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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!"