In the second half of the nineteenth century, in 1843 exactly, Birzin had entered Iraq from Basra, to which he arrived in July 1843 AD.
His visit to Karbala is of great importance because it came after the military campaign led by Najeeb Pasha against this holy city, which was started in the early of 1843 AD / 1258 Hijri, and was described as "brutal" and "bloody" in order to eliminate the Karbala uprising against Turkish authorities.
Berzin mentioned in his writings about the civilized side of city as: "The city of Karbala is equal in area, our cities, as for the population here, it is much more than we have because the streets in the eastern countries are much narrower than our alleys, the houses are often built closely with one another, and there are no squares in every corner of the city".
Source
Karbala's Civilizational Encyclopedia, Historical Axis [Vol. 1, p. 179-184].
