Today is Saturday; 7th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 19th of the Islamic month of Muharram 1440 lunar hijri; and September 29, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2540 solar years ago, on this day in 522 BC, a few months after the suspicious death of Emperor Cambyses II (son of Cyrus the Great) his lance-bearer and Achaemenian kinsman, who had seized power and styled himself Emperor Darius I, killed what he has claimed in the Bistoun Inscription: "Gaumata the Magian Priest impersonating Bardiya, the younger son of Emperor Cyrus the Great." Darius, to justify his seizure of the Iranian throne, further claimed that Cambyses on becoming king of Persia and before setting out for Egypt, had killed Bardiya and kept this secret – but he never says how he came to know of this secret. According to historians, on his deathbed Cyrus had appointed Bardiya as satrap (governor) of some far-eastern provinces, and they are thus skeptical of Darius' account, since following the death of Cambyses none of the women in the royal harem had doubts about the identity of Bardiya. The only speculation is that if Darius I – who now married Atossa the daughter of Cyrus to legitimize his rule – is telling the truth, Gaumata may have completely brought Bardiya under his control, thereby threatening to usurp the rule of the Achaemenians.  

1379 lunar years ago, on this day in 61 AH, the Caravan of the Captives of Karbala, headed by Hazrat Zainab and Imam Zain al-Abedin (peace upon them) – the sister and son of Imam Husain (AS), was hastily dispatched towards Damascus in Syria to the court of the self-styled caliph, Yazid ibn Mu’awiyyah, by the tyrannical governor of Iraq, Obaidullah ibn Ziyad, who feared that the presence in Kufa of the bereaved womenfolk and children of the Prophet’s Household would result in uprising against Omayyad rule. The Prophet’s granddaughter reprimanded the Kufans for their weak faith and double crossing, saying they had invited Imam Husain (AS) and then deserted him to be tragically martyred; and that many of them had participated in the shedding of his innocent blood, which will remain till the Day of Resurrection an ugly blot upon them, since they have badly hurt the Prophet’s soul. She would have continued this highly eloquent sermon if her nephew Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) had not stepped forward and requested her to have patience. When brought to the court of the tyrant Obaidullah ibn Ziyad, who mocked at the severed heads of the martyrs of Karbala, Hazrat Zainab (SA) boldly addressed him:

“We are the sisters of Husain (AS), the grand daughters of Mohammad (SAWA) whom you acknowledge as your Prophet. You and the other henchmen of Yazid have, for the sake of worldly gains, flouted all the principles of Islam, have desecrated the dead bodies of the martyrs, despite the fact that it is strictly forbidden by religion… Today you are gloating over your success and rejoicing; today you are thinking that you can insult and humiliate us to your heart’s content because there is nobody to say a word to you on our behalf, because you see us in this helpless state with no one to befriend us, none to protest against the treatment you are meting out to us. But O tyrant! Let me warn you that you will find your success ephemeral and very soon the wrath of God will descend on you and on those whose cause you espouse. Very soon the nemesis will overtake you and all the others who have ruthlessly killed my brother and other members of my family without the least compunction, simply because they stood steadfast in their belief; because they refused to surrender their principles or compromise their ideals; because they refused to accept Yazid, whose stooge you are, as the caliph of Muslims on account of his being a known profligate, who had flouted all principles of Islam, trampled all ethical concepts and reduced all human beings to an abject state.”

A stunned Ibn Ziyad, sensing dangers of uprising if the captives of Karbala remained in Kufa, sent them hastily towards his mentor Yazid in Syria, but through circuitous routes so that the people of the remote towns through which they pass would not know their identity.

1074 lunar years ago, on this day in 366 AH, the Buwaiyhid ruler of northern and central Iran, Hassan Ibn Buya Daylami, titled Rukn od-Dowlah, passed away. The federation of Buwaiyhid Amirs, who were Iranian Muslims and followers of the school of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) Ahl al-Bayt, ruled most of Iran and Iraq for over a hundred years. They rebuilt the holy shrines of the Infallible Imams in Iraq and patronized a great many scholars, in addition to building schools, hospitals, bridges and other public works. Rukn od-Dowlah was the father of the famous ruler of Iraq and Iran, Fana Khosrow Adhud od-Dowlah.

811 solar years ago, on this day in 1207 AD, the famous Persian poet and mystic, Jalal od-Din Mohammad Balkhi Rumi, was born to Iranian parents in the village of Wakhsh, near Balkh in Khorasan. Wakhsh is now in Tajikistan while Balkh is in Afghanistan. It is said that the most important influences upon the young boy, besides his scholarly father, Baha od-Din Walad, who was connected to the spiritual lineage of Gnostic, Najm od-Din Kubra, were the Persian poets Attar Naishapuri and Sana’i Ghaznavi. He was hardly ten years when the family had to flee Khorasan towards Iraq because of the barbaric Mongol invasion. After a sojourn in Baghdad and travel to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, followed by a brief residence in Damascus, he settled in Qonya in Anatolia which was under the Persianate Seljuq Sultanate of Rum, and hence his title Rumi. He produced his famous work “Mathnawi” here and died in 1273 AD at the age of 67. He was buried in Qonya (Konya) and his tomb is a place of pilgrimage for Sufis. Iranians, Turks, Afghans, Tajiks, and other Central Asians as well as Muslims of the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy. His poems have been translated into many languages. In 2007 Rumi was described as the "most popular poet in the US.” His “Mathnawi” remains one of the literary glories of the Persian language. His poetry influenced Persian literature as well as Urdu, Punjabi, Turkish, Pashto, Chagatai language and Sindhi languages. Rumi in his poems has paid homage to the unsurpassed merits of Imam Ali (AS, the cousin, son-in-law and divinely-decreed heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

751 lunar years ago, on this day in 689 AH, Kai-Qobad, the 10^th and last sultan of the Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty of Hindustan (Northern Subcontinent), was murdered after a 3-year reign at the instigation of his prime minister, Jalal od-Din Khalji, who after enthroning and soon dethroning his 3-year orphan, Shams od-Din Kiamurs, took the title of Ferouz Shah to set up the short-lived Khalji Dynasty. Kai-Qobad had succeeded his grandfather, the powerful Sultan Ghiyas od-Din Balban, on the refusal of his own father Naseer od-Din Bughra Khan the governor of Bengal to take the crown of Delhi. Soon Kai-Qobad’s inefficiency and pleasure-loving ways made the father march against his son. The two armies met on the banks of Saryu River in North Bihar, but due to the love for his father, Kai-Qobad ran towards Bughra and embraced him, while in tears. No battle took place and a peace treaty was agreed between Bengal and Hindustan. The famous poet Amir Khosrow, who was a contemporary, has versified this unusual event in the Persian Mathnavi titled “Qiran os-Sa’dain” (Meeting of the Two Auspicious Stars). The court language of the Subcontinent during Muslim rule was Persian.

471 solar years ago, on this day in 1547 AD, Spanish author and novelist,   Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, was born near Madrid. His magnum opus is “Don Quixote”, considered to be the first modern European novel. His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called “la lengua de Cervantes” (the language of Cervantes). “Don Quixote” has been regarded chiefly as a novel of purpose. He wrote it to satirize the chivalric romance and to challenge the popularity of a form of literature that had been a favorite of the general public for more than a century. Cervantes enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued and was captured by Algerian-Ottoman naval forces. After 5 years of captivity he was released by his captors. He died in 1616 in his hometown.

316 lunar years ago, on this day in 1124 AH, the 7^th Mughal Emperor of the Subcontinent, Qotb od-Din Mo’azzam entitled Shah Alam Bahadur Shah I, died in Lahore at the age of 71, while making alterations to the famous Shalimar Gardens. During his brief 5-year reign he managed to keep intact the vast empire of his father, Aurangzeb – from Kabul in Afghanistan to the southern tip of peninsular India and from Baluchistan in the west to the borders of Burma in the east. As had been the sorry state of affairs, since the death of Jahangir in 1627, he had risen to the throne after defeating and killing his brothers, Azam and Kam Bakhsh. His four sons likewise disputed the succession and battles ensued in which Azim osh-Shan, Rafi osh-Shan, and Jahan Shah were killed, while the remaining Mo'iz od-Din Jahandar Shah ascended the throne, only to be overthrown eleven months later by his nephew Farrokhsiyar, with the help of the “kingmakers”, the two Seyyed Brothers, Abdullah Khan and Husain Ali Khan.

260 solar years ago, on this day in 1758 AD, Horatio Nelson, British naval commander who defeated the French and their allies on numerous occasions during Napoleonic Wars, was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk. Noted for his superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, he was wounded several times in combat, losing one arm in the unsuccessful attempt to conquer Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the sight in one eye in Corsica. He was shot and killed during his final victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. A morally-loose person, Nelson openly lived an adulterous life despite the denunciations of his father, who was a priest.

117 solar years ago, on this day in 1901 AD, the Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi, was born in Rome. He discovered the law on movement of gas molecules. He also conducted research on atomic changes of elements and succeeded in making an atomic battery through fission for release of atomic energy. He died in 1954.

116 solar years ago, on this day in 1902 AD, French journalist, author, and playwright, Emile Zola, died in Paris at the age of 62 as a result of inhaling carbon monoxide. He was the most well-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus.

107 solar years ago, on this day in 1911 AD, Italy declared war on the tottering Ottoman Empire. The war lasted till October 18, 1912, and as a result, Italy captured the North African Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, Cyrenaica, and Tripoli itself. It changed the name of the land to Libya. During the conflict, Italian forces also occupied the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea. Italy imposed the Treaty of Ouchy (known as the First Treaty of Lausanne (1912) signed in Switzerland), forcing the Ottomans to renounce all claims to these islands. The Ottomans had to withdraw all their military forces and administrative agents from Libya according to the treaty. Although minor, the war was a significant precursor of the World War I as it sparked nationalism in the Balkan states. Seeing how easily the Italians had defeated the weakened Ottomans, members of the Balkan League attacked the Ottoman Empire. The Italo-Turkish War saw numerous technological changes, notably the airplane. On October 23, 1911, an Italian pilot, Captain Carlo Piazza, flew over Turkish lines on the world's first aerial reconnaissance mission, and on November 1, the first ever aerial bomb was dropped by Sottotenente Giulio Gavotti, on Turkish troops in Libya, from an Etrich Taube aircraft. The Turks, lacking anti-aircraft weapons, were the first to shoot down an aeroplane by rifle fire.

105 solar years ago, on this day in 1913, German engineer Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel who invented the internal-combustion engine that bears his name, died at the age of 55. After studying the four-stroke internal combustion engines developed by Nikolaus Otto, he conceived of an engine that would approach the thermodynamic limit established by Sadi Carnot in 1824. If the fuel in a cylinder could be expanded at constant pressure, it could get closer to Carnot's limit. Diesel patented the concept in 1892, while working at the firm of the refrigeration engineer Carl von Linde in Berlin. After boarding an English Channel steamer, he was found dead in the sea. It was most likely suicide resulting from depression, after having lost control over his invention and after scathing criticism in the German engineering journals for his theories

100 solar years ago, on this day in 1918 AD, during the last months of World War I, the Battle of St. Quentin Canal resulted in the victory of the Allied Powers, and breach of the solid Hindenburg Line of defence of the German-led Axis Powers.

40 lunar years ago, on this day in 1400 AH, prominent Lebanese Islamic scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Jawad al-Mughniya, passed away in his homeland at the age of 76 and his body was taken to Iraq for burial in the courtyard of the holy shrine of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). A product of the famous seminary of holy Najaf, he was a leading advocate of Islamic solidarity in pursuit of which he journeyed to Egypt, met the dean of al-Azhar University, Sheikh Mahmoud Shaltout, and played a major role in establishment of the “Dar at-Taqrib” (Foundation for Proximity) between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. At the same time he was politically active against the illegal Zionist entity and considered the US as the chief enemy of Muslims including Arabs. Sheikh Jawad Mughniya was also a firm supporter of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), stating that this grassroots movement that started from the holy city of Qom in Iran has been prophesied in hadith. He was a prolific writer and his works include: “The Merits of Imam Ali (AS)”, “The Martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS) in the Light of the Holy Qur’an”, “The Jurisprudence of Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS)” in three volumes, “The Intellectual Basis for Reappearance of Imam Mahdi (AS) the Saviour of Mankind”, “Exposure of the Heretical Wahhabi Cult”, and “Jurisprudence in Accordance with Commonalities Amongst the Five Islamic Schools” (Ja’far, Shafe’i, Hanafi, Maleki and Hanbali).

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, Hojjat ol-Islam Seyyed Abdul-Karim Hasheminejad was martyred by the MKO terrorists in the holy city of Mashhad at the age of 48. A student of such prominent scholars as Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi and the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), because of his opposition to the Shah's despotic regime he was incarcerated and tortured by Pahlavi agents on several occasions. Following the overthrow of the regime, he played an effective role in public affairs. Among the works he authored are: "Hazrat Zahra (SA)", and "The School of Thought of Resistance".

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, several high-ranking commanders of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Armed Forces were martyred in a plane crash while returning from the “Samen al-Ai’mma” operations that broke the siege of Abadan and pushed back the invading Ba’thist forces. Among the 80 martyrs were Minister of Defence Musa Namju, Commander of the Ground Forces Valiollah Fallahi, Air Force Commander Colonel Javad Fakouri, IRGC Deputy Commander Yusuf Kolahdouz, and IRGC’s Mohammad Ali Jahan Aara. On hearing of this incident Imam Khomeini (RA) paid tributes to the martyrs and referred to them as “Commanders of Islam”.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1992 AD, Angola in southern Africa held its first free elections, resulting in victory for Jose Eduardo dos Santos of MEPLA, who retained his post of president, which he had won in 1976, a year after independence from Portuguese colonial rule. Following withdrawal of Portugal in 1975, civil war broke out between MEPLA, supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba, and UNITA, backed up by the US and the apartheid regime of South Africa, often leading to invasions by white racist troops. Due to US meddling, even after the 1992 elections and signing of a peace accord, clashes continued. The 27-year long civil war came to its end in February 2002 with the death of UNITA leader, Jonos Savimbi.

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1995 AD, the jurisprudent, Ayatollah Mohammad Hassan Safi Isfahani, passed away at the 76. After studies in his hometown Isfahan, and later at the seminary in holy Qom, he left for Iraq for higher studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where his teachers included Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohsin Hakim and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qassim Khoie. He returned to Iran at the age of 50 and became head of the Isfahan seminary. He wrote manyl books, including “Comparative Study of Islamic Economy with Socialist and Capitalist Economies”.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, Iran's parliament voted to designate the CIA and the US Army as terrorist outfits, in response to a US Senate resolution seeking a similar designation for the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC).

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, a kangaroo court set up by the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime of the Persian Gulf island state of Bahrain handed jail terms of up to 15 years to 50 Shi’a Muslim citizens, including a prominent Iraqi religious scholar. 

AS/SS