Kashmiri Marsiya

The oldest trace of a {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} in Kashmiri language dates to the 15th century CE and comprises a short, loose elegy composed on the death of a Sufi, Nund Rishi (d. 842AH/ 1438CE),{{Cite book |last=Bazaz |first=Abir |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781009118811 |title=Nund Rishi |date=2023-08-05 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-11881-1 |doi=10.1017/9781009118811}} by his women disciple, Sham Bibi (d. 1446).{{Cite book |last=Butalia |first=Urvashi |title=Speaking Peace, Women's Voices from Kashmir |publisher=Zubaan Books |year=2014 |isbn=9789383074709 |location=Delhi}}{{Cite web |date=2019-05-18 |title=Kashmiri Marsiya-Evolution and Transition: The Sustainment of Grief |url=https://kashmirobserver.net/2019/05/18/kashmiri-marsiya-evolution-and-transition-the-sustainment-of-grief/ |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=Kashmir Observer |language=en-US}} The first elegies written in Kashmiri to commemorate Husyan's martyrdom also date from the same period in works composed between the 15th and 16th centuries. These include {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} written by two poets from the Musavi family,The descendants of the seventh Shia imam, Musa al-Kazim (d. 799CE) are known as Musavi Sayyids. Qasim bin Yusuf Din Shah, and his nephew Hakim Din ShahThe postscript written at the end of a {{transliteration|ks|marsiyye}} attributed to Hakim Din Shah mentions: "This lament was written by Hakim Ibn Musa Ibn Yusuf Din Shah during the reign of Badshah". See, Hamdani, Hakim Ghulam Safdar (2009). {{transliteration|ks|Aush ti Aab}} (in Kashmiri) (2nd ed.). Delhi. Skyline Publications. in and around 811- 850 AH (1409-1446CE), during the Shahmiri Sultanate (1339-1561CE).{{Cite web |title=Kashmiri Elegy |url=http://www.aford.org/thehamdanis.org/kashmiri-elegy1.html. |website=thehamdanis.org}} Another work that survives is of Ahmad, a poet who hailed from Ahmadpora, a Shia centre of learning in medieval Kashmir.{{Citation |last1=Hamdani |first1=Hakim Sameer |title=The Art of the Book in Early Modern Kashmir |date=2024-01-11 |work=The Routledge Companion to Global Renaissance Art |pages=300–315 |place=New York |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781003294986-25 |isbn=978-1-003-29498-6 |last2=Qureshi |first2=Mehran|doi-access=free }}

Modern researchers have characterised this period commencing with the rule of Sultan Sikandar (r. 1389-1413 CE) and ending with the demise of the short-lived Shia Chak Sultanate (1561-1586 CE), as the first stage in the development of Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}.{{Cite book |last=Hamdani |first=Hakim Ghulam Safdar |title=Aush ti Aab |publisher=Skyline Publications |year=2009 |edition=2nd |location=Delhi |language=Kashmiri}} Significantly contemporary medieval texts originating from within Kashmiri Shia circles make no mention of Muharram assemblies to commemorate the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, or of traditions linked with the writing of {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} in Kashmiri.These include the tazkira originating within the Nurbakshiyya Sufi order, see, Ali, Mulla Muhammad Ali (2006). Jan, Ghulam Rasul,(transl.). Tuḥfatūl Aḥbāb (in Persian). Srinagar: Jan Publications. This includes both hagiographical works ({{transliteration|ur|tazkira's}}) as well as political histories ({{transliteration|ur|tarikh's}}) of the region authored by Shia writers.{{Cite book |last=Anonymous |title=Baharistan-i-Shahi |publisher=Akshaya Prakashan |year=2021 |edition=2nd |location=Delhi |language=Persian |translator-last=Pandita |translator-first=Kashi Nath |trans-title=Baharistan-i-Shahi (A Chronicle of Mediaeval Kashmir)}}{{Cite book |last=Chadurah |first=Malik Haidar |title=Tarikh-i Kashmir |publisher=Bhavna Prakashan |year=1991 |location=Delhi |language=Persian |translator-last=Bano |translator-first=Razia |trans-title=History of Kashmir by Haider Malik Chadurah}}

Aside from a few anonymous works, the names of the following poets who composed {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} in this period survive:{{Cite book |last=Sajjid |first=Maqbool |title=Kaeshri Marsiyuk Safar: An anthology of Kashmiri Marsiya |publisher=J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages |year=2013 |location=Srinagar |language=Kashmiri}}

The development of the Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} coincides with Mughal (1586-1753 CE) and Afghan rule (1753-1819 CE) in Kashmir.{{Cite book |last=Hamdani |first=Hakim Ghulam Sardar |title=Aush ti Aab |publisher=Skyline Publications |year=2009 |edition=2nd |location=Delhi |language=Kashmiri}} This period saw the consolidation of Persian, both as the court language, as well as the preferred language of the urban elite, completely eclipsing native Kashmiri.{{Cite book |last=Hajini |first=Mohyi-ud Din |title=Muqalat |publisher=Nur Muhammad Roshan Press |year=1967 |location=Srinagar |pages=35}} Many Persian poets who arrived at the Mughal court from Persianate lands, made Kashmir their home, settling down in the capital city, Srinagar.{{Cite book |last=Aslah |first=Hajji Muhammad Aslam Khan |title=Tazkira-i- Shoura-i Kashmir |publisher=Iqbal Academy |year=1983 |location=Lahore |language=Persian}} Some, including two poet laureatesThese include Hajji Jan Muhammad Qudsi, Abu Talib Kalim Kashani, see, Sharma, Sunil (2017). Mughal Arcadia: Persian Literature in an Indian Court. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-98124-9. ( malik-u shoura){{Cite book |last=Kashmiri |first=Mirza Muhammad Ali |title=Tazkira-i Zafran Zar |publisher=Society for the Appreciation of Cultural Works and Dignitaries |year=2009 |editor-last=Barzegar |editor-first=Dr. Karim Najafi |location=Tehran |language=Persian}} at the imperial court are buried in the cemetery of poets (Kashmiri: Mazar-i Shoura or Mazar-e-Shura) located on the foothills of Takht-i Suleiman, Srinagar.{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Sunil |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvgd336 |title=Mughal Arcadia |date=2017-11-27 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-98124-9 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvgd336}} With the official promotion of Persian, the vernacular Kashmiri went through a period of steady decline. This is also witnessed in the {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} written during this time. Ahmadpora in North Kashmir served as a major nucleus for {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} writing during this period, with many sayyids from the RizviRizvi Sayyids trace their descent to the eighth Shia imam, Ali al-Rida (or Reza). The descendants of the tenth imam, Ali al-Naqi are also referred to as Rizvi (or Naqvi Sayyids). family following this tradition.{{Cite book |last=Hashemi |first=Manzoor |title=Ḥusayniyāt |publisher=Self published |year=1996 |location=Srinagar |language=Kashmiri}} Some of the prominent poets who composed {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} during this time include:

The beginning of the nineteenth century CE marked the revival of the Kashmiri language, though Persian continued as a court language till 1889 CE. During the late eighteenth century through the nineteenth century CE, a new form of writing {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} in Kashmiri emerged, signifying a major evolutionary phase in this literary genre. Literary critics refer to this period as the age of classical {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} writing or {{Transliteration|ks|muqam bandh marsiya}} ({{lang|ks|مقام بند مرثیہ}}). The {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} that emerged during this period is structured around four fixed stations known as {{Transliteration|ks|muqam}}, which define the thematic content. Each {{Transliteration|ks|muqam}}, in turn, completes a stanza—{{Transliteration|ks|chyir}} ( {{lang|ks|چھیر}})with a parallel internal structure.

Two writers from North Kashmir are credited with this innovation: Qazi Ahmad Ali (d. 1800 approx.) and Khwaja Hasan Mir (d. 1826 CE). Qazi Ahmad Ali, originally a Sunni from Varmul (Baramulla), converted to Shi’ism and formalized the {{Transliteration|ks|muqam}}s within the {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}.{{Cite book |last=Hamdani |first=Hakim Sameer |title=Shi'ism in Kashmir: A History of Sunni-Shia Rivalry and Reconciliation |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2023 |isbn=9780755643950 |location=London}} He was a senior contemporary of Khwaja Husayn Mir,{{Cite book |last=Kalim |first=Qasim |title=Kuliyat-i Khawja Ḥasan Mir |publisher=Imam Hussein Research & Publishing Centre |year=2001 |location=Srinagar |language=Kashmiri}} a cultivator residing in the village of Habak. Husayn Mir, popularly known as Hussi Boii ({{lang|ks|حُسی بوئ}}), significantly popularized the new form of {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} among the urban elite of Srinagar. He also made innovations to the internal structure of the {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}. Additionally, he introduced the poets of the Mulla family in Srinagar,{{Cite book |last=Sajjid |first=Maqbool |title=Kuliyat-i Hakim Azim wa Munshi Muhammad Yusuf |publisher=Imam Hussein Research & Publishing Centre |year=2000 |location=Srinagar |language=Kashmiri}} who were accustomed to composing in Persian, to this new form of Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}. Over the next two generations, the Mulla family produced successive {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} writers.

The earliest composers of Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} in the Mulla family include Mulla Hakim Muhammad Azim(1803-1852CE), Mulla Munshi Muhammad Yusuf(1798-1885 CE) and Mulla Munshi Shah Muhammad (d. 1850 approx.).Also see, Baqir, Sayyid Muhammad (late 19th century). Risala Saif al Saram (in Persian). Lahore. Hakim Azim and Munshi Yusuf played pivotal roles in enhancing the poetic beauty of {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}, transcending the constraints of its elegiac form. In an epistle written to Khan Bahadur Sayyid Rajib Ali Khan (d. 1869), Azim highlights how he envisaged Marsiya as a symbol of Shia identity, and also his own role in reshaping the literary contours of this genre:

Having sent that for such a long time at an adverse fate, I necessarily intended to bring out the shinning pearls of its sad contents, which I had spun together in new ways, and arrange it on the lines of a Kashmiri Marsiya.

According to Hakim Ghulam Safdar Hamdani, Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} evolved from a native tradition used to mourn the death of a family member, known as {{Transliteration|ks|vān}} ({{lang|ks|وان}}). Expressed in the vernacular, {{Transliteration|ks|vān}} in its original form does not assume a poetic structure, nor does it seem to have been consigned to text.{{Cite book |last=Ansari |first=Shaukat |title=Kashiren Marssiyen Hund Intikhab |publisher=Sahitiya Academy |year=2015 |isbn=978-81-260-4855-7 |location=Delhi |language=Kashmiri}} This is a view generally held by most writers who have looked into the evolution of {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}. The arrival of Muslim preachers in Kashmir during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries resulted in the gradual introduction of practices and traditions prevalent in the Islamic world into Kashmiri society, including that of {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}. A surviving {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} from this period starts with a verse in Persian followed by its translation in Kashmiri in the same meter.

In its classical form, the {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} is divided into four thematic sections: {{Transliteration|ks|hamd}} ({{lang|ks|حمد}}), {{Transliteration|ks|na’at}} ({{lang|ks|نعت}}), {{Transliteration|ks|madah}} or {{Transliteration|ks|maqabat}} ({{lang|ks|منقبت}}), and {{Transliteration|ks|dard}} ({{lang|ks|درد}}).{{Cite journal |last=Kalim |first=Qasim |title=Kashir Kilasaqi Marsiye: Ahang ti Arouz' |journal=Sheeraza |location=Srinagar |publisher=J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages |publication-date=2019 |volume=56 |issue=3–4 |pages=85–104}} Sometimes, a {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} may also include a small section of supplications (dua), but this is very rare. The elegiac content is limited to the last section, {{Transliteration|ks|dard}}. While hamd and na’at are based on a single {{Transliteration|ks|chyir}} (stanza), madah sometimes includes multiple {{Transliteration|ks|chyir}}. The dard section of the {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} comprises twelve to fourteen {{Transliteration|ks|chyir}}, though this can sometimes extend up to nineteen. Each {{Transliteration|ks|chyir}} is further divided into verses of varying length, based on the nature of sound: ascending or descending in which they are recited. This recital quality of the verse also defines its metrical pattern, {{Transliteration|ks|wazn}} (Kashmiri: {{lang|ks|وزن}} ). Based on the {{Transliteration|ks|wazn}}, verses in each {{Transliteration|ks|chyir}} are classified as {{Transliteration|ks|barkhast}}, {{Transliteration|ks|dounbala}}, {{Transliteration|ks|gat}}, {{Transliteration|ks|kreikh}}, {{Transliteration|ks|puot-gat}} and {{Transliteration|ks|nishast}}. Each component retains a different qafiya (rhyming pattern) and radif (refrain word) which gets repeated in subsequent {{Transliteration|ks|chyir}}.

Unlike {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} in Arabic, Persian or Urdu,  the classical Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} is nearer to the tradition of masnavi, with each {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} composed under a specific title (Kashmiri: {{Transliteration|ks|unwan}}). The title of a {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}, dictates the writer's choice and selection of words, phrases, metaphors, and other literary devices. Similarly, much like in Persian masnavi, the initial section of a Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} includes introductory and body paragraphs ({{Transliteration|ks|chyir}}) in praise of Allah ({{Transliteration|ks|hamd}}), in praise of Prophet Muhammad ({{Transliteration|ks|na’at}}), his family the Ahl-i Bayt ({{Transliteration|ks|madah}}) before proceeding to the elegiac section ({{Transliteration|ks|dard}}). In his {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} with the title '{{Transliteration|ks|Dar}}' (The Door), Hakim Azim starts by invoking Allah in these verse:

Yā Allāh Humēsha soun dāb jurm-o khatā

Choun bāb jūd-o 'atā

(transl.) O Lord! Our ways are of incessant crimes and transgressions

Yet we arrive at your threshold, of generosity and benevolence

A {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} is composed keeping in consideration the title ({{Transliteration|ks|unwan}}), which is adopted for it. The unwan serves as the framed plot for the {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} which is then elaborated in the various thematic sections of the work. Some major titles under which {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} have been composed include:

The grammatical structure of Kashmiri language; the heavy dependence on idiomatic expressions and the contextual nuances with multiple layers of meaning that form the essence of a successful Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} are invariably lost in attempts at translation even in languages such as Urdu. Still, there have been attempts with limited success at translation in Urdu, starting with the 1960s and 1970s.The first translations undertaken in Urdu include those by Hakim Ghulam Safdar and Munshi Muhammad Sadiq. An English translation of the {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}, {{transliteration|fa|Kitab}} (The Book),{{transliteration|fa|Kitab}} was composed by Mulla Hakim Azim in 1253AH/ 1837 CE. See,Sajjid, Maqbool (2000). Kuliyat-i Hakim Azim wa Munshi Muhammad Yusuf (in Kashmiri). Srinagar: Imam Hussein Research & Publishing Centre. p.22. seeks to capture the spirit of some of the main verses:

{{transliteration|fa|Kitab}} (The Book)

{{Transliteration|ks|hamd}}File:Biyaz compiled in Calcutta, 1283AH- 1866CE.pngLord! Bestow thy grace that I may pen thy book of eulogy.

Accept my offering of {{transliteration|fa|shukur}}, so I may commence my learning.

And, the light of thy essence may dawn in the gloom of my ignorance,

so that I may remember anew that eternal pledge of allegiance.

Men learned listening of thy attributes fall into veils of despair.

Oh! That one may grasp but an atom of thy creation, thy purpose.

Even the Prophet, that eloquent tongue, read {{transliteration|ar|la ohsee}} there instead.

What disrespect then, that tongue-tied I, may extol thy creation.

The universe itself is a whirl teaching thy essence.

The moon outshining the stars in perpetual motion-lighting thy creation: teaching.

And yet men at the nadir of life glaze at that page of enlightenment: first and still unread.

{{Transliteration|ks|na’at}}

The page of thy messengers was sealed, when for his last message,

the Lord from the seminary of creation choose Muhammed, The Seal of Prophets.

to correct, to complete his teachings.

Angels and spirits salute:

“Praise the teacher who made the sun re-read its course, split the moon, a sign to learned men.

The un-lettered who opened the pages of God’s testament.

All learners, aspirers cried, no knowledge that knows not he”.File:Late 19th century manuscript.pngWhat can I then extol his grace whose eulogy is in the Quran itself.

He for whose sake, Ibrahim, Adam nay, the universe itself

was created from the uncreated self!

{{Transliteration|ks|manqabat}}

In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate.

Lo! I praise Ali, the door of all knowledge, all essence.

The one who cleaved, truth from untruth.

The Spirit of Islam, keeper of the Prophet’s Garden, his helper.

Verily, they are the two who from the Lord received knowledge in its essence.

If all the leaves and flowers were penned in his praise

still would remain un-written, unread, his nobility, his grace.

For the Prophet and Gabriel praised him as the Lord had praised himself.

He was the speaking Quran raised on the Prophet’s shoulder.

Whose pulpit was out of the grasp of the sky and heaven.

What then, can I say of that martyr?

Come let us raise the cry of salutations, heavens are his who but pens a line in his praise.

{{Transliteration|ks|dard}}

Oh! What calamity, what times? What befell the Imam?

Look how the Kufi’s, bookless, repaid the Prophet for his teachings.

How they honour him? How they respect his sanctity?

Look how the heads of his children’s

Are raised on lances; offerings of Shumr to Yazid.

With the Quran around his neck Husayn had approached Ibn Saad at Karbala.

“Oh, tyrant! I am the sage ever ready for the death,

but know you not, that Quran was revealed to us.

Surely the world knows of it or have you not read the Sura Muhammed?

My Grandfather had preached in his sermons time and time again

Oh! Muslims I leave but two gifts with you, the Book and my Family

maintain their sanctity always for they represent me.

Lo! Today you are forsaking the Prophet’s teaching,

how then will you face him tomorrow in {{Transliteration|ks|mehshar}}?

Lo! But which religion asks of you to kill me?

From which book of the law do you issue my death warrant”.

Alas! What had fate written for Zainab?

To re-live, re-read, recite the woes of Muharram!

Alas! her night, her days spent in anguish, in fear, in lament!

When the day would dawn in the dark dungeon

she would remember anew her nephews, her lost children,

and cry:

“Wake! The time for lessons has come it honors you nought to dwell in slumber.

The teacher is in waiting, go and pay your salutations,

Or, if with Grandfather you are studying, tell him then of Umar-i Saad

his tyranny, his acts of terror.

Alas! What fate? What destiny? I am left to lament, my family; my burden,

my arms tied; my back broken.

Oh! but that I could see,

Ali Akbar opening his book, Asghar; stammering in his lessons.

Alas! The Prophet’s progeny rendered desolate.

Alas! Eighteen brothers of Zainab, slaughtered under the sword.{{Cite journal |last=Hamdani |first=Hakim Sameer |title=Kashmiri Marsiya |journal=Harmukh}}

So far around five hundred {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} written during the nineteenth century have been collected and published. These have been mapped from manuscripts, known as {{transliteration|fa|biyaz}},{{Cite journal |last=nazir |first=tawfeeq |date=2015-08-06 |title=KASHMIRI MARSIYA (ELEGY) MANUSCRIPTS: THE VALUABLE SOURCES FOR THE DISSEMINATION, RECONSTRUCTION AND SAFEGUARDING THE HISTORY AND CULTURE-III |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1247/. |journal=Library Philosophy and Practice (E-journal)}} which have been copied in not only Kashmir but also in major cities of colonial India, including Amritsar, Lucknow, Faizabad, Calcutta and in far-off Kabul (Afghanistan). According to Shafi Shauq, Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} literature is the oldest genre within Kashmiri literature that has been consigned to a preserved written form:

[...] Within Kashmiri language, {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}'s are the first with a written literature.Shauq, Shafi and Munwar, Najji (2018). Kashir Zuban ti Adabuk Twarikh (in Kashmiri). Srinagar: Ali Muhammad & Sons. p. 91. ISBN 978-81-921925-7-4

File:Marak_Imambada,_Zadibal,_Srinagar.jpg

{{transliteration|fa|Marsiya}} in Kashmir manifests as public performances, primarily recited during mourning assemblies [Kashmiri: majlis ] held within an imambada. After composing a {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}, the {{transliteration|ks|musanif}} hands it over to the {{transliteration|ks|zakir}}, whose responsibility is to recite it in the public. Historically, the {{transliteration|ks|musanif}} refrains from reciting his work, this is the role of the {{transliteration|ks|zakir}}. The role of a {{transliteration|ks|zakir}} is hereditary,Prominent zakir families in Kashmir who continue to practice the art include: the Fakir family (Budibog), Khwaja family (Gund Khwaja Qasim), Malik family (Tangmarg), Rather family (Hanjjiyar), Sufi family (Magam), and various branches of the Sayyid family. See, Sajjid, Maqbool (2013). Kashir Marthiauk Safar: An anthology of Kashmiri Marsiya (in Kashmiri).Srinagar: J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. p. 155. with the right to recite any assigned {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} being passed down from father to son.

Within the imambada, both men and women collectively recite the {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}}. Typically, the imambada is a two-story space, with women occupying the upper floor, physically and visually separated from the men by latticework screens or curtains.{{Cite book |last=Hamdani |first=Hakim Sameer |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003096528 |title=The Syncretic Traditions of Islamic Religious Architecture of Kashmir (Early 14th–18th Century) |date=2021-02-17 |publisher=Routledge India |isbn=978-1-003-09652-8 |doi=10.4324/9781003096528}} This follows the Muslim practice of women's seclusion (purdah), which is rigorously followed in a {{transliteration|fa|majlis}}. The primary reciter, known as a {{transliteration|ks|zakir}}, receives assistance from a group of 7 or 12 men sitting in a circle called the {{Transliteration|ks|daireh}}. These men are referred to as {{Transliteration|ks|paskhwan}}s.

The congregation forms multiple concentric circles, radiating outward from the daireh, with the {{transliteration|ks|zakir}} moving from one end of the congregation to another. The same practice is followed in {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} performed at homes. A jug of water and soil of Karbala (Kashmiri: khak, or khak-i shifa) is kept in the middle of the {{Transliteration|ks|daireh}} on a cloth spread.{{Cite web |title=Arba'een - A Walk of Faith |url=https://brighterkashmir.com/arbaeen---a-walk-of-faith |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=Brighter Kashmir}}{{Cite web |last=Bharat |first=E. T. V. |date=2020-08-29 |title=Kashmiri Noha writer gears up despite pandemic |url=https://www.etvbharat.com/english/bharat/bharat-news/despite-pandemic-kashmiri-noha-writer-gear-up/na20200829145312877 |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=ETV Bharat News |language=en}} One of the earliest descriptions of the performance of a Kashmiri {{transliteration|fa|marsiya}} is recorded in Sughra Humayun Mirza's travelogue about Kashmir in 1928.The travelogue was written by a Muslim woman from Hyderabad who also worked for India's freedom and greater women's emancipation, see, Mirza, Sughra Humayun (1930). Rahbar-i Kashmir (in Urdu).Hyderabad: Azam Press. The travelogue describes the performance in the main imambada of Srinagar, Marak,The first imambada built in Kashmir at Zadibal, Srinagar is known in the vernacular as Marak. For details, see, Hamdani, Hakim Sameer (2015). "The Maarak and the Traditions of Imamabadas in Kashmir" Marg (September–December). Mumbai. in these words:

In Srinagar there is a moḥala Zadibal where many Muslims live, and there are many Shiʿi in this moḥala. The majlis happens here. Sayyid Shāh Jalālī is a big jāgirdār and zamindār and the father-in-law ^[i] of his son is trader of pearls [. . .]. All of us went to Jalālī Ṣahibs place [. . .]. After lunch we went to the imāmbāda which is near his house. The majlis starts at six in the morning and continues till six in the evening. The majlis is read in the Kashmiri language and the imāmbāda is very large. There are buildings on all four sides, in the middle there is a lower ceiling supported on thirty-five columns, under which the majlis takes place [. . .]. The buildings on the four sides are two storied, the upper floor is in wood and has delicate wooden jālīs (screens). It is here (behind the jālīs) that women sit and listen to the majlis. The lower and the central floor is used by men. From morning till evening whoever desires, may come and be a part of the majlis. When men enter the majlis they remove their coats and turbans. All the men in the congregations were bareheaded. The marṣiya khwanī adopted here is distinct from that in the entire world [. . .]. In the end, Moulvi Imdād ʿAli Ṣahib of Lahore did marṣiya khwanī (recitation of elegies commemorating Ḥusayn b. Ali’s martyrdom). He stood up and said that today, I will recite a marṣiya in Urdu, because Sayyid Hemayun Mīrzā Ṣahib who has arrived in Kashmir from Hyderabad is present with us in majlis.{{Cite book |last=Hamdani |first=Hakim Sameer |title=Shi'ism in Kashmir: A History of Sunni-Shia Rivalry and Reconciliation |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2023 |isbn=9780755643950 |location=London |pages=11–12}}

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Category:Kashmiri language

Category:Kashmiri literature

Category:Shia Islam