Kerbela

Kerbela, a town and holy place in Asiatic Turkey, 60 miles SW. of Bagdad. Pop. 60,000. The pilgrims number at least 200,000 annually; and a railway was projected by Midhat Pasha, when governor of the provinces, from Bagdad to Kerbela in 1869. The contractors, however, failed to carry out the works, though actually commenced. The sanctity of Kerbela arises from the fact that it is built on the site of the battlefield on which Hussein, son of Ali and Fatima, lost his life (680) in attempting to maintain his right of succession to the califate. Every Shi'ite Moslem throughout the world who can afford it seeks sepulture in the holy ground. The number of dead Moslems conveyed from Bombay alone is considerable. See Geary, Asiatic Turkey (1878).