This Day in History (May 20)

Date: 19 May 2017 - 21:18

News ID: ۳۹۷۰۶

Today is Saturday; 30th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 23rd of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1438 lunar hijri; and May 20, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1491 solar years ago, on this day in 526 AD, some 300,000 people were killed when a devastating earthquake hit the sin-infested Byzantine city of Antioch in Syria (Antakya, presently in Turkey). Founded by Seleucus I Nicator, the Greek general of Alexander the Macedonian marauder, it was the capital of Syria from 300 to 64 BC. A centre of vices, it was the epicenter of frequent earthquakes during the Greek and Roman periods. In the Byzantine era, it was the centre of Hellenistic Jews and later of Christianity. Some years after this destructive earthquake when development was in progress, it was completely devastated by the Iran’s Sassanid Emperor, Khosrow Anushirvan. In 1939, the French colonialists detached Antioch, Iskenderun and adjoining regions from Syria and gave it to Turkey, a move the government of Syria has refused to recognize, and considers Hatay Province as sovereign Syrian territory, calling it Liwa al-Iskenderun (Iskendurun Province).
1425 lunar years ago, on this day in 13 AH, in Harb al-Jisr or the Battle of the Bridge in Iraq, the Sasanian forces led by Bahman Jaduyeh defeated the Arabs under the command of Abu Ubayd in the only major Persian victory over Muslims. The Arab Muslims had already taken Hira on the banks of the River Euphrates after defeating the Christian Arab allies of the Sassanids. Abu Ubaid encountered the main Iranian army near what is now Kufa. The two forces faced each other on opposing banks of the River Euphrates, connected by a bridge or "jisr” in Arabic. When Abu Ubaid crossed the river, the sight of the elephants in the Persian army frightened the Arab's horses. An elephant tore Abu Ubaid from his horse with its trunk and trampled him under foot. At this, and the inability of the Arab troops to push back the Persians who had formed a rigged line close to the bridge, the Arabs panicked and fled. This was, however, a temporary setback. In the subsequent battles the Sassanids were defeated, and the Iranian people accepted Islam almost en masse.
1134 lunar years ago, on this day in 304 AH, Seyyed Hassan al-Utrush, known as "Nasser li’l-Haq” (Defender of Faith) passed away at the age of 75, after an eventful life and a 3-year reign as reviver of the Alawid state of Tabaristan in what is now the Caspian Sea Provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan in northern Iran. His shrine in the city of Amol is still a site of pilgrimage. Born in Medina, he was fifth in line of descent from Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the great-grandson and 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). His mother was an Iranian lady from Khorasan. When Hasan ibn Zayd, a descendant of the Prophet’s elder grandson, Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (AS), was invited by the people of the Caspian coast of Iran to set up his rule over Tabaristan, Hassan al-Utrush joined him, but after falling out with his successor, Mohammad ibn Zayd, he left for the east where he allied himself with the ruler of Khorasan, Mohammad ibn Abdullah al-Khujistani, who imprisoned and scourged him, as a result of which he lost his hearing and received the sobriquet "al-Utrush" or "the Deaf". On release from prison, he returned to Tabaristan, but had to flee to Rayy when Mohammad ibn Zayd lost the battle and his life near Gorgan against the Samanids of Bukhara, who ended the Alawid state and occupied the region for fourteen years. Hassan al-Utrush now engaged in Islamic missionary activities and his efforts led to the people of Gilan and the Daylamites to become Muslims. His efforts were crowned by success, as the mountain Daylamites and the Gilites east of the Sefid Roud River hailed him as their Leader. The Samanid ruler Ahmad ibn Isma'il sent an army to oppose the revival of the Alawid state of Tabaristan, but al-Utrush inflicted a crushing defeat upon the invaders at Burdidah on the River Burroud, west of Chalous. He made Amol his capital and extended his sway till Gorgan. The famous Iranian Islamic historian Abu Ja’far Tabari, has said about him: "The people had not seen anything like the justice of al-Utrush, his good conduct, and his fulfillment of the right". Hassan al-Utrush wrote an exegesis of the holy Qur’an titled "Tafsir al-Kabir”, and his granddaughter Fatema, who was married to Seyyed Hussain ibn Musa – fifth in line of descent from the Prophet’s 7th Infallible Heir Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS) – was the mother of the celebrated scholars of Baghdad, Seyyed Murtaza Alam al-Huda and Seyyed Razi, the compiler of Nahj al-Balagha – the famous collection of the sermons, letters, and maxims of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS).
946 lunar years ago, on this day in 492 AH, the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas was captured by European Crusaders from the Fatemid Ismaili Dynasty of Egypt-Syria-Hijaz-North Africa, after a siege of over 40 days. The invaders savagely massacred men, women and children, numbering more than 70,000 people, including Iranian Muslims settled there.
705 lunar years ago, on this day in 733 AH, the hadith scholar and literary figure Sharaf od-Din Hussain ibn Abdullah Tayyebi, passed away. He wrote an Exegesis of the Holy Qur'an.
639 solar years ago, on this day in 1378 AD, Dawoud Shah, who over a month earlier had usurped the throne of the Bahmani Dynasty of Iranian origin of the Deccan (Southern India) by treacherously assassinating his nephew Mujahid Shah, was killed on the orders of his niece Rooh-Parwar Agha (sister of the deceased Mujahid Shah) and replaced by her younger brother, Mohammad Shah II. The court language of the Bahmanis, who traced their origin to the pre-Islamic Iranian hero Bahman, was Persian, and they promoted Iranian culture, art and architecture.
621 lunar years ago, on this day in 817 AH, the prominent Persian poet and literary figure, Noor od-Din Abdur-Rahman Jami was born in the city of Jam, in Khorasan, northeastern Iran. He went to Samarqand to learn Islamic sciences, literature and history, and visited several other lands, before settling in Herat. He has left behind a large number of works in prose and verse, including "Baharestan”. Jami, who passed away in 898 AH at the age of 81, has also composed beautiful odes in praise of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
596 solar years ago, on this day in 1421 AD, Khizr Khan, who governed Delhi, Punjab and parts of northern India, as viceroy of the Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur, and after him of his son and successor, Shahrukh, died in Delhi. Two days later he was succeeded by his son, Mubarak Shah, in whose reign the famous Persian history "Tarikh-e Mubarak Shahi” was written in India.
511 solar years ago, on this day in 1506 AD, Italian navigator, Christopher Columbus, died in Valladolid in Spain at the age of 55 in the state of poverty, still believing he had discovered the coast of Asia. Born near Genoa in Italy, he took up service with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, after years of unsuccessful lobbying with the Italian republics of Genoa and Venice and the kingdom of Portugal, for finding a western sea route to Asia through the Atlantic, since the growing power of Ottoman Turks in southwestern Europe had blocked the land route to India and China. In 1492, following the fall of Granada (Gharnata), the last Muslim kingdom in Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella provided him ships and personnel, including Muslim navigators familiar with the sea routes of the Atlantic for the voyage. Columbus was acquainted with "Tabula Rogeriana” the Latin translation of the Muslim geographer al-Idrisi’s "Nuzhat al-Mushtaaq fi-Ikhteraaq al-Afaaq” – a description of the world and the first world map ever drawn in Europe. He landed on the eastern coast of Cuba, and thought that he had reached an island off the coast of India; hence the use of such terms as "Indies” and "Indians” by him for the American natives. In all, he made four voyages to the New World, and mercilessly slaughtered the native people in his quest for gold and riches, which did not avail him in his last days. Columbus was initially interred in a monastery in Valladolid – corruption of the Arabic word "Balad al-Waleed” or City of Waleed, founded by Muslims. Three years later, his remains were moved to a monastery in La Cartuja near Seville. In 1537, Maria de Rojas y Toledo, widow of Columbus' son Diego, sent the bones of her husband and his father to the cathedral in Santo Domingo on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola for burial. There they lay until 1795, when Spain ceded Hispaniola to France, and dug up from behind the main altar in the newly built cathedral, what it thought were Columbus’ remains and shipped them to a cathedral in Havana, Cuba, where they remained until the US-Spanish War broke out in 1898. Spain then brought them back to Seville. In 1877, however, workers digging at the Santo Domingo cathedral unearthed a leaden box containing 13 large bone fragments and 28 small ones. It was inscribed "Illustrious and distinguished male, don Cristobal Colon." The Dominicans said these were the real remains of Columbus and the Spaniards must have taken the wrong ones in 1795.
510 lunar years ago, on this day in 928 AD, Shah Beg Arghun, who established his rule over Sindh by defeating Jam Firuz of the Samma dynasty, died after invading Gujarat. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Shah Hussain. A Persianized Mongol, Shah Beg initially ruled Qandahar as a vassal of the Timurid rulers of Herat, but with the rise of another Timurid prince, Zaheer od-Din Babar in Kabul, he realized the futility of ruling Qandahar and decided to carve out a separate state by seizing Sindh.
497 solar years ago, on this day in 1520 AD, the Spanish conquerors of Mexico brutally massacred the Aztec people while celebrations were taking place at the Festival of Tocatl in the city of Tenochtitlan. The Europeans are notorious for their genocide of the native populations of the Americas and plundering of their resources.
395 solar years ago, on this day in 1622 AD, Osman II, the 16th Ottoman Sultan and the 8th self-styled Turkish caliph, was strangled to death by his vizier, Qara Davoud Pasha, at the age of 18, after a 4-year reign. He was replaced by his deposed uncle, Mustafa I, who a year later was again deposed in favour of his 11-year old nephew Murad IV. Osman II was son of Sultan Ahmad and his Greek wife Maria – renamed Mah-Firuzeh Khadija. He ascended the throne at the age of 14, as a result of a palace coup against his uncle Mustafa I. His killing was due to his plans to reorganize the army and the administrative system following the treaty imposed on humiliating terms in the Moldavian Wars when he personally led the Turkish forces into Poland, after securing the eastern borders with Safavid Iran by the Treaty of Serav with Shah Abbas I. He was fluent in Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin and Italian.
386 solar years ago, on this day in 1631 AD, the city of Magdeburg in Germany was seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty-Year-War. Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, who led the imperial forces, stormed the city and massacred about 20,000 inhabitants before burning down Magdeburg.
371 solar years ago, on this day in 1645 AD, in China the Manchurian Qing forces, led by Prince Dodo occupied the city of Yangzhou and for 10 days massacred almost the entire 800,000 population for supporting the Ming loyalist government.
215 solar years ago, on this day in 1802 AD, Napoleon Bonaparte reinstated slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition by the French Revolution, thus depriving a sizeable number of fellow humans of their rights of liberty and freedom.
211 solar years ago, on this day in 1806 AD, the English philosopher and economist, John Stuart Mill, was born. He learned logic and economics from his father, and worked as a journalist and a writer. He was elected as the representative of the House of Commons for a single term. He followed the views of the French philosopher Auguste Comte, and believed in the originality of experience. In economics, he supported profiteering coupled with some vague concept of social justice. The books he wrote include "Principles of Political Economy”. He died in 1873.
123 lunar years ago, on this day in 1315 AH, the Arabic poet, Seyyed Ja’far al-Hilli, passed away at the age of 39. He wrote moving elegies on the tragedy of Karbala.
115 solar years ago, on this day in 1902 AD, Cuba became independent on the withdrawal of US occupation forces, which had seized the country during the 4-year war against Spain, fought from 1989-to-1902. Before withdrawing, the US installed Tomas Estrada Palma as president, and imposed a constitution on Cuba that allowed Washington to interfere in its domestic affairs. This caused resentment among the people, and led to the victory of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 under Fidel Castro.
107 solar years ago, on this day in 1910 AD, Japan, which had occupied the Korean Peninsula three years earlier by defeating both Russia and China, formally announced annexation of this land and renamed it Joseon. The Korean people revolted against Japan, and during World War II, fought against the Japanese army, alongside Allied Forces. After Japan’s defeat and end of World War 2, Korea became the target of US imperialism and was divided into North and South at the 38th Parallel. The US brutally bombarded North Korea in the 1950s, and still has thousands of American occupation forces in South Korea, in violation of international laws. Washington periodically resorts to hooliganism, and is currently holding provocative military exercises to thwart any bid for unity of the two Koreas by keeping tensions high.
104 lunar years ago, on this day in 1334 AH, the jurist and pious scholar, Shaikh Baqer ibn Mullah Mohammad Qomi, passed away. He was in Samarra for a long time and then returned to holy Najaf where he used to lead the congregational prayers.
90 solar years ago, on this day in 1927 AD, the British, as per the Treaty of Jeddah, handed over to the desert brigand Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud, the historical land of Hijaz and its religious and commercial centres, such as the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the seaport of Jeddah and the agriculture-rich resort of Ta’ef. A couple of years earlier, the Wahhabi heretics had occupied Hijaz by driving out the other British agent, Sharif Hussain, and slaughtering over a hundred thousand Muslims, in addition to desecrating the holy shrines of the sacred cemeteries of Jannat al-Baqie in Medina and Jannat al-Mu’alla in Mecca. Five years later in 1932, Hijaz was formally joined with Najd to create the spurious entity called Saudi Arabia, which annexed the oil-rich eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf against the wishes of the local people, and then seized from Yemen the provinces of Najran, Jizan, and Asir.
83 solar years ago, on this day in 1934 AD, the one-sided Treaty of Ta’ef was imposed on Imam Yahya of Yemen by Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud, ruler of the British created state called Saudi Arabia, according to which the regions of Najran, Jeezan, and Asir were occupied for a period of 40 years. In 1974 and again on its unification in 1990, Yemen demanded the return of these vast territories, but Saudi Arabia, backed by the US, has refused to return them in violation of the Treaty of Ta’ef. Currently, Saudi Arabia has unleashed state terrorism on Yemen, and has been criminally bombarding the country, killing so far 14,000 men, women and children.
57 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, Cameroon became a republic following independence from joint British and French rule. Located in West Africa with a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, it covers an area of 475,000 sq km and shares borders with Nigeria, Chad, Central Africa, Congo, Gabon, and Tropical Guinea. Muslims account for a fourth of the population, and are the majority in the north and west.
35 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, as per the suggestion of the then Chief of the Iranian Legislature (Majlis), Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the   Daneshgah-e Azad-e Islami or Islamic Azad University (IAU), was established in Tehran. With branches throughout Iran and also in some countries abroad, it is one of the largest comprehensive systems of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the world. Over the years, IAU has promoted "higher education for all” as its key objective. Currently it has an enrollment of 1.7 million students. It has university branches in UAE, Britain, Lebanon and Afghanistan.
15 solar years ago, on this day in 2002 AD, East Timor, with a population of about 800,000, celebrated independence from Indonesia, but a legal battle loomed with Australia over the Greater Sunrise natural gas field in the Timor Sea. The field lies 95 miles south of East Timor and 250 miles north of Australia.
10 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, Nigeria's largest state, Niger, sued US drug firm Pfizer for using 200 children as "guinea pigs" for a drug test in 1996 that led to deaths and deformities. In 2010 a WikiLeaks cable said Pfizer hired investigators to unearth evidence of corruption against Nigeria’s former Attorney-General Michael Aondoakaa to pressure him to drop legal action over its experimental antibiotic, Trovan.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)
1