Today is Saturday; 24th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1394 solar hijri; corresponding to 4th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1437 lunar hijri; and February 13, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1074 solar years ago, on this day in 942 AD, Mohammad ibn Ra’eq, a military officer of Khazar origin who exploited the weakness of the Abbasid caliphate to become the first Amir al-Umara (Commander of Commanders), and has earned lasting notoriety for impairing the agriculture of Iraq for several centuries by blocking the Nahrawan Canal in his fight against a rival, was assassinated. He came into prominence in the reign of Mu’tadid-Billah (892-702) as a military officer and served the next ruler, the debauched Muqtadir-Billah (908-932), as Saheb ash-Shurta (Police Chief), before promotion as Hajeb (Chamberlain). On the deposition and murder of Muqtadir and accession of Qahir-Billah (932-934), he fell into disgrace. He nevertheless managed to be named governor of Basra, and on the accession of Radhi (934-940) returned to favour and obtained the governorship of Waset, before becoming Amir al-Umara in 936 – a post that entailed overall command over the army, as well as the supervision of the civil administration, hitherto the province of the vizier. Deposed by Turkic guards in 938, he regained the post in 941 under Muttaqi-Billah but was assassinated the next year – allegedly on the orders of Naser od-Dowla, the Hamadanid ruler of Mosul who succeeded him. The frequent coups and violent struggle for control of the caliphate had by this time greatly enfeebled the caliphs and reduced them to a purely symbolical role. The main pillars of support for Ibn Ra’eq were Turkish troops under Bajkam and Tuzun (former subordinates of Mardavij the Founder of the Ziyarid Dynasty of Iran), who now turned against him. In a vain bid to impede Bajkam's advance towards Baghdad, Ibn Ra’eq ordered flooding of the centuries-old irrigation system of the Sawad. The breach of the Nahrawan Canal was symbolic of the end of Abbasid power just as the breach of the Marib Dam was end of the prosperity of pre-Islamic Yemen.

882 lunar years ago, on this day in 555 AH, the prominent historian and literary figure, Abu’l-Hassan Ali ibn Mohammad, better known as Izz od-Din Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari, was born in a Kurdish family in Jazirat Ibn Umar in Iraq, which was part of the Great Seljuq Empire, with its capital in Isfahan. He spent a scholarly life in Mosul, but often visited Baghdad, where he learned from the Iranian scholar Khateeb-e Tusi. With the disintegration of the Seljuqid Empire, he was with the army of Salah od-Din Ayyoubi in Syria, and has written eye-witness accounts of the battles with the Crusader invaders of Europe, who had usurped Palestine and set up the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was about 28 years old when Bayt al-Moqaddas and Palestine were liberated after 88 years of Crusader occupation by the joint Islamic army of Kurds, Turks, Arabs and Iranians. Ibn Athir later lived in Aleppo and Damascus and died in Mosul. His chief work is a general history of the world, titled “al-Kamel fi’t-Tarikh” (The Complete History), in which he has included reports of the destructive events taking place in the last years of his life in the Islamic east, particularly in Central Asia and Khorasan, where the barbaric Mongol onslaught was destroying centuries of flourishing civilized life. He has written a specialized history of the Atabek Dynasty of Mosul titled “at-Tarikh al-Baher fi’l-Dowlat-al-Atabekiyah bi’l-Mawsil”. He also wrote the biographical encyclopedia on the companions of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), titled: “Osud al-Ghabah fi Ma‘rifat as-Sahabah”. Izz od-Din should not be confused with his elder brother, Majd od-Din Ibn Athir, the author of "Jame' al-Usoul", which is a compendium of the "Sihah as-Sitta" or the Six Authoritative Hadith Books of Sunni Muslims, compiled almost wholly by Iranian converts to Islam.

667 solar years ago, on this day in 1349 AD, Christians expelled all Jews from Burgsdorf, Switzerland, because of the age-old enmity with the followers of Judaism for their slandering of Prophet Jesus and his mother, the Virgin Mary.

455 lunar years ago, on this day in 982 AH, The Ottoman Turks retook Tunis in North Africa from the Spanish occupiers following seizure of the heavily guarded fortress of Halq al-Wadi. In this battle, 5000 Spanish and Italian soldiers were killed and 3000 others captured. The Ottomans also captured 225 canons.

277 solar years ago, on this day in 1739 AD, the historic Battle of Karnaal was fought near a village of the same name, some 110 km north of Delhi, between the Iranian army of Nader Shah Afshar and the army of the Indian Mughal ruler, Mohammad Shah, known as “Rangeeleh” or colourful, because of his patronizing of singers and dancers, at the expense of negligence of state affairs. The Iranians won a decisive victory losing only 2500 soldiers, while the death toll of the Indian army was over 20,000. The cause of the invasion was the failure and inability of Mohammad Shah to prevent the entry into Mughal-controlled Kabul and the eastern areas of Afghanistan and Punjab, of Hotaki and Ghilzai rebel leaders who were driven out from Iran by Nader Shah, following his ending of the Afghan occupation of the country. When a series of letters from Nader Shah did not entail any positive result or response from Mohammad Shah, the Iranian army began its invasion from Qandahar, and after taking Kabul and Peshawar, marched unopposed all the way till Karnaal, where the Indian army was defeated in little more than three hours. The battle began after one o'clock in the afternoon, with a discharge of arrows from both sides. The superior artillery power of the Persians that continued for two hours threw the Mughals and their war elephants into disarray. Mughal forces began to disintegrate and of their commanders, Khan-e Dowraan was killed, while Sa’adat Khan Burhan ol-Molk was taken prisoner. The Persian cavalry was swifter and out-maneuvered the Mughals. As the Indian morale plummeted, soldiers started to flee while Indian camp followers looted their own camps. Mohammad Shah was taken prisoner but was treated with respect by Nader Shah, who entered Delhi along with him and after a stay of some weeks, returned to Iran by restoring the Mughal ruler his rule, but taking with him the fabulous Koh-e Noor Diamond, the Darya-e Noor Diamond, the famous Peacock Throne, the Tent of Pearls and other jewels.

251 solar years ago, on this day in 1766 AD, Thomas Robert Malthus, English economist and demographer, was born in Westcott, Surrey. Although an Anglican Christian priest, his theories, as is evident from his work “An Essay on the Principle of Population”, betrayed his lack of belief in the Infinite Power of the Almighty Creator. He wrote “population would always outrun the food supply and would result in famine, disease or war to reduce the number of people.” His views became controversial, across economic, political, social and scientific thought, while his reputation as economist dropped away, for the rest of his life. He died in 1834.

133 solar years ago, on this day in 1883 AD, the German songwriter and musician, Richard Wagner, died at the age of 70. He started writing operas and composing songs as of a young age. During the political developments of the late 1850s in Germany, he joined the revolutionaries, but their failure forced him to leave Germany and live in exile for 13 years.

105 solar years ago, on this day in 1911 AD, the famous Urdu poet of the subcontinent, Faiz Ahmed Farooq, popular by his pen-name “Faiz”, was born in Karachi in undivided India. He learned Arabic, Persian, Urdu languages and the Qur’an, but because of the social injustice, turned towards Marxism. He was politically active both before and after the founding of Pakistan. He opposed the dictatorial rule of General Zia ul-Haq and was imprisoned and exiled for his views, which he expressed through poetry and novels. He passed away in Lahore at the age of 73. Among his important works are "Naqsh-e Faryadi", "Dast-e Saba", and "Zindan-Namah".

85 solar years ago, on this day in 1931 AD, British Viceroy, Lord Irwin, inaugurated the new capital of British India, which four years earlier in 1927 was officially named “New Delhi”, since it was built on the outskirts of the old Indian Muslim capital Delhi. The foundation stone of the city was laid on 15th December 1911 and it was planned by two leading British architects, Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, who in their designs also incorporated Iranian styles including Persian paintings on the ceiling of what is now called Rashtrapathi Bhavan or Presidential Palace. New Delhi houses the national government and administrative buildings, and has a population of 250,000, while Old Delhi, which is a national heritage of over six-and-a-half centuries of Muslim rule, and where Persian was the dominant language for over 600 years, has a population of 16 million. The previous capital of the British colonialists, who had entered Mughal-ruled Subcontinent as traders, before gradually occupying it piece-by-piece through deceit and wars, was Calcutta in Bengal.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, during the closing months of World War 2 warplanes of the Allied forces began bombing the German city of Dresden. The British used 873 heavy bombers in Operation Thunderclap to firebomb the city, killing 135,000 people. A look at aerial maps of the city before and after the terror attacks clearly shows the large white oil tanks owned by British-controlled Shell Oil. These tanks remained entirely untouched by the bombardment.

66 lunar years ago, on this day in 1371 AH, the Islamic scholar, Haydar Qoli Khan Afghani, known as Sardar Kabuli, passed away. He was an authority in logic, mathematics, astronomy, history, geography, and Arabic literature. A devotee of the Ahl al-Bayt, he wrote a valuable book on the virtues of Imam Ali (AS), the 1st Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He also translated into Persian, the famous book “al-Muraja’at”, on exchange of letters on principles of faith between Allamah Seyyed Abdul-Hussain Sharaf od-Din of Lebanon and Dean of Egypt’s al-Azhar Academy, Shaikh Saleem al-Bishri. Sardar Kabuli’s Persian translation is titled “Monazeraat”.

60 solar years ago, on this day in 1956 AD, the prominent Iranian scholar Abbas Eqbal Ashtiani died in Tehran at the age of 59. He was a great researcher and linguist who after completing his education in Tehran graduated from France's Sorbonne University in Paris. He was a lecturer at Tehran University, and as editor of a Persian magazine was critical of the policies of the British-installed and American-supported Pahlavi regime. He wrote several books including "The Contribution of Iranians to World Civilisation", "The History of Iran from the Advent of Islam to the Mongol Period", and "The Nowbakhti Family". The last named is a valuable work on the famous Iranian scholarly family that lived in Baghdad in the 3rd and 4th centuries AH, and produced scientists, ministers, and theologians, including Husain Ibn Rouh – one of the four Nawwab or Representatives of the 12th Infallible Imam of the Prophet's Household during the Minor Occultation. He also published "Yadegar" Magazine which carried critical articles about the dire status of the Iranian nation during the reign of Shah's despotic regime.

45 solar years ago, on this day in 1971 AD, during the Vietnam War, a frustrated US unable to defeat the Vietnamese people, ordered troops of the artificial South Vietnamese state to invade neighbouring Laos by providing them air and artillery support, on the pretext that Vietcong freedom fighters were operating from Laotian soil. US stratagems ended in failure and American troops had to disgracefully withdraw from Vietnam in April 1975, thereby ending the 20-year disastrous war.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, the Río Negro massacre took place in Guatemala, resulting in the killing of More than 5,000 Amerindians of the Maya Achi tribe in and around the village of Río Negro alone, because of the refusal of the natives to vacate their ancestral lands.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, during the Persian Gulf War, US warplanes fired two laser-guided smart bombs to destroy the Amiriyah civilian shelter in Baghdad, killing over 400 men, women and children on the pretext of targeting a military communications outpost. The US is the most blatant violator of human rights and known for its wanton killing of world people.

AS/ME