This Day in History (April 11)

Date: 10 April 2021 - 22:05

News ID: ۸۹۰۲۴

Today is Sunday; 22nd of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1400 solar hijri; corresponding to 28th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1442 lunar hijri; and April 11, 2021, of the Christian  Gregorian Calendar.
1530 solar years ago, on this day in 491 AD, palace official Flavius Anastasius was placed on the throne of Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire, as Emperor Anastasius I, by the deceased Emperor Zeno’s widow, Aelia Ariadne (daughter of Emperor Leo I), who subsequently married him to grant legitimacy to his rule. A person with one eye black and one eye blue that earned him the nickname "Dicorus” or the "Two-Pupiled”, a decade later he started war against Iran’s Sassanid Empire in what is now south-central Turkey. Known as the Anastasian War, the 4-year seesaw struggle fought from 502 to 506, was the first major conflict between the two superpowers since the Peace Treaty of 442, and would be prelude to a long series of destructive wars over the next century that would result in the weakening of both the empires and their conquest by Arab Muslim armies with the rise of Islam. The cause of war was the demand by Qobad I, the 19th Sassanid Emperor, for money to pay his debts to the Hephthalites (eastern Iranian tribes and ancestors of Pashtuns of Afghanistan-Pakistan). The situation between Rome and Iran was also exacerbated by changes in the flow of the Tigris in lower Mesopotamia (Iraq), sparking famines and flood. When Anastasius refused to pay, Qobad seized the city of Theodosiopolis, and then captured Amida (Diyarbakr in modern Turkey). The year 503 saw more warfare without decisive results: the Romans attempted an unsuccessful siege of Amida while the Iranians invaded Osroene and laid siege to Edessa. In 504 Anastasius gained the upper hand by retaking Amida, which made Qobad to agree to an armistice because of the invasion of Armenia in the Caucasus by the Huns. Fighting, however, continued until late 506 when a treaty was finally agreed and Rome had to make payment to the Iranians. Although no large-scale conflict took place during the rest of Anastasius’s reign, the building of Roman defenses in Anatolia became a lasting source of controversy with the Persians, who called it violation of the Treaty of 422, by which both empires had agreed not to establish new fortifications in the frontier zone.
1392 lunar years ago, on this day in 50 AH, the hypocrite Mughirah bin Shu’ba, who despite his claim of acceptance of Islam was one of those hardcore heathens pretending to a companion of Prophet Mohammad blessings of God upon him and his progeny), died after a life immersed in sins, including wine-drinking, adultery, looting of public treasury and the unpardonable crime of hitting Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) with the sheath of his sword when the threshold of the Prophet’s daughter was burned and the door battered down upon her by rogues demanding that her husband Imam Ali (AS) take oath of allegiance to the regime that had usurped the caliphate. Born in Ta’ef and claiming to be a member of the Thaqif Tribe, he was a notorious idolater who sensing the end of the freewheeling days of the pagan Arabs, came to Medina in 5 AH, and feigned acceptance of Islam. The Messenger of Mercy very well knew this charlatan and kept a distance from him. Known for his hostility towards Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the divinely-designated Vicegerent, he was one of the chief conspirators of the sedition of Saqifa Bani Sa’da that saw the political rule of the Islamic state seized by unworthy persons following the passing away of the Prophet. He later served as governor of Basra and of Kufa, before becoming an advisor and boon-companion of the Omayyad tyrant, Mu’awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan. Known as one of the four notorious seditionists among the Arabs – the three others being Abu Sufyan, Mu’awiyah and Amr bin Aas – he indulged in the blasphemous practice of cursing Imam Ali (AS) from the pulpit of mosque. The Prophet’s elder grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir, Imam Hasan Mujtaba (AS) during a famous debate in Damascus in front of the usurper caliph Mu’awiyah, addressing Mughirah said: "You are an enemy of God, a violator of the holy Qur’an, and a rejecter of the Prophet of God…” In short, it was on Mughirah’s advice that the accursed Yazid, whom Mu’awiyah had begotten in the desert through an adulterous encounter with a Christian Bedouin woman and then forgotten, was brought to Damascus and nominated as the next Omayyad caliph, in violation of the Treaty signed with Imam Hasan (AS).

807 solar years ago, on this day in 1214 AD, English philosopher and Franciscan friar, Roger Bacon, was born. His access to Latin translations of the Arabic works of Islamic scholars enlightened his mind. He was greatly influenced in the field of optics by the monumental "Kitab al-Manazer” of Abul-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen). The impact of al-Kindi (Alkindus) is also evident in his writings. Moreover, Bacon’s investigations of the properties of the magnifying glass show the clear influence of the Iranian Islamic scientist Ibn Sahl’s research in dioptrics. His works also indicate his familiarity with the books "Kitab ad‐Dalalaat ala’l‐Ittesalaat wa‐Qiranaat al‐Kawakeb”(Book of Indications of the Planetary Conjunctions), written by the Iranian Islamic astronomer, Abu-Ma’shar Ja’far ibn Mohammad al-Balkhi.
770 solar years ago, on this day in 1241 AD, Batu Khan, grandson of the bloodthirsty Buddhist Mongol conqueror, defeated King Bela IV of Hungary at the Battle of Muhi, laying the land waste and massacring at least 20 percent of the Christian population. Batu was the founder of the vast Golden Horde Empire or the Qipchaq Khanate that spanned most of the central parts of Eurasia for 250 years. In 1313, with the accession of Uzbeg Khan to the throne, the Golden Horde officially adopted Islam and contributed to the spread and development of Islamic religion and culture.
266 solar years ago, on this day in 1755 AD, English physician and paleontologist, James Parkinson, was born. In 1805, he wrote a monograph "Observations on the Nature and Cure of Gout”. He was the first European to recognize a burst appendix as a cause of death. In his Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817, he described the neuromuscular disease which is now known by his name as "Parkinson’s Disease”. The symptoms of this disease are a generalized slowness of movement, a tremor or slight shaking on one side of the body when at rest, some stiffness of the limbs, and problems of gait or balance.
162 solar years ago, on this day in 1859 AD, a chilling machine was invented by French industrialist and chemist, Ferdinand Carre, for preservation of food and medicine, especially in warm regions, leading to eventual invention of the refrigerator.
131 lunar years ago, on this day in 1311 AH, one of the prominent lecturers of ethics, Mullah Hussain-Qoli Darguzini Najafi Hamedani, passed away at the age of 73 in Karbala and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of the Chief of Martyrs, Imam Husain (AS) – the younger grandson and 3rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Born in Shavand village near Hamedan in a family that traced its lineage to Jaber ibn Abdullah al-Ansari, the famous companion of the Prophet and his Infallible Heirs, after initial studies in his region, he travelled to Tehran for mastering jurisprudence under leading scholars, including the celebrated Shaikh al-Iraqayn Abdul-Hussain Tehrani. He then went to Sabzevar to attend the philosophy classes of the renowned Islamic philosopher, Mullah Hadi Sabzevari. Later he left for the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq to benefit from the classes of the great jurisprudent Ayatollah Shaikh Morteza Dezfuli Ansari, and through him was guided to the classes on ethics of Seyyed Ali Shushtari. An accomplished scholar in many fields, Mullah Hussain Qoli was always watchful about his actions and his soul. Many acts of wonder have been attributed to him. His lectures on Ethics and Gnosis were attended by well-known ulema of Najaf, and he groomed as many as 300 scholars. Some of his famous students were: Seyyed Mohammad Sa’eed Habubi an-Najafi, Shaikh Mohammad Bahari, Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Hussain Na’eni, Akhond Mullah Mohammad Kazem Khorasani and Seyyed Mohsin al-Amin al-Ameli – author of the encyclopedic work, "A’yaan ash-Shi’a”.
42 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, deposed Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was given asylum in Saudi Arabia despite the fact that he was a brutal murderer and cannibal. Saudi Arabia is notorious for its support for dictators, such as its giving of asylum to Tunisia’s Zain al-Abedin bin Ali, who was toppled in 2011.
39 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, during the 8-year war imposed on Iran by the US through Saddam of Iraq’s repressive Ba’th minority regime, intelligence personnel nipped in the bud a coup attempt by hypocrites and elements of the monarchic regime that had infiltrated some government apparatuses and intended to assassinate leading officials, as part of an American plot to overthrow the Islamic Republic system.
36 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, Anvar Khoja’s 40-year long communist dictatorial rule over Muslim majority Albania ended with his death at the age of 77. Born in a family following the Bektashi Sufi Order founded in 13th century Khorasan by Bektash Vali, an adherent of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), in his youth he studied in Italy and France, before travelling all over Europe and the US. He turned into a communist and on return to Albania became fierce opponent of the monarchy that had been installed by European powers on separation of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. He resisted the Fascist Italian occupation of his homeland, and became the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. He was chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania and commander-in-chief of the armed forces from 1944 until his death. His anti-religious rule was characterized by the elimination of the opposition, prolific use of the death penalty or long prison terms of his political opponents and evictions from homes. He used Stalinist methods to destroy his associates who threatened his power. During his rule, Albania became industrialized and saw rapid economic growth, as well as unprecedented progress in the areas of education and health. Khoja’s government was characterized by his adherence to anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism from the mid-1970s onwards. He broke away from Maoism in 1976, and it was only after his death that communism ended in Albania and religion, especially Islam, made a gradual return.
24 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, a day after the unjust verdict of a local German court, under influence of the illegal Zionist entity against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s high-ranking officials, member states of the European Union recalled their ambassadors from Tehran. Known as the Mykonos Case after a Greek restaurant of the same name in Berlin where an Iranian Kurd was mysteriously killed, the kangaroo court was proof of the sham trial in a futile bid to pressure Iran. In response to EU’s highly politicized decision, Iran dismissed as baseless the allegations and claims of the German court, recalling its ambassadors from EU member states. As Islamic Iran refused to budge from its principled position, the EU ambassadors gradually returned to Tehran.