Today is Sunday; 8th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 10th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1439 lunar hijri; and January 28, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1432 lunar years ago, on this day in 7 AH, Khosrow Pervez, the powerful 22nd emperor of the Iranian Sassanid Empire, was killed by his own son, Shiruvieh (Qobad II), after a string of setbacks against Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire, following his early spectacular victories that had taken his armies to the gates of Constantinople and brought Syria, Palestine and Egypt, under his control. He died a humiliating death, as per the prediction of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), whose epistle inviting him to the truth of Islam he had scornfully torn into pieces. Six years later the Muslims defeated the Sassanids and captured their capital Ctesiphon in Mesopotamia, and within a few years the whole empire was brought into the fold of Islam, with the Iranian people, tired of the tyranny of their rulers, becoming Muslims.

1413 lunar years ago, on this day in 36 AH, the Battle of Jamal or Camel took place near Basra in Iraq, between the forces of Islam, led by the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), and the seditionists led by Talha, Zubayr bin Awam, the latter’s son Abdullah ibn Zubayr and the Omayyad Marwan bin Hakam. The seditionists, who had earlier looted the public treasury of Basra and shed Muslim blood at the instigation of Abdullah bin Zubayr, connived to deceive the Muslims by bringing along with them to the battlefield, Ayesha, one of the wives the widower Prophet had married in the last ten years of his life. She was seated on a camel, called ‘jamal’ in Arabic; hence the name of the battle. Imam Ali (AS), who was the First Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), won a decisive victory after his efforts to persuade the seditionists to return to the fold of Islam failed. Some 13,000 seditionists were killed including Talha and Zubayr bin Awam – the latter under mysterious circumstance after having acknowledged the righteousness of Imam Ali (AS) and ruing his folly to join the seditionists. The Imam, after due admonition sent back the erring Ayesha to Medina, accompanied by her brother, Mohammad ibn Abu Bakr, who was a staunch supporter of Imam Ali (AS). Abdullah bin Zubayr and Marwan bin Hakam were lucky to escape alive, and the two of them continued their seditions in the subsequent decades, to divide Muslim ranks and shed Muslim blood.

1058 lunar years ago, on this day in 380 AH, the well-known Iranian Islamic astronomer and mathematician, Abu-Ja’far ibn Ayoub Tabari Haseb, passed away. He has left behind a book in Persian language titled "Shish Fasl” which presents questions and answers on astronomy.

981 lunar years ago, on this day in 458 AH, Iranian Sunni scholar of Hadith, Ahmad ibn Hussain Ibn Ali al-Khosrojerdi al-Bayhaqi, passed away at the age of 74 in his native Khorasan. Born in the town of Khosroujerd near Sabzevar (then known as Bayhaq), he followed the Shafe'i school in jurisprudence and the Ash'ari school in theology.  He studied fiqh from Abu’l-Fath Naser ibn al-Hussain an-Nayshaburi, and hadith from Hakem an-Nayshaburi, the compiler of the famous "al-Mustadrik ala as-Sahihayn”. Known as Imam Bayhaqi, he authored several books including "Sunan al-Kubra” (also called "Sunan al-Bayhaqi”), "al-Asma' wa’s-Sifaat” (The Divine Names and Attributes) and "Dala'el an-Nubuwwah” (Proofs of Prophethood)

1204 solar years ago, on this day in 814 AD, Charlemagne, the king of Franks, died at the age of 72. After his conquest of Italy and central Europe he was crowned the first Roman Emperor in Western Europe after three centuries by Pope Leo III. Throughout his long 45-year reign, he was brutal in his suppression of opposition to his rule, but his attempts to expand his dominion into Muslim Spain met with defeat and a historical retreat that resulted in the complete destruction of his rearguard by the Basques in the Pyrenees. When a clock was sent to him from Baghdad by the scientifically advanced Muslims, Charlemagne and the Europeans who were living in the dark ages were for long suspicious of the mechanical object and thought that a genie was inside it, showing the time of the day and the passing hours.

389 solar years ago, on this day in 1629 AD, the coronation of 18-year old Sam Mirza as Shah Safi took place, as the 6th ruler of the Safavid Empire, ten days after the death of his grandfather, Shah Abbas I. He was the son of Mohammed Baqer Mirza, the eldest son of Shah Abbas I, and his Georgian wife, Dilaram Khanum. An inefficient ruler, he ruthlessly eliminated anyone he regarded as a threat to his power, and paid little attention to state affairs and had no cultural or intellectual interests, preferring to spend his time in his addiction to opium. He, however, abhorred tobacco smoke like his grandfather, going as far as to have those caught smoking tobacco in public brutally killed. The dominant political figure of Safi's 13-year reign was Saru Taqi, appointed grand vizier in 1634. Taqi was incorruptible and highly efficient at raising revenues for the state. Iran's foreign enemies took opportunity to exploit Safi's perceived weakness. The Ottomans made incursions in the west in 1630 and 1634 (briefly occupying Revan and Tabriz) and in 1638 they succeeded in seizing Baghdad from Iran. Nevertheless, the Treaty of Zuhab signed in 1639 put an end to all further wars between the Safavids and the Ottomans. Apart from the Ottoman attacks, Iran was troubled by the Uzbeks and Turkmens in the northeast and lost Qandahar in what is now Afghanistan to the Moghal Empire of the Subcontinent in 1638.

317 solar years ago, on this day in 1701 AD French mathematician and traveler, Charles Condamine, was born in Paris. In 1735, he led a delegation for measurement of the meridian, which took about ten years. He died in 1774.

271 solar years ago, on this day in 1757 AD, Ahmad Shah Abdaali (Durrani) of what is now Afghanistan invaded India, annexed the Punjab and briefly occupied Delhi to save the tottering Moghal dynasty and the people from the raids of the Maratha marauders. An ethnic Pashtun general of Nader Shah Afshar of Iran, he had taken part in the latter’s triumphal Iranian march on Delhi in 1739. On Nader Shah’s death, Ahmad Khan Durrani seized control of the eastern parts of Iranian Khorasan and the Pashto-speaking regions of the Moghul Empire of India to set up the first independent Afghan state and declare himself king in 1747, although the term Afghanistan was officially used by the first time in 1857. In 1761, Ahmad Shah again invaded India to inflict a shattering defeat on the Marathas at the 3rd Battle of Panipat, thus ending, once and for all, their dreams of empire in India. 

274 solar years ago, on this day in 1754 AD, the word "Serendipity” meaning a "fortuitous happenstance” or "pleasant surprise” was coined from Persian by British man of letters, Horace Walpole. In a letter to a friend he explained an unexpected discovery he had made by reference to a Persian tale titled "The Three Princes of Serendip”, who were "always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of.” "Serendip” was the ancient Iranian name for Sri Lanka. In its modern vernacular, "serendipity” is commonly associated with luck and accidental discovery. The notion of serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of scientific innovation such as Alexander Flemming's accidental discovery of Penicillin in 1928, and the invention of the microwave oven by Percy Spencer in 1945, to name but a few. In contrast, "Bahramdipity” is derived from the 15th Sassanid Emperor of ancient Iran, Bahram Gur, and means suppression of serendipitous discoveries or research results by powerful individuals.

198 solar years ago, on this day in 1820 AD, a Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovered the Antarctic continent in the South Pole.

172 solar years ago, on this day in 1846 AD, the Battle of Aliwal, in Punjab near Ludhiana was won by the superior tactics of British troops, making it a turning point in the First Anglo-Sikh War. The Sikhs after losing over 2000 of their soldiers retreated in a disorderly manner, abandoning 67 canons and their camp baggage.

136 solar years ago, on this day in 1882 AD, Moroccan freedom fighter and patriot, Amir Abdul-Karim al-Khattabi, was born. He struggled against the Spanish and French domination of Morocco and formed a resistance core in the mountainous regions. In World War I, Spain, intent on expanding its territory massacred many Muslims in Morocco. After the termination of war and the growth of the movement of Moroccan revolutionaries, France slaughtered thousands of Moroccan Muslims that virtually eliminated the revolution against the Spanish and French occupiers after 18 years of resistance. He was exiled to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, and later moved to Egypt, where under President Jamal Abdun-Naser, he presided over the Liberation Committee of the Maghreb from European colonial rule. He died in 1963.

122 solar years ago, on this day in 1896 AD, Giuseppe Fiorelli, Italian archaeologist whose systematic excavation at Pompeii helped to preserve much of the ancient city as nearly intact as possible and contributed significantly to modern archaeological methods, died at the age of 72. Fiorelli's initial work at Pompeii was completed in 1848. With his next excavations at Pompeii (1860), he pioneered his meticulous method of studying archaeological strata; observation, recording, preservation (including building a museum), and reporting were its fundamental features. In particular he studied the materials and building methods utilized at Pompeii. It was his idea to pour liquid plaster into the spaces left by decomposed bodies in the beds of ashes to produce casts representing the original victims. It was in August 79 AD that Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted, burying in volcanic ash and molten lava the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae, which were notorious as vice dens of the Empire. An estimated 20,000 people were struck by divine wrath. Today, Pompeii, whose excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a Roman city, including the erotic and sinful ways of the pagans, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here it is necessary to recall the warnings of God Almighty in the holy Qur’an to mankind to travel around the world to see the ruins of the past nations and reflect on the fate that befell unrepentant sinners. Pompeii and its inhabitants were destroyed after due warnings, years before the major eruption of Vesuvius. In 62 AD, a major earthquake had devastated most of the city. Although preceded over the past decades with small-scale tremblers, this severe earthquake was clearly a divine warning to the people to leave their sinful and erotic ways or else face the wrath of the All-Merciful God that finally descended 17 years later. Many inhabitants moved to other cities, fearing divine punishment, while others remained, or came from other cities in pursuit of carnal pleasures and were struck by divine wrath.

98 lunar years ago, on this day in 1341 AH, Islamic scholar and researcher, Seyyed Abu-Bakr Hadhrami Alawi, passed away in Haiderabad-Deccan in southern India at the age of 79. He was of Yemeni origin conducted valuable studies on poetry and literature. He has left behind his collection of poems. His compilations include the Arabic works "ash-Shahab as-Saqeb”, and "Futouhaat al-Baheth”. He was also fluent in Persian and Urdu.

85 solar years ago, on this day in 1933 AD the name ‘PAKISTAN’ was coined by Choudhary Rahmat Ali Khan who campaigned for a separate country made up of the five predominantly Muslim populated regions of the Subcontinent in the northwest. He authored the famous 1933 pamphlet titled "Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever”, which is also known as the Pakistan Declaration. The pamphlet started with the famous statement: "At this solemn hour in the history of India, when British and Indian statesmen are laying the foundations of a Federal Constitution for that land, we address this appeal to you, in the name of our common heritage, on behalf of our thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKSTAN – by which we mean the five Northern units of India, namely: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan.” In a subsequent book, Rahmat Ali discussed the etymology in further detail, saying: "PAKISTAN is both a Persian and an Urdu word. It is composed of letters taken from the names of all our South Asia homelands; that is, Punjab, Afghania (or Pashtun-speaking areas of the Subcontinent), Kashmir, Sindh and Balochistan. It means the land of the Paks – the spiritually pure and clean.” In 1947, at the birth of the country he had envisaged, he was unhappy over a Smaller Pakistan than the one he had conceived in his 1933 pamphlet.

49 solar years ago, on this day in 1390 AH, Allamah Abdul-Hussain Amini, the renowned Islamic scholar and theologian, and compiler of the valuable book "al-Ghadeer”, passed away at the age of 68 in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq. He was born in the city of Tabriz, in north-western Iran, in a religious family, and after completion of preliminary studies, left for holy Najaf, where he attended the classes of prominent ulema, such as Shaikh Abdul-Karim Haeri and Mirza Mohammad Hussein Na’ini. Soon he attained the status of Ijtehad at a relatively young age, and started writing books. His most valuable work is the 11-volume book titled "al-Ghadeer fi’l-Kitab wa’s-Sunna wa’l-Adab”, in which he refers to the ayahs of the holy Qur’an, the Prophet’s hadith and Arabic literature, regarding the historical event of Ghadeer-Khom on the 18th of Zilhijja 10 AH, when Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) while returning from his Farewell Hajj Pilgrimage was commanded by God Almighty to proclaim Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as his vicegerent. While writing this book Allamah Amini endured the hardships of travel to several lands, including India, Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Iraq to study different sources. He gathered from Sunni sources the narrations of at least 110 Sahaba or the Prophet’s companions about the event of Ghadeer, and recorded the Hadiths narrated in this regard by 360 reliable narrators. He wrote several other books such as an exegesis of the Holy Qur’an. He founded a large library in holy Najaf, which stands to this day and is used by scholars.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, the fugitive Shah’s premier, Shapour Bakhtiar, tried to deceive the nation by announcing he would visit Paris for talks with the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). The Imam, however, quelled this deceptive move by saying he will meet Bakhtiar only when he resigns as prime minister and comes as an ordinary Iranian citizen. Meanwhile, on this day the people of Tehran gathered near Mehrabad Airport to make arrangements for according a glorious welcome to Imam Khomeini on his eventual return home from exile, dauntless of the savagery of the regime against peaceful protestors. 

(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)