Today is Tuesday; 25th of the Iranian month of Esfand 1394 solar hijri; corresponding to 5th of the Islamic month of Jamadi as-Sani 1437 lunar hijri; and March 15, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2060 solar years ago, on this day in 44 BC, Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death by a group of senators, apprehensive of the totalitarian powers he had assumed in the wake of his elimination of all rivals in the civil wars that had followed his victories in Gaul (France) which had emboldened him to violate the law against the crossing of the River Rubicon into Italy with armed legions – to challenge Pompey for supreme power. Caesar was killed, while planning to invade the Iranian Parthian Empire to avenge the disgraceful defeat in the Battle of Carrhae (Harran in upper Mesopotamia and present day Turkey) nine years earlier in 53 BC when General Surena had routed a mighty Roman army led by General Marcus Licinius Crassus, who along with Caesar and Pompey had formed the First Triumvirate. A person of loose morals, Julius Caesar, like all other pagans was a sadistic barbarian, who in his official ‘triumphs’ (or public celebrations on Rome’s streets and amphitheatre) used to stage live battles and watch with delight as prisoners of war divided into groups brutally killed each other. His death transformed the republic into the Roman Empire under his designated heir, grandnephew Ocatavius, who after elimination of his main rival Mark Antony, assumed the imperial title of Emperor Augustus Caesar. Julius Caesar is mostly remembered for his replacement of the Roman lunar calendar with the Egyptian solar calendar of 365.25 days, by adding a leap day at the end of February every fourth year. The month of Quintilis was renamed July in his honour and thus, the Julian calendar (also named after him), opened on 1 January 45 BC. It was used in Europe until 1582 AD when it was replaced by the current Gregorian.

1053 solar years ago, on this day in 963 AD, Byzantine emperor, Romanos II, died at the age of 25 after a 4-year reign, during which his general Nikephoros Phokas, occupied the Muslim island of Crete after a 9-month siege and sacked Aleppo the capital of the Hamadanid Shi’a Muslim emirate. Romanos II is believed to have been poisoned to death by his wife, Theophano, who soon married her husband’s victorious general, Nikephoros Phokas and declared him emperor.

1033 lunar years ago, on this day in 404 AH, Baha od-Dowla Daylami, the Iranian Buwaiyhid ruler of Iraq and parts of Iran and Oman, died in Arrajan near Behbahan in southwestern Iran after a reign of 24 years and was succeeded by his son Sultan od-Dowla. He was the third son of the greatest ruler of the dynasty, Adhud od-Dowla, and assumed power on the death of his eldest brother, Sharaf od-Dowla. Another brother, Samsam od-Dowla, prevented him from gaining all of the eldest brother's possessions by taking control of Fars, Kerman and Khuzestan. The brothers, when threatened by their granduncle Fakhr od-Dowla, the ruler of northern Iran, who invaded Khuzestan, made peace, and Samsam od-Dowla recognizing Baha od-Dowla as the ruler of Iraq and Khuzestan, himself kept Arrajan, Fars and Kerman. Both took the title of "king". A couple of years later Baha od-Dowla assumed the title of Shahanshah or emperor and invaded his brother's territory but was defeated by the latter who regained Khuzestan and took control of the Buwaiyhid territories in Oman across the Persian Gulf, by recognizing granduncle Fakhr od-Dowla as the senior Amir. Six years later, Fakhr od-Dowla died and the next year Samsam od-Dowla was killed. Baha od-Dowla now took the opportunity to assert his authority in Fars and after taking Shiraz he did not return to Baghdad but spent the rest of his life in Iran, during which he gained indirect control over northern Iran as well. His last years saw the beginning of the decline of the dynasty, with the Ziyarids of Gorgan and Tabaristan permanently asserting their independence while the Ghaznavid Turks kept putting pressure on Khorasan. The Buwaiyhid confederation, after 110 years of valuable service to Islam and Muslims by patronizing religious scholars and scientists; building public places like hospitals, schools, libraries, bridges, and dams; and renovating the shrines of the Infallible Imams in Najaf, Karbala, Kazemayn and Samarra; was overthrown by Turkic Seljuq invaders from Central Asia, who restored the Abbasid caliphate.

1009 lunar years ago, on this day in 428 AH, the poet and scholar, Abu'l-Hassan Mahyar Daylami Ibn Marzawaiyh, passed away. A descendant of the pre-Islamic Sassanid Emperor, Anoushirvan, he was born as a Zoroastrian, who under the guidance of the great scholar, Seyyed Razi, embraced the truth of Islam. Mahyar Daylami avidly learned religious sciences and techniques of poetry under Seyyed Razi, the compiler of the famous book “Nahj al-Balagha” – the collection of the sermons, letters, and aphorisms of Imam Ali (AS). He soon became a prominent Arabic poet. He looked at the world through the prism of an ascetic and in his poetry he has expressed gratitude to the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), for guiding him towards Islam. He also expresses devotion to Imam Ali (AS) for transforming the sensibilities of the Iranian people. He has lamented the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS) and castigated the enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt. Among his books, mention could be made of a 4-volume Diwan.

765 lunar years ago, on this day in 672 AH, the renowned Persian mystical poet, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Mohammad Balkhi, known as Mowlavi and Roumi, passed away at the age of 67 in Konya, in what is now Turkey. He was born in Balkh in eastern Khorasan, which is now in present day Afghanistan. The Mongol invasion forced his father to migrate to Baghdad in Iraq, from where Mowlavi went to Damascus in Syria, before settling in Konya in Anatolia, which was once part of the Eastern Roman Empire, hence his epithet of Roumi. He became an acclaimed religious scholar. In 642 AH, a meeting with the wandering Iranian Dervish or mystic, Shams-e Tabrizi, completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, he was transformed into an ascetic. He started a spiritual purification and created his eternal works, the masterpiece of Persian mystical poetry, known as “Mathnawi Ma'nawi”, which contains over 150,000 rhymed verses. He also compiled his spiritual teacher's poems in what is known as Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi that contains some 35,000 Persian couplets and 2000 quatrains, in addition to 90 Ghazals or lyrics in Persian and 19 quatrains in Arabic, as well as a couple of dozen couplets in mixed Persian and Turkic and 14 couplets in mixed Greek and Persian. The Mathnawi has been translated into English and other major world languages. The translation in English verse was done by Reynold Nicholson, along with explanations, in 8 volumes.

530 solar years ago, on this day in 1486 AD, the Ottoman army was again defeated before Adana. Qaragoz Mohammad fled the field, while the general Hersekzade Ahmed was taken captive, and Cilicia in what is now south-central Turkey returned to the control of the Turkic Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt-Syria. The series of internecine Muslim wars between the two major Turkic powers were the result of intrigue by the Pope and West European Christian states, following the end of the Byzantine Empire and fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, when it appeared that it was matter of time before Islam could spread all over Europe. It was unfortunate of the Ottomans to halt their drive into Europe and turn towards the east against fellow Muslims in Anatolia and Syria, at a time when the beleaguered Spanish Muslims of Granada were desperately calling for help from the Muslim World, and the Mamluks had prepared a large army in what is now Libya for stopping the Christian aggressors in the Iberian Peninsula. This same seditious policy of the Ottomans in Muslim lands was the cause of the Battle of Chaldiran against the Safavid Empire of Iran that allowed much-needed respite to Europe to reorganize militarily and culturally (Renaissance) for eventually pushing back the Ottomans and gradually ending their supremacy in the Muslim lands of southwest Europe that were forcibly Christianized after centuries of Islamic rule and culture.

451 lunar years ago, on this day in 986 AH, the Ottoman Turks seized from Safavid Iran, Tiflis or modern Tbilisi, which is the capital of the present day republic of Georgia in the Caucasus, following the death of the long peaceful reign of Shah Tahmasp I. Several years later, Iran under Shah Abbas the Great, succeeded in liberating most of Georgia by defeating the Ottomans.

176 lunar years ago, on this day in 1261 AH, French forces burned to death the Algerian Muslim tribe of Awlad Rabah along with their animals.

162 solar years ago, on this day in 1854 AD, German bacteriologist, Emil Adolf von Behring, who is considered the founder of the science of immunology, was born. He continued the researches of the French chemist, Louis Pasteur, and in 1890 working with S. Kitasato, he discovered that immunity against tetanus and diphtheria could be produced by injecting serum from an animal that had recovered from the disease. He coined the word antitoxin for such substances. In 1901 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology for his work on serum therapy.

128 solar years ago, on this day in 1888 AD, the Anglo-Tibetan War started following the end of deadline set by the British for withdrawal of Tibetan forces from Sikkim. Fought in the high Himalayan mountain ranges, the Tibetans were forced to withdraw and sign the Calcutta Accord in 1890, renouncing all claims to suzerainty over Tibet.

109 solar years ago, on this day in 1907 AD, the famous Iranian poetess, Parvin E’tesami, was born in the northwestern city of Tabriz in an academic family. Her father, Yusuf E’tesam ol-Molk, was an acclaimed translator and author who frequented the company of prominent poets and literary figures, such as the Poet Laureate Malik osh-Sho’ara Mohammad Taqi Bahar, and the Lexicographer Allamah Ali Akbar Dehkhoda. She learned Iranian and Arabic literature from her father and showed her talents for writing poems as of childhood. On graduation from high school she started teaching in Tabriz. She accompanied her father on his journeys around Iran and abroad, gaining valuable experiences and reflecting them in her poetry. Her Divan includes odes, elegies, and other styles of poetry. A realistic poetess she maintained strong ethical and religious beliefs. Parvin E’tesami passed away at the young age of 35 in 1941.

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, the valiant Iranian commander, Mahdi Bakeri, attained martyrdom at the age of 30 at the fronts of the war imposed on Iran by Saddam of the repressive Bath minority regime at the behest of the US. Born in Miandoab in northwestern Iran, he was active since high school against the despotic British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime, whose agents had earlier martyred his elder brother. After victory of the Islamic Revolution he joined the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on its formation, and in view of his ability served as prosecutor at the revolutionary court and later as mayor of Oroumiyeh, the capital of West Azarbaijan Province. On the invasion of the country, he marched to the warfronts and after demonstrating his battle prowess was promoted to commander of the Ashura Brigade. Several times he was injured and recovered from his wounds, before attaining martyrdom during the Badr Operations.

21 solar years ago, on this day in 1995 AD, US President Bill Clinton, in a blatant act of hostility against the Islamic Republic of Iran, issued an executive order formally blocking a $1 billion contract between Conoco and Iran to develop a huge offshore oil tract in the Persian Gulf. Washington’s intention was to hurt Iranian economy, but it actually axed its own feet, resulting in multi-million losses for American oil companies.

AS/ME