TODAY IN HISTORY
October 26, 1185: A revolt over high Byzantine taxes breaks out among Bulgarians living in Moesia. This insurrection, known as the “Uprising of Asen and Peter” after its leaders—two brothers (identified as Vlach but probably with mixed Bulgarian heritage) who were named, you know, Asen and Peter—quickly led to a restoration of the Bulgarian Empire, which had been subjugated by the Byzantines in the 11th century. The principals signed a truce that tacitly recognized a restored Bulgarian Empire in 1187, though conflict continued beyond that. This “Second Bulgarian Empire” survived until it was eradicated by the Ottomans in 1396.
October 26, 1947: Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir signs the Instrument of Accession that brings his state into union with India. When British colonial authorities partitioned India and Pakistan, they decided to leave Kashmir’s fate up to Kashmir. The region’s Muslim majority was divided between independence and union with Pakistan, while its Hindu minority favored union with India. Hari Singh seemed to favor independence, but conflict between Kashmiri Muslims and Hindus prompted him to turn to India for help and Kashmir thus joined India.
MIDDLE EAST
JORDAN
The Jordanian military conducted airstrikes in southern Syria on Monday targeting “terrorist groups” allegedly tied to the gunmen who attacked a church in Jordan’s Karak province on Friday. That attack killed at least nine people at last count and left 34 more wounded. Monday’s airstrikes killed at least seven people and wounded three others in Syria’s Daraa and Suwayda provinces and there is some confusion as to whether they were conducted in coordination with the Syrian government — Jordanian officials say they were, but the Syrian government has not confirmed that and says that it has “launched an investigation” into the strikes. Jordanian authorities also arrested three people on Monday in connection with the church attack. Officials are describing all three as “Jordanians” and “extremist terrorists,” but despite the airstrikes it’s still not clear which group or groups were involved.
