Today is Sunday; 17th of the Iranian month of Mordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 4th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Qa’dah 1437 lunar hijri; and August 7, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1699 solar years ago, on this day in 317 AD, Roman Emperor Constantius II was born. The second son of Constantine I (imposer of Pauline Christianity on the Empire), he ascended to the throne on the division of the empire with his brothers Constantine II and Constans in 337 upon the death of their father, who by turning down an offer of peace by Emperor Shapur II of Sassanid Iran, was planning a large scale invasion of the Persian Empire on the pretext of mistreatment of Christians – the first-ever crusade. On assuming power, Constantius was confronted with the large army, including the Indian war elephants of Shapur II, whose forces swept across of what is now northern Syria and southern Turkey, putting Nisibis (Nusaybin) under siege. When the Iranians lifted the siege, Constantius prepared his army for a counter-attack, but was unable to mount any successful campaign, except for the Battle of Narasara. Meanwhile, in the western provinces, his brothers clashed in 340, resulting in the death of Constantine II. In 350 Constans was overthrown and assassinated by Magnentius, who committed suicide in 353 following his military defeats by the armies of the east, leaving Constantius as sole ruler of the empire till his death in 361. Before dying he was forced to appoint as his successor, the rebellious Julian the Apostate, who two years later was to be killed in the Battle of Samarra (363) by the Iranians while fleeing from the counterattacks of the Persian forces.

1390 solar years ago, on this day in 626 AD, Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire was saved from annihilation and got a fresh life – as per the prophecy of the holy Qur’an (Surah Roum) – when following news of the defeat in Anatolia (present-day Turkey) of the Iranian general, Shahin, by Theodore, the brother of Emperor Heraclius, the Avars and their Slavic allies, who lacked both patience and technology for protracted warfare, withdrew from the siege of Constantinople, leaving the Sassanid Persians alone. This was a strategic victory for the Byzantines, who had recently repelled in two different naval encounters in the Bosporus Strait, the Persian and Avar-Slavic fleets from the walls of Constantinople. This enabled Heraclius to lead an invasion into Syria and thence Mesopotamia to defeat a Persian army at Nineveh, from where he marched the next year to Ctesiphon, the Sassanid capital in Iraq (near modern Baghdad). With the overthrow of Emperor Khosrow II by the Sassanid nobles, eventually, the Persians were obliged to withdraw all armed forces and return, as per the Treaty of 595, Egypt, the Levant and whatever Roman territories they had captured in Anatolia. The initial victories of the Zoroastrian Persians over the Christian Romans had gladdened the hearts of the Arab infidels and made them mock Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Muslims, at which God revealed “Surah Roum”, giving tidings of the eventual triumph of the monotheists – indeed one of the eternal miracles of the holy Qur'an. The 26-year long war over in 628, neither the Iranians nor the Romans would ever cross swords again after over centuries of wars (starting between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire in 92 BC), as the power of both the empires was soon broken with the emergence of the Muslim Arabs who swept across Syria, Iraq and Egypt.

781 lunar years ago, on this day in 656 AH, the famous Arabic poet, Baha od-Din Zuhayr Abu'l-Fazal Ibn Mohammad al-Muhallabi, died in Cairo at the age of 74. Born in Mecca, he travelled to Egypt where he became a poet at the court of the Ayyubid Kurdish dynasty, and finally became vizier of the ruler, Sultan as-Saleh. His Diwan was translated into English in two volumes by E.H. Palmer in 1876-77.

756 lunar years ago, on this day in 681 AH, the Iranian historian Ata-Malik Jowaini, passed away at the age of 58 in Azarbaijan. He belonged to a prominent scholarly and political family of Jowain in Khorasan that were followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt. His brother, father, and grandfather held important posts in the Ilkhanid Empire of Iran-Iraq. He too became an important official and twice visited the main Mongol capital of Karakorum in Central Asia. He accompanied Hulagu Khan during the sack of Baghdad and the next year was appointed governor of Baghdad, Lower Mesopotamia, and Khuzestan. His famous history is titled “Tarikh-e Jahan-Gusha”.  It was translated into English by John Andrew Boyle under the title: “The History of the World-Conqueror” and the 2^nd edition published in 1997. It should be noted that his brother, Shams od-Din Mohammad, who had been Sahib-e Divan (or Finance Minister) and vizier for 22 years under three Ilkhans – i.e. Hulagu, Abaqa and Ahmad Tekuder – was martyred by the next ruler, Arghun Khan, on the alleged poisoning of his father Abaqa Khan, who actually died of excessive drinking. Ata-Malik's father, Baha od-Din, and grandfather Mohammad had held the post of Sahib-e Divan for Mohammad Jalal od-Din Khwarezmshah and later for Chingiz Khan's son Ogedei Khan respectively.

432 solar years ago, on this day in 1584 AD, Tatar forces of Khan Kuchum of the Sibir Khanate of Siberia – the northernmost Muslim state in history – defeated Cossack intruders of Yermak Timofeyevich near the mouth of the Vagay River, and liberated the Qishliq after two years of occupation. The Cossacks, who were sent by Tsar Ivan, were decimated and Yermak drowned in the river. Kuchum, the son of son of Prince Mortaza Shayban, vigorously resisted the Russian invaders, and endeavoured to spread Islam in the lands of Russia. He was driven away in 1598 by the Russians and died in Bukhara in 1605, marking the end of Muslim rule in Siberia.

302 solar years ago, on this day in 1714 AD, the Battle of Gangut, the first victory of the Russian Navy in its history during the Great Northern War (1700–21), took place in the waters of Riilahti Bay, north of the Hanko Peninsula, near the site of the modern-day city of Hanko, Finland, between the Swedish Navy and Imperial Russian Navy.

197 solar years ago, on this day in 1819 AD, Simon Bolívar triumphed over Spain in the Battle of Boyaca in Colombia – then known as New Granada. As a result Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish Monarchy, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years.

75 solar years ago, on this day in 1941 AD, India's Bengali language author, poet, and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore, died at the age of 80. He was born in the East Indian city of Calcutta and was involved in the movement against British rule. He visited Iran in 1932, entering the country through Bushehr port, from where he travelled to Shiraz to pay homage at the graves of the great Iranian poets Hafez and Sa’di. At the mausoleum of Hafez, he wrote in his travelogue, “Sitting near the tomb, a signal flashed through my mind, a signal from the bright and smiling eyes of the poet on a long past spring day – akin to the springtime sunshine of today.” Tagore then visited Isfahan where he was entranced by the beautiful gardens and mosques. He arrived in Tehran on April 29, 1932, and during his two weeks in the Iranian capital, he participated in as many as eighteen public functions. He celebrated his 71st birthday in Tehran and wrote a beautiful poem titled: IRAN, on the occasion. Part of this poem reads:

“Iran, thy brave sons have brought                                                         

“Their priceless gifts of friendship                                            

“On this birthday of the poet of a far-away shore,                                          

“For they have known him in their hearts as their own.                             

“And in return I bind this wreath of my verse on thy forehead,

“And I cry: Victory of Iran!”

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, the West African country of Ivory Coast gained its independence from the French who had seized it in 1891 from the Portuguese. Ivory Coast covers an area of 332463 sq km. It lies on the coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean, sharing borders with Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. The northern parts of the country embraced Islam almost a millennium ago and are entirely made up of Muslims, who account for over 40 percent of the overall population.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, an agreement was signed by the US, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) for the exit of PLO armed forces from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, following the 80-day resistance of the Palestinians against the Israel invasion of Lebanon. PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, thus gave in to pressure and agreed to pullout 12,000 Palestinian fighters. Although the withdrawal of PLO forces from Lebanon dealt a blow to this Organization and set the stage for compromise with the Zionist regime; the Zionists thereafter faced the crushing blows of the newly emergent combatants of the Lebanon’s Islamic Resistance led by the Hezbollah that forced Israel troops to flee Lebanon in the year 2000.

17 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, the Iranian poet and academic, Gholam-Ali Ra’di Azarakhshi, passed away at the age of 90 in Tehran. Born in Tabriz, where he completed his high school, his passion for poetry was recognized at an early age. In 1927, he moved to Tehran to attend the Academy of Political Sciences, where his teachers were Badi az-Zamaan Foruzanfar and Mohammad Abdoh Borujerdi. He also assisted the Academy’s director, the famous lexicographer, Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda in the compilation and publication of “Amṯhaal va Hekam” (a collection of Persian proverbs and aphorism). In 1936 he went to France and Switzerland for higher studies, especially in International Law and Comparative Literature. Returning to Iran in 1941, he began teaching comparative literature at Tehran University. In December 1942 he was elected a permanent member of Farhangestan-Zaban-e Iran, an organization set up for the promotion of Persian culture and the replacement of foreign loan words by those of Persian derivation. In 1945 he was appointed Iran’s representative to UNESCO’s preliminary commission in London. With the establishment of UNESCO in Paris the following year, he was designated Iran’s permanent ambassador to the organization, where he also chaired the Committee for East-West Dialogue. On his return to Iran, Ra’di established the Faculty of Literature and Social Sciences at the newly founded National University (Daneshgah-e Melli), and served as the Dean of the Faculty.  He remained in that position from 1968 till 1979, and thereafter continued to teach courses in literature and law at Tehran University. His poem “Kargah va Kargar” (The workplace and the worker), is a powerful rendition in of the adverse working conditions of carpet-weavers in his birthplace, Tabriz. His critical stand on the cultural influence of the West and the submission of Persian poetry to modernization is well reflected in his noted poem “Morgh-e Toufan”.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, the Caucasus Republic of Georgia, on the insinuation of the US, attacked South Ossetia, killing and wounding hundreds of civilians. The next day the Russian forces entered the scene in support of South Ossetia to drive out the Georgian army and advanced till the outskirts of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. With French mediation, Russian forces withdrew from Georgia and in the process officially recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Russian military action against Georgia was a warning by Moscow to Western regimes, especially the US, against the eastward expansion of NATO. Georgia (Gurjistan in Persian), especially its eastern half was part of the successive Iranian empires for over two millenniums until the occupation of this Christian land by the Russian in the 18th century. Today over ten percent of the population is Muslim including Azerbaijani Shi’ites.

AS/ME