THE PĂRSİS.

THE Parsis, who are merely colonists in India, derive their name from Pārs (in Arabic, Fars), the proper name of a particular province of their mother-country. The name was afterwards applied more generally to a whole territory which was thence called by the Greeks Persis, and became known to us as Persia. The Persians call their own country İran, and themselves Īrānīs-names derived from the same root as the Sanskrit Arya. Ethnologically indeed both Persians and Pārsīs are quite as truly Āryans as the Brahmans. The Pārsīs are, moreover, followers of a religious system based on a modification of the original Aryan creed. This was the system which was developed in Bactria and reconstructed on a purer basis by the reformer Zoroaster, as described in a previous paper. When Zoroastrianism passed into Persia proper it was again modified by the circumstances of its contact with the Magian system, and when it ultimately reached India-brought there by fugitive Persians flying from the persecuting Muhammadans-it was again subjected to changes through its contact with the Indian systems.

Like the Jews the Pārsīs are a peculiar people-a people who have had to suffer great persecutions at the hands of others, and who have been driven from their native land by fanatical Muhammadans -adherents of a monotheistic creed not altogether without points of similarity to their own. Persia, the holy land of the Pārsīs, and Palestine, the holy land of the Jews, are both held by Muhammadan races. The Pārsīs, however, are far less numerous than the Jews; nor have they been scattered throughout other nations in the same manner. A few thousand still remain in their fatherland, Persia, chiefly at Yezd and the surrounding villages. The remainder have found an asylum in India. These are the sole surviving representatives of a religious system which once prevailed over an immense extent of territory, and was adopted by the whole Iranian nation.

Numbering little more than 70,000 persons in India, the Pārsīs of the present day would be lost to observation in the vast ocean of that country's population were it not for certain peculiarities which cause them to stand out conspicuously from the countless millions by

whom they are surrounded. Their distinctive character is marked by their dress. No one who has lived in any large Indian city can fail to be familiar with the picturesque costume of the followers of Zoroaster, their high brimless hats set a little back so as to form an angle with the head. Even in the crowded thoroughfares of London and Liverpool the dismal monotony of European dress is occasionally enlivened by a Pārsī head dress; for no prohibitory laws of caste, like those in force among the Hindus, exist among the members of the Parsi community, and no fear of excommunication deters any individual of this enterprising race from seeking his fortune in countries beyond the sea. Doubtless, custom and tradition exercise no slight influence over his conduct, but they do not overrule all other considerations. The one ruling passion of a genuine Pārsī is the love of making money. His solitary idol is the solid rupee. He turns with disgust from the hideous idolatry practised by his Hindu fellow-subjects. He offers no homage to blocks of wood and stone, to monstrous many-headed images, grotesque symbols of good luck, or four-armed deities of fortune. But he bows down before the silver image which Victoria, the Empress of India, has set up in her Indian dominions.

Let me now reply to the two questions left unanswered in the previous paper, namely, Why and how was the religion of Zoroaster expelled from Persia and transferred to India? What modifications have the Indian Pārsīs introduced into the Zoroastrian creed?

In replying to the first question, it will be necessary to go back for a moment to ground already traversed.

A rapid survey was before taken of the early history of the IranoAryans. After the line of monarchs commonly called Achæmenians came the Seleucidæ and Arsacidæ (= Persian, Ashkānī), who ruled the Persian empire in succession. Then followed the patriotic Sāsānian dynasty (Sāsānida), so called from Sāsān, the grandfather of their first king, Ardashir. This line of kings addressed themselves earnestly to the task of restoring Persian nationality, which had almost become extinct. The first monarch, Ardashīr Bābakān, collected, as we have already seen, the scattered fragments of the Zoroastrian sacred writings, and revived the ancient Persian religion, infusing into it much of its old vigour and activity. For a period of about 400 years from his reign in the third century (about A.D. 225) to that of Yazdagird, the last king of the same dynasty (A.D. 651), Zoroastrianism escaped all persecutions, and throve in the sunshine of royal favour.

Yet it could scarcely have taken firm root in the heart of the people, for when the fanatical Muhammadans, under the Khalif Omar, overran the country with the sword in one hand and the Kuran in the other, terminating their military successes by the defeat of the last Sāsānian king, Yazdagird, at the battle of Nāhā

vand,' in the middle of the seventh century, a very small proportion of the people had the courage to adhere to their national religion. True, the two religions had this in common-that they were both nominally monotheistic, and both unidolatrous. They had other elements, too, which tended to mutual attraction and affinity. But the supplanting of the Avesta by the Kuran, and of the prophet Zoroaster by Muhammad, could scarcely have been effected had not the hold of the Zoroastrian system on the religious convictions of the nation been gradually weakened. In point of fact, the memory of the Bactrian prophet was no longer fresh. The Zoroastrian canon of Scripture had been tampered with, mutilated, and almost destroyed, and the Zend language, in which its doctrines were contained, was no longer generally understood.

Yet the entire Persian community did not embrace the new faith. A certain number manfully resisted all pressure and remained true to their ancient creed. These took refuge in the mountain fastnesses of Khurasan, or in the outlying deserts, where they practised their national religion in peace for about a hundred years. Even there, however, in course of time persecution overtook them; and, although a certain proportion continued to occupy Yezd and Kirman (where they still linger in a wretched condition of ignorance and poverty even to the present day),2 a large number emigrated to the island of Ormus, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. Eventually this was found to be a station too accessible to their Muhammadan persecutors, and, after a stay of fifteen years, the Zoroastrian fugitives engaged vessels and set sail for the west coast of India. Their first halt took place at Div or Diu, one of the earliest settlements of the Portuguese, at the south-eastern extremity of Kathiawar. There, for the first time, the Pārsīs made themselves acquainted with the language, habits, and customs of the Hindus during a sojourn which is believed to have lasted for about fifteen years. Thence they moved on by sea to Sanjan in Gujarat (twenty-five miles south of Daman), landing there about A.D. 717. The district around Sanjan was ruled by an enlightened Hindu chief, named Jadao Rana. Before allowing the Zoroastrians to settle in his territory, he demanded a declaration of their religious creed, which they were careful to give in such a form as to bring into prominence any points of agreement between Zoroastrianism and the Hindu system. We worship,' they said,

1 Also written Nihavand. The date of the battle is believed to have been about the year 612 of the Christian era.

2 These were visited by Professor Westergaard, of Copenhagen, in 1843. He found the majority in a miserable state, much oppressed and unfairly taxed by the Persian Government, as they still are. Their ignorance of their own religion was extraordinary. No complete copy of the whole Avesta existed among them, though there were a great many copies of the Khurdah Avesta, and a few of the Vendidad and Yasna. They are contemptuously called Gabars by the Persians, and being debarred from many means of livelihood, often become gardeners.

'the Supreme Being, the sun, and the five elements. We make offerings to fire; we are worshippers of the cow; we practice ablutions with go-mutra (liquid excretion of the cow). We wear a sacred garment (sadara) and girdle (kustī); we pray five times a day; we use music at our marriage ceremonies; we perform annual religious rites on behalf of our ancestors.' 3

The Hindu Raja was satisfied with this explanation, and allowed the fugitives to settle at Sanjan, where they erected their first fire temple in their adopted country as a thank-offering to Almighty God for having at length granted them a resting place (A.D. 721).

For three hundred years after this date the Pārsīs are said to have resided quietly at Sanjān, enjoying peace and prosperity, and multiplying so rapidly that many of them were compelled to seek other settlements in Gujarat, at Surat, Nowsārī, Broach, Cambay, and elsewhere. It is supposed that about this period, and for two hundred years subsequently, their numbers were increased by repeated arrivals of fresh emigrants from Persia.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century a powerful Muhammadan chief, who had established his authority in a neighbouring district, attacked Sanjan. He was at first repulsed by help of the Parsīs, who fought valiantly on the side of the Hindu Rāja, but in a subsequent battle the Muhammadans were victorious, and the Pārsīs being routed left Sanjan, and sought refuge with the colony at Nowsārī, taking with them the sacred fire which they had consecrated eight hundred years before, and maintained in the same fire temple ever since. Some time afterwards jealousies and disputes occurred between the old and new colonists. The fire was, therefore, removed to Udwāra, 32 miles south of Surat, where it still continues in the most ancient of all existing fire temples, and is held in the greatest veneration by all orthodox Pārsīs.

After the establishment of the English factories at Surat in 1611 the Parsīs who had settled there rapidly increased in numbers, and by their energy and aptitude for business achieved great eminence as traders. In process of time they even won the confidence of the Muhammadan Nawabs of Surat, and were elevated to influential offices in the State. Some of them became great shipwrights, and one of their number, named Nek Sat Khan, an artisan of unusual skill, found favour with the Mogul Emperor himself. This man is said to have obtained important concessions for the English merchants at Surat.

Of course, the English had no sooner gained possession of the island of Bombay than Pārsī traders and shipbuilders began to establish themselves there also.

In short, from the first dawn of our political ascendency on the west coast of India, the history of the Parsīs has been one of

See Dosabhoy Framjee's Parsees, p. 112.

uninterrupted advance and prosperity. But the community has never increased numerically except within itself. Proselytising has never been attempted by the Zoroastrians since their arrival on Indian soil. No person, as a matter of fact, ever becomes a Pārsī except by birth.

In my repeated visits to Bombay I had many opportunities of conversing with a high native Pārsī authority, Mr. K. R. Cama. How is it you make no efforts to gain proselytes?' I once asked. To this he replied in the following manner :-

There is nothing in our religion which forbids our making converts. On the contrary, it is clear from the Avesta that there were formerly missionary fire priests, Athravas (Athorvans). History tells us that great wars were waged against neighbouring tribes for declining to accept the religion of Zoroaster. The Shah Namah mentions wars of this kind. Zoroaster was commanded by Ormazd to teach the wicked as well as the pious. It is true, however, that at present we have no missionary organisation, and that we admit no one within the pale of Zoroastrianism except the children of Parsi parents. We consider that we have enough to do in making converts among our own people, who are generally quite ignorant of the truths of their own religion.

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Such being the present state of feeling among the Pārsīs, it is evident that any great increase of their community, now numbering less than one hundred thousand souls, is highly improbable.

The second inquiry to which we have to address ourselves is, What modifications Zoroastrianism has undergone through its transference to Indian soil? It must not be forgotten that India, though once closely connected with Persia, and possessing much in common with it, is a country teeming with a heterogeneous population of its own, and abounding in every variety of race, language, creed, and superstition. Brought into connection with so many fresh associations, it was inevitable that the religion of Zoroaster should suffer change and adulteration. Even before it was banished from Persia Zoroastrianism had not escaped the usual fate of all human religions. It was already lapsing into that confused jumble of doctrines and superstitions which appears to be the ultimate outcome of the action and interaction of man's devotional faculties in all countries where no powerful resisting influences, like those of Christian dogmatic truth, neutralise the ordinary tendencies of human religious thought. It was already drifting in the same direction as Hinduism. In point of fact its sacred writings appear to have been constructed on somewhat similar lines to those of the Hindu religion. Both series of writings were the work of numerous authors who succeeded each other during many succeeding generations. Both begin with monotheistic ideas. Both exhibit as they proceed an increasing deviation from the simplicity

Occasionally the illegitimate children of Parsi fathers and Hindu mothers have been admitted, and in rare instances domestic slaves or servants, but the legality of such admission is disputed by orthodox Parsi parents.