Today is Friday; 1st of the Iranian month of Tir 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1439 lunar hijri; and June 22, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2235 solar years ago, on this day in 217 BC, the seesaw Battle of Raphia took place in what is now Gaza, Palestine, in which Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeated Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire that spanned Iraq, Iran and parts of Turkey. It was fought near modern Rafah as one of the largest battles between the two Hellenistic kingdoms, the successor states of Alexander of Macedon’s short-lived empire, for control of Syria, and hence known as the Syrian Wars of the ancient world. Ptolemy had 70,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 73 African war elephants, while Antiochus had 62,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 102 Asian war elephants. This is the only known battle in which African and Asian elephants were used against each other, and Ptolemy's elephants which were from what is now Eritrea could not bear the smell, sound and view of their Indian counterparts as well as their greater size and strength and caused panic in their own ranks, before the Egyptian cavalry moved in to defeat the Seleucids. Ptolemy's victory secured Syria for Egypt, but it was only a respite, since at the Battle of Panium in 198 BC Antiochus defeated the army of Ptolemy's young son, Ptolemy V Epiphanes and recaptured Syria and Judea.

1102 solar years ago, on this day in 916 AD, Amir Saif od-Dowla, the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo and most of Syria, was born. Named Ali, he was the son of Abu'l-Hayja Abdullah bin Hamdan, and was a staunch follower of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt. He was the younger brother of Nasser od-Dowla the Amir of Mosul. He distinguished himself in battles against the Byzantines and could be called the Warden of the Marches of the Islamic frontier of those days by checking the bid by the Christians to plunder Syria. Saif od-Dowla was a man of letters and surrounded himself with prominent intellectual figures, notably the great Arabic poets, al-Mutanabbi and Abu Firas Hamdani, as well as the noted Iranian Islamic philosopher Abu Nasr Farabi. Saif od-Dowla himself was a poet; his delicate short poem on the rainbow shows high artistic ability.

1067 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.

589 solar years ago, on this day in 1429 AD, the eminent Iranian astronomer and mathematician, Ghiyas od-Din Jamshid Kashani, died under suspicious circumstances in Samarqand at the age of around 50. He was born in Kashan and went to Samarqand at the invitation of the Timurid scientist-ruler, Ologh Beg, to set up the famous observatory. He produced a Zij entitled the “Khaqani Zij”, which was based on Khwaja Naseer od-Din Tusi's “Zij-e Ilkhani”. He also produced tables on transformations between coordinate systems on the celestial sphere, such as the transformation from the ecliptic coordinate system to the equatorial coordinate system. He wrote the book “Sullam as-Sama” on the resolution of difficulties met by predecessors in the determination of distances and sizes of heavenly bodies such as the Earth, the Moon, the Sun and the Stars. He also invented a mechanical planetary computer which he called the Plate of Zones, which could graphically solve a number of planetary problems, including the prediction of the true positions in longitude of the Sun and Moon, and the planets in terms of elliptical orbits; the latitudes of the Sun, Moon, and planets; and the ecliptic of the Sun. In one of his numerical approximations of "P" (pronounced pie), he correctly computed 2 P to 9 sexagesimal digits. This approximation of 2 P is equivalent to 16 decimal places of accuracy. This was far more accurate than the estimates earlier given in Greek mathematics of 3 decimal places by Archimedes, Chinese mathematics of 7 decimal places by Zu Chongzhi and Indian mathematics of 11 decimal places by Madhava of Sangamagrama. The accuracy of Jamshid Kashani's estimate was not surpassed until Ludolph van Ceulen computed 20 decimal places of "P" nearly 200 years later.

491 solar years ago, on this day in 1527 AD, Fathollah, the Muslim general of the Sultan of Demak drove away the Portuguese occupation forces from Sunda Kelapa, and renamed the town Jayakarta, which now known as Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia. Fathollah is a national hero in Indonesia.

425 solar years ago, on this day in 1593 AD, the Battle of Sisak or Kulpa Bozgunu in Turkish, was fought in Croatia on the confluence of the Rivers Sava and Kupa between Ottoman regional forces of Hasan Pasha Predojevic, a notable commander of the Eyalet of Bosnia, and a combined Christian army from the Habsburg lands, mainly the kingdom of Croatia and Austria. Earlier in 1591 and 1592 the Ottomans had two failed attempts of capturing the Sisak fortress, sieging forces on 22 June. The ensuing battle resulted in a defeat for the regional Turkish forces, triggering the Long War between the Ottoman and the Hapsburg Empires that lasted for 13 years.

385 solar years ago, on this day in 1633 AD, Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist, Galileo Galilei, was forced to renounce his scientific remarks and beliefs before the Church officials. Influenced by the Latin translations of the Arabic works of Islamic scientists, such as Iran’s Abu Rayhan Berouni, he wrote a book in the year 1632 in rejection of Ptolemy’s beliefs on the solar system, supporting the fact that the Earth orbits around the Sun. A year later, the Pope summoned him to Rome and termed his writings as blasphemous, and gave him the option of denying what he said or death.

213 solar years ago, on this day in 1805 AD, Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian politician and activist for the unification of Italy, was born. His efforts helped bring about an independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers that existed until the 19^th century.

115 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.

95 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 (AS), Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS), and Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS). 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 (AS) 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 (SA), 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).

92 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 (RA). 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 three 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 as Allamah Tabarsi’s “Majma’ al-Bayan” and Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Hussain Tabataie’s “al-Mizan”.    

78 solar years ago, on this day in 1940 AD, France formally surrendered to Nazi German leader, Adolf Hitler, by signing a treaty, according to which Marshal Henri Petain was instated as the premier of France with Germany’s support. But, General Charles de Gaulle, with the support of French troops overseas, formed the French government in exile to continue the struggle for liberation of France.

77 solar years ago, on this day in 1941 AD, during World War II, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union, after occupying several east European countries. German troops advanced till the outskirts of Moscow, but were bogged down with the arrival of the winter. The Soviets also resolutely resisted and gradually forced the German troops to retreat.

73 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, the World War II battle for Okinawa officially ended. It was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War Theater resulting in the death of 12,520 Americans and 90,000 Japanese soldiers, plus 130,000 civilians killed in the 81-day campaign.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), formally dismissed Abol-Hassan Bani Sadr from the president’s post, a day after the Majlis (parliament) impeached him for his political incompetency and dalliance with anti-revolutionary groups, with 177 affirmative votes, 12 abstentions, and 1 negative vote. Earlier on June 10, the Imam had relieved him of the post of Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces because of his failure to check the advance of the Ba’thist forces. The Iranian nation hailed the move. Upon Bani Sadr’s deposal, his friends, the MKO terrorists, stepped up subversive activities, including the terrorist explosions of 27 June that led to the martyrdom of Chief Justice Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hussaini Beheshti and 72 officials. On July 29, Bani Sadr, with his mustache shaved off and disguised as a chador-wearing woman, fled the country for France, along with MKO terrorist ringleader, Masoud Rajavi, aboard an aircraft piloted by an anti-revolutionary.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, on the instructions of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), the Islamic Propagation Organisation was established for enlightening people at home and abroad with the dynamism of Islam, through preaching, publishing of books, holding of seminars, and related ideological and cultural work to strengthen the beliefs of the people.

AS/ME