Today is Tuesday; 23rd of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 11th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Hijjah 1437 lunar hijri; and September 13, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1485 solar years ago, on this day in 531 AD, Khosrow I (Chosroes to the Greeks, Kasra to the Arabs) started his 48-year reign as the 22^nd Emperor of the Sassanid Empire on the death of his father Qobad I who reigned for 41 years. He is known as Anoushirvan the Just and is the epitome of the philosopher-king in Iranian history. It was in his era that the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was born in Mecca. Khosrow’s wide-ranging social, administrative, military, and tax reforms were adopted by the Muslims when they took over the Sassanid Empire. He patronized scholars and invited scientists from Greece, India, China and other places, and the outcome of this synthesis resulted in what is known as the “Bimaristan”, the first hospital that introduced a concept of segregating wards according to pathology. Greek pharmacology fused with Iranian and Indian traditions resulted in significant advances in medicine that were later fully utilized by the Muslims. He strengthened the famous academy Gondishapur as the centre of learning. In his foreign policy, Khosrow Anoushirvan, after agreeing to an “Eternal Peace” with Justinian of the Roman Empire that proved abortive, pursued a prudent policy to thwart Roman designs in Syria, Anatolia, Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia. He made sure Rome would never be a threat to Iran by keeping close contacts with the Goths, the Huns, the Arabs, and the people of Yemen, which land he brought under Iranian influence to control the trade between India and Europe through the Red Sea and Egypt. In the northeast, he kept the Turks under check and his reign signifies the promotion of the Silk Road between ancient China, India, and the western world. He was the ancestor of Hazrat Shahrbano, the Iranian princess who was the wife of Imam Husain (AS) and mother of Imam Zayn al-Abedin (AS).

1230 solar years ago,  on this day in 786 AD, Abdullah al-Ma'mun, the 7^th caliph of the usurper Abbasid dynasty, was born (late in the night) to the tyrant Haroun ar-Rashid through his Iranian concubine, Marajil. Before his death in 809, Haroun had given him governorship of the eastern lands extending from Iran to Central Asia, with Marv in Khorasan as the seat of power. Five years later in 813, Ma’mun sent an army to Baghdad to attack and his kill his profligate elder step-brother, Amin, and proclaimed himself caliph. He ruled for 20 years and died in Tarsus in what is now Turkey, a horrible death of unquenchable thirst despite drinking gallons of cool water. A crafty and articulate person, his greatest cardinal sin was the martyring of Imam Reza (AS), the 8^th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), through a fatal dose of poisoned grapes, after inviting him to Khorasan and forcing him to accept being his heir, although the Imam was almost twenty years his senior.

1230 lunar years ago, on this day in 207 AH, the well-known Muslim historian and narrator of hadith, Abu Abdullah Waqedi, died in Baghdad. It is said that he copied the works of Ibrahim bin Mohammad bin Abi Yahya, a disciple of the Prophet's 6th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja'far as-Sadeq (AS), by attributing them to himself. Among his works is the book titled "al-Maghazi" on the campaigns of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He also wrote another renowned work, "Akhbar al-Makkah" or the History of Mecca.

787 solar years ago, on this day in 1229 AD, Ogedei Khan was proclaimed the second Khaqaan (Great Khan) of the Mongol Empire in Kodoe Aral, Khentii, Mongolia. He was the third son of the bloodthirsty Genghis Khan whom he succeeded. During his 12-year reign, he continued the expansion of the empire which reached its farthest extent west and south during the invasions of Europe and Asia. He participated extensively in conquests in China, Iran, and Central Asia. In his administration, he made use of the experience of Muslims, and two of his leading ministers were the Khwarezmians, Mahumud Yalavach and Masud Beg. Mohammad Juwaini and his son Baha od-Din Juwaini (father of the famous Iranian historian Ata Malik Juwaini), held the post of Saheb-e Divan for Ogedei.

695 solar years ago, on this day in 1321 AD, Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, known as the ‘Father of Italian Language’, died at the age of 56, and was buried in Ravenna. Born in Florence, he is famous for his book titled “Commedia”, which at times, although anti-Islamic and blasphemous, shows extensive borrowings from Islamic eschatological sources. It later came to be known as “Divine Comedy” for its Christianization of the themes. It is regarded as the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language. Dante lived in an era when southern Europe was in substantial literary and philosophical contact with the Muslim World. Dante’s work shows borrowings from “Risalat-al-Ghufran” (Epistle of Forgiveness) of the atheist Syrian Arabic poet Abu’l Ala al-Ma'arri, who in his imaginary journey in the realms of the afterlife includes dialogues with people in Heaven and Hell. Scholars note that Dante heavily borrowed from “Kitab al-Miraj” of the Iranian Sunni Muslim Hadith scholar, Abu'l-Qasim Abdul-Karim ibn Hawazin ibn Abdul-Malik al-Qushairi an-Naishaburi. Italian philologist Maria Corti has pointed out that during his stay at the court of Alfonso X of Aragon, Dante's mentor Brunetto Latini met Bonaventura de Siena, an Italian who in 1264 had translated the “Kitab al-Miraj” from Arabic into Latin as “Liber Scalae Machometi” (The Book of [Prophet] Mohammad's Ladder). Corti says Brunetto may have given a copy of that work to Dante. In 1919, Professor Miguel Asín Palacios of Spain published “La Escatología Musulmana en la Divina Comedia” (Islamic Eschatology in the Divine Comedy), an account of parallels between Islamic philosophy and Dante’s work, arguing that Dante derived many features of and episodes about the hereafter from the writings of the Spanish Muslim Gnostic Mohy od-Din Ibn al-Arabi. It is also worth noting that Dante’s work gives great respect to the Muslim philosophers Avicenna (Abu Ali Ibn Sina) of Iran and Averroes (Ibn Rushd) of Spain.

579 solar years ago, on this day in 1437 AD, the Battle of Tangier resulted in a crushing defeat for the Portuguese invasion force led by Prince Henry the Navigator, Duke of Viseu at the hands of Moroccan army led by the Marinid vizier, Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi of Fez. The Portuguese intending to seize a series of Moroccan coastal citadels laid siege to Tangier in mid-September. The Moroccans subsequently encircled the Portuguese siege camp and starved it to submission. To preserve his army from destruction, Henry negotiated a treaty promising to return the citadel of Ceuta (occupied earlier in 1415) to Morocco, in return for being allowed to withdraw his troops. As it turned out, the terms of the treaty were never fulfilled; the Portuguese broke their promise to return Ceuta and allowed the Portuguese hostage, the king's own brother, Ferdinand the Holy Prince, to remain in Moroccan captivity, where he perished in 1443. Tangiers was a tremendous setback for the prestige and reputation of Henry the Navigator, who had personally conceived, promoted and led the invasion.

442 solar years ago, on this day in 1574 AD, the Ottoman fleet led by Ulugh Ali Raeis liberated Tunis from Spanish occupation after inflicting a resounding defeat on the combined naval forces of Spain, Portugal, France, and papal states of Italy.

418 solar years ago, on this day in 1598 AD, Philip II of Spain died at the age of 71 after a reign of 42 years during which he was constantly embroiled in naval battles with the Ottoman Turks, who inflicted a number of defeats upon him except for the Battle of Lepanto which he won in 1571 and briefly occupied Tunis. A bigoted Catholic, in addition to being an avowed enemy of Muslims, he considered the Protestants as heretics, and assembled a large armada in 1588 for the abortive invasion of England. In Mediterranean Sea his navy was no match in the battles with the Turkish Muslims. 

134 solar years ago, on this day in 1882 AD, the Battle of Tel al-Kabir is fought as part of the Anglo-Egyptian War. After discontented Egyptian officers under Ahmad Urabi revolted, the British on the pretext of protecting their financial and expansionist interests in the country, and in particular the Suez Canal, attacked the Egyptians and defeated them with the help of 7,000 Indian mercenary troops.

131 solar years ago, on this day in 1885 AD, Portuguese author, Aquilino Ribeiro, was born. Following the completion of his studies, he turned into a political activist and was imprisoned for a while. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in the year 1961. He died in 1963.

116 solar years ago, on this day in 1900 AD, Filipino resistance fighters defeated the US army in the Battle of Pulang Lupa, during the Philippine–American War.

94 solar years ago, on this day in 1922 AD, the Great Fire of Smyrna (Izmir Catastrophe), started four days after the Turkish forces liberated Izmir from Greek occupation, and raged for 10 days until extinguished on September 1922, destroying much of the port city. An estimated 10,000-to-100,000 Greek and Armenian invading troops are said to have perished in the fire while fleeing after their defeat that effectively ended the Greco-Turkish War and the 3-year occupation of Izmir.

93 lunar years ago, on this day in 1344 AH, the greater Gnostic, Ayatollah Mirza Jawad Maliki Tabriz, passed away. Born in Tabriz to the prominent scholar Mirza Shafi, after preliminary studies in his hometown he left for Iraq for higher studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where his teachers included Akhund Khorasani, Muhaddith Noori, and Akhund Hamadani. On his return to Iran he first stayed in Tabriz and during the Constitutional Movement, he moved to holy Qom, where he groomed several studies including Ayatollah Bahaeddini, Sheikh Abbas Tehrani, and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). A prolific writer, his works include “al-Muraqabaat”, “Asraar as-Salaat” and “Risalay-e Liqaollah”.

82 lunar years ago, on this day in 1355 AH, prominent Indian Islamic scholar, Seyyed Abu’l-Hassan Ali, titled Mumtaz ul-Ulema, passed away in his hometown Lucknow. Son of the scholar Seyyed Ibrahim Shams ul-Ulema, for higher studies he went to holy Najaf in Iraq, where his teachers were such leading scholars as Ayatollah Seyyed Kazem Yazdi, Akhund Mullah Mohammad Kazem Khorasani, Sheikh Zain ol-Abedini Mazandarani, and Ziya od-Din Iraqi. On his return to India he spent his time in teaching, and writing books, such as “Ithbat an-Nubuwwa”.

68 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, India’s hardline Deputy Premier, Vallabhbhai Patel, ordered the invasion of the Muslim kingdom of Haiderabad-Deccan to forcibly annex it to India, despite the fact that following the British withdrawal from the Subcontinent in August 1947 and the birth of India and Pakistan, the landlocked kingdom, which was the size of France, had chosen to remain independent, and had even sent a representative to the UN for membership. Britain also betrayed the ruler, Osman Ali Khan Nizam ol-Mulk Asef Jah VII, conveniently forgetting the tens of millions of pound-sterling given by him as aid during the First and Second World Wars, as well as the pacts and treaties with his ancestors at the start of colonial rule. The Indian army invaded from four points and after five days of resistance, Asef Jah, sensing the situation hopeless, negotiated surrender to avoid any further bloodshed of Muslims (200,000 massacred), thereby ending 224 glorious years of the rule of his dynasty. The Indian invasion was codenamed "Operation Polo" since Haiderabad-Deccan had the most number of polo grounds in India – 17 in all.

48 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, Ayatollah Sheikh Abdul-Karim Zanjani passed away in holy Najaf Iraq, at the age of 83. Born in a village near Zanjan in northwestern Iran, after preliminary studies in Iran, at the age of 23 he left for Najaf, where he lived the rest of his life, attaining the status of Ijtehad, grooming scholars, and writing books. An expert in philosophy, jurisprudence, mathematics, theology, exegesis of the holy Qur’an and other Islamic sciences, the works he authored include: “al-Wahi wa’l-Ilham”, “Dhakhirat-as-Salehin” and “Wasilat-an-Najat”.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, the people of Tehran held a massive demonstration to commemorate the traditional 7^th day of the martyrdom of fellow citizens brutally gunned down by the Shah’s forces on September 7. A large number of people moved toward Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery to pay respects at the graves of martyrs. The Shah’s regime intended to block the path, but faced with large number of people chanting revolutionary slogans, backed off.

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, Yasser Arafat formally betrayed the Palestinian cause by signing an agreement with Zionist premier, Yitzhak Rabin, by accepting the existence of the illegal state called Israel, in return for recognition of his Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The Zionist entity, after gaining several concessions from Arafat, made the false promise of granting statehood to the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but has never kept its words till this day.

17 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, prominent Iranian researcher and historian, Morteza Ravandi, passed away at the age of 86. He specialized in law and judicial affairs, devoting his life to the study of the Iranian people’s social issues throughout history. The result was the compiling of the 10-volume Social History of Iran. He also wrote on the Iranian constitution, economic situation, and religious issues. His devotion to Islam is evident in his writings.

AS/ME