Directory_and_Chronicle_1864 — Page 82

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MAHOMEDAN FESTIVALS, FASTS, AND OBSERVANCES.

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phet's family to the king Yazid's fury, suffered a cruel death after the most severe trials on the plain of Kurbela on the 10th day of the Arabian month Moharram, the anniversary of which catastrophe is solemnised with the most devoted zeal. Hassain and Hossein were, as above stated, the two sons of Ali, by his cousin Fatima, the daughter of Mahammed; and after the murder of their father by the contrivances of the Kalipha, they with their families removed from Shawn, the capital, to Medina. After residing there for several years, the people of Shawn, being tired of king Yazid's tyrannical rule, invited Hossain to return to the capital and assume his lawful right as Imám (leader of the faithful.) Before accepting this invitation, Hossain sent Moslem, his cousin, as a messenger, to report the true state of affairs to him; but on his arrival with his two sons at Shawn he was seized by order of king Yazid, and cast from a precipice, and his two sons were barbarously murder- ed, for the sake of the reward offered for their heads. This forms the subject of the ten days' bewailing during the Moharram. The Mahammedans are divided into distinct sects, called the Shías and the Súnias. The former regard Ali and his descendants to be the lawful leaders after Mahammed, and the latter the Kaliphas, as Abubakr, Omar, &c.,- hence quarrels, animosities, and dislikes are hoarded up to be avenged during the Mohar- ram. The festival begins on the first day of the moon (Moharram). Tazias (a term signify- ing grief, and applied to a representation of the mausoleum erected over the remains of Imam Hossain at Kurbala,) made of ivory, ebony, sandal-wood, cedar, and some wrought in silver filigree, and indeed of every variety of material, from pure silver to bamboo and paper, according to the rank and wealth of the party, are exhibited in every direction, and conveyed in procession through the streets. Mourning assemblies are held morning and evening, in the Imambaras, during the Moharram, and the head priest or preacher recites a subject for each day's service, from the various books composed on the subject, descrip- tive of the life and sufferings of Hassain and Hossein. The Marsíah, a poetical composi tion of great merit, and embracing the whole of the subject they commemorate, is chaunt- ed with great effect; the names of their lawful leaders are recounted with blessings, and that of the usurpers, the Kaliphas, with curses. Then comes the procession of Dhal Dhal -Hossein's horse, killed at Kurbala, beautifully caparisoned; and finally the Tazias are deposited with funeral rites in the public burial grounds, when the Moharram ceases. The Tabút is a slight framework of bambu, in the shape of a mausoleum, covered and or- namented with coloured paper and tinsel. They vary considerably in size and appearance, according to the taste and ability of those who build them. Before these Tabúts incense is burned, and various other rites are performed. The Tabáte, it is said, are peculiar to India. They are not mentioned in the Kôran, nor are they built by the inhabitants of Persia and Arabia. Many Mahomedans regard them with strong disapprobation. In Bombay the larger portion of the Mahomedans unite in building the Tabuts. These are taken out, and, accompanied with music, carried in procession through the Bhendy Bazar, from midnight of the ninth until three o'clock of the morning of the tenth day, and from two to six o'clock on the afternoon of the same day, on their way to the beach in Back Bay, where the greater part of the Tabúts, after being stripped of whatever is of value, are cast into the sea. The practice of building Tabúts seems to be losing ground in Bombay, a portion of those who formerly united in this having adopted the views of those opposed to such things. The Indian Mahomedans, who do not unite in building the Tabuts, are accustomed to go on this occasion to the mosques for five successive evenings, to listen to the account of the death of Hossein. Their demonstrations of grief, however, are not equal to those of the Moguls and Persians, who, while listening to the recital, weep aloud, and smite violently upon their breasts. These are accustomed to meet at the Masjid, in Mirza Mahomed Ali Khan Street, Bombay. In Bombay there is, strictly speaking no repre- sentation of the battle which was fought previous to the death of Hossein. Some two or three horsemen, bearing flags, enter the large yard adjoining the Imambara with loud wail. ings, and are followed by two horses caparisoned, to represent those which were for the use of the fallen Hossein. One person on horseback, with a long sword apparently run through the head, and covered with blood, joins in the wailings. A female infant in deep mourning, sitting at the door of a small mausoleum, which is carried on the shoulders of men, constantly casts ashes or cut-straw upon her head, in token of grief. These pass round in a circle, accompanied or followed by a company on foot, who beat upon their breasts, crying, "Hai Hossein! Hai Hossein!" Sometimes, a person represented in a dying state, his body covered with wounds and blood, and darts and daggers run into it, is car- ried about in procession. It would seem that this festival is now celebrated with less