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                               Les Parsis

                                   By

                               D. Menant

                           Translated in part

                              By the late

                      Miss Ratanbai Ardeshir Vakil



                                 London

                    Printed for private circulation

                                  1902







CONTENTS


                                                        Page

              Introduction                                ix
    Chapter
          I.  The Exodus of the Parsis                     1
         II.  The Zoroastrians in Persia                  38
        III.  Population--Costumes--Usages--Festivals     77







INTRODUCTION


A special interest attaches to this translation into English of
D. Menant's monograph entitled "Les Parsis," arising from the
circumstance that it is, in great part, the work of a Parsi lady,
the late Miss Ratanbai Ardeshir Vakil.

I have still a vivid recollection of the morning in the beginning of
the year 1886 on which Mr. Ardeshir F. Vakil, senior partner in one of
the leading firms of solicitors in Bombay, brought his two daughters
Meherbai and Ratanbai to the Wilson College to begin their career
as students of the Bombay University. Although for many years that
University had prefaced its Regulations with the sentence--"In the
following regulations the pronoun 'he' and its derivatives are used
to denote either sex," and had thus opened its doors wide to the women
of India, only one lady student had been enrolled as undergraduate in
Arts before these two sisters entered upon their College career. The
experiment which was then made awakened some anxieties. Would it be
possible for Indian ladies to study in a mixed College class? How would
the men be likely to conduct themselves in the new situation?--these
were questions which naturally presented themselves. The result of
the experiment disappointed from the beginning all such fears. From
the first day the presence of these ladies elevated the tone and
discipline of the College class in a manner most creditable to the
ladies and to the men. The success of this experiment paved the way
for the admission during subsequent years of an increasing number of
lady students to the privileges of a University education, who are
under no small obligation to the courage and character displayed by
these two sister pioneers. They both came to the University under the
impulse of a real love of learning, and their success in the pursuit
of it was assured from the beginning.

In this prefatory note I confine myself to the career of the younger
sister. The elder, after her graduation as Bachelor of Arts in Bombay,
entered upon a course of medical study which led her ultimately to
London and Glasgow. From the Glasgow University she received the
degrees of M.B., C.M., and is now exercising her profession in her
native city.

The younger sister, Ratanbai, never left home. The strength of her
attachment to her home in Bombay was quite remarkable. She found
little enjoyment even in those temporary absences from Bombay during
the hot season vacation which prove so attractive to many. Her life
moved in two spheres--the College and her home, and these two sufficed.

Born in December, 1869, she was a girl of sixteen when she entered upon
her studies for her degree. She passed through the ordinary curriculum
of study, which included English and French Literature, Mathematics,
Elementary Science, History, and Logic. The subjects in which she was
specially interested were English and French Literature. French was
recognised by the University as one of the languages which might be
studied in the course for the degree of Bachelor of Arts when she
entered upon her studies, and she was one of the first to select
this language. She had as her instructor the late Signor Pedraza,
a gentleman whose name will always be associated with the history of
the progress of French studies in Western India. Under his competent
guidance she acquired a great love for French literature, and found
in this side of her studies much mental enjoyment. In 1890 she passed
her examination for the degree with honours, and was immediately
thereafter elected to a Fellowship in the College. This also was a
new and interesting experiment, amply justified by its results.

As a Dakshina Fellow she taught the French classes in the College,
and had as her pupils not only young ladies but also young men. When
the period of her fellowship expired she continued her connection
with the College and remained in charge of the French classes,
performing a highly-valued service on the merely nominal salary of
a Fellow of an Indian College. She maintained her connection with
the College simply from love to the College and the work. During her
College career both she and her sister had given evidence of their
unselfishness by declining, on more than one occasion, scholarships
to which their position in the University examinations would have
entitled them, in order that poorer students less high in the lists
might have the benefit of the aid and rewards which they were willing
to forego. Ratanbai showed the same spirit of generosity during all the
years of her connection with the College, and every student movement
that needed financial aid could always reckon on her liberal help. In
the truest sense her work in the Wilson College was a labour of love.

She continued this work up to the time of that last sad illness
which ended so rapidly in her lamented death. So quickly did she
succumb that I knew of her serious illness only a few hours before
she passed away. I shall not readily forget the grief of her home
when the shadow of death was falling upon it, nor the gloom which
entered when she passed out of it. It was indeed as if all its light
and joy had perished. One could see how the education and culture
of women, instead of creating a cleft in the life of the family,
as is so often erroneously imagined by those who oppose the cause of
female education in India, proves a means of strengthening its unity
and elevating its whole character.

In this respect Ratanbai was exercising an influence greater than
she knew on the prospects of education amongst her countrywomen, by
disarming all such suspicions and by proving in her own person the
essential compatibility of the higher culture with the best domestic
virtues. She never felt tempted by her love of books to neglect her
duties as a daughter and a sister in the home, or, if she did, she
overcame the temptation completely.

Her influence on College students was of the same quiet, unobtrusive
character, and, for that reason, all the more real. When she died, the
students of the College felt themselves bereaved of a true friend. A
spontaneous movement on their part to found a memorial of her in the
College awakened a general response, and the Ratanbai Collection of
French Works placed in the College Library was the result.

Through the efforts of friends outside the College who admired her
character and attainments, a scholarship fund was raised in her memory,
and the College awards every year scholarships to women students on
this foundation.

During a brief career she was enabled to illustrate by a singularly
modest and unassuming life the power and the lasting influence of
unselfish service. The truest mark of her unselfishness was her own
unconsciousness of it; by look and manner she seemed continually
to deprecate all commendation or praise. Unselfish devotion to duty
in the two spheres of life to which she belonged, her home and her
College, was the outstanding feature of the brief but happy career
which closed so suddenly when Ratanbai passed away in 1895, at the
early age of twenty-six; and because of this her memory remains.

The unfinished manuscript now completed and published will be welcomed
by many who knew and esteemed the writer, as well as by all in whom
the perusal of this volume awakens an interest in the ancient race
to which she belonged.


D. Mackichan.

Wilson College, Bombay,

May, 1902.







THE PARSIS



CHAPTER I

THE EXODUS OF THE PARSIS


The Parsis are the descendants of the ancient Persians, whose fame has
survived in the annals of the world. Reduced henceforth to perhaps
the most restricted minority amongst all the nations of the globe,
they are found dispersed all over the Presidency of Bombay, and in some
districts of modern Persia, in Yezd and in Kirman, where they have been
vegetating for centuries. The Bible, [1] the classical historians,
[2] national traditions, [3] and epigraphical documents recently
brought to light by European savants [4] give us some information
concerning their history.

Fars represents in our days the little province of Parsua, which has
given its name to one of the greatest civilisations of antiquity. It
is bounded on the west by Susiana, on the north and on the east
by the Deserts of Khavir and Kirman, with a coast-line along the
Persian Gulf between Bushire and Bunder Abbas. In ancient times the
inhabitants, divided into tribes, led a simple, rustic life, superior
in all respects to their neighbours the Medes, already enervated by
civilisation. Between the ages of five and twenty, says Herodotus,
the young Persians are taught three things: to mount the horse, to
stretch the bow, and to speak the truth (Her., Clio, cxxxi.). It was
amongst them, and amongst the Bactrians, that the principles of the
Zoroastrian religion had been maintained in all their purity.

With Cyrus, the descendant of Achaemenes, the real history of Persia
begins. He founded the dynasty of the Achaemenides, which lasted for
two centuries, and attained by its conquests a degree of splendour
of which we find unmistakable traces everywhere. It was at Arbela [5]
(331) that Alexander overthrew Darius, the last prince of this dynasty,
and, on his death, Persia was numbered amongst the countries that had
passed under the subjection of the Seleucidae. In 225 B.C., Arsace,
of the province of Parthia, revolted against Antiochus Theos, and
laid the foundations of a new empire. The dynasty of the Arsacides
reigned until a Persian prince of somewhat inferior birth, Ardeshir,
founded in his turn a national dynasty, viz., that of the Sassanides
(226 A.D.). The Romans were its constant enemies. However, the
real danger revealed itself only with the advent of the Arabs, who,
approaching nearer and nearer, had already conquered several provinces
when King Yezdezard made preparations for resistance.

The first invasion took place under Khalif Omar (633). [6] Khalud Ben
Walid at the head of ten thousand men, and Mosanna at the head of eight
thousand, had marched against Hormuz, the Persian Governor of Irak,
and had vanquished him. After this victory Khalud had gone forward
and conquered Irak; but he was defeated at the battle of Marwaha
(634). Four thousand Mussulmans were killed, and two thousand returned
to Medina. Unfortunately the Persian general Behman did not follow up
this advantage. The country was at this time divided into two factions,
one under Rustam, the generalissimo of the Persian Empire, the other
under Prince Firoz. Behman, instead of securing the independence of
his country, hastened to support Rustam against Firoz. The Arabs,
emboldened by their rapid successes, established their camp between
Kadesia [7] and Koufah, where by the Caliph's order hordes of Nomads
came to reinforce their troops. The struggle lasted for three days and
three nights; the Persian army was entirely destroyed, and the royal
standard fell into the hands of the Arabs. [8] Yezdezard, informed
of this misfortune, escaped to Holwan. Sa'd, having taken possession
of Madain, pursued the fugitive monarch, who withdrew to Rei.

In the twentieth year of the Hejira, Omar recalled Sa'd, and Yezdezard
took this opportunity to gather together a hundred and fifty thousand
men, all the contingents having been drawn from the province of
Khorassan and from the environs of Rei and Hamadan. Firouzan was
appointed commander. The Caliph, hearing of the preparations of
the Persian king, sent in his turn reinforcements, and placed at
their head his general No'man, with the strictest orders to destroy
the impious religion of the Fire-Worshippers. It was at Nehawend [9]
that, after a delay of two months, the shock of arms decided the fate
of Iran. Thirty thousand Persians fell on the battlefield, and eighty
thousand were drowned in the moats surrounding the camp. Firouzan was
pursued into the mountains and killed by a detachment of Arabs. [10]

From that time Persia passed into the hands of the Caliphs. Yezdezard
escaped at first to Seistan and then to Merv. The governor of this town
offered to deliver up the fugitive prince to the Khan of Turkestan. The
Turks entered the town in spite of the resistance of the inhabitants,
and the king, taking advantage of the confusion, succeeded in hiding
himself in a neighbouring mill. The miller at first gave protection
to the king; but urged by a desire to get possession of his arms and
his clothes, he, like a coward, killed the king. The irate people
massacred the assassin, and the body of Yezdezard, son of Sheheriar,
the last sovereign of the Sassanian dynasty, was sent to Istakhr,
there to be deposited in the tomb of his ancestors (A.D. 650).

The conquest of Persia was accomplished with surprising
rapidity. Shortly after the death of the king, Islamism was imposed
upon all; but certain amongst the Mazdiens offered resistance, and
even succeeded in remaining in their fatherland; others, unwilling
to accept the law of the Koran, abandoned their hearths, and went
and dwelt in the mountainous districts of Khorassan, [11] where,
for a hundred years, they were enabled to live and practise their
religion without being disturbed. They were, however, obliged to quit
this asylum and to take refuge in large numbers in the little island
of Hormuz, [12] at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. Here they made
but a short sojourn, and finally decided to seek the protection of
the Hindoos. They procured vessels and embarked with their wives
and children.

The relations between Persia and India had been rather frequent, and it
was precisely their former intercourse, rendered closer a few centuries
before the Arab invasion, that made this migration possible. This
we can see from an interesting resume given in the Gazetteer of the
Bombay Presidency, p. 247, and which we reproduce here:--

"In legendary times some religious connection had existed between
the great prophet Zoroaster, who flourished about 1000 B.C. (see
Haug, Essays, 299), and the Brahman Tchengreghatchah, who was sent
back to convert his compatriots. (See also in Firdusi the story of
Prince Isphandiar, son of Gustasp, who was such a fervent disciple
of Zoroaster that he persuaded the Emperor of India to adopt the
worship of fire,--Elliot, History, v. 568). The Hindoo tradition of
the introduction of fire-worshipping priests from Persia into Dwarka
in Kathyawar is probably of a much later date (Reinaud, Memoire sur
l'Inde, 391-397). Another link, and this time of an entirely political
nature, is discovered in the mythical conquests of Northern India,
which, according to Persian writers, must have followed from the year
1729 B.C. (Troyer, Rajatarangini, ii. 441). In historical times the
Punjaub formed part of the Persian dominions since its conquest by
Darius Hystaspes (510 B.C.) down to the end of the dynasty of the
Achaemenides (350 B.C.). (Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchies, iv. 433.)

"Towards the commencement of the Christian era, as is seen from the
fire altars on their coins, the Kanerkis or the Scythians of India,
the rulers of the Punjaub, seem to have adopted the religion of
the Magi (Lassen, in J. B. A. S. ix. 456; Prinsep, Note on Historic
Researches from Bactrian Coins, 106). As far as Southern India is
concerned, the mention of Brahmani Magi in Ptolemy (150) seems to
indicate some relation with Persia, but the Kanarese word mag or
'son' gives a sufficient explanation.

"Closer connection between India and Persia dates from the restoration
of the Persian power under the Sassanide dynasty (226-650 A.D.). In
the fifth century the visit of the Persian prince Behram (436), who
had come, doubtless, to implore aid against the White Huns (Wilson,
Ariana Antiqua, 383), his marriage with a Hindoo princess, and,
according to indigenous accounts, his founding the dynasty of the
Ghardabin kings, made this intimacy closer (Wilford, As. Res. ix. 219;
Masoudi, Prairies d'or, ii. 191; Reinaud, Memoire sur l'Inde, 112;
Elliot, Hist. ii. 159). Later on Noshirwan the Just (531-579) and his
grandson Parviz (591-628) allied themselves, by treaties and by the
exchange of rich presents, to the rulers of India and Sindh (Masoudi,
Prairies d'or, ii. 201). As to these treaties, it is interesting
to notice that the subject of one of the paintings in the Caves of
Ajanta is believed to represent the embassy of Noshirwan to Pulikesi,
king of Badami, in the country south of that of the Mahrattas,
whilst another is supposed to be a copy made after the portraits of
Parviz and the beautiful Shirin (Fergusson, in Burgess' Ajanta Notes,
92). According to certain narratives, a body of Persians landed,
at the commencement of the seventh century, in Western India, and it
is supposed that to one of these chiefs, regarded by Wilford as a son
of Khosroo Parvis, is to be traced the origin of the Udeipore dynasty
(Gladwin, Ain-i-Akbari, ii. 81; Dr. Hunter, As. Res. vi. 8; Wilford,
As. Res. ix. 233; Prinsep, Jour. Ben. As. Soc. iv. 684). Wilford
considered the Konkanasth Brahmins as belonging to the same race;
but, although their origin is doubtful, the Konkanasths had settled
in India long before the Parsis. Moreover, India and Persia had been
connected by commercial treaties. Cosmas Indicopleustes (545) found
some Persians amongst the principal traders settled along the coasts
of the Indian Ocean (Migne, Patrologiae Cursus, lxxxviii. 446; Yule,
Cathay, 1, clxxvii.-clxxix.), and his assertion as to the existence of
a Persian bishop at the head of the Christian communities of Kalyan
(Yule, Cathay, 1, clxxi.), discloses close relations between Thana
and the Persian Gulf. Shortly after the time of Cosmas, the empire of
the seas passed from the Romans to the Persians, and the fleets of
India and China visited the Persian Gulf (Reinaud, Aboulfeda, 1-11,
ccclxxxiii.-iv.). It was this connection between Western India and
Persia which urged, in 638 (H. 16) Caliph Omar (634-643) to found
the city of Bussorah, partly for the needs of commerce and partly to
prevent the Indian princes from coming to the help of the Persians
(Troyer, Rajatarangini, ii. 449; Chronique de Tabari, iii. 401),
and, in the same year (638-639), prompted him to send a fleet to
ravage the coasts of Thana (Elliot, Hist. i. 415). Tabari (838-921)
and Masoudi (900-950) both prove that the district round Bussorah and
the country under the subjection of the King of Oman were regarded by
the Arabs as forming part of India (Chronique de Tabari, iii. 401;
Prairies d'or, iv. 225). In the seventh century it has been noticed
that several Indians had settled in the principal cities of Persia,
where they enjoyed the free exercise of their religion (Reinaud,
Aboulfeda, 1-11, ccclxxxiv.). It should also be noticed that from
the sixth century, when the Persians commenced taking a leading part
in the commerce and trade of the East, they visited not only India,
but China also (Reinaud, Aboulfeda, 1-11, ccclxxxiii.). Towards
the period of their arrival in India, the Parsis were settled in
China as missionaries, merchants, or refugees. Anquetil du Perron
(Zend-Avesta, 1, cccxxxvi.) speaks of Persians going to China, in
the seventh century, with a son of Yezdezard. According to Wilford
(As. Res. ix. 235), another band of emigrants joined them in 750,
towards the beginning of the reign of the Abbassides. In 758 the
Arabs and the Persians were so strong in Canton that they stirred
up several riots and plundered the town (Reinaud, Aboulfeda, 1-11,
ccclxxxv.). In 846 there is a mention made of Muhapas or Mobeds in
Canton (Yule, Cathay, 1, xcvi.), and sixty years later Masoudi affirms
that there were many fire-temples in China (Prairies d'or, iv. 86)."



It is scarcely probable that there could have been only one migration
of the Persians. There must have been many such, at different periods,
according as the spirit of persecution was more or less strong amongst
the conquerors. The traditions concerning this subject are vague. We
are in absolute ignorance as to the mode of their departure, and the
number of those who, in despair, had to quit the Persian Gulf. The
only information that we can get at concerning this subject is that
contained in a book entitled Kissah-i-Sanjan, [13] written towards
the year 1600 by a Mazdien priest called Behram Kaikobad Sanjana,
who dwelt in Naosari. According to this author, Diu, [14] a small
town on the Gulf of Cambay to the south of the Kathyawar coast,
was the first port where the refugees landed. Here they dwelt for
nearly twenty years, at the end of which they sought for another
residence. There is a mysterious passage in the Kissah-i-Sanjan upon
this second immigration, but it scarcely explains it. "An old Dastoor
(high-priest) who had applied himself to the science of predicting
from the stars, declared that they should leave this place and seek
another residence. All rejoiced on hearing these words, and immediately
set sail for Gujerat." Scarcely had they left the coast of Diu when a
storm burst upon them, and the Persians believed themselves hopelessly
lost. They then implored the aid of Him for whom they had abandoned
all, promising to light the sacred fire as soon as they should have
touched the shores of India.

He heard the prayer of his faithful children. The tempest fell,
and they were able to land at Sanjan, [15] twenty-five miles south
of Damman. [16] The territory of Sanjan was, at that time, subject
to the sage Jadi Rana, [17] to whom the Persians sent a Dastoor,
with presents, to obtain permission to settle in his country, and
to inquire what conditions would be imposed upon them. The Dastoor,
approaching the Rana, invoked blessings upon him, and after having
explained to him the reasons that had determined the fugitives to quit
their fatherland, he narrated their misfortunes, and asked for his
countrymen authoritative permission to settle in Sanjan. The prince,
it is said, struck by the warlike and distinguished appearance of
these foreigners, at first conceived some fear, and desired to know
something of their usages and customs. During their sojourn at Diu the
Persians had learnt sufficiently well the spirit and character of the
Hindoos, to answer his questions in a satisfactory manner. The most
learned amongst them drew up sixteen Slokas or distichs, in which
they summarised the duties enjoined by their religion [18]:--

1. We are worshippers of Ahura Mazda (the Supreme Being), of the sun
and of the five elements.

2. We observe silence during bath, at prayers, while making offerings
to the fire, and when eating.

3. We use incense, perfumes and flowers in our religious ceremonies.

4. We honour the cow.

5. We wear the sacred garment, the Sudra or the shirt, the Kusti or
thread for the waist, and the twofold cap.

6. We rejoice ourselves with songs and musical instruments on marriage
occasions.

7. We permit our women to wear ornaments and use perfumes.

8. We are enjoined to be liberal in our charities and especially in
excavating tanks and wells.

9. We are enjoined to extend our sympathies to all beings, male
or female.

10. We practise ablutions with gaomutra, one of the products of
the cow.

11. We wear the sacred thread when praying and eating.

12. We feed the sacred fire with incense.

13. We offer up prayers five times a day.

14. We carefully observe conjugal fidelity and purity.

15. We celebrate annual religious ceremonies in honour of our
ancestors.

16. We observe the greatest precautions with regard to our wives
during their confinement and at certain periods of the month.

It is interesting to notice that, at this juncture, the Zoroastrians
showed themselves singularly skilful and clever, avoiding all mention
of the true basis of their religion, and only setting forth certain
ceremonies, of no importance, which seemed of a nature likely to
conciliate the goodwill of the Rana. Anxious to find some place
of repose, the Parsis knew the Hindoos and their susceptibilities
of caste and religion too well not to be willing to please them;
and that is why they formulated their answers with a prudence and
skill which won the favour of the Rana. He therefore permitted them
to reside in the city on condition that they adopted the language of
the country, and ceased to speak that of their ancestors; that their
women should dress according to the Hindoo mode; that the men should no
longer carry weapons, and should perform their marriage ceremonies at
night, according to Hindoo custom. What could the unfortunate exiles,
thirsting for peace and rest, do but accept these conditions? And
this they did. They settled down in a vast tract of land not far
from Sanjan, and with full hearts offered prayers to Hormuzd. They
resolved to fulfil the vow they had made at the time of their memorable
voyage from Diu to Sanjan, to raise the altar for lighting the sacred
fire. The Hindoos, far from opposing this, helped to build the temple
(721), and Zoroastrian rites and ceremonies began to be performed
from that time on Indian soil. (Parsee Prakash, p. 2.)

For nearly three hundred years the Parsis lived peacefully at Sanjan;
but with time, their numbers having increased, some emigrated to other
places: in the north, to Cambay, [19] Ankleswar, [20] Variav, Vankaner
and Surat; in the south, to Thana [21] and Chaul, places still to be
found on the map of India. Their first migration from Sanjan seems to
have been to Cambay (942-997). Several considerations attracted them
to this place, and, besides, they seem to have prospered there. [22]
The settlement of Variav seems to have been as old as that of Cambay. A
Pehlvi inscription on the sides of the Kanheri caves, tells us that
a certain number of Parsis visited them on the 2nd of December, 999,
and according to another similar Pehlvi inscription, other Parsis
seem to have visited them on the 5th of November, 1021. [23]

We then find the Parsis at Naosari [24]; in 1142 a Mobed named
Camdin Yartosht quitted Sanjan with his family, to perform there some
religious ceremonies required by the Zoroastrians of that place. If
we follow the authority of a certain manuscript preserved by the
descendants of Meherji Rana, the celebrated High Priest who lived
three centuries ago, it was from the Parsis that Naosari received its
name. When they arrived there--511, Yezdezard--they found the climate
as pleasant as that of Mazanderan, one of the provinces of Persia,
and called it Navisari or Nao-Sari. Since then it has been called
Naosari-Nagmandal instead of Nagmandal, its old name. [25]

From the narrations of different travellers it would seem that the
Parsis had settled in a great many cities of Upper India; but it
is impossible to say whether these came from Western India or from
Persia. A Mahomedan traveller of the tenth century, Al Isthakhri,
mentions several parts of India as being occupied by the Guebres:
that is the name given by Mahomedan writers to the Parsis. An
unexceptionable testimony of their presence at Dehra-Dun (1079)
is furnished to us in the attack of Ibrahim the Ghaznevid against a
colony of fire-worshippers living in that place. Similarly we find the
Parsis in the Panjaub before 1178, if we are to believe the tradition
of a voyage made that year by a Parsi priest named Mahyar; he had
come from Uch, a town situated on the conflux of the five rivers of
the Panjaub, to Seistan in Persia, in order to acquire a thorough
knowledge of the religious rites. After six years of study under
the Dastoors he brought into India, in 1184, a copy of the Pehlvi
translation of the Vendidad. [26] It seems also that there must have
been some intercourse between the Parsis of Cambay and those of the
Panjaub, since, in 1328, the former were in possession of some copies
of the Vendidad acquired by Mahyar.

At the time of the invasion of India by Timur, we find Parsis or Magi
amongst the captives. The men who have been represented as believing
in the two principles of good and evil, and admitting at the same
time Yazdan (God) and Ahreman (the Devil), and who offered a desperate
resistance to Timur at Tughlikhpur, were the Parsis. It is said besides
that the colony at Gujerat was reinforced by a large number of Parsis,
who fled before the conqueror. The mention made by a Mahomedan writer
of the destruction of fire-temples by the Emperor Sikandar (1504),
shows that long before this date Parsi emigrants had dwelt in Upper
India. Sir H. M. Elliot, in his History of India, following the
opinion of Professor Dawson, affirms that the Guebres of Rohilkhand,
the Magyas of Malwa, and the Maghs of Tughlikhpur, although at present
they offer no religious peculiarities, are the remnants of the Parsis
of Upper India. According to a communication anent Mount Abu by Sir
Alexander Burnes, cited in the Gazetteer of Bombay, there had been a
Parsi colony at Chandrauli towards the middle of the fifteenth century.

It is believed that the Parsis settled at Ankleswar in the middle
of the thirteenth century of our era. One of their religious books,
the Vispered, was in fact copied there in 1258. There is no doubt of
their having been at Bharooch [27] before the commencement of the
fourteenth century, for we find that a "Dokhma" was built there in
1309 by a Parsi named Pestanji; and the ruins of a still older Tower
are to be found in the suburb of Vajalpoor.

The settlements at Thana and Chaul must have been founded at an early
date; Mahomedan and European travellers mention them in speaking of
these two places, without giving them their true name. However, the
description given of them agrees very much with that of the Parsis; and
this idea is confirmed by Odoric, an Italian monk who was travelling
in India about the beginning of the fourteenth century. [28] The people
(at Thana) were, according to him, idolaters, for they worshipped fire,
serpents, and trees, and did not bury their dead, but carried them
with great pomp to the fields, and cast them down as food for beasts
and birds. Now, as the Hindoos either burn or bury their dead, the
custom here described relates evidently to the Parsis who, later on,
left this place in a body. A tradition preserved at Thana furnishes
an amusing instance of the manner in which the colony contrived to
escape a forced conversion to Christianity. The Parsis, constrained
to renounce their faith, and having no means of escape, succeeded by
cunning in avoiding the persecutions they were threatened with. They
repaired in a body to the governor and declared themselves ready to
embrace Christianity, demanding as an only favour a delay till the
following Sunday before renouncing their faith, in order to take
advantage of the few days of respite to worship the sacred fire
and celebrate, for the last time, their festivals. The Portuguese
were so pleased with this prompt submission to their will that a
proclamation was issued to the effect that, on the day fixed, no one
should interfere with the Mazdiens in the performance of their rites
and ceremonies. The Parsis prepared a great feast, to which all the
notables were invited; wine flowed freely, and while the guests were
indulging themselves in it, the Parsis, to the sound of music and in
the middle of the dancing, left the town and reached Kalyan, to the
south of Thana, where they settled. [29]

Travellers in India from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries
have found Parsis in different places. There is reason to believe
that at that time nothing of any importance befell the community. The
Parsis lived amicably with the Hindoos, and were chiefly occupied in
agriculture. About 1305 an event of considerable importance occurred
in their history, at the time of a struggle maintained by the Hindoo
chief of Sanjan against Mahmood Shah or Ala-ud-din Khilji (Parsee
Prakash, p. 4), who had sent into Gujerat a strong army commanded by
Alp Khan. [30]

The Mahomedan general arrived before Sanjan with thirty thousand men;
the Hindoo prince, conscious of his danger, appealed to those whom his
ancestors had so generously received into their country. The Parsis
were not unmindful of this, and fourteen hundred of them, under the
command of Ardeshir, joined the troops of the Rana. In defending his
cause they were equally defending their own independence and religious
liberty which they had come to seek under his kindly protection. The
armies met not far from Sanjan. Already were the Hindoos giving way
under the stress of the Mahomedans when the Parsis engaged directly
in the combat. Ardeshir and his followers rushed into the thick of
the fight and compelled Alp Khan to fly. But the Mahomedan general
soon re-appeared with reinforcements. Ardeshir, addressing the Hindoo
prince, swore to him the most complete fidelity, and although the
enemy was in numbers superior to his handful of men, he returned to
the field of battle.

It was at this time that a single combat took place between Ardeshir
and one of the Mahomedan chiefs, a combat in which the latter was
thrown from his horse and killed by the Parsi. Alp Khan, enraged by
this scene, threw himself in the contest. A furious carnage followed,
and Ardeshir was struck in his turn by a dart which threw him off his
horse. The Rana perished, and Alp Khan became master of Sanjan. The
Parsis had to seek a new residence. [31]

They had much to suffer from this Mahomedan conquest, and therefore
many fled to the mountains of Bahrout, eight miles east of Sanjan; the
cave where the sacred fire was deposited is still to be seen. According
to the Kissah-i-Sanjan, the fugitives remained there only twelve
years, after which they quitted this mountainous district and went
to Bansdah, [32] about fifty miles north-east of Naosari, where a
few Parsi families had already settled. Fourteen years later (1331)
they bore the sacred fire to Naosari, where their co-religionists were
numerous and influential. But the date 1419 being generally accepted
as the year in which the sacred fire was brought to Naosari, it may be
presumed that between the flight of the Parsis from Sanjan and the era
of their new independence, a whole century, and not twenty-six years,
must have elapsed.

From Naosari the fire was removed to Surat, on account of the
apprehensions of the inroads of the Pindaris, and was again removed to
Naosari three years later; thence, owing to certain disputes among the
priests, it was taken to Balsar. After being there for some time it was
transferred to Udwada on October 28, 1742; here it is to this day; and
here is to be seen the oldest fire-temple of the Zoroastrians in India,
and the one held in the greatest veneration (Parsee Prakash, p. 95).

In the midst of the calamities that followed the overthrow of the Rana
of Sanjan, the Parsis continued to apply themselves to agriculture. A
single incident deserves being related. One of their small colonies
had settled in Variav, not far from Surat, and was under the rule
of the Rajah of Rattampoor, a Rajput chief who attempted to impose
an extraordinary tribute on the Parsis. They refused, and defeated
the soldiers sent to enforce it. The Raja's soldiers then sought an
opportunity of avenging themselves, and seized the moment when the
Parsis were invited to a wedding. These, surprised in the midst
of their wives and children, were all ruthlessly massacred. The
anniversary of this cruel carnage is still observed at Surat.

The settlement of the Parsis in this latter place is the most recent
of all. The earliest mention made of it does not go further back
than 1478. It was there that the community first acquired its great
importance and came in contact with the Europeans. We shall see its
destiny further on.

It is very difficult to assign a fixed date to the arrival of the
Parsis in Bombay. It seems probable that they were induced to do this
by English merchants, and that their first settlement in this island
was a little before the time it was ceded to England by the Portuguese,
as the dowry of Catherine of Braganza on her marriage with the Stuart
king Charles II. (1668).

Dr. Fryer, who visited Bombay in the year 1671, [33] says: "On the
other side of the great bay, towards the sea, there is a sort of
promontory called Malabar Hill, a rocky mountain covered with woods,
on the top of which is a recently erected Parsi tomb." [34] Now, as
the first care of the Parsis, wherever they settle, is to construct
a "Tower of Silence," it is to be presumed that the community could
not have been of any importance before this period; it has prospered
since. It is in Bombay at the present time that can be best studied
the changes that have been going on for two centuries, and which
make the modern Parsis the most loyal subjects of the British Crown,
and the most active agents of civilisation and progress.

In this first chapter we have confined ourselves to a summary
indication of their principal settlements in the Presidency and to a
succinct recital of the most prominent events which have signalised
their sojourn in India before the arrival of the Europeans. We will
now freely approach the study we have proposed to undertake. The
reader will not, we hope, lose sight of their grievous exodus; and,
at the height of the fame of the Dadiseths, the Banajis, the Jamshedji
Jijibhoys, the Camas, the Petits, and many other no less illustrious
names, will remember the first fugitives of Persia, and their kindly
reception by the Rana of Sanjan. "Welcome," said the prince, "welcome
to those who walk faithfully in the way of Hormuzd! May their race
prosper and increase! May their prayers obtain the remission of their
sins, and may the sun smile on them! May Lakshmi by her liberality and
her gifts contribute to their wealth and to the fulfilling of their
desires; and, for ever, may their rare merits of race and intellect
continue to distinguish them in our midst!"







CHAPTER II

THE ZOROASTRIANS IN PERSIA


Let us now turn to the Zoroastrians who had remained behind in
their fatherland. Although it is only by the way that we have to
treat of this subject, it is nevertheless proper not to leave out
of notice this nucleus of the Mazdien community who have remained
so faithful to the religion of their ancestors, and who have been so
tried in their long residence in the midst of powerful and pitiless
conquerors. We shall have occasion, besides, in the course of this
work, to look back upon these far-off regions, to note the frequent
relations between the Parsis of Persia and their brethren of India,
and the inestimable benefits secured by the wealthy Parsis of Bombay
for the unfortunate Guebres of Yezd and Kirman.

Two hundred years after the Mahomedan conquest the condition of Persia
had entirely changed. The national spirit was dead, and the entire
population had embraced Islamism. It is in the presence of changes
so sudden and so complete that one feels justified in raising the
disquieting question of the influence of race and surroundings on the
history of a nation. We do not need to address ourselves to modern
thinkers to find it clearly formulated.

According to Renan, as far back as the second century, Bardesane
had wondered that "If man is the creature of his surroundings and
of circumstances, how is it that the same country is seen to produce
human developments entirely different? If man is governed by the laws
of race, how is it that a nation which has changed its religion, for
example, become Christian, comes to be quite different from what it
used to be?" [35] We have only to substitute the epithet Mahomedan for
the epithet Christian to bring the question to the point. How, in fact,
could such a radical change be effected, and to what degree of despair
must the Zoroastrians have reached, to submit to the levelling laws of
Islam? If we attempted to explain this we should have to go back to
the history of the internal agitations and the policy of the Persian
Court, and their study would draw us away too far. We have noticed
only the chief events of its history, without stopping to gather any
instruction from facts. Let it suffice to say that the same causes
made the Arabs victorious over the Byzantine emperor and the Persian
Shah-in-Shah, and that these causes were the weakness and exhaustion
of the national dynasties in the presence of the vital elements of the
conquerors. The people suffered from the carelessness of their kings;
individual energy was powerless against the invasion of disciplined
and fanatical tribes, commanded by generals like Omar and his officers.

The Persian nation was singularly maltreated. [36] The national unity
was broken. Each province accommodated itself in the best way it could
to the regime imposed by circumstances and by the inclinations of
local chiefs. From that time the boundaries of the ancient kingdom
underwent changes from century to century. In the tenth century,
Taher, governor of Khorassan, threw off the heavy yoke of the Caliphs
of Bagdad, and established, in his province, the authority of the
Taherides. After them came the Saffarides, the Samanides and all those
foreign dynasties that divided the sovereignty amongst themselves,
such as the Ghaznevides, the Seldjoukides, &c.; finally there came,
with all its calamities, the torrent of invasions to which succeeded
the reigns of the Sophis, and of those dynasties, cruel and grasping,
which have succeeded each other on the throne of Persia without doing
anything for the true welfare of the people.

As we have seen, the followers of Zoroaster who would not accept
the religion of Islam expatriated themselves. Those who could not
abandon their country, and continued to cling to their old religion,
had to resign themselves to frightful sufferings. These dwelt chiefly
in Fars and Khorassan. European travellers who have visited Persia
at different periods, have all been struck by their miserable and
precarious condition, and have felt interested in their language,
religion, and customs. We quote here some of them:

Pietro della Valle, at the time of his sojourn in Persia, studied
them closely, and this is what he has to say:

"These past few days I have been to see their new town [37] (that
of the Gaures), or, let us say, their separate habitation, which,
like the new Ciolfa inhabited by the Christian Armenians, like the
new Tauris, or Abbas-Abad, where dwell the Mahomedans brought from
Tauris, adjoins Ispahan, just as if it were a suburb; and although,
at present, it is separated from it by some gardens, nevertheless
with time,--for the number of inhabitants greatly increases every
day,--Ispahan and this habitation of the Gaures>, with the two others
aforesaid, will make but one place. I am therefore doubtful whether to
call them separate citadels, or suburbs, or rather considerable parts
of this same town of Ispahan, as is the region beyond the Tiber and
our city of Rome. This habitation of the Gaures has no other name that
I know of except Gauristan; that is to say, according to the Persians,
'the place of the infidels,' just as we call the quarters of the Jews,
Jewry. This place is very well built; the streets are wide and very
straight, and much finer than those of Ciolfa, for it was built later
with more design; but all the houses are low and one-storied, without
any ornament, quite consistent with the poverty of those that occupy
them, and in this respect very different from the houses of Ciolfa,
which are very magnificent and well planned; for the Gaures are
poor and miserable,--at least they show all possible signs of being
such; in fact, they are employed in no traffic; they are simply like
peasants,--people, in short, earning their livelihood with much labour
and difficulty. They are all dressed alike, and in the same colour
which resembles somewhat brick cement." (Voyages, French translation,
Paris, 1661, vol. ii. p. 104.)

About the same time (1618), Figueroa, the ambassador of Philip III. in
Persia, remarks as follows:

"In the most eastern part of Persia, and in the province of Kirman,
which forms its frontier to the east, there have remained some of
those ancient and true Persians, who, although they have mixed with
the others, and by uniting themselves to their conquerors, have become
like one people, all the same retain their primitive mode of living,
their customs and their religion. Thus, at this day, they adore the
sun as did the ancient Persians during the period their empire was
the first in this world, and, following their example, they invariably
keep in their houses a lighted fire, which they keep up unextinguished
with as much care as the Vestal Virgins of Rome did." (The Embassy
of Don Garcias de Silva de Figueroa in Persia. Trans. Wicquefort,
Paris, 1667, in 4to, p. 177.)

Thevenot (1664-67) declares that "there are in Persia, at the present
day, and particularly in Kerman, people who worship the fire like
the Persians of old, and these are the Guebres. They are recognised
by a dark yellow  material of which the men and women like
to have their dresses and veils made, these being the only ones who
wear this colour. Moreover, the Guebre women never cover their faces,
and generally speaking, they are very well formed. These Guebres have
a language which with its characters is understood only by them,
and they are also very ignorant." (Continuation of the Travels in
the East, Second Part, p. 116; Paris, 1674.)

With Daulier (1665) we shall enter the quarters of the Guebres assigned
to them by the Persian king. "If you go about a quarter of a mile
from Julpha in the direction of the mountain you will see a fine
village composed of one long street. It is called Guebrabad, and is
the dwelling-place of the Guebres, or the Gauvres, who are said to
be descended from the old Persians who worshipped the fire. The king
has given them this place to live in, having destroyed them in many
other places. They are dressed in a fine tan- woollen stuff,
the dress of the men being of the same form as that of the other
Persians. But the women's dress is entirely different. They keep
their faces uncovered, and wear round their heads a loosely tied
scarf with a veil to cover their shoulders not ill resembling our
gipsies. Their drawers are like the upper part of Swiss hose, reaching
to their heels. Most of their stuffs are manufactured at Kirman,
a large town on the south coast of Persia, where there are several
of this sect. They are so reserved on the subject of their religion
that it is difficult to know anything certain about it. They do not
bury their dead, but leave them in the open air in an enclosure. I
entered some of their houses, where I saw nothing particular except
that the women, far from avoiding us, as the others do, were very
glad to see and speak to us" (The Beauties of Persia, p. 51).

Towards the same time (1665-1671) when Chardin went to Persia he found
the Zoroastrians spread over the Caramanian desert, and chiefly in the
provinces of Yezd and Kirman. He calls them Guebres from the Arabic
word Gaur, infidels or idolaters, pronounced Giaour by the Turks.

"The Persian Fire-Worshippers (vol. ix. pp. 134 et seq.) are not so
well formed, nor so fair, as the Mahomedan Persians, who are the
Persians of this day. Nevertheless the men are robust, having a
fairly good stature, and are well featured. The women are coarse,
with a dark olive complexion, due, I think, more to their poverty
than to nature, for some among them have rather fine features. The men
wear their hair and beards long; they put on a short-fitting vest and
a long woollen cap. They dress in cotton, woollen, or mohair stuff,
and prefer the brown or dead-leaf colour as being perhaps most suited
to their condition.

"The women are very coarsely dressed. I have never seen anything
showing such bad grace, nor anything further removed from
galanterie....

"The dress of the Guebres so greatly resembles the Arab dress that one
would think the Arabs copied it from them when they conquered their
country. They work either as ploughmen or as labourers, or fullers and
workers in wool. They make carpets, caps and very fine woollen stuffs.

"... Their chief occupation is agriculture; ... they regard it,
not only as a fine and innocent employment, but also as a noble and
meritorious one ...

"These Ancient Persians are gentle and simple in manners, and live
very peacefully under the guidance of their elders, who are also their
magistrates, and who are confirmed in their authority by the Persian
Government." Then follow numerous details concerning their manners,
beliefs and temples. The chief temple was then near Yezd, and the
high priest, the Dastoor Dastooran, resided there. (Ed. of Amsterdam,
J. L. Delorme, MDCCXI.)

Ker-Porter (1818-1820) speaks also of the Guebres: "Some of them,"
he says, "poor and faithful to their religion, not having the means of
gaining a distant shelter, remained slaves on their native soil, their
souls raised to Heaven, their eyes bent to the ground, weeping over
their profaned sanctuaries. While the wealthier ones were flying to
the mountainous regions of the frontiers, or to the shores of India,
these few faithful ones ended in finding comparative security in
their extreme poverty, and took refuge in Yezd and Kirman, far from
the eye of the conquerors. Yezd, even now, contains from four to five
thousand of their descendants; and on account of their relatively
large number they are allowed to practise their faith in a more open
manner than in the smaller localities. In general they are excellent
cultivators, gardeners and artisans, &c." (Travels in Georgia, Persia,
&c., vol. ii. p. 46, London, 1821-1822.)

The census of the Guebre population, taken towards the end of this
century, gives an absurd figure. We find no vestige of them anywhere
except in Yezd, and in the neighbourhood of Teheran, in Kaschan, Shiraz
and Bushire. In 1854, according to the information furnished to the
Persian Amelioration Society of Bombay, and quoted by Mr. Dosabhai
Framji Karaka, [38] the total came to 7,200 individuals, viz., 6,658
at Yezd (3,310 men and 3,348 women); 450 in Kirman, 50 in Teheran,
and some at Shiraz. [39]

According to the census of October, 1879, by General Houtum-Schindler,
[40] the Zoroastrian population comprised 8,499 individuals, of
whom 4,367 are men and 4,132 women, they being distributed in the
following manner: In Yezd, 1,242; in the surrounding districts, 5,241;
in Kirman, 1,498; in the surrounding districts, 258; at Bahramabad, 58;
at Teheran, 150; at Kaschan, 15; at Shiraz, 25; at Bushire, 12. The
latest census (1892) shows a sensible increase of the population,
rising to 9,269 individuals.

Yezd and Kirman are the two most important towns, the former being
about two hundred miles south-east of Ispahan, the latter about
three hundred and eighty miles from the sea, in the port of Bunder
Abbas. They are both situated on the confines of two extensive deserts,
the Dasht-i-Kavir and the Dash-i-Lut, which, to the north, cover an
area of over five hundred miles, and which are separated by a chain
of rocky mountains through which the caravans trace their way with
difficulty. This region is feared by travellers, and is hardly known
to Europeans. [41]

Yezd [42] communicates with the rest of Iran only by the caravan
roads. On leaving the argillaceous plateaus, the rocks and the
sandhills, the town and the villages around seem to emerge from a
veritable oasis of mulberry trees; the desert begins at the very
foot of the walls, where the sand driven by the tempests is heaped
up. A line of ruins surrounds it and testifies to its ancient
extent. Yezd is, however, prosperous. It contains a population of
from seventy to eighty thousand inhabitants, composed of the most
diverse elements--amongst others 2,000 Jews, still obliged to wear
on their cloaks the badge of their disgrace, and some Hindoos called
to this place by their business affairs.

There are five reservoirs, abambars, fifty mosques, eight madressas,
and sixty-five public baths; a post office ensures a regular weekly
service with Bander-Abbas and Bushire; the telegraph puts it in
communication with Kirman and Ispahan. Commerce flourishes; about
the middle of this century eighteen hundred manufactories gave work
to nine thousand workmen. Nowadays the number is, however, less.

It is here that we find, grouped together, the scattered remnants of
the Zoroastrian community. The Guebres gave themselves up chiefly
to gardening and the cultivation of mulberry trees, notably of the
species of brown fibre, the wearing of which was formerly incumbent
on them. But a great change has taken place, and such a trader
now possesses a thousand camels. There are schools there, four Fire
Temples, and several Towers of Silence. About twenty kilometres to the
south-west is the town of Taft, where was preserved for a very long
time the permission to keep up openly the sacred fire. The community
has a high priest, and also a lay chief, Ardeshir Meherban. Some of
the Guebres are naturalised Englishmen, and thanks to them, for the
last fifty years the trade of Yezd has grown by their intercourse
with India. Their role is similar to that performed in the open
ports of Japan by the compradores and the Chinese agents into whose
hands nearly all business passes. This activity is due to the efforts
of their co-religionists in India, for in spite of their recognised
probity and practical intelligence, the Guebres have long been exposed
to the most humiliating vexations.

Kirman is the chief city of ancient Caramania [43] and stands in
the centre of four great highways which run from the south and the
west. Its situation makes it a very important centre of commerce
between the Persian Gulf and the markets of Khorassan, Bokhara, and
Balk. Of the twelve thousand Guebres who were formerly resident in this
locality, there only remain, according to the census taken in 1878
by the orders of the Governor, thirteen hundred and forty-one. [44]
At the time of the Arab invasion, Kirman served as a place of refuge
for King Yezdezard, and passed successively into the hands of the
Beni-Buzak, the Seldjoukides Turks, the kings of Kharezm (Khiva), and
a Kara-Kitaienne family which remained in power till the year 1300;
and it was also the See of the Nestorian metropolitan bishopric of
Fars. This city had to suffer much from the invasions, from the east
and west, of Gengis-Khan, Timour, the Afghans and Nadirshah. The
siege it sustained in 1494 is memorable for the massacres ordered
by Aga Mahomed Khan. [45] It was within its walls that the last of
the family of the Zends, Luft Ali-Khan, had taken refuge. Betrayed
by his followers, the young prince contrived, however, to escape
the cruelty of the redoubtable Kadjar eunuch. For three months the
soldiers committed all sorts of excesses, the town was given up to
plunder [46] and finally razed. A little later, having been rebuilt
by Fath-Ali-Shah, it recovered by degrees its ancient prosperity,
thanks to a capable and at the same time avaricious and strict
governor, Vekil-ul-Mulk. The ruins of Kirman occupy a length of
three miles. The modern town contained in 1879, 42 mosques, 53
public baths, 5 madressas, 50 schools, 4 large and small bazaars,
and 9 caravanserais. Its commerce is flourishing, the carpets and
shawls manufactured there being very wonderful.

The physical and moral condition of the Guebres has changed very little
in Persia. Their contact with the Mussalmans has neither relaxed nor
enervated that condition. The women, of whom the majority belong to
poor families, are renowned for their chastity, while the men are so
famous for their morality that they are particularly employed in the
gardens of the Shah. From an ethnographical point of view, this is
what can be said; we follow the resume given by M. Houssay [47]:

"When the Arabs by right of conquest imposed a new religion on the
Persians, the fusion of the Turano-Aryans had been already for the
greater part accomplished in the north and east of the empire. At this
time there was no difference of race, manners, customs or religion
between the ancestors of the Mahomedan Persians and those of the real
Guebres. Separated to-day as surely by their religion as by vast extent
of space, they no longer commingle; but being descended from the same
ancestors, and neither having undergone any modification since that
period, we find them again to-day not unlike each other in the same
region.... The only ethnical element which could have been introduced
among the Persian Mahomedans and not among the Guebres, would be the
Semitic element due to the Arab conquerors. But it was not so. The
soldiers of Islam were indeed sufficiently fanatical and violent to
impose their laws and religion on the people, but not sufficiently
numerous to effect any change in them. It would be practically quite
the truth to say that this invasion has left no traces outside the
families of the Seides. The language alone has felt its effects; all
words connected with religion and government are Arabic. The Guebres
should be all the less regarded as pure descendants of the Aryans, as
they resemble their Mussulman neighbours, and are, on the other hand,
not all of the same type. Those of Yezd have, according to Khanikoff,
Aryan characteristics. It is not because they are Guebres, but because
they dwell in a country adjoining Fars. Those of Teheran resemble the
other inhabitants of Teheran. The Parsis of India, whose ancestors
preferred exile to conversion, are more like the Parsis of Persia,
and differ from their co-religionists of the North. Since their exodus,
they have not at all mixed with the people who received them; they are
such as they were then. Thus at the time of the Arabic conquest there
was no single race. The ethnical distribution, which can be observed
even now, existed already. The Guebres who remained in Persia were
the Turano-Aryans; the emigrants, who had chiefly started from the
south of the kingdom, were Aryans." [48]

The condition of the Zoroastrians who had remained behind in Persia
had been, as we have said, always miserable. In 1511, they wrote to
their co-religionists who had taken refuge at Naosari, that since the
reign of Kaiomar, they had not endured such sufferings, even under
the execrable government of Zohak, Afrasiab, Tur and Alexander! As
a matter of fact, the connection between the two communities, which
had been broken, was happily renewed since the end of the fifteenth
century. At this period Changa Asa, a rich and pious Parsi of Naosari,
had at his own expense sent a learned layman, Nariman Hoshang, with
the view of acquiring from the members of the Iranian clergy certain
information regarding important religious questions. (Parsee Prakash,
pp. 6-7.)

In another letter to their co-religionists in India dated from
Serfabad, September 1, 1486, Nariman Hoshang declared that all the
Iranians had been desiring for centuries to know if any of their
co-religionists still existed on the other side of the world! After
an absence of several years he returned to India, and eight years
later went back to Persia, where he collected the most curious
information. These statements are confirmed by the letters of the
Guebres addressed to the Parsi community of India (1511), in which
it is said that "since their departure from Persia to the arrival
of Nariman Hoshang (in all thirty years) the Mazdiens had not known
that their co-religionists had settled in India, and that it was only
through Nariman Hoshang that they had come to know of it."

From that period the relations between the Guebres and the Parsis
were sufficiently close. As far back as 1527, one Kama Asa, from
Cambay, had gone to Persia and procured a complete copy of the
Arda-Viraf-Nameh. In 1626 the Parsis of Bharooch, Surat, and Naosari
sent to Persia a learned man of Surat, Behman Aspandiar, charged
with numerous questions; he brought back the answers, and also two
religious books, the Vishtasp-Yasht and the Vispered (Parsee Prakash,
p. 11). The information thus obtained by intelligent emissaries for
a long time guided the Parsis in their decisions regarding social and
religious questions, and formed the collection of the Rivayats. At the
same time the members of the community in India were not in a position
to alleviate the miseries of their Persian brethren, and each century
brought to the latter a new increase of sufferings and troubles.

Four revolutions contributed to the destruction of the Zoroastrian
population of Kirman. The Ghilzi-Afghans, who had long groaned under
the yoke of the Persians, rose at last under the command of a brave
and intelligent chief, called Mir Vais, who quickly made himself
master of Khandahar. [49] The Persian monarch Hussein, powerless to
reduce them by arms, tried to bring them back to a sense of duty by
sending emissaries, who were however treated with contempt. The Afghan
chief who succeeded Mir Vais resolved in his turn to be revenged by
invading Persia as soon as an opportunity presented itself. It came
soon. Whilst the north-east frontier of the kingdom was threatened by
the Abdali-Afghans of Herat, and whilst the Arabian Prince of Muscat
was taking possession of the coast of the Persian Gulf, Mahmoud, who
had succeeded his father, Mir Vais, in the government of Khandahar,
made an irruption into Persia. This invasion of the Ghilzi-Afghans
was the greatest catastrophe to the Zoroastrian community, Mahmood
having preferred to pass through Kirman rather than risk the deserts
of Seistan. Massacres and forced conversions drove the faithful band
to despair.

At the time of the second invasion of Mahmood he persuaded the
Zoroastrians of Yezd and Kirman to join his troops, and avenge the
wrongs they had suffered for centuries. [50] It is needless to say
that these unfortunates, too confiding, allowed themselves to be
convinced and enlisted. What do we know of their ultimate fate? What
became of them under the standard of Mahmood after the victory of
Ispahan? (October 21, 1722, H. 1135 [51]). Were they better treated,
and did they receive any recompense? There is reason to believe that
their condition, far from being ameliorated, became worse.

It is said that under the reign of Nadir-Shah and his successors, they
had again to elect between the frightful alternative of conversion
or death. At the time of the siege of Kirman, of which we have spoken
(p. 55), many Zoroastrians were put to the sword, and their quarters
laid waste and destroyed for ever.

This series of vicissitudes and misfortunes accounts for the small
number of the survivors, their precarious life, their difficulties in
the exercise of their religion, and the dispersion of their sacred
books. In the time of Ibn Haukhal each village had its temple,
its priests, and its sacred book. According to Mr. Dosabhai Framji
Karaka, in 1858 there were thirty-five Fire Temples in Yezd and its
environs. At present there are four in Yezd itself, eighteen in the
neighbouring village, and one at Kirman. As for the sacred books there
are only those that are to be found in India. Westergaard, who visited
Persia in 1843, writing to his friend the late Dr. Wilson of Bombay,
to inform him of his disappointment, says, [52] "I have stopped in
Yezd for eleven days, and although I have mixed in their gatherings,
I have seen but sixteen or seventeen books in all; two or three copies
of the Vendidad Sade and of the Izeschne, which they call Yasna, and
six or seven copies of the Khorda-Avesta. I have only been able to
obtain two and a portion of a third, a part of the Bundahish and of
another Pehlvi book. That is all that I have succeeded in obtaining,
in spite of all my efforts to get more--for instance, the fragments
of the Izeschne with a Pehlvi or Pazend translation, of which there
is only one copy in Europe, that at Copenhagen."

The same traveller, speaking of the Zoroastrians who at present reside
in Kirman, expresses himself in these terms: "The Guebres there are
more maltreated than their brethren in Yezd. They have only two copies
of the Vendidad and of the Yasna and a rather large number of the
Khorda-Avesta, with which, however, they will not part. Here nobody
reads Pehlvi. They complain bitterly of Aga Mahomed Khan having given
up the city to plunder, of the destruction of most of their sacred
books, and of the massacre of the faithful."

One of the harshest conditions of the conquest of Persia had been at
all times a tax called "Jazia." The Mahomedans are the only persons
exempted from this tax, all the other infidel inhabitants of the
kingdom, Armenians, Jews, and Zoroastrians, being subject to it. The
Armenians of Tauris and of the villages of Persia situated near the
frontier have been relieved of this tax by the care of the Russian
Government. It is difficult to arrive at an estimate of the tax paid
by the Armenians and the Jews, but this is certain--and the fact has
been verified--that the annual tax imposed upon the Zoroastrians
rose to 660 tomans. The governors and collectors having gone on
increasing its amount in order to profit by the surplus, the sum
rose to nearly 2,000 tomans, or L1,000 sterling, about 25,000 francs
of our money. According to statistics, a thousand Zoroastrians were
compelled to pay. Of these two hundred could pay it without difficulty,
four hundred with much trouble; the rest could not do so even under
threats of death. Lamentable scenes have ensued at the time of the
collection of this onerous tax. [53] Sometimes these unfortunate
beings turned to their brethren in India in the hope of obtaining a
favourable intervention with the Persian Government, such as some of
the European Powers had effectually attempted in certain cases.

Dishonoured by the appellation of Guebres or "Infidels," they endured
at the hands of the Mussulmans sufferings similar to those endured
in India by the members of the Mahar caste at the hands of the
well-born Hindoos. [54] All relations, all intercourse with them
were tainted with pollution; a host of lucrative occupations were
forbidden to them. Moreover, we know the frightful inequality of laws
in Mahomedan countries, where the general rule is to grant aid and
protection to the true believers and to ignore these rights in the
case of the infidels. Instances of this are too numerous to be quoted;
we will content ourselves with pointing out this inequality without
any further comment. [55]

In the presence of this painful state of affairs the Parsis in India
could not remain indifferent. Mr. Dosabhai Framji Karaka wrote,
a quarter of a century back: [56] "Can we then do nothing for our
unfortunate brethren in Persia? Our community has considerable funds
and possesses men known throughout the world for their benevolence
and their noble efforts towards the amelioration of the condition of
their co-religionists.... It seems to us that a deputation from us
to the Court of Persia, presented and duly supported by the English
Ambassador at Teheran, might successfully attempt some negotiations
with a view to put an end to the cruelty practised every day. The
amount raised by the Capitation Tax with such useless violence must
be to the Imperial treasury insignificant in the extreme, and there
is no doubt that a representation from the Parsis of India has all
chances of being favourably received. Persian princes seldom know
the true state of their subjects, and we hope our countrymen will
comprehend the honour that will be reflected on them by their efforts
to relieve the miseries of our brethren in Iran."

It was in 1854 that the first emissary from Bombay to the Zoroastrians
in Persia was sent; and from that time, thanks to the Persian
Zoroastrian Amelioration Fund, they seriously began to consider
the means of aiding them. The trustees delegated Mr. Maneckji Limji
Antaria, who was to utilise his great experience and his devotion
in the accomplishment of the task he had accepted. He started (March
31st) with instructions from the committee to open an inquiry and to
send in a report. Very soon the most pathetic details came to excite
the charitable zeal of the Parsis of Bombay. A meeting was called on
January 11, 1855, under the presidency of the late Maneckji Nasarwanji
Petit (Parsee Prakash, pp. 654 et seq.) to consider the resolutions
to be adopted on the report of Mr. M. L. Antaria. [57]

Before taking in hand all the evils set forth it appeared specially
important to direct all their efforts towards the abolition of
the "Jazia," the chief cause of the complaints and miseries of
the tax-payers. These efforts relaxed neither with time nor with
obstacles, and after a campaign which lasted from 1857 to 1882 [58]
the desired abolition was finally obtained. During this period of
twenty-five long years all suitable means were taken to secure the
success of the object aimed at. Thus Mr. M. L. Antaria profited by
the kindly disposition of Sir Henry Rawlinson, the English Ambassador
at the Court of Teheran, to get himself presented to the Shah and
to lay before him a touching picture of the miseries suffered by
his Zoroastrian subjects of Kirman. At the end of the audience he
succeeded in obtaining a reduction of 100 tomans from the amount of
the contribution annually raised (920 tomans) in Yezd and in Kirman.

Another audience was granted by the Shah in Buckingham Palace at the
time of his voyage to England (June 24, 1873). A memorandum, drawn up
in the most flowery and courteous style, such as Oriental politeness
demands, was presented by several members of the Bombay Committee. [59]
Sir Henry Rawlinson and Mr. E. B. Eastwick supported it. In his reply
His Majesty thought fit to say that he had heard of the complaints of
his subjects, and that he would consider the means of ameliorating the
position of the Zoroastrians of Persia. But we know, alas! that in
the East abuses take long in disappearing. In spite of the friendly
promises of the Shah there was no change made in the collection of
this tax. A pressing appeal through the English Ambassador at Teheran
did not even reach the monarch. It was only in 1882 that Sir Dinshaw
Maneckji Petit, the president of the Persian Zoroastrian Amelioration
Fund, received through the medium of Mr. Thomson, of the English
Embassy, the communication of the royal firman decreeing the immediate
abolition of the tax (Parsee Prakash, p. 662). This long struggle has
cost the Persian Amelioration Fund of Bombay nearly 109,564 rupees,
or about 257,475 francs! It is needless to say with what transports of
joy and gratitude this boon was received by the unfortunate victims,
who for centuries had groaned under the exactions of subordinate
officials, and whom the enlightened kindness of the sovereign placed
at once on a footing of equality with his other subjects. [60] As to
the friends of the Mazdien communities of Iran, they may hope to see
them prosper and their numbers increase under the influence of the
same qualities and virtues which have contributed to the greatness
and prosperity of the Zoroastrians of India. [61]

The relations between Bombay and Persia were not confined to this
single benevolent initiative of the Bombay Committee. [62] We should
also notice the establishing of schools in the towns of Yezd and
Kirman (1857) due to the munificence of the Parsee notabilities, and
the pecuniary gifts given for the purpose of settling in life young
girls exposed on account of their poverty to terrible dangers in a
Mahomedan country. Between 1856 and 1865 nearly a hundred Mazdien
women were thus got married by the care of the agent of a charitable
association. We may also mention the establishment of dispensaries
and houses of refuge, and should not omit to include in this brief
list the founding of two monuments, which throws a very interesting
light on the direction of the religious ideas of the modern Parsis.

Two localities, situated not far from Yezd and held sacred by
tradition, Koh-i-Chakmaku and Akda, preserved the memory of their
ancient glorious days through a legend concerning the two daughters of
Yezdezard, Khatun Banu and Hyat Banu, who had at one time disappeared
without leaving any trace behind them. After the fall of the king,
his family, finding no protection in Madain, had taken refuge in the
citadel of Haft Ajar; but they were soon obliged to disperse. Meher
Banu shut herself up in the fortress of Gorab; Khatun Banu directed her
steps to more secret places. In her hasty march the princess, exhausted
and dying of thirst, met a burzigar (farmer) busy cultivating the soil,
and asked of him a little water to drink. There being no stream or tank
near, the peasant offered her his cow's milk, and commenced milking
the animal; but the moment the vessel overflowed with the fresh and
foaming liquid, the cow with a kick upset it. The unfortunate girl,
thus deprived of this last comfort, feverishly continued her way, and
reaching the mountain in an agony of despair, threw herself upon the
ground, praying to the Almighty to protect her, either by stopping the
pursuit of her enemies or by screening her from mortal sight. Hardly
had she finished her prayer when she disappeared in a cleft of the
rocks, which opened before her and closed upon her immediately. At
the same moment the burzigar, who had discovered the retreat of the
princess, arrived with a refreshing drink, only to find her little
band of mourning followers. On hearing of her strange disappearance he
ran to his stable and sacrificed the cow in the very place where the
king's daughter had disappeared. Soon the faithful ones came to offer,
in their turn, similar sacrifices, and the place was called Dari-Din,
"the Gate of Faith." Hosts of pilgrims repaired to this place every
year, but these sacrifices of blood were repugnant to the feelings of
the Parsis of Bombay. However, as it was right and seemly to honour
a place marked out by ancient tradition, Mr. Maneckji Limji Antaria
substituted in the place of this barbarous custom ceremonies more in
accordance with modern Zoroastrian practices. The sacrifice of the
cow was suppressed, and an influential member of the Bombay community
furnished means to raise a beautiful monument with spacious quarters
to lodge the pilgrims.

Hyat Banu, the other princess, disappeared in an equally mysterious
manner. On the spot consecrated by legend a grand reservoir, fed from
neighbouring springs, has been erected. The walls of this reservoir
having gradually fallen into ruins, they were repaired by the generous
care of Mr. Merwanji Framji Panday, the same gentleman who erected
the monument at Akda. [63]







CHAPTER III

POPULATION--COSTUMES--USAGES--FESTIVALS


I

It is on the western coast of India, in the Bombay Presidency,
that we find the most compact gathering of the members of the Parsi
community. Since their exodus from Persia the refugees here have
maintained themselves successfully, and have gradually acquired wealth
and the intellectual superiority which distinguishes them from the
other natives of India.

The Bombay Presidency, or, to be more exact, the province of Bombay,
[64] comprises twenty-four British districts, and nineteen Native
States (Agencies) under the protection of the English Government. Its
boundaries are: To the north, the State of Balouchistan, the Panjaub,
and the native States of Rajputana; to the east, the Mahratta State
of Indore, the Central Provinces, Western Berar and the States of
the Nizam of Hyderabad; to the south, the Madras Presidency and the
State of Mysore; and to the west, the Arabian Sea. It is divided into
four great divisions, made according to the local dialects. On the
north lies Sindh or the lower valley and delta of the Indus, a region
essentially Mahomedan both historically and as regards the population;
then more to the south, Gujerat, containing, on the contrary, the most
diverse and mixed elements, and comprising all the districts of the
northern coast, the Mahratta country, and the interior districts of
the Deccan; and, finally, the provinces where the Canarese language
is spoken, divided in their turn into four British districts and
eight Native States. [65]

This territory has been formed little by little round the Island
of Bombay, ceded to England by the King of Portugal as the dowry of
the Infanta Catherine of Braganza. The Portuguese were the first to
occupy these parts; in 1498 they arrived at Calicut with Vasco de
Gama, and five years later, thanks to the bravery of Albuquerque,
they took possession of Goa. Bombay came into their possession in
1532, and for a hundred years they managed to maintain themselves at
the head of commerce and traffic. Two rival factories, one English
and the other Dutch, were established in Surat in 1613 and 1618. It
must be stated that the acquisition of the island of Bombay gave but
little pleasure to the English, for in 1668, on account of great
difficulties, the King transferred it to the East India Company,
and in 1686 the control of all the possessions of the Company was
transferred from Surat to Bombay, which was made into an independent
Presidency (1708) at the time of the amalgamation of the two English
Companies. Finally, in 1773, Bombay was placed in a state of dependence
under the Governor-General of Bengal, who has since been replaced by
the Viceroy of India.

It is from Bombay that the English have spread their influence
at present so firmly established in these territories. Simply
merchants at first, they gradually supplanted their rivals from
the Portuguese and Dutch settlements. Soon they aspired to a more
solid power, and came into direct conflict with the natives--the
Mahrattas--whom they hastened to drive from Colaba, finding their
nearness troublesome. After the first Mahratta war, which arose from
the contested succession of the Peishwa (1774), the treaty of Salbai
permitted the English to settle in Salsette, Elephanta, Karanja, Hog
Island, &c. (1782). The fort of Surat was in their hands from 1759,
and in 1800 the administration of this town was made over to them
by the Nawab, whose descendants contented themselves with the vain
title till 1842.

The second Mahratta war had its origin in the treaty of Bassein (1802),
by which the Peishwa accepted the subsidiary system--a system since
adopted by the English. It resulted in an accession of territory
in Gujerat and an increase of moral influence in the Court of the
Peishwas and of the Gaekwars. The interval of peace was employed in
repressing the invasions of the pirates who were infesting the Gulfs
of Cambay and Cutch.

In 1807 the States of Kathiawar were placed under the British
protectorate, and in 1809 the Rao of Cutch was forced to sign a treaty
by which he bound himself to help in the destruction of the pirates;
whilst, on the other hand, scarcely had the Peishwa Baji Rao been
placed on the throne by an English army when he began plotting for
the expulsion of the English from the Deccan. In 1817 he attacked the
Resident himself, Mountstuart Elphinstone, who withdrew to Kirkee,
where with a few troops he succeeded in routing the entire army of
the Peishwa. Soon after the prince submitted to Sir John Malcolm. A
pension of L80,000 was secured to the Prince, but he was deprived of
his States, and Bombay gained in this manner the districts of Poona,
Ahmadnagar, Nasik, Kolahpoor, Belgaum, Kaladji, Dharwar, Ahmedabad,
and the Konkan. At the same time Holkar abandoned his rights over
the districts of Kandesh, and Satara fell into the hands of the
English in 1848 on the death of the last descendant of the Mahratta
Shivaji. In 1860 the Non-Regulation Districts [66] of the Panch
Mahals were ceded by Scindhia, and in 1861 the southern limits of
the Presidency were still further extended by the annexation of the
northern district of Canara taken from Madras. From this time the
history of the Bombay Presidency is free of incidents; peace reigned,
even at the time of the mutiny of 1857. The local army has, however,
rendered important services in Afghanistan, Persia, Burmah, China,
Aden, and Abyssinia. Entirely occupied in administrative reforms
and the welfare of the country, the Government has attained a state
of complete prosperity under such men as Mountstuart Elphinstone,
Malcolm, and Lord Reay. [67]

According to the general census of 1891 [68] the number of Parsis in
India rose to 89,904; that is, an increase of 491 over that of the
17th of February, 1881, which gave a total of 85,397. On the 26th
of February, 1891, the entire population of the Bombay Presidency,
including the Native States and Aden, formed a total of 26,960,421
inhabitants, [69] of whom 76,774 were Parsis (39,285 males and
37,489 females). The surplus is divided between Madras, Bengal, and
the districts of the Gaekwar of Baroda, where is to be seen among
other flourishing settlements the ancient community of Naosari. To
this number must be added the Parsis of China, and of some foreign
localities, and the Iranians, 9,269 in number. The exact number of
Zoroastrians scattered over the globe we thus find to be a hundred
thousand at the most!

We refer to the Zoroastrian Calendar for all information concerning
statistics, and in a special chapter (pp. 119 et seq.) we find a
detailed list of the population of the city and the Presidency of
Bombay. [70] We take from it the following table (see next page),
which gives the assessment of the population in the different
centres. Occupying the first rank we find Bombay with its 47,458
Parsis, and Surat with 12,757; then Broach, Thana, Poona, Karachi,
down to the least of the localities, some of which stand for only a
simple unit.


-----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------
                 |               |               |  Widowers and |
 Names of Towns  |  Not Married. |  Married.[2]  |    Widows.    |  Total.
 and Districts.  |-------+-------|-------+-------|-------+-------+
                 |   M.  |   W.  |   M.  |   W.  |   M.  |   W.  |
-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+---------
 Bombay          |  14091|  10153|   9804|   9258|    810|   3342|  47458
 Ahmedabad       |    230|    175|    203|    175|     12|     40|    835
 Kheda           |     49|     31|     39|     27|    ...|      7|    153
 Panch-Mahal     |     43|     15|     40|     13|      3|      3|    108
 Bharooch        |    754|    623|    702|    865|     70|    259|   3273
 Surat           |   2990|   2535|   2597|   3212|    266|   1157|  12757
 Thana           |   1001|    802|    845|    860|     78|    334|   3920
 Colaba          |     39|     29|     51|     32|      7|      9|    167
 Ratnagiri       |      6|      3|      4|      2|    ...|    ...|     15
 Kanara          |      1|    ...|      8|    ...|      1|    ...|     10
 Khandeish       |    119|     73|    199|     99|     10|      8|    508
 Nasik           |    127|     77|    108|     75|      6|     14|    407
 Ahmednagar      |     51|     45|     41|     37|      5|     10|    188
 Poona           |    622|    476|    402|    386|     42|     98|   2026
 Sohlapore       |     67|     59|     54|     41|      3|      8|    232
 Satara          |     32|     40|     29|     24|      1|      8|    134
 Belgaum         |     17|      3|     22|     15|      1|      3|     61
 Dharwar         |     37|     23|     40|     41|      2|      2|    135
 Bijapoor        |      8|      4|      5|      4|      1|      2|     24
 Karachi         |    424|    301|    310|    282|     26|     65|   1408
 Hyderabad       |     17|     10|     11|      8|    ...|    ...|     46
 Shikarpoor      |     20|      9|     27|     12|      1|      2|     71
 Thar and Parkar |    ...|    ...|      1|    ...|    ...|    ...|      1
 Upper Sindh     |      2|    ...|      3|      2|      1|    ...|      8
                 |-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
                 |  20738|  15486|  15545|  15459|   1346|   5371|  73945
 Native States   |    606|    480|    761|    495|     55|    114|   2511
 Aden            |     88|     37|    138|     40|      8|      7|    318
                 |=======|=======|=======|=======|=======|=======|=======
                 |  21432|  16003|  16444|  15994|   1409|   5492|  76774
-----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+---------


Considering the importance of Bombay, we will quote from a paper
on it, read by Mr. B. B. Patel before the Anthropological Society of
Bombay. [73] We find there the lists of births, deaths and marriages in
the city of Bombay from 1881 to 1890. During that period of time the
average of births has risen per year to 1,450, and that of married
women bearing children to 13.293 per cent. The average of deaths
has reached 1,135 (575 of the male sex, 500 of the female sex), and
92 still-born (52 of the male sex and 40 of the female sex). The
annual average of mortality among children below the age of five
years has been 469 (236 of the male sex and 233 of the female sex);
between the ages of five and ten, 27 (13 of the male sex and 14 of
the female sex); between the ages of eleven and twenty, 47 (20 of the
male sex and 27 of the female sex); between the ages of twenty-one
and thirty, 65, in the proportion of 27 to 38 for the two sexes;
between the ages of thirty-one and forty, 62, in equal proportions
for the two sexes; between the ages of forty-one and sixty, 177 (67
males and 90 females). Above the age of eighty the average reaches 37,
of whom 13 are males and 24 females.

During these ten years, four persons have died at the age of 100,
two at the ages of 101 and 105, and lastly one at the age of 110
years. These centenarians have been all women. The principal cause of
mortality among Parsis is fever (Table D); thus of 1,135 deaths, 293
may be attributed to it, 150 to nervous disorders, 91 to affections of
the respiratory organs, 70 to dysentery, 38 to phthisis, one hundred
to old age, and the rest to diverse other causes, such as measles,
pleurisy, diarrhoea, &c., &c. According to the table drawn up by
Mr. Patel (Table E), the highest rate of mortality in Bombay is in
the Fort, and next to it in Dhobitalao, Baherkote, Khetwady, &c.,
in proportion to the population of these localities.

After the crisis of 1865 a serious decrease of the population in
Bombay had been apprehended for a time; but it was an exaggerated
fear which disappeared with the census of 1881. It has been proved,
on the contrary, that the conditions of life among the Parsis, both as
regards mortality and hygiene, have reduced the average of mortality
among the individuals, grown-up men, women and children. These
latter, well-tended and carefully brought up, supply a splendid race,
susceptible of culture, and endowed with perfect health. Accordingly,
from 1872 to 1881, the Parsi population has increased nearly ten per
cent. This increase has continued, and, as we have said, the highest
increase has been estimated in 1891 to be 4.91.

It is in vain that communities of Parsis have been sought for outside
those regions which we have indicated. [74] About sixty years ago
a Mahomedan traveller did try to persuade others of the existence
of a Parsi colony at Khoten, a country situated to the south-east of
Kaschgar; but Sir Alexander Burnes, in a communication to Mr. Naoroji
Fardunji, dissipated this illusion. [75]

We cannot attach any more importance to an assertion recently put
forward, and according to which the members of the tribe of the
Shiaposch <DW5>s, inhabiting the country to the north-east of Cabul,
are descendants of the same race, because certain of their usages,
as for example their manner of exposing their dead, are similar to
those of the Zoroastrians. Sir Alexander Burnes [76] in narrating
his travels in Cabul in 1836-37-38, relates that the most curious
of all the visitors to the country of the <DW5>s [77] was a man
who came from Cabul towards the year 1829. He gave himself out as
a Guebre (fire-worshipper), and an Ibrahumi (follower of Abraham),
who had quitted Persia to find some traces of his ancestors. During
his sojourn in Cabul he willingly mixed with the Armenians and
used to get himself called Sheryar, a name common enough among the
modern Parsis. They tried, but in vain, to dissuade him from risking
himself amongst the <DW5>s; he went to Jalalabad and Lughman, where
he left his baggage, and as a simple beggar entered Kafristan by
way of Nujjeet. He was absent several months, and on his return was
assassinated by the Huzaras of the tribe of Ali-Purast. Malik-Usman,
furious at the conduct of his countrymen, exacted a fine of Rs. 2,000
as compensation for the blood shed by them. All these details were
given by the Armenians of Cabul to Sir Alexander Burnes, but he could
not discover whether the unfortunate Sheryar was a Parsi of Bombay
or a Guebre of Kirman. However, a document found in the possession
of the traveller, and coming from the Shah of Persia, leads us to
believe that the latter hypothesis is the true one.

The Census of 1881 enables us to state some interesting facts, which
give us an idea of the occupations of the Parsis of Bombay, and of
the kind of life led by them. Thus there were at that time 855 priests
and persons devoted to religion, 141 teachers, 34 school-mistresses,
33 engineers, 1,384 clerks, and 115 employees. Naval construction
seemed to be one of their favourite occupations, for out of 46
ship-builders 26 were Parsis. As for the Dubashes or ship-brokers,
out of a total of 159, 146 were Parsis. All professions and manual
trades were largely represented, with the exception of that of tailor,
which was exercised by only one member of the community. At one time,
out of 9,584 beggars in the town of Bombay, there were only five Parsis
and one Parsi woman. As to the class of the unfortunate victims of
vice and debauchery, a Parsi has not hesitated to affirm that not one
of his co-religionists could have been accused of living on the wages
of shame. [78] Travellers have made the same remarks. Thus, according
to Mandelslo, adultery and lewdness were considered by the Parsis as
the greatest sins they could commit, and which they would doubtless
have punished with death if they themselves had the administration
of justice (see Voyages, &c., trans. Wicquefort, p. 184). We may
state in this connection that Anquetil gives a precise account of a
summary execution under the sanction of the Punchayet, and with the
approbation of the Mahomedan governor of Bharooch (see Zend-Avesta,
vol. ii. p. 606); and Stavorinus, at the end of the century, makes
mention of Parsi women who had been preserved in the right path by
the fear of punishment (see Voyages, &c., vol. I, ch. xxviii. p. 363).

The following is a division, under seven heads, of the occupations
of the Parsis, as shown in the census of 1881:--


        ----------------+-----------+----------
                        |     Men.  |    Women.
        ----------------+-----------+----------
        Professions     |   1,940   |       59
        Servants [79]   |   2,079   |      416
        Merchants       |   3,317   |        2
        Agriculturists  |      67   |        2
        Manufacturers   |   3,610   |       87
        Not classified  |     565   |      139
        Sundry          |  13,737   |   22,579
        ----------------+-----------+----------


There is some reason for not wondering at the disinclination of the
Parsis for agriculture and the profession of arms. Agriculture had
been very flourishing in the hands of the first colonists; but tastes
changed, and from men of the field they became men of the town. At
the beginning of the century some of them were still in possession
of vast tracts of land, and spent much money in improving them. But
these gradually passed into other hands, a circumstance in any case
greatly to be regretted. [80]

As to their apparent repugnance for military service we will see
what an enlightened Parsi, who has in this case made himself the
spokesman of his co-religionists, has to say. As a matter of fact,
the Persians in olden times had distinguished themselves amongst all
by their valour and courage. In the inscription engraved on his tomb
at Nakch-i-Roustam, King Darius might well say, with a just feeling of
pride, that they had only to look at the images of those who supported
his throne to know into what distant places the Persian soldier had
carried his arms! The famous struggles maintained by the Ardeshirs,
the Shapoors, and the Noshirvans show that this warlike temper had not
subsided. Why then should the descendants of such heroes abstain from
taking part in military exercises and in defending the country [81]?

Mr. Dosabhai Framji Karaka gives the following explanation of this
aversion. [82] In the first place he indignantly repudiates the
theory put forward by certain European authors that it proceeds purely
from religious motives, on account of the worship they are supposed
to pay to fire, which would prevent them from handling a cannon or
shouldering a gun. Nothing at all in fact prevents them from making
use of fire in the handling of offensive and defensive weapons. At
the time of certain riots in Bombay, gunsmiths' shops were seen to be
rapidly emptied by the Parsis, and thirty-five years back they were
enthusiastic in joining the first volunteer movement; but in 1877
only Europeans were invited to join. Still, protests Mr. D. F. Karaka,
there are certainly no natives more eager than the Parsis to share in
the defence of British interests. In several places they have joined
the volunteers and have obtained much-envied distinctions. [83] They
are able to attain a high degree of skill in the handling of firearms;
for example, Mr. Dorabji Padamji, son of the late Khan Bahadur Padamji
Pestonji, is one of the best shots in India. [84]

The most serious consideration which prevents a Parsi from enrolling
himself in the army seems therefore, to us, to be the insufficiency
of the pay. We only repeat it: it is a Parsee who says this. We
have no desire either to weaken their motives or to exaggerate their
grievances. We are well aware that these are very delicate questions,
and require to be treated with care and skill, since they concern
the relations of devoted subjects with a government of which they
are proud. On the other hand, when we take into consideration the
moral worth and intelligent co-operation which the Parsis bring to
the service of this same government, we are not at all surprised at
the conclusion which we see so clearly formulated. [85]

Native soldiers, whether Hindoos or Mussulmans, are paid at the rate
of seven rupees a month, about fourteen shillings (17 fr. 50 c.),
including rations, while a Parsi filling the most modest employment of
a cook or a servant earns double that sum. During certain disturbances
when Bombay was deprived of its European troops, many Parsis would
willingly have enrolled themselves in the army if they had been given
the pay of European soldiers. It is a matter of regret to them,
perhaps a sort of degradation of which they feel the keenness, at
being obliged to put forward pecuniary considerations; but their mode
of life, even that of the poorest among them, cannot be compared with
that of Hindoos and Mussalmans of the same class. These can live on
seven rupees a month; Hindoos and Mahomedans of the same family are
content with one room, a thing which the humblest Parsi would never
allow. The Hindoo or Mussulman woman hardly requires more than one
or two saris, costing about three rupees, to clothe herself, and
her children can go naked till the age of ten years. But as for the
Parsi woman she requires several saris, trousers, shirts and slippers,
besides suitable clothing for her children. How can a Parsi soldier
then manage to live and bring up his family on seven rupees a month?

Mr. Karaka ends his long and eloquent appeal with a sentence which
sounds the true keynote of the regret felt by the Parsis at being
merely compared with the natives when they felt themselves to
be morally and intellectually their superiors. Why are they not
provided with commissions in the army like the Germans and other
Europeans? [86] Then only will they feel completely identified with
the British nation. [87]

The Parsis in India are divided into two sects, the Shahanshahis and
the Kadmis. [88] When Anquetil Duperron visited India this division
already existed, and he found them "more excited against each other
than the Mahomedan sects of Omar and Ali." The Parsis, however, do
not admit this. This division has nothing to do with their faith,
and has nothing in common with the division between the Shiahs and
the Sunnis. The schism [89] has arisen simply out of a difference
of opinion concerning the exact date of computation of the era
of Yezdezard, the last king of the ancient Persian monarchy. This
division does not exist amongst the Zoroastrians who have remained
behind in their own country.

The Parsis reckon their year on a calculation of three hundred and
sixty-five days, each month consisting of thirty days. Their year
commences with the month of Farvardin, and ends with the month of
Spendarmad. At the end of three hundred and sixty days, five days,
called the Gathas are added. The period of five hours and fifty-four
seconds does not enter into their computation. The old Persians,
therefore, in order to make their calculation agree with the
solar year, had made at the end of every hundred and twenty years
an intercalation or Kabisa, that is to say, they added one month
to that period. The Persian Zoroastrians, after the loss of their
independence, either through ignorance or simple forgetfulness, had
ceased to practise this Kabisa, whilst the Parsis had continued this
intercalation during their residence in Khorassan. Hence the origin
of the sects with which we have to deal.

In 1720 [90] Jamasp Vilayati, a learned Zoroastrian from Persia,
settled in Surat to advise the Mobeds, and it was he who discovered
that his co-religionists of India were one month behind their Iranian
brethren. Little importance however was attached to this fact. But
in 1746 another Iranian, Jamshed, and some Mobeds adopted the date
accepted by the Persian Zoroastrians, and took the name of Kadmis. The
rest of the community were called Shahanshahis, and preserved the
ancient system. Little by little the number of the adherents of
Jamshed increased. Now it should be noticed that it was in Surat that
this schism among the Parsis first took place, and for some time the
harmonious relations between the two did not suffer by it. But two
respectable men, Mancherji Kharshedji Seth, of the Shahanshahi sect,
and Dhanjisha Manjisha, of the Kadmi sect, managed literally to ignite
the powder in spite of their benevolent intentions. In order to get
some enlightenment Dhanjisha Manjisha sent to Persia at his own expense
a priest from Bharooch, Kavas Rustam Jalal. Born at Bharooch in 1733,
this man was well versed in the Arabic and Persian languages. For
twelve years he remained in Persia and Turkey, visited Yezd, Ispahan,
Shiraz, and Constantinople, and returned to Surat in 1780. During his
sojourn in Persia he had obtained an audience with Kerim Khan. Some
months before his return Dhanjisha Manjisha had come to Bombay, and
had there founded the Kadmi sect under the auspices of Dadiseth,
one of the most influential men of the time. Mulla Kavas followed
his patron to Bombay and was appointed Dastoor of the Atash-Behram
erected by Dadiseth himself (Dadibhai Nasarwanji) for the Kadmi sect,
which he consecrated on the 29th of September, 1783. The following
year he quitted Bombay and settled in Hyderabad, in the Deccan, where
he was honoured with the friendship of the Nizam. He remained there
till his death, which took place in 1802 (Parsee Prakash, p. 92).

The Kadmi sect continued to flourish in Bombay, when, at the
commencement of the century, rose the great dispute of the Kabisa, that
is to say, the famous month by which the Kadmis were in advance of the
Shahanshahis (Parsee Prakash, pp. 62, 198, 863, 867, &c.). Mulla Firoz,
[91] son of Mulla Kavas, and another distinguished priest, Fardunji
Marazbanji, constituted themselves the champions of the Kadmi sect,
while the mass of the people, guided by Kharshedji Manockji Shroff,
grouped themselves under the patronage of the pious Dastoor of the
Shahanshahis, Edulji Dorabji Sanjana, [92] and clung to the date
observed by the Parsis since their arrival in India. Meetings were
organised to which learned Moguls were invited, in order to offer
explanations, and, if possible, to terminate the discussion. The
newspapers were full of virulent articles, pamphlets appeared in great
numbers, and the people in some cases seemed disposed to settle the
question by the right of might, an irrefutable argument.

The Shahanshahis maintained that the Zoroastrian religion admitted a
month's intercalation at the end of a period of 120 years, and that at
the time of the fall of the Persian Empire there had indeed been one
intercalation during their sojourn in Khorassan, but once they were
in India this usage had been abandoned; hence the backwardness by one
month from the computation of the Kadmis. The latter declared on the
other hand that the intercalation was forbidden in the Zoroastrian
calendar, that it was only meant for political emergencies, and that
this mode of calculation had never been practised in Khorassan.

Modern learning has brought this vexed question within its true
limits. Mr. Kharshedji Rustamji Kama, of the Kadmi sect, known by
his study of the Zoroastrian religion, has proved, or rather has
attempted to prove, in a work on the computation of Yezdezard, that
the Shahanshahis and the Kadmis were both in error (1870). The Kadmis
were wrong in denying that the Parsee new year commenced on the 21st of
March, for from a more exact knowledge of the language of the Avesta,
and the deciphering of Pehlvi coins, it is demonstrated that the
Zoroastrian religion admitted the intercalation; and the Shahanshahis
were equally wrong, for, since the downfall of the Persian Empire,
there had been no intercalation as they affirmed. The opinion of
the Kadmis, in accordance with the date accepted by the Zoroastrians
of Persia, which proves that there had been no intercalation after
the fall of the national dynasty, is absolutely correct; but as the
intercalation was not ordered by the Zoroastrian religion, it appears
that both sides were wrong in the controversy of the Kabisa.

The greatest disputes had arisen from this religious quarrel; scenes
of surprising violence had resulted from it. For instance, in Bharooch
(1782-1783) a certain Homaji Jamshedji had struck a pregnant woman and
been condemned to death; others got off with mere fines. In the heat
of the disputes families became divided; marriages between Kadmis and
Shahanshahis were very rare. [93] At present most of the difficulties
have been smoothed down. It happens sometimes that the husband and
wife belong to different sects; in that case the children invariably
belong to the father's sect. There are no appreciable differences,
the pronunciation alone being at times not quite the same. Thus
Ahu, Vohu, is pronounced Ahi, Vohi among the Kadmis. There is also
some difference in certain religious ceremonies, and in certain
liturgical formulas. But the greatest divergence is in the mention
of the month and the date of the day when the worshipper is reciting
his prayers. All the feasts are observed by both the sects, but at
different dates.

The Shahanshahis are greatly superior in numbers to the Kadmis. [94]
The latter can hardly count more than ten to fifteen thousand
adherents. Many of them occupy the highest position. Mr. F. N. Patel,
the members of the Cama, Dadiseth, and Banaji families, &c., are among
them. The Shahanshahis are represented by Sir Jamshedji Jijibhoy,
Sir Dinsha Manockji Petit, and many other not less respectable names.





II


The Parsis, at the time of their arrival in India, had made some
changes in their national costume with a view to please the princes
who had received them. Thus we note the resemblance of the angarakha
and the turban of the men, and of the saris of the women, with the
dress of the Hindoos of Gujerat.

















NOTES


[1] The first mention of the Persians is made in Jeremiah xxxix. 3.

[2] Herodotus, Ctesias, Deinon, Theopompe, Hermippe, Plutarch,
Diogenes Laertius, Pliny, Strabo, Pausanias, Dion Chrysostom,
Damascius, Theodorus of Mopsuestia, &c.

[3] Mahomedan writers: Firdousi, Mirkhoud, Tabari, Masoudi,
Shahrastani, Dimisqhi, Ibn Fozlan, &c. Armenian writers: Eznik,
Elisee, &c.

[4] The cuneiform Achaemenian inscriptions found in Persia and in
other places, deciphered and published by Grotefend, Burnouf, Lassen,
Rawlinson, Norris, Spiegel, de Saulcy, Oppert, Menant, Kossowicz,
&c., &c.

[5] Arrien, Expedition d'Alexandre, liv. iii., cxxii.

[6] Weil, Geschichte der Khalifen nach handschrift, Grosstentheils
Quellen, &c., &c., ch. ii. pp. 54 et seq.; Mannheim, 1864. Caussin
de Perceval, Histoire des Arabes, liv. ix. p. 400, 1848. Malcolm,
Hist. of Persia, from the most early period to the present time,
vol. i. c. vi. p. 170, London, MDCCCXV.

[7] "Quadesyeh--A place celebrated for the battles fought there between
the Mussulmans and the Persians. (The town of Elkadder, not far from
Kerbela, marks the old site of Kadesia. As to Koufah a collection of
ruins marks the site of the capital of the Caliphate, which is said to
have been as great as Babylon.) It is about fifteen farsakhs from
Koufah and four miles from Ozhaib; longitude, 69 deg.; latitude, 31 deg. 2'
3''. It was in the year 16 of the Hejira, under the Caliphate of Omar
ben Khatthab, that the Mussulmans, commanded by Sa'd ben Abi Waqqas,
fought against the infidels. During the action, Sa'd had withdrawn into
the castle ("There was at Ozhaib a castle belonging to the Persians
called Qodais, whence, it is said, the name Quadesyeh. Sa'd occupied it
with his harem, as he was suffering from gout, and could neither sit
nor ride. Lying on the top of this fortress he watched his army, and
some men posted below transmitted his military orders and arrangements"
(Merasid) (See Essai sur l'Histoire des Arabes by Caussin de Perceval,
iii. 481-485, and Weil, Gesch. der Chal. i. pp. 65 et seq.) to watch
the movements of his troops. This step was regarded as a proof of
cowardice, and a Mussulman in the army composed the following verses
against him (thawil metre):--


    "Seest thou not that God has sent us the victory, whilst Sa'd
      is hiding behind the gates of Quadesyeh?
    He was thinking then of increasing his family and of making
      his wives mothers, for the wives of Sa'd know not
      the privations of celibacy."


Another poet, Bischer ben Rebi'ah, has spoken of the battle of
Quadesyeh in these terms (same metre):--


    "My camel stopped at the gates of Quadesyeh; my chief was
      Sa'd ben (Abi) Waqqas.
    Remember (may God guide thee) our prowess near Qodais,
      and the blindness of our perfidious enemies.
    That evening many of us would willingly have borrowed
      the wings of the birds to fly away,
    When their battalions advanced one after another against us,
      like unto moving mountains.
    With my sword I threw their ranks into disorder, and my lance
      dispersed them; for I am a man worthy of wielding the
      lance,
    I and my companions: Amr, father of Thawr, the martyr,
      Haschem, Qais, No'man the brave, and Djerir."


There exists a great number of poems composed in honour of this
battle, one of the most celebrated, and fraught with the greatest
blessings for the Mussulmans. Omar having written to Sa'd to ask for
some information regarding the position of Quadesyeh, the latter
sent him the following:--"Quadesyeh is situated between the moat
and el-'Atiq (the canal of the Euphrates). On its left is the sea,
a sort of bay, whence lead two roads to Hirah: the first, over high
hills; the second, over the banks of a river called Khousous, which
passes out between Khawarnaq and Hirah; on its right are numerous
streams which water the country. All the tribes who have made peace
with the Mussulmans before my arrival tremble before the Persians,
and are ready to assist me." The historians of the first conquests
divide this affair at Quadesyeh into four battles. The first is called
the battle of Ermath; the second, the battle of Aghwath; the third,
the battle of Amas; the evening preceding the fourth, they called
the evening of Herir or of the storm; and the last, the battle of
Quadesyeh. The celebrated Rustam, son of Farrokh-Zad, lost his life
in this battle, and the Persians could not replace this skilful
general. (Dictionnaire geographique, historique et litteraire de la
Perse et des Contrees adjacentes, taken from the Mo'd'jem el-Bouldan
of Yaqout, &c. Trans. Barbier de Meynard, Paris, 1861, p. 432.)

[8] Malcolm, Hist. of Persia, vol. i. ch. vi. p. 174. Weil, Geschichte
der Chalifen, ch. ii. pp. 54 et seq. Caussin de Perceval, Histoire des
Arabes, bk. x. pp. 481 et seq. Masoudi, Prairies d'or, trans. Barbier
de Meynard, c. lxxvi. p. 207. Tabari, trans. H. Zotenburg, part
iv. ch. xli. pp. 385 et seq.

[9] Nehawend.--A large town about three days' journey from Hamadan,
in the direction of the qiblah (south-west). Aboul-Moundher Hischam
says it received this name because it was found wholly built, and in
the same condition as at present. Others carry back its foundation to
Noah, and think that its present name is an abbreviation of Nouh-Awend
or Nouh-Wand, that is to say, the city of Noah. Hamzah thinks that its
old name was Nouha-Wend, which means "the well multiplied." Nehawend
is situated in the fourth climate, 72 deg. longitude and 36 deg. latitude;
it is one of the oldest cities of Djebal. It was conquered about
the year 19 or 20 of the Hejira. Abou Bekr el-Hodhaili, relying
upon the testimony of Mohammed, son of Hasan, says: "The battle of
Nehawend was fought in the year 21, under the Caliphate of Omar, son
of Khatthab. The Mussulmans were commanded by No'man ben Mokarren
el-Mouzeni; this general had under him Hodhaifah, son of Yemani,
Djerir ben 'Abd Allah, el-Moghairah ben Scha'bah and el-Asch'ath ben
Qais." When No'man, who was one of the companions of the Prophet,
was killed, the commandership passed into the hands of Hodhaifah;
it was this chief who concluded the peace, as we attribute it to the
word Mah-Dinar. This is what el-Moubarek ben Saib, who derived this
information from his father, relates: "Nehawend was taken by the army
of Koufah, and Dinewer by the troops of Basrah. As the population
of Koufah had considerably increased, some of its inhabitants were
obliged to emigrate into the countries newly pacified and subject to
Kharadj. It is thus that they came to inhabit Dinewer. The province
of Koufah was received in exchange for Nehawend, which was annexed to
the province of Ispahan, the remainder of Kharadj being taken off from
Dinewer and Nehawend. It was in the reign of Mo'awiah ben Abi Soufian
that Nehawend was called Mah-el-Basrah and Dinewer Mah-el-Koufah. The
Persians, before the battle of Nehawend, had gathered together
considerable troops; it is said that their army numbered about
150,000 men commanded by Firouzan. After this important battle,
which was called the 'Victory of Victories,' the resistance of the
Persians became less and less. The most accredited opinion is that
these events took place during the fifth year of Omar's Caliphate,
the year 19 of the Hejira." (Cf. Essai sur l'Histoire des Arabes,
by Caussin de Perceval, vol. iii. p. 491, and the Annales of Abou'l
Feda, ed. of Reiske, vol. i. p. 242. See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog.,
hist., &c., p. 573.)

[10] Malcolm, Hist. of Persia, vol. i. ch. vi. p. 176. G. Weil,
Geschichte der Chalifen, &c., ch. ii. p. 54. Masoudi, Prairies d'or,
trans. Barbier de Meynard, ch. lxxvi. p. 233. Tabari, trans. Zotenberg,
part iv. ch. xlvii. p. 467.

[11] Khorassan--A large country stretching from Iraq (Persian)
to Azadwar (the chief town of the province of Djouein) and to
Beihaq. It is bounded on the side of India (on the south and east) by
Thokharistan, Ghaznee, Sedjestan, and Kirman. It contains fine cities,
such as Nisabour, Merve, which has been the capital of Balk, Herat,
Thaleqan, Nesa, Abiwerd, Serakhs, and other large cities situate
on this side of the river Oxus. Some geographers have placed the
provinces of Kharezm and a part of Transoxiana in Khorassan, but that
is an error.... When Islam appeared in the world, the Khorassanians,
by a quite special favour of Providence, eagerly welcomed it. They
accepted without opposition the peace offered them; hence they were
subjected to a light tax only, and escaped being massacred or made
prisoners. The conquest itself took place in the eighteenth year of
the Hejira. 'Omar ben Khattab sent into Khorassan El-Ahnef ben Qais,
who in a short time took possession successively of the two Thabes,
Herat, Merv esch-Schahidjan and Nisabour, after having forced the
Persian king Yezdezard, son of Schahriar, to take refuge in Transoxiana
with the Khan of the Turks. (See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist.,
&c., p. 197.)

[12] This town is situated on an arm of the sea, communicating with
Fars. It serves as a port to Kirman, and it is there that vessels
from India deposit the merchandise destined for Kirman, Sedjestan,
and Khorassan. Some authors write and pronounce it Hormouz. (See
B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., p. 595.)

Mohammed Medjdi gives some historical details concerning the old town
and island of Hormuz up to the time of the conquest of Albuquerque
(1514): "The town of Hormuz is situated in the second climate, and
the heat there is excessive. Founded by Ardeschir Babegan, it was
abandoned (in 715) by King Schems ed-din, who feared the attacks of the
neighbouring brigands. This king built another town in the island of
Djeroun, about one farsakh from the coast, and kept for it the name of
Hormuz. For a hundred and twenty years the Franks have exercised there
an absolute power. Its governor, Nour ed-Din, having conceived the
fatal idea of asking their assistance when in a difficult situation,
allowed them a tenth part of its revenue. In a short time they so
skilfully usurped the authority that the king and the vezir of the
country had not the least share in the government." (Zinet, chapter
ix.) Before the Portuguese conquest, this island, tributary to Persia
and annexed to Kirman, paid an annual contribution of sixty thousand
dinars. (Nouzhet, fol. 670. See also the Arabic text of Abou'l Feda,
p. 339, and the Voyages of Ibn Batoutah, Vol. ii. p. 230.) B. de
Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., p. 595 (note).

[13] See Translation from the Persian of Kissah-i-Sanjan, or
History of the Arrival and Settlement of the Parsees in India, by
E. B. Eastwick, in the Journal of the Bombay Branch, Royal Asiatic
Society, vol. i. p. 167. As for us, we have followed the order of
events, such as it is presented by Mr. B. B. Patell in his admirable
work, the Parsee Prakash, and the interesting resume of Mr. Dosabhai
Framji Karaka. See Bomanji Byramji Patell, Parsee Prakash, being
a record of important events in the growth of the Parsee community
in Western India, chronologically arranged from the date of their
immigration into India to the year 1860 A.D., vol. in 4to, Bombay,
1878-1888, 1,053 pages (in Gujerati), and Dosabhai Framji Karaka,
History of the Parsis, 2 vols. in 8vo, London, 1884.

[14] Diu--Portuguese possession--latitude, 20 deg. 43' 20'' North;
longitude, 71 deg. 2' 30'' East--at the entrance of the Gulf of Cambay,
to the south of the Gujerat Peninsula. Its length from east to west
is six miles and a half, and its greatest extent from north to south
is one mile. It has a small but very fine harbour. The climate is
dry and stifling, the soil barren, water scarce, and agriculture
much neglected. Its principal products are wheat, millet, nachni,
bajri, cocoanut, and some kinds of fruits. The population of Diu
consists of about 10,765 inhabitants, of whom 419 are Christians,
9,575 Hindoos, and 771 Mahomedans. At its most flourishing period
the number had risen, it is said, to nearly 50,000. Now there are
not more than 3,107 houses, very poor and uncomfortable for the most
part. In fact, the commerce of Diu is now ruined. The resources of
the inhabitants consisted formerly in weaving and dyeing; fishing
is their only occupation. Some bold minds attempt trading on the
Mozambique coast. The appearance of Diu is interesting. The fortress,
rebuilt after the siege of 1545 by Dom Joan de Castro, is imposing in
appearance. To the west, the town extends divided in two quarters,
that of the Christians and that of the Pagans. Of the fine edifices
of Diu, there still remains the college of the Jesuits turned into
the Cathedral church; of the other convents, that of Saint Francois
serves as a military hospital, and that of Saint Jean-de-Dieu as a
cemetery, while that of Saint Dominique is in ruins. (See W. W. Hunter,
Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. iii. p. 171.)

[15] Sanjan--A small village of the Thana district, formerly an
important town known to the Portuguese, and called, after them, under
the name of Saint John. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. iii. p. 174.)

[16] Damman--A Portuguese town, about one hundred miles to the north
of Bombay. Its superficial area is eighty-two square miles, comprising
the pargana of Nagar Haveli. The population consists of about 40,980
souls. The settlement is composed of two distinct parts; Damman and
the pargana of Nagar Haveli, separated by a territory belonging to
the English and by a railroad running through Bombay, Baroda, and
Central India. The town was sacked by the Portuguese in 1532, then
rebuilt by the natives, and re-taken by the Portuguese in 1558, and
made by them one of their settlements in India. They have converted the
mosque into a church, and have built eight others. Commerce flourished
there before the fall of the Portuguese power in India, and extended
even as far as the African coasts, where ships carried the cotton
stuffs manufactured at Damman. From 1817 to 1837 the trade in opium,
brought from Karachi and imported into China, was prosperous; but since
the conquest of Sind by the English the transport of opium has been
prohibited, and Damman has thus been deprived of its greatest source
of wealth. The soil is moist and fertile, specially in the pargana
of Nagar Haveli; rice, wheat, and tobacco are grown there; but in
spite of the facilities for agriculture, only a twentieth part of
the territory is cultivated. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. iii. p. 21.)

[17] The Parsis call him Jade Rana; Dr. Wilson suggests that he
was doubtless Jayadeva or Vana Raja of Anahillawada, who reigned in
Gujerat from 745 to 806.

[18] There are several manuscripts of the "Slokas" in Sanscrit and in
Gujerati. In the Indian Antiquary, p. 214 (July 5, 1872), we find a
version of it, according to the translation prepared by Dastoor Hoshang
Jamasp, the High Priest at Poona. The author compares it to another
more ancient one, then in the hands of Dr. Wilson, and points out
numerous divergences; besides, according to Dr. Wilson himself, there
are no two manuscripts, either in Gujerati or in Sanscrit, similar
in wording, though identical so far as the substance is concerned.

[19] Cambay--Capital of the country of that name, a province of
Gujerat, down the Gulf of Cambay, to the north of the estuary
of the Mahi. Population (1872) 33,709. (See Imp. Gaz. of India,
vol. ii. p. 334.)

[20] Ankleswar--Capital of the subdivision of that name in the district
of Bharooch. Population (1872) 9,414 inhabitants. (See Imp. Gaz. of
India, vol. i. p. 203.)

[21] Thana--A British District in the Bombay Presidency. The territory,
which formed part of the States of the Peishwa, was annexed by
the English Government in 1818 on the overthrow of Baji-Rao. The
population is 847,424 inhabitants (1872), including 3,920 Parsis. Thana
is 26 miles north of Bombay. It possesses a station and a port. (See
Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. ix. p. 34.)

[22] Some Parsis who, since their arrival in India, in 636, had
remained in the south of Gujerat, were attracted to the temple of
Kumarika Kshetra, on the mouth of the Mahi (tenth century). These
new-comers succeeded in commerce, and were followed by others, so that
the Parsi element became sufficiently strong to drive the Hindoos
from the town. Amongst those who fled there was a certain Kalianrai
who, taking refuge in Surat, acquired a great fortune by trading in
pearls. His wealth gained him some importance; so that he gathered
together a band of Rajputs and Kolis, who attacked the Parsis one
night, set fire to their houses, and put some to the sword; the rest
took to flight. Kalianrai then formed a project to build a town on the
ruins of the Parsi colony. (See Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency.)

[23] The translation of the first inscription is due to Mr. K. R. Cama
in his Studies of the Zoroastrian Religion (vol. iii. p. 160); and
the second to Mr. M. S. Watcha, in the collection entitled Zarthoshti
Abhyas (vol. iv. p. 212). (See Parsee Prakash, p. 2.)

[24] Naosari--A town in the territory of the Gaekwar of Baroda, on
the banks of the Pourna, 12 miles from the sea, 18 from Surat, and 149
from Bombay. Lat. 22 deg. 7' N.; long. 73 deg. 40' E. The population in 1872
amounted to 14,700 inhabitants. Naosari is a very flourishing town;
its prosperity depending on the Parsi colony. (See Imp. Gaz. of India,
vol. vii. p. 179.)

[25] Sari--A fallen town of Thabarestan (Mazanderan). It was here,
says Beladori, that the Governor of the province under the Taherides
resided. The author of the Nouzhet, to indicate the great antiquity
of this place, attributes its foundation to Thahomurs. (See also
B. de Meynard, Dict, geo., hist., &c., p. 295.) It is a ruined
city. According to Fraser it had a population of 30,000 inhabitants
towards the commencement of the century. D'Anville and Rennell have
tried to identify Sari with the ancient Zadra-Karta, the greatest
city of Hyrcania, where the army of Alexander stopped to sacrifice
to the gods. It was here that the great achievements of the heroic
times of Persia are supposed to have been accomplished. Feridoon,
the legendary hero of the Persians, is supposed to be buried under
the threshold of a mosque, which is erected on the site of a Fire
Temple. Sari is surrounded by immense gardens, and the country around
is covered with mulberry trees, cotton plants, sugar cane, and rice
fields. It has a port on the Caspian Sea, at the mouth of the Tedjun,
called Farahabad, the abode of joy, founded by Shah 'Abbas. Pietro
della Valle speaks of it as the principal city of Mazanderan.

[26] Westergaard, Zend-Avesta, p. 304.

[27] Bharooch--A British District in the Bombay Presidency; population
350,332 souls (1872). There are about 3,116 Parsis there, nearly
all traders or agriculturists. Its capital on the Nerbudda has a
population of 36,932 inhabitants. The English had a factory there
since 1616; they took possession of Bharooch in 1703. The Parsis must
have settled there since the eleventh century; many quitted Bharooch
for Bombay. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. ii. pp. 224 et seq.)

[28] See Voyages en Asie du Frere Odoric de Pordenone, religieux
de Saint Francois. Edited and annotated by M. H. Cordier, p. 82,
Paris, 1891.

[29] Thana was abandoned for over three centuries. In 1774 the Parsis
returned and took possession of it, according to the terms of a treaty
concluded with a Maratha Sardar, Ragunathrao Dada Saheb. Kavasji
Rastamji, of Bombay, accompanied them, and he was entrusted with
the office of patel in the following places: Charnibanda, Munpesar,
Trombay, Muth, Murve, Manori, Vesava, Danda, Bandora, Kalyan, Bhimardi,
and other places in the island of Salsette.

[30] Dr. Wilson (J.B.B.R.A.S., 1,182) has suggested that the Mahmood
Shah of the Kissah-i-Sanjan was Mahmood Begada, who reigned over
Gujerat from 1459-1513. The mention of Champaner (A fort and village
in the Panch-Mahals district, situated on an isolated rock of great
height. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. ii. p. 375.))  as his capital
seems to indicate that the author of the Kissah-i-Sanjan thought that
the Mussulman prince was the famous Mahmood Begada. But the conquest
of Gujerat by Alp Khan was so complete that it leaves no doubt that
Sanjan fell into his hands. The conqueror might possibly, though
less likely, be Mahmood Shah Tughlik, who re-conquered Gujerat and
the Thana coast in 1348, and not Mahmood Begada, as the authorities
agree in saying that, after long wanderings, the Fire was brought
from Sanjan to Naosari about the beginning of the fifteenth century
(1419). Alp Khan may be either Ulugh Khan, Ala-ud-din's brother,
who is sometimes called by mistake Alp Khan, or he may be Alp Khan,
Ala-ud-din's brother-in-law. Ulugh Khan conquered Gujerat (1295-1297)
and Alp Khan governed it (1300-1320). The Alp Khan of the text was
doubtless Ulugh Khan. (Elliot, iii. 157, 163.) (See Gazetteer of the
Bombay Presidency.)

[31] In 1839, when Dr. J. Wilson visited Sanjan, he found only one or
two Parsi families there. The ruins of a dokhma constructed before
400 are still to be seen, but there is not a single Parsi to be
found there.

[32] Bansdah.--A tributary State (in the province of Gujerat) bounded
on the north and west by the Surat district, on the south east by
the Baroda State, on the east by the Dang States, and on the south by
the State of Dharampoor. The capital contains 2,321 inhabitants. (See
Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. ii. pp. 401-2.)

[33] A New Account of East India and Persia, in Eight Letters, from
1672-1681, by John Fryer, in 1698. Letter ii. p. 67.

[34] This dokhma still exists on the Malabar Hill. It was built in
1670 by Modi Hirji Watcha, an ancestor of the Watcha Ghandi family.

[35] Renan has summarised, in these few terse lines, the long
dissertations in the Sixth Book, tenth chapter, of the Praeparatio
Evangelica of Eusebius. (See Marcus Aurelius, ch. xxiv. pp. 439-440.)

[36] See Malcolm, Hist. of Persia, vol. i. ch. viii. p. 275 et seq.

[37] Shah Abbas the Great, desirous of increasing the commerce of
Ispahan, caused 1,500 Guebre families to come and settle outside
the town on this side of the river Zenderoud. Under Abbas II. they
quitted Gehr-Abad and returned to the mountains. We see in Kaempfer
that Abbas II. transported, in fact, nearly six hundred agricultural
families into the Armenian Colony of Sulpha, or Sjulfa, founded by
his ancestor, and which to the south bordered on the quarters of the
Guebres. (Amaenitates exoticae, &c., p. 164, Lemgoviae, 1712.)

[38] The Parsis, their History, Manners, Customs, and Religion,
ch. ii. pp. 31 et seq., London, 1884.

[39] In fifteen years the number has risen by 18 per cent., or 1
1/5 per cent. per year; thus, in February, 1878, there were 1,341
Zoroastrians in Kirman; in August, 1879, the number had risen to 1,378,
viz., an increase of 1 4/5 per cent.

[40] A. Houtum-Schindler. Die Parsen in Persien, ihre Sprache und
einige ihrer Gebraeuche. (See Z. D. M. G., 36 ter Band, pp. 54 et
seq., Leipzig, 1882.) Dupre (1807-1809) and Kinneir (1810) register
the number of Zoroastrians in Persia, and put it down at 4,000
families. Trezel (1807-9) raises it to 8,000 Guebres in Yezd and in
the neighbouring villages; Christie (1819) and Fraser (1821) count
about 3,000 families in all Persia; Abbot (1845) lowers the number to
800 families in Yezd and in the surrounding places. Petermann (1854)
counts 3,000 families, of whom 1,200 men are in Yezd; Goldsmid (1865),
4,500 Guebres in Yezd and Kirman; and finally Capt. Evan Smith (1870)
3,800 families.

[41] Two young officers of the Indian Army have lately attempted
to cross the frightful solitudes of Dusht-i-Kavir. (See Proc. of
the R.G.S., November, 1891, and Asiatic Quarterly Review, October,
1891.) Dush-i-Sut has been more easy to explore, although the danger
is not less, owing to the clouds of sand raised by the winds.

[42] Yezd.--"Yezd enjoys a temperate climate. It is surrounded by
canals and aqueducts which carry the water into the interior of the
town. There are constructed there reservoirs and cisterns, structures
as remarkable as those which are seen at Kaschan. Most of the houses
and edifices, although built of raw bricks, are of great solidity;
besides, the rainfall is very scarce in that country. The town is well
built and very clean, because care is taken to have the rubbish removed
every day from it, which rubbish is used to manure the fields. Wheat,
cotton, and silk are produced there, but the wheat is not abundant
enough to suffice for food, and some wheat is therefore imported from
Kirman and Schiraz, so that its price is somewhat high. Among the
fruits of Yezd are praised figs, called misqali, and pomegranates. The
inhabitants, formerly Schafeites, belong now to the Schiite sect;
they are almost all weavers, and are known for their honesty and by
their gentleness, which degenerates even into weakness. Hamd Allah
Mustofi, while doing justice to the loyalty of the merchants, accuses
the brokers of that town of intolerable arrogance and pride." (Zinet
el-Medjalis). (Cf. Nouzhet, fol. 602.) See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog.,
hist., &c., p. 611, note 1.

During nearly two centuries the governors (atabegs) of Yezd, like those
of Lauristan, maintained their independence; but in the thirteenth
century Ghazan Khan supplanted them. As for the modern travellers who
have visited those regions, this is what is known of them: Marco Polo
traversed Yezd in 1272, the monk Odoric in 1325, and Josafa Barbaro
in 1474. It was then a city surrounded with walls nearly five miles
in circumference, and well known by its silk trade. Tavernier, in the
seventeenth century, stayed there for three days, enough to make him
extol the fruits and the beauty of the women of that place; similarly
in the nineteenth century the European savants made acquaintance with
that region. Christie, having left Pottinger in Baloochistan, traversed
it while returning from Herat (1810). (See A. Dupre (1808), Voyage in
Persia, vol. ii. ch. xlii.; Dr. A. Petermann (1854), Reisen im Orient,
vol. ii. ch. xii. pp. 203 et seq.; N. de Khamkoff (1859), Memoir,
pp. 200-204; A. H. Schindler (1879), Zeit. f. Gesell d. Erd. zu Berlin;
Curzon (1889), Persia, vol. ii. ch. xxiii. pp. 238-243, London, 1892.)

[43] Kerman--The word is written sometimes Kirman; but the first
pronunciation seems more correct. It is a vast and populated
country, situate in the third climate; longitude 90 deg., latitude
30 deg. It contains a great number of districts, towns, and
boroughs. Its boundaries are: To the east, Mokran and the desert
which extends between Mokran and the sea, near the country of the
Belouth (Beloochees); to the west, Fars; to the north, the deserts
of Khorassan and Sedjestan; to the south, the sea of Fars. On the
frontier of Sirdjan, Kirman makes an angle and advances into the
boundaries of Fars; it has also a bend on its southern sides. Kirman
is rich in palm-trees, corn, cattle, and beasts of burden; it offers
an analogy to the province of Basrah by the number of its rivers and
the fertility of its territory. This is what has been said by Mahomed
bin Ahmed el-Beschari: "Kerman participates in the natural qualities
of Fars; it resembles by its productions the country of Basrah, and it
has also some analogical reference to Khorassan. In fact, its sides are
washed by the sea; it unites the advantages of hot and cold climates;
it produces the nut-tree and the palm-tree, and yields in abundance
the two best species of dates, and produces the most varied trees and
fruits. Its principal cities are, Djiraft, Menouqan, Zarend, Bemm,
Sirdjan (or Schiradjan), Nermasir, and Berdesir. Tutenag (toutia) is
collected there and is imported in large quantities. The inhabitants
are virtuous, honest, and much attached to Sunnism and orthodoxy. But
a great part of this country is depopulated and ruined, on account of
the different masters who possessed it, and the tyrannical domination
of its Sultans. For many years, instead of having been governed by
a particular dynasty, it has been administered by governors who have
had no other occupation than to amass wealth and to make it pass into
Khorassan. Now, this emigration of the resources of a country to the
profit of another is one of the surest causes of its ruin; besides,
the presence of a king and a court contributes much to the prosperity
of a State. The epoch of the glory and splendour of Kerman reaches to
the reign of the Seldjouqide dynasty, and during that happy period,
a great number of foreigners fixed their residence there." See B. de
Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., pp. 482 et seq.

Among the modern travellers who have visited Kirman since the
commencement of the century, see Sir H. Pottinger (1810), Travels in
Beloochistan, cap. x.; N. de Khanikoff (1859), Memoirs, pp. 186-198;
Curzon (1889), Persia, vol. ii. ch. xxii. pp. 243-246.

[44] In 1878 the numbers were 39,718 Mussalmans, 1,341 Parsis,
85 Jews, and 26 Hindoos, which gives a total of 41,170 souls. The
Hindoos are Mussulmans who have come for the most part from Scind and
Shikarpur. Some have established at Bahramabad some great commercial
firms.

[45] Malcolm, History of Persia, vol. ii. ch. xxi. p. 271.

[46] It is reported that the conqueror caused to be presented to
himself on dishes 35,000 pairs of eyes! Thirty thousand women and
children were reduced to slavery.... It is at Bam, a small village
140 miles to the south-east of Kirman, that Luft Ali Khan was made
a prisoner and delivered over to his enemy who, with his own hands,
tore out his eyes before causing him to perish. Sir H. Pottinger saw,
in 1810, a trophy of 600 skulls raised in honour of the victory of
Aga Mohammed.

[47] See Dieulafoy, Acropole de Suse, &c. Appendix, The Human Races
of Persia, pp. 87 and following. See also Duhousset, The Populations
of Persia, pp. 4-7; N. de Khanikoff, Ethnography of Persia, pp. 19,
47, 50, 56, &c.

[48] According to General Houtum-Schindler (see Memoir already cited,
pp. 82-84), the hairs of the Zoroastrians are smooth and thick,
generally black, or of a dark brown colour; one seldom meets with
a clear brown colour, never with the red. In Kirman some beards do
assume this colour, but they incline rather to the yellowish. The
eyes are black, or of an intense brown, sometimes grey or blue,
the eyebrows habitually thick and well furnished among men, delicate
and well shaped among women. The complexion is generally tawny; the
cheeks are  only among some women. The inhabitants of the
cities are pale in appearance, and not robust; those of the towns
are robust and well proportioned. We regret not to be able to insert
certain types sent for us from Yezd, the printing of this work being
too far advanced to enable us to make use of them.

[49] Malcolm, History of Persia, vol. i. ch. xv. pp. 607 et seq.

[50] Hanway, vol. ii. p. 153.

[51] Malcolm, History of Persia, vol. i. ch. xv. p. 642.--The chief
of one of the corps of Guebres at the siege of Ispahan was called by
the Mussulman name of Nasser-ullah. Hanway considers him as a Parsi
or Guebre.

[52] Letter from Prof. W. to the Rev. Dr. Wilson, written in 1843,
in Journ. As. of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. viii., 1846, p. 350.

[53] We cannot recount here odious details which a single word will
characterise: they were veritable dragonnades.

[54] General Houtum-Schindler ascertained that, before the abolition of
the Jazia, the position of the Guebres was good enough, and infinitely
better than that of the Jews at Teheran, Kaschan, Shiraz, and Bushire,
whilst at Yezd and in Kirman, on the contrary, the position of the
Jews was preferable. The hardships endured were very cruel. (See
Houtum-Schindler, Memoir already cited, p. 57.) Here are the principal
grievances of the Guebres: they were threatened with forced conversion;
property belonging to a Zoroastrian family was confiscated for the
use and profit of the proselytes, in disregard to the rights of the
legitimate heirs; property newly acquired was susceptible of being
burdened with taxes for the benefit of the "Mullas" up to a fifth of
its value; there was a prohibition against building new houses and
repairing old ones; the Guebres could not put on new or white coats,
nor could they ride on horseback; the traders had to submit to taxes
in addition to the Government duties of the custom house; and finally
the murder of a Zoroastrian was not punished, and often sanctuaries
were invaded and profaned.

[55] It is well to notice that the Persian Government, very careful to
please the ambassadors of the European and Christian courts, accords
voluntarily its protection to the natives who are in the neighbourhood
of the capital; but this protection ceases in the provinces where there
prevails the rule of local governors maintained by the fanaticism of
the inhabitants.

[56] The Parsees: their History, Manners, Customs, and Religion,
ch. ii. pp. 49 et seq.

[57] The members of the committee were: Messrs. Maneckji Nasarwanji
Petit, Rastamji Nusserwanji Wadia, Merwanji Framji Panday, Kavasji
Ardesir Sahair.

[58] For the negotiations on the subject of the Jazia, see Parsee
Prakash, pp. 659-662.

[59] Messrs. Naorozji Fardunji, Dadabhoy Naorozji, Ardeshir Kharshedji
Wadia, Dr. Rastamji Kavasji Bahadurji.

[60] Here is a translation of the text of the firman relieving the
Zoroastrians of Persia from the impost of the "Jazia":

"In consideration of the innumerable benedictions which it has pleased
the Almighty to accord to us, and as an act of grace towards Him who
has given us the Royal Crown of Persia, with the means of promoting the
welfare of its inhabitants, has devolved on us the duty of securing
tranquillity and happiness for all our subjects, to whatever tribe,
community, or religion they belong, so that they may be profited and
refreshed by the beneficent waters of our special favour.

"Amongst these are the Zoroastrians of Yezd and Kirman, who are
descended from the ancient and noble race of Persia, and it is now our
desire to make their peace and well-being more complete than before.

"That is why, by this royal firman, we ordain and command that the
taxes and imposts of the Crown, levied previously on our Musulman
subjects of Yezd and Kirman, may be recovered in the same way from the
Zoroastrians who reside there. In this manner the impost which exacts
from this community the sum of eight hundred and forty-five tomans,
is abolished, and in the commencement of this propitious year of the
Horse, we make an abatement of this sum and free the Zoroastrians from
it for ever. We therefore order and command our mustaufis and officers
of the debt of the Royal Exchequer to remove it from the revenues which
have to be paid in by Yezd and Kirman. The governors now in office,
or who will be nominated subsequently at the head of these provinces,
ought to consider all right to the payment of this tribute abolished
for ever, and, as regards the present year, and the following years,
if this sum should happen to be exacted, they will be held responsible
and will be punished for it. Moreover, in the tribute of the tithes and
imposts on water and land, and for all trade duties, the Zoroastrians
must be treated in the same manner as our other subjects.

"Given at Teheran, in the month of Ramzan, 1299 (August, 1882), &c."

[61] The Committee has now a fund of 275,000 Rs. (646,250 francs) made
up of subscriptions and of gifts made on the occasion of marriages
or after the death of relatives, at the Uthamna ceremony of the third
day. Out of these funds are supported twelve schools, opened in 1882
in Teheran, Yezd, and Kirman.

[62] Mr. Maneckji Limji Antaria is dead, but his successor is not
less zealous. The present president is Sir Dinsha Maneckji Petit,
and the honorary secretary Mr. Bomanji Byramji Patell.

[63] We reserve for a subsequent work certain documents which we have
been able to collect on the subject of the Zoroastrian communities
of Persia.

[64] Originally the affairs of the three establishments of the East
India Company, in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, were administered
separately, each with a president and a council formed of agents
of the Company. The name of Presidency was applied to the whole
territory subject to this authority. This expression has no longer
its real signification; however, it is still employed in official
acts. British India is no longer divided into presidencies, but into
provinces, eight of which are very extensive countries, having separate
governments. The presidencies of Bombay and Madras are to-day only
the provinces of those names.

[65] Its territory extends from latitude 28 deg. 47' to 13 deg. 53' N.,
and from latitude 60 deg. 43' to 76 deg. 30' E. British districts, including
Sind, contain a total superficial area of 124,465 square miles, and a
population, according to the census of 1872, of 16,349,206 souls. The
Native States cover a surface of nearly 71,769 square miles, with a
population of 8,831,730 inhabitants, which gives, for the surface,
a total of 196,234 square miles, and for the population a total
of 25,180,936 inhabitants. The State of Baroda is no longer under
the direct administration of Bombay, but under that of the Supreme
Government; we may, however, consider it from the geographical point of
view as forming a part of Bombay. The Portuguese possessions of Goa,
Damman, and Diu, with a superficial area of 1,146 square miles and
a population of nearly 428,955 souls, are equally comprised in the
limits of the Presidency. See Imp. Gazetteer of India, vol. ii. p. 172
(Ed. of 1881).

[66] See for the explanation of this word, Sir John Strachey, India,
pref. and trans. of J. Harmand, chap. vi. p. 145, Paris, 1892.

[67] See Sir William Wilson Hunter, K.C.S.I., Bombay 1885 to 1890,
a study in Indian Administration. London, 1892.

[68] The whole population of India comes to 287,223,431: Brahmins,
207,731,727; aboriginal tribes, 9,280,467; Sikhs, 190,783; Jains,
1,416,633; Zoroastrians, 89,904; Buddhists, 7,131,361; Jews,
17,194; Christians, 2,284,380; Mussulmans, 58,321,164; diverse races,
42,763. See Statistical Abstract relating to British India from 1883-84
to 1892-93, 28th November, London, 1894. Distribution of Population
according to Religion, Sex and Civil Condition, &c., p. 26, No. 14.

[69] Parsis, 76,774; Hindoos, 21,440,957; Mussulmans, 4,390,995;
Christians, 170,009; Jains, 555,209; Jews, 13,547; aboriginal tribes,
292,023; Buddhists, 674; Sikhs, 912; Brahmo-Samaj, 34; diverse
races, 51. In no part of India are religions and sects so mixed up
as in the Presidency of Bombay. See Ethnology of India by Mr. Justice
Campbell, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society. Supplementary number,
vol. xxxv. pt. ii. pp. 140, &c., &c.

[70] The Zoroastrian Calendar for the year of Yezdezard 1262, 16th
September, 1892, to 15th September, 1893; printed and published at the
Bombay Vartman Press, by Muncherji Hosunji Jagosh, 1892 (Gujerati). The
tables are very carefully done; an inquisitive reader will find there
the enumeration of the Parsi population of Bombay according to the
different districts, comparisons with the previous census and remarks
on the community.

[71] See Zoroastrian Calendar, p. 126.

[72] The disproportion between the two sexes is explained by the
general custom, which does not allow the Parsi servants to bring
their wives to the cities where they are employed.

[73] Statistics of births, deaths, and marriages amongst the
Parsis of Bombay, during the last ten years, in the Journal of the
Anthropological Society of Bombay, ii., November 1, pp. 55-65.

[74] We refer to the Parsee Prakash, for all those interesting details,
those of our readers who can read and understand Gujerati.

[75] "If I have not yet replied to your letter of the 19th November,"
he writes, "it is because I desired to make special researches
concerning the strange rumour which has been spread by the Syed on
the subject of a tribe of Parsis established at Khoten, remaining
faithful to the Zoroastrian customs, and still governed by its own
kings. I can tell you that it is a legend devoid of foundation,
and that Major Rawlinson, so learned in these matters, partakes of
my view. I suppose that the Syed, seeing the prosperous condition
of his co-religionists in Bombay, imagined that in flattering your
vanity he would act on your purse. Besides, the country of Khoten is
not the terra incognita which he has depicted. I have been in touch
with the people who have sojourned there; it is a dependency of China,
inhabited by Mussulman subjects of the Empire: the only Chinese who
are there form part of the garrison. According to all that has been
said to me of Khoten and the adjacent countries, the only difficulty
I have had is to define who are the Christian traders who frequent
those markets. I think that they are Russians or Nestorian Christians."

[76] See Cabool: being a Narrative of a Journey to, and Residence in
that City in the years 1836-7-8. By the late Lieut.-Col. Sir Alexander
Burnes. London, 1842.

[77] Vivien Saint Martin, New Dictionary of Universal Geography,
vol. iii. p. 9. Paris, 1887.

[78] "Returned herself as living on the wages of shame" (see Dosabhai
Framji Karaka, Hist. of Parsis, vol. i. chap. iii. p. 99).

[79] The Parsis have never followed certain occupations, as those of
a day labourer, palanquin bearer, barber, bleacher, &c., &c.

[80] Let us note the efforts of Sir Richard Temple, Governor of Bombay
(1877-80), who, on his way to Naosari, reminded the Parsis of certain
verses of the Vendidad relating specially to agricultural or pastoral
occupations, and exhorted them to continue such traditions. Since
then a rich Parsi of Bharooch, Mr. Rastamji Maneckji, has taken
on lease from the chief of Rajpipla, a great stretch of land in
the Panch-Mahals, and has cultivated it with success. He has been
outstripped by Kavasji Framji Banaji in his beautiful domain of
Pawai. Lord Mayo has highly recognised the great importance of
agricultural studies, and in 1870 he declared that the progress
of India in riches and in civilisation depended on the progress
of agriculture. See Strachey, India, trans. Harmand, chap. ix.;
Hunter, Bombay, &c., about the question of agricultural education
(chap. vi. pp. 158, 159-166), and about the foundation of a Chair
of Agriculture at Baroda under the auspices of the Gaekwar, at the
suggestion of Lord Reay, (p. 168.)

[81] See for the army in India, Strachey, India, trans. Harmand,
chap. iii. pp. 52 et seq.; Hunter, Bombay, &c., chap. xiv. pp. 448
et seq.

[82] Dosabhai Framji Karaka, Hist. of the Parsis, vol. i. pp. 101
et seq.

[83] The enrolment of the Parsis as volunteers, to the exclusion of
the other nationalities, has reappeared since the publication of the
work of Mr. D. F. Karaka. At Quetta, at Karachi, at Poona the Parsis
are admitted freely into the corps of the European Volunteers, and
lastly (June, 1894) Mr. Dinsha Dosabhai Khambatta is enrolled as a
lieutenant in the "Poona Volunteers"; he is now a lieutenant in the
"Quetta Corps."

[84] Padamji Pestanji is the chief of the Parsi community of Poona;
since the last riots, he obtained as a reward of his services the
title of Khan Bahadur; he is a member of the Legislative Council and
has the rank of a Sirdar of the First Class in the Dekkan.

[85] "We have not the slightest hesitation in saying that the Parsis
would be found to be as good and brave soldiers as the Anglo-Saxons,
while their loyalty and attachment to the Government they are called
upon to serve would always be above suspicion" (see Hist. of the
Parsis, vol. i. chap. iii. p. 103).

[86] "For if a German or a European of another nationality can secure
a commission in the British Army, why should not a Parsee, who is
the born subject of the Queen-Empress?" (See Hist. of the Parsis,
vol. i. chap. iii. p. 104.)

[87] Opinions are divided amongst the Parsis themselves on the subject
of their nationality and position in India. The Hon. Mr. P. M. Mehta
considers them as natives to the backbone. Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji,
M.P., is of the same opinion, whilst a certain number decline to
recognise this.

[88] The name of Shahanshahi means "imperial," and that of Kadmi is
drawn from qadim, "ancient." The Shahanshahis are also called Rasmis,
from Rasm, "custom," that is to say, that which is followed in India.

[89] On this schism, see Anquetil Duperron, Zend-Avesta,
Disc. Prel. p. ccccxxvi.; Wilson, The Parsi Religion, pp. 35, 36; Haug,
Essays, pp. 57, 58. Aspandiarji Kamdin resumed the controversy of the
Kabisa in a book appearing in Surat, in 1826: A Historical Account of
the Ancient Leap-Year of the Parsis (Gujerati). Mr. K. R. Kama held,
in 1869, a series of conferences on the ancient computation of time,
and has published The Era of Yezdezard (Gujerati).

[90] This is how Anquetil Duperron relates the incidents of this
memorable struggle: (Disc. Prel. pp. cccxxvi. et seq.) "About
forty-six years ago there came from Kirman a very clever Dastoor
named Djamasp. He had been sent to re-unite the Parsis divided on the
question of the Penom, a double piece of cloth with which the Parsis,
on certain occasions, cover a part of the face. Some wished that
it should be placed on the dead, others did not like this. Djamasp
decided in favour of the latter, according to the custom of Kirman. If
this Dastoor had not made the voyage to India, this frivolous contest
would have caused streams of blood to flow.

"Djamasp is believed to have examined the Vendidad, which was
current in Gujerat. He found the Pehlvi translation of it too long
and not correct in several places. Ignorance was the predominating
vice of the Parsis of India. In order to remedy it, the Dastoor of
Kirman formed some disciples, Darab at Surat, Djamasp at Naosari,
and a third at Bharooch, to whom he taught Zend and Pehlvi. Some
time after, tired of the contradictions which he had to endure, he
returned to Kirman. The books which this Dastoor has left in India
are an exact copy of the Zend and Pehlvi Vendidad, the Feroueschi,
the translation of the Vadjerguerd, and the Nerenguestan. These two
works are in Persian, mixed with Zend, and purely on ceremonials.

"Darab, the first disciple of Djamasp, and a Dastoor Mobed perfect
in the knowledge of Zend and Pehlvi, wished to correct the Pehlvi
translation of the Vendidad and rectify some portions of the Zend Text,
which appeared to him either to have been transposed or to present
useless repetitions. He began explaining to young Parsi theologians
the works of Zoroaster, which the Mobeds read every day without
understanding them. An enslaved people who for a long time practised a
thousand ceremonies, the sense and reason of which they were ignorant
of, would naturally fall into innumerable abuses. This was what
Darab, more learned than the others, observed. The purifications were
multiplied; the Zend text was inundated with Pehlvi commentaries, often
very inconsistent. Darab at first attempted the way of instruction. But
he found a powerful adversary in the person of Manscherdji, the chief
of the party who did not like reform, and himself the son of a Mobed.

"Another subject of division animated them again, one against
the other. Darab had for his father Kaous, of whom I have spoken
before, who had received from Dastoor Djamasp the first smatterings
of astronomy, according to the principles of Oulough Beg. This
Dastoor Mobed having been perfected since then under another Parsi
come from Kirman about thirty-six years ago, showed by the Tables of
Oulough Beg that the Nao rouz (the first day of the year) ought to be
advanced by a month, and that consequently there had been an error
till then. A letter of the Dastoors of Yezd, dated the 22nd of the
month Aban, of the year 1111 of Yezdezard (1742, A.D.) and brought
by the Parsi Espendiar, confirmed the discovery of Kaous, but did
not tend to protect him from the hatred of his compatriots. It went
so far that Darab, sixteen or seventeen years ago, was obliged to
withdraw to Damann amongst the Portuguese, and Kaous to Cambay among
the English. When I arrived at Surat, almost all the Parsis of India
followed the party of Manscherdji because he was rich and powerful;
Darab, whose knowledge was recognised even by his adversaries, had
some disciples who, in the sequel, showed themselves more freely when
the authority of Manscherdji had been lowered at Surat with that of
the Dutch, whose agent he was."

[91] Mulla Firoz succeeded his father Mulla Kavas as Dastoor of the
Kadmis (1802); when hardly eight years old he had accompanied Mulla
Kavas to Persia and had learned Persian and Arabic. In 1786 he wrote
in Persian a curious recital of his voyage, Derich Kherde Manjumi. In
1830 he published the Avijeh Din to refute the arguments of Dastoor
Edalji Dorabji Sanjana. The governor of Bombay, Mr. Jonathan Duncan,
engaged him to teach Persian, and to translate the Desatir. Mr. Duncan
having died, Mulla Firoz continued his work in concert with Mr. William
Erskine, and finished it in 1819. He died in 1830 (Parsee Prakash,
p. 229) and bequeathed his collection of books in Zend, Pehlvi,
&c., to the Kadmi community; the library which contains them is
situate in "Fort," and bears his name. We owe to Mulla Firoz a poem
on the conquest of India by the English, the George Namah, which
was terminated and published in 1837 by his nephew and successor,
Dastoor Rastamji Kaikobadji. On the death of the latter (1854)
(Parsee Prakash, p. 635), the Kadmis combined to found a madressa
which they called Mulla Firoz (Parsee Prakash, p. 647).

[92] Edalji Dorabji Sanjana was esteemed for his piety and merits. He
was in his time one of the first savants in Zend and Pehlvi; he
was equally perfect in Sanscrit. We owe to him several works on the
Mazdiene religion, amongst others a book entitled Khorehe Vehijak,
which brought forth in reply the Avijeh Din of Mulla Firoz. He died
in 1847 (Parsee Prakash, p. 495).

[93] Most offensive epithets were interchanged between Kadmis and
Shahanshahis, such as that of churigar ("churi," bracelets, bangles;
and "gar," workman) a term of contempt carrying with it an idea of
weakness; the children of the two sects pursued one another in the
streets, insulting one another. This was hardly fifty years ago.

[94] The sect of the Shahanshahis possesses in Bombay two High
Priests--Dastoor Jamaspji Minocherji and Shams ul ulma Dastoor Peshotan
Behramji Sanjana; at Poona there is only one, Dastoor Hoshangji
Jamaspji. The sect of the Kadmis has also High Priests--Dastoor
Kharshedji Phirozji Mulla Firoz, elected by the whole community,
who is attached to the Dadiseth Atash-Behram, and Dastoor Kharshedji
Bezonji, attached to the Framji Kavasji Banaji Atash-Behram.



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