Today is Sunday, 24th of the Iranian month of Mordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 11th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Qa’dah 1437 lunar hijri; and August 14, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1434 solar years ago, on this day in 582 AD, Emperor Tiberius II Constantine of the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire, died at the age of 47 after an 8-year reign during the war he had restarted with the Sassanid Empire of Iran, in Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Armenia. The seesaw struggle was a strategic blunder by Tiberius, who on becoming ruler had concluded a deceitful 3-year truce with Khosrow Anushirvan, the 22nd Sassanid Emperor, in order to buy time for renewal of the war that had started two years earlier in 572 by his predecessor Justinian, and was to last 19 years till 591. The almost four centuries of inconclusive warfare between the Sassanids and Byzantines (respectively the heirs of the warring Parthian and Roman empires), sapped the energy of the two superpowers and led to their collapse as Arab Muslim armies swept across the region to completely change the destiny of the region, in which Iran soon emerged as a powerful Islamicized pole with far greater influence on the region and beyond than in pre-Islamic eras.

1289 lunar years ago, on this day in 148 AH, Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was born in Medina, two weeks after the martyrdom of his grandfather, Imam Ja'far as-Sadeq (AS). His father was Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS) and his mother was the pious lady, Najma. At the age of 35 the mantle of divinely-decreed leadership came to rest on his shoulders following martyrdom in Baghdad of his infallible father in the year 183 AH. For the next 17 years he ably guided the ummah from his base in Medina, which alarmed Mamoun, the 7th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, who forced him to come to distant Khorasan where the city of Merv (currently in Turkmenistan) was his capital. Here the Imam’s name was forcibly announced as Heir Apparent although Mamoun was twenty years his junior. The plan was to confine the Imam to the court and thereby drive a wedge between him and the ummah. However, to the bewilderment of the caliph, when the Imam's popularity increased, he had him martyred treacherously through a fatal dose of poison in 203 AH at the age of 55. Imam Reza (AS) was laid to rest in the suburbs of the city of Tous, which soon grew into “Mashhad-ar-Reza” or the Martyrdom Place of Imam Reza (AS), and is a world famous centre of pilgrimage today.

1016 lunar years ago, on this day in 321 AH (934 AD), Iranian adventurer Ali ibn Buyeh conquered Fars and choose Shiraz as capital, thus establishing the Buwaihid dynasty. In the next few years (late 930s), his younger brother Hassan conquered parts of western and central Iran, and soon took control of Rayy (943), near modern Tehran. Two years later, the youngest brother, Ahmad conquered Iraq and made Baghdad his capital, receiving the honorific title of "Mo'iz od-Dowla". Ali took the title of "Emad od-Dowla", and Hassan the title of "Rokn od-Dowla". The family was from the Daylam region on the Caspian Sea in Gilan, and is also called Daylamites. They were devout followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Besides rebuilding the holy shrines of the Infallible Imams in Iraq, they patronized several leading Imami scholars. At its greatest extent, the Buwaihd dynasty encompassed most of today's Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Syria, along with parts of Oman, the UAE, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Abbasid caliph was reduced to a figurehead, and sometimes the Buwaihid rulers used the title of Shahanshah for themselves. The dynasty ruled for some 130 years and was replaced by the Turkic Seljuqs who swept into Iran and Iraq from Central Asia.

1001 lunar years ago, on this day in 336 AH, the renowned theologian, Mohammad Ibn Mohammad Ibn Nu’man al-Ukbari, famous as Shaikh Mufid, was born in the town of Ukbar, north of Baghdad. He has left behind numerous compilations in almost all branches of Islamic sciences, some of which are: “al-Irshad”, “Ahkam an-Nisa”, and “Tashih E`teqadat al-Imamiyah” – the last named is a critical and edited version of his one-time teacher, Ibn Babwaih Shaikh Sadouq's “al-E'teqad”. He trained a great number of scholars, including the celebrated pair of brothers, Seyyed Murteza and Seyyed Radhi – the compiler of the famous book “Nahj al-Balagha” – and Shaikh at-Ta’efa Abu Ja’far Tousi.

735 solar years ago, on this day in 1281 AD, during the second Mongol attempt to conquer Japan, a fleet sent by Kublai Khan disappeared in a typhoon. A Mongol army of 45,000 from Korea, joined an armada of 120,000 men from China to land at Hakozaki Bay. The typhoon destroyed the fleet. Survivors ended up as slaves.

601 solar years ago, on this day in 1415 AD, Henry the Navigator of Portugal, taking advantage of the weakening of Muslim rule in Spain and northwest Africa, launched a surprise attack on the Maranid Dynasty of Morocco and occupied the port city of Ceuta in the battle of the same name. He mercilessly slaughtered Muslim defenders in what is known as “baptism of blood”.

424 solar years ago, on this day in 1592 AD, the naval Battle of Hansan Island, also known as the Battle of Hansando, occurred near the Korean island of Hansan, and was one of the most important battles of the Imjin War. Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin destroyed at least 47 Japanese ships and captured 12. Yi's victory in this battle became a turning point in the campaign. This battle is considered the third largest naval battle in world history, after the Battle of Salamis between the Greeks and Achaemenid Persia, and the Battle of Gravelines between England and Spain.

418 solar years ago, on this day in 1598 AD, during the Nine Years' War, in the Battle of the Yellow Ford, Irish forces under Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, defeated an English expeditionary force under Henry Bagenal.

174 solar years ago, on this day in 1842 AD, during the genocidal conflicts waged by the US against the native Amerindians, the Second Seminole War ended, and the Seminole people were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma from their ancestral homes in Florida. The US has a very black, bleak, and bloody record of genocide and persecution of the native Amerindians and the black people.

112 solar years ago, on this day in 1904 AD, the cattle-herding Hereros, a tribe of Southwest Africa (later Namibia), became the first genocide victims of the 20th century, when the German occupiers launched a brutal massacre. General Lothar von Trotha, sent by Kaiser Wilhelm II to put down the native uprising, drove the Hereros into the desert and issued a formal "extermination order" (Schrecklichkeit) authorizing the slaughter of all who refused to surrender. Out of some 80,000 Hereros, 60,000 were killed. Of the 15,000 who surrendered, half of them died in prison camps, while some 9,000 escaped to neighboring countries. In 2004 a senior German government official apologized for the genocide during a ceremony in Namibia marking the 100^th anniversary of the massacre. In 2005 a German minister acknowledged violence by colonial Germany and admitted that following uprisings, the surviving Herero, Nama and Damara were interned in camps and put to forced labor of such brutality that many did not survive.

80 solar years ago, on this day in 1936 AD, Grand Ayatollah Allamah Mirza Mohammad Hussein Na'ini, passed away at the age of 79. Born in a religious family in Na’in, central Iran, he completed preliminary studies in his hometown before leaving for Iraq for higher studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf. His teachers included such prominent ulema as Mirza Hassan Shirazi (of the anti-tobacco fatwa against British exploitation of the Iranian economy). Besides theology he was well versed in mathematics, philosophy, and mysticism. Among his most important compilations is “Tanbih al-Umma va Tanziha al-Milla” which outlines the duties of ulema and people and the necessity of campaign against tyrannical regimes. This was an effective step by Ayatollah Naini in awakening the Iranian people, whose struggles against local despotism and foreign hegemony finally triumphed under the guidance of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). Among his other books, is “Wasilat an-Naja'at”.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, Japan surrendered during World War II and was occupied by the US, which a few days earlier had committed crimes against humanity by destroying the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs, even though Japanese were on full retreat from war zones.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1947 AD, Pakistan was born as an independent Muslim country on division of the Subcontinent by the British on the eve of their departure from India. It was the result of the long struggle against colonial rule by the Muslim League led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah – an Ismaili Shi’a Muslim who later became Athna Ash’ari (Twelver). The new country was made up of West Pakistan – on the borders of Afghanistan and Iran – and East Pakistan on the borders of Myanmar. In 1971, the eastern part seceded and became Bangladesh.

64 solar years ago, on this day in 1952 AD, French Economist, Alfred Sauvy, first used the term “Third World”, in an article in the French magazine L'Observateur to describe underdeveloped countries. He was paraphrasing a remark by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes, a delegate to the Estates General in 1789, who had said the Third Estate is everything, has nothing, but wants to be something.

45 solar years ago, on this day in 1971 AD, Britain ended its physical presence in Bahrain by declaring it independent, after reaching a deal two years earlier with the Pahlavi regime of Iran against reclaiming it, since for ages it was part of successive Persian Empires. The British have continued to exercise behind-the-scenes control over the affairs of Bahrain, along with the US, which has based its 5th naval fleet on this Persian Gulf island state. For the past five-and-a-half years, Bahrain is the scene of public protests by the vast majority of people against the repressive rule of the minority regime of Aal-e Khalifa – originally pirates from Khor Abdullah waterway between Kuwait and Iraq’s Basra, who had occupied Bahrain by taking advantage of Iran’s weakness, and then sought British protection in the 19^th century. Site of the ancient Dilmun civilization and famous for its pearls, Bahrain on the advent of Islam became an important centre for followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). It has produced prominent Imami ulema.

42 solar years ago, on this day in 1974 AD, following massacre of 125 Muslims in Cyprus, the Turkish government dispatched troops to take control of the northern area of this island, which for centuries was part of the Ottoman Empire until Britain imposed the Cyprus Convention in 1878 to take over the Mediterranean Sea’s 3rd largest and most populous island that had a Muslim majority. Though the Ottomans retained nominal suzerainty, it was obvious that Cyprus was lost by the Muslim World, since the British lost no time in changing demographic patterns and making it a virtual Greek island. Today two-thirds of Cyprus is administered by Greeks, while the rest is called the ‘Turkish Republic of Cyprus’.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran received an official letter from Saddam, the head of Iraq's repressive Ba'th minority regime, to reaffirm the 1975 Iran-Iraq Accord on border delineation, which Saddam himself had signed in Algiers the capital of Algeria, but five years later in 1980 arrogantly tore it in front of TV cameras on the eve of Iran and start of the 8-year war. Saddam had to eat the humble pie following the shattering of his US-inspired dream to overthrow the Islamic Republic and seize Iran's border provinces, thanks to the heroic defence of Iran by the Muslim combatants. The letter was addressed to the then Iranian president, Hojjat ol-Islam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani  

10 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, following the UN issuance of Security Council Resolution 1701 and its acceptance by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the 33-day Zionist-imposed war ended. The war was a US-Zionist plot, backed by reactionary Arab regimes, to try to destroy Lebanon's legendry anti-terrorist movement. But people's resistance, coupled with the military prowess of the Hezbollah, shattered the myth of military invincibility of Israel with tanks, ships and aircraft reduced to junk. Over 4,000 missiles fired at the Zionist entity by the Hezbollah endeared the movement and its dynamic leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrollah, to Arab and other Muslims worldwide, including conscientious thinkers in the West.

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, in Iraq, Takfiri terrorists blew up through remote controlled four explosive-laden trucks in Qahataniya killing over 800 Kurds of the non-Muslim Izadi creed. Two years back, the Takfiri terrorists uprooted from their homes nearly 50,000 Izadis in the Sinjar area of Iraq near the Syrian border. Several thousand Izadi girls and women are being held as sex slaves by the Takfiris – with the tacit approval of the US and Arab reactionary regimes.

4 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, Iranian mathematician, Prof Manuchehr Vesaal, known as Father of Analytical Mathematics, passed away in his hometown Tehran. He went for higher studies to France’s Sorbonne University, and in 1940 obtained doctorate in mathematics and astronomy from the University of Geneva in Switzerland. On his return to Iran, he was appointed associate professor of mathematics at the University of Tehran. In 1941 he became the director of the Tehran University Faculty of Sciences Library and later with scholarship from UNESCO, went to Paris and studied Library Sciences. In 1962, he was appointed the chair of the Department of Mathematics at Shiraz University. He was Founder/Dean of the School of Engineering which quickly became one of the finest engineering Schools in Iran. He served as the provost of the university from 1965 to 1969. During his tenure, post-graduate courses were initiated, books were made available to students at low cost and a library science programme was established. He also served as the director of university libraries until 1979. From 1981 until his retirement in 2003 after 62 years of service, he served at the Iran University Press of the Ministry of Science and Higher education.

AS/ME