Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/383

 or of wrought filligree silver: those for the poor are of coloured talc.

In front of the Taziya two standards are erected, between which are laid strings of the fresh flowers of the sweet-scented bela (jasmine); and a chaunrī, made of the tail of the yāk, fixed in a silver handle, is used to fan away the flies.

When the Taziya is placed in the Imām-bara, the face is turned to Mecca. The institution of carrying the Taziya in procession first took place in the 352, at Bagdad, under Noez-od-Dowla Dhelmé, and is never omitted in Persia.

Hussein, on his favourite horse Dhul Dhul, was pierced by arrows without number; the animal shared the same fate, and the Soonee Musulmāns were the extirpators of all the race of Hussein, the son of Ali, with the exception of one infant son and the females of the family. This is the cause of the battles that so often take place between the Sheas and the Soonees (whom the former regard as an accursed race) at the annual celebration of the Muharram.

The usual arrangement of the procession is as follows:—In the order of march the elephants first appear, on which men are seated, displaying the consecrated banners, crowned by the spread hand. The banners are of silk, embroidered in gold or silver. The spread hand on the top of them represents five: Muhammad, Fátíma, Ali, Hussun, Hussein; the three fingers, the Caliphas Omer, Osmun, and Abubekr. The Soonees favour the latter; the Sheas uphold Imām Ali. The ends of the banners are fringed with bullion, and they are tied with cords of gold. Then follows the band, which is always in attendance, and is composed of Arab music only.

The jilādār or sword-bearer carries a pole, from which two naked swords, each tipped with a lemon, are suspended from a bow reversed. The arrows are fixed in the centre. The sword-bearer is generally dressed in green, the mourning colour of the Syuds. The standard-bearers and a band of musicians attend him, carrying the banner of Hussun and Hussein.

Some men, the mourners of the procession, bear long black