Today is Monday; 12th of the Iranian month of Tir 1396 solar hijri, corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1438 lunar hijri; and July 3, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1066 lunar years ago, on this day in 372 AH, the greatest ruler of the Iranian Buwaiyhid dynasty of Iran-Iraq-Bahrain-Oman, Adhud od-Dowla Daylami, passed away in Baghdad and was laid to rest in holy Najaf in the mausoleum of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). Born in Shiraz and named Fana Khosrow, he was the son of Amir Rukn od-Dowla, and became ruler of Fars after the death of his childless uncle, Amir Emad od-Dowla. He was sent by his father to crush a rebellion by his cousin Ezz od-Dowla, on whose defeat he claimed the emirate of Iraq for himself. On his father’s death, as senior Amir of the Buwaiyhid family, Adhud od-Dowla chose as his capital, Baghdad, which was suffering from violence and instability due to sectarian sedition by the Hanbali sect. In order to bring peace and stability, he banned public demonstrations and polemics. He patronized a number of scholars such as the celebrated Shaikh Mufid, and renovated the holy shrines in Najaf and Karbala. He also undertook several scientific projects, such as the observatory in Isfahan, and the dam known till this day as “Band-e Amir” between Shiraz and Istakhr to irrigate some 300 villages. He also ordered digging of the Haffar Canal joining the Karun River to the Arvand Roud at the confluence of the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates. He embellished Baghdad with several buildings including the famous public hospital known as “Bimaristan-e Adhudi”, where the great Iranian physician Zakariyya ar-Raazi used to practice.

709 solar years ago, on this day in 1308 AD, Sultan Ala ud-Din Khilji laid siege to the famous fort of Siwana, situated on a hilltop in the Marwar region of what is now Rajasthan state of India. Two months later he captured the fort. Ala ud-Din, the second ruler of the Persianized Turkic Dynasty, known as Khilji, because of its origin from Khilj in Afghanistan, ruled the greater part of the subcontinent for 20 years, after succeeding his uncle, Sultan Jalal ud-Din Firuz. He was a brilliant strategist and an outstanding military commander, although a ruthless person. He was the first Muslim ruler to penetrate into the Deccan or southern India, and is also noted in history for being one of the few rulers in the world to have repeatedly defended his empire against Mongol invasions. He defeated large Mongol armies and then launched punitive expeditions against them in Central Asia, around modern-day Afghanistan. During his rule, many Iranians migrated to what are now India and Pakistan, to escape the Mongol menace.

499 solar years ago, on this day in 1518 AD, Li Shizhen, Chinese polymath, who was a mineralogist, medical doctor, scientist, pharmacologist, herbalist and acupuncturist of the Ming dynasty, was born. His major contribution to clinical medicine was his 27-year work, which is found in his scientific book Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica). He is considered to be the greatest scientific naturalist of China, and developed many innovative methods for the proper classification of herb components and medications to be used for treating diseases. The “Bencao Gangmu” has 1,892 entries; each entry with its own name called a gang. The book has details about more than 1,800 drugs, including 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions. It also described the type, form, flavour, nature and application in disease treatments of 1,094 herbs. This book has been translated into many different languages, and remains as the premier reference work for herbal medicine. It also includes various related subjects such as botany, zoology, mineralogy, and metallurgy.

263 solar years, on this day in 1754 AD, during the French and Indian Wars, George Washington, the future first president of the US, who was then a British officer, surrendered to the French forces what is now Pittsburg in southwestern Pennsylvania and which was called Fort Necessity. This left the French in control of the Ohio Valley, and marked the beginning of the French & Indian War also called the 7 Years' War. The war changed economic, political, governmental and social relations between three European powers (Britain, France, and Spain), their colonies and colonists, and the natives that inhabited the territories they claimed. France and Britain both suffered financially because of the war, with significant long-term consequences. The Seven Years' War nearly doubled Britain's national debt. The Crown, seeking sources of revenue to pay off the debt, attempted to impose new taxes on its colonies. These attempts were met with increasingly stiff resistance, until troops were called in so that representatives of the Crown could safely perform their duties. These acts ultimately led to the start of the American Revolutionary War.

194 solar years ago, on this day in 1823 AD, Ahmed Vefeeq Pasha, Ottoman statesman, diplomat, playwright, and translator of the “Tanzimaat” during the first Constitutional Period, was born in Istanbul, in a family of Greek extraction from the island of Crete. Like many other Greek Muslims, particularly from Crete and the regions of Epirus and Macedonia, he started his education in 1831 in Istanbul and later went to Paris with his family, where he graduated from Saint Louis College. On his return to Istanbul, he became a pioneer of the Pan-Turkism movement, and while serving as governor of Bursa, he built a theatre in that city and initiated the first Western style theatre plays. In 1860, he was sent to Paris as the Ottoman ambassador to France. He wrote the first Turkish Dictionary and on his return to Istanbul, was appointed Minister of Education. He was commissioned with top-rank governmental duties, including presiding over the first Ottoman parliament in 1877, and serving as Grand Vizier for two brief periods. He died in 1891 in Istanbul at the age of 68.

184 solar years ago, on this day in 1863 AD, during the US civil war, the Battle of Gettysburg ended around the town of the same name in Pennsylvania, in a disastrous defeat for the Confederates, because of General Robert E. Lee's strategic blunder in ordering his forces to mount the Pickett’s charge against the Union army, despite the advice of his commanders of the impracticability of such an operation. It is the largest military conflict in North American history. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire 5-year war and is often described as the war's turning point. Lee’s retreat to Virginia ended the Confederate plan to invade the Union North.

136 solar years ago, on this day in 1881 AD, Hasan Tahsini, Ottoman Albanian astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher, passed away in Istanbul at the age of 70. Born in the village of Ninat in Konispol, Albania, to the local religious leader, he received a good education and was appointed tutor to the sons of Khayrullah Efendi, Minister of Education of the Ottoman Empire. Khayrullah Efendi later sent him to France as staff member of the Ottoman school of Paris, where Tahsini taught Turkish and religious sciences, while also being the imam or prayer leader of the Ottoman embassy and a student of mathematics and natural sciences at the University of Paris. He studied in Paris for twelve years before returning to the Ottoman Empire in 1869, and the next year he became the first rector of the newly established Istanbul University, where he gave lectures on physics, astronomy and psychology. Tahsini, who had the support of the famous Iranian pan-Islamic activist, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi, was the target of attacks by conservative ulema for his modern views. His lectures were banned and Istanbul University temporarily closed. Nonetheless, he continued his scholarly activities and as one of the most prominent 19^th century scholars of the Ottoman Empire, wrote the first Turkish language treatise on psychology titled “Psychology or the Science of Soul”. He also wrote the first Turkish-language book on modern astronomy being also the first popular science book in Turkish. Other works of Tahsini in the Turkish language include a translation of Constantin François de Chassebœuf's “Loi Naturelle”. Along with Sami Frasheri, one of the most important figures of the Albanian National Awakening, he founded the Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights, and developed a unique alphabet of the Albanian language.

134 solar years ago, on this day in 1883 AD, the Czech author, Franz Kafka, was born in Prague. Given that he had a tough childhood, Kafka had a pessimistic viewpoint and was a Nihilist, which is completely evident in his books. His famous works include “The Metamorphosis”, and “The Trial”.

114 lunar years ago, on this day in 1324 AH, the first issue of daily “Majlis” was published in Iran by Constitutional Movement activist Mirza Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Tabatabai. Following announcement of the freedom of press, several papers were published in different Iranian cities, but “Majlis” was the first daily circulated after opening of Iran’s first parliament. It focused in detail on debates during parliamentary sessions.

113 solar years ago, on this day in 1904 AD, Theodor Herzl, the founder of the racist and terrorist outfit, Zionism, died at the age of 44.  Born in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, and named Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl, he later took up residence in Austria, where in1895 he wrote the controversial book titled “Jewish State” in which he bragged about the so-called racist superiority of the Jews. In 1897, Herzl and his co-thinkers in a gathering in Switzerland formally called for occupation of the Muslim land of Palestine. He died in 1904.

99 solar years ago, on this day in 1918 AD, Mohammad V, the 35^th and penultimate Ottoman Sultan and the 29^th self-styled Turkish caliph, died at the age of 74 and was succeeded by his half-brother Mohammad VI. Son of Abdul-Majid I, he spent his first thirty years in cloistered life, with no interaction with the world outside the palace, dedicating his time to studies, especially classical Persian poetry and becoming a Persian poet himself. His nine-year reign, during which he was a mere figurehead ruler with no real political power, he saw the cession of the Ottoman Empire's North African territories and the Dodecanese Islands, including Rhodes, in the Italo-Turkish War, the traumatic loss of almost all of the Empire's European territories west of Istanbul in the First Balkan War, and the entry into World War I on the side of the Germans, which would ultimately lead to the end of the Ottoman Empire.

94 lunar years ago, on this day in 1344 AH, Wahhabi brigands from the desert region of Najd desecrated the sacred Jannat al-Baqie Cemetery of Medina, destroying the tombs of venerable Islamic figures including the majestic holy shrine that housed the tombs of four of the 12 Infallible Successors of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), that is, Imam Hasan Mojtaba, Imam Zain al-Abedin, Imam Mohammad Baqer, and Imam Ja’far Sadeq (peace upon them). The Chief Wahhabi Judge, Sheikh Abdullah bin Balhid, issued the blasphemous decree for destruction of the sacred and historical shrines of Medina. The brigands wanted to destroy the Prophet’s shrine as well, but were prevented by the people. These seditious elements also destroyed in the same year the tomb of the Prophet’s uncle, Hazrat Hamza (PuH) and the other martyrs of the Battle of Ohad, as well as the holy mausoleums in the sacred Jannat al-Mu’alla Cemetery of Mecca, where repose in eternal peace, the Prophet’s loyal wife, the First Lady of Islam, Omm al-Momineen or Mother of True Believers Hazrat Khadija, the Prophet’s infant son, Hazrat Qassem the Prophet’s uncle and guardian, Hazrat Abu Taleb, the Prophet’s grandfather, Hazrat Abdul-Mutalleb and other members of the monotheistic Bani Hashem clan (peace upon them).

93 solar years ago, on this day in 1924 AD, Iranian poet and political writer, Seyyed Mohammad Reza Kordestani, popular as Mirzadeh Eshqi, was killed at the age of 31 in his own house in Tehran by unknown gunmen, believed to be agents of the British-imposed premier, Reza Khan (later Pahlavi), whom he used to bitterly criticize in his newspaper articles. Born in Hamadan to Seyyed Abo’l-Qasem Kordestani, he learned French in the Ecole d'Alliance, and moved to Istanbul for a while. He is particularly famous for writing the opera “Rastakhiz Iran” (Resurrected Iran), which was a reflection of his patriotic spirit. After returning to Iran, he settled in Tehran and published newspapers in which he fiercely attacked the political system of the country. He is remembered for writing six plays. His “Nowruz-Nameh” is particularly famous. He also published a paper called “Twentieth Century” and predicted his early death repeatedly. He was buried in the Ibn Babawaiyh Cemetery in Rayy.

91 lunar years ago, on this day in 1347 AH, the prominent jurisprudent, Ayatollah Mohammad Hussain Shabzindehdar, was born in Jahrom, Fars Province, southern Iran. After initial studies in his hometown, he moved to Shiraz where for three years he attended the classes of senior scholars. At the age of 18, on the suggestion of his teachers, he travelled to the holy city of Qom and enrolled at the famous seminary. Here his teachers included Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him). After mastering various branches of Islamic sciences, he embarked on teaching at the Qom seminary and for the next 40 years groomed several scholars, including Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Taheri Khorramabadi, Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi (Head of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Islamic Republic), Ayatollah Seyyed Jamal od-Din Din-Parvar  (Head of the Nahj al-Balagha Foundation), and his own son Ayatollah Mahdi Shabzindehdar, who besides being a prominent teacher of the Qom seminary is a member of the 12-Member Guardians Council of the Islamic Revolution. The Late Ayatollah Hussain Shabzindehdar, who passed away two years ago, was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Hazrat Ma’souma (peace upon her), wrote several books on different subjects, including Annotations on the exegeses of the holy Qur’an such Allamah Tabarsi’s “Majma’ al-Bayan” and Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Hussain Tabataie’s “al-Mizan”.    

29 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, the US in a blatant act of terrorism, shot down an Iranian Airbus passenger plane en route from Bandar Abbas to Dubai, by firing two missiles from the warship Vincennes that had ventured into Iranian coastal waters in the Persian Gulf. All 298 passengers and crew on board were killed. The regular four-days a week Iran Air Flight 655 was deliberately shot down by the US in a show of Washington’s support for Saddam who was suffering defeat after defeat in his US-instigated 8-year war against the Islamic Republic. The US lied to the world media regarding the incident and tried to depict it as a mistake, but soon in an insult to the Iranian nation, the US President granted a medal of bravery to Captain Will Rogers for his cowardly act of terrorism in downing the Iranian passenger plane.

4 solar year ago, on this day in 2013 AD, Egyptian president, Mohammad Morsi, was toppled by a military coup led by General Abdul-Fattah as-Sisi, exactly a year after he had been elected in the country’s first and only fair and free elections. A member of the Muslim Brotherhood, who failed to solve the political and economic problems of the country, had ironically promoted Sisi to the post of the topmost military commander. Although he called himself Islamist, he supported the scandalous Camp David Treaty with the illegal Zionist entity, and allowed Takfiri elements to terrorize Egypt’s Christian and Shi’ite Muslim minorities. He also adopted a wrong regional policy by supporting terrorists in Syria and relying on Saudi Arabia, which betrayed him by openly backing the coup plotters.

AS/SS