Introduction: The Shi'a in South Asia

The Shi'i communities of South Asia, roughly 60 million people, represent, after those of Iran, the second largest grouping of Shi'as in the Muslim world. Until recently our knowledge of them has not matched their numbers. Indeed, they, and here I refer to the Twelver Shi'as rather than the Isma'ilis, have suffered from the paradox of being both highly visible but in scholarly terms largely invisible. Where the Shi'a live in South Asian towns and cities, arguably, no community has been more visible or more audible: visible because of their great processions at Muharram; and audible, certainly at Muharram, but also throughout the year in their majalis, as they recount the events of Karbala, often transmitting them by loudspeaker to the muhalla. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]