Tazia

This article is about the South Asian and Caribbean temporary structures. For the Iranian dramatic art form, see Ta'ziyeh. For other uses, see Ta'ziya.

A tazia (Urdu: تعزیہ, romanized: ta'ziya; from Arabic تعزية taʿziya ‘condolence’), also called tabut or taboot (Urdu: تابوت, romanized: tābūt; from Arabic تابوت tābūt ‘coffin’), is a temporary structure representing the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali, which is carried in Muharram processions in South Asia, particularly on the day of Ashura.[1] Rather than being an exact replica, it is a creative representation of his actual shrine at Karbala, Iraq.[2] The practice was also brought to the Caribbean through the Indo-Caribbean diaspora.

Construction and procession

The artwork is a colorfully painted bamboo and paper mausoleum. It is then carried on a ritual procession. These tazia processions have traditionally walked through the streets of a town, with mourning, flagellation and wailing, ultimately to a local lake, river or ocean where the tazias would be immersed in the water.[1] In some South Asian communities, a Chup Tazia (Urdu: چُپ تعزیہ, lit. 'silent tazia') procession is also observed, in which participants maintain silence.

Geographical distribution

The tradition is observed by South Asian Shiites throughout present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as in countries with large historical South Asian diaspora communities established during the 19th century by indentured labourers to British, Dutch and French colonies. Notable regions outside of South Asia where such processions are performed include:

In the Caribbean, the tazias are known as tadjahs and were brought by Shia Muslims who arrived there as indentured labourers from the Indian subcontinent.

Since 1790 in Mauritius the practice is known as Ghoon Festival or Yamsé.[8][9] A group of believers celebrate the 10th day of Muharram and first month of the Islamic calendar in Plaine Verte within the capital city Port Louis Mauritius.[10]

Tabuik made from bamboo, rattan and paper is a local manifestation of the Remembrance of Muharram among the Minangkabau people in the coastal regions of West Sumatra, Indonesia, particularly in the city of Pariaman culminates with practice of throwing a tabuik into the sea has taken place every year in Pariaman on the 10th of Muharram since 1831 when it was introduced to the region by Shia Muslim sepoy troops from India who were stationed and later settled there during the British Raj.[11]

Intercommunal relations

During the colonial-era in British India, the tazia tradition was not only practiced by Shia Muslims and other Muslims but joined by Hindus.[12][13] Along with occasions for Shia Muslims and Hindus to participate in the procession together, the tazia processions have also been historic occasions for communal conflicts between Sunni and Shia Muslims and between Hindu and Muslim communities since the 18th century, most notably the Muharram Rebellion which took place in Sylhet and was the first ever anti-British rebellion in the Indian subcontinent.[1][14] Also in the Sylhet region, a riot took place between the Muslim and Hindu communities, even though Sylhet's Faujdar Ganar Khan tried to prevent it from forming, due to tazia procession coinciding with a Hindu chariot procession.

  • A depiction of South Asian Shia Muslims mourning before a tazia[15]
  • 1878 painting of a tazia’s immersion in the Bay of Bengal by Shia Muslims (Emile Bayard)
  • A procession of tazias in Barabanki, India
  • Procession of a tazia in Jaipur, India
  • Procession of tazias in New Delhi, India
  • Procession of a tazia in New Delhi, India
  • Tabuiks being lowered into the sea in Pariaman, Indonesia

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Reza Masoudi Nejad (2015). Peter van der Veer (ed.). Handbook of Religion and the Asian City: Aspiration and Urbanization in the Twenty-First Century. University of California Press. pp. 89–105. ISBN 978-0-520-96108-1.
  2. ^ Chelkowski 2005.
  3. ^ Specifically, Trinidad Sentinel 6 August 1857. Also, Original Correspondence of the British Colonial Office in London (C.O. 884/4, Hamilton Report into the Carnival Riots, p.18)
  4. ^ Peasants in the Pacific: a study of Fiji Indian rural society By Adrian C. Mayer
  5. ^ Jihad in Trinidad and Tobago, July 27, 1990 By Daurius Figueira
  6. ^ Korom, Frank J. (2003). Hosay Trinidad: Muharram Performances in an Indo-Caribbean Diaspora. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. ISBN 978-0-8122-3683-5.
  7. ^ Shankar, Guha (2003) Imagining India(ns): Cultural Performances and Diaspora Politics in Jamaica. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Texas, Austin pdf Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Truth and Justice Commission 2011 Report Volume 1" (PDF). Page 174. Government of Mauritius. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2016. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  9. ^ "Yamse festival in Mauritius". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  10. ^ Toorab, Reshad. "Célébration du Yamse : Moidine Lindor, le doyen, perpétue la tradition". Defimedia. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  11. ^ Bachyul Jb, Syofiardi (2006-03-01). "'Tabuik' festival: From a religious event to tourism". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  12. ^ Beyond Hindu and Muslim: Multiple Identity in Narratives from Village India By Peter Gottschalk, Wendy Doniger
  13. ^ Toleration through the ages By Kālīpada Mālākāra
  14. ^ Shabnum Tejani (2008). Indian Secularism: A Social and Intellectual History, 1890-1950. Indiana University Press. pp. 58–61. ISBN 978-0-253-22044-8.
  15. ^ "Shi'a Muslims Mourning Before a Ta'ziya". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2021-11-30.

Sources

  • Chelkowski, Peter J (2005). "From the Sun-Scorched Desert of Iran to the Beaches of Trinidad: Taʿziyeh's Journey from Asia to the Caribbean". TDR. 49 (4). JSTOR 4488691.
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