The word marsiya is derived from the Arabic word marthiyya, meaning a great tragedy or lamentation for a departed soul.  The marsiya is a poem mostly written to commemorate the martyrdom of Husayn Ibn Ali (p), grandson of the Holy Prophet (p) in the battle of Karbala which took place in 680 CE.

According to Persian scholar Wheeler Thackston (an American Orientalist who edited numerous Chaghatai, Arabic, and Persian literary and historical works) the genre of marsiya "was particularly cultivated by the Safavids."  Various Persian authors wrote texts retelling the battle of Karbala including Sa'id al-Din's Rawdat al-Islam (The Garden of Islam) and Al-Khawarazmi's Maqtal nur 'al-'a'emmah (The Site of the Murder of the Light of the Imams). These influenced the composition of the more popular text Rawdat al-Shuhada (Garden of Martyrs), which was written in 1502 by Husain Wa'iz Kashefi, which composition was an effective factor in the development of rawda khwani, a ritual recounting of the battle events in at religious gatherings. Other well-known Persian poets of the genre include Muhtasham Kahshani and Samet Borujerdi. 

Inspired by Rawdat al-Shuhada, the Azerbaijani poet Fuzuli wrote an abridged and simplified version of it in Ottoman Turkish in his work Hadiqat al-Su'ada.  The Ottoman Turkish poet Mahmud Abdulbaki who is considered one of the greatest contributors to Turkish and Azerbaijani literature also composed marsiya. The Turkish marsiya influenced similar works in Albanian on the subject.  Dalip Frasheri’s Kopshti i te Mirevet is the earliest, and longest marsiya so far written in the Albanian language.  Frasheri’s work describes the Battle of Karbala in detail and eulogizes those who fell as martyrs, in particular Husayn ibn Ali (p).  

Urdu marsiya also concentrates on lamenting the Battle of Karbala.  South Indian rulers of Bijapur (Ali Adil Shah) and the Hyderabad/Golkonda Sultanate (Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah) were patrons of poetry and encouraged Urdu marsiya recitation in Muharram. Urdu marsiya afterwards became popular throughout India championed by Mir Babar Ali Anees, Mirza Salamat Ali Dabeer, Mir Taqi Mir, and others including Ali Haider Tabatabai, Najm Afandi, Josh Malihabadi, Mir Baqer Amanath Khani, and Chhannu Lal Dilgeer. 

The maraasee (plural for marsiya) written by Mir Babar Ali Anees and Mirza Salamat Ali Dabeer far exceed the forty or fifty stanzas typically used in the genre, pushing the limit to one hundred to two hundred stanzas.  Drawing upon the vocabulary of Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hindi, and Awadhi languages, the Urdu marsiya has become an essential element of Muharram commemorations in India and Pakistan.