H ass a n , upon refigning the Khalifat, retired to Medina, and there
lived in privacy until A. H. 49, when he died, poifoned, as the Shiyas
ailedge, by his wife, at the inftance of Moa v iah , who dreaded the poffi-
bility o f his renewing his pretentions-.
Hoosein pofiefled a larger portion of the martial fpirit o f A lee than
h.s elder brother; but his fate was not more fortunate.— On the death of
M o a v iah , having refuted to acknowledge his fon Y ezeed, (who fuc-
ceeded to the Khalifat, A. H. 60,) he was conftrained to retire for
fafety from Medina to Mecca, whither the people of Koofa, who were
ftrongly attached to the family of A l e e , tent him an invitation to join
their ftandard, after having proclaimed him the only lawful Khalif,
and declared \ ezeed to be an ufurper.— Y ezeed,- undemanding that
H oossein had accepted this invitation, and fet' out from Mecca fpr
Koofa, difpatched O beydoola, one of his commanders, to intercept
h im ; and O beydoola, meeting him paifing over the plain o f Ker-
balla, with only feventy-three of his family and attendants, cut to pieces
the grandfon of the Prophet and the whole o f his feeble party— In this
indifcrimmate maffacre alfo perifhed four other tens of A l e e , namely,
A bdoola, A bbas, O th m a n , and J a f ir , together with one or more of
his daughters.— T h e wretched remains of his family were afterwards
brought before Y ezeed, who was advifed to feize the pretent opportunity,
and to cut off all future caufes of difturbance, by extirpating this
remnant of the Prophet’s defcendants.— This flagitious propofal filled the
K h a iif with horror. He repented of the blood which had been already.
fhed, execrated the fanguinary -obedience of O beydoola, and difmiffed
the captives with honour to the tomb of their father at K oofa.
F rom this period the pofterity of A l e e funk into obfcurity and infig-
nificance, except in the eyes of their fedtaries.— Their defcendants,.
however, under the title of Seyids, have fpread over India, Perfta, Turkey,
and the northern coaft of A f r ic a , are held in veneration by the multitude
as
1
as inheriting the blood of the Prophet, and have frequently excited the
jealoufy of the reigning princes of Arabia and Turkey. In Perfta and
India, particularly, the memory of A l e e and his tens is cherifhed, among
the people, with a veneration approaching to idolatry ; and the latter
country exhibits fome linking inftances of the force of this partiality,
which poffibly a long lapfe of time, inftead of' weakening, has rather
contributed to {Lengthen.— 'The Muffulman Princes of H IN D O STAN
are, in general, Soonis', as well as mod o f their chief men, the heads of
the law, or the minifters of ftate, whilft the great body of Mohammedans,
being defcended from a Perfan flock, or from the profelytes of the
firft Mohammedan conquerors, adhere rigidly to the principles of the
Shiyas.— T h e Nizam, one of the moft powerful and independant of
thofe princes, cannot attend public worfhip in the Jàmâ mofque of his
capital (Hydrabad) becaufe of the Anathemas weekly uttered there againft
the ufurping Khàlifs of the houfe of Ommiah.— A t Lucknow, on the
tenth of Moharrim, the effigy of Omar (who, as being the firft pro-
pofer of an ele&ive Khàlifat, in prejudice to the right of A l e e , is regarded
by his adherents with particular abhorrence,) is fet up, filled
with fweetmeats, as a mark to {hoot arrows at; and, after being
ufed with every fpecies of indignity, is torn to pieces, and its contents
devoured by the enthufiaftic votaries of A l e e .— T h is day is throughout
tliefe regions obferved as the anniverfary of the death of Hojfein and his
brethren, and celebrated by fbngs and proceffions. T h e magnificent Mau-
foleums ereâêd to the memory of thefe illuftriotis martyrs are ftill
vifited by their adherents, who regard this token of refpect as fcarcely lefs
meritorious than a pilgrimage to the Kdba itfelf; and the real or fictitious
defcendants from this facred flock have, at different times, made
their affinity to the Prophet a pretext for affuming the regal or pontifical
authority in Syria and Africa.— T h e y claim, moieover, a certain pre-
eminence, and exclufive privileges, to fome of whieh they are admitted,
even in Turkey, where the memory o f A l e e is leaft refpedted, and the
pretentions of his line to the Khàlifat utterly denied— A few flight tracés
of their affumed fuperiority may be difcovered in this commentary.
V ol. I. c T hus