340 A HISTORY OF PERSIA. restriction, however, was, after a time, removed, and I read of a body of several thousand Persians preparing to return to their native land. The beginning of the year 1843 was signalized by an occurrence, which was, of all things that could have happened, the most likely to bring to an abrupt ter- mination the negotiations that were being carried on between Persia and Turkey, and to rouse to instant action the warlike tendencies of the Shah. The Pasha of Baghdad thought proper to march with a military force against the holy city of Kerbela in Arabia. A breach of forty yards' length was made in the walls, and the place was carried by storm. The fighting went on in the streets for some hours, until the tomb of Abbass was taken, and eight hundred persons, who had sought refuge within it, massacred. All resistance then ceased, and the Turkish soldiers, furious at the opposition they had encountered, lost for the time all regard to dis- cipline, and massacred every one they met, without dis- tinction of sex or age. The loss of life was estimated by the survivors at from fifteen to eighteen thousand souls ; but this calculation was probably very greatly in exaggeration of the truth. The motive for this attack was the fact that for many years Kerbela had, for practical purposes, almost entirely rejected the authority of the Pasha of Baghdad. A large number of outlaws had sought safety in the neighbourhood of the Shrines, and had usurped authority over the district; the Pasha of Baghdad was therefore justified in enforcing his power over the unruly city. It is asserted that he gave warning to the Persians within it to retire before the assault ; if this were so, and they neglected his advice, they
