The Battle of Karbala took place on October 10, 680 (Muharram 10, AH 61). In this brief military engagement, al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, grandson of Prophet Muhammad and son of the first Shiʿi imam ʿAlī, and his small party were defeated and massacred by the army of the Umayyad caliph Yazīd I.
The battle helped the Umayyad dynasty consolidate its power. For Shiʿi Muslims, Muharram 10 (Ashura) became an annual holy day of public mourning. The tomb of Ḥusayn in Karbala is a very holy site for the Shiʿah.