Today is Wednesday; 24th of the Iranian month of Mordad 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 3rd of the Islamic month of Zil-Hijjah 1439 lunar hijri; and August 15, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1382 solar years ago, on this day in 636 AD, a series of 6-day military encounters,  known as the Battle of Yarmouk started near Yarmouk River in Palestine between the neo-Muslim Arab forces and the Christian armies of Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire), resulting in the decisive victory of Muslims and opening the way for Islamicization of Syria. This was start of a new phase of wars in the Levant-Mesopotamia region between new adversaries, only 8 years after the end of the 26-year long (602-to 628) last and deadliest round of the Byzantine-Sassanid wars that had raged for almost four centuries, beginning with the start of armed hostilities between Severus Alexander and Ardashir I in 230 AD – as continuation of the Roman-Parthian wars started over three centuries earlier in 92 BC for control of Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, Anatolia (modern Turkey) and Armenia. With the advent of Islam and the defeat of both the Persians and the Byzantines (Greco-Romans), the ethno-religious demography of the region was permanently changed, although Iranians as Muslims would continue to influence events and play vital roles in the region and beyond, on a scale greater than in the pre-Islamic era.

1300 solar years ago, on this day in 718 AD, the naval and land forces of the Omayyad regime of Damascus were forced to lift the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople after a year and a month of unsuccessful efforts to conquer the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The First Siege of Constantinople during the years 674-78 by Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan had ended in failure. In 716, Sulaiman Ibn Abdul-Malik, on hearing of a narration that the city would be conquered by a person bearing the name of a Prophet, sent a massive force of 200,000 via land and by sea through the Mediterranean – on the assumption that he was the namesake of Prophet Solomon. After wintering in the western coastlands of Asia Minor, the Arab army crossed into Thrace on the European side in early summer 717 and built siege lines to blockade Constantinople, which was protected by massive walls. The Arab fleet, which accompanied the land army and was meant to complete the city's blockade by sea, was neutralized soon after its arrival by the Byzantine navy through the use of Greek fire. The Arab army was crippled by famine and disease during the unusually hard winter that followed. An additional army sent overland from Syria through Asia Minor was ambushed and defeated. In the meantime Sulaiman was no more and the new caliph was Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz. Coupled with attacks by the Bulgarians on their rear, the Arabs were forced to lift the siege, losing 150,000 men during the unsuccessful campaign. On its return journey, the Arab fleet was almost destroyed by natural disasters and Byzantine attacks. The failure had wide-ranging repercussions, including end of the Muslim advance into Europe, and is considered one of history's most decisive battles, along with the Omayyad defeat in France at the Battle of Tours in 732. The huge financial loss speeded up the collapse of the usurper Omayyad regime, followed by its complete destruction by the Abbasid regime in 750. It was in 1453 that Constantinople was captured by Muslims under the Ottoman sultan, Mohammad II.

1240 solar years ago, on this day in 778 AD, the Battle of Roncevaux Pass occurred in the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain between the rearguard of the retreating army of Charlemagne of France and the Basques, resulting in the death of the famous knight, Roland. It was not fought between Christians and Muslims, as alleged, but the Muslims did play a crucial role during the invasion of northern Spain by the French and their retreat, when Sulaiman al-Arabi, the pro-Abbasid governor of Barcelona and Girona, along with Hussain of Zaragoza and Abu Taur of Huesca promised Charlemagne military aid against Abdur-Rahman I, the Omayyad Emir of Cordoba. The three also said the caliph of Baghdad, Mahdi al-Abbasi, was preparing an invasion force against Abdur-Rahman. Seeing an opportunity to extend his own power, Charlemagne invaded and was welcomed in Barcelona and Girona by Sulaiman al-Arabi. Abdur-Rahman of Cordoba sent his general, Tha’laba Ibn Obeid, to prevent the French invasion, but was defeated and imprisoned by Hussain, who handed him, along with gold, to Charlemagne. The French king who had planned to seize Zaragoza but was frustrated in his designs, turned against his Muslim ally Sulaiman al-Arabi and put him in chains. Meanwhile, an Iranian-Arab force sent by the Baghdad caliph was stopped near Barcelona. Following his failure to take Zaragoza, Charlemagne retreated to France and in Pamplona he suffered an ambush led by the pro-Abbasid Muslim forces who freed Sulaiman al-Arabi. The French were also attacked by Basques who routed the guard and killed Roland and others.

1092 solar years ago, on this day in 927 AD, Muslims from North Africa, after bringing the island of Sicily under Islamic rule, took control of the city of Taranto in Apulia, southern Italy, before evacuating it. In the preceding century also, the Muslims, after taking control of Sicily, had established a foothold in southern Italy, founding the emirate of Bari, which fell over a half-a-century earlier in 871 to the savage onslaught of the Christian forces of Holy Roman Emperor Louis II, who massacred Muslims, burned libraries, and turned mosques into churches.

1077 lunar years ago, on this day in 362 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic genius, Abu Rayhan Mohammad ibn Ahmad al-Birouni, was born in Kath, the capital of Khwarezm in Central Asia. His first 25 years were spent in his homeland where he studied jurisprudence, theology, grammar, mathematics, astronomy, medics and other sciences. Regarded as one of the greatest scholars of the medieval Islamic era, he was well versed in mathematics, astronomy, physical and natural sciences, and also distinguished himself as a geographer, historian, chronologist and linguist. While in Mazandaran at the Ziyarid court he wrote one of his important books: “al-Asaar al-Baqiyya an al-Qoroun al-Khaliyya” (Chronology of Ancient nations and Vestiges of the Past). With the conquest of the region by Mahmoud Ghaznavi he became court astrologer and accompanied the Turkish Sultan on his invasions of India, where he lived for several years and became acquainted with all things related to that land. He learned Sanskrit and wrote the famous Arabic book “Kitab Tahqiq ma li'l-Hind”, which is a highly analytical work. Of the more than hundred books and treatises known to have been written by him, some 65 percent are devoted to astronomy, mathematics, and related subjects like geography and geology. Birouni also devised his own method of determining the radius of the earth by means of observation of the height of a mountain which he carried it out at Nandana in India. He states in his writings (several centuries before Copernicus and Galileo) that the earth is round and spherical. In mineralogy, this great Iranian Muslim genius, who was a follower of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) Ahl al-Bayt, succeeded in determining the specific density of many metals and minerals with remarkable precision. Almost all his works were written in Arabic except for “Kitab at-Tafhim”, in Persian, and in which he has scientifically proven the movement of the earth around the sun and the force of gravity. He died in Ghazni at the age of 78.

1036 solar years ago, on this day in 982 AD, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II was decisively defeated by the Muslim forces of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'a Muslim caliphate of Egypt-Syria-North Africa at the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria, southern Italy. The Fatemids, who after taking control of Sicily in the 960s had advanced into southern Italy, came into conflict with the Germans under Otto, who was advancing from the north with the intention of seizing Apulia and Calabria from the Byzantines. He was met by forces of the Sicilian Emir, Abu'l-Qassem, to whom the Greek Christians had appealed for aid against the Roman Catholics. After initial success, Otto's army was bogged down in a pitched battle south of Crotone at Cape Colonna, and although Abu'l-Qassem was martyred, the Muslim troops did not flee the battlefield. They regrouped and surrounded Otto's soldiers, killing many of them and inflicting a severe defeat upon the Holy Roman Emperor. The defeat changed the political makeup of southern Italy, where Muslims retained their presence, while the Greek Orthodox forces joined the Muslims to regain possession of Apulia from the Roman Catholics. The Muslim presence in Italy lasted for over three centuries till 1300 AD, when due to loss of political power they were expelled, and the remaining were forcibly converted to Christianity with mosques turned into churches.

919 lunar years ago, on this day in 520 AH, one of the prominent Persian poets, Khaqani Shirvani, was born in the northwestern Iranian region of Shirvan, which is now in the Republic of Azerbaijan. He is considered amongst the great classical poets of Iran and composed different styles of poems. The na'at, a poem which he wrote in praise of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) at a time when his literary talent had reached its peak, procured him the title “Hassaan al-Ajam” (حسان العجم) or the Hassaan of Persia – a reference to Hassaan ibn Sabet, the famous Arabic poet who composed panegyrics in praise of the Prophet. In 551 AH, he went on Hajj pilgrimage and described the spiritual atmosphere of the holy city of Mecca and the rituals through composing beautiful odes. On his return he stayed in Iraq and met Iraqi scholars. His travels gave him material for his famous versified book entitled “Tohfat ol-Iraqain” (Gift of the Two Iraqs), that is, 'Persian Iraq' and 'Arab Iraq'. He also wrote the famous ode “Aiwan-e Mada'en” (The Portal of Ctesiphon), beautifully depicting his impressions of the remains of the Sassanid Palace near Baghdad. His collection of poems contains 18,000 couplets. In the later days of his life he turned into a recluse after the tragic death of his children and wife. He passed away in Tabriz in 595 AH.

507 lunar years ago, on this day in 932 AH, Budapest the capital of Hungary surrendered to the Ottoman Turks under the leadership of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who inflicted a crushing defeat on the Hungarians in the famous Battle of Mohacs. Till 1718 “Majaristan” as Hungary was called by the Turks was an Ottoman province. Although Islam in Hungary has a long history that dates back to at least the twelfth century, predating the Ottoman Empire, following the end of Turkish rule, Muslims were persecuted and either expelled or forced to become Christians. Today only a few thousand Muslims live in Hungary.

249 solar years ago, on this day in 1769 AD, French general and emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, was born in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica in a relatively modest family of Italian ancestry. He was well-educated, although he spoke French with a heavy Corsican accent. He joined the army and rose rapidly during the later stages of the French Revolution. He became prominent under the First French Republic, and on being appointed general, he established his reputation as a military leader, especially in his Italian and Egyptian campaigns. He invaded Egypt in 1799, intending to sail to India to assist Fath Ali Khan Tipu Sultan of Mysore against the British, but in 1801, he was forced to withdraw after unsuccessful attempts to pose as liberator from Ottoman rule or win the confidence of the Egyptians, even though he participated at al-Azhar in the birth anniversary celebrations of the Prophet of Islam, clad in Arab clothes and turban, and telling the congregation that he has changed his name to “Ali Bonaparte”. On return to France, he contrived to undermine the elected assembly and finally seized totalitarian powers in 1804 as emperor, embroiling France in continental wars for the next ten years for supremacy over all Europe. After his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena, where it is said the British poisoned him to slow death.

141 solar years ago, on this day in 1877 AD, Thomas Edison coined the telephone greeting "Hello." He suggested the use of "Hello" to the president of the Telegraph Company to answer the phone instead of "ahoy-ahoy” suggested by Alexander Bell.

104 solar years ago, on this in 1914 AD the Panama Canal was cut through the Isthmus of the same name at the narrowest point in Central America, to join the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was opened to traffic with transit of the cargo ship “SS Ancon”.

82 solar years ago, on this day in 1936 AD, Grand Ayatollah Allamah Mirza Mohammad Hussein Na'ini, passed away at the age of 79. Born in a religious family in Na’in, central Iran, after completion of preliminary studies, he left for higher studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, where his teachers included such prominent ulema as Mirza Hassan Shirazi (of the anti-tobacco fatwa against British exploitation of the Iranian economy). Besides theology he was well versed in mathematics, philosophy, and mysticism. His most important work is “Tanbih al-Umma va Tanziha al-Milla” which outlines the duties of ulema and people and the necessity of campaign against tyrannical regimes. This was an effective step by Ayatollah Naini in awakening the Iranian people, whose struggles against despotism and foreign hegemony triumphed under the guidance of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). Among his other books, is “Wasilat an-Naja'at”.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1947 AD, India gained independence from British colonial rule after years of struggles. Although an ancient civilization, it was the advent of Islam that placed India firmly on the international map, especially during the era of the Great Moghuls in the 16th and 17th centuries. With the weakening of the Moghul Empire and its splintering into regional Muslim states in the mid-18^th century, the British, who had entered the country as traders, played one ruler against the other, to consolidate power and seize large chunks of territory. Wars were imposed on the Indian people, both Muslim and Hindu, and the superior firepower of the British ensured their victory, whether it was against Tipu Sultan in 1799 or the 1857 uprising in the north, which were brutally crushed. In the closing years of the 19th century independence movements emerged in the form of the Indian National Congress Party and the All-India Muslim League. In the 20th century after World War I, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi launched his non-violent movement, saying it was the epic martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), which inspired him to struggle for liberty and independence. Among the Muslims, Mohammad Ali Jinnah – an Ismaili Shi’a who later became Ithna Ash’ari (Twelver) – emerged as a dynamic leader, but the crafty British played the communal card to pit Muslims against Hindus, as part of their divide-and-rule policy. Following the end of World War 2 and sapping of British energies, London decided to grant independence on the basis of the 'two-nation-theory'. Thus India, and a day earlier Pakistan, emerged as independent states. In 1950 India became a republic.

70 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, the South Korean Republic was formed south of the 38th parallel in the American occupied southern part of the Korean Peninsula, which continues to remain divided against the will of the people, because of the unwanted presence of US troops.

43 solar years ago, in 1975 AD, Bangladesh's founder, Sheikh Mujib ur-Rahman, was killed along with most members of his family during a military coup launched by his own disgruntled Awami League officers headed by Khondkar Mushtaq Ahmad. Mujib led the struggle for secession of East Pakistan from Islamabad's rule and its renaming as Bangladesh in 1971 with the support of India. The present prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, is his daughter.

13 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, because of Palestinian resistance, the Zionist entity was forced to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, which it had occupied in 1967. Israel continues to keep the West Bank under its control despite the 1993 agreement with the PLO to evacuate it. Gaza and its 1.5 million people are under siege for the past several years, and have been subjected to periodic holocausts.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, Iranian mathematician, Prof Manuchehr Vesaal, known as Father of Analytical Mathematics, passed away in his hometown Tehran. He studied at France’s Sorbonne University, and in 1940 obtained doctorate in mathematics and astronomy from the University of Geneva in Switzerland. On his return to Iran, he was appointed associate professor of mathematics at the University of Tehran. In 1941 he became Director of the Tehran University Faculty of Sciences Library and later with scholarship from UNESCO, went to Paris and studied Library Sciences. In 1962, he was appointed the chair of the Department of Mathematics at Shiraz University. He was Founder/Dean of the School of Engineering which quickly became one of the finest engineering Schools in Iran. He served as the provost of the university from 1965 to 1969. During his tenure, post-graduate courses were initiated, books were made available to students at low cost and a library science programme established. He also served as the director of university libraries until 1979. From 1981 until his retirement in 2003 after 62 years of service, he served at the Iran University Press of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

AS/ME