Effects of the Husayni Rituals in the Realm of Social Power in the Qajar Period

Husayni rituals played significant roles in the Qajar period. These effects were noticeable on two levels: socio-political and individual. Although they exerted various pressures on various classes of people, they never unified their religious manifestations in a way that it might be intended by the Qajar rulers. Yet, the end of the Qajar period was coterminous with the Constitutional movement and the Persians' encounter with the West. Albeit such barriers and the then widespread irreligiosity, the main body of the Persian community never left religious rituals, particularly those that pertain to Imam al-Husayn.