Today is Thursday; 21st of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 14th of the Islamic month of Sha'ban 1438 lunar hijri; and May 11, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1149 solar years ago, on this day in 868 AD, the Buddhist scripture “Diamond Sutra” was printed in China, making it the first known dated printed book. It was made as a 16-ft scroll with six sheets of text printed from wood blocks and one sheet with a woodcut showing the Buddha with disciples and a pair of cats. The sheets measured 12 inches by 30 inches and were pasted together. The date is known from a colophon at the end stating it was “printed on 11 May 868, by Wang Chieh, for free general distribution” and that it was dedicated to his parents. The scroll was one of about 1,130 bundles of manuscripts found a thousand years later, walled up in one of the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas in Turkestan. It is now in the British Library.

1105 solar years ago, on this day in 912 AD, Byzantine Emperor, Leo VI, died shortly after suffering a humiliating defeat by the Muslim army that avenged his aggression on Cyprus. Of doubtful paternity, since his mother was the mistress of Emperor Michael III and at the same time the wife of the future Emperor Basil the Macedonian, he succeeded to the throne on the latter's death and ruled for 26 years till his own death in 912. His reign saw the loss of more territory to the Muslims in both Sicily and in Asia Minor, as well as islands in the Aegean Sea. The greatest setback for him was in 904, when the Greek Muslim admiral, Raseq al-Wardami, sailing from Syria, took control of Thessalonica, the second largest city of the Byzantium Empire. After a week's stay, during which he seized some 60 ships and forced the Christians to free over 4,000 Muslim prisoners, Raseq sailed back to the Levant. Raseq, who was born in a Christian family and named Leo by his parents, was an officer in the Byzantine navy before discovering the truth of Islam and joining the Muslims. Also known as Ghulam Zurafa, three years later in 907, he had sailed up the Dardanelles and besieged Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, much to the horror of Emperor Leo VI. In May 912, just before the humiliated Leo VI died, Raseq al-Wardami and his fellow Greek Muslim admiral, Damian of Tarsus, known by his Muslim name, Ghulam Yazman, decisively defeated the Byzantine admiral, Himerios, off the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea, in retaliation for an attack by Christians on the Muslims of Cyprus.

1003 solar years ago, on this day in 1014 AD, Anawrahta Minsaw, founder of the Pagan Empire of Burma was born. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, he turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that formed the basis of modern-day Burma (Myanmar). Historically verifiable Burmese history begins with his accession to the Pagan throne in 1044. Anawrahta unified the entire Irrawaddy valley for the first time in history, and placed neighbourng regions such as the Shan States and Arakan (Northern Rakhine) under Pagan's suzerainty. He successfully stopped the advance of the Hindu Khmer Empire of Thailand into Tenasserim coastline and into Upper Menam valley. A strict disciplinarian, Anawrahta implemented a series of key social, Buddhist religious and economic reforms that would have a lasting impact in Burmese history. His social and religious reforms later developed into the modern-day Burmese culture. By building a series of weirs, he turned parched, arid regions around Pagan into the main rice granaries of Upper Burma, giving Upper Burma an enduring economic base from which to dominate the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery in the following centuries. He bequeathed a strong administrative system.

799 lunar years ago, on this day in 639 AH, the Shafe'i theologian and scientist, Kamal od-Din Ibn Younus, passed away in his hometown Mosul. A product of the famous Nizamiyya Academy of Baghdad founded by the Iranian vizier of the Seljuqid Dynasty, Nizam ol-Molk Tusi, he had studied mathematics and geometry under the Iranian scientist, Sharaf od-Din Tusi. He was also an astronomer and physician, and among his books is “al-Asrar as-Sultaniyyah” on astronomy.

713 solar years ago, on this day in 1304 AD, Mahmoud Ghazan, the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division that was based in modern-day Iran, and included Iraq and parts of Central Asia and the Caucasus, died. He was the son of Arghun and grandson of Abaqa, continuing a line of rulers who were direct descendants of the fearsome Genghis Khan. Considered the most prominent of the Ilkhans, he is best known for accepting the truth of Islam in 1295 when he ascended the throne – though to a Buddhist father and raised by his mother as a Christian. On conversion to Islam at the hands of Ibrahim ibn Mohammad ibn Hamawaiyh Khorasani al-Juwaini, he changed his first name to Mahmoud, and Islam gained popularity within Mongol territories beyond Iran. His principal wife was Kokechin, a Mongol princess sent to Iran by his distant cousin Kublai Khan the ruler of China, and escorted by the famous Italian traveler Marco Polo. Military conflicts during Ghazaan's reign included war with the Egyptian Mamluks for control of Syria, and battles with the Mongol Chaghatai Khanate of Central Asia. He also had diplomatic contacts with Europe. His capital was Maragheh in today's East Azarbaijan Province, west of Tehran.

596 lunar years ago, on this day in 842 AH, the North African Maliki jurisprudent and literary figure, Mohammad ibn Ahmad Ibn Marzouq al-Hafeed, passed away. He performed the Hajj pilgrimage twice at a young age, and travelled over most of North Africa, Egypt, Syria and Constantinople. He belonged to the famous Ibn Marzouq Family of Tilmisan that produced theologians, literary figures, and politicians who significantly influenced the Islamic culture of the people of what is now Algeria and Morocco. He has left behind several books, including a book in verse on the science of hadith, titled “al-Hadiqah”.

257 solar years ago, on this day in 1760 AD, King Alaungpaya, founder of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar), died at the age of 46. By the time of his death from illness during his campaign in Siam, this former chief of a small village in Upper Burma had unified Burma, subdued Manipur, conquered Lan Na and driven out the French and the British who had given help to the Mon Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom. He also founded Yangon in 1755. He is considered one of the three greatest monarchs of Burma alongside Anawrahta and Bayinnaung for unifying Burma for the third time in Burmese history.

192 lunar years ago, on this day in 1246 AH, the famous Arabic poet, Seyyed Haidar ibn Seyyed Sulaiman al-Hilli, was born in Iraq. He was a master of elegies on the tragic martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3^rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

160 solar years ago, on this day in 1857 AD, a major uprising occurred in India against the British. Although there was growing resentment over the years against the high-handed policies of the British, including replacement of the Persian language with English in order to sever the cultural bonds with Iran and Afghanistan, the incident that acted as the spark was the report that rifle cartridges were greased with pig and cow fat – the former unlawful for the Muslims and the latter sacred to the Hindus. This made the native soldiers, called Sepoys by the British – corruption of the Persian word 'Sepahi' – revolt against their colonial officers at Meerut. The incident soon escalated into open rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to present-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern Madhya Pradesh, and the Delhi region. Other parts of British-controlled India, such as Bengal, the Bombay Presidency, and the Madras Presidency, remained largely calm. In Punjab, the Sikhs backed the British by providing soldiers against fellow Indians. The large semi-independent states of Hyderabad-Deccan, Mysore, Travancore, and Kashmir, as well as the smaller ones of Rajputana, did not join the uprising. In some areas, such as Awadh, the uprising took on the attributes of a patriotic revolt against British presence, since a year earlier the Naishapuri Iranian-origin dynasty of Wajed Ali Shah had been removed from power. The uprising, which the British called 'Mutiny' and which modern India calls 'The First War of Independence', ended a year later in June 1858, as the British resorted to untold atrocities. The prime casualties were the Muslims of northern India, including the last titular Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the figurehead of the uprising, who was exiled to Burma, but not before the British shot three of his sons in front of him, and later sadistically presented their decapitated heads, placed in trays as Nowrouz gift, for the aging father. The three hundred-year-rule of the Timurid Dynasty thus ended, and India was directly placed under the British crown with Queen Victoria as Empress.

153 solar years ago, on this day in 1864 AD, Anglo-Irish novelist, Ethel Lilian Boole, who after marriage to an anglicized Russian émigré, Wilfrid Michael, adopted his surname “Voynich”, was born in Cork. She was a supporter of several revolutionary causes, and was a significant figure, not only on the late Victorian literary scene, but also in Russian émigré circles. She often led a morally-loose life, and is best known for her novel “The Gadfly”, which became popular in her lifetime, especially in Russia.

137 lunar years ago, on this day in 1301 AH, the Iranian author and poet, Mirza Morteza Khan, who wrote under the penname “Farhang”, was born in Tehran. As a teenager he joined the freedom fighters during the Constitutional Movement, and started work as a journalist. As part of his political activities, he published three papers, namely “Farhang”, “Khavarestan”, and “Pa-e Takht”. For a period he was in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and lived for some years in Europe in the cities of Vienna, Paris, and Switzerland, studying and promoting Islamic sciences and teachings.

113 solar years ago, on this day in 1904 AD, Spanish surrealist painter and founder of the Cubism Style, Salvador Dali, was born. His talent in painting became apparent in his youth and thereafter he catapulted to global fame. Dalí attributed his love of everything that is gilded and excessive, as well as oriental clothes to a self-styled "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Muslim Moors. He died in 1989.

105 solar years ago, on this day in 1912 AD, the famous Urdu novelist, Saadat Hassan Manto was born in Ludhiana in what is now India's Punjab state. He is best known for his short stories, such 'Bu' (Odour), "Khol Do" (Open It), "Thanda Gosht" (Cold Meat), and his magnum opus, "Toba Tek Singh". For a while he lived in Bombay and wrote film scripts, before migration to Pakistan in 1948. He died in Lahore in 1955. In his short life, Manto published twenty-two collections of short stories, one novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two personal sketches.

82 solar years ago, on this day in 1935 AD, the first TV transmitter was officially launched in the German city of Berlin. Due to the efforts of one of the main inventors of television, Powell Nipco, in transforming waves into picture, this transmitter was named after him.

47 solar years ago, on this day in 1970 AD, as per UN Security Council Resolution 278, Bahrain was declared an independent state, following a so-called opinion poll conducted among tribal leaders and selective groups in the 33-island Persian Gulf archipelago by Vittorio Winspeare-Giucciardi, Manager of the United Nations office in Geneva, in the aftermath of Tehran's demand for a referendum to determine the Bahraini people's views for return to Iran's sovereignty. Throughout history, dating from pre-Islamic times, Bahrain has been an integral part of Iran. After the advent of Islam and weakening of the Abbasid caliphate, Bahrain was part of the Baghdad-based Iranian Buwaiyhid Empire, followed by the sovereignty over it of Seljuqid Iran, Ilkhanid Iran, Safavid Iran, Qajarid Iran, as well as the brief rules in between by Nader Shah Afshar and Karim Khan Zand. It was in the early 1800s, during a period of weakening of Qajarid rule that Bahrain was seized by pirates of the tribe of Aal-e Khalifa who were driven from their area of operation in the Khor Abdullah waterway between Kuwait and Iraq by the Ottoman Turkish governor of Basra. The Aal-e Khalifa brutally subdued the Shi'ite Muslim majority of Bahrain, both Arabs and Iranians, and sought British protection to prevent Iran from retaking it. Iran, however, continued to protest to Britain for its occupation of what Tehran considered a part of its soil. After World War 2 and in view of Britain's plan to withdraw from all its colonial possessions in the Persian Gulf, Iran pressed hard for a referendum that unnerved the Aal-e Khalifa minority regime and made it further repress the aspirations of the Bahraini people. Iran's parliament passed a bill in November 1957 declaring Bahrain to be the 14th province of Iran, with two empty seats allocated for its representatives. At this time, Britain set out to change the demographics of Bahrain through its policy of “de-Iranisation” which included importing a large number of different Arabs and others from British colonies as labourers. Demonstrations in 1956 forced the Aal-e Khalifa rulers to leave Manama (the capital) for the village of Refae al-Gharbi where only the Sunni Arab minority resides. Mass demonstrations against the detested rule of the Aal-e Khalifa regime have continued periodically in Bahrain, despite its sellout by the British-installed and American-supported Pahlavi Shah following the so-called opinion poll of 1970 by the UN. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has followed a policy of peace and dialogue, but with firm insistence on the aspirations of the people of Bahrain, who like all other nations of the world want to determine their own destiny. Today Bahrain is again the scene of mass rallies for independence, while the ruling minority regime, along with mercenaries hired from abroad and with the help of the Saudi invasion troops, is shedding innocent blood and even desecrating mosques and burning copies of the holy Qur'an.

32 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, MKO terrorists, acting under orders of Global Arrogance, especially the US, martyred and injured scores of innocent men, women and children by detonating a bomb at the busy Nasser Khosrow Street in the centre of the Iranian capital. The explosion gutted a two-storied building and destroyed a garment factory, resulting in the martyrdom of 9 people and injury to 45 others. Three years earlier in 1982, the MKO terrorists, as part of their anti-people activities, had also detonated a massive bomb blast at Nasser Khosrow, destroying a 5-storeied hotel and three passing buses, including a double-decker, resulting in the martyrdom of around a hundred people and injury to over 700 others. The blast, which left a crater 20 feet long, 13 feet wide and 6 feet deep, caused damage to seven other hotels in the busy area.

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, a 7.3 degree earthquake struck Khorasan Province, northeastern Iran, killing 1,567 people, injuring over 2,300, leaving 50,000 homeless, and damaging or destroying over 15,000 homes.

19 solar years ago, on this day in1998 AD, India set off the first of three underground atomic blasts in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan near the Pakistan border –  its first nuclear tests in 24 years. Abdul-Kalam, who later became the president of India, led the teams of scientists who developed missiles designed for India’s atomic warheads.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran, as part of efforts to achieve defence self-sufficiency, launched production of its first locally built submarine, dubbed “Ghadeer”, a craft that can fire missiles and torpedoes at the same time.

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, prominent Iranian mathematician, Parvez Shahriyari, passed away at the age of 86. Born in Kerman into a Zoroastrian family, he wrote or translated some 200 books in the field of mathematics, and was an internationally acclaimed figure. He was editor of the journal “Riyazi wa Mardom” (Mathematics and the Masses), as well as the cultural magazines “Cheesta”. In 2002, the Islamic Republic of Iran awarded him with the title “Immortal Mathematician”.

AS/ME