Chapter 4
[11] Khorassan--A large country stretching from Iraq (Persian) to Azadwar (the chief town of the province of Djoueïn) and to Beïhaq. It is bounded on the side of India (on the south and east) by Thokharistan, Ghaznee, Sedjestan, and Kirman. It contains fine cities, such as Nisabour, Merve, which has been the capital of Balk, Herat, Thaleqan, Nesa, Abiwerd, Serakhs, and other large cities situate on this side of the river Oxus. Some geographers have placed the provinces of Kharezm and a part of Transoxiana in Khorassan, but that is an error.... When Islam appeared in the world, the Khorassanians, by a quite special favour of Providence, eagerly welcomed it. They accepted without opposition the peace offered them; hence they were subjected to a light tax only, and escaped being massacred or made prisoners. The conquest itself took place in the eighteenth year of the Hejira. 'Omar ben Khattab sent into Khorassan El-Ahnef ben Qaïs, who in a short time took possession successively of the two Thabés, Herat, Merv esch-Schahidjân and Nisabour, after having forced the Persian king Yezdezard, son of Schahriar, to take refuge in Transoxiana with the Khan of the Turks. (See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., p. 197.)
[12] This town is situated on an arm of the sea, communicating with Fars. It serves as a port to Kirman, and it is there that vessels from India deposit the merchandise destined for Kirman, Sedjestan, and Khorassan. Some authors write and pronounce it Hormouz. (See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., p. 595.)
Mohammed Medjdi gives some historical details concerning the old town and island of Hormuz up to the time of the conquest of Albuquerque (1514): "The town of Hormuz is situated in the second climate, and the heat there is excessive. Founded by Ardeschir Babegan, it was abandoned (in 715) by King Schems ed-din, who feared the attacks of the neighbouring brigands. This king built another town in the island of Djeroun, about one farsakh from the coast, and kept for it the name of Hormuz. For a hundred and twenty years the Franks have exercised there an absolute power. Its governor, Nour ed-Din, having conceived the fatal idea of asking their assistance when in a difficult situation, allowed them a tenth part of its revenue. In a short time they so skilfully usurped the authority that the king and the vezir of the country had not the least share in the government." (Zinet, chapter ix.) Before the Portuguese conquest, this island, tributary to Persia and annexed to Kirman, paid an annual contribution of sixty thousand dinars. (Nouzhet, fol. 670. See also the Arabic text of Abou'l Féda, p. 339, and the Voyages of Ibn Batoutah, Vol. ii. p. 230.) B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., p. 595 (note).
[13] See Translation from the Persian of Kissah-i-Sanjan, or History of the Arrival and Settlement of the Parsees in India, by E. B. Eastwick, in the Journal of the Bombay Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, vol. i. p. 167. As for us, we have followed the order of events, such as it is presented by Mr. B. B. Patell in his admirable work, the Parsee Prâkâsh, and the interesting résumé of Mr. Dosabhai Framji Karaka. See Bomanji Byramji Patell, Parsee Prâkâsh, being a record of important events in the growth of the Parsee community in Western India, chronologically arranged from the date of their immigration into India to the year 1860 A.D., vol. in 4to, Bombay, 1878-1888, 1,053 pages (in Gujerati), and Dosabhai Framji Karaka, History of the Parsis, 2 vols. in 8vo, London, 1884.
[14] Diu--Portuguese possession--latitude, 20° 43' 20'' North; longitude, 71° 2' 30'' East--at the entrance of the Gulf of Cambay, to the south of the Gujerat Peninsula. Its length from east to west is six miles and a half, and its greatest extent from north to south is one mile. It has a small but very fine harbour. The climate is dry and stifling, the soil barren, water scarce, and agriculture much neglected. Its principal products are wheat, millet, nachni, bajri, cocoanut, and some kinds of fruits. The population of Diu consists of about 10,765 inhabitants, of whom 419 are Christians, 9,575 Hindoos, and 771 Mahomedans. At its most flourishing period the number had risen, it is said, to nearly 50,000. Now there are not more than 3,107 houses, very poor and uncomfortable for the most part. In fact, the commerce of Diu is now ruined. The resources of the inhabitants consisted formerly in weaving and dyeing; fishing is their only occupation. Some bold minds attempt trading on the Mozambique coast. The appearance of Diu is interesting. The fortress, rebuilt after the siege of 1545 by Dom Joan de Castro, is imposing in appearance. To the west, the town extends divided in two quarters, that of the Christians and that of the Pagans. Of the fine edifices of Diu, there still remains the college of the Jesuits turned into the Cathedral church; of the other convents, that of Saint François serves as a military hospital, and that of Saint Jean-de-Dieu as a cemetery, while that of Saint Dominique is in ruins. (See W. W. Hunter, Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. iii. p. 171.)
[15] Sanjan--A small village of the Thana district, formerly an important town known to the Portuguese, and called, after them, under the name of Saint John. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. iii. p. 174.)
[16] Damman--A Portuguese town, about one hundred miles to the north of Bombay. Its superficial area is eighty-two square miles, comprising the pargana of Nagar Haveli. The population consists of about 40,980 souls. The settlement is composed of two distinct parts; Damman and the pargana of Nagar Haveli, separated by a territory belonging to the English and by a railroad running through Bombay, Baroda, and Central India. The town was sacked by the Portuguese in 1532, then rebuilt by the natives, and re-taken by the Portuguese in 1558, and made by them one of their settlements in India. They have converted the mosque into a church, and have built eight others. Commerce flourished there before the fall of the Portuguese power in India, and extended even as far as the African coasts, where ships carried the cotton stuffs manufactured at Damman. From 1817 to 1837 the trade in opium, brought from Karachi and imported into China, was prosperous; but since the conquest of Sind by the English the transport of opium has been prohibited, and Damman has thus been deprived of its greatest source of wealth. The soil is moist and fertile, specially in the pargana of Nagar Haveli; rice, wheat, and tobacco are grown there; but in spite of the facilities for agriculture, only a twentieth part of the territory is cultivated. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. iii. p. 21.)
[17] The Parsis call him Jadè Rana; Dr. Wilson suggests that he was doubtless Jayadeva or Vana Raja of Anahillawada, who reigned in Gujerat from 745 to 806.
[18] There are several manuscripts of the "Slokas" in Sanscrit and in Gujerati. In the Indian Antiquary, p. 214 (July 5, 1872), we find a version of it, according to the translation prepared by Dastoor Hoshang Jamasp, the High Priest at Poona. The author compares it to another more ancient one, then in the hands of Dr. Wilson, and points out numerous divergences; besides, according to Dr. Wilson himself, there are no two manuscripts, either in Gujerati or in Sanscrit, similar in wording, though identical so far as the substance is concerned.
[19] Cambay--Capital of the country of that name, a province of Gujerat, down the Gulf of Cambay, to the north of the estuary of the Mahi. Population (1872) 33,709. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. ii. p. 334.)
[20] Ankleswar--Capital of the subdivision of that name in the district of Bharooch. Population (1872) 9,414 inhabitants. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. i. p. 203.)
[21] Thana--A British District in the Bombay Presidency. The territory, which formed part of the States of the Peishwa, was annexed by the English Government in 1818 on the overthrow of Baji-Rao. The population is 847,424 inhabitants (1872), including 3,920 Parsis. Thana is 26 miles north of Bombay. It possesses a station and a port. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. ix. p. 34.)
[22] Some Parsis who, since their arrival in India, in 636, had remained in the south of Gujerat, were attracted to the temple of Kumarika Kshetra, on the mouth of the Mahi (tenth century). These new-comers succeeded in commerce, and were followed by others, so that the Parsi element became sufficiently strong to drive the Hindoos from the town. Amongst those who fled there was a certain Kalianrai who, taking refuge in Surat, acquired a great fortune by trading in pearls. His wealth gained him some importance; so that he gathered together a band of Rajputs and Kolis, who attacked the Parsis one night, set fire to their houses, and put some to the sword; the rest took to flight. Kalianrai then formed a project to build a town on the ruins of the Parsi colony. (See Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency.)
[23] The translation of the first inscription is due to Mr. K. R. Cama in his Studies of the Zoroastrian Religion (vol. iii. p. 160); and the second to Mr. M. S. Watcha, in the collection entitled Zarthoshti Abhyas (vol. iv. p. 212). (See Parsee Prâkâsh, p. 2.)
[24] Naosari--A town in the territory of the Gaekwar of Baroda, on the banks of the Pourna, 12 miles from the sea, 18 from Surat, and 149 from Bombay. Lat. 22° 7' N.; long. 73° 40' E. The population in 1872 amounted to 14,700 inhabitants. Naosari is a very flourishing town; its prosperity depending on the Parsi colony. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. vii. p. 179.)
[25] Sari--A fallen town of Thabarestan (Mazanderan). It was here, says Beladori, that the Governor of the province under the Taherides resided. The author of the Nouzhet, to indicate the great antiquity of this place, attributes its foundation to Thahomurs. (See also B. de Meynard, Dict, geo., hist., &c., p. 295.) It is a ruined city. According to Fraser it had a population of 30,000 inhabitants towards the commencement of the century. D'Anville and Rennell have tried to identify Sari with the ancient Zadra-Karta, the greatest city of Hyrcania, where the army of Alexander stopped to sacrifice to the gods. It was here that the great achievements of the heroic times of Persia are supposed to have been accomplished. Feridoon, the legendary hero of the Persians, is supposed to be buried under the threshold of a mosque, which is erected on the site of a Fire Temple. Sari is surrounded by immense gardens, and the country around is covered with mulberry trees, cotton plants, sugar cane, and rice fields. It has a port on the Caspian Sea, at the mouth of the Tedjun, called Farahabad, the abode of joy, founded by Shah 'Abbas. Pietro della Valle speaks of it as the principal city of Mazanderan.
[26] Westergaard, Zend-Avesta, p. 304.
[27] Bharooch--A British District in the Bombay Presidency; population 350,332 souls (1872). There are about 3,116 Parsis there, nearly all traders or agriculturists. Its capital on the Nerbudda has a population of 36,932 inhabitants. The English had a factory there since 1616; they took possession of Bharooch in 1703. The Parsis must have settled there since the eleventh century; many quitted Bharooch for Bombay. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. ii. pp. 224 et seq.)
[28] See Voyages en Asie du Frère Odoric de Pordenone, religieux de Saint François. Edited and annotated by M. H. Cordier, p. 82, Paris, 1891.
[29] Thana was abandoned for over three centuries. In 1774 the Parsis returned and took possession of it, according to the terms of a treaty concluded with a Maratha Sardar, Ragunathrao Dada Saheb. Kavasji Rastamji, of Bombay, accompanied them, and he was entrusted with the office of patel in the following places: Charnibanda, Munpesar, Trombay, Muth, Murve, Manori, Vesava, Danda, Bandora, Kalyan, Bhimardi, and other places in the island of Salsette.
[30] Dr. Wilson (J.B.B.R.A.S., 1,182) has suggested that the Mahmood Shah of the Kissah-i-Sanjan was Mahmood Begada, who reigned over Gujerat from 1459-1513. The mention of Champaner (A fort and village in the Panch-Mahals district, situated on an isolated rock of great height. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. ii. p. 375.)) as his capital seems to indicate that the author of the Kissah-i-Sanjan thought that the Mussulman prince was the famous Mahmood Begada. But the conquest of Gujerat by Alp Khan was so complete that it leaves no doubt that Sanjan fell into his hands. The conqueror might possibly, though less likely, be Mahmood Shah Tughlik, who re-conquered Gujerat and the Thana coast in 1348, and not Mahmood Begada, as the authorities agree in saying that, after long wanderings, the Fire was brought from Sanjan to Naosari about the beginning of the fifteenth century (1419). Alp Khan may be either Ulugh Khan, Ala-ud-din's brother, who is sometimes called by mistake Alp Khan, or he may be Alp Khan, Ala-ud-din's brother-in-law. Ulugh Khan conquered Gujerat (1295-1297) and Alp Khan governed it (1300-1320). The Alp Khan of the text was doubtless Ulugh Khan. (Elliot, iii. 157, 163.) (See Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency.)
[31] In 1839, when Dr. J. Wilson visited Sanjan, he found only one or two Parsi families there. The ruins of a dokhma constructed before 400 are still to be seen, but there is not a single Parsi to be found there.
[32] Bansdah.--A tributary State (in the province of Gujerat) bounded on the north and west by the Surat district, on the south east by the Baroda State, on the east by the Dang States, and on the south by the State of Dharampoor. The capital contains 2,321 inhabitants. (See Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. ii. pp. 401-2.)
[33] A New Account of East India and Persia, in Eight Letters, from 1672-1681, by John Fryer, in 1698. Letter ii. p. 67.
[34] This dokhma still exists on the Malabar Hill. It was built in 1670 by Modi Hirji Watcha, an ancestor of the Watcha Ghandi family.
[35] Renan has summarised, in these few terse lines, the long dissertations in the Sixth Book, tenth chapter, of the Præparatio Evangelica of Eusébius. (See Marcus Aurélius, ch. xxiv. pp. 439-440.)
[36] See Malcolm, Hist. of Persia, vol. i. ch. viii. p. 275 et seq.
[37] Shah Abbas the Great, desirous of increasing the commerce of Ispahan, caused 1,500 Guebre families to come and settle outside the town on this side of the river Zenderoud. Under Abbas II. they quitted Gehr-Abad and returned to the mountains. We see in Kaempfer that Abbas II. transported, in fact, nearly six hundred agricultural families into the Armenian Colony of Sulpha, or Sjulfa, founded by his ancestor, and which to the south bordered on the quarters of the Guebres. (Amænitates exoticæ, &c., p. 164, Lemgoviæ, 1712.)
[38] The Parsis, their History, Manners, Customs, and Religion, ch. ii. pp. 31 et seq., London, 1884.
[39] In fifteen years the number has risen by 18 per cent., or 1 1/5 per cent. per year; thus, in February, 1878, there were 1,341 Zoroastrians in Kirman; in August, 1879, the number had risen to 1,378, viz., an increase of 1 4/5 per cent.
[40] A. Houtum-Schindler. Die Parsen in Persien, ihre Sprache und einige ihrer Gebräuche. (See Z. D. M. G., 36 ter Band, pp. 54 et seq., Leipzig, 1882.) Dupré (1807-1809) and Kinneir (1810) register the number of Zoroastrians in Persia, and put it down at 4,000 families. Trézel (1807-9) raises it to 8,000 Guebres in Yezd and in the neighbouring villages; Christie (1819) and Fraser (1821) count about 3,000 families in all Persia; Abbot (1845) lowers the number to 800 families in Yezd and in the surrounding places. Petermann (1854) counts 3,000 families, of whom 1,200 men are in Yezd; Goldsmid (1865), 4,500 Guebres in Yezd and Kirman; and finally Capt. Evan Smith (1870) 3,800 families.
[41] Two young officers of the Indian Army have lately attempted to cross the frightful solitudes of Dusht-i-Kavir. (See Proc. of the R.G.S., November, 1891, and Asiatic Quarterly Review, October, 1891.) Dush-i-Sut has been more easy to explore, although the danger is not less, owing to the clouds of sand raised by the winds.
[42] Yezd.--"Yezd enjoys a temperate climate. It is surrounded by canals and aqueducts which carry the water into the interior of the town. There are constructed there reservoirs and cisterns, structures as remarkable as those which are seen at Kaschân. Most of the houses and edifices, although built of raw bricks, are of great solidity; besides, the rainfall is very scarce in that country. The town is well built and very clean, because care is taken to have the rubbish removed every day from it, which rubbish is used to manure the fields. Wheat, cotton, and silk are produced there, but the wheat is not abundant enough to suffice for food, and some wheat is therefore imported from Kirman and Schiraz, so that its price is somewhat high. Among the fruits of Yezd are praised figs, called misqali, and pomegranates. The inhabitants, formerly Schaféïtes, belong now to the Schiite sect; they are almost all weavers, and are known for their honesty and by their gentleness, which degenerates even into weakness. Hamd Allah Mustôfi, while doing justice to the loyalty of the merchants, accuses the brokers of that town of intolerable arrogance and pride." (Zinet el-Medjalis). (Cf. Nouzhet, fol. 602.) See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., p. 611, note 1.
During nearly two centuries the governors (atabegs) of Yezd, like those of Lauristan, maintained their independence; but in the thirteenth century Ghazan Khan supplanted them. As for the modern travellers who have visited those regions, this is what is known of them: Marco Polo traversed Yezd in 1272, the monk Odoric in 1325, and Josafa Barbaro in 1474. It was then a city surrounded with walls nearly five miles in circumference, and well known by its silk trade. Tavernier, in the seventeenth century, stayed there for three days, enough to make him extol the fruits and the beauty of the women of that place; similarly in the nineteenth century the European savants made acquaintance with that region. Christie, having left Pottinger in Baloochistan, traversed it while returning from Herat (1810). (See A. Dupré (1808), Voyage in Persia, vol. ii. ch. xlii.; Dr. A. Petermann (1854), Reisen im Orient, vol. ii. ch. xii. pp. 203 et seq.; N. de Khamkoff (1859), Memoir, pp. 200-204; A. H. Schindler (1879), Zeit. f. Gesell d. Erd. zu Berlin; Curzon (1889), Persia, vol. ii. ch. xxiii. pp. 238-243, London, 1892.)
[43] Kermân--The word is written sometimes Kirman; but the first pronunciation seems more correct. It is a vast and populated country, situate in the third climate; longitude 90 deg., latitude 30 deg. It contains a great number of districts, towns, and boroughs. Its boundaries are: To the east, Mokrân and the desert which extends between Mokrân and the sea, near the country of the Belouth (Beloochees); to the west, Fars; to the north, the deserts of Khorassan and Sedjestân; to the south, the sea of Fars. On the frontier of Sirdjân, Kirman makes an angle and advances into the boundaries of Fars; it has also a bend on its southern sides. Kirman is rich in palm-trees, corn, cattle, and beasts of burden; it offers an analogy to the province of Basrah by the number of its rivers and the fertility of its territory. This is what has been said by Mahomed bin Ahmed el-Beschari: "Kermân participates in the natural qualities of Fars; it resembles by its productions the country of Basrah, and it has also some analogical reference to Khorassan. In fact, its sides are washed by the sea; it unites the advantages of hot and cold climates; it produces the nut-tree and the palm-tree, and yields in abundance the two best species of dates, and produces the most varied trees and fruits. Its principal cities are, Djiraft, Menouqân, Zarend, Bemm, Sirdjân (or Schiradjân), Nermasir, and Berdesir. Tutenag (toutia) is collected there and is imported in large quantities. The inhabitants are virtuous, honest, and much attached to Sunnism and orthodoxy. But a great part of this country is depopulated and ruined, on account of the different masters who possessed it, and the tyrannical domination of its Sultans. For many years, instead of having been governed by a particular dynasty, it has been administered by governors who have had no other occupation than to amass wealth and to make it pass into Khorassan. Now, this emigration of the resources of a country to the profit of another is one of the surest causes of its ruin; besides, the presence of a king and a court contributes much to the prosperity of a State. The epoch of the glory and splendour of Kermân reaches to the reign of the Seldjouqide dynasty, and during that happy period, a great number of foreigners fixed their residence there." See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., pp. 482 et seq.
Among the modern travellers who have visited Kirman since the commencement of the century, see Sir H. Pottinger (1810), Travels in Beloochistan, cap. x.; N. de Khanikoff (1859), Memoirs, pp. 186-198; Curzon (1889), Persia, vol. ii. ch. xxii. pp. 243-246.
[44] In 1878 the numbers were 39,718 Mussalmans, 1,341 Parsis, 85 Jews, and 26 Hindoos, which gives a total of 41,170 souls. The Hindoos are Mussulmans who have come for the most part from Scind and Shikarpur. Some have established at Bahramabad some great commercial firms.
[45] Malcolm, History of Persia, vol. ii. ch. xxi. p. 271.
[46] It is reported that the conqueror caused to be presented to himself on dishes 35,000 pairs of eyes! Thirty thousand women and children were reduced to slavery.... It is at Bam, a small village 140 miles to the south-east of Kirman, that Luft Ali Khan was made a prisoner and delivered over to his enemy who, with his own hands, tore out his eyes before causing him to perish. Sir H. Pottinger saw, in 1810, a trophy of 600 skulls raised in honour of the victory of Aga Mohammed.
[47] See Dieulafoy, Acropole de Suse, &c. Appendix, The Human Races of Persia, pp. 87 and following. See also Duhousset, The Populations of Persia, pp. 4-7; N. de Khanikoff, Ethnography of Persia, pp. 19, 47, 50, 56, &c.
[48] According to General Houtum-Schindler (see Memoir already cited, pp. 82-84), the hairs of the Zoroastrians are smooth and thick, generally black, or of a dark brown colour; one seldom meets with a clear brown colour, never with the red. In Kirman some beards do assume this colour, but they incline rather to the yellowish. The eyes are black, or of an intense brown, sometimes grey or blue, the eyebrows habitually thick and well furnished among men, delicate and well shaped among women. The complexion is generally tawny; the cheeks are coloured only among some women. The inhabitants of the cities are pale in appearance, and not robust; those of the towns are robust and well proportioned. We regret not to be able to insert certain types sent for us from Yezd, the printing of this work being too far advanced to enable us to make use of them.
[49] Malcolm, History of Persia, vol. i. ch. xv. pp. 607 et seq.
[50] Hanway, vol. ii. p. 153.
[51] Malcolm, History of Persia, vol. i. ch. xv. p. 642.--The chief of one of the corps of Guebres at the siege of Ispahan was called by the Mussulman name of Nasser-ûllah. Hanway considers him as a Parsi or Guebre.
[52] Letter from Prof. W. to the Rev. Dr. Wilson, written in 1843, in Journ. As. of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. viii., 1846, p. 350.
[53] We cannot recount here odious details which a single word will characterise: they were veritable dragonnades.
[54] General Houtum-Schindler ascertained that, before the abolition of the Jazia, the position of the Guebres was good enough, and infinitely better than that of the Jews at Teheran, Kaschan, Shiraz, and Bushire, whilst at Yezd and in Kirman, on the contrary, the position of the Jews was preferable. The hardships endured were very cruel. (See Houtum-Schindler, Memoir already cited, p. 57.) Here are the principal grievances of the Guebres: they were threatened with forced conversion; property belonging to a Zoroastrian family was confiscated for the use and profit of the proselytes, in disregard to the rights of the legitimate heirs; property newly acquired was susceptible of being burdened with taxes for the benefit of the "Mullas" up to a fifth of its value; there was a prohibition against building new houses and repairing old ones; the Guebres could not put on new or white coats, nor could they ride on horseback; the traders had to submit to taxes in addition to the Government duties of the custom house; and finally the murder of a Zoroastrian was not punished, and often sanctuaries were invaded and profaned.
[55] It is well to notice that the Persian Government, very careful to please the ambassadors of the European and Christian courts, accords voluntarily its protection to the natives who are in the neighbourhood of the capital; but this protection ceases in the provinces where there prevails the rule of local governors maintained by the fanaticism of the inhabitants.
[56] The Parsees: their History, Manners, Customs, and Religion, ch. ii. pp. 49 et seq.
[57] The members of the committee were: Messrs. Maneckji Nasarwanji Petit, Rastamji Nusserwanji Wadia, Merwanji Framji Panday, Kavasji Ardesir Sahair.
[58] For the negotiations on the subject of the Jazia, see Parsee Prâkâsh, pp. 659-662.
[59] Messrs. Naorozji Fardunji, Dadabhoy Naorozji, Ardeshir Kharshedji Wadia, Dr. Rastamji Kavasji Bahadurji.
[60] Here is a translation of the text of the firman relieving the Zoroastrians of Persia from the impost of the "Jazia":
"In consideration of the innumerable benedictions which it has pleased the Almighty to accord to us, and as an act of grace towards Him who has given us the Royal Crown of Persia, with the means of promoting the welfare of its inhabitants, has devolved on us the duty of securing tranquillity and happiness for all our subjects, to whatever tribe, community, or religion they belong, so that they may be profited and refreshed by the beneficent waters of our special favour.
"Amongst these are the Zoroastrians of Yezd and Kirman, who are descended from the ancient and noble race of Persia, and it is now our desire to make their peace and well-being more complete than before.
"That is why, by this royal firman, we ordain and command that the taxes and imposts of the Crown, levied previously on our Musulman subjects of Yezd and Kirman, may be recovered in the same way from the Zoroastrians who reside there. In this manner the impost which exacts from this community the sum of eight hundred and forty-five tomans, is abolished, and in the commencement of this propitious year of the Horse, we make an abatement of this sum and free the Zoroastrians from it for ever. We therefore order and command our mustaufis and officers of the debt of the Royal Exchequer to remove it from the revenues which have to be paid in by Yezd and Kirman. The governors now in office, or who will be nominated subsequently at the head of these provinces, ought to consider all right to the payment of this tribute abolished for ever, and, as regards the present year, and the following years, if this sum should happen to be exacted, they will be held responsible and will be punished for it. Moreover, in the tribute of the tithes and imposts on water and land, and for all trade duties, the Zoroastrians must be treated in the same manner as our other subjects.
"Given at Teheran, in the month of Ramzan, 1299 (August, 1882), &c."
[61] The Committee has now a fund of 275,000 Rs. (646,250 francs) made up of subscriptions and of gifts made on the occasion of marriages or after the death of relatives, at the Uthamna ceremony of the third day. Out of these funds are supported twelve schools, opened in 1882 in Teheran, Yezd, and Kirman.
[62] Mr. Maneckji Limji Antaria is dead, but his successor is not less zealous. The present president is Sir Dinsha Maneckji Petit, and the honorary secretary Mr. Bomanji Byramji Patell.
[63] We reserve for a subsequent work certain documents which we have been able to collect on the subject of the Zoroastrian communities of Persia.
[64] Originally the affairs of the three establishments of the East India Company, in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, were administered separately, each with a president and a council formed of agents of the Company. The name of Presidency was applied to the whole territory subject to this authority. This expression has no longer its real signification; however, it is still employed in official acts. British India is no longer divided into presidencies, but into provinces, eight of which are very extensive countries, having separate governments. The presidencies of Bombay and Madras are to-day only the provinces of those names.
[65] Its territory extends from latitude 28° 47' to 13° 53' N., and from latitude 60° 43' to 76° 30' E. British districts, including Sind, contain a total superficial area of 124,465 square miles, and a population, according to the census of 1872, of 16,349,206 souls. The Native States cover a surface of nearly 71,769 square miles, with a population of 8,831,730 inhabitants, which gives, for the surface, a total of 196,234 square miles, and for the population a total of 25,180,936 inhabitants. The State of Baroda is no longer under the direct administration of Bombay, but under that of the Supreme Government; we may, however, consider it from the geographical point of view as forming a part of Bombay. The Portuguese possessions of Goa, Damman, and Diu, with a superficial area of 1,146 square miles and a population of nearly 428,955 souls, are equally comprised in the limits of the Presidency. See Imp. Gazetteer of India, vol. ii. p. 172 (Ed. of 1881).
[66] See for the explanation of this word, Sir John Strachey, India, pref. and trans. of J. Harmand, chap. vi. p. 145, Paris, 1892.
[67] See Sir William Wilson Hunter, K.C.S.I., Bombay 1885 to 1890, a study in Indian Administration. London, 1892.
[68] The whole population of India comes to 287,223,431: Brahmins, 207,731,727; aboriginal tribes, 9,280,467; Sikhs, 190,783; Jains, 1,416,633; Zoroastrians, 89,904; Buddhists, 7,131,361; Jews, 17,194; Christians, 2,284,380; Mussulmans, 58,321,164; diverse races, 42,763. See Statistical Abstract relating to British India from 1883-84 to 1892-93, 28th November, London, 1894. Distribution of Population according to Religion, Sex and Civil Condition, &c., p. 26, No. 14.
[69] Parsis, 76,774; Hindoos, 21,440,957; Mussulmans, 4,390,995; Christians, 170,009; Jains, 555,209; Jews, 13,547; aboriginal tribes, 292,023; Buddhists, 674; Sikhs, 912; Brahmo-Samaj, 34; diverse races, 51. In no part of India are religions and sects so mixed up as in the Presidency of Bombay. See Ethnology of India by Mr. Justice Campbell, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society. Supplementary number, vol. xxxv. pt. ii. pp. 140, &c., &c.
[70] The Zoroastrian Calendar for the year of Yezdezard 1262, 16th September, 1892, to 15th September, 1893; printed and published at the Bombay Vartman Press, by Muncherji Hosunji Jagosh, 1892 (Gujerati). The tables are very carefully done; an inquisitive reader will find there the enumeration of the Parsi population of Bombay according to the different districts, comparisons with the previous census and remarks on the community.
[71] See Zoroastrian Calendar, p. 126.
[72] The disproportion between the two sexes is explained by the general custom, which does not allow the Parsi servants to bring their wives to the cities where they are employed.
[73] Statistics of births, deaths, and marriages amongst the Parsis of Bombay, during the last ten years, in the Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay, ii., November 1, pp. 55-65.
[74] We refer to the Parsee Prâkâsh, for all those interesting details, those of our readers who can read and understand Gujerati.
[75] "If I have not yet replied to your letter of the 19th November," he writes, "it is because I desired to make special researches concerning the strange rumour which has been spread by the Syed on the subject of a tribe of Parsis established at Khoten, remaining faithful to the Zoroastrian customs, and still governed by its own kings. I can tell you that it is a legend devoid of foundation, and that Major Rawlinson, so learned in these matters, partakes of my view. I suppose that the Syed, seeing the prosperous condition of his co-religionists in Bombay, imagined that in flattering your vanity he would act on your purse. Besides, the country of Khoten is not the terra incognita which he has depicted. I have been in touch with the people who have sojourned there; it is a dependency of China, inhabited by Mussulman subjects of the Empire: the only Chinese who are there form part of the garrison. According to all that has been said to me of Khoten and the adjacent countries, the only difficulty I have had is to define who are the Christian traders who frequent those markets. I think that they are Russians or Nestorian Christians."
[76] See Cabool: being a Narrative of a Journey to, and Residence in that City in the years 1836-7-8. By the late Lieut.-Col. Sir Alexander Burnes. London, 1842.
[77] Vivien Saint Martin, New Dictionary of Universal Geography, vol. iii. p. 9. Paris, 1887.
[78] "Returned herself as living on the wages of shame" (see Dosabhai Framji Karaka, Hist. of Parsis, vol. i. chap. iii. p. 99).
[79] The Parsis have never followed certain occupations, as those of a day labourer, palanquin bearer, barber, bleacher, &c., &c.
[80] Let us note the efforts of Sir Richard Temple, Governor of Bombay (1877-80), who, on his way to Naosari, reminded the Parsis of certain verses of the Vendidad relating specially to agricultural or pastoral occupations, and exhorted them to continue such traditions. Since then a rich Parsi of Bharooch, Mr. Rastamji Maneckji, has taken on lease from the chief of Rajpipla, a great stretch of land in the Panch-Mahals, and has cultivated it with success. He has been outstripped by Kavasji Framji Banaji in his beautiful domain of Pawai. Lord Mayo has highly recognised the great importance of agricultural studies, and in 1870 he declared that the progress of India in riches and in civilisation depended on the progress of agriculture. See Strachey, India, trans. Harmand, chap. ix.; Hunter, Bombay, &c., about the question of agricultural education (chap. vi. pp. 158, 159-166), and about the foundation of a Chair of Agriculture at Baroda under the auspices of the Gaekwar, at the suggestion of Lord Reay, (p. 168.)
[81] See for the army in India, Strachey, India, trans. Harmand, chap. iii. pp. 52 et seq.; Hunter, Bombay, &c., chap. xiv. pp. 448 et seq.
[82] Dosabhai Framji Karaka, Hist. of the Parsis, vol. i. pp. 101 et seq.
[83] The enrolment of the Parsis as volunteers, to the exclusion of the other nationalities, has reappeared since the publication of the work of Mr. D. F. Karaka. At Quetta, at Karachi, at Poona the Parsis are admitted freely into the corps of the European Volunteers, and lastly (June, 1894) Mr. Dinsha Dosabhai Khambatta is enrolled as a lieutenant in the "Poona Volunteers"; he is now a lieutenant in the "Quetta Corps."
[84] Padamji Pestanji is the chief of the Parsi community of Poona; since the last riots, he obtained as a reward of his services the title of Khan Bahadur; he is a member of the Legislative Council and has the rank of a Sirdar of the First Class in the Dekkan.
[85] "We have not the slightest hesitation in saying that the Parsis would be found to be as good and brave soldiers as the Anglo-Saxons, while their loyalty and attachment to the Government they are called upon to serve would always be above suspicion" (see Hist. of the Parsis, vol. i. chap. iii. p. 103).
[86] "For if a German or a European of another nationality can secure a commission in the British Army, why should not a Parsee, who is the born subject of the Queen-Empress?" (See Hist. of the Parsis, vol. i. chap. iii. p. 104.)
[87] Opinions are divided amongst the Parsis themselves on the subject of their nationality and position in India. The Hon. Mr. P. M. Mehta considers them as natives to the backbone. Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, M.P., is of the same opinion, whilst a certain number decline to recognise this.
[88] The name of Shahanshahi means "imperial," and that of Kadmi is drawn from qadim, "ancient." The Shahanshahis are also called Rasmis, from Rasm, "custom," that is to say, that which is followed in India.
[89] On this schism, see Anquetil Duperron, Zend-Avesta, Disc. Prel. p. ccccxxvi.; Wilson, The Parsi Religion, pp. 35, 36; Haug, Essays, pp. 57, 58. Aspandiarji Kamdin resumed the controversy of the Kabisa in a book appearing in Surat, in 1826: A Historical Account of the Ancient Leap-Year of the Parsis (Gujerati). Mr. K. R. Kama held, in 1869, a series of conferences on the ancient computation of time, and has published The Era of Yezdezard (Gujerati).
[90] This is how Anquetil Duperron relates the incidents of this memorable struggle: (Disc. Prel. pp. cccxxvi. et seq.) "About forty-six years ago there came from Kirman a very clever Dastoor named Djamasp. He had been sent to re-unite the Parsis divided on the question of the Penom, a double piece of cloth with which the Parsis, on certain occasions, cover a part of the face. Some wished that it should be placed on the dead, others did not like this. Djamasp decided in favour of the latter, according to the custom of Kirman. If this Dastoor had not made the voyage to India, this frivolous contest would have caused streams of blood to flow.
"Djamasp is believed to have examined the Vendidad, which was current in Gujerat. He found the Pehlvi translation of it too long and not correct in several places. Ignorance was the predominating vice of the Parsis of India. In order to remedy it, the Dastoor of Kirman formed some disciples, Darab at Surat, Djamasp at Naosari, and a third at Bharooch, to whom he taught Zend and Pehlvi. Some time after, tired of the contradictions which he had to endure, he returned to Kirman. The books which this Dastoor has left in India are an exact copy of the Zend and Pehlvi Vendidad, the Feroueschi, the translation of the Vadjerguerd, and the Nerenguestan. These two works are in Persian, mixed with Zend, and purely on ceremonials.
"Darab, the first disciple of Djamasp, and a Dastoor Mobed perfect in the knowledge of Zend and Pehlvi, wished to correct the Pehlvi translation of the Vendidad and rectify some portions of the Zend Text, which appeared to him either to have been transposed or to present useless repetitions. He began explaining to young Parsi theologians the works of Zoroaster, which the Mobeds read every day without understanding them. An enslaved people who for a long time practised a thousand ceremonies, the sense and reason of which they were ignorant of, would naturally fall into innumerable abuses. This was what Darab, more learned than the others, observed. The purifications were multiplied; the Zend text was inundated with Pehlvi commentaries, often very inconsistent. Darab at first attempted the way of instruction. But he found a powerful adversary in the person of Manscherdji, the chief of the party who did not like reform, and himself the son of a Mobed.
"Another subject of division animated them again, one against the other. Darab had for his father Kaous, of whom I have spoken before, who had received from Dastoor Djamasp the first smatterings of astronomy, according to the principles of Oulough Beg. This Dastoor Mobed having been perfected since then under another Parsi come from Kirman about thirty-six years ago, showed by the Tables of Oulough Beg that the Nao rouz (the first day of the year) ought to be advanced by a month, and that consequently there had been an error till then. A letter of the Dastoors of Yezd, dated the 22nd of the month Aban, of the year 1111 of Yezdezard (1742, A.D.) and brought by the Parsi Espendiar, confirmed the discovery of Kaous, but did not tend to protect him from the hatred of his compatriots. It went so far that Darab, sixteen or seventeen years ago, was obliged to withdraw to Damann amongst the Portuguese, and Kaous to Cambay among the English. When I arrived at Surat, almost all the Parsis of India followed the party of Manscherdji because he was rich and powerful; Darab, whose knowledge was recognised even by his adversaries, had some disciples who, in the sequel, showed themselves more freely when the authority of Manscherdji had been lowered at Surat with that of the Dutch, whose agent he was."
[91] Mulla Firoz succeeded his father Mulla Kavas as Dastoor of the Kadmis (1802); when hardly eight years old he had accompanied Mulla Kavas to Persia and had learned Persian and Arabic. In 1786 he wrote in Persian a curious recital of his voyage, Derich Kherde Manjumi. In 1830 he published the Avijéh Din to refute the arguments of Dastoor Edalji Dorabji Sanjana. The governor of Bombay, Mr. Jonathan Duncan, engaged him to teach Persian, and to translate the Desatir. Mr. Duncan having died, Mulla Firoz continued his work in concert with Mr. William Erskine, and finished it in 1819. He died in 1830 (Parsee Prâkâsh, p. 229) and bequeathed his collection of books in Zend, Pehlvi, &c., to the Kadmi community; the library which contains them is situate in "Fort," and bears his name. We owe to Mulla Firoz a poem on the conquest of India by the English, the George Namah, which was terminated and published in 1837 by his nephew and successor, Dastoor Rastamji Kaikobadji. On the death of the latter (1854) (Parsee Prâkâsh, p. 635), the Kadmis combined to found a madressa which they called Mulla Firoz (Parsee Prâkâsh, p. 647).
[92] Edalji Dorabji Sanjana was esteemed for his piety and merits. He was in his time one of the first savants in Zend and Pehlvi; he was equally perfect in Sanscrit. We owe to him several works on the Mazdiene religion, amongst others a book entitled Khorehe Vehijak, which brought forth in reply the Avijéh Din of Mulla Firoz. He died in 1847 (Parsee Prâkâsh, p. 495).
[93] Most offensive epithets were interchanged between Kadmis and Shahanshahis, such as that of churigar ("churi," bracelets, bangles; and "gar," workman) a term of contempt carrying with it an idea of weakness; the children of the two sects pursued one another in the streets, insulting one another. This was hardly fifty years ago.
[94] The sect of the Shahanshahis possesses in Bombay two High Priests--Dastoor Jamaspji Minocherji and Shams ul ulma Dastoor Peshotan Behramji Sanjana; at Poona there is only one, Dastoor Hoshangji Jamaspji. The sect of the Kadmis has also High Priests--Dastoor Kharshedji Phirozji Mulla Firoz, elected by the whole community, who is attached to the Dadiseth Atash-Behram, and Dastoor Kharshedji Bezonji, attached to the Framji Kavasji Banaji Atash-Behram.
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