Today is Thursday; 14th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 7th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1438 lunar hijri; and May 4, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1391 lunar years ago, on this day in 47 AH, Qasim was born to Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS) – the elder grandson and 2^nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). His mother was the noble lady Omm Farwa, and he was in his 14^th year when he attained martyrdom in Karbala during the heartrending tragedy of the Day of Ashura (Moharram 10). His uncle, Imam Husain (AS), was reluctant to give him permission to go to the battlefield because of his young age, but on repeated insistence, he agreed. Of handsome stature, Qasim displayed extraordinary skills in swordsmanship against the bloodthirsty Omayyad hordes of Yazid, dispatching several of them to the bowels of hell, including the Syrian stalwart Azraq ash-Shami. Qasim was struck from behind and fell from his horse, but before Imam Husain (AS) could come to his help, he was martyred. Devotees commemorate Qasim’s martyrdom every year with special insignias in his honour.

1011 solar years ago, on this day in 1006 AD, the Persian Gnostic poet and scholar, Khwajah Abdullah Ansari, was born in the northeastern Iranian city of Herat, which is now in Afghanistan, but was then an integral part of Khorasan. He was a commentator of the holy Qur'an, a compiler of hadith, and known for his oratory and poetic talents in Arabic and Persian. He wrote several books on Islamic mysticism and philosophy. His most famous work is "Munajat Namah", which is considered a masterpiece of Persian literature. His exegesis on the holy Qur'an is titled “Kashf al-Asrar” and was compiled in 10 volumes by his disciples after his death. He used to avoid the company of the rich, powerful and the influential. Abdullah Ansari was a direct descendant of the Prophet's companion and host in Medina, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. He died in 1088 in his hometown Herat.  He is the ancestor of the line of the Heravi Khajavi in Iran, who once dominated Khorasan and eastern Iran. Some of his descendants moved to the Subcontinent. Among them was Hakim Shaikh Ilm ud-din Ansari, better known as Wazir Khan, who was a governor of the Mughal Emperors in Multan, in what is now Pakistan. He is best known for having built the famous Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore. His other prominent descendent was Qutb ud-din Ansari who founded the Firangi Mahal school of religious thought and education, near Lucknow in India.

511 solar years ago, on this day in 1506 AD, Sultan Hussain Bayqarah, the Timurid ruler of Herat died at the age of 68, after a 38-year rule during which he patronized Persian art, architecture and literature. For a time, he was involved in struggle for supremacy with other Timurid princes and the Aq Qoyunlu Turkish tribe for domination of Khorasan and eastern Iran. His boundary with the Aq Qoyunlu started on the southern edge of the Caspian Sea, running south, then east across the north of the Dasht-e Lout, and ending at Lake Hamun. His border with the northern Timurid rulers was the Oxus River. Sultan Hussain Bayqara was viewed as "a good king, a lover of peace and justice", and he built numerous structures including a famous school. His vizier was the famous scholar and patron of Persian literature, Ali Shir Navaie.

363 solar years ago, on this day in 1654 AD, the Kangxi Emperor, the 4^th ruler of the Qing dynasty of China was born in Beijing Shunzhi Emperor. His reign of 61 years makes him the longest-reigning emperor in Chinese history and one of the longest-reigning rulers in the world. However, since he ascended the throne at the age of seven, actual power was held for six years by four regents and his grandmother, the Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. Kangxi is considered one of China's greatest emperors. He suppressed the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, forced the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan to submit to Qing rule, blocked Tsarist Russia on the Amur River and expanded the empire in the northwest. He also accomplished such literary feats as the compilation of the Kangxi Dictionary. His reign brought about long-term stability and relative wealth after years of war and chaos. By the end of his reign, the Qing Empire controlled all of China proper, Taiwan, Manchuria, part of the Russian Far East (Outer Manchuria), both Inner and Outer Mongolia, and Tibet proper. He died in 1722 AD at the age of 68.

218 solar years ago, on this day in 1799 AD, the British-imposed Battle of Seringapatam ended with the martyrdom of the Muslim ruler of Mysore in southern India, Fath Ali Khan Tipu Sultan. The British colonialists had started the 4th Mysore in violation of the treaty for peace, since they feared Tipu Sultan's growing ties with Napoleon Bonaparte of France, as well as his correspondence with the Ottoman Empire and the rulers of Iran. Fath Ali Shah Qajar dispatched a force of 6,000 Iranians to assist Tipu, but because of the sea journey the contingent arrived after the fall of Seringapatam. Tipu was an enlightened ruler and patronized Arabic and Persian literature. He also experimented with the manufacture of artillery rockets, which greatly alarmed the British. Among the reliable history books of the Muslim Dynasty of Mysore founded by Tipu's father, Hyder Ali Khan, is “Nishan-e Haideri”, and “Tadhkirat-al-Belaad wa’l-Hukkaam” written by the migrant Iranian scholar to his court, Hussain Ali Khan Kirmani.

210 solar years ago, on this day in 1807 AD, Iran and France concluded the Treaty of Finckenstein (also spelled Finkenstein), at the palace of the same name in Eastern Prussia (Germany), thereby formalizing the Franco-Persian alliance. Napoleon I, who was embroiled in wars against European states, guaranteed the integrity of Persia, recognized part of Georgia and other eastern Transcaucasia as Fath Ali Shah Qajar's possession, and promised to make all possible efforts for restoring those Russian occupied territories to Iran. France on its side required the Shah to declare war against Britain, to expel all Britons from Iran, and to come to an understanding with the Afghans with a view to a joint Franco-Persian-Afghan invasion of British India. France, however, failed to capitalize on diplomatic efforts in Iran as Napoleon entered into an amity accord with Russia, thereby leaving Iran on its own in the face of Russian aggression. Thus, none of the terms of the 16-point Finckenstein Treaty were realized. On 12 March 1809, Britain forced Fath Ali Shah Qajar to sign a treaty forcing the French out of Iran.

72 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, the official dissolution of the German Nazi Party took place. The Nazi Party was established in October 1920. The Nazi Party intended to unite German-speaking peoples to create a powerful empire that would expand its territories. Upon the defeat of Adolf Hitler in World War II, the Nazi Party was declared illegal.

47 solar years ago, on this day in 1970 AD, during the Vietnam War, four unarmed students, protesting the American invasion of Cambodia, were brazenly shot to death by US soldiers of the Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before. Nine other students were injured by the brutal US forces.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1980 AD, Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav World War Two marshal and 1^st President of Yugoslavia died at the age of 88 after 27 years as head of state. He was a socialist but resisted the Soviet Union’s domination by making Yugoslavia a neutral state. He gained international attention as the chief leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, working with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India, President Jamal Abdun-Nasser of Egypt and President Sukarno of Indonesia. Tito was a Croat and tried to spread out the Serbs over the six Yugoslav republics so that they would not dominate the country. His ill-advised policy was considered a major cause of the Bosnian war in the 1990s.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1983 AD, the Tudeh Party was disbanded following fresh disclosures about its treacherous role in collaboration with the Soviet Union to stage a coup against the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The vigilance of devout and revolutionary army personnel and security forces foiled this plot. Set up in 1941 with a communist policy, Tudeh had turned into the Soviet Union’s 5th column in Iran and betrayed the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry by openly calling for the handing over of northern Iran’s oil sources to Moscow. Tudeh Party leaders, in their confessions, admitted to collaboration with the Soviet Union against Islamic Iran.

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, Ayatollah Seyyed Amir Mohammad Kazemi Qazvini passed away at the age of 77 and was laid to rest in Qom in the holy mausoleum of Hazrat Ma’souma (peace upon her). Born in Kuwait in a scholarly family of Iranian origin, when he was 7 years his family moved to Basra in Iraq, and at the age of 18 he enrolled at the famous seminary of holy Najaf. On attaining ijtehad, he settled in Basra and embarked on teaching, preaching and writing books. This alarmed the repressive Ba’th minority regime, which intended to burn his house. Ayatollah Seyyed Amir Mohammad Kazemi Qazvini was forced to relocate to Kuwait in 1971. He wrote some 40 valuable books on different Islamic topics.

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran called for independent verification of US claims it has pared its stockpile of nuclear warheads to 5,113. Iran also queried whether the US was justified in holding such a lethal load of doomsday weapons and was experimenting with more destructive nuclear weapons, while pressuring independent countries to stop their scientific efforts for peaceful use of nuclear energy.

AS/ME