Karbala

About Karbala

Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With a population of around 800,000 people in 2024, Karbala is the second-largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is one of the main political, spiritual, and cultural hubs of Shi'a Islam.

The city, best known as the location of the battle of Karbala in 680 AD between Husayn ibn Ali and his band of several dozen followers, including some armed women, and several thousand soldiers led by General Umar ibn Sa'd on behalf of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, the local governor who was acting on the orders of Yazid ibn Mu'awiya. Soon, Karbala emerged as an important center of pilgrimage for Shiite Muslims across the world. After the fall of Baghdad in 1258, Karbala came under the control of the Mongolian Empire led by Hulegu Khan. The city continued to be under multiple successive empires. Karbala enjoyed the status of semi-autonomy after the First Saudi State invasion. In 1843, Karbala was besieged by Ottoman troops. In 1915, Karbala was site of an uprising, which drove the Ottomans out of the city.

With presence of the shrines of Hussain and Abbas, Karbala is considered a holy city for Muslims. Millions of Shi'as visit the site twice a year. The martyrdom of Husayn and Abbas

is commemorated annually by nearly 100 million Shi'ites in the city. Up to 34 million pilgrims visit the city to observe ʿĀshūrāʾ (the tenth day of Muharram), which marks the anniversary of Husayn's death, but the main event is the Arbaʿeen (the 40th day after 'Ashura'), where up to 40 million visit the graves. Most of the pilgrims travel on foot and come from all around Iraq and more than 56 countries.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.