Today is Tuesday, 7th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 9th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1439 lunar hijri; and March 27, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

973 solar years ago, on this day in 1045 AD, Abu’l-Qasim Ali ibn Ahmad al-Jarjara’i, the distinguished Iraqi vizier of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi’a Muslim Empire of Egypt-North Africa-Syria, died after 18 years in his post. He served the self-styled caliphs al-Hakim, be-Amrillah, Ali az-Zaher and al-Mustansir, improving relations with the Byzantine Empire. Among his scribes was the famous Egyptian Shafe’i scholar of Iranian origin, Moḥammad ibn Salamah ibn Ja’far al-Qudhai – a near contemporary of the Seyyed Radhi the compiler of the famous Nahj al-Balagha (Highways of Eloquence) – who also compiled a selection of letters, sermons, and aphorisms of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), titled: “Dastour Ma’lem al-Hikam wa Mathour Makarem ash-Shiyam” (Compendium o Signposts of Wisdom and Documentation of Qualities of Virtue), which has recently been translated into English as “A Treasury of Virtues”.

668 solar years ago, on this day in 1350 AD, the bitter enemy of Muslims, Alfonso XI of Castile, died at the age of 39. Notorious for his treachery, through deception he and the mercenary forces he had assembled from different parts of Europe, managed to inflict a defeat on the Spanish Muslims of Granada, who were assisted by the Marinid King of Morocco, Abu Yusuf in the Battle of Río Salado. Although he occupied the Muslim region of Algeciras in Spain, he could not conquer Granada.

518 lunar years ago, on this day in 921 AH, the Iranian historian and poet, Zain-ol-Abedin Ali bin Abdul-Momin, popular as Abdi Bek Navidi Shirazi, was born in Shiraz. His main book is a history of the Safavid Dynasty titled "Takmilat al-Akhbar", in which he has chronicled events beginning from the emergence of the Safavids till the year 978 AH. His main poetical works are three Khamsas, composed in imitation of the celebrated Nizami Ganjavi. Each Khamsa comprises five independent versified narratives. Of these, “Sahifat-al-Ikhlas”, mostly a descriptive account of the palaces, gardens, and artists of Qazvin (the then capital of the Safavids) is of special interest. His Divan of Persian poetry was published for the first time in Lucknow, India, in 1267 AH (1851). Among his other works, mention could be made of a versified book titled “Jam-e Jamshid”.

509 lunar years ago, on this day in 930 AH, the young 10-year old Shah Tahmasp I was crowned as the second Safavid Emperor of Iran, a week after the death of his father and founder of the Dynasty, Shah Ismael I. His reign of 54-years is the longest of any Muslim king of Iran, and was marked by foreign threats, primarily from the Ottomans in the west and the Uzbeks in the northeast. Upon adulthood, he was able to reassert his power and consolidate the dynasty against internal and external enemies. Although he lost Iraq and parts of Anatolia to the Ottoman invaders, his pious nature made him avoid unnecessary shedding of Muslim blood. As a result, after thwarting Ottoman designs in the Caucasus, Shah Tahmasp concluded the Treaty of Amasya, with Sultan Sulaiman, resulting in a peace that lasted 30 years and led to the development of Iran. He continued his father’s policy of enlightening the people with the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He assembled at his court in Qazvin leading ulema from all over Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Lebanon. As a descendant of the Prophet and head of the Safavid spiritual order tracing to Safi od-Din Ardebili, he was acknowledged as suzerain by the Shi’ite Muslim sultanates of the Deccan (Southern India). Shah Tahmasp is also known for the reception he gave to the fugitive Mughal Emperor Humayun of Hindustan (Northern Subcontinent) when the latter fled the seizure of power by the Afghan warlord, Sher Shah Suri. Humayun, whose father Babar, was a protégé of Shah Ismail Safavi, was treated as a royal guest, and besides military aid to recover his kingdom, was accompanied by a large retinue of Iranian noblemen, soldiers, and artists, which signaled an important development in Indo-Iranian relations, in all fields, such as art, architecture, language and literature. One of Shah Tahmasp's more lasting achievements was his encouragement of the Persian carpet industry on a national scale. He was an enthusiastic patron of the arts with a particular interest in the Persian miniature, especially book illustration. He had been trained in drawing himself, and had some talent. The most famous example of such work is the “Shahnama-e Shah Tahmaspi”, containing 250 miniatures by the leading court artists of the era.

476 lunar years ago, on this day in 963 AH, Ezzeddin Seyyed Hussein, the prominent Imami scholar, was martyred through poisoning at the age of 57 in the city of Sidon in what is now Lebanon. Born in the Jabal Amel region, he mastered the sciences of the day, and had attained higher degrees of Gnosticism.

356 solar years ago, on this day in 1662 AD, Garhgaon, the capital of Assam, was captured by the Iranian general of the Moghal Empire, Mir Mohammad Sa’eed entitled “Mir Jomla”. Born is Isfahan to a merchant, he set out for the Deccan or southern India on a business trip under a diamond merchant to the Qotb-Shahi Sultanate of Iranian origin of Golkandah-Haiderabad, where he started his own business and rose to become the prime minister of Sultan Abdullah Qotb Shah. He conquered the southernmost part of India for the king, but soon friction with the court made him seek service with the Moghal Empire of the northern subcontinent, where Emperor Shah-Jahan appointed him governor of Bengal. Mir Jomla started his conquest of the remote northeast and brought under control Assam and other regions, before death overtook him.

204 solar years ago, on this day in 1814 AD, US expansionist forces led by General Andrew Jackson routed the lightly-armed Amerindians of the Creek Nation in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, as part of the white man’s genocide of America’s native population. Andrew Jackson, who later became the 7^th president of the US, forced the Creek Nation to cede 23 million acres (93,000 square km) of land in what are now the states of Alabama and Georgia.

173 solar years ago, on this day in 1845 AD, the acclaimed German physicist, Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, was born. In 1895 he discovered the X-Ray, and in 1901 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his important discovery. X-Ray goes through human tissues and is the best means for taking photographs of limbs, thereby diagnosing damages and fractures to limbs.

172 solar years ago, on this day in 1846 AD, US forces besieged Fort Texas with the start of the fresh round of American aggression on Mexico. The war lasted two years during which the expansionist US annexed Texas and quickly occupied New Mexico and California. It then invaded parts of Northeastern Mexico and Northwest Mexico. When Mexico refused to agree to US expansionist demands, American army captured Mexico City, and the war ended in victory of the US, with Mexico forced to give up vast areas of its northern parts, which are now the southern states of the US.

131 lunar years ago, on this day in 1308 AH, the prominent source of emulation, Ayatollah Shaikh Mohammad Hassan Aal-e Yasin, passed away at the age of 88 in his hometown, Kazemayn, where he was head of the seminary. He studied in the seminary of holy Najaf under such famous scholars, as Shaikh Mohammad Hassan Najafi – author of “Jawaher al-Kalaam” – and became Marja’ after the passing away of the celebrated Ayatollah Shaikh Morteza Ansari Dezfuli. Despite mastery over various branches of Islamic sciences, he wrote mainly on jurisprudence. His works include “Asraar-al-Faqaha”.

120 solar years ago, on this day in 1898 AD, the Indian educator, politician, and Islamic reformer, Seyyed Ahmad Khan passed away in Delhi. He was born in a family that had migrated from Iran. His father, Mir Mohammad Muttaqi and grandfather, Seyyed Hadi, were attached to the Mughal court. He was trained in Persian, Arabic, Urdu and religious subjects, as well as mathematics and astronomy, and was well versed in the Mathnavi of the great Persian mystic, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Roumi. After the 1857 rebellion against British rule that abolished the Mughal dynasty, he wrote the book "Asbab-e Baghawat-e Hind" (Causes of the Indian Revolt) in which he rejected the notion that the conspiracy was planned by Muslim elites feeling insecure at the diminishing influence of Muslim rulers. He held the British responsible for their aggressive colonial expansion and ignorance of India's rich culture. He then launched the campaign for modern education of the Muslims of India by founding the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which later developed into the famous Aligarh Muslim University. His efforts gave rise to a new generation of Muslim entrepreneurs and politicians. He also founded the All-India Muslim League, which decades later under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, resulted in the birth of Pakistan. When the British banned the study of Persian in order to cut the cultural links of Indian Muslims with Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, he took up the patronage of Urdu which led to its widespread use amongst Indian Muslims, and years later, following the Partition of India its adoption as the official language of Pakistan. Seyyed Ahmad Khan was knighted by the British as "Sir", and his views on nature were strongly criticized by the famous pan-Islamic Iranian thinker, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi. He died at the age of 81.

70 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, France set up the French Union made up of its colonies in Asia, Africa and Latin America as replacement for the French Overseas Empire. This was replaced in 1958 by the French Community on the model of the British Commonwealth, although many former French colonies like Algeria refused to join it. In 1995 the French Community was abolished. The only body linking France with its former colonies today is the Francophone Countries’ Organization that was set up in 1970, and includes 56 member states and mainly pursues cultural activities.

50 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, Russian Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who became the first recorded human being to travel into outer space, died in an air accident at the age of 34. In 1961 he had performed the first manned orbital flight in Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1).

41 solar years ago, on this day in in 1977 AD, the worst aviation accident in history occurred in Tenerife in the Canary Islands killing 583 passengers, when two Boeing 747 airliners collided on a foggy runway. All 248 on board Holland’s KLM flight died, while 335 passengers of the US Pan Am flight lost their life. There were, however, 61 survivors among the Pan Am passengers.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, Renowned Muslim architect, Fazl ur-Rahman Khan, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers and is considered the "father of tubular designs for high-rises”, passed away at the age of 53. Born in British India in Dhaka in what is now the capital of Bangladesh, he was a pioneer in computer-aided design (CAD). He designed the 108-storey Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower of Chicago), the second-tallest building in the United States and tallest in the world for many years. He also designed Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center. He had come to the US in the 1950s on scholarship from what was then the government of East Pakistan (currently Bangladesh) and became an American citizen in 1967. Khan helped usher in a renaissance in skyscraper construction during the second half of the 20^th century. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat named their lifetime achievement medal after him. He was also responsible for designing notable buildings in Bangladesh, Australia and Saudi Arabia.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, in the market of the northern Iraqi town of Tal-Afar, Takfiri terrorists, backed by Saudi Arabia, detonated through remote control two nearly simultaneous truck bombs, resulting in the death of 152 men, women, and children, in addition to injury to several hundred other innocent persons.

AS/MG