Editing Alam (section)

==Historical Developments==
(1) In its traditional form, a standard is a lance (derafsh, neyza) to which is attached a piece (or pieces) of cloth (e.g. the tuq mentioned by Kashefi, loc. cit.). Religiously it has both a heavenly and a human value; its shape is anthropomorphic: a finial (head), a staff (body), and a pad (foot). Its symbolic function is akin to that of tree. 

(2) From the Saljuq period onward messianic ideas were revived in Turco-Iranian circles. Gazi Turks came to be considered the military element able to bring forth the triumph of the Mahdi, <ref>Calmard, Monde iranien 1, 1971, p. 67.</ref> whose apocalyptic weapon is the celebrated [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/dhu-l-faqar-COM_26006?s.num=6 Dhu’l-faqar], ʿAli’s double-edged or double-bladed sword, imitations of which were introduced as finials, sometimes combined with tuq devices, among the sacred emblems kept in [[tekyeh]]s and carried in Shiʿite ceremonies. ʿAlam banners are often mentioned in the numerous historico-legendary accounts of [[Hussain ibn Ali|Imam Hussain]]’s [[martyrdom]] and his avengers. <ref>Calmard, Culte, pp. 220ff.</ref> 

(3) Each emblem carried in procession is linked to the events of [[Karbala]]. Thus, the prototype of [[Muharram]] standards is the ʿalam carried by [[ʿAbbas b. ʿAli]], Hussain’s ʿalam-dar (standard bearer). Various shrines in Iran, India, and elsewhere claim to possess this relic or other standards connected to various events; the hagiography connected to each needs to be studied individually. Although it may have an older prototype, the spread hand emblem ([[pancha]]) representing the panch tan <ref>the “five persons;” see fig. 28.</ref> is also linked with Hussain’s cult. 

(4) Early prototypes of ʿalam banners may have been the standards (sometimes provided with staffs of extraordinary lengths) which are a familiar sight on shrines in oriental Iranian lands, including Afghanistan and Central Asia, and in northern India. 

(5) It is difficult to know exactly when ʿalam or tuq banners lost their military function to take on an exclusively religious one. The politico-military connection of the term ʿalam was retained in such expressions as amir ʿalam/mir ʿalam, which became an honorific title. <ref>cf. the territorial connotation of sanjaq in Turkish; see also H. Bowen, “Bayraqdar,” EI2 I, pp. 1134-35.</ref>