Today is Friday; 28th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 11th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1437 lunar hijri; and June 17, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1360 solar years ago, on this day in 656 AD, Othman ibn Affan, after a 12-year rule as caliph (political ruler), was murdered by Muslims because of nepotism and violation of the principles of the holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). On the death of Omar ibn Khattab, he was chosen caliph by his kinsman Abdur-Rahman ibn Owf by readily agreeing to accept all conditions stipulated by the 6-man council, when the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) on being offered the caliphate refused to follow the innovations that had crept in after the passing away of his cousin the Prophet, saying he will abide only by the Law of God and Practice of the Prophet. Of weak character, Othman alienated the pious Islamic elite through his acts, including discrimination against the prominent companion of the Prophet, Ammar ibn Yasser and exiling of the celebrated companion of the Prophet Abu Zar Ghaffari – first to Syria and then to the desert of Rabadha. Othman greatly strengthened his dubious Omayyad kinsman Mu'awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, who was confirmed as governor of the large formerly Roman province of Syria, and then to the shock and surprise of the Muslims, he recalled to Medina two of the most wicked Omayyads, Hakam bin Aas, and his son, Marwan bin Hakam, whom the Prophet had exiled because of their extremely evil nature. These and other factors led to his killing, despite the earnest efforts of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), to try to find a solution to the crisis that was exacerbated when a group of Egyptian revolutionaries who had met Othman and promised redress to their complaints, caught the caliph’s emissary carrying a secret letter to the governor of Egypt, with orders to execute them on their return. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery when the Muslims prevented his burial in the sacred Jannat al-Baqie Cemetery.

690 solar years ago, on this day in 1326 AD, Malik Maqboul Telangani was made minister in Delhi by Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq and bestowed the title of Qawwam ul-Mulk. Born as Kattu Yugandhar in a noble Hindu family of Warangal in the Deccan, and made commander of the Kakatiya Kingdom with the title Ganna Nayaka by King Prataparudra, he was captured in battle by the army of the Delhi Sultanate, and embraced the truth of Islam. Because of his sincerity and loyalty he won the confidence of Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq and was appointed governor of Multan (in today’s Pakistan). His administrative abilities in the Punjab won praise and he was later sent to his native Deccan to deal with the rebellion of his former overlords, the Kakatiyas. On return to Delhi he rose rapidly in ranks to the extent that the next king, Feroze Shah Tughlaq, made him finance minister and then vizier (prime minister) with the title Khan-e Jahan. He mastered the Persian language and accompanied the Sultan on the expedition to Gujarat and successfully subdued the rebels. Feroz Shah would refer to him as “my brother” and during the Sultan’s six-month absence in Sindh, Khan-e Jahan Telangani ably administered Delhi. He never exceeded his powers, and had a strong desire to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which he couldn’t undertake because of state responsibilities. He built several mosques in and around Delhi and on his death his son, Jauna Khan, inherited his position as vizier. Built in 1388, his tomb adjacent to the Sufi shrine of Seyyed Nizam od-Din Awliya was the first octagonal mausoleum in Delhi. The only other octagonal mausoleum predating it in the Subcontinent is the Sufi shrine of Shah Rukn-e Alam in Multan.

584 lunar years ago, on this day in 853 AH, the Shafei jurisprudent and historian, Burhan od-Din Abu Ishaq ibn Musa, popular as Ibrahim Karki, passed away in Cairo, Egypt at the age of 77. Born in Kark in what is now Jordan, he studied in Syria and later at Cairo’s al-Azhar academy, mastering Qur’anic sciences, Hadith, Arabic grammar, literature, and history. He lived in al-Khalil and Bayt al-Moqaddas for a long time before settling in Egypt. He wrote several books on different topics, including Qur’anic sciences, and for a period served as a judge in Egypt.

554 solar years ago, on this day in 1462 AD, Vlad the Impaler, the murderous ruler of Wallachia in Romania, attempted to assassinate the Ottoman Sultan Mohammad II, the Conqueror of Constantinople. Also known as "Dracula" which means Son of Dragon, his sadistic cruelties later inspired stories of the bloodsucking Vampire. He is said to have impaled nearly 100,000 Turkish Muslims, although despite claiming to be a defender of Christianity, he impaled and burned tens of thousands of Christians as well during his 19-year reign of terror that ended with his defeat by his consanguineous brother, Radu, who had embraced Islam and was appointed Pasha of Wallachia by the Ottoman Sultan. Vlad, who along with Radu had been sent to the Ottoman court while an adolescent, and taught martial arts, the holy Qur'an as well as the Turkish and Persian languages, developed a deep hatred for his brother because of his being favoured by the young prince Mohammad, the future Sultan. In 1447, on the death of his father he was installed as ruler of his homeland by the Ottomans, but instead of showing gratitude, he turned against them and started the brutal killing of Turkish envoys and tradesmen. In 1462, fed up with his savagery, Sultan Mohammad II led a massive army across the River Danube, with Radu at the head of the famous Jan-Nisari Corps. Vlad fled and during his retreat burned and killed everything in sight. When the Ottoman forces approached, they encountered over 20,000 of their soldiers impaled by the forces of Vlad, creating a "forest" of dead or dying bodies on stakes. This atrocious, gut-wrenching sight was too much to bear and Sultan Mohammad turned back in disgust. Four years later Vlad, who fled to Hungary, was imprisoned for ten years by the local Christian ruler for crimes against humanity. On release in 1476, when he attempted to stir up sedition once again, he was killed by the Ottomans and his head sent to Constantinople.

440 solar years ago, on this day in 1576 AD, the leader of the uprising of the Dutch against Spanish rule, William Silent, declared Holland’s independence. The uprising had started in 1568, but despite the declaration of independence, the Spanish continued to suppress the Dutch until 1609, when a peace treaty was concluded recognizing Holland’s independence from Spain. Following independence, Holland started occupying other lands, including Muslim Indonesia, and became a major colonial power, before declining in the late 17th century.

385 solar years ago, on this day 1631 AD, Empress Mumtaz Mahal of Hindustan (northern Subcontinent), died during childbirth in Burhanpur in the northern Deccan. Her husband, Emperor Mughal Shah Jahan, who deeply loved her, was to spend the next 17 years building over her tomb a magnificent mausoleum of white marble, the famous Taj Mahal in Agra, which is one of the 7 Wonders of the World. Born into a family of Iranian nobility and named Arjmand Banu Begum, she was a daughter of Abu’l-Hassan Asef Khan the son of Mirza Ghiyas Beg Tehrani entitled E'temad od-Dowla. She was thus a niece of Empress Noor Jahan, the wife of previous Emperor, Jahangir. Mumtaz Mahal, who was a Shi'ite Muslim, gave birth to fourteen children includinh Mohammad Aurangzeb the next Emperor and last of the Great Mughals.

219 solar years ago, on this day in 1797 AD, Agha Mohammad Khan, the Founder of the Qajarid Dynasty of Iran, was assassinated at the age of 56, three years after crowning himself the Shah. Son of the tribal leader, Mohammad Hassan Khan, he was castrated at the age of 6 on the orders of Adil Shah Afshar to prevent him from becoming a political rival, but this loss did not hinder his career, although it made him cruel and merciless. He became chief of the Qajarid tribe in 1758, but four years later he was captured and sent to Shiraz as a hostage at Karim Khan Zand’'s court, where he lived for 16 years, until his escape in 1779. The same year, the death of Karim Khan plunged Iran into a series of civil wars over the succession, with many members of the Zand dynasty ascending the throne in the space of only ten years. Agha Mohammad Khan took the opportunity to launch a rebellion and in 1794 succeeded in capturing Lotf Ali Khan, the last Zand ruler. Two years later he proclaimed himself Shahanshah (King of Kings). He was, however, a man of extreme violence who killed almost all who could threaten his hold on power. In 1795 he conquered Georgia in the Caucasus, which was formerly part of the Safavid Empire. In the same year he also conquered Khorasan and tortured to death its ruler Shah Rukh, the grandson of Nader Shah Afshar. In 1796 he moved his capital from Sari in his home province of Mazandaran to Tehran. Although the Russians took Derbend in Daghestan and briefly occupied Baku in Northern Azerbaijan in 1796, he successfully expanded Iranian influence into the Caucasus, reasserting sovereignty over its former dependencies. He was succeeded by his nephew, Fath Ali Shah.

140 solar years ago, on this day in 1876 AD, the Battle of the Rosebud in Montana resulted in the victory of 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne tribesmen led by Crazy Horse over US General George Crook's forces during the genocidal wars launched by the white American administration on the Native Amerindian.

139 solar years, on this day in 1877 AD, the Nez Perce Amerindian tribe defeated the US Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory during the genocidal wars launched by the white American administration to exterminate the natives.

91 solar years ago, on this day in 1925 AD, a treaty prohibiting the first use of chemical and biological weapons, called the “Geneva Protocol”, was signed in Geneva. One of the main reasons behind it was the wide scale usage of chemical weapons by Germany during World War I. Nonetheless, this treaty has up to now been breached by many states, including the US during the Vietnam War, and the Ba'th minority regime of Saddam, which with western help killed or maimed several thousand Iranians and Iraqi Muslims.

72 solar years ago, on this day in 1944 AD, Iceland gained independence from Denmark, and in 1949 joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Iceland is an island state covering an area of more than 102,000 sq km.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, the prominent jurisprudent Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khosrowshahi, passed away in his hometown Tabriz, four months after the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, for the success of which he had openly announced support for Imam Khomeini (RA) at the start of the Khordad 15 uprising (June 5, 1963), braving imprisonment from the regime. In fact, right since his youthful years as a religious student he was a fierce opponent of the anti-Islamic policies of the British-installed Pahlavi potentate, Reza Khan, who exiled him to Semnan and later Mashhad, where he benefitted from the classes of the leading ulema. Later when the political atmosphere of Iran became a bit relaxed, he shifted to holy Qom where he attained the status of Ijtehad, and embarked on teaching.