Piety and Politics in Qajar Iran

The Takkiyya Mu''avin al-Mulk is a building complex in the city of Kermanshah in western Iran, dedicated to the annual commemoration of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn ''Ali at the Battle of Karbala in 680, an event of seminal significance to Shi''i Islam. Private takkiyyas built by social elites were a phenomenon of the Qajar period, with their construction motivated by a political quest for legitim...