[4] The uprising began on 27 June 1915,[5] when the Bani Hasan tribe attacked government buildings in Karbala.

[4] The rebel tribesmen, lacking any centralized leadership,[2] burned municipal buildings, government schools, a hospital, and 200 dwellings in the suburbs, most of them belonging to Persians living and trading in the Arab community.

[5] Charles R. H. Tripp notes that although the uprising was anti-Ottoman in a broad sense, it was not in support of the British war effort and instead intended to grant the city higher administrative autonomy.

[6] However, Karbala suffered from a lack of centralized leadership, and was unable to establish contact with the British forces to the south due to tribes still loyal to the Ottoman Empire separating them.

[6] The Ottoman Empire re-established control of Karbala in 1916 following their victory in the Siege of Kut.