The Mausoleum of Seyed Mir Ahmad Ibn Moussa Alkazem, the brother of Imam Reza as the eighth Shiite Imam is known as the Shah Cheragh Mausoleum located in Shiraz City. Because of the high position of the mausoleum, it attracts a large number of Muslims who make a pilgrimage to one of the descendants of the prophet of Islam.

The holly Shah Cheragh lived at the time of the Caliph Ma’mun of Abbasid clan. When he left the capital for Khorasan Province to meet his brother Imam Reza, many of his Shiite Muslim followers accompanied him. The number of parties accompanying him on the way of Khorasan even grew as he passed through one city to another.

This scared the Caliph believing that they are gathering an army to riot against him.

The Caliph ordered the governors of most important cities of the ways through which the crowd was passing to halt Shah Cheragh and his followers. This made the governor of Shiraz City order to his soldiers to attack and kill the crowd.

For a long time after this massacre, nobody even knew where Shah Cheragh was buried until the burial site was finally found during the reign of Atabak Abu-Bakr Sa’d Ibn Zangi (the 1130s CE). According to historical myths, an old woman saw a light flickering from a far place every night.  Given that the light did not stop, she informed other villagers of the light and they contacted the authorities accordingly.

Atabak Abu-Bakr investigated the matter but when he was awaiting the light to appear, he went to sleep. He dreamt that the light was emitting from the place where Shah Cheragh and his followers were buried and so when waked up, he ordered the construction of a mausoleum for this pious man at that place

The mausoleum includes an entrance Iwan leading to the inside of the building where there is a domed chamber surrounded by four big halls (Shah Neshin). The door of the entrance Iwan is known as Zel-ol-Sultan meaning the sultan’s shadow. The door was decorated formerly with silver but was later replaced with an enameled door by Isfahan’s masters, while the old door was moved to the Astaneh Museum. There is also a mosque behind the mausoleum on the west side.

In addition to two main doors, the mausoleum has two side doors, one of which opens to the Haji Bazaar and the other to the Atique or Jam-e Mosque. The importance of this mausoleum among Muslims has led all the rulers of Shiraz to develop it ranging from making a dome to enhancing the decorations.

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It was built in Qajar dynasty and was the most famous one in Kermanshah. This national monument used to play a big role during the holy month of Muharram, to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, a time when many religious plays were acted. Hussain Khan Moeen Al Raaya built at the end of 19^th century. Less than a decade later, this magnificent building was completely demolished as a group of constitutionalists set it on fire. It took architects so many years to repair the structure after that. Finally, in 1940s, Mirza Hssan Khan Moaven Ol Molk, bought the mosque and started to repair it. A year later, he bought the surrounding lands, and started building Abbasieh and Zeinabieh in order to expand the mosque and welcome more people to come over to pray and participate in religious ceremonies. Hassan Khan died two years later and was buried in the Zeinabieh building.

Hussain Khan Moeen Al Raaya built at the end of 19^th century. Less than a decade later, this magnificent building was completely demolished as a group of constitutionalists set it on fire. It took architects so many years to repair the structure after that. Finally, in 1940s, Mirza Hssan Khan Moaven Ol Molk, bought the mosque and started to repair it.

After his death, in order to maintain the place, locals decided to change the usage of Abbasieh to Islamic-studies school; it remained the same school for the next 30 years. In 1973, Moaven al Molk was officially registered as national monument. The place includes different sections including Hosseinieh with magnificent tiling, and notable variety of colors. The tiles narrate different stories from Quranic scenes to pre-Islamic motifs including Shahnâme epic stories. In this building, there are also poems describing the monument and the end date of its tiling.

Photo by Coffeetalkh via Wikimedia Commons / GNU FDL

The next section is Zeinabieh, the building in the middle which is mainly designed to accommodate women during the religious ceremony. Also in the bottom margin, several paintings of mythological and historical kings, done by a well-known Kermanshahi calligrapher is seen.

Abbasieh, has a large courtyard with double columned porch in the southern part. Its walls are decorated with polychrome tiles on which scenes from entering Yousef to Canaan, and the shrine of Ali and his son Hussein. Presently two cultural museums are located in Abbasieh, Anthropology Museum and the Museum of garments and ornaments of Kermanshah.

Tekieh Moaven ol-Molk is known for its remarkable and exceptional tiling. Images carved on the tiles, included scenes of battles of Mohammed. Imam Ali battles and Karbala, also images of ancient monarchs such as, Achaemenid King and images of Persepolis that is unique in its kind.

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Ali Ibn Mussa Reza, known as Imam Reza is the eighth Shiite Imam who was martyred in 818 by Ma’mun, the caliph of the time, given that he feared the increasing power and popularity of the Imam. His body was buried in the mausoleum of Harun ol Rashid, the third Abbasid Caliph. This place then turned into a pilgrimage center and different rulers in the course of history tried to improve and glorify it, indicating the importance of Imam among Iranians.

The Samanid rulers (819-999) were the first to start a series of changes in the area, leading to the development of the city. However, in this period, the shrine did not extend. Daylamite, on the contrary, paid only attention to the shrine such that they repaired it completely. For example, they improved the decorations of the place drastically, added residential units to the garden of the shrine, and built a strong fortification around Mashhad City. Such measures ensured, to a great extent, the security of the place.

During the Ghaznavid Dynasty (977-1186), following the order of Mahmoud Ghaznavi, the main building of the shrine was repaired and several bazaars were built around it. In the Seljuk Dynasty (1037-1194), king Sultan Sanjar with his minister Sharaf al-Qomi ordered the construction of a dome over the shrine and also restoration of its damages. About a century later, Mohammad Kharazmshah ordered the decoration of the shrine with striking tiles that came to be known as Sanjar tile. At the present time, the remnant of these periods’ tiles is on display in the museum of the shrine.

In the 13th century, Mongols attacked various parts of Iran, leading to looting the town and murdering people. However, in the aftermath of the Mongols’ attacks, surprisingly, the shrine was left with minimal damages. During the Timurid Dynasty (1370-1507) as the descendants of Mongols, following Shahrukh Mirza’s efforts for the prosperity of Mashhad, and by the suggestion of his wife, Goharshad, a majestic mosque was built in the southern part of the shrine’s courtyard.

The mosque was named Goharshad since she played an important part in its construction. In the Safavid Period (1501-1736) as a state following the Twelver Shiite sect, much was added to the shrine. In this period, the tradition of gilding holy places started and thus, replacing the former brick and tile works of the Imam Reza Shrine’s dome with gold-coated bricks.

Shah Abbas also commanded to cover the rest of the shrine with gold and copper and to add more sections, an order that took more than 100 years to be implemented and so, the king could not see the outcome as he passed away sooner. The newly added sections in this period include courtyards, northern, western, and eastern Iwans, portals, chambers, and Allah Verdi Khan portico.

When Nader Shah of Afsharid Dynasty (1736- 1796) became the king of Iran and started a series of battles in the neighboring countries especially India, the country became richer. As a devoted follower of Islam, he ordered that two Iwans and the northern minaret to be gilded and the frescos of the place to be renovated. During the reign of Fath Ali Shah of the Qajar Dynasty (1789-1925), new sections were also added to the construct, including a courtyard named Freedom, the western Iwan was gilded, and a Ravagh (porch-like construct) named Dar ol Sa’ada literary meaning the House of Happiness.

At the time of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (reign: 1941-1978), the governor of Khorasan Razavi Province developed the shrine. To this end, the gilded bricks were repaired, many of the old buildings were converted, and new constructs were added as well. The Riyadh mosque (the women’s mosque), back porch, Saqa Khaneh, and the former candelabrum were among the new sections. After the Islamic Revolution of 1978, the interior of the shrine’s main dome including its basis developed significantly so as to strengthen the dome’s stability.

Furthermore, the Courtyard of the Islamic Republic and the porches of Razavi, Guidance, Kosar, and Imam Khomeini were made, and more broadly, the shrine’s total area increased to 598,657 square meters, turning it to one of the biggest mosques of the world. At the present time, the Imam Reza complex consists of nine courtyards, 26 porches, two museums, four seminaries, a library, a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall, prayer halls, and so forth.

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The holy Abdol Azim Hasani is one of the descendants of Imam Hassan, the third Shiite Imam, who was martyred in ninth century and was buried in Ray. The shrine built in his memory was made in the time of Seljuk Kings and by the hands of the great master, Majd Ol Molk Baravestany. The shrine includes sections such as Portal Entrance, Ayeneh Iwan (Mirror Iwan), Courtyard, Dome, Mosque, Porch, and Minaret. At first, the dome of the place was a Rok or a conical dome, and had an inscription that dated back to the Seljuk time. It was later restored by the order of Shah Tahmasp, the Safavid King and was gilded in the time of Naser Al Din Shah, the forth Qajar King. Sections such as the portal, Iwan, Porch, and the gold cover of the box were added during the reign of Shah Abbas and Shah Tahmasp of Safavid Dynasty.

The Holly Shrine of Hamza, Imam Reza’s brother and Taher, son of Imam Moussa Kazem are part of this shrine as well. The beautifully carved wooden door of Hamza Shrine is a valuable piece of art with an inscription that dates back to 16^th century; the inscription is in Sols, which is a style of calligraphy.  The Shrine came to attention again at the time of Naser Al Din. It was restored and new decorations were added to the construct. The devotion of this Qajar king to the holly man was so great that he asked to be buried here and today his grave is there.

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Photo by Payam Moein via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Ta’zieh is a form of condolence and mourning drama among Shiite Muslims mostly about the tragic story of Imam Hussein’s and his 72 companions’ slaughter in the battle of Karbala, Iraq in 680 C.E. It is usually held each year in the month of Muharram, the first month of the Muslim calendar).

The event dates back to the time during which the people of Kufa, Iraq felt like they can no longer tolerate the cruelty and unjust ruling of caliph Yazid I during the Umayyad dynasty (661–750 CE). They asked Imam Hossein, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad and the rightful ruler of the Islamic lands, to fight for the power in Kufa. They claimed to support Imam in a battle against Yazid so as to overrule him and choose Imam Hossein as the next Caliph.

Moslem Ibn Aghil as the Imam’s envoy departed to Kufa to inform people of the Imam’s decision to attack Kufa, and to prepare people for supporting the army. Yazid who was informed of the imminent attack captured Moslem before he could reach the city and murdered him and his two small children.

Unaware of what happened to Moslem, Imam Hossein marched toward Kufa in 680 A.E. but was surrounded by the Yazid’s army on the plains of Karbala. As the siege continued and Imam Hossein and his 72 followers kept fighting, the Caliph ordered his army to prevent Imam Hussein’s army from accessing the water. On the 10th day of Muharram, in a dreadful battle Imam Hossein, all his followers, and most of his family members including two infant sons were brutally murdered.

Photo by Payam Moein via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

What happened to Imam Hossein and his friends and family was so tragic such that centuries after his death, people still lament and mourn for his martyrdom. The only surviving member of Imam Hossein’s family was one of his sons Zain al-Abedin, who due to his bedridden could not take part in the battle. He was Imam Hossein’s son from his Persian noble wife Shahrbano, the daughter of Yazdgerd the third; therefore, from Imam Zain al-Abedin onwards all the Shiite Imams are considered to have Persian ancestors.

Ta’zieh established in the late 17th century in Iran can be viewed as a political and religious act.

Iranian eagerness for a Persian identity was manifested first in the form of the resisting groups like the one led by Babak Khoramdin, and then by the religious sects. People did all they could to oppose the Caliph who was the representative of the Arab invaders. Iranians openly accepted Islam because, among other reasons, it promised equality and justice, but the Caliphs’ rulings had nothing to do with the massage of Islam. Having the same ideology by the ancestors as of the Imams and the need to oppose the Sunni caliph led to the popularity of Shiite religion in Iran. Given that Iranians considered the Prophets’ descendants the rightful rulers of Islamic countries and furthermore, were furious with cruel Caliphs, they supported the Imams. One of the ways to flaunt this opposition and at the same time to support Imams was Ta’zieh, a ritual to commemorate the life and death of these divine characters.

Ta’zieh has been first established with small groups moving from one city to another while chanting funeral dirges and hitting their chest as a sign of infinite sadness.

The chanting group was later replaced with solo performances by one or two singers while accompanied by the group of mourners. The two singers narrate the mythical stories that happened on the 10th day of Muharram in Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Hossein. However, the third-person narration of the event was gradually turned into a first-person one by a couple of singers who performed the role of the martyrs of Karbala’s event in front of spectators.

These singers act separately during the performance telling the tales of their life and death. In fact, in this stage of Ta’zieh, the characters were not involved with each other and acted individually but finally, the idea of creating a dialogue between the characters came to true. In this stage, although the characters talked with each other in different sections of the performance, it had not had the form of a drama.

During the Safavid era (1501-1736 C.E), the last step was taken to complete this street mourning theatre to make Ta’zieh like how it is played today: a drama based on the historical events with characters actively involved with each other and a narrator who interferes the story and sings dirges on the death of each divine character. Ta’zieh drama was inscribed in 2010 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

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