Today is Wednesday; 15thof the Iranian month of Dey 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 5thof the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1438 lunar hijri; and January 4, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

499 solar years ago, on this day in 1517 AD, the Battle of Ridhaniya near Cairo, led to the total victory of the Ottoman Turks of Sultan Salim I over the Turkic Mamluk dynasty of Egypt and the killing of Sultan Bay. In this battle, the Ottoman commander, Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha, who had the engineered a resounding victory over the Mamluks in the decisive Battle of Khan Yunus in Gaza on October 28, lost his life. This last phase of the Ottoman-Mamluk wars started in August 1516, when Sultan Salim, two years after his narrow victory at Chaldiran in Azarbaijan over the Shah of Persia, Ismail I, suddenly invaded Syria, since he greatly feared the Iranians might reorganize and counterattack in view of the widespread influence of the Safavids in Syria and Anatolia (modern day Turkey). The collapse of the 267-year rule of the Mamluks over Egypt-Syria meant the transformation of the Ottoman dominion from a realm at the margin of Islamic lands located in Asia Minor and southwestern Europe, into a huge empire encompassing the historical cities of Cairo, Damascus, Bayt al-Moqaddas and Aleppo, as well as the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, since the Sharif of Hejaz, pledged allegiance to Sultan Salim, who despite being a Turk, started calling himself the Caliph of Muslims.

217 solar years ago, on this day in 1809 AD; French educator, Louis Braille, who developed a tactile form of printing and writing, known as braille, since widely adopted by the blind, was born. He himself knew blindness from the age four, following an accident while playing. In 1821, while he was at a school for the blind, a soldier named Charles Barbier visited and showed a code system he had invented. The system called "night writing”, had been designed for soldiers in war trenches to silently pass instructions using combinations of twelve raised dots. Young Braille realised how useful this system dots could be. He developed a simpler scheme using six dots. In 1827 the first book in braille was published. Now the blind could write it for themselves using a simple style to make dots.

171 lunar years ago, on this day in 1267 AH, the first Persian-language paper of Iran, “Vaqayeh Ettefaqiyeh”, was published in Tehran in the third year of Naser od-Din Shah Qajar's reign, due to the effort of the famous vizier, Mirza Taqi Khan Amir Kabir. The editor-in-chief was Mirza Tazkerahchi, and its columns included news on the Iranian government, world developments, and translation of scientific articles published in the European press. Ironically, the 49th edition of this paper reported the martyrdom of this highly qualified, patriotic premier. Overall, 472 editions of this paper were published and later its publication continued under other names

139 solar years ago, on this day in 1878 AD, the Muslim city of Sofia was seized by the Russians from the Ottomans and turned into the capital of the newly established principality of Bulgaria, after ethnic cleansing on a large scale that saw expulsion of thousands of Muslims and destruction of mosques. It was in 1382 that Sofia had been liberated by Muslims and made seat of the newly created Sanjak of Sofia 1393. In the next century it became the capital of the Ottoman Province of Rumelia and for more than four centuries was a thriving city. In the 16th century, Sofia's urban layout and appearance began to exhibit a clear Islamic style, with many mosques, madrasahs, libraries, caravanserais, fountains and hamams (bathhouses). During that time the town had a population of around 7,000. Today nothing exists of the rich Islamic heritage, and only a very small number of Bulgarian Muslims survive in their homeland, after being forced to renounce their Islamic identity and religion over the past century.

109 lunar years ago, on this day in 1328 AH, Leaders of Iran’s Constitutional Movement, Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan, arrived in Tehran after successfully defeating the forces of the corrupt Qajarid ruler, Mohammad Ali Shah, who had besieged Tabriz in northwestern Iran for 11 months. The courage and prudence of Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan was among the key leading factors to the success of the Iranian people’s movement against despotism.

78 solar years ago, on this day in 1939 AD, Ayatollah Mir Seyyed Mohammad Modarres Najafabadi passed away at the age of 62. He studied preliminary sciences in his hometown near Isfahan, before leaving for Iraq for higher studies in the famous seminary of holy Najaf. On his return to Isfahan, he taught for more than thirty years, grooming a large number of students, some of them which became prominent scholars. Among his works is the famous annotation titled “Hashiyaala Kifayat al-Osoul”.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, Burma, also known as Myanmar, gained independence from British colonial rule after a century of occupation, following two major wars and annexation to India. In 1937, it was separated from British India, because of nationalistic sentiments. During World War II it was occupied by Japanese forces, and after the war re-occupied briefly by the British before achieving independence. Myanmar covers an area of 670,000 sq km and is situated in Southeast Asia. It shares borders with China, India, Laos, Bangladesh, and Thailand. The current regime is notorious for is indifference to the genocide of its Muslim minority, especially the Rohingyas.

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1966 AD, the Tashkent conference was held with the mediation of the Soviet Union to broker peace between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the 1965 war. Pakistan was represented by President Ayub Khan and India by Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who died of a heart attack in Tashkent shortly after signing the accord.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, Iranian university students boycotted classes in protest to the visit to Tehran by US president Jimmy Carter and his support for the repressive Pahlavi regime despite his claims to defend human rights and democracy.

22 solar years ago,  on this day in 1995 AD, Air force commander, Mansour Sattari, was martyred in an air crash at the age of 46. A professional pilot with military training, he served Iran with distinction during the 8-year war imposed on the Islamic Republic by the US through its agent, Saddam of the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Baghdad.

10 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, Afro-American Keith Ellison of Minnesota's 5th District became the first Muslim member of the US Congress, and he took oath of allegiance by placing his hand on the holy Qur’an.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, Tunisian vendor, Mohammad Bouazizi, died 18 days after self-immolation in the city of Bouzid, in protest to state oppression. His funeral triggered nationwide demonstrations serving as a catalyst to the Islamic Awakening that triumphed ten days later on January 14 with the collapse of the 23-year dictatorial regime of President Zain al-Abedin bin Ali. The historic chain of events soon changed the authoritarian regimes in Libya, Egypt, and Yemen, and has continued to rock Bahrain.

AS/ME