Today is Thursday; 1st of the Iranian month of Mehr 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to the 20th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Hijjah 1437 lunar hijri; and September 22, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2496 solar years ago, on this day in 480 BC, the Battle of Salamis occurred. A Greek fleet under Themistocles defeated the Persian fleet under Xerxes I. The battle was fought in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens, and marked the high-point of the second Persian invasion of Greece. To block the Persian advance, a small force of Greeks blocked the pass of Thermopylae, while an Athenian-dominated Allied navy engaged the Persian fleet in the nearby straits of Artemisium. In the resulting Battle of Thermopylae, the rearguard of the Greek force was annihilated, whilst in the Battle of Artemisium the Greeks had heavy losses and retreated after the loss at Thermopylae. This allowed the Persians to conquer Boeotia and Attica. The Allies prepared to defend the Isthmus of Corinth whilst the fleet was withdrawn to nearby Salamis Island, where it was defeated.

496 solar years ago, on this day in 1520 AD, the Ottoman sultan, Selim I, died at the age of 55 after a reign of 8 years, some 3 years after seizing Syria and Egypt from the Mamluk rulers and declaring himself caliph, although he had no right or legitimacy even from the Sunni point of view. In 1512, he had usurped the throne by dethroning his father, Bayazid II and immediately embarked on fratricide, killing his brothers and cousins. An accomplished poet in both his native Turkish and in Persian, he was of violent temper and notorious for his frequent killing of his viziers and the genocide of Shi'ite Muslims in Anatolia because of his fears of the growing influence of the Safavid Dynasty of Iran, against whom he was lucky to win the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514. His bid to build an alliance with Ubaydollah Khan Shaybani of Bukhara and the Timurid prince of Kabul, Zaheer od-Din Babar, against the Safavids failed. Babar (the future founder of the Mughal Empire of the Subcontinent) spurned the offer and opted to join Shah Ismail, while Shaybani was killed in battle by Iranians.

314 solar years ago, on this day in 1702 AD, Ottoman Grand Vizier, Koprulu Hussein Pasha, passed away at the age of 58 after five years as prime minister. Of Albanian origin, he had spent his youth in the Ottoman Province of Bulgharistan (Bulgaria), and had taken part as a senior military officer in the failed siege of Vienna in 1683. He was appointed Grand Vizier by Sultan Mustafa in 1697 following the disastrous Turkish defeat in the Battle of Zenta by European powers that resulted in the signing of the humiliating Peace Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, according to which the Ottomans ceded to the Habsburg Monarchy, all of the Province of Majaristan (Hungary) including Transylvania; while Podolia was given to Poland and most of Dalmatia and Morea (the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece) passed to Venice. Hussein Pasha carried out significant reforms in agriculture, economy and military. As a member of the Mowlavi Dervesh Order founded in Anatolia by the famous Iranian mystic and Persian poet, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Balkhi Roumi, he was close to ordinary Muslims and was concerned with the needs of the common people as well as those of the military and bureaucratic classes.

227 solar years ago, on this day in 1789 AD, the Battle of Ramnic took place in Wallachia, near Ramnicu Sarat, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792. Russian general Alexander Suvorov, acting together with the Habsburg general Prince Josias of Coburg, attacked the main Ottoman army under Grand Vizier Hassan Pasha to inflict a crushing defeat.

225 solar years ago, on this day in 1791 AD, British physicist, Michael Faraday, was born near London. He initially worked in a bookshop, where he studied scientific works. A few years later, he became a laboratory assistant to the physicist, Humphrey Davy at the Royal Institution. His most important work was in electromagnetism, in which field he demonstrated electromagnetic rotation and discovered electromagnetic induction (the key to the development of the electric dynamo and motor). With this discovery in 1831, a huge step was taken in the scientific field. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology. He made valuable experiments in the fields of chemistry, metallurgy, and development of electrical lamps. One of the important rules of physics, the SI unit of capacitance is named in his honour: the farad. He was one of the first scientists who managed to liquefy many gases, including chlorine. He died at the age of 76.

188 solar years ago, on this day in 1828 AD, Shaka Zulu, the founder of the Zulu Kingdom in present day South Africa, was killed by his two step brothers after a reign of 13 years. One of his brothers who succeeded him fought the Dutch invaders, known as Boers, from 1830 to 1839. In 1880, the new colonial power, Britain, occupied the Zulu kingdom and divided it into several parts. Zulus are currently considered a powerful minority in South Africa and are represented by the Inkatha Freedom Party.

156 solar years ago, on this day in 1860 AD, war broke out between China and a joint invasion force of the French and British. The poorly-equipped Chinese suffered defeat and the British-French force plundered Beijing. China was forced to sign a treaty giving numerous concessions to Britain and France to monopolize Chinese seaports.

108 lunar years ago, on this day in 1329 AH, Ayatollah Akhound Mullah Mohammad Kazem Khorasani, one of the prominent ulema and pioneers of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran, passed away. He was a product of famous Islamic seminary of holy Najaf, in Iraq, and his teachers included the celebrated Ayatollah Sheikh Morteza Ansari Dezfuli. His famous work “Kifayat al-Osoul” on principles of jurisprudence is still taught at Islamic seminaries in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, India, Pakistan, and elsewhere.

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, the northwest African country of Mali gained independence from French colonial rule. An ancient centre of civilization, Mali had accepted Islam over a thousand years ago and founded a glorious Muslim empire that lasted till the 16th century. The first attacks were made by Morocco that led to the disintegration of the Mali Empire and in the subsequent centuries paved the way for France to penetrate and occupy it by 1898. Mali which was called French Sudan gained autonomy in 1958 followed by independence in 1960. It covers an area of over 1.2 million sq km and shares borders with Algeria, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Senegal.

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1965 AD, the second Indo-Pakistani War (also known as the Second Kashmir War between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, ended after the UN called for a ceasefire. India's Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, suffered a fatal heart attack soon after the declaration of the ceasefire, during the peace talks in Tashkent with Pakistan’s president, General Ayyub Khan, under the auspices of the Soviet Union.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, Indian-Pakistani Islamic scholar and journalist, Abu’l-Ala Maududi, passed away at the age of 76 in Buffalo New York State, US, where he was undergoing medical treatment. Born in Aurangabad, in the Hyderabad-Deccan Muslim state, he migrated to Pakistan on its creation. Earlier in 1941, he had founded the Jama’at-e Islami in British India, which is now the largest Islamic organisation in Pakistan. His numerous works were written in Urdu and included the analytical book titled “Khilafat va Muloukiyat” (Caliphate and Monarchy), in which he has strongly criticized Osman ibn Affan, the 3rd self-styled caliph, as incompetent and unworthy.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1980 AD, Saddam of the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Baghdad, six days after tearing in front of TV cameras the 1975 Algiers Accord, launched an unprovoked invasion of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the behest of his masters in London and Washington, by air, land and sea. He occupied vast parts of southwestern and western Iran. In response the Iranians started the holy defence that thwarted all plans of the occupier and his eastern and western backers. For 8 years, the Iranian Muslims defended their homeland and managed to drive out the Ba’thist forces from almost all occupied Iranian territory. The US and Saddam, fearing the impact of the Islamic Revolution had resorted to wanted war, but as is clear today by the friendly ties between the Iranian and Iraqi people, they failed miserably. Every year Iran commemorates the Holy Defence Week to promote and preserve its egalitarian values.

18 lunar years ago, on this day in 1419 AH, the Gnostic, Ayatollah Seyyed Abdul-Karim Kashmiri, passed away in holy Qom at the age of 72. Born in holy Najaf, Iraq, he was a prodigy, who attained the status of Ijtehad at a young age, while studying under Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qassim Khoei. His other teachers included the famous scholars, Seyyed Abdul-A’ala Sabzewari and Seyyed Abdul-Hadi Shirazi. A prolific teacher, he used to give lessons on a wide variety of subjects every day, such as jurisprudence, theology, philosophy, and Arabic literature. In addition, he was an outstanding researcher as well as a Gnostic, renowned for his spiritual qualities. Because of the persecution of ulema and Iraq’s Shi’a Muslim majority by Saddam of the repressive Ba’th minority regime, he migrated to Iran and settled in Qom. On the border, the Ba’thist forces seized his scholarly diaries which contained his valuable researches. 

10 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement, the Hezbollah celebrated "Divine Victory" over the illegal Zionist entity, in a massive demonstration in Beirut, following Israel’s shattering defeat in its 33-day unprovoked war.

AS/MG