A Review of the Performance of the Commemoration of the Martyrdom of Shiite Imams during the Rule of Nassir al-Din Shah in Travelogue Books

After the passage of many historical stages, the ritual of commemorating the martyrdom of Shiite Imams took in the Safavid period form and fully developed in the Qajar period. The great efforts made by Qajar kings to perform religious rites had great effect on the development of this ritual so that its quantitative and qualitative development reached its climax in this period. The attention devoted by Nassir al-Din Shah to the performance of this kind of religious ritual was greater than devoted by any other king. The present paper investigates how performing this religious ritual is reflected in travelogue books of this period. Having examined the historical record of the course of development of this form of ritual prior and during the reign of Qajar kings, this paper tries to study the views and attitudes of foreigners who were in Nassir al-Din Shah’s court towards the performance of this ritual, which are reflected in the works they have left.