Today is Thursday; 26th of the Iranian month of Mordad 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 24th of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa’dah 1438 lunar hijri; and August 17, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1238 lunar years ago, on this day in 200 AH, Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), started his historic journey from his hometown Medina to Marv in Khorasan, where Mamoun the 7th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, had forced him to come, in order to isolate him from the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt. The Imam turned this into an opportunity by preaching the genuine message of Islam to the eager masses wherever the caravan stopped in the cities on the route, such as Basra, Ahvaz, Yazd, and especially Naishapur in northeastern Iran, where he narrated to a 20,000-plus gathering the famous "Hadith Silsalat az-Zahab” (Golden Chain of Authority). He quoted his father and forefathers as relating from the Prophet who was informed by Archangel Gabriel of God’s expression: "The phrase ‘there is no god but Allah’ is My strong fortress and whoever enters My strong fortress is immune from My wrath’. When the caravan started to move the Imam protruded his head from the canopied litter atop the camel and told the gathering: "But there are certain conditions, and I am one of these conditions”. He meant to say that only devotion to the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt and practical adherence to their path guarantees entry into Allah’s strong fortress in order to be immune from divine wrath. In Marv (presently in Turkmenistan), Mamoun, while greeting the Imam offered to abdicate the caliphate in his favour, but the Prophet’s successor aware of the intricate plot to tarnish the impeccable image of the Ahl al-Bayt, politely turned it down. The crafty caliph then forced him, against his will, to agree to be declared his Heir-Apparent. To the frustration of the Abbasid regime, the Iranian masses flocked to Imam Reza (AS), showing him reverence throughout the almost three years he was in Khorasan. An exasperated Mamoun stealthily gave a fatal dose of poison, as a result of which Imam Reza (AS) attained martyrdom and was laid to rest in Sanabad near Tous, which soon grew into Mashhad-e Reza or simply Mashhad as it is known till this day.   
1129 lunar years ago, on this day in 309 AH, the Iranian Muslim mystic, Hussein Mansour al-Hallaj, was executed in Baghdad by the Abbasid caliph, Muqtadar-Billah, on charges of heresy for uttering blasphemous remarks such as "there is nothing in my turban and cloak except God" and the phrase "an’al-Haq” (I am the Absolute Truth). He was a student of the two famous Iranian Sufi masters, Sahl Ibn Abdullah at-Tustari and Junayd Baghdadi, and was expelled by both of them for his weird views. Born in Fars province to a cotton-carder, as indicated by his family name "Hallaj”, he memorized the holy Qur’an at a young age and would often join other mystics in study. He was an Ismaili Muslim and performed at least three Hajj pilgrimages to Mecca, where he once stayed for a year, fasting and in total silence. He traveled widely as far as India and Central Asia, and wrote and taught along the way, gaining followers, many of whom accompanied him on his second and third trips to Mecca. He settled in the Abbasid capital Baghdad, where his weird utterances invited trouble. On refusing to renounce his beliefs, he was flogged, amputated, hanged, burnt, and his remains thrown into the River Tigris.
300 solar years ago, on this day in 1717 AD, a year after start of the Austro-Turkish War, the month-long siege of Belgrade ended with Prince Eugene of Savoy's Austrian troops capturing the city from the Ottoman Empire. The Austrian occupation ended 22 years later in 1739 with the liberation of Belgrade by Turkish Muslims who in 1521 had built it as an Islamic city, complete with baths, public fountains, libraries, bazaars, and mosques. The city was occupied by the Serbs in 1807 and became capital of Serbia in 1841. The Christians have erased much of the Islamic features of Belgrade.   
259 lunar years ago, on this day in 1179 AH, Najm od-Dowla, the Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, died of fever within a year of succeeding his father, Mir Ja’far Najafi – known in Indian history as "Traitor” for betraying the legitimate ruler, Nawab Siraj od-Dowla, to the British during the Battle of Plassey. He was succeeded to the nominal office under British protection by his brother, Sayf od-Dowla. Of Iranian origin, the Nawabs of Bengal promoted Persian language in their realm in what is now Bangladesh, and India’s Bengal and Bihar.
192 lunar years ago, on this day in 1246 AH, the scholar "Sharif ol-Ulema” Mohammad Sharif Amoli Mazandarani, passed away at the age of 41 in his hometown the holy city of Karbala. Born in a scholarly Iranian family residing in Iraq, he studied under prominent ulema such as Seyyed Mohammad Mujahid. In turn, before his untimely death during a plague, he taught many budding scholars, including the celebrated Ayatollah Shaikh Morteza Ansari Dezfuli.
183 solar years ago, on this day in 1834 AD, Bosnian Muslim revolutionary general, Hussain-Kapetan Gradascevic, died in Istanbul under mysterious circumstances at the young age of 32, after fighting against the policies of the Ottoman Empire and for Bosnian autonomy. He was born in the town of Gradacac and grew up surrounded by a political climate of turmoil in the western reaches of the Ottoman Empire. The young Hussain developed a reputation for wise rule and tolerance and soon became one of the most popular figures in Bosnia. When Sultan Mahmoud II attempted to forcefully mass-recruit the Bosnian populace into his new army in the year 1830, the Bosniaks led by Hussain Kapetan felt compelled to launch a massive uprising that lasted for three years. His forces dealt a heavy defeat to the imperial army during the Third Battle of Kosovo and at Novi Pazar. The uprising was subdued when Ali-Pasha Rizvan-Begovic defected to Mahmoud II, in return for rule over the Vilayet of Herzegovina. Hussein Kapetan was forced to flee to Austria from where he negotiated for his return and was ultimately allowed back but barred from ever entering Bosnia. He moved to Belgrade and then to Istanbul, where he died mysteriously. He was an able military commander and administrator and was well versed in Turkish and Arabic. He was taught by two dervishes of the Bektashi order of Iranian origin attached to the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and built the sprawling Hussainiyya Mosque in his hometown Gradacac.
171 solar years ago, on this day in 1846 AD, during the American-Mexican War, US fleet officer Robert F Stockton annexed the vast region of California 21 years after the independence of Mexico from Spain. Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the 2-year war in 1848, the Alta or Upper California became the US State of California, while Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah became US Territories, and only the lower region called the Baja Peninsula, remained in the possession of Mexico. Because of its congenial climate and rich natural resources, California was coveted by the expansionist US, ever since the Americans occupied Texas from Mexico. California was home to 300,000 Amerindians or one-third of all indigenous people throughout North and South America. The Europeans began to decimate the native population, which still numbered 100,000 when the US occupied it in 1846, while the non-native population of California was not more than 8,000. Washington, as part of its hegemonic and genocidal policies has almost obliterated native Amerindians, who today account for a mere 1.7 percent of the 38 million population.
167 solar years ago, on this day in 1850 AD, Argentine general and politician Jose de San Martin, who became the 1st President of Peru on liberating the southeastern parts of South America from Spanish colonial rule, died at the age of 72 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, where he was living in self-exile. Born in Yapeyu, Corrientes in modern Argentina, he was seven-years old when his soldier-father moved to Spain and enrolled the boy for studies in Malaga. In his teens, San Martin joined the army and took part in Spanish aggressions on the North African coastal Muslim cities of Melilla (Morocco) and Oran (Algeria). He also fought against Portugal and defended Spain in the Peninsular Wars against Napoleon Bonaparte of France. After a brief sojourn in Britain, in1808, at the age of 30, he contacted South American supporters of independence from Spain. In 1812, he set sail for Buenos Aires and offered his services to the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, in present-day Argentina. After the Battle of San Lorenzo during 1814, he organized a plan to defeat the Spanish forces that menaced the United Provinces from the north, using an alternative path to the Viceroyalty of Peru. This objective first involved the establishment of a new army, the Army of the Andes, in Cuyo Province, Argentina. From there, he led the Crossing of the Andes to Chile, and triumphed at the Battle of Chacabuco and the Battle of Maipu (1818), thus liberating Chile from Spanish rule. Then he sailed to attack the Spanish stronghold of Lima, Peru. On 12 July 1821, he was appointed Protector of Peru, and Peruvian independence was officially declared on 28 July. On 22 July 1822, after a closed-door meeting with fellow liberator Simon Bolivar at Guayaquil, Ecuador, he handed over to the latter the task of liberating the rest of the continent, resigned command of his army, and in 1824 set sail for France, where he died 26 years later after visiting some European countries. The details of the meeting would be a subject of debate by later historians. San Martin is regarded as a national hero of Argentina and Peru, and, together with Bolivar, one of the Liberators of Spanish South America. The Order of the Liberator General San Martin, created in his honour, is the highest decoration conferred by the Argentine government.
151 solar years ago, on this day in 1866 AD, the 6th ruler of the Asef-Jahi Dynasty of Deccan in south India, Mahboob Ali Khan Nizam ol-Mulk, was born in Hyderabad. In 1889, at the age of three, on the death of his father, Afzal od-Dowla, he was crowned as ruler by the able Prime Minister, Turab Ali Khan Salaar Jung. Besides his native Urdu, he was well versed in Persian, Arabic and English. He founded schools and libraries, even though he led a lavish life – his extensive wardrobe being the largest in the world along with his collection of Jewels. He was a poet in both Urdu and Persian, and maintained relations with the Qajarid Dynasty of Iran. Many Iranians, including men of letters, settled in the Deccan during his reign, which also saw establishment of the famous publication house of books on Islamic sciences – later expanded by his son and successor, Osman Ali Khan Asef Jah VII, as Dairat-ul-Ma’arif al-Osmania.
72 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, Ahmad Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed the independence of Indonesia on launching the Indonesian National Revolution against Dutch colonial rule. Four years later, Indonesia emerged as an independent country with Sukarno as the first elected president, although the Dutch continued to meddle in its affairs, both politically and militarily. In 1956, total independence was achieved and President Sukarno remained in office till 1967.
57 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, Gabon in West Africa, gained its independence after four centuries of European colonial rule and the wanton plundering of its natural resources, in addition to the enslavement of its people. Gabon covers an area of 267,000 sq km. It shares borders with the Central African Republic, Congo, Cameroon, and Guinea. Islam, which is practiced by some 20 percent of the Gabonese people, is the fastest growing religion.
36 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, Mullah Saleh Khosravi, a religious leader of Iran’s ethnic Kurdish minority, was martyred by US mercenaries, along with his 18-year old son, at the Jame’ Mosque in the western city of Sanandaj (Kurdistan)  before start of the evening congregational prayers. A follower of the Sunni school, he joined the grassroots Islamic movement of the Iranian people under the leadership of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), braving imprisonment several times by the British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime. On the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he defended national solidarity and Islamic unity, opposing the anti-revolutionary activities of the mercenary outfits in Kurdistan.
30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, Rudolf Hess, the deputy of German Nazi leader Adolph Hitler, committed suicide in prison in Britain at the age of 93. Following the end of World War II, he was prosecuted at the war criminals court in Nuremburg and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
29 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, Pakistani President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, along with US Ambassador to Islamabad, Arnold Raphel, was killed in a plane crash, thirteen days after the martyrdom of prominent Shi’a Muslim scholar, Seyyed Arif Hussain al-Hussaini in Peshawar – believed to be the dirty work of the state apparatus. Born in Jullundur, Punjab, undivided India in 1924, he shifted to Pakistan on its birth and joined the military. In 1977, he led a military coup to seize power from Prime Minister Zulfeqar Ali Bhutto, who ironically had promoted him as chief of the general staff over senior generals. He later got himself elected as Pakistan’s 6th president and was the country’s longest serving head of state for 11 years. He has earned lasting notoriety for destabilizing Pakistan, in collaboration with the US and Saudi Arabia, through uncontrolled flow of arms for creating sectarian terrorism.
29 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, a ceasefire formally took effect as per UN Security Council Resolution 598, ending the 8-year war launched on Islamic Iran by the US through its agent, Saddam, of the tyrannical Ba'th minority regime of Iraq. The goal of the invasion was to topple the Islamic Republic but thanks to the committed and courageous Iranian forces the Ba'thist war machine failed in its efforts.
27 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, in the process of exchange of prisoners of war (POWs), the first group of Iranian POWs returned home as part of implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 598 that ended the 8-year war the US had imposed on Iran through Saddam. The POW exchange which Saddam had hindered for two years took place after his occupation of Kuwait and subsequent isolation in the region and the world. This day is marked as Day of Azadegan (Freed POWS). It is worth noting that some 7,000 Iraqi POWs sought refuge in Iran under supervision of the International Red Cross, refusing to return to their homeland because of the tyranny of the Ba’th minority regime.
18 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Izmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)