What is the origin of the ritual of Ashura? (part 6)

I don't know why I am not yet done with the paper.

But it is getting very interesting.

On page 14, the author mentioned briefly how taziya spread from Iran to surrounding areas,

The taziya play developed mainly in Iran and its rich theatrical dimensions reflected strong Persian influences. This is supported by what is known about the shabih and the taziya play in other Shi'i regions. Introduced into Iraq only in the late eighteenth century, the shabih never developed into a full-scale theater and its nature was fundamentally different from that of the Iranian, reflecting the strong Arab tribal character of Iraqi Shi'i society.

In Lebanon, oral traditions relate that the ta'ziya play was introduced into Nabatiyya (a small Shi'i town in the south) by some Iranians only in the late nineteenth century.

Here, I am summarizing the development of taziya or some from of it

• Azeri Turk, West of the Caspian Sea and in the frontier area between Iran and Turkey in the twentieth century - some form of taziya
• Turks in Anatolia - no Taziya
• Southern India in the late 1820s - public processions
• Bengal and Bihar in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century - public processions
• Shi'i state of Awadh in northern India - no taziya

We are now going into the discussion of perhaps one of the most controversial ritual on Ashura (the tenth of Muharram), the flagellation or tatbir.

Author stressed yet again that chest-beating and slapping of one's own face is the traditional ways of expressing personal grief and pain and these activities was seen during the Buyid Dynasty in Baghdad.

But what about the origin of tatbir?

According to the author,

It is more difficult, however, to determine just exactly when and where knives, swords, and chains were first used by Shi'i mourners to shed blood for Husayn's death. The use of instruments to shed blood added a violent aspect to the Muharram rites.

Please continue reading part 7.