Zoroastrian (Zarthushti) community in the Indian subcontinent
This article is about a Zoroastrian community in the Indian subcontinent. For the Persian people, seePersians. For other uses, seeParsi (disambiguation).
According to the 16th-century Parsi epicQissa-i Sanjan, fleeing jihadist persecution, the Zarthushtis (Zoroastrian) Persians, citizens of the Sassanian empire sought refuge in the Indian subcontinent. This migration from different parts of the Sassanian empire continued between the 8th century and the 10th century. The earliest of these migrants settled among theHindus of present-dayGujarat after being granted refuge by Koli KingJadhav Rana, the king ofSanjan.[9][10][11][12]
Zoroastrianism (Zarathushti Pantha) had served as Iran'sstate religion since at least the time of theAchaemenid Empire. However, the conquest of theSasanian Empire by theRashidun Caliphate marked the beginning of theIslamisation of Iran, which prompted much of the Zoroastrian-majority population to eitherconvert to Islam or flee,[13] though a number of Iranian figures stayed in active revolt against theRashidun army and the laterIslamic caliphates for almost 500 years after the collapse of the Sasanian Empire.[14] Nevertheless, Zoroastrianism continued to decline, and most Iranians had becomeMuslims by the 10th century, shifting the concentration of the religion's followers away from theIranian plateau for the first time in recorded history.
TheGujarati-speaking Parsi community accounts for the oldest sustained presence ofZoroastrianism in India, and is legally differentiated from theDari-speaking Irani community on the basis of their origin (Sanjan and Navsari in Central Asia) and the era of their migration to the country.[15] Despite this legal distinction, the terms "Parsi" and "Zoroastrian" are commonly utilised interchangeably to denote both communities, which make up theworld's largest Zoroastrian population. Notably, no substantial differences exist between Parsi and Irani religious principles, convictions, and customs.[16][17]
Parsi, also spelled Parsee, member of a group of followers in India of the Persian prophetZoroaster. The Parsis, whose name means "Persians", are descended from Persian Zoroastrians who emigrated to India to avoid religious persecution by the Muslims. They live chiefly in Mumbai and in a few towns and villages mostly to the south of Mumbai, but also a few minorities nearby inKarachi (Pakistan) andChennai. There is a sizeable Parsee population inPune as well inBangalore. A few Parsee families also reside inKolkata andHyderabad. Although they are not, strictly speaking, acaste, since they are not Hindus, they form a well-defined community. The exact date of the Parsi migration is unknown. According to tradition, the Parsis initially settled at Hormuz on thePersian Gulf but finding themselves still persecuted they set sail for India, arriving in the 8th century. The migration may, in fact, have taken place as late as the 10th century, or in both. They settled first atDiu inKathiawar but soon moved to South Gujarāt, where they remained for about 800 years as a small agricultural community.[18]
The termPārsi, which in the Persian language is ademonym meaning "inhabitant ofPārs" and hence "ethnic Persian", is not attested in Indian Zoroastrian texts until the 17th century. Until that time, such texts consistently use the Persian-origin termsZartoshti "Zoroastrian" orVehdin "[of] the good religion". The 12th-centurySixteenShlokas, aSanskrit text in praise of the Parsis,[19] is the earliest attested use of the term as an identifier for Indian Zoroastrians.
The first reference to the Parsis in a European language is from 1322, when a French monk,Jordanus, briefly refers to their presence inThane andBharuch. Subsequently, the term appears in the journals of many European travelers, first French and Portuguese, later English, all of whom used a Europeanized version of an apparently local language term. For example, Portuguese physicianGarcia de Orta observed in 1563 that "there are merchants ... in the kingdom ofCambaia ... known as Esparcis. WePortuguese call them Jews, but they are not so. They areGentios." In an early 20th-century legal ruling (seeself-perceptions, below), Justices Davar and Beaman asserted (1909:540) that "Parsi" was also a term used in Iran to refer toZoroastrians.[20][21] notes that in much the same way as the word "Hindu" was used by Iranians to refer to anyone from the Indian subcontinent, "Parsi" was used by the Indians to refer to anyone from Greater Iran, irrespective of whether they were actually ethnic Persian people. In any case, the term "Parsi" itself is "not necessarily an indication of their Iranian or 'Persian' origin, but rather as indicator – manifest as several properties – of ethnic identity".[22] Moreover, if heredity were the only factor in a determination of ethnicity, the Parsis would count asParthians according to theQissa-i Sanjan.[21]
The term "Parseeism" or "Parsiism", is attributed toAbraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron, who in the 1750s, when the word "Zoroastrianism" had yet to be coined, made the first detailed report of the Parsis and of Zoroastrianism, therein mistakenly assuming that the Parsis were the only remaining followers of the religion.
Some older texts also refer to Parsis as "Persees".[23][24][25]
In addition to above, the term "Parsi" (Persian) existed even before they moved to India:
Darius the Great (521-486 BC) establishes this fact when he records his Parsi ancestry for posterity, "parsa parsahya puthra ariya ariyachitra", meaning, "a Persian, the son of a Persian, anAryan, of Aryan family" (Inscription atNaqsh-i-Rustam, nearPersepolis,Iran).
In Outlines of Persian History, Dasturji Hormazdyar Dastur Kayoji Mirza, Bombay 1987, pp. 3–4 writes, "According to thePahlavi text ofKarnamak i Artakhshir i Papakan, the Indian astrologer refers to Artakhshir (Sasanian king, and the founder of the Empire) as khvatay parsikan 'the king of the Persians'.
Herodotus andXenophon, the two great historians who lived in the third and fourth centuries BC, referred to Iranians as Persians.[26]
In ancient Persia, Zarathushtra taught that good (Ohrmazd) and evil (Angra Mainyu) were opposite forces and the battle between them is more or less evenly matched. A person should always be vigilant to align with forces of light. According to theasha or the righteousness anddruj or the wickedness, the person has chosen in their life they will be judged at theChinvat bridge to grant passage to Paradise, Hammistagan (A limbo area) or Hell by the bridge remaining wide for a righteous soul and turning narrow as a sword for the wicked. A personified form of the soul that represents the person's deeds takes the adjudged to their destination and they will abide there until the final apocalypse. After the final battle between good and evil, every soul's walk through a river of fire ordeal for burning of their dross and together they receive a post resurrection paradise. The Zoroastrian holy book, called theAvesta, was written in theAvestan language, which is closely related toVedic Sanskrit.
TheQissa-i Sanjan is a tale of the journey of the Parsis to India from Iran. It says they fled for reasons of religious freedom and they were allowed to settle in India thanks to the goodwill of a local prince. However, the Parsi community had to abide by three rules: they had to speak the local language, follow local marriage customs, and not carry any weapons. After showing the many similarities between their faith and local beliefs, the early community was granted a plot of land on which to build afire temple.[citation needed]
Over the centuries since the first Zoroastrians arrived in India, the Parsis have integrated themselves into Indian society while simultaneously maintaining or developing their own distinct customs and traditions (and thus ethnic identity). This in turn has given the Parsi community a rather peculiar standing: they are mostly Indians in terms of national affiliation, language and history, but not typically Indian in terms ofconsanguinity or ethnicity, cultural, behavioural and religious practices.[27]
ParsiNavjote ceremony (rites of admission into the Zoroastrian faith)
The definition of who is, and is not, a Parsi is a matter of great contention within the Zoroastrian community in India. It is generally accepted that a Parsi is a person who:
(a) is directly descended from the original Persian refugees, and
(b) has been formally admitted into the Zoroastrian religion, through thenavjote ceremony.
In this sense,Parsi is an ethno-religious designator, whose definition is of contention among its members, similar to theidentity question among Jews.
Some members of the community additionally contend that a child must have a Parsi father to be eligible for introduction into the faith, but this assertion is considered by most to be a violation of the Zoroastrian tenets ofgender equality and may be a remnant of an old legal definition of the term Parsi.
An oft-quoted legal definition of Parsi is based on a 1909 ruling (since nullified) that not only stipulated that a person could not become a Parsi by converting to the Zoroastrian faith but also noted:
the Parsi community consists of: a) Parsis who are descended from the original Persian emigrants and who are born of both Zoroastrian parents and who profess the Zoroastrian religion; b) Iranis [here meaningIranians, not the other group of Indian Zoroastrians] professing the Zoroastrian religion; c) the children of Parsi fathers by alien mothers who have been duly and properly admitted into the religion.[28]
This definition was overturned several times. The equality principles of theIndian Constitution void thepatrilineal restrictions expressed in the third clause. The second clause was contested and overturned in 1948.[29] On appeal in 1950, the 1948 ruling was upheld and the entire 1909 definition was deemed anobiter dictum – a collateral opinion and not legally binding (re-affirmed in 1966).[26][30])
The geographical distribution of modern and ancient Parsis in India and Pakistan.[43]
According to the2011 census of India, there are 57,264 Parsis in India.[44][45] According to theNational Commission for Minorities, there are a "variety of causes that are responsible for this steady decline in the population of the community", the most significant of which were childlessness and migration.[46]
If Demographic trends project that by 2020 the Parsis will number only 23,000. The Parsis will then cease to be called a community and will be labeled a 'tribe'.[47]
One-fifth of the decrease in population is attributed to migration. There are sizeable Parsi communities in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the United States.[48] A slower birthrate than deathrate accounts for the rest: as of 2001, Parsis over the age of 60 make up for 31% of the community. Only 4.7% of the Parsi community are under 6 years of age, which translates to 7 births per year per 1000 individuals.[49] Concerns have been raised in recent years over the rapidly declining population of the Parsi community in India.[50]
Parsis have also been migrating to the traditional homeland of Iran and while the number of Parsis who have returned to Iran is small compared to the overall Zoroastrian community in Iran, their presence has helped to strengthen the ties between the Iranian and Indian Zoroastrian communities. The Parsis played a significant role in the modernization of Iran, particularly in the 20th century. They served as a reminder of Iran's ancient heritage, which was crucial to Iranians. The Parsis also demonstrated to Iranians that it was possible to be both modern and culturally authentic, and that the revival of Zoroastrianism could be a way of modernizing Iranian culture while retaining its original identity.[51]
BothReza Shah andMuhammad Reza Shah played an active role in encouraging Parsis to invest in Iran and contribute to its economic development by inviting them to return to their homeland. During the Pahlavi dynasty in Iran, the relationship between Zoroastrianism and Iranian national identity was blurred. This was exemplified by Reza Shah's adoption of Zoroastrian calendar names and placement of the Fravahar symbol on prominent government buildings. Additionally, he maintained a close relationship with the Zoroastrian parliamentary representative,Keikhosrow Shahrokh, who was entrusted by him with important governmental tasks.[52]
Reza Shah was also sympathetic to Indian Zoroastrians (Parsis) and actively encouraged their return to Iran to invest and help develop the country's economy. In 1932, he invitedDinshah Irani, a Parsi leader and founder of the Iranian Zoroastrian Anjoman and the Iran League in India, to visit Iran as part of a Parsi delegation. Irani was awarded honors by Reza Shah and entrusted with a message to take back to the Parsi community in India.
You Parsis are as much the children of this soil as any other Iranis, and so you are as much entitled to have your proper share in its development as any other nationals.
We estimate Our Empire's resources to be even greater than those of America, and in tapping them you can take your proper part. We do not want you to come all bag and baggage; just wait a little and watch.
If you find the proposition beneficial both to yourselves and to this land, then do come and We shall greet you with open arms, as We might.
Our dear brothers and sisters.
Iran is a vast country pregnant with many advantages and fresh fields waiting for development. We suggest that the Parsis, who are still the sons of Iran, though separated from her, should look upon this country of to-day as their own, and differentiate it from its immediate past, and strive to derive benefit from her developments.[52][53][54]
In the 1930s, Parsis discussed the idea of buying land in Iran to create a Parsi colony. SirHormusji C. Adenwala proposed raising funds in Bombay for this purpose, with support from the Iranian government and Reza Shah. Some Parsis had already resettled in Iran earlier since the time ofManeckji Hataria.[55] The Iran League Quarterly provided information on legal and economic aspects of land purchase. Land near Bandar-e Shapur was suggested as particularly valuable due to government plans for the port.[55] Similar plans were considered for other Parsi colonies in Iran, including Yazd and Kerman. Textile manufacturing was seen as a potential area for Parsi investment, leading to the establishment of the Khorsovi Textile Mill in Mashhad (based on joint Parsi and Iranian ownership agreements).[55] There was also discussion of combining industrial and agricultural ventures in such colonies.[55]
The gender ratio among Parsis is unusual: as of 2001, the ratio of males to females was 1000 males to 1050 females (up from 1024 in 1991), due primarily to the high median age of the population (elderly women are more common than elderly men). As of 2001 the national average in India was 1000 males to 933 females.
Parsis have a highliteracy rate; as of 2001, the literacy rate is 99.1%, the highest of any Indian community (the national average was 78.5%). 97.1% of Parsis reside inurban areas (the national average is 27.8%). Parsis mother tongue isGujarati.[56][57]In the Greater Mumbai area, where the density of Parsis is highest, about 13% of Parsi females and about 24% of Parsi males do not marry.[58]
According to theQissa-i Sanjan, the only existing account of the early years of Zoroastrian refugees in India composed at least six centuries after their tentative date of arrival, the first group of immigrants originated fromGreater Khorasan.[9] This historical region ofCentral Asia is in part in northeastern Iran, where it constitutes modernKhorasan province, part of western/northernAfghanistan, and in part in three Central-Asian republics namelyTajikistan,Turkmenistan andUzbekistan.
According to theQissa, the immigrants were granted permission to stay by the local ruler,Jadi Rana, on the condition that they adopt the local language (Gujarati) and that their women adopt local dress (thesari).[59] The refugees accepted the conditions and founded the settlement ofSanjan, which is said to have been named after the city of their origin (Sanjan, nearMerv, modern Turkmenistan).[9] This first group was followed by a second group from Greater Khorasan within five years of the first, and this time having religious implements with them (thealat). In addition to theseKhorasanis orKohistanis "mountain folk", as the two initial groups are said to have been initially called,[60] at least one other group is said to have come overland fromSari, Iran.[61]
Although the Sanjan group are believed to have been the first permanent settlers, the precise date of their arrival is a matter of conjecture. All estimates are based on theQissa, which is vague or contradictory with respect to some elapsed periods. Consequently, three possible dates – 716, 765, and 936 – have been proposed as the year of landing, and the disagreement has been the cause of "many an intense battle ... amongst Parsis".[62] Since dates are not specifically mentioned in Parsi texts prior to the 18th century, any date of arrival is perforce a matter of speculation. The importance of theQissa lies in any case not so much in its reconstruction of events than in its depiction of the Parsis – in the way they have come to view themselves – and in their relationship to the dominant culture. As such, the text plays a crucial role in shaping Parsi identity. But, "even if one comes to the conclusion that the chronicle based on verbal transmission is not more than a legend, it still remains without doubt an extremely informative document for Parsee historiography."[63]
The Sanjan Zoroastrians were certainly not the first Zoroastrians on the subcontinent.[citation needed]Sindh touchingBalochistan, the easternmost periphery of the Iranian world, too had once been under coastal administration of theSasanian Empire (226-651), which consequently maintained outposts there.[citation needed] Even following the loss ofSindh, the Iranians continued to play a major role in the trade links between the east and west.[citation needed] The 9th-century Arab historiographerAl-Masudi briefly notes Zoroastrians with fire temples in al-Hind and in al-Sindh.[64] There is evidence of individual Parsis residing in Sindh in the tenth and twelfth centuries, but the current modern community is thought to date from British arrival in Sindh.[65] Moreover, for the Iranians, the harbours of Gujarat lay on the maritime routes that complemented the overlandSilk Road and there were extensive trade relations between the two regions. The contact between Iranians and Indians was already well established even prior to theCommon Era, and both thePuranas and theMahabharata use the termParasikas to refer to the peoples west of theIndus River.[66]
"Parsi legends regarding their ancestors' migration to India depict a beleaguered band of religious refugees escaping the new rule post the Muslim conquests in order to preserve their ancient faith."[66][67][10][11][12] However, while Parsi settlements definitely arose along the western coast of the Indian subcontinent following the Arab conquest of Iran, it is not possible to state with certainty that these migrations occurred as a result of religious persecution against Zoroastrians. If the "traditional" 8th century date (as deduced from theQissa) is considered valid, it must be assumed "that the migration began while Zoroastrianism was still the predominant religion in Iran and economic factors predominated the initial decision to migrate."[66] This would have been particularly the case if – as theQissa suggests – the first Parsis originally came from the north-east (i.e. Central Asia) and had previously been dependent onSilk Road trade.[20] Even so, in the 17th century, Henry Lord, achaplain with theEnglish East India Company, noted that the Parsis came to India seeking "liberty of conscience" but simultaneously arrived as "merchantmen bound for the shores of India, in course of trade and merchandise."
TheQissa has little to say about the events that followed the establishment of Sanjan, and restricts itself to a brief note on the establishment of the "Fire of Victory" (Middle Persian:Atash Bahram) atSanjan and its subsequent move toNavsari. According to Dhalla, the next several centuries were "full of hardships" (sic) before Zoroastrianism "gained a real foothold in India and secured for its adherents some means of livelihood in this new country of their adoption".[68]
Two centuries after their landing, the Parsis began to settle in other parts of Gujarat, which led to "difficulties in defining the limits of priestly jurisdiction".[69] These problems were resolved by 1290 through the division of Gujarat into fivepanthaks (districts), each under the jurisdiction of one priestly family and their descendants. (Continuing disputes regarding jurisdiction over theAtash Bahram led to the fire being moved to Udvada in 1742, where today jurisdiction is shared in rotation among the fivepanthak families.)
Inscriptions at theKanheri Caves near Mumbai suggest that at least until the early 11th century,Middle Persian was still the literary language of the hereditary Zoroastrian priesthood. Nonetheless, aside from theQissa and the Kanheri inscriptions, there is little evidence of the Parsis until the 12th and 13th century, when "masterly"[70] Sanskrit translations and transcriptions of theAvesta and its commentaries began to be prepared. From these translations Dhalla infers that "religious studies were prosecuted with great zeal at this period" and that the command ofMiddle Persian and Sanskrit among the clerics "was of a superior order".[70]
From the 13th century to the late 16th century, the Zoroastrian priests of Gujarat sent (in all) twenty-two requests for religious guidance to their co-religionists in Iran, presumably because they considered the Iranian Zoroastrians "better informed on religious matters than themselves, and must have preserved the old-time tradition more faithfully than they themselves did".[71] These transmissions and their replies – assiduously preserved by the community as therivayats (epistles) – span the years 1478–1766 and deal with both religious and social subjects. From a superficial 21st century point of view, some of theseithoter ("questions") are remarkably trivial – for instance,Rivayat 376: whether ink prepared by a non-Zoroastrian is suitable for copyingAvestan language texts – but they provide a discerning insight into the fears and anxieties of the early modern Zoroastrians. Thus, the question of the ink is symptomatic of the fear of assimilation and the loss of identity, a theme that dominates the questions posed and continues to be an issue into the 21st century. So also the question of conversion ofJuddins (non-Zoroastrians) to Zoroastrianism, to which the reply (R237, R238) was: acceptable, even meritorious.[72]
Nonetheless, "the precarious condition in which they lived for a considerable period made it impracticable for them to keep up their formerproselytizing zeal. The instinctive fear of disintegration and absorption in the vast multitudes among whom they lived created in them a spirit of exclusiveness and a strong desire to preserve the racial characteristics and distinctive features of their community. Living in an atmosphere surcharged with the Hindu caste system, they felt that their own safety lay in encircling their fold by rigid caste barriers".[73] Even so, at some point (possibly shortly after their arrival in India), the Zoroastrians – perhaps determining that thesocial stratification that they had brought with them was unsustainable in the small community – did away with all but the hereditary priesthood (called theasronih in Sassanid Iran). The remaining estates – the(r)atheshtarih (nobility, soldiers, and civil servants),vastaryoshih (farmers and herdsmen),hutokshih (artisans and labourers) – were folded into an all-comprehensive class today known as thebehdini ("followers ofdaena", for which "good religion" is one translation). This change would have far reaching consequences. For one, it opened the gene pool to some extent since until that time inter-class marriages were exceedingly rare (this would continue to be a problem for the priesthood until the 20th century). For another, it did away with the boundaries along occupational lines, a factor that would endear the Parsis to the 18th- and 19th-century colonial authorities who had little patience for the unpredictable complications of theHindu caste system (such as when a clerk from one caste would not deal with a clerk from another).[citation needed]
Following the commercial treaty in the early 17th century betweenMughal emperorJahangir andJames I of England, theEast India Company obtained the exclusive rights to reside and build factories inSurat and other areas. Many Parsis, who until then had been living in farming communities throughout Gujarat, moved to the English-run settlements to take the new jobs offered. In 1668 the English East India Company leased theSeven Islands of Bombay fromCharles II of England. The company found the deep harbour on the east coast of the islands to be ideal for setting up their first port in the sub-continent, and in 1687 they transferred their headquarters from Surat to the fledgling settlement. The Parsis followed and soon began to occupy posts of trust in connection with government and public works.[74]
Where literacy had previously been the exclusive domain of the priesthood, in the era of theBritish Raj, the British schools in India provided the new Parsi youth with the means not only to learn to read and write but also to be educated in the greater sense of the term and become familiar with the quirks of the British establishment. These capabilities were enormously useful to Parsis since they allowed them to "represent themselves as being like the British," which they did "more diligently and effectively than perhaps any other South Asian community".[75] While the colonial authorities often saw the other Indians "as passive, ignorant, irrational, outwardly submissive but inwardly guileful",[76] the Parsis were seen to have the traits that the authorities tended to ascribe to themselves.Johan Albrecht de Mandelslo (1638) saw them as "diligent", "conscientious", and "skillful" in theirmercantile pursuits. Similar observations would be made byJames Mackintosh, Recorder of Bombay from 1804 to 1811, who noted that "the Parsees are a small remnant of one of the mightiest nations of the ancient world, who, flying from persecution into India, were for many ages lost in obscurity and poverty, till at length they met a just government under which they speedily rose to be one of the most popular mercantile bodies in Asia".[77]
One of these was an enterprising agent namedRustom Maneck. In 1702, Maneck, who had probably already amassed a fortune under the Dutch and Portuguese, was appointed the first broker to the East India Company (acquiring the name "Seth" in the process), and in the following years "he and his Parsi associates widened the occupational and financial horizons of the larger Parsi community".[78] Thus, by the mid-18th century, the brokerage houses of theBombay Presidency were almost all in Parsi hands. As James Forbes, the Collector of Broach (nowBharuch), would note in hisOriental Memoirs (1770): "many of the principal merchants and owners of ships at Bombay and Surat are Parsees." "Active, robust, prudent and persevering, they now form a very valuable part of the Company's subjects on the western shores ofHindustan where they are highly esteemed".[77]In the 18th century, Parsis with their skills in ship building and trade greatly benefited with trade between India and China. The trade was mainly in timber, silk, cotton and opium. For exampleJamsetjee Jejeebhoy acquired most of his wealth through trade in cotton and opium[79] Gradually certain families "acquired wealth and prominence (Sorabji, Modi, Cama, Wadia, Jeejeebhoy, Readymoney, Dadyseth, Petit, Patel, Mehta, Allbless, Tata, etc.), many of which would be noted for their participation in the public life of the city, and for their various educational, industrial, and charitable enterprises."[80][81]).
Through his largesse, Maneck helped establish the infrastructure that was necessary for the Parsis to set themselves up in Bombay and in doing so "established Bombay as the primary centre of Parsi habitation and work in the 1720s".[78] Following the political and economic isolation of Surat in the 1720s and 1730s that resulted from troubles between the (remnant) Mughal authorities and the increasingly dominantMarathas, a number of Parsi families from Surat migrated to the new city. While in 1700 "fewer than a handful of individuals appear as merchants in any records; by mid-century, Parsis engaged in commerce constituted one of important commercial groups in Bombay".[82] Maneck's generosity is incidentally also the first documented instance of Parsi philanthropy. In 1689,Anglican chaplain John Ovington reported that in Surat the family "assist the poor and are ready to provide for the sustenance and comfort of such as want it. Their universal kindness, either employing such as are ready and able to work, or bestowing a seasonable bounteous charity to such as are infirm and miserable, leave no man destitute of relief, nor suffer a beggar in all their tribe".[83]
In 1728 Rustom's eldest son Naoroz (later Naorojee) founded theBombay Parsi Panchayet (in the sense of an instrument forself-governance and not in the sense of the trust it is today) to assist newly arriving Parsis in religious, social, legal and financial matters. Using their vast resources, the Maneck Seth family gave their time, energy and not inconsiderable financial resources to the Parsi community, with the result that by the mid-18th century, the Panchayat was the accepted means for Parsis to cope with the exigencies of urban life and the recognized instrument for regulating the affairs of the community.[84] Nonetheless, by 1838 the Panchayat was under attack for impropriety and nepotism. In 1855 theBombay Times noted that the Panchayat was utterly without the moral or legal authority to enforce its statutes (theBundobusts or codes of conduct) and the council soon ceased to be considered representative of the community.[85] In the wake of a July 1856 ruling by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council that it had no jurisdiction over the Parsis in matters of marriage and divorce, the Panchayat was reduced to little more than a Government-recognized "Parsi Matrimonial Court". Although the Panchayat would eventually be reestablished as the administrator of community property, it ultimately ceased to be an instrument for self-governance.[86]
At about the same time as the role of the Panchayat was declining, a number of other institutions arose that would replace the Panchayat's role in contributing to the sense ofsocial cohesiveness that the community desperately sought. By the mid-19th century, the Parsis were keenly aware that their numbers were declining and saw education as a possible solution to the problem. In 1842Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy established the Parsi Benevolent Fund with the aim of improving, through education, the condition of the impoverished Parsis still living in Surat and its environs. In 1849 the Parsis established their first school (co-educational, which was a novelty at the time, but would soon be split into separate schools for boys and girls) and the education movement quickened. The number of Parsi schools multiplied, but other schools and colleges were also freely attended.[87] Accompanied by better education and social cohesiveness, the community's sense of distinctiveness grew, and in 1854Dinshaw Maneckji Petit founded the Persian Zoroastrian Amelioration Fund with the aim of improving conditions for his less fortunate co-religionists in Iran. The fund succeeded in convincing a number of Iranian Zoroastrians to emigrate to India (where they are known today as Iranis) and the efforts of its emissaryManeckji Limji Hataria were instrumental in obtaining a remission of thejizya for their co-religionists in 1882.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Parsis had emerged as "the foremost people in India in matters educational, industrial, and social. They came in the vanguard of progress, amassed vast fortunes, and munificently gave away large sums in charity".[88] Near the end of the 19th century, the total number of Parsis in colonial India was 85,397, of which 48,507 lived in Bombay, constituting around 6.7% of the total population of the city, according to the 1881 census.[89] This would be the last time that the Parsis would be considered a numerically significant minority in the city.[original research?]
Nonetheless, the legacy of the 19th century was a sense of self-awareness as a community. The typically Parsi cultural symbols of the 17th and 18th centuries such as language (a Parsi variant ofGujarati), arts, crafts, and sartorial habits developed intoParsi theatre, literature, newspapers, magazines, and schools. The Parsis now ran community medical centres, ambulance corps,Scouting troops, clubs, andMasonic Lodges. They had their own charitable foundations, housing estates, legal institutions, courts, and governance. They were no longer weavers and petty merchants, but now were established and ran banks, mills, heavy industry, shipyards, and shipping companies. Moreover, even while maintaining their own cultural identity they did not fail to recognize themselves as nationally Indian, asDadabhai Naoroji, the first Asian to occupy a seat in theBritish Parliament would note: "Whether I am a Hindu, a Mohammedan, a Parsi, a Christian, or of any other creed, I am above all an Indian. Our country is India; our nationality is Indian".[90] While having an outsized role in theIndian independence movement, the majority of Parsisopposed the partition of undivided India.[91][92]
In the 1860s and 1870s, the linguistMartin Haug interpreted Zoroastrian scripture in Christian terms, and compared theyazatas to the angels of Christianity. In this scheme, the Amesha Spentas are the arch-angel retinue of Ahura Mazda, with thehamkars as the supporting host of lesser angels.
At the time Haug wrote his translations, theParsi (i.e. Indian Zoroastrian) community was under intense pressure from English and American missionaries, who severely criticized the Zoroastrians for—as John Wilson portrayed it in 1843—"polytheism", which the missionaries argued was much less worth than their own "monotheism". At the time, Zoroastrianism lacked theologians of its own, and so the Zoroastrians were poorly equipped to make their own case. In this situation, Haug's counter-interpretation came as a welcome relief, and was (by-and-large) gratefully accepted as legitimate.[93]
Haug's interpretations were subsequently disseminated as Zoroastrian ones, which then eventually reached the west where they were seen to corroborate Haug. Like most of Haug's interpretations, this comparison is today so well entrenched that a gloss of 'yazata' as 'angel' is almost universally accepted; both in publications intended for a general audience[94][95] as well as in (non-philological) academic literature.[96][97]
The migration of Parsis to India caused a lack of religious knowledge, which led to doubts in several matters, which made them send men to Iran during the Muslim rule in order to learn the religion from the Zoroastrians in Iran. However, according to the orientalistArthur Christensen and several Arab historians, the Zoroastrian doctrine changed after the fall of the Sassanid state because the Zoroastrian clerics tried to save their religion from extinction by modifying it to resemble the religion of the Muslims. So that the Zoroastrians would not have a reason to convert to Islam, but this did not succeed in preventing the Zoroastrians from converting to Islam, and it also caused the emergence of a new version of Zoroastrianism that resembled Islam and differed from Zoroastrianism in the Sassanid era.[7][13][8]
The main components of Zoroastrianism as practiced by the Parsi community are the concepts of purity and pollution (nasu), initiation (navjot), daily prayers, worship at Fire Temples, marriage, funerals, and general worship via practicing good thoughts, words and deeds.[98]
The balance between good and evil is correlated to the idea of purity and pollution. Purity is held to be of the very essence of godliness. Pollution's very point is to destroy purity through the death of a human. In order to adhere to purity it is the duty of Parsis to continue to preserve purity within their body as God created them. A Zoroastrian priest spends his entire life dedicated to following a holy life.
Zoroastrians are not initiated byinfant baptism. Children are initiated into the faith when they are old enough to recite some required prayers along with the priest at the time of theNavjote ceremony, ideally before they reach puberty. Though there is no actual age by which a child must be initiated into the faith (preferably after seven years), Navjote cannot be performed on an adult. While the Parsi traditionally do not do adult Navjote (except in cases where it is performed for descendants of Parsi wanting to join the faith), the Iranian Zoroastrian equivalent, the sedreh-pushti can be done at any age for those wanting to convert.[99]
The initiation begins with a ritual bath, then a spiritual cleansing prayer; the child changes into whitepajama pants, ashawl, and a small cap. Following introductory prayers, the child is given the sacred items that are associated with Zoroastrianism: a sacred shirt and cord,sudre, andkusti. The child then faces the main priest and fire is brought in to represent God. Once the priest finishes with the prayers, the child's initiation is complete and he or she has become part of the community and religion.
Marriage is very important to the members of the Parsi community, believing that in order to continue the expansion of God's kingdom they must procreate. Up until the mid-19th century child marriages were common even though the idea of child marriage was not part of the religious doctrine. Consequently, when social reform started happening in India, the Parsi community discontinued the practice[citation needed]. There are, however, rising problems over the availability of brides. More and more women in the Parsi community are becoming well educated and are therefore either delaying marriage or not partaking at all[citation needed]. Women within the Parsi community in India are 97% literate; 42% have completed high school or college and 29% have an occupation in which they earn a substantial amount of money. The wedding ceremony begins much like the initiation with a cleansing bath. The bride and groom then travel to the wedding in florally decorated cars. The priests from both families facilitate the wedding. The couple begin by facing one another with a sheet to block their view of each another. Wool is passed over the two seven times to bind them together. The two are then supposed to throw rice to their partner symbolizing dominance. The religious element comes in next when the two sit side by side to face the priest.[citation needed]
The pollution that is associated with death has to be handled carefully. A separate part of the home is designated to house the corpse for funeral proceedings before being taken away. The priest comes to say prayers that are for the cleansing of sins and to affirm the faith of the deceased. Fire is brought to the room and prayers are begun. The body is washed and inserted clean within asudre andkusti. The ceremony then begins, and a circle is drawn around the body into which only the bearers may enter. As they proceed to the cemetery they walk in pairs and are connected by white fabric. A dog is essential in the funeral process because it is able to see death. The body is taken to the tower of death where the vultures feed on it. Once the bones are bleached by the sun they are pushed into the circular opening in the center. The mourning process is four days long, and rather than creating graves for the dead, charities are established in honor of the person.
Zoroastrian festivals were originally held outside in the open air; temples were not common until later. Most of the temples were built by wealthy Parsis who needed centers that housed purity. As stated before, fire is considered to represent the presence of Ahura Mazda, and there are two distinct differences for the types of fire for the different temples. The first type of temple is the Atash Behram, which is the highest level of fire. The fire is prepared for an entire year before it can be installed, and once it is, it is cared for to the highest possible degree. There are only eight such temples located within India. The second type of fire temple is called a Dar-i Mihr, and the preparation process is not as intense. There are about 160 of these located throughout India.
This section contains information specific to the Parsi calendar. For information on the calendar used by the Zoroastrians for religious purposes, including details on its history and its variations, seeZoroastrian calendar.
Until about the 12th century, all Zoroastrians followed the same 365-day religious calendar, which had remained largely unmodified since the calendar reforms ofArdashir I (r. 226-241 AD). Since that calendar did not compensate for the fractional days that go to make up a full solar year, with time it was no longer accordant with the seasons.
Sometime between 1125 and 1250 (cf.Boyce 1970, p. 537), the Parsis inserted anembolismic month to level out the accumulating fractional days. However, the Parsis were the only Zoroastrians to do so (and did it only once), with the result that, from then on, the calendar in use by the Parsis and the calendar in use by Zoroastrians elsewhere diverged by a matter of thirty days. The calendars still had the same name,Shahenshahi (imperial), presumably because none were aware that the calendars were no longer the same.
In 1745 the Parsis in and around Surat switched to theKadmi orKadimi calendar on the recommendation of their priests who were convinced that the calendar in use in the ancient homeland must be correct. Moreover, they denigrated theShahenshahi calendar as being "royalist".
In 1906 attempts to bring the two factions together resulted in the introduction of a third calendar based on an 11th-centurySeljuk model: theFasili, orFasli, calendar had leap days intercalated every four years and it had a New Year's day that fell on the day of thevernal equinox. Although it was the only calendar always in harmony with the seasons, most members of the Parsi community rejected it on the grounds that it was not in accord with the injunctions expressed in Zoroastrian tradition (Dēnkard 3.419).[100]
Today the majority of Parsis are adherents of the Parsi version of theShahenshahi calendar although theKadmi calendar does have its adherents among the Parsi communities of Surat and Bharuch. TheFasli calendar does not have a significant following among Parsis, but, by virtue of being compatible with theBastani calendar (an Iranian development with the same salient features as theFasli calendar), it is predominant among the Zoroastrians of Iran.
Since some of theAvesta prayers contain references to the names of the months, and some other prayers are used only at specific times of the year, the issue of which calendar is "correct" also has theological ramifications.
To further complicate matters, in the late 18th century (or early 19th century) a highly influential head-priest and staunch proponent of theKadmi calendar, Phiroze Kaus Dastur of the Dadyseth Atash-Behram in Bombay, became convinced that the pronunciation of prayers as recited by visitors from Iran was correct, while the pronunciation as used by the Parsis was not. He accordingly went on to alter some (but not all) of the prayers, which in due course came to be accepted by all adherents of theKadmi calendar as the more ancient (and thus presumably correct). However, scholars ofAvestan language and linguistics attribute the difference in pronunciation to a vowel-shift that occurred only in Iran and that the Iranian pronunciation as adopted by theKadmis is actually more recent than the pronunciation used by the non-Kadmi Parsis.
The calendar disputes were not always purely academic, either. In the 1780s, emotions over the controversy ran so high that violence occasionally erupted. In 1783 aShahenshahi resident of Bharuch named Homaji Jamshedji was sentenced to death for kicking a youngKadmi woman and so causing her to miscarry.
Of the eight Atash-Behrams (the highest grade offire temple) in India, three follow theKadmi pronunciation and calendar, the other five areShahenshahi. TheFassalis do not have their own Atash-Behram.
TheIlm-e-Kshnoom ('science of ecstasy', or 'science of bliss') is a school of Parsi-Zoroastrian philosophy based on a mystic and esoteric, rather than literal, interpretation of religious texts. According to adherents of the sect, they are followers of the Zoroastrian faith as preserved by a clan of 2000 individuals called theSaheb-e-Dilan ('Masters of the Heart') who are said to live in complete isolation in the mountainous recesses of theCaucasus (alternatively, in theAlborz range, aroundMount Damavand).
There are few obvious indications that a Parsi might be a follower of the Kshnoom. Although theirKusti prayers are very similar to those used by theFassalis, like the rest of the Parsi community the followers of Kshnoom are divided with respect to which calendar they observe. There are also other minor differences in their recitation of the liturgy, such as repetition of some sections of the longer prayers. Nonetheless, the Kshnoom are extremely conservative in their ideology and prefer isolation even with respect to other Parsis.
The largest community of followers of the Kshnoom lives in Jogeshwari, a suburb of Bombay, where they have their own fire temple (Behramshah Nowroji Shroff Daremeher), their own housing colony (Behram Baug) and their own newspaper (Parsi Pukar). There is a smaller concentration of adherents inSurat, where the sect was founded in the last decades of the 19th century.
It has been traditional, in Mumbai andKarachi at least, for dead Parsis to be taken to theTowers of Silence where the corpses are quickly eaten by the city'svultures. The reason given for this practice is that earth, fire, and water are considered sacred elements which should not be defiled by the dead. Therefore, burial and cremation have always been prohibited in Parsi culture. However, in modern day Mumbai and Karachi the population of vultures has drastically reduced due to extensive urbanization and the unintended consequence of treating humans and livestock with antibiotics,[101] and the anti-inflammatorydiclofenac, which harm vultures and have led to theIndian vulture crisis.[102] As a result, the bodies of the deceased are taking much longer to decompose. Solar panels have been installed in the Towers of Silence to speed up thedecomposition process, but this has been only partially successful especially during monsoons. InPeshawar a Parsi graveyard was established in the late 19th century, which still exists; this cemetery is unique as there is noTower of Silence. Nevertheless, the majority of Parsis still use the traditional method of disposing of their loved ones and consider this as the last act of charity by the deceased on earth.
Genealogical DNA tests have brought mixed results. Some studies support the Parsi contention that they have maintained their Persian roots by avoiding intermarriage with local populations.[104]
A study published inGenome Biology based on high densitySNP data has shown that the Parsis are genetically closer to Iranian populations than to their South Asian neighbours. They also share the highest number of haplotypes with present-day Iranians; the admixture of the Parsis with Indian populations was estimated to have occurred approximately 1,200 years ago. It is also found that Parsis are genetically closer toNeolithic Iranians than to modern Iranians who had recently received some genes from the Near East.[43]
In that 2002 study of theY-chromosome (patrilineal) DNA of the Parsis ofPakistan, it was determined that Parsis are genetically closer to Iranians than to their neighbours.[105] A 2023 study was the first to delve deeply into maternal ancestry with high-resolution mitochondrial markers. They conducted a detailed phylogenetic analysis to infer their maternal genetic affinity. This revealed the Parsi mitogenomes, characterized by the mtDNA haplogroup M3a1 + 204, share a clade with both Middle Eastern and South Asian modern individuals in both the Maximum Likelihood tree and Bayesian phylogenetic tree. This haplogroup was also prevalent among the medieval Swat valley population and was observed in two Roopkund A individuals. In the phylogenetic network, these samples share a haplotype with both South Asian and Middle Eastern samples. Thus, the maternal ancestry of the first Parsi settlers includes genetic components similar to South Asian and Middle Eastern populations.[106]
In 2017, a research study discovered that Parsis exhibit a stronger genetic affinity with Neolithic Iranians than with modern Iranians, who have experienced more recent admixture from the Near East. The study also identified 48% of South-Asian-specific mitochondrial lineages in ancient samples, which could be attributed to the assimilation of local females during the initial settlement or may be representative of mitochondrial lineages that have become extinct in Iran.[43] That would make thepopulation genetics of Parsis about 3/4 Iranian and 1/4 Indian.
The genetic studies of Parsis of Pakistan show sharp contrast between genetic data obtained frommitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) andY-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA), different from most populations. Historical records suggests that they had moved from Iran to India, first to Gujarat and then to Mumbai and Karachi. According to Y-DNA, they resemble the Iranian population, which supports historical records. When the mtDNA pool is compared to Iranians and Gujaratis (their putative parental populations), it contrasted Y-DNA data. Parsis have a high frequency ofhaplogroup M (55%), similar to Indians, which is just 1.7% in combined Iranian sample. According to the research findings, there is a noticeable contrast between the maternal and paternal components of the Parsi population. Despite their small population size, the high diversity observed in both the Y-DNA and mtDNA lineages suggests that a strong drift effect is improbable. The studies suggest a male-mediated migration of Parsi ancestors from Iran to Gujarat where they admixed with the local female population during initial settlements, which ultimately resulted in loss of Iranian mtDNA.[107][43]
The absence of lung cancer-related DNA mutational signals among Parsis both point to the community's distinctive non-smoking social practises, which have been practised for millennia. Additionally Parsis have high prevalence of longevity as a genetic feature.[108] Parsis have however been shown to have high rates ofbreast cancer[109]bladder cancer,glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency andParkinson's disease.[110]
The Parsis have made considerable contributions to the history and development of India, all the more remarkable considering their small numbers. As themaxim "Parsi,thy name is charity"alludes to, their most prominent contribution is theirphilanthropy.
Although their people's name Parsi comes from the Persian-language word for a Persian person, in Sanskrit the term means "one who gives alms".[113][114]
^abJamshed Irani v. Banu Irani (1966),68 blr 794, Justice Mody
^Entine, Jon (October 24, 2007).Abraham's Children: Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People. Grand Central Publishing. p. 236.ISBN978-0-446-40839-4.
^Sir Dinsha Manekji Petit v. Sir Jamsetji Jijibhai (1909),33 ILR 509 and 11 BLR 85, Justices Dinshaw Davar and Frank Beaman
^United States Department of Commerce (1924).Trade and Economic Review for 1922 No. 34 (Supplement to Commerce Reports ed.). Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. p. 46.Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. RetrievedMay 8, 2023.
^Committee, Dinshah J. Irani Memorial Fund (1943).Dinshah Irani Memorial Volume: Papers on Zoroastrian and Iranian Subjects. Dinshah J. Irani Memorial Fund Committee.
^The Shah's missive is reproduced in Sir Jehangir C. Coyajee, "A brief Life-Sketch of the Late Mr. Dinshah Jeejeebhoy Irani" inDinshah Irani Memorial Volume: Papers on Zoroastrian and Iranian Subjects (Dinshah J. Irani Memorial Fund Committee, Bombay: 1948), pp i-xiii.
^abcdMarashi, Afshin (June 8, 2020).Exile and the Nation: The Parsi Community of India and the Making of Modern Iran. University of Texas Press.ISBN978-1-4773-2079-2.
^Desai, Usha & Ramsay-Brijball, M. (2004). Tracing Gujarati Language development: philologically and sociolinguistically. Alternation, 11(2), 308-324.[1]
^Dodiya, J. (2006). Parsi English Novel. Sarup & Sons.|Dodiya, J. (2006). Parsi English Novel. Sarup & Sons.|[2]Archived December 24, 2024, at theWayback Machine|page=7
^Asia and the Americas.46. Asia Press: 212. 1946.Many Muslim organizations are opposed to it. Every non-Muslim, whether he is a Hindu or Sikh or Christian or Parsi, is opposed to it. Essentially the sentiment in favor of partition has grown in the areas where Muslims are in a small minority, areas which, in any event, would remain undetached from the rest of India. Muslims in provinces where they are in a majority have been less influenced by it; naturally, for they can stand on their own feet and have no reason to fear other groups. It is least evident in the Northwest Frontier Province (95 per cent Muslim) where the Pathans are brave and self-reliant and have no fear complex. Thus, oddly enough, the Muslim League's proposal to partition India finds far less response in the Muslim areas sought to be partitioned than in the Muslim minority areas which are unaffected by it.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)[full citation needed]
^Pavan K. Varma (2007).The Great Indian Middle class. Penguin Books. p. 28.ISBN978-0-14-310325-7....its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists [etc]...The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite... But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school
Luhrmann, Tanya M. (August 2002), "Evil in the Sands of Time: Theology and Identity Politics among the Zoroastrian Parsis",The Journal of Asian Studies,61 (3):861–889,doi:10.2307/3096349,ISSN0021-9118,JSTOR3096349,S2CID163092265
Ralhan, Om Prakash (2002), "Indian National Congress",Encyclopaedia of Political Parties, New Delhi: Anmol Publications,ISBN978-81-7488-865-5.
Random House (1993), "Parsi",Random House Unabridged Dictionary (2nd ed.), New York: Random House
Rivetna, Roshan, ed. (2002),The Legacy of Zarathushtra: An Introduction to the Religion, History and Culture of the Zarathushtis, Hinsdale: Federation of the Zoroastrian Associations of North America
_in_Bombay_1873.jpg)
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
