Today is Saturday; 4th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 6th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1439 lunar hijri; and March 24, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1209 solar years ago, on this day in 809 AD, the tyrant Haroun Rashid, the 5^th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, died in the city of Tous in Khorasan, in northeastern Iran, at the age of 45, after a rule of 23 years, during which he killed over 60 descendants of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), especially the 7th Infallible Leader, Imam Musa Kazem (AS), who was the victim of a fatal dose of poison in the prison of Baghdad. Born in Rayy (a suburb of modern Tehran today), to Mahdi al-Abbasi’s Yemeni concubine of dubious character, named Khayzaran, Haroun seized power after the suspicious death of his elder brother Hadi al-Abbasi. He consolidated his rule over the vast realm from North Africa up to the borders of China and India, largely through the administrative abilities of the Iranian Barmakid family, whose head Yahya Barmaki was made prime minister, followed by his sons. The crafty Haroun gradually liquidated the Barmakids and behaved ruthlessly with the followers of the Prophet’s Household and other Muslims who opposed his immoral and illegitimate rule. He died while on his way to suppress a rebellion in Kabul, in what is now Afghanistan. Today there is no sign of his rotten grave, while the sprawling golden-domed mausoleum of Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), in Mashhad, beckons millions of pilgrims from all over the world, as testimony to the triumph of the Ahl al-Bayt over the usurper caliphs.

956 lunar years ago, on this day in 483 AH, the strategically located castle of Alamut near Qazvin in Iran was taken over without bloodshed (perhaps bought) by the Ismaili Nizari missionary, Hassan Sabbah, two years after he had identified it and infiltrated it through the growing number of converts to his creed. The almost inaccessible fort stood guard over a valley that was about fifty kilometers long and five kilometers wide. For the next 35 years until his death in 518 AH, the fort served as headquarters for spread of Ismaili teachings in the Seljuqid Empire from Iran till Syria by Hassan Sabbah, who was born in Qom and after coming under the influence of missionaries of the Fatemid caliphate of Egypt – sent by Caliph al-Mustansir’s Chief Missionary [Bab al-Abwab], the Iranian Hibatullah Mu'ayyad fi'd-Din Shirazi – had travelled to Cairo, where he stayed for three years to become a full-fledged missionary. Hassan Sabbah had to return to Iran after being imprisoned and expelled for supporting Nizar, the elder son of Mustansir, as the next Imam rather than Ahmad Musta’l the younger son – resulting in the split of the Ismaili creed into Nizari and Musta’li sects. Several years later, following Nizar’s death in prison, his son Hadi came to Alamut and was recognized by Hassan Sabbah as the 20^th Ismaili Imam (dynastic rule that ended in 654 AH when the fortress fell to the Mongol invader Hulagu Khan). In a major departure from tradition, Hassan Sabbah declared Persian to be the language of holy literature for Nizaris, a decision that resulted in all the Nizari Ismaili literature from Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Central Asia to be transcribed in Persian for several centuries. From this point on, his community and its branches spread throughout Iran and Syria and came to be called Hashshashin or Assassins. The present self-styled Imam of the Nizaris (known as Khojas), is the Europe-based Karim Agha Khan.

923 lunar years ago, on this day in 516 AH, the famous Arabic literary figure, Mohammad al-Qasim ibn Ali al-Hariri, passed away. Born in Basra in Iraq, which was then part of the Iran-based Seljuqid Empire, he is best known for writing “Maqamat al-Hariri” (Assemblies of al-Hariri), consisting of 50 anecdotes written in stylized prose, which was once memorized by heart by scholars. He wrote this masterpiece of Arabic literature for Amid od-Dowla, who although a Shi’a Muslim, served for a time as Abbasid vizier and was son-in-law of the celebrated Iranian statesman and Seljuqid prime minister, Khwaja Nezam ol-Molk Tousi.

657 lunar years ago, on this day in 782 AH, al-Ashraf Sayf od-Din Qaytbay assumed power in Cairo as the eighteenth Borji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt and Syria. A Circassian by birth from the Caucasus, he was purchased by the 9th Borji ruler Sultan Barsbay (also a freed Circassian slave), before being manumitted by the 11^th ruler, Sultan Jaqmaq, who appointed him executive secretary. Under the Sultans, Inal, Khushqadam, and Yilbay, he was promoted through the Mamluk military hierarchy, eventually becoming commander of a thousand troops. Under Sultan Timurbugha, he was appointed “Atabak”, or field marshal of the entire army. When Timurbugha was dethroned in a palace coup, the Mamluk council chose Qaitbay as Sultan. During his 29-year rule, he stabilized the Mamluk state and economy, consolidated the northern boundaries of the Sultanate on the Syrian-Anatolian border with the rising Ottoman Empire, engaged in trade with other contemporaneous polities, and emerged as a great patron of art and architecture. In fact, although he fought sixteen military campaigns, he is best remembered for his charity and the spectacular building projects that he sponsored in the holy cities of Mecca, Medina, and Bayt al-Moqaddas, as well as Damascus, Aleppo, Alexandria, and throughout Cairo. During his Hajj pilgrimage, appalled by the pecuniary condition of the people of the two holy cities, Qaytbay initiated public welfare schemes, in addition to carrying out extensive renovation projects, including the rebuilding of Holy Shrine and Mosque of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). 

The position of Mamluk in Islam should not be confused with the oppressed state of slaves and bonded labour in the Christian West or other non-Muslim cultures. According to the dynamic laws of Islam, as was evident in the different lands the Muslims ruled and the societies they formed, purchases of human beings were made for emancipating them from oppression, and providing them education and training in various vocations. The Mamluk were viewed as adopted children, even eligible for marriage with the offspring of the person who purchased them, and this explains for their rise as governors and even kings.

617 solar years ago, on this day in 1401 AD, the fearsome Turkic conqueror, Timur the Lame, sacked Damascus after defeating the Mamluk Turkic army of Syria-Egypt, massacring thousands of people, plundering their property, and carrying off artisans and craftsmen to his capital Samarqand. Timur, notorious for his brutality, ordered the piling of heads of the slaughtered in a field outside the northeast corner of the walls of Damascus, where a city square still bears the name Burj ar-Ru'ous or Tower of Heads. Even a delegation sent by Sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faraj, from Cairo that included the famous scholar Ibn Khaldoun, failed to dissuade Timur, who had started his war against the Mamluks in 1399, from sacking the city, burning the Omayyad Mosque, and killing the people. Timur's forces had a couple of months earlier sacked Aleppo, massacred many of the inhabitants, and built a tower of 20,000 skulls outside the city. Among those carried off as prisoners to Central Asia, was the twelve-year-old Ahmad ibn Arabshah, who later became a scholar and wrote a biography of Timur.

524 solar years ago, on this day in 1494 AD, Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist and scholar known as “Father of Mineralogy,” was among the first Europeans to found a natural science upon observation and independently from theories of the ancients. Having studied medicine, he became interested in mineralogy through his study of miners' diseases. His contributions to mining geology and metallurgy, mineralogy, structural geology, and paleontology, formed a foundation for further systematic study of the Earth and of its rocks, minerals, and fossils. His most important work “De Re Metallica” (published a year after his death) summarized all the practical knowledge gained by Saxon miners. He may have coined the word petroleum (rock oil). As was the fashion of the day, he Latinized his real name of Georg Bauer (both Bauer in German and Agricola in Latin mean “farmer”). As a matter of fact, during the heyday of the Islamic civilization, Muslim scientists had explored mineralogy and wrote important books and treatises in the field of geology, metallurgy, and mineralogy, which were translated from Arabic into Latin, enabling Europeans to learn new sciences and take credit for themselves in this regard. One of the most famous Islamic scientists in this field was the Iranian polymath, Abu Rayhan Birouni.

415 solar years ago, on this day in 1603 AD, Queen Elizabeth I of England, died at the age of 70 years after a reign of 44 years. She was 5th and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty founded by her grandfather, Henry VII. Although short-tempered and indecisive, with a strain of cruelty, her reign later known as the Elizabethan era, saw the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of Francis Drake.

415 solar years ago, on this day in 1603 AD, James VI of Scotland became King James I of England on the death of Queen Elizabeth I, who had imprisoned and executed his mother, Mary Queen of Scots. England and Scotland were thus joined together as United Kingdom.

136 solar years ago, on this day in 1882 AD, German physician and researcher, Robert Koch, discovered Koch Bacillus of Tuberculosis. He studied for more than ten years to discover the reason behind contraction of tuberculosis, which was later named after him. He received Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1905.

133 solar years ago, on this day in 1855 AD, the Chinese defeated the French in the Battle of Bang Bo, also known as Battle of Zhennan Pass, on the Tonkin-Guangxi border of Vietnam. The battle set the scene for the French retreat and conclusion of the Sino-French War in early April in circumstances of considerable embarrassment for France.

113 solar years ago, on this day in 1905 AD, the French author, Jules Verne, died at the age of 77. He was born in February 1828. He wrote science fictions such as “Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea”, “Around the World in Eighty Days”, “The Mysterious Island”, and “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”. Educational films for the young generation have been made from some of this French author’s books.

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, the Iranian literary figure, Amir Hussein Yazdgerdi, passed away at the age of 57. He lectured at the Faculty of Theology of Tehran University. His most important works include editing, researching, and writing precise commentaries on a number of historical books. He has also conducted studies on different literary domains.

29 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, the Jame' Mosque of Baku in the Republic of Azerbaijan was renovated and reopened to worshippers after 70 years. This historical mosque was shut down in 1920 by the communists.

19 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, during the Kosovo War, NATO commenced air bombardment on the rump state of Yugoslavia, marking the first time it attacked a sovereign country. The West’s pretext for military attacks were the war crimes committed by Serbia’s dictator, Slobodan Milosevic, who had perpetrated the massacre of tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims.

10 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, Bhutan officially became a democracy, with its first ever general election that ended the power of the monarchy. Bhutan is situated in the Himalayas and shares borders with India and China.

AS/SS