Shahrbānū, or Shahr Banu (Persian, شهربانو, meaning “Lady of the Land”), is a personage said to have been one of the daughters of Yazdegerd III, the last Emperor of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia/Iran. Shahrbānū was one of the wives of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and third Shī`a Imām, and the mother of Ali ibn Husayn, the fourth Shī`a Imām. According to Shī`a belief, Shahrbānū died shortly after giving birth to her son Ali ibn Husayn, and was thus not present at Karbalā. But according to legend, Shahrbānū was present at Karbalā. The legend tells that as the battle drew near, Husayn sat Shahrbānū on his famous white steed, Dhul Janāh, and bid her to return to her homeland in Persia. Husayn was quoted to have said, “You are a princess and not one of us, nor is this your war.” Riding the light-footed steed, Shahrbānū was carried to the heart of Persia and the city of Rayy. There the enemy caught up with her, as she ran into a sheer cliff of a mountain. At this point, the legend maintains that the mountain cracked open and swallowed her and the steed up into itself. Thus her shrine is found where it is today. However it can be certain that this is only a legend, as Husayn was riding on Dhul Janāh till the very last moments before his death in the Battle of Karbalā. (Wikipedia)
