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KERBELA

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 754 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KERBELA , or See also:

MESHED-IJOSAIN, a See also:town of See also:Asiatic See also:Turkey, the See also:capital of a sanjak of the See also:Bagdad vilayet, situated on the extreme western edge of the alluvial See also:river See also:plain, about 6o m. S.S.W. of Bagdad and 20 M. W. of the See also:Euphrates, from which a See also:canal extends almost to the town. The surrounding territory is fertile and well cultivated, especially in See also:fruit gardens and See also:palm-groves. The newer parts of the See also:city are built with broad streets and sidewalks, presenting an almost See also:European See also:appearance. The inner town, surrounded by a dilapidated See also:brick See also:wall, at the See also:gates of which See also:octroi duties are still levied, is a dirty See also:Oriental city, with the usual narrow streets. Kerbela owes its existence to the fact that IJosain, a son of `See also:Ali, the See also:fourth See also:caliph, was slain here by the soldiers of Yazid, the See also:rival aspirant to the See also:caliphate, on the loth of See also:October A.D. 68o (see CALIPHATE, sec. B, § 2). The most important feature of the town is the See also:great See also:shrine of Ilosain, containing the See also:tomb of the See also:martyr, with its See also:golden See also:dome and triple minarets, two of which are gilded. Kerbela is a See also:place of See also:pilgrimage of the Shi'ite Moslems, and is only less sacred to them than Meshed `Ali and See also:Mecca. Some 200,000 pilgrims from the Shi'ite portions of See also:Islam are said to See also:journey annually to Kerbela, many of them carrying the bones of their relatives to be buried in its sacred See also:soil, or bringing their sick and aged to See also:die there in the odour of sanctity.

The mullahs, who See also:

fix the See also:burial fees, derive an enormous See also:revenue from the faithful. Formerly Kerbela was a self-governing See also:hierarchy and constituted an inviolable See also:sanctuary for criminals; but in 1843 the See also:Turkish See also:government undertook to deprive the city of some of these liberties and to enforce See also:conscription. The Kerbelese resisted, and Kerbela was bombarded (hence the ruined See also:condition of the old walls) and reduced with great slaughter. Since then it has formed an integral See also:part of the Turkish See also:administration of See also:Irak. The enormous influx of pilgrims naturally creates a brisk See also:trade in Kerbela and the towns along the route from See also:Persia to that place and beyond to See also:Nejef. The See also:population of Kerbela, necessarily fluctuating, is estimated at something over 6o,000, of whom the See also:principal part are See also:Shiites, chiefly Persians, with a goodly mixture of See also:British See also:Indians. No See also:Jews or Christians are allowed to reside there. See Chodzko, See also:Theatre persan (See also:Paris, 1878) ; J. P. See also:Peters, See also:Nippur (1897). (J. P.

End of Article: KERBELA

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