Battle of Karbala

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The Battle of Karbala (Arabic: مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء, romanized: Maʿrakat Karbalāʾ) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the forces of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid I (r. 680–683), and a small army led by Husayn ibn Ali, second son of Ali and grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, at Karbala, in modern-day southern Iraq. Prior to his death, the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) appointed his son Yazid as his successor, making the caliphate hereditary. Yazid's nomination was contested by Husayn and other notables, and after Mu'awiya died in 680, Yazid demanded allegiance from Husayn and the other dissidents. Husayn refused and took refuge in Mecca. While Husayn was in Mecca, the residents of Kufa, the center of Ali's caliphate, sent him numerous letters inviting him to overthrow Umayyad rule, and pledging their allegiance to him. Husayn first sent his cousin, Muslim ibn Aqil, to Kufa to assess the situation and the genuineness...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Persian Painter Abbas Al-Musavi., Public domain