KERBELA, or MESHEED HOSSEIN, a large and populous city of Asiatic Turkey, pashalic of Bagdad, and 60 miles S.W. of the town of that name. It is surrounded by a wall upwards of 2 miles in circumference, is entered by five gates, and has a well-supplied bazaar, and several caravansaries. The chief ornaments of the city, however, are the tomb of Hossein, adorned with a lofty gilded cupola, and a magnificent mosque. Its ancient name was Vologesia; but it was an inconsiderable place till Hossein, the son of Ali by Fatima, the daughter of the prophet, was interred here, having been slain in the vicinity, when it became a great resort of pilgrims. An ancient canal connects this town with the Euphrates.