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'''Dasta''' is the most common term for a ritual procession held in the Islamic lunar month of [[Muharram]] (q.v.) and the following month of Safar, both periods of mourning for Shiʿites. The procession commemorates the tragic death of [[Imam Hussain]], grandson of the prophet [[Muhammad]] and the third [[imam]] of the [[Shiʿites]], on the plain of [[Karbala]] on 10 Muharram 61/10 October 680. The most spectacular dastas take place on the actual day of the passion, known as [[Ashura]], and on 20 Safar, known as [[Arbaʿeen]] or Chella, the fortieth day after Hussain’s death. The dasta in Muharram and Safar developed from simple parades into complex ambulatory rituals occurring annually among mostly the Shiʿites of Persia, Iraq, Bahrain, the Turks of the Caucasus, and the peoples of the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent. | '''Dasta''' is the most common term for a ritual procession held in the Islamic lunar month of [[Muharram]] (q.v.) and the following month of Safar, both periods of mourning for Shiʿites. The procession commemorates the tragic death of [[Hussain ibn Ali|Imam Hussain]], grandson of the prophet [[Muhammad]] and the third [[imam]] of the [[Shiʿa|Shiʿites]], on the plain of [[Karbala]] on 10 Muharram 61/10 October 680. The most spectacular dastas take place on the actual day of the passion, known as [[Ashura]], and on 20 Safar, known as [[Arba’een|Arbaʿeen]] or Chella, the fortieth day after Hussain’s death. The dasta in Muharram and Safar developed from simple parades into complex ambulatory rituals occurring annually among mostly the Shiʿites of Persia, Iraq, Bahrain, the Turks of the Caucasus, and the peoples of the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent. | ||
==Composition of Dasta== | ==Composition of Dasta== | ||
The most salient feature of the dasta is the self-mortifiers. These men, aged twelve years and up, are arranged according to height, the smallest in front. At the front of Dasta, ‘Alam-dar stands who carries [[‘Alam]] and moves in front of others. Some who may strip to the waist (for greater exposure) and strike their chests with their palms are called [[sinazan]] (chest beaters); others wear black shirts cut away in the back and beat themselves with chains directly on their flesh; they are known as [[zanjirzan]] (beaters with chains). The shamshirzan or [[qamazan]] (beaters [with] swords) wear white burial shrouds, symbolizing their readiness to sacrifice their lives; they strike their foreheads with long daggers and swords, letting the blood drip down onto the shrouds. These composing groups of Dasta are not fixed and may vary from community to community. | The most salient feature of the dasta is the self-mortifiers. These men, aged twelve years and up, are arranged according to height, the smallest in front. At the front of Dasta, ‘Alam-dar stands who carries [[Alam|‘Alam]] and moves in front of others. Some who may strip to the waist (for greater exposure) and strike their chests with their palms are called [[sinazan]] (chest beaters); others wear black shirts cut away in the back and beat themselves with chains directly on their flesh; they are known as [[zanjirzan]] (beaters with chains). The shamshirzan or [[qamazan]] (beaters [with] swords) wear white burial shrouds, symbolizing their readiness to sacrifice their lives; they strike their foreheads with long daggers and swords, letting the blood drip down onto the shrouds. These composing groups of Dasta are not fixed and may vary from community to community. | ||
==Movement and Music of Dasta== | ==Movement and Music of Dasta== | ||
All these acts of [[self-mortification]] are performed in time with the accompanying cymbals and drums. The leader of each subgroup chants dirges in the same rhythm. The entire dasta pauses from time to time in front of a religious edifice or the tomb of a local saint or in a large open space, where one group beats itself rhythmically while the others join in the chanting. The tempo quickens until the excitement reaches an uncontrollable pitch, and then the march continues. The cries of the participants, who curse the villains of Karbala while proclaiming sympathy for Hussain and his companions in [[martyrdom]], are mingled with these mournful songs. | All these acts of [[self-mortification]] are performed in time with the accompanying cymbals and drums. The leader of each subgroup chants dirges in the same rhythm. The entire dasta pauses from time to time in front of a religious edifice or the tomb of a local saint or in a large open space, where one group beats itself rhythmically while the others join in the chanting. The tempo quickens until the excitement reaches an uncontrollable pitch, and then the march continues. The cries of the participants, who curse the villains of Karbala while proclaiming sympathy for Hussain and his companions in [[martyrdom]], are mingled with these mournful songs. | ||
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==Bibliography== | ==Bibliography== | ||
* | *B. Bayżāʾī, Nemāyeš dar Īrān, Tehran, 1344 Š./1965. | ||
* | *J. Calmard, “Le mécénat des représentations de Taʿziye,” in Le monde iranien et l’Islam 2, 1974, pp. 73-126; 4, 1977, pp. 133-62. | ||
* | *E. Canetti, Crowds and Power, New York, 1978, pp. 143-54. | ||
* | *P. Chelkowski,ed., Taʿziyeh. Ritual and Drama in Iran, New York, 1979. | ||
* Idem, | *Idem, “Iran. Mourning Becomes Revolution,” Asia, May/June 1980, pp. 30-45. | ||
* Idem, | *Idem, “Shia Muslim Processional Performances,” The Drama Review 29/3, 1985, pp. 18-30. | ||
* | *Idem, “Popular Shiʿi Mourning Rituals,” Alserat 12/1, 1986, pp. 209-26. | ||
* | *Ebn Kaṯīr, al-Bedāya wa’l-nehāya II, Cairo, 1358/1939. | ||
* | *B. D. Eerdmans, “Der Ursprung der Ceremonien des Hosein Festes,” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 9, 1894, pp. 280-307. | ||
* | *F. Ḡaffārī, ed., Vīža-ye nemayešhā-ye sonnatī dar Īrān, Irān-nāma 9/2, Spring 1991. | ||
* | *A. de Gobineau, Les religions et les philosophies dans l’Asie centrale, Paris, 1865; repr. Paris, 1957. | ||
* | *G. E. von Grunebaum, Muhammadan Festivals, London, 1958, pp. 85-94. | ||
* | *Ṣ. Homāyūnī, Taʿzīya dar Īrān, Shiraz, 1368 Š./1989. | ||
* | *A. Kryniski, Perskiĭ Teatr (Persian theater), Kiev, 1925. | ||
* | *I. J. Lassy, The Muharram Mysteries among the Azerbaijani Turks of Caucasia,Helsinki, 1916. | ||
* | *P. Mamnoun, Ta’zija, schi’itisch-persisches Passionsspiel, Vienna, 1967. | ||
* | *H. Müller, Studien zum persischen Passionspiel, Freibourg im Breisgau, 1966. | ||
* | *M. Rezvani, Le théâtre et la danse en Iran, Paris, 1962. | ||
* | *B. Zereschaguine, Voyages dans les provinces du Caucase, Paris, 1869. | ||
* Plate V. Dasta on ʿĀšūrāʾ, with šamšīrzan or qamazan in white shrouds striking their heads with swords or long daggers. After Zereschaguine. Plate VI. Dasta with naḵl. (Peter J. Chelkowski) | *Plate IV. Āšūrāʾ procession, with onlookers striking themselves on the head as the dasta passes, Mehrīz, 1977. Photograph K. Bāyegān. | ||
*Plate V. Dasta on ʿĀšūrāʾ, with šamšīrzan or qamazan in white shrouds striking their heads with swords or long daggers. After Zereschaguine. Plate VI. Dasta with naḵl. (Peter J. Chelkowski) | |||
*Originally Published: December 15, 1994. Last Updated: November 18, 2011. This article is available in print. Vol. VII, Fasc. 1, pp. 97-100. | |||
==Source== | ==Source== | ||
* [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dasta Encyclopaedia Iranica] | |||
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dasta Encyclopaedia Iranica] | |||
[[Category: Mourning Rituals of Muharram]] | [[Category: Mourning Rituals of Muharram]] | ||
[[Category: Shi’i Ritual]] | [[Category: Shi’i Ritual]] | ||