ABSTRACT
The annual Muḥarram rite, with its glamour and fervent emotionality, has attracted a number of communities outside the Shī`ī fold. Amongst them are the Mohyāls, an agricultural caste hailing from the Salt Range region of northern Punjab (Pakistan). The seven clans of this literate group have, at various times, embraced Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim faiths, and alleged key roles in military conflicts spanning several thousand years of world history. Punjab’s traditional ballads (kabit) were employed to disseminate these mostly fanciful claims; one of the tales was later picked up and retold by Mīrzā Qatīl in the early nineteenth century. It concerned the so-called ‘Ḥusaynī Brāhmaṇs,’ who were supposed to have fought beside the doomed Imām at Karbala. This chapter explores the uses of inspired mythmaking, the special appeal of Muḥarram rituals to groups that preferred to hedge their identities in turbulent times, and the ebb and flow of the festival’s effectiveness in furthering twentieth-century political aspirations.
