Today is Wednesday; 4th of the Iranian month of Esfand 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 24th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1438 lunar hijri; and February 22, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
610 solar years ago, on this day in 1407 AD, the Timurid ruler, Pir Mohammad was murdered by his ambitious vizier, Pir Ali Taz, near Balkh some six months after his second defeat by his cousin, Khalil Sultan (son of Miran Shah), the other claimant to the throne of Samarqand. He had declared himself king two years earlier on the death of his grandfather, the fearsome Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur. He was the son of Jahangir Mirza who was the actual successor to the throne but had died before his father. Next in line was Omar Shaikh Mirza but he too died. That left Shahrukh Mirza, whom Timur considered too meek to rule and Miran Shah who suffered from mental trauma. Timur felt that none of his sons were capable of ruling so he named as successor, his grandson, Pir Mohammad, who was governor of Qandahar since 1392 and controlled territories from the lands west of the Hindu Kush Mountains to the Indus River. In the fall of 1397 he had led the first wave of Timurids into India, and was invested with the rule of Multan as well. Unfortunately for Pir Muhammad, none of his relatives supported him following Timur's death. He was unable to assume command in the capital Samarqand, but was allowed to retain his territories after defeats at the hands of Khalil Sultan, who in turn was defeated in 1409 by his uncle Shahrukh Mirza and sent to Rayy (near Tehran) as governor. The Timurids were Persianized Turks, and patronized Persian poetry and literature.  
505 solar years ago, on this day in 1512 AD, Italian astronomer, navigator and cartographer, Amerigo Vespucci, whose name the Europeans gave to the new landmass discovered for Spain by Christopher Columbus as "America”, died. He first served the Portuguese and was then hired by the Spanish. He demonstrated that Brazil and the so-called West Indies did not represent Asia's eastern outskirts as initially conjectured from Columbus' voyages, but instead constituted an entirely separate landmass hitherto unknown to the Europeans – although the Muslims had known this great landmass and travelled to it.
503 solar years ago, on this day in 1514 AD, Shah Tahmasp I, was born in Isfahan to the Founder of the Safavid Empire of Iran, Shah Ismail I. He ascended the throne at the age of 10 on the death of his father, His reign of 52 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 Blessed Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA), and 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’a Muslim sultanates of the Deccan (Southern India). Shah Tahmasp is also known for the reception he gave to the fugitive Mughal Emperor Naseer od-Din Humayun of Hindustan (Northern Subcontinent) when the latter was ousted from power and provided him military aid to recover his kingdom. Shah Tahmasp was an enthusiastic patron of arts with a particular interest in Persian miniature, especially book illustration. The most famous example of such work is the "Shahnama-e Shah Tahmaspi”, containing 250 miniatures by the leading court artists of the era. Shah Tahmasp's another more lasting achievements was his encouragement of the Persian carpet industry on a national scale in response to the economic effects of the interruption of the Silk Road carrying trade during the Ottoman wars.
462 solar years ago, on this day in 1555 AD, the 2nd Mughal Emperor, Naseer od-Din Humayun  re-conquered with Iranian help eastern Afghanistan and the northern subcontinent, fifteen years after losing the throne of Delhi to the Pashtun adventurer, Sher Shah Suri. Born in 1508 in Kabul, where his father, the Timurid prince Zaheer od-Din Babar had established himself with the assistance of Shah Ismail I the founder of the Safavid Dynasty of Iran, he succeeded to the throne of Delhi in 1530, while his step-brother Kamran Mirza obtained the sovereignty of Kabul and Lahore. His peaceful personality, in addition to his addiction to opium, cost him the kingdom ten years later, forcing him to seek refuge in Iran, where he was cordially received by Shah Tahmasp I, who provided financial aid and 14,000 troops to regain his Empire. Humayun, along with his trusted general, Bairam Khan, crossed the Indus River and in February of 1554, he occupied the Punjab, including Lahore, without any serious opposition. To check the Moghul-Persian advance, Sikandar Shah of Delhi sent a huge army of Afghans and Rajputs that was defeated. On restoration of Mughal, thousands of Iranians continued to migrate every year to Hindustan and were given high civil and military positions. This signaled an important change in Mughal court culture, as the Central Asian origins of the dynasty were largely overshadowed by the influences of Persian art, architecture, language and literature. Humayun's most noted achievement was in the sphere of painting. His devotion to the early Safavid School, developed during his stay in Iran, led him to recruit Persian painters of merit to accompany him back to India. These artists laid the foundation of the Mughal style. Even Humayun's tomb was built in the Iranian style by his widow, Hamida Bano Begum (daughter of Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami, an Iranian Shi'ite Muslim descended from the mystic Shaikh Ahmad Jami of Torbat-e Jam in Khorasan). It is said Humayun had embraced the school of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt while in Qazvin at the court of Shah Tahmasp.
400 lunar years ago, on this day in 1038 AH, Shah Abbas I, regarded as the greatest emperor of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, passed away at the age of 59. The son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he ascended the throne as a 16-year youth during troubled times, when the country was rife with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who killed his elder brother Hamza Mirza and mother Queen Khair on-Nisa Begum Mahd-e Olya – descended from Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the 4th Infallible Heir of the Prophet (SAWA). Meanwhile, Iran's enemies, the Ottomans and the Uzbeks, exploited the political chaos to seize territory in the west and northeast. Abbas soon reduced the influence of the Qizilbash in the administrative and military affairs, executed the killers of his mother and brother, and reformed the army, enabling him to fight the Ottomans and Uzbeks and retake Iran's lost provinces. He decisively defeated the Ottomans in several battles in the Caucasus, in Anatolia and in Iraq, where he rebuilt on a grand scale the shrines of the Infallible Imams in Najaf, Karbala, and Kazemain. He drove back the Uzbeks from the northern and western parts of Khorasan, and in fulfillment of a vow walked on foot from his new capital Isfahan to distant Mashhad, where he rebuilt the shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He also liberated Iranian territories from the Portuguese invaders in the Persian Gulf and from the Mughals of India in what is now Afghanistan. Shah Abbas I was a great builder and moved his capital from Qazvin to Isfahan, which he adorned with beautiful mosques, such as Masjid Sheikh Lotfollah and the largest one named after, and which is now called Masjid-e Imam. He also built the Aali Qapu Palace and the world famous Naqsh-e Jahan Square, to the extent that Isfahan came to be known as Nisf-e Jahan or Half of the World. He patronized poets and painters, resulting in the birth of the Isfahan School that created some of the finest arts in Iranian history, by such illustrious painters as Reza Abbasi and others. He respected religious figures, and during his era some of the greatest ulema and philosophers of Iran, such as Shaikh Baha od-Din Ameli, Mir Baqer Damad and Mullah Sadra Shirazi flourished. During his 42-year reign, Shah Abbas also promoted commerce, trade and diplomacy, establishing relations with European powers to keep the Ottomans in check, and strengthening ties with the Shi'ite Muslim sultanates of Golkandah-Haiderabad and Bijapur in the Deccan (southern India), where the name of the Safavid Emperor was recited in the Friday Prayer sermons. At the same time he maintained friendly relations with the Mughal Emperor Jahangir of Hindustan (North India). He was succeeded by his grandson, Shah Safi.
285 solar years ago, on this day in 1732 AD, George Washington, who led the New England rebels against the British and became the first president of the 13 rebellious colonies that had banded together as the United States of America (USA), was born in an English family in Virginia. In his youth he mastered geometry and trigonometry, and started career as a surveyor, proficient at drafting, mapmaking, and designing tables of data. He enlisted in the British colonial army and was involved in the wars against the Amerindian tribes, as well as against the French, before siding with the revolutionaries to defeat the British armies.
229 solar years ago, on this day in 1788 AD, German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, was born. He arrived at many of the same conclusions of Eastern philosophy, and would say: "Hatred comes from the heart; contempt from the head; and neither feeling is quite within our control.”
194 solar years ago, on this day in 1823 AD, the Greeks during their rebellion against the Ottoman Turks massacred 12,000 Muslims in the city of Tripolitsa, with the help of Britain, France, Russia, and Austria.
112 lunar years ago, on this day in 1326 AH, Iran’s freedom-seeking author and preacher, Mirza Nasrollah Malek al-Motakallemin, was detained and martyred by agents of the Qajarid King, Mohammad Ali Shah at the age of 49. He was born in Isfahan and while on a visit to India at the age of 22 years, he wrote a book on the appalling conditions of Indian Muslims under British colonial rule, titled: "Min al-Haq il’al-Haq”, which means From Truth towards Truth. The book was hailed by the ulema and people but enraged and angered the British and their agents. As a result he was detained and deported to Iran. Having become familiar during exile with the thoughts and ideas of the great pan-Islamist figure, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi, on return to his hometown Isfahan, he started preaching and delivering sermons to awaken the people, as a result of which he was attacked by the Qajarid agents and attained martyrdom.
72 lunar years ago, on this day in 1323 AH, the jurisprudent, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Mahdi Dorchei, passed away at the age of 83. Born in the village of Dorcheh near Isfahan in a scholarly family, he studied under his father, before moving to the seminary of Isfahan at the age of 10. At the age of 31, he left for Iraq to study at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where he stayed for seven years, completing his higher religious studies under the leading scholars. On his return to Iran, he settle in Isfahan where he groomed several scholars and wrote books.
63 lunar years ago, on this day in 1375 AH, the religious scholar Mirza Ali Aqa Shirazi, passed away. In the words of Martyrs Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari, he was a great Gnostic noted for his piety and simple way of life, despite being an erudite scholar who could be called the embodiment of "Nahj al-Balagha”, the famous collection of the sermons, letters, and maxims of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).
59 solar years ago, on this day in 1958 AD, Indian scholar and statesman, Abul-Kalaam Azad died at the age of 70. He was active in the struggle for independence of India from British rule. As a member of the ruling Congress Party, he was elected to the parliament after India gained independence in 1947, and was later made Minister of Education. As a scholar of Urdu, Arabic, Persian and English languages he wrote many valuable books, including an exegesis of the holy Qur'an, titled, "Tarjuman al-Qur’an". He was greatly influenced by the famous 19th century pan-Islamic Iranian thinker, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi, especially concerning the importance of Ijtehad in awakening the Muslim societies. Among his other works are: "War from the Islamic Point of View” and "Shahid-e Azam" (Great Martyr) which is a book on the Prophet's grandson, Imam Husain (AS).
37 solar years ago, on this day in 1980 AD, following drafting of the Islamic Republic constitution and setting up of the Majlis (or parliament), as per the decree of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Husseini Beheshti was elected as the first Chief Justice of Islamic Iran. Ayatollah Beheshti was martyred in a terrorist bomb blast in Tehran by the notorious US-backed MKO terrorist outfit in July 1981 along with 72 senior Iranian officials, including cabinet ministers and parliament members.
35 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, the famous Urdu poet of the Subcontinent, Shabbir Hassan Khan "Joosh” passed away in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan at the age of 88. Born in a Pashtun family in Malihabad, northern India, after mastering Urdu and English, he studied Arabic and Persian, and in 1925 began to supervise translation work at the famous Osmania University in the semi-independent state of Haiderabad-Deccan. After ten years he returned to his hometown and founded the magazine "Kaleem” in which he openly wrote articles in favour of independence from Britain. As his reputation spread, he came to be called "Sha’er-e Inqelab” (Poet of the Revolution), and developed personal friendship with Jawaharlal Nehru, who was to become prime minister on India’s independence in 1947. Over a decade later in 1958, disillusioned with the declining status of Muslims and Urdu language in India, he migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi, where he joined Anjuman-e Tarraqi-e-Urdu for promotion of the Urdu language. Joosh Malihabadi has left behind valuable works in poetry and prose, including lengthy odes in praise of the Ahl al-Bayt, especially Imam Ali (AS) and Imam Husain (AS) – regarded as masterpieces of Urdu poetry.
10 lunar years ago, on this day in 1428 AH, the prominent scholar Ayatollah Hassan Tabatabaei Qomi, passed away in his hometown, holy Mashhad, at the age of 99 years. When his father, Ayatollah Hussain Tabatabaie Qomi staged an uprising for protection of Islamic values against the British-installed Pahlavi tyrant, Reza Khan, and was expelled to Iraq, he also accompanied him into exile. Several years later, following the passing away of his father in Iraq, he returned to his hometown, Mashhad, to take charge of the Islamic seminary. In addition to teaching and writing books, he continued his political activities against the Pahlavi regime, taking part in the Khordad 15 (5 June 1963) uprising of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). As a result, the regime banished him to remote areas of the country. He finally returned to Mashhad sixteen years later following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and served Islam and the people for the next 28 years until his departure from the mortal world.  
11 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, terrorists backed by the US shocked the civilized world and hurt Islamic sentiments by blasphemously blowing the magnificent golden dome of the holy shrine in Samarra, which houses the venerated tombs of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) 10th and 11th Infallible Heirs - Imam Ali al-Hadi (AS) and Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS). The sacred shrine is being rebuilt, thanks to the devotional efforts of Iraqi and Iranian Muslims.
7 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Abdul-Malek Rigi, ringleader of an anti-Iranian US-backed terrorist outfit, was captured by Iranian security personnel in a well-planned operation. Rigi, whose satanic outfit which wrongly styles itself as Jundullah or soldiers of God, was based in Pakistani Balouchistan and had committed several acts of terrorism, killing scores of innocent men women, and children, including Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. On learning that he had boarded a plane in Dubai for Kyrgyzstan in order to meet senior American officials for planning more acts of terrorism against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Iranian air force waited till the airplane carrying him was in Iranian airspace, before sending its jet fighters to intercept the commercial flight and force it to land at Bandar Abbas airport. Rigi was nabbed, jailed, and tried in a court where he admitted his murderous acts of terrorism that in addition to bomb blasts including kidnapping and cold-blooded killing of his victims. He also confessed to his connections with the US, the illegal Zionist entity Israel, and certain Arab and western regimes, thus belying Washington's claim to fight terrorism. Rigi was executed by hanging on June 20, 2010.
6 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, two Iranian warships entered Egypt's Suez Canal heading for Syria, the first time in three decades that Iran sent military vessels through the strategic waterway to the Mediterranean Sea.
6 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, as part of the popular uprising in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain against the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime, tens of thousands of people marched in protest on learning of the martyrdom of seven victims killed by police and the army forces during previous peaceful protests. Bahraini is in the grip of a popular revolution for overthrowing the US-backed hereditary rule.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)
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