ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Imam Hasan and Caliphate Historical Background of Kufa In Shi'ite history, Kufa has had a central position. From the time of the caliphate of Hazrat ‘Ali (as) to the revolutionary period of Imam Husayn (as) and further till the steadfast and firm stand taken by Hazrat Mukhtar, many important incidents took place there. One of the most important of these was the peace treaty of Imam Hasan (as).

It would be appropriate to give a brief description of the historical background of Kufa before the peace treaty of Imam Hasan (as), so that the conditions through which the residents of Kufa were passing or had faced earlier, would become clear. Kufa was founded in 17 A.H. when the Muslim army had achieved success in the Qadsiya wars and the 2nd Caliph had asked S’ad b. Abi Waqas, the commander of the Muslim army to stay on in Iraq.

This way he could advance towards Persia after strengthening the Muslim army. However, the Muslims soldiers were on the lookout for a site which may, apart from being a suitable place for the army, offer a good climate and have suitable living conditions.

After a two year search, a location on the western side of the river Euphrates was selected as the army garrison, where Muslim soldiers could come from other cities to stay, and after getting due training, plan for an attack on the then great Persian kingdom. In the beginning Kufa had a population of 24,000, of which twelve thousand were from southern Arabia (Yemen) while eight thousand were from northern Arabia (Nazaar).

Apart from these, there were four thousand Persian prisoners of war or slaves who had been arrested during Qadsiya battles and had converted to Islam. Initially, Kufa was inhabited by those persons who had come to fight in the Qadsiya wars, but later, Muslims migrated to the city from other cities. After the decline of the great Iranian kingdom, a large number of Iranians had also settled there. These were in addition to those whom the Muslims had brought as their slaves or maids.

By the time of the caliphate of Hazrat ‘Ali (as), a new generation from the maids had grown up. Apart from the Muslims, a sizable number of Christians from Najran had also settled there. It is said that at the time of the caliphate of Hazrat ‘Ali (as) there were forty thousand Muslim soldiers, and Kufa and its population has been estimated at about one hundred thousand inhabitants.