subcontinent. He soon defeated the Raja of Baglana and subdued the neighbouring chieftains, prompting Ferouz Shah to raise him to the rank of Sipah-Salar or Commander-in-Chief. Within a few years he mustered a strong force and virtually became virtually independent. The Sultanate was a Persianate society, and made rich contribution to Persian literature, art and architecture. Islam was also promoted through peaceful means, as is evident today by the large number of Tadvi Bhils, and Raj Gonds, who are Muslims.

563 solar years ago, on this day in 1453 AD Constantinople was taken after a 53-day siege by the Ottoman Sultan, Mohammad II (known as al-Fateh or the Conqueror), thus ending Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire. He set out to revitalize the city, renamed it Islambol (today’s Istanbul), and made it the capital of his empire. The first decree issued by him was security and freedom of the residents who were almost all Christians. Hours later, he rode to the Hagia Sofia to proclaim the Islamic creed, converting the grand cathedral into an imperial mosque. When he stepped into the ruins of the Boukoleon, the Palace of the Caesars, built over a thousand years before by Theodosius II, he recited the famous Persian couplet of the Iranian poet, Shaikh Sa’di:

"The spider weaves the curtains in the palace of the Caesars;

 "The owl calls the watches in the towers of Afrasiyab."

He began to build the Grand Bazaar, and also constructed during this period was Topkapı Palace, which served as the official residence of the Ottoman sultans for the next four hundred years. The city, built by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine I, on the coastlines of Bosporus Strait was thus transformed from a bastion of Christianity to a symbol of Islamic culture.

563 solar years ago, on this day in 1453 AD, the brave young Ottoman commander, Hassan of Ulubatlı, who was instrumental in hoisting the Muslim flag on the ramparts of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, achieved martyrdom in the process. Born in the small village of Ulubath (near Karacabey) in the province of Bursa, the 25-years old Hassan, after performing the Fajr Prayer on the last day of the 53-day siege, was the first to climb the wall of the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, as the Ottoman military band started to play an Islamic song. Armed with only a scimitar, and carrying a shield and Ottoman flag, Hassan was closely followed by thirty of his friends, scaling the wall under showers of arrows, stones, and spears of the Greek defenders. He reached the top and placed the flag, which he defended until his 12 remaining friends arrived. After that he collapsed with 27 arrows still in his body. On seeing the Ottoman flag on the ramparts, the Muslim troops surged ahead with renewed vigor, while the Christian defenders lost heart, until Sultan Mohammad conquered the city.

233 lunar years ago, on this day in 1214 AH, the Treaty of al-Arish was signed by France and the Ottoman Empire for withdrawal of French occupation forces from Egypt, three years after Napoleon Bonaparte had occupied the Land of the Nile.

187 solar years ago, on this day in 1829, the English chemist and physicist, Humphrey Davy, died at the age of 51. His research led him to separate sodium, potassium, calcium, barium, and magnesium from other elements, and this was considered a major achievement in Europe, although Islamic scientists had already accomplished this a thousand years earlier. He also founded the science of electrochemistry.

92 solar years ago, on this day in 1924 AD, the Iranian physician and lexicographer, Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Nafisi, titled “Nazem ol-Atibba”, passed away in Tehran. He was a product of Tehran’s famous Dar al-Fonoun Academy. In addition to his services to medicine, he also served the cause of Persian language. His important work in this domain is the 5-volume lexicon “Farhang-e Nafisi”, which took him 25 years to compile.

86 solar years ago, on this day in 1930 AD, the prominent poet and religious scholar, Seyyed Ahmad Peshawari, known as “Adib Peshawari”, passed away in Tehran. He was born near Peshawar in what is now Pakistan. He came to Iran to attend the classes of Islamic scholars such as Mullah Hadi Sabzevari. He also studied literary and philosophical books and wrote Persian poetry. His firm faith in Islam and indifference toward worldly matters are clearly evident in his poems. He has a Divan of poetry in Persian language.

83 lunar years ago, on this day in 1354 AH, the prominent Islamic scholar, Allamah Shaikh Mohammad Jawad Balaghi, passed away. He was a theologian, a prominent lecturer, and a prolific author. He attended the classes of the prominent lecturers of his era, such as Mirza Shirazi, and turned into one of the renowned Islamic teachers and authors of his time. Among his valuable books, mention can be made of “Balaagh al-Mobin” on proof of God’s Existence and Omnipresence.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1947 AD, the jurist Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer Qazi Tabatabaei, passed away at the age of 78 in his hometown Tabriz, northwestern Iran, after forty years of scholarly pursuits, preaching and grooming of students. A product of the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, where he studied for 13 years under the leading scholars such as Mirza Hassan Shirazi, Seyyed Kazem Yazdi and Seyyed Abu'l-Hassan Isfahani, attained the status of Ijtehad, he authored several books including "Makhzan al-Fawa'ed fi Hashiyat-al-Fara'ed". His equally worthy son Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Ali Qazi Tabatabaei, became the first prayer leader in Iran to be martyred in the prayer niche in 1979 following the triumph of the Islamic Revolution.

63 solar years ago, on this day in 1953 AD, Mount Everest, the highest pinnacle of the world, was scaled by Edmund Hillary of Britain and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal. The altitude of Mount Everest is 8848 meters and it is situated in Nepal in the massive Himalayan Mountain Range.

10 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, in Indonesia a boiling mud flow began from a volcano in Sidoarjo, east Java. By 2007 it covered 1.6 square miles destroying 4 villages and 25 factories and forced 16,000 people to leave their homes. The mud flow was triggered by the drilling operations for gas of Lapindo Brantas, an energy company whose major shareholder was the family-owned Bakrie Group, which called it a natural disaster and tried to sell Lapindo to obscure offshore buyers. In February 2007 engineers began dropping large cement balls into the crater in an attempt to stem the flow. In 2008 international scientists said they are almost certain that the mud volcano was caused by faulty drilling of a gas exploration well.

2 solar years ago, on this day in 2014 AD, in Syria Takfiri terrorists which mischievously style themselves as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), kidnapped some 153 schoolchildren. They were on their way back to Ain al-Arab from taking year-end school exams in the northern city of Aleppo.

AS/SS