Today is Thursday; 15th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1394 solar hijri; corresponding to 24th of the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1437 lunar hijri; and February 4, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1805 solar years ago, on this day in 211 AD, after a reign of 18 blood-soaked years, Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (modern York in Britain) at the age of 65, while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians. He had seized power on the death of Emperor Pertinax, after deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, during the “Year of the Five Emperors”. Of Syrian-Punic origin, he then fought his rival claimants, the generals, Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus, to consolidate his power. Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus in Cilicia in what is now south-central Turkey. Later that year Severus waged a punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier by annexing the Kingdom of Osroene, which was under protection of the Parthian Empire, thereby starting a new phase of Roman-Iranian hostilities. The Battle of Lugdunum (modern Lyon in France) against Albinus was the bloodiest-ever battle between rival Roman armies that resulted in the death of over a 100,000 soldiers. A ruthless pagan, Septimius Severus persecuted monotheists, especially the followers of Prophet Jesus (AS), and waged war against Iran’s Parthian Empire in Iraq, sacking the capital Ctesiphon in 197. Like Trajan a century earlier, he was not much successful, as the Iranians regrouped and forced him to pull back. Although he briefly annexed the upper part of Mesopotamia in what are now northern Syria and southern Turkey, he failed to subdue the impregnable fortress of Hatra near Mosul in what was then the Iranian province of Khavaran, despite two lengthy sieges. Septimius Severus was succeeded by his equally bloodthirsty and treacherous elder son, Caracalla, who soon killed his younger brother and six years later in 217 was destined to meet a miserable death, following his deceitful slaughter in Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan) of the unarmed wedding party of the Parthian Emperor Artabanus’ daughter whom he had tricked into marriage.
1382 solar years ago, on this day in 634 AD, the Battle of Dathin near Gaza in Palestine resulted in the victory of Muslims over Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire and became very famous in the literature of the period. The victory was celebrated by the local Jews, who had been a persecuted minority in the Byzantine Christian Empire. Byzantine commander, Sergius was killed in the encounter. The Muslims were led by Abu Umamah al-Bahili, a companion of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), who later was with the forces of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), in the War of Siffin against the Syrian rebel, Mu’awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan.
1056 solar years ago, on this day in 960 AD, with the coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu, the Song Dynasty started its rule over China that would last more than three centuries. A distinguished military general, Taizu came to power by staging a coup to force the young Emperor Gong of the Zhou Dynasty to abdicate. During his reign, he conquered the states of Southern Tang, Later Shu, Southern Han and Jingnan, thus reunifying most of China proper and effectively ending the tumultuous Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song Dynasty was the first in world history to nationally issue banknotes or true paper money, the first to use gunpowder, and the first to discern the true north by use of compass. The Spanish-Sicilian Muslim geographer Seyyed Mohammad al-Idrisi al-Hassani wrote in 1154 of the prowess of Chinese merchant ships in the Indian Ocean and of their voyages that brought iron, swords, silk, velvet, porcelain, and various textiles to places such as Yemen, the Indus River, and the Euphrates in modern-day Iraq. Foreigners, in turn, had an impact on the Chinese economy. For example, many West Asian and Central Asian Muslims went to China to trade, becoming a preeminent force in the import and export industry, while some were even appointed as officers supervising economic affairs. Many Persian Manicheans also lived in China during the Song era.
1049 lunar years ago, on this day in 388 AH, the lexicographer, literary figure, and theologian, Abu-Ali Mohammad ibn Muzaffar al-Hatami al-Baghdadi, passed away. He has left behind numerous compilations, including the book “al-Hatamiyah”, which is a critical account of poems of his contemporaries.
749 lunar years ago, on this day in 688 AH, the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Mansour Qalawoon liberated Tripoli in northern Lebanon from the Crusader occupiers of Egypt. His victory led to the gradual liberation of Syria and Palestine from the European usurpers.
689 lunar years ago, on this day in 748 AH, Hassan Gangu titled Zafar Khan, was unanimously elected king with the title Ala od-Din Shah Bahmani, following his victory over rivals, who two years earlier had joined together to declare the Deccan (or south India) independent from the tyrannical rule of Sultan Mohammad bin Tughlaq of Hindustan (or northern subcontinent) by placing Naseer od-Din Ismail as the Shah at Daulatabad. Ala od-Din Shah Bahmani, who claimed descent from the legendry Iranian king, Bahman son of Isfandiyar, shifted his capital further south to Gulbarga, and expanded his kingdom in all directions during his 11-year rule. The dynasty he founded ruled for over 170 years – first from Gulbarga and then from Bidar – promoting Islam and Persian language, culture and architecture in southern India, by virtue of its direct sea-route contact with Iran, from where poets, scholars, artists, statesmen, traders and soldiers of fortune flocked to the Bahmani court. The Bahmanis respected Sufi saints and greatly revered Shah Ne’matollah Wali of Kerman for his devotion to the school of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). The Bahmani Empire – that stretched from the western to the eastern coasts of Peninsular India – split into five independent Persianate kingdoms that ensured the independence of the Deccan from Hindustan for another 170 more years until the conquest by Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor. Of the five, the three powerful dynasties (Nizamshahis of Ahmadnagar, Adelshahis of Bijapur and Qutbshahis of Golkandah-Haiderabad) followed the Shi’a Muslim creed and regarded the Safavid rulers of Iran as their emperor.
600 lunar years ago, on this day in 837 AH, the prominent Iranian poet of the Timurid era, Seyyed Moin od-Din Ali Hussaini Sarabi Tabrizi, passed away. Born in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, he was given the title “Qassem al-Anwaar” (Distributor of Lights), by his Sufi master after a vision he had of himself standing in the mosque holding a giant candle, from which members of the congregation lit their own candles. He became a missionary, eventually residing in Herat in Khorasan, northeastern Iran, until he was expelled by Emperor Shahrukh, because of his success in attracting disciples. He took refuge at the court of Shahrukh's son, Ulugh Beg the scientist, in Samarqand in what is now Uzbekistan. He wrote mystical treatises and a collection of poems including ghazals.
227 solar years ago, on this day in 1789 AD, George Washington, the Commander-in-Chief of the American army during the 8-year long war of independence from British rule, was unanimously elected as the first President of the United States of America. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the US and presided over the drafting of the constitution. He served for president for two 4-year terms.
117 solar years ago, on this day in 1899 AD, the Battle of Manila, the first and largest battle between the Philippines and the US invasion forces, was fought and ended the following day in the massacre of the Filipino people. Hardly a year after Filipino revolutionaries had proclaimed the country as Republic under President Emilio Aguinaldo to end over three centuries of rule by Spain, the US intervened on the claim that it had bought Philippines from Spain for 20,000 dollars as per the 1898 Treaty. During World War 2 Japan seized the Philippines and massacred over a million people in the course of five years. In 1945, the US reoccupied it and was forced to grant independence the next year, but has continued to control the successive governments by basing thousands of troops, against the will of the Filipino people. Some 20 percent of the Filipinos are Muslim, mainly concentrated in the Sulu archipelago of the south, which was an independent sultanate before the Spaniards occupied the Philippines and forcibly Christianized the people at a time when Islam was fast spreading.
71 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, following setbacks suffered by German forces in World War II, the Yalta Conference was held in the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea, attended by Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and US President Franklin Roosevelt. The goal was to study the latest political and military state of the warring parties and determine the fate of territories occupied by Allied Forces. At the conference, the decision was made about terms of unconditional submission to be imposed on Germany, with the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union each occupying a part of Germany. France was also invited to seize a part of Germany as the 4th member state of the supervisory committee. Other decisions taken at Yalta included Germany’s disarmament; prosecution of war criminals and receipt of war reparations from Germany. Three months after the Yalta Conference, World War II ended with Germany’s submission in May, 1945.
68 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, Sri Lanka gained independence from British rule. Located off the southern coast of India and known as Ceylon, this emerald-shaped island was first occupied by the Portuguese and later by the Dutch, before the British seized it in 1798. In 1931, the British were forced to grant the right to vote to the people followed by establishment of the parliament and the executive council. In 1972, Sri Lanka officially became a republic. It is interesting to note that in Islamic texts Sri Lanka is called “Sarendib” and is the location of the descent to earth of the Father of the human race, Adam, after he fell to the temptations of the Satan to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. There are huge footprints in stone attributed to Adam on the 2,243 meter-high Adam's Peak of a conical mountain located in central Sri Lanka. Incidentally the 30-km long chain of islands separating the Gulf of Mannar from the Palk Strait is called Adam's Bridge. Geological evidence suggests that these islands were a land connection between India and Sri Lanka, and the route was used by Adam to cross into the Subcontinent, from where, via the Iranian Plateau, he travelled towards the Arabian Peninsula to find his long separated wife, Eve.
37 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, in a futile bid to mislead the Iranian people, Shapour Bakhtiar, the prime minister of the fugitive Shah, harped on democracy and freedom, saying he won't allow the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him), to name the provisional government. He made bombastic statements while his regime no longer controlled the country in view of nationwide public strikes and demonstrations, coupled with desertion of troops from barracks and resignation of government officials.
23 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, Iranian poetess, Sarvar Bakuchi, known as Sepideh Kashani, passed away at the age of 56. She was born in a religious family in the central Iranian city of Kashan and following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, composed revolutionary poetry dedicated to the cause of the Islamic Republic.
AS/ME