Muharram mourning tradition in the desert

Imam Hussain was forced to leave Mecca and sought out to Kufa, a city in Iraq from which he had received letters from the people there, inviting him to come and give allegiance to him. Yazid anticipated this and feared a revolution. He dispatched a massive army to prevent Hussain from reaching Kufa and compel him to retreat to the desert village of Karbala. When the army of Yazid arrived at Karbala, Hussain and his companions were encircled by up to 30,000 soldiers.