Today is Sunday; 5th of the Iranian  month of Farvardin 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 7th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1439 lunar hijri; and March 25, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1134 lunar years ago, on this day in 305 AH, the Muslim scholar and literary figure, Ibn Tarara, was born in Iraq. Among his works mention could be made of the voluminous book titled “al-Jalees as-Saleh al-Kafi wa'l-Anees an-Naseh ash-Shafi”. He passed away in 390 AH.

1018 solar years ago, on this day in 1000 AD, al-Hakem bi-Amrillah, the 6^th self-styled caliph of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi’a Muslim dynasty of Egypt-Syria-North Africa, had his Chief Minister Barjawan the Sicilian eunuch, murdered to assume control of the government. The first Fatemid ruler to be born in Egypt, and named Mansour, he was a boy of eleven years, when he succeeded his father, Nizar al-Aziz-Billah, who had appointed Barjawan as his son’s tutor and guardian. Barjawan had tried to balance the power struggle at the court in Cairo between the powerful Berber and Turkic-Iranian military factions, often playing the one against the other to protect his own position, which at times he lost and regained. On his death, power was strengthened for al-Hakem bi-Amrillah, who is considered an important figure for several Ismaili sects, such as the world's 15 million Nizaris, in addition to the 2 million Druze of the Levant whose eponymous Iranian founder ad-Darazi proclaimed the Fatemid caliph as divine incarnation. Al-Hakem, who disappeared without trace at the age of 36 during one of his nightly walks and only his bloodstained clothes were found, actively promoted Ismaili beliefs as far as Central Asia, even sending an embassy to the Chinese emperor, prompting fears in Baghdad amongst the Abbasids and release of the “Baghdad Manifesto” signed by court mullahs declaring the Fatemids to be of Jewish and Christian origin, rather than direct descendants of the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her). Al-Hakem also restored in the Azaan or call to prayer the phrase “hayya ala khayril-Amr” (hasten towards good deed), and publicly denounced the first three caliphs as usurpers of the right of political leadership of the Commander of the Faithful, the Prophet’s cousin, son-in-law and divinely-designated heir, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).

765 solar years ago, on this day in the year 1253 AD, the prominent Persian poet and chronicler of the Subcontinent, Amir Khosrow Dehlavi, was born in northwestern India. An ethnic Turk who was highly skilled in Iranian and Indian literature and music, he was also familiar with Arabic and Turkish languages. It was, however, in Persian poetry and prose that he excelled. Amir Khosrow was a student of the famous Delhi Gnostic, Nizam od-Din Awliya, and is regarded as the "Father of Qawwali" (a devotional music form of the Sufis in the Subcontinent on chanting praises of God, Prophet Mohammad [SAWA] and Imam Ali [AS]). He is also credited with introducing Persian, Arabic and Turkish elements into Indian classical music and was the originator of the “khayal” and “tarana” styles of music. Amir Khosrow was an expert in many styles of Persian poetry which were developed in medieval Iran, from Khaqani Shirvani’s “qasidas” (panegyrics) to Nizami Ganajavi’s “khamsa” (five long odes). He has written in many verse forms including “ghazal” (lyrics), “mathnavi” (ode), “qata” (fragment), “rubai” (quatrain), “do-baiti” (couplet), and “tarkib-band” (composite-tie). The “Khamsa-e Khosrow” depicts in verse five classical romances: “Hasht-Behesht”, “Matla’ ul-Anwaar”, “Sheerin-Khosrow”, Majnun-Laila and Aaina-Sikandari. Among his prose works is “Tughluq-Namah”, a history of the reign on Tughlaq Dynasty.

507 lunar years ago, on this day in 932 AH, the Timurid ruler of Kabul, Zaheer od-Din Babar, defeated Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi of Hindustan or Northern Subcontinent, at the Battle of Panipat. He then took control of Delhi and Agra, thereby laying foundations of the Mughal Empire that would reach its zenith during the rule of the 6^th and last "Great Mughal" Aurangzeb, encompassing what are now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and eastern Afghanistan. After two centuries of glory, the Mughal Empire shrank to Delhi and its suburbs, ending in 1857 AD with the British capture of the last ruler, Bahadur Shah Zafar and his exile to Burma. Babur was born in Andijan in the Ferghana Valley in what is now Uzbekistan. He was the son of the local ruler Omar Shaikh Mirza, who in turn was a great-grandson of the fearsome Turkic conqueror Amir Timur. From his mother's side he was a descendant of the Mongol marauder, Genghis Khan. A Persianized Turk, Babar, as a protégé of Shah Ismail I, the Founder of the Safavid Dynasty of Iran, had earlier succeeded in gaining brief control of Timur's capital Samarqand, before being driven out by the Uzbeks. Babur's army, which conquered Delhi also included Qizilbash Iranian fighters, who as one of the most influential groups in the Mughal court, would promote Persian language and culture in the subcontinent, as well as the teachings of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt, which until then were brutally suppressed in Northern India.

453 lunar years ago, on this day in 986 AH, the Battle of Jıldır was fought in northeast Anatolia as the initial armed encounter of the 12-year war between the Ottomans and the Safavids for control of the Caucasus, thus ending the 23-year Peace of Amasya, two years after the death of Shah Tahmasb I of Iran and four years after the death of the Turkish sultan, Sulaiman – the two signatories to the peace treaty. These inter-Muslim hostilities were started by Murad III, who resenting the growing inclination of the Turkish tribes of Anatolia towards the school of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt, made a pact with France, stopped the Ottoman push into Europe, and massacred thousands of Shi'ite Muslims in his dominions. Although the Ottomans defeated the Persian army, seized Tiflis, the capital of Georgia from Iran, and went on to occupy Daghestan's capital Derbend on the Caspian Sea, their victories were temporary, as these areas were later liberated by Shah Abbas I.

197 solar years ago, on this day in 1821 AD, following years of sedition by European Christian powers amongst the Greek-speaking subjects of the declining Ottoman Empire the Province of “Yunanistan” declared itself independent and adopted the ancient name of “Greece” that was no longer in use for over a millennium. The Ottomans immediately suppressed the revolt that sporadically raged in different parts, but was crushed in 1825 by Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mohammad Ali Pasha, the Albanian Ottoman governor of Egypt. At this stage Britain, France and Russia, decided to intervene militarily and the defeat of Ibrahim Pasha by the combined British-French-Russian navies, separated the Peloponnese Peninsula from Ottoman rule, resulting in the establishment of the kingdom of Greece in 1830. The Greek Christians immediately launched a general massacre of Greek Muslims, expelled them, destroyed mosques or converted them into churches, in order to remove all influence of Turkish rule. Over the next decades, as the Ottoman Empire became more weak, other Greek-speaking provinces were detached and added to Greece by the chief European powers. It should be noted that the ancient land of Greece was among the cradles of civilizations. Made up of city-states, it was part of the Iranian Achaemenian Empire 2,500 years ago, until its emergence under Alexander of Macedonia as a powerful empire itself. For almost two centuries Greece controlled parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, until it ceased to exist as an independent political entity on the world map in 146 BC with its conquest by the Roman Empire. Some five centuries later the region became centre of the Eastern Roman Empire and after Christianization was called Byzantine. Since the 13^th century, it gradually came under the rule of the Muslim Turks of Anatolia and was incorporated in the rising power of the Ottoman Muslim Empire, which finally ended the existence of Byzantine in 1453 AD. Today, Greece, which is grappling with an acute financial, economic and political crisis, is among the weakest states of Europe. It covers an area of 132,000 sq km and shares borders with Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, and Macedonia.

189 lunar years ago, on this day in 1250 AH, Mohammad Shah succeeded his grandfather, Fath Ali Shah, to the Peacock Throne of Iran as the third Qajarid King. Son of Crown Prince Abbas Mirza, who predeceased Fath Ali Shah by less than a year, he immediately sidelined his prudent premier, Mirza Abu’l-Qasem Qa’em Maqaam Farahani, and replaced him with Mirza Aqasi, who was a pawn of the British and the Russians. During Mohammad Shah's reign, the parts of northwestern Iran in the Caucasus were occupied by Russia. Moreover, the rivalry of Russia and Britain for control of Iran increased. Hoping for assistance from Russia, Mohammad Shah deployed forces to control unrest in Herat, which was part of Iran’s soil and capital of Khorasan. However, due to Moscow’s breach of promise, coupled with London’s covert conspiracies, Herat was separated from Iran and annexed to British-controlled Afghanistan. Finally, this unwise Qajarid ruler died in 1264 AH, and was succeeded by his underage son, Nasser od-Din Shah.

166 lunar years ago, on this day in 1273 AH, the Treaty of Paris ended the Anglo-Persian War, which the British had imposed on Iran by attacking and occupying Bushehr on the Persian Gulf as well as Khorramshahr, in order to pressure Nasser od-Din Shah Qajar to surrender the city of Herat and its surroundings in Khorasan to their Afghan ally. Herat, the then capital of Khorasan, had been part of Iran from time immemorial till the war broke in 1272 AH when its rebellious governor declared independence and placed the area under British protection. As per the Treaty of Paris, the weakened government of Iran withdrew from Herat and was forced to drop all claims to this historical Iranian city and most of eastern Khorasan, which is now part of Afghanistan. The British had launched their sea attacks on Iran from their naval bases in Mumbai by deploying battalions of sepoys (corruption for the Persian word "sipahi" for Indian soldiers), who earlier in the year had been used to overthrow Wajed Ali Shah of the Naishapuri Dynasty of Iranian origin of Awadh in northern India.

61 solar years ago, on this day in 1957 AD, the treaty for establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC or the Common Market), was signed in the Italian capital, Rome. The goal was to form a customs union among member states to get rid of tariffs to freely facilitate exchange of goods, labour force, investment and services. In 1992, EEC was renamed the European Union (EU) and expanded to include the former socialist states.

47 solar years ago, on this day in 1971 AD, the Bangladesh Liberation War practically began following the launching of a military attack by the armed forces of West Pakistan on the Bengali-speaking civilians of East Pakistan. Tens of thousands of Bengali Muslims were killed by the Punjabi-Pakhtoun army, resulting in war with India in December that led to dismemberment of Pakistan, and the birth of Bangladesh as an independent Muslim country.

43 solar years ago, on this day in 1975 AD, King Faisal Ibn Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed at point blank range by his US-trained nephew, Faisal Ibn Musaid, at the age of 69 after a 11-year reign, less than two years after he led the oil embargo against the West during the Israeli war, thereby crippling the economy of the West. The CIA was behind the assassination, since the king, in addition to taking the decisive step of oil embargo, was a broad-minded person, aware of the criminal nature of his own father, Abdul-Aziz, who with British help had occupied much of the Arabian Peninsula and named it Saudi Arabia. Faisal thus acknowledged the religious and cultural diversity of the land, including the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim oil-rich region of the east, the Asir in the southwest that along with the Shi’ite Ismaili regions of Najran and Jizan was seized from Yemen, and the old Hashemite Kingdom of the Hejaz, with its capital Mecca. He included non-Wahhabi, cosmopolitan Sunni Hejazis from Mecca and Jeddah in his government, and when the great Shi’ite Muslim Marja’, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohsin al-Hakeem, came on Hajj pilgrimage, Faisal allowed him to hold the congregational prayers at the holy Ka’ba in the Masjid al-Haraam. The Wahhabi minority wanted to remove him, and after his assassination, discrimination based on sect, tribe, region and gender became the order of the day and has remained as such until today.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, US troops, which had entered Somalia in December 1992 under the pretext of ending unrests in this African country, were forced to leave. In 1991, Somali opposition groups had toppled Dictator Mohammad Ziad Bareh, but failed to agree on formation of a coalition government and this political deadlock sparked a civil war, thereby providing a pretext for the US to deploy its troops within the framework of UN peacekeeping forces. The Somalis resented foreign intervention and despite suffering hundreds of fatalities, killed over a hundred US occupation forces and finally forced them out.

4 solar years ago, on this day in 2014 AD, Iranian scholar and historian, Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Bastani Parizi, passed away at the age of 89. Born near Sirjan in Kerman Province, southeastern Iran, he came to Tehran for higher studies and obtained his doctorate in history, after which he joined Tehran University as lecturer. Since youth he took up composing poems and writing essays. An avid researcher, he wrote a great many articles for different Iranian journals, and translated into Persian from Arabic and French. He authored several books such as “History of Kerman”, “Quest for Independence”, and “Zu’l-Qarnain or Cyrus the Great”.

AS/MG