This Day in History

(February 22)

Date: 21 February 2015 - 21:44

News ID: ۱۱۲۱۸

Today is Sunday; 3rd of the Iranian month of Esfand 1393 solar hijri; corresponding to 3rd of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1436 lunar hijri; and February 22, 2015, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
683 lunar years ago, on this day in 753 AH, Malik Maqboul Telangani was made minister in Delhi by Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq and bestowed the title of Qawwam ul-Mulk. Born as Kattu Yugandhar in a Hindu family of Warangal in the Deccan (southern India), and made commander of the Kakatiya Kingdom by King Prataparudra, he was captured in battle by the army of the Delhi Sultanate, and embraced the truth of Islam. Because of his sincerity he won the confidence of Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq and was appointed governor of Multan (in today’s Pakistan). His administrative abilities in the Punjab won praise and he was later sent to his native Deccan to deal with the rebellion of his former overlords, the Kakatiyas. On return to Delhi he rose rapidly in ranks to the extent that the next king, Feroz Shah Tughlaq, made him finance minister and then vizier (prime minister) with the title Khan-e Jahan. He mastered the Persian language and had a strong desire to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which he couldn’t undertake because of state duties. He built several mosques.
608 solar years ago, on this day in 1407 AD, the Timurid ruler, Pir Mohammad was murdered by his vizier, Pir Ali Taaz, near Balkh six months after his defeat by his cousin, Khalil Sultan (son of Miran Shah), the claimant to the throne of Samarqand. Son of the deceased Jahangir Mirza, he had assumed power two years earlier on the death of his grandfather, the Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur, who impressed by his military prowess during the invasion of India, had named him successor by passing aside his own two surviving sons, including the eventual successor, Shahrukh Mirza. Unfortunately for Pir Mohammad, none of his relatives supported him and he was unable to assume command in the capital Samarqand, although he was allowed to retain territories in Qandahar and what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan after defeats at the hands of Khalil Sultan. Two years later in 1409 Khalil Sultan was defeated by his uncle Shahrukh who now took control of Timur’s vast empire in Central Asia and Iran, and sent his defeated nephew to Rayy (near Tehran) as governor. The Timurids were Persianized Turks, and patronized Persian poetry, literature, and architecture.
503 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.
501 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 Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) Ahl al-Bayt, 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. Shah Tahmasp was a 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 achievement was his encouragement of the Persian carpet industry on a national scale.
460 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 brother Kamran Mirza obtained the sovereignty of Kabul and Lahore. His peaceful personality, in addition to his opium addiction, 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 help him regain his Empire. Humayun crossed the Indus River and in February of 1554, he took Punjab, including Lahore. To check his advance, Sikandar Shah of Delhi sent a huge army of Afghans and Rajputs that was defeated. On restoration of Mughal rule, thousands of Iranians continued to migrate 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.
283 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 Virginia. He enlisted in the British colonial army and was involved in the wars against the Amerindian tribes, and the French, before siding with the revolutionaries to defeat the British armies.
192 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.
99 lunar years ago, on this day in 1337 AH, the prominent Islamic scholar, Seyyed Ismail as-Sadr, passed away in the holy city of Kazemain in Iraq. Born in Isfahan, after preliminary Islamic studies, he left for Iraq to study at the famous Najaf Seminary. He mastered theology, jurisprudence, ethics, and other Islamic sciences under such ulema such as Ayatollah Shaikh Morteza Ansari and Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi. He soon became the leading marja’ or source of emulation. He is the ancestor of the well-known Sadr family spread over Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. His elder son, Sadr ad-Din Sadr was the father of Seyyed Imam Musa as-Sadr of Lebanon, who was imprisoned in 1978 and martyred by Mo’ammar Qadhafi of Libya, while his second son, Haidar as-Sadr, was the father of Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer as-Sadr, who was martyred by Saddam in April 1980. His fourth son, Mohammad Mahdi as-Sadr was the grandfather of Iraqi religious-political leader, Seyyed Moqtada as-Sadr.
76 lunar years ago, on this day in 1360 AH, the prominent Islamic scholar and poet, Ayatollah Mirza Abu-Abdullah Shaikh al-Islam Zanjani, passed away at the age of 51. He was a product of the Islamic seminaries of Isfahan and Najaf. Before settling in his hometown Zanjan, he travelled to Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, where the famous al-Azhar Academy appreciated his scholarship, and printed some of his works on the holy Qur'an in Arabic.
57 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. He was elected to the parliament in 1947, and became Minister of Education. As a scholar of Urdu, Arabic, Persian and English languages, he wrote many 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 Muslim societies. His works include: "War from the Islamic Point of View” and "Shahid-e Azam" (or Great Martyr) which is a book on Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
33 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 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. Later from Malihabad he published the magazine "Kaleem” in which he openly called independence from Britain. He became known as "Sha’er-e Inqelab” (Poet of the Revolution). In 1958, disillusioned with the declining status of Muslims and Urdu language in India, he shifted to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. He wrote 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.
31 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, Iran's Muslim combatants launched the Khaybar Operations in the Hoor al-Howeizah region, southwestern Iran, to free lands occupied by the US-backed Ba'th minority regime of Saddam. The Iranians took control of the oil-rich Majnoun Islands in the marshes north of the Iraqi port city of Basra. This operation made western strategists acknowledge the innovative abilities of Iran's Muslim combatants despite sanctions.
9 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.
4 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. (Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://english.irib.ir)