Battle·Umayyad
Battle of Karbala
- Date
- 10 October 680 CE10 Muharram 61 AH1,346 years ago
- Place
- Karbala, Iraq
- People
- Husayn ibn Ali, Yazid ibn Muawiya, Abbas ibn Ali
Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of Prophet Muhammad, refused to pay allegiance to Caliph Yazid ibn Muawiya. He set out for Kufa, where many people had invited him, but his small group was intercepted near Karbala. On 10 Muharram 61 AH (10 October 680 CE), the Umayyad army killed Husayn and most of his male companions and relatives. Women and children were taken to Kufa and then to Damascus.
Why it matters
Karbala became the defining event of Shia identity, and Ashura is marked each year with mourning in Shia communities.