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GIFT OF 
 
 /.n.a.re-?^r Smith Hall idle 
 
THE PARSEES: 
 
 THEIR 
 
 IISTOEY, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND EELIGION. 
 
 A 2 
 
THE PARSEES: 
 
 THEIR HISTORY, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, 
 AND RELIGION. 
 
 BY 
 
 DOSABHOY FRAIJEE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. 
 BOMBAY: SMITH, TAYLOR AND CO. 
 
 1858. 
 
 (The right of translation is reserved.) 
 
35 y^ a 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PARSEES OF WESTERN INDIA. 
 
 Mis %i{m& 
 
 OF 
 
 THEIR HISTORY, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND RELIGION, 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 
 BY 
 
 DOSABHOY FRAMJEE. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 The vast empire known in Europe as the 
 "East Indies" holds a population of one 
 hundred and eighty millions of persons, the 
 bulk of whom are either followers of Mahomed 
 or professors of Hindooism. Scattered over 
 the continent, but especially in Bombay, an- 
 other race is, however, to be met with, differ- 
 ing essentially from both Mahomedans and 
 Hindoos. The members composing this race 
 are known as Parsees, and are the descendants 
 of the ancient Persians who emigrated to India 
 on the conquest of their country by the Arabs. 
 Compared with the number of the other 
 natives of India, the Parsees add so insignifi- 
 cant a quota to the population, that their 
 existence to very many Europeans is not even 
 known, while those who are aware that such 
 a race exists very often confound them with 
 the Hindoos and Mahomedans. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 The object of the present work is to make 
 the English public acquainted with the his- 
 tory, belief, and manners of the Parsees, who, 
 though unimportant in point of numbers, 
 have, by their commercial habits, formed an 
 important link between the English in India 
 and the native inhabitants. Throughout the 
 rebellion in the East the Parsees have main- 
 tained an unshaken loyalty to the British, 
 whom they are proud to call their fellow- 
 subjects, and while preserving their own 
 independence of religion and customs, their 
 chief desire is that the British rule in India 
 should be consolidated upon a basis of strict 
 justice and mutual interest. 
 
 A perusal of the following pages will show 
 that the Parsees are a distinct race, and that 
 neither in their religion nor in their habits of 
 life, do they assimilate with either the Maho- 
 medans or the Hindoos. The Parsees are 
 endeavouring to follow the example which the 
 British have set them. Western civilization 
 has had great influence on their characters, 
 and they are now eagerly embracing the oppor- 
 tunities for improvement and advancement that 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 are offered to them. When the distinguish- 
 ing characteristics of the people of Oriental 
 nations are taken into consideration, it must 
 be evident that the Parsees form a striking 
 exception to the other races, and on this 
 account the author feels less diffidence in 
 bringing the history of his people under the 
 notice of the British public. 
 
 The author is desirous that his European 
 readers should bear in mind, that the present 
 work is the production of a foreigner, in 
 whose writing any errors of composition may 
 be pardoned, as arising from the circum- 
 stances of his birth and position : the want 
 of an idiomatic knowledge of the language 
 in which he writes, may have deprived his 
 pages of all grace of style. He is conscious, 
 however, that he has most rigidly adhered to 
 truth, and should he have succeeded in render- 
 ing his narrative clear and intelligible, the 
 object with which he set out will have been 
 fully accomplished. 
 
 London^ July 23rd j 1858. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Parsees, the descendants of the ancient Persians Over- 
 throw of the ancient Persian Monarchy by the Arabs 
 Character of the Mahomedan conquerors Conversion of 
 the Zoroastrians to Mahomedanism Their retreat into 
 Ivhorasan Emigration to Ormus Voyage to India 
 Arrival at Diew Removal to Sanjan Interview with the 
 Rajah Terms of landing Building of a Fire Temple 
 Emigration to different cities of Guzrat Fight with the 
 Mahomedan army of the Sultan of Ahmedabad Ultimate 
 Defeat of the Hindoo Rajah Conquest of Sanjan by the 
 Mahomedans The Parsees quit Sanjan Their opposition 
 to the troops of the Rajah at Ruttonpoor Massacre of the 
 Parsees at Variao Improvement of their condition at 
 Surat and Nowsaree Arrival at Bombay Invasion of 
 Bombay by the Hubshis of Jimjeera Their expulsion 
 Services of Dorabjee Nanabhoy 1 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 THE PARSEES IN PERSIA. 
 
 Effect of Mahomedan invasion on the country and natives of . 
 Persia Zoroastrian population at Yezd and Kirman 
 Their occupation Causes which led to their destruction 
 Invasion of Persia by the Gilji Afghans Persecutions to 
 which the Parsees were subjected by the invaders Per- 
 secution under Lootf Ally Khan EnUstment of the 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Zoroastrians in the ranks of the Afghan Troops Their 
 further persecutions in the reign of Nadir Shah and of 
 Agra Mahomed Khan Kujur Condition of the Zoroas- 
 trians at Yezd and Kirman Measures taken by the 
 Parsees of Bombay for the improvement of the condition 
 of their co-religionists in Persia Miseries and hardships 
 of the capitation tax Treatment of the Zoroastrians by 
 the other subjects of Persia Impediment to their pursuit 
 of commerce Difficulty in recovering their claims 
 Extraordinary instances of oppression and injustice 
 Physical and moral condition of the Zoroastrians of 
 Persia The means by which their miseries might be 
 alleviated Contrast of British and Persian rule as mani- 
 fested in the condition of the Parsees of Persia and those 
 of India 29 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 JttANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 Parsee population in India How dispersed Sects among the 
 Parsees Causes which led to the division Domestic hfe 
 of a Parsee family ^Birth of a child Consultation with 
 the Astrologer as to the fortunes of the infant Naming of 
 children Dress of a child Its baptism into Zoroastrianism 
 ^Investiture of the Sudra and Kusti Home and outdoor 
 costume of a Parsee Appearance and dress of females 
 Mode of living Nature of food used by them Mode of 
 eating Occasions for entertainments Position of Parsee 
 women Marriage festivities Mode of betrothal 
 Wedding and other ceremonies ^Freedom of remarriage 
 Prohibition of bigamy Rules regulating bigamy in certain 
 cases Funeral ceremonies Mode of disposing of the dead 
 bodies 52 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LAWS AND INTEENAL GOVERNMENT OF THE PAESEES. 
 
 The punchayet ^Its origin Progress and decline A new 
 association established for obtaining civil laws for the 
 Parsees 9S 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 COMMERCIAL PURSUITS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Early occupations of the Parsees in India British power ex- 
 ceedingly favourable to their interest and the development 
 of their commercial and enterprising spirit Extensive 
 commercial intercourse at the present day A remarkable 
 instance of industry and a love for the extension of agri- 
 culture Testimony to their general intelligence and enter- 
 prise Their success as railway contractors The various 
 professions followed by them Their charity and hospi- 
 talitiesSir Jamsetjee's benefactions Notices of the 
 generous spirit of well-known Parsees . . . .137 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 Education of males Female education ^Future prospects 
 upon the increasing desire for learning Notices of rich 
 men's sons devoting themselves to study . . . .187 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 RELIGION. 
 
 The antiquity of the Parsee religion Identity of Zoroaster 
 Bu:th of the Parsee prophet His persecutions Progress 
 of Zoroastrianism The Zend language The Avasta 
 The fragments of the Avasta in the possession of modern 
 Parsees Disputes as to the liturgical works of the Par- 
 sees Nature of the Parsee religion Fire the emblem of 
 the Almighty The Parsees not worshippers of the 
 elements Ardai Veraf's vision Religious Reform 
 Education of Parsee priests 235 
 
 CHAPTER VHL 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Progress of the Parsees Influence on the other natives of 
 India Home influences Commercial prospects Loyalty 
 The future of the Parsees 280 
 
F THE 
 
 IVERSITY 
 
 THE PAESEES, 
 
 THEIR 
 
 HISTORY, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND RELIGION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 The Parsees, the Descendants of the Ancient Persians Over- 
 throw of the Ancient Persian Monarchy by the Arabs 
 Character of the Mahomedan Conquerors Conversion of 
 the Zoroastrians to Mahomedanism Their retreat into 
 Khorasan. Emigration to Ormus Voyage to India 
 Arrival at Diew Removal to Sanjan Interview with 
 the Rajah^Terms of landing Building of a Fire Temple 
 Emigration to different Cities of Guzrat Fight with the 
 Mahomedan Army of the Sultan of Ahmedabad Ultimate 
 Defeat of the Hindoo Rajah Conquest of Sanjan by the 
 Mahomedans The Parsees quit Sanjan. Their Opposition 
 to the Troops of the Rajah at Ruttonpoor Massacre of the 
 Parsees at Variao Improvement of their Condition at 
 Surat and Nowsaree Arrival at Bombay Invasion of 
 Bombay by the Hubshis of Junjeera. Their Expulsion 
 Services of Dorabjee Nanabhoy. 
 
 The remnant of that mighty and flourishing 
 race of people who inhabited Persia centuries 
 before the Christian era, and whose dominion, 
 in its most prosperous period, reached as 
 
 B 
 
2 THE PARSEES. 
 
 far as the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean 
 on the south, the rivers Indus and Oxus 
 on the east, the Caspian Sea and Caucasian 
 Mountains on the north, and the deserts 
 of Lybia and the Mediterranean on the west, 
 whose grandeur, magnificence, and glory were 
 unequalled by any nation of ancient times ; 
 whose kings were at once the most powerful 
 of monarchs, and the wisest and most benefi- 
 cent of rulers ; that remnant is known in 
 India under the designation of Parsees, a 
 name which they derive from their original 
 country, Pars^or Ij' afs^ 1 hat province, called 
 by th e "rrgCk!J, Jj'dWis^'T'. ontainefl the chief 
 city of the empir e, and the most splendiji 
 of the royal palaces, and from it the wholg 
 0ij g(lOIIljyallied its nam e . Of the remnant of 
 the ancient Persians now found in Western 
 India, and chiefly in Bombay, where they 
 form a most numerous and respectable class 
 of the population, it is proposed to give in 
 this publication a short history. 
 
 The difficulties which beset the fulfilment of 
 such a task are many. Isolated accounts of 
 the exodus of the Parsees from Persia, under 
 the pressure of Mahomedan invasion, and of 
 their arrival on the shores of India ; of their 
 manners, customs and religion, are to be met 
 
OVEHTHROW OF THE PERSIAN MONARCHY. 3 
 
 with in the pages of learned Orientalists, where 
 they are inaccessible to the general reader, 
 while fragmentary notices of the race are to be 
 found in the records of the historian and the 
 jottings of travellers. But a connected nar- 
 rative of this people, who, though unimportant 
 in point of numbers, have earned a distin- 
 guished name for themselves in India by in- 
 dustry and commercial enterprise, and by 
 closely identifying themselves with the inte- 
 rests of the supreme power in the country^ 
 has not yet been laid before the English 
 public. To supply, in some measure, this 
 desideratum is the object of the present work. 
 To enter upon the history of the ancient 
 Persians, the ancestors of the Parsees, would 
 be foreign to the subject; the public have 
 already been put in possession of all the facts 
 that are, or probably can be, known con- 
 cerning them. Suffice it to say, that with 
 Yezdezirdj^_Jlie-ibrty^fth king in the descent 
 "of the race of Kaimurs, ended the ancient 
 Persian monarchy. The neighbouring and 
 
 wealthy empire of Persia presented too 
 tempting a prize to the fanatic and ambitious 
 spirit, evoked by Mahomed, to remain long 
 unmolested, and in the middle of the seventh 
 century of the Christian era, the Arab 
 
 B 2 
 
4 THE PARSEES. 
 
 sword invaded Persia, under Caliph Omar. 
 In a fierce and well-contested battle with the 
 Persians at the village of Nahavand, about 
 fifty miles from the ancient city of Ecbatana, 
 the fate of the empire was decided. The 
 Ejersian army, numbering fifteen thousand 
 fighting men, was defeated with great slaugh- 
 ter. Yezdezird, abandoning his kingdom as 
 lost, fled the country ; and, after wandering in 
 solitude and disguise for a period of ten 
 years, was at last treacherously slain by a 
 miller, to whom the secret of his identity had 
 been confided.* This event occurred a.d. 651, 
 and thus ended the dynasty of the Sussanian 
 Kings of Persia, and the monarchy founded 
 by Kaikhoshru, the Cyrus the Great of the , 
 Greeks. With the overthrow of the mon- 
 archy every vestige of Persian magnificence 
 disappeared, and the empire with its glories, 
 became the inheritance of the Mahomedans, 
 whose supremacy in the newly conquered 
 kingdom was at once established. 
 
 History has faithfully drawn the character 
 of the Mahomedan conquerors wherever they 
 have appeared, and has traced their footsteps 
 in characters of blood. Toleration in religion 
 
 * Owing to this circumstance, " a miller's trust " has passed 
 into a proverb in Persia. 
 
COMPULSORY CONVERSION OF THE PARSEES. 5 
 
 is unknown to the haughty, uncivilized bar- 
 barian believers in the Koran. Bigotry is the 
 highest virtue demanded of the Mahomedan, 
 and one which secures for him favour in the 
 eyes of his prophet and his God, and takes 
 him by the shortest route to a place in heaven. 
 Thus on the conquest of Persia, the Mahomedan 
 soldiers of the Caliphat of Bagdad traversed 
 the length and breadth of the country, present- 
 ing the alternative of death or the Koran, and 
 compelling the conquered nation to accept the 
 one or the other. By these oppressive and 
 cruel means, a hundred thousand persons are 
 said to have daily abjured the faith of their 
 forefatlicrs ; and the fire-temples and other 
 sacred places were destroyed or converted 
 into mosques. Under such rulers, almost 
 the whole Zoroastrian population of Persia 
 embraced the faith of Islam, and nearly 
 every trace of the religion of Zoroaster was 
 obliterated. 
 
 Historians have noted that the effect of the 
 Mahomedan conquest (for to call it conversion 
 would be simply ridiculous) was greatly de- 
 moralizing to the people. The ancient Greeks 
 have borne testimony to the character for 
 truth of their Persian contemporaries, while 
 modern writers have denounced the Persians 
 
b THE PARSEES. 
 
 of our own times as a nation of liars. Such 
 of the followers of Zoroaster as preferred 
 oheying the dictates of their conscience, to 
 freeing themselves from the persecution of 
 their rulers by accepting the Koran, aban- 
 doned their homes, and fled to the mountain- 
 ous districts of Khorassan^ where for a time 
 they succeeded in evading the pursuit of their 
 terrible foe. For about a hundred years they 
 remained in Khorassan in the unmolested en- 
 joyment and practice of their religion. But 
 persecution at last reached them even in those 
 remote districts, and they were once more 
 compelled to fly from the enemies of their 
 faith, and a considerable number emigrated 
 to the little island of Ormus^ at the mouth of 
 the Persian Gulf. 
 
 Their stay at this retreat was, however, but 
 of short duration. They were yet within the 
 reach of their cruel persecutors, and rather 
 than fall into the hands of the fanatic, impious 
 devs ( devils ) they at last determined to 
 relinquish for ever the land of their fore- 
 fathers, and to remove to a country where 
 they might hope to live in tranquillity, and 
 in the enjoyment of their social and religious 
 rights. Acting upon this determination, they 
 sought an asylum in the country of the 
 
EMIGRATIONS TO INDIA. 7 
 
 Hindoos, and are said to have engaged at 
 Ormus several vessels for their transport, and 
 placing their wives and children on board 
 they set sail towards the distant shores of 
 India.* It is impossible to suppose that this 
 was the only exodus of the Persians from the 
 land of their fathers. That several emigra- 
 tions took place at successive periods, as the 
 flame of the fanatic zeal and persecuting spirit 
 of the Mahomedans burned more or less 
 brightly, can hardly be doubted. Various 
 meagre and unsatisfactory traditions exist 
 concerning the tide of emigration, the manner 
 in which it was effected, and the total number 
 of those who left the shores of the Gulf. 
 Whatever information is now in our posses- 
 sion, and is to any extent reliable, is gleaned 
 from a work entitled Kissah-i-Sanjan, which 
 was compiled in the year 1599, by one Behram 
 a Zoroastrian resident of Nowsareef, from the 
 traditions extant in his time. According to 
 that writer, the first port in Hindostan at 
 which the earliest refugees arrived was Div 
 
 * That intercourse of some sort or other had previously 
 existed between the ancient Persians and Hindoos has been 
 satisfactorily proved. Some of the latter, who were famed for 
 wisdom and learning, had made Persia their residence for many 
 years. 
 
 t A town situated about twenty miles south of Surat. 
 
O THE PARSEES. 
 
 or Diew*, a small island in the Gulf of Cam- 
 bay, lying to the south-west of the peninsula 
 of Kattiwar. Here it is said they disembarked 
 and took up their residence for nineteen 
 years, at the expiration of which period they 
 quitted Diew to find another place of adoption. 
 The causes which led to this migration have 
 not been satisfactorily explained ; but the 
 following mysterious passage relating to the 
 event is to be found in Behram's work : " An 
 aged Dastoor (high priest) reading the tablets 
 of the stars, made an augury that it behoved 
 them to depart from that place, and seek out 
 another abode. All rejoiced at his words, and 
 sailed swiftly towards Guzrat." 
 
 That misfortunes never come singly was 
 literally fulfilled in the case of this outcast 
 
 * " Div or Diew was one of the earliest seats of the Portuguese 
 power in India. It was regarded by Albuquerque as an ex- 
 cellent port for a settlement, one that would secure, from 
 its advantages, both marine and terrene, the permanency of 
 the country's influence in Hindostan. After several fruitless 
 efforts, the infamous ISTugna d'Acunha succeeded, in 1535, in 
 obtaining possession of Diew, and within a very short time 
 rendered it almost impregnable to the assaults of the native 
 powers. . . . History asserts that the trade of Surat was 
 destroyed to encourage commerce at Diew ; and Osorio makes 
 mention of the splendour of its buildings and the greatness of 
 its maritime powers. Upon Surat recovering itself, Diew 
 declined, and is now said to be a vast pile of dilapidation." 
 Brigg's Cities of Guzardstra. 
 
TEMPEST-TOST. 9 
 
 people, for hardly had they lost sight of land 
 when a severe storm overtook the little fleet, 
 and deprived them of all hope. Rather than 
 abandon the faith they had inherited from 
 their fathers, they had voluntarily made them- 
 selves exiles for ever from the land that gave 
 them birth, and were now at the mercy of 
 s transfers for a home, and now at the mercv of 
 the treacherous deep in seeking more friendly 
 shores. What wonder then that the little 
 band, confused and in despair, were ready to 
 believe that they were the sport of merciless 
 fate. But, though sick at heart, their better 
 sense does not seem to have entirely forsaken 
 them. In their helplessness they called to 
 mind Him who is the author of all good, the 
 Preserver, Supporter and Cherisher of the 
 poor and the distressed, and who never fails 
 to listen to the supplications of the humble 
 and meek. 
 
 To rescue them from the impending danger, 
 they are said to have offered up the follow- 
 ing prayer to the throne of the Most High. 
 " O wise God, come to our assistance in this 
 jeopardy; and we pray to Thee to deliver 
 us from the impending danger. O glorious 
 God, we beseech Thee to gladden our hearts 
 by removing these difficulties with which we 
 
10 THE PARSEES. 
 
 are now surrounded. On Thy goodness, O 
 Lord, we fully depend, and hope that the 
 storm which has overtaken us will soon be 
 over through Thy Divine Grace. As long 
 as we have hopes of Thy aid, O God, we 
 tremble not at this calamity. We have 
 implicit faith in Thee, as the hearer of 
 those who cry to Thee. Deliver us, there- 
 fore, O Merciful Providence, from this trouble, 
 and lead us to the right path, that we may 
 escape from this sea to the shores of India, 
 and we promise, O Lord, to kindle on high 
 the flame sacred to Thee in grateful remem- 
 brance of thy kindness and protection." 
 
 We may suppose that their prayer was 
 heard, for the storm abated and a gentler gale 
 carried them in safety to Sanjan about twenty- 
 five miles south of Damaun, where they landed 
 about the year a.d. 717. The territory of 
 Sanjan was then under the rule of a wise and 
 liberal chief named Jadao Eana. A Das- 
 toor or high priest of the Parsees was accord- 
 ingly sent to the Eana with fitting presents, in 
 order to obtain from him the terms of their 
 landing. The Dastoor, a venerable old man, 
 on approaching the Eana blessed him, and 
 having explained the reasons which caused 
 the Parsees to relinquish their native 'country, 
 
ARRIVAL AT SANJAN. 11 
 
 and detailed their vicissitudes and sufferings, 
 requested to be allowed to reside in the city 
 of Sanjan. It is said, that the Prince, struck 
 with the warlike and hardy appearance of the 
 men who came as refugees to his court, had 
 some fear for the safety of his throne and 
 country, and before granting the desired 
 permission requested the chief priest to ex- 
 plain to him the secret of their affairs and the 
 nature of their faith. 
 
 During their stay at Diew, the Parsees 
 acquired a knowledge of the language, religion, 
 manners and customs of the Hindoos, and 
 were enabled to answer the inquiries of the 
 Eajah so satisfactorily that no opposition was 
 made by him to their making Sanjan their 
 place of abode and their adopted country. The 
 learned among the Parsees prepared sixteen 
 schlokes or distiches, and in these they briefly 
 described the tenets of their religion and 
 their mode of worship. As it will doubt- 
 less interest the European reader to know 
 what those schlokes contained, they are given 
 entire, though they must not be supposed to 
 give a complete abstract of the Parsee faith. 
 
 1st. We are worshippers of Hormuzd 
 (Supreme Being) and the sun and five 
 elements. 
 
12 THE PARSEES. 
 
 2nd. We observe silence while bathing, 
 praying, making offerings to fire, and eating. 
 
 3rd. We use incense, perfumes, and flowers 
 in our religious ceremonies. 
 \ 4th. We are worshippers of the cow. 
 '* 5th. We wear the sacred garment, the 
 sadrd or shirt, the kusti or cincture for the 
 loins and the cap of two folds. 
 
 6th. We rejoice in songs and instru- 
 ments of music on the occasion of our mar- 
 riages. 
 
 7th. We ornament and perfume our wives. 
 
 8th. We are enjoined to be liberal in our 
 charities, and especially in excavating tanks 
 and wells. 
 
 9th. We are enjoined to extend our sympa- 
 thies towards males as well as females. 
 
 10th. We practise ablutions with gaomu- 
 tra, one of the products of the cow. 
 
 11th. We wear the sacred girdle when 
 praying and eating. 
 
 12th. We feed the sacred flame with in- 
 cense. 
 
 13th. We practise devotion five times a day. 
 
 14th. We are careful observers of conjugal 
 fidelity and purity. 
 
 15th. We perform annual religious cere- 
 monies on behalf of our ancestors. 
 
PARSEE DOCTRINES. 13 
 
 I6th. We place great restraints on our 
 women after their confinements. 
 
 The reader is here cautioned against suppos- 
 ing the foregoing to be the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of the Parsee religion. The Parsees are 
 not the idolatrous people which the preceding 
 dogmas would lead one to suppose, and ample 
 opportunity will be given to the reader of 
 forming an opinion as to the true religion of 
 the Parsees in subsequent pages of this work. 
 It is necessary here to state frankly, that the 
 first refugees of our faith in India played the 
 part of dissemblers and that the distiches 
 appear to have been framed with the view 
 of gaining the favour of the Hindoo Kajah. 
 While allusion is made therein to many minor 
 ceremonies, which are no more the essentials 
 of Zoroastrianism than of Christianity, yet 
 because of their approximating to certain 
 ceremonies of the Hindoos, prominence is given 
 to them, while silence is preserved regarding 
 those doctrines on which the religion of 
 Zoroaster is really based. 
 
 The Parsee refugees had sufficient oppor- 
 tunities of learning at Diew, how jealous the 
 Hindoos are of association with people of 
 other castes, from the dread of contamination 
 fatal to themselves. Followed as thev had 
 
14 THE PARSEES. 
 
 been by continual misfortunes, and cast upon 
 tbe world without country or home ; the 
 Par sees could not but be anxious to obtain, 
 even at a great sacrifice, a landing place for 
 themselves and their families. Bearing this 
 in view, it is possible that they answered the 
 inquiries of the Hindoo Rajah in such a form 
 as to win his good opinion. They concealed 
 from the Prince all that would have appeared 
 extraordinary or offensive to him and his sub- 
 jects, and supplied, in place thereof, ceremonies 
 which had an origin exclusively Hindoo. 
 
 The device succeeded ; and the people found 
 favour in Jadao Rana's eyes, and permission 
 was given them to reside in his city, on 
 condition of their adopting the language of 
 the country, and ceasing to speak that of their 
 forefathers. They were also required to dress 
 their females in the Indian fashion, to wear 
 no armour, and to perform the marriage 
 ceremonies of their children at night, in 
 conformity with the practice of the Hindoos. 
 The exiles had but two alternatives to accept 
 these conditions, or to return to their ships ; 
 and rather than become once more wanderers 
 on the face of the earth, they chose the 
 former course, and rested in the land of the 
 Eajah. On being directed to occupy any 
 
BUILDING A FIRE-TEMPLE. 15 
 
 vacant gi'ound they pleased, they selected a 
 large tract of waste land in the immediate 
 vicinity of Sanjan. 
 
 After a long series of hardships endured 
 for many years, the exiles had at last found a 
 resting place, and might expect repose and 
 happiness. Every one now betook himself to 
 his profession, and their settlement which, 
 but a short time before, was a sterile desert, 
 became converted into a populous and thriving 
 city. Neither did the Parsees forget Him 
 who had assisted them in their day of trouble. 
 They remembered the vow which they had 
 made to " kindle on high the flame sacred to 
 Him," in grateful memory of their deliverance 
 from the hand of death, and they embraced 
 the earliest opportunity of intimating to the 
 Eajah their intention of building, with his per- 
 mission, a fire-temple in Sanjan, in fulfilment 
 of the solemn vow which they had made. 
 As the Hindoos themselves hold fire in 
 veneration, not only was the desired permission 
 at once accorded, but every assistance was 
 rendered to further the object. The fire- 
 temple was, however, wholly and exclusively 
 constructed by the Parsees themselves, the 
 Eajah merely supplying various articles which 
 would expedite the great work, A few years 
 
16 THE PARSEES. 
 
 witnessed the completion of the temple (a.d. 
 721), and saw the sacred fire kindled on its 
 altar in accordance with the rights of the 
 Zoroastrian religion. 
 
 For about three hundred years after their 
 landing in Sanjan, the Parsees are said to 
 have lived in peace and quietness. At the 
 end of that period their number was greatly 
 increased. Many of them had emigrated 
 with their families to Surat, Nowsari, Broach, 
 Variao, Ukleser and Cambay,* places now 
 easily recognised on the map of Guzerat. 
 Two hundred years more rolled on and no 
 records are left of the Parsees that are worth 
 noting beyond the fact that they chiefly 
 , occupied themselves wherever they were lo- 
 \\cated in agricultural pursuits. They seem 
 Bver to have lived amicably with the tlindoos; 
 for during this long period of ^ve centuries 
 there is no tradition of any misunderstanding 
 between the strangers and the children of the 
 soil. 
 
 About the year a.d 1507, the Parsees of 
 Sanjan are said to have greatly distinguished 
 themselves by their valor in assisting their 
 
 * Some accounts state that direct emigration from Persia 
 also took place to these cities long after the landing of the 
 first colony at Sanjan. 
 
PARSEES AS WARRIORS. 17 
 
 Raja against the aggression of a Mahomedan 
 chief, Sultan Mahomed Begada, who was 
 residing at Ahmedabad. This chief was sur- 
 named Begada from his having conquered 
 the two hill forts of Joonagud and Cham- 
 panir. While at the latter place, he formed 
 a design for subverting the independence of 
 Sanjan, and soon after collected a large army 
 under a skilful general named Aluf Khan to 
 effect this object. 
 
 The Mahomedan general, with thirty thou- 
 sand men, arrived before Sanjan, and the 
 Hindoo monarch, conscious of the insuffi- 
 ciency of his resources to cope with the hardy 
 soldiers of the enemy trembled for his crown 
 and country. He solicited the assistance of 
 the Parsees, and summoning them to his 
 presence addressed them as follows : " My 
 ancestors exalted you and lavished favours 
 upon your people, and it behoves you in this 
 my difficulty to show your gratitude, and to 
 exert yourself on my behalf, and lead the way 
 in battle." The Parsees were not unmindful 
 of their obli orations to the former rulers of 
 Sanjan and at once undertook to defend the 
 country which had so hospitably welcomed 
 their forefathers to its shores. To thej 
 address of the Eajah they replied. "Feaiv 
 
 
 
18 THE PARSEES. 
 
 not, O Prince, on account of this army : all of 
 us are ready to scatter the heads of thy foes 
 and will fight as long as a drop of blood 
 remains in our veins. In battle we never give 
 way ; not one man of us will turn his back 
 though a millstone were dashed at his head." 
 
 In adopting this resolve the Parsees were 
 not unmindful of the persecutions sustained 
 by their ancestors, and they determined that 
 the Mahomedan invaders should be repelled 
 at any sacrifice. The cause of the Hindoo 
 monarch was their own; they knew that if 
 the army of the Sultan was successful their 
 religion would again be perilled, and a second 
 persecution of their faith instituted. Not- 
 withstanding the oath they had taken never 
 to bear arms, they considered that in this 
 extremity they were fully justified in drawing 
 the sword to defend the territories of the 
 Hindoo Eajah, and a force of fourteen hundred 
 Zoroastrians, under the leadership of one 
 Ardeshir was immediately added to the 
 Hindoo army. 
 
 This accession to his force caused the Eaja 
 to take courage ; every preparation was made 
 for the impending struggle, which was to decide 
 the fate of his kingdom, and a fierce battle 
 is said to have ensued, a few miles beyond 
 
DEFEAT OF MAHOMED ANS BY PARSEES. IQ 
 
 Sanjan. Sword, javelin, and arrow did their 
 deadly work, and many fell on both sides. In 
 the thick of the battle the Hindoos were 
 unable to keep their ground against the 
 furious onslaught of the Mahomedans, and 
 fled the field. The noble band of Persian 
 allies, however, was not dismayed. They 
 were fighting for their faith and for their 
 homes, and the interests involved in the issue 
 of the contest made them regardless of their 
 lives. Their brave leader, Ardeshir, heroically 
 led them on, and attacking the enemy furiously, 
 broke their ranks, and threw them into con- 
 fusion. The whole force was discomfited, and 
 Aleef Khan fled, leaving Ardeshir and his 
 little band masters of the field. 
 
 The Mahomedan armies in India have 
 generally been successful over those of the 
 Hindoos, from the hardy and warlike charac- 
 ter of their soldiers. This defeat of thousands 
 of their number, which was rendered more 
 humiliating, from the fact of its having been 
 caused by a handful of strangers, was more 
 than their proud spirits could endure. Aluf 
 Khan raised reinforcements, and again ap- 
 peared in the field. Ardeshir emboldened by 
 success was not, however, to be daunted, and he 
 addressed the Hindoo Kajah in the following 
 
 C 2 
 
20 THE PARSEES 
 
 spirited terms. " Oh, Prince, the enemy has 
 appeared in greater numbers than before. 
 They are a hundred to our one, but behold 
 our courage. We will either yield our lives, 
 or take those of our foes, and in this resolve 
 may God befriend us, since he always removes 
 our difficulties." 
 
 In the battle that followed, Ardeshir was 
 engaged in single combat with a Mahomedan 
 chief of note. The gallant Parsee general 
 hurled him from his horse, and killed him 
 with his sword. Aluf Khan, it is said, 
 witnessing the scene became furiously excited, 
 and led on in person a heavy charge against 
 the Parsees. The two armies joined in battle, 
 and blood flowed in torrents. Fortune did 
 not favour the allies on this occasion. A dart 
 struck the Parsee leader, who fell headlong 
 from his saddle, and as is the case with all 
 Oriental nations, the army having lost its 
 chief hesitated and gave way, and was com- 
 pletely routed by the enemy. The Hindoo 
 prince is also said to have fallen in this battle. 
 Aluf Khan was now master of Sanjan, and 
 the Parsees soon found it impossible to call 
 that place any longer their home. 
 
 After the overthrow of the Hindoo Govern- 
 ment the Parsees suffered many wrongs at the 
 
FRESH EMIGRATION. 21 
 
 hands of the Mahomedan troops, and the ^ 
 greater part of them fled to the mountains of ^ 
 Baharout, taking with them the sacred fire 1 
 which they had consecrated at Sanjan.* For 
 twelve years they sojom-ned in these mountains, 
 and then directed their course to a place 
 called Bansda, where a small colony of Parsees 
 existed at the time. The sacred fire was 
 also carried thither, and after some years it 
 was removed to Nowsaree where the Parsees 
 had become an influential and opulent race. 
 In late years, owing to some disputes among 
 the priests, it was secretly removed to Oodvvara 
 thirty-two miles south of Surat, where it still 
 exists, and being the oldest fire temple of 
 the Zoroastrians in India, is held in the highest 
 veneration. 
 
 Nothing worth chronicling is known of the 
 history of the Parsees who before the over- 
 throw of the Hindoo Rajah of Sanjan emigrated 
 to different cities of Guzrat. 
 
 - The emigrants wherever they located them- 
 selves pursued the quiet and peaceful arts of 
 husbandry. But their national energy and 
 
 * Not a single Parsee is to be found at Sanjan at the present 
 dav, and the ruins of a dokhma, or " tower of silence," for the 
 dead, is now the only memento that exists of the Parsees* 
 settlement in that place. 
 
22 THE PARSEES. 
 
 courage never seem to have forsaken them, 
 in proof of which an affair at Variao may be 
 cited. A small Parsee colony had settled at 
 that place, which is situated at some distance 
 from Surat, and was at the time under the 
 rule of the Eaja of Ruttonpore, a Eajpoot chief. 
 This chief attempted to extort an extraordinary 
 tribute from these Parsees, and the latter, 
 refusing to submit to the extortion, opposed and 
 defeated the troops sent to enforce the claim. 
 
 Unable to revenge themselves openly, the 
 soldiers of the Rajah sought an opportunity of 
 surprising those who had defeated them in the 
 field, and a marriage festival, to which all the 
 Parsees in the place were invited, was seized 
 as the occasion for gratifying their cowardly 
 revenge. Unconscious of what was impending, 
 the Parsees were surprised in the midst of 
 their festivities, and with the women and chil- 
 dren were ruthlessly murdered by the ruffians. 
 The anniversary of this cruel tragedy perpe- 
 trated upon the Parsees at Variao is still kept 
 at Surat, and religious ceremonies are per- 
 formed on the occasion in honour of those who - 
 fell on that melancholy day. 
 Though the Parsees lived in tranquillity and 
 i un the full enjoyment of their religious rights 
 y^under the government of the Hindoo Rajahs 
 
INCREASED PROSPERITY. 23 
 
 of Sanjan none of them made any advance 
 towards the acquirement of wealth or influ- 
 ence until after they abandoned that territory. 
 Their dispersion appears to have been the 
 signal for their attaining prosperity in Surat 
 and Nowsaree. Considering the relations 
 existing between .the Parsees and the Maho- 
 medans, it is strange to find that they secured 
 the favour of the Nawabs of the former city, 
 and w^ere by them entrusted with minor offices 
 in the state. 
 
 Nek Saut Khan, the ancestor of the well- 
 known Ardeshir Dhunjeesha of Surat, had 
 gained considerable approbation and honours at 
 the hands of the great Mogul himself. Owing 
 to his. skill and knowledge in mechanics, he was 
 sent bv the Nawab of Surat to the Court of 
 Agra, where the Mogul was so much delighted 
 with his diligence, that a Jageer in the Zilla of 
 Surat was bestowed upon him in perpetuity. 
 It is well known that through the medium of 
 his great interest, some valuable privileges were 
 obtained for the English at Surat about the 
 middle of the eighteenth century. 
 
 Parsee tradition says, that there lived in the 
 middle of the sixteenth century at Nowsaree, a 
 Zoroastrian named Maneksha, who was re- 
 puted to be very wealthy and who maintained 
 a princely state. About this time or a little 
 
24 THE PARSEES. 
 
 later, the Parsees succeeded at Surat in 
 acquiring wealth and influence, but their 
 importance at that station rose considera- 
 bly after the establishment of the European 
 factories there. Their energy, industry, and 
 peculiar customs made so wide a distinc- 
 tion between them and the other natives of 
 India, as to gain the notice of the Dutch and 
 other European settlers. They carried on 
 business as brokers to European firms, and 
 through them goods were bought and sold, a 
 position which the Parsees hold to the present 
 day in most of the European firms in Bombay. 
 Muncherjee Seth, whose influence with the 
 Nawab of Surat was very great, and whose 
 name at present is deeply venerated by the 
 Parsees, was broker to the Dutch factory at 
 Surat. In fact, the Parsees were almost the 
 sole channel of intercourse, between the Euro- 
 peans and the natives of Surat. This city, 
 even in its present decayed state, affbrds con- 
 clusive evidence of the opulence and wealth of 
 the Parsees of former days. As Surat rose in 
 importance, Nowsaree sank into insignificance. 
 The latter place is now only known as the city 
 of the Parsee priests, numbers of whom are 
 every year sent to Bombay to minister to 
 the spiritual wants of the Parsee population 
 of that city. 
 
SETTLEMENT AT BOMBAY. 25 
 
 No authentic records exist to show the exact 
 date of the arrival of the Parsees in Bombay, 
 nor to explain what was the motive that led 
 them thither. Probably the English mer- 
 chants of Surat induced some of them to settle 
 in Bombay for the purposes of trade. This 
 much may safely be affirmed, that their first 
 settlement in that island was a little before 
 or about the time when it was ceded to the 
 British by the Crown of Portugal, as the 
 dowry of Catherine, Princess of Portugal, 
 who became the wife of Charles the Second 
 of England, a.d. 1668. 
 
 Dr. Fryer, who visited Bombay in the year 
 1671 5 says : " On the other side of the great 
 inlet to the sea is a great point abutting against 
 Old Woman's Island, and is called Malabar 
 Hill, a rocky woody mountain, yet sends forth 
 long grass ; on the top of all is a Par see tomh 
 lately raisedr The first work of the Parsees 
 wherever they settle, is to construct a tomb 
 {(lokhma) or tower of silence for the reception 
 of their dead, and the statement of Dr. Fryer 
 that the tomb in question had been recently 
 raised, is a sufficient proof that no consider- 
 able number of the Parsees could have settled 
 in that island, prior to its cession to the 
 British. 
 
26 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 So far as we ha^'e been able to ascertain 
 from tradition among the Parsees themselves, 
 Dorabjee Nanabhoy was the first and only 
 individual of the race, who resided with his 
 family in Bombay when the island was under 
 the sway of the Portuguese Goverment. He 
 was employed by the authorities in trans- 
 acting miscellaneous business with the natives 
 of the place. When the island was ceded to 
 England, he was appointed to a similar office ; 
 and, as the new rulers were ignorant of the 
 place, manners, language, and customs of the 
 people, he was frequently consulted by them 
 on affairs of state.* We may also infer 
 
 *Some notice of the services rendered by the descendants 
 of Dorabjee Nanabhoy to the Bombay government in its 
 early stages is required at our hands. In 1692 a severe 
 plague broke out in Bombay, when most of the Europeans of 
 the place and soldiers in the garrison fell victims to the 
 disease. Taking advantage of this unfortunate circumstance, 
 the Seedees of Jungeera, who were then a powerful and 
 independent people, invaded Bombay with a large force, and 
 took possession of the island and Dungerry fort (now called 
 Fort George). Dorabjee's son Rustom Dorab, who had suc- 
 ceeded his father in the service of the Bombay government, 
 undertook to drive away the Seedees from the place. He 
 raised a militia from among the fishermen of the population, 
 fought the invaders and defeated them. He then despatched 
 messengers with the news of the victory to the chief of the 
 English factory at Surat, who soon after arrived in Bombay 
 and took charge of the government. For these invaluable 
 services Rustom Dorab was honored, with the hereditary title 
 
EARLY SETTLERS IN BOMBAY. 27 
 
 that at the time of Dr. Fryer s visit to Bom- 
 bay, the number of Parsees living there must 
 have been very insignificant, as that gentle- 
 man makes no mention of them in the de- 
 scription given by him of the inhabitants then 
 comprising the population of, the island. 
 
 Another early Parsee settler at Bombay 
 was one Lowjee a shipwright. He left Surat, 
 his native city, for Bombay, at the advice of 
 a Mr. Dudley, who superintended the build- 
 ing of the East India Company's vessels at 
 the former place. His attainments in the 
 art of ship-building were of no inferior 
 
 of Patel (lord or chief) of Bombay. He was also placed at 
 the head of the fisherman caste, and invested with the autho- 
 rity of adjudicating civil and religious disputes among them, an 
 authority which, up to tliis day, is enjoyed by his descendants. 
 On the death of Ilustora Dorab, his son Cowasjee Eustomjee was 
 invested with a dress of honour by Governor Hornby. As in 
 those days the Government found much difficulty in providing 
 tonnage for transporting troops from one place to another, 
 Cowasjee Patel was entrusted with the provision of boats and 
 tonnage for the public service, which duty he performed very 
 creditably. When the British took Tannah from the ]\Iaha- 
 rattas, Cowasjee Patel was appointed to an important post in the 
 place, where he colonized a number of Parsees, and built 
 places of worship and other charitable buildings for their use 
 from his own purse. On the death of Cowasjee his son, Sorabjee, 
 succeeded to the title of " Patel." The present head of this 
 family, Hirjeebhoy Rustomjee Cowasjee Patel, was until lately 
 one of the most extensive merchants in China and is at present 
 in England. 
 
28 THE PARSEES. 
 
 order, and his search after employment and 
 fortune seems to have been attended with the 
 most favourable results. Under his super- 
 vision the Bombay Dockyard was founded in 
 the year 1735, and it is worthy of remark 
 that the post ,of master builder in this 
 factory has ever since been filled by descen- 
 dants of Lowjee. After Lowjee, the other 
 notable arrivals in Bombay, were those of 
 the Shet Khandan^ the Dadyshet^ and the 
 Banajee families. Descendants of all these 
 families still survive and enjoy honourable 
 positions among the Parsees of Bombay. 
 That enlightened and eminent man the late 
 Framjee Cowasjee, whose name is known all 
 over India, belonged to the Banajee family. 
 The Dadyshets are still extensively engaged 
 in trade, and the Shet Khandans is a wealthy 
 retired family. 
 
 We have thus brought down our history to 
 the arrival of the Parsees in Bombay. Their 
 rise and progress in this island is described in 
 subsequent pages. In the chapter immediately 
 succeeding, it is proposed to inquire into the 
 state of such of the Zoroastrians, as are still 
 to be met with in their native country. 
 
29 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PAKSEES IN PERSIA. 
 
 Effect of Mahomcdan invasion on the country and natives of 
 Persia Zoroastrian population at Yezd and Kirman Their 
 occupation Causes which led to their destruction Invasion 
 of Persia by the Gilji Afghans Persecutions to which the 
 Parsees were subjected by the invaders Persecution under 
 Lootf Ally Khan Enlistment of the Zoroastrians in the 
 Ranks of the Afghan Troops Their further persecutions 
 in the reign of Nadir Shall and of Aga Mahomed Khan 
 Kujur Condition of the Zoroastrians at Yezd and Kir- 
 man Measures taken by the Parsees of Bombay for the 
 improvement of the condition of their coreligionists in 
 Persia Miseries and hardships of the capitation tax 
 Treatment of the Zoroastrians by the other subjects of 
 Persia Impediment to their pursuit of commerce Diffi- 
 culty in recovering their claims Extraordinary instances of 
 oppression and injustice Physical and Moral Condition of 
 the Zoroastrians of Persia The means by which their 
 miseries might be alleviated Contrast of British and 
 
 ^ Persian rule as manifested in the^ condition of the Parsees of 
 Persia and those of India. 
 
 An inquiry into the present state of the 
 professors of Zoroastrianism would manifestly 
 be incomplete if it did not embrace an 
 account of such of the race as have held fast 
 
30 THE PARSEES. 
 
 that profession in the mother country, ever 
 since its conquest, by the Moslem invaders. 
 The effect of Mahomedan rule, wherever it 
 has been established, is too well known to 
 need any lengthened description here. Within 
 a hundred years of the time when the 
 followers of the Arabian prophet first set foot 
 on the Persian soil, the condition and circum- 
 stances of the country were entirely changed. 
 Lands once fertile, had become dreary wastes, 
 and the fields where the golden corn waved 
 were deserted by the husbandman, and became 
 the pasture ground of wild animals ; the 
 ploughshares were beaten into swords, and 
 the pruning hooks into spears. The country, 
 once the home of peace and plenty, was every- 
 where thrown into confusion, while hordes of 
 robbers, driven into crime by the distresses of 
 the times, traversed every part of the land 
 perpetrating the most cruel atrocities. 
 
 Persia once fallen never revived, but gra- 
 dually sank into its present insignificance. 
 Perhaps no country in the world, has witnessed 
 so many revolutions as that unhappy land, 
 the tyrants who filled the throne, commonly 
 owed their elevation to treachery and blood. 
 The professors of nearly every religion, but 
 that of Islam, have endured constant persecu- 
 
ZOROASTRIAN DEPOPULATION. 31 
 
 tion, while the treatment experienced by the 
 inhabitants of the ancient faith of Zoroaster, 
 has been characterized by atrocious barbarities. 
 The constant oppression and tyranny which 
 they have endured from the Mussuhnans, 
 have, of course, gi'eatly thinned their numbers. 
 Two centuries had not elapsed from the 
 invasion, before the greater part of the 
 population was converted to Islamism. In the 
 tenth century of the Christian era, remnants 
 of the Zoroastrian population were to be 
 found only in the provinces of Fars and 
 Kerman, and the reader may form some idea 
 of the rate at which that remnant declined, 
 when it is stated that while it numbered 
 about a hundred years ago, one hundred 
 thousand souls, it does not at present exceed 
 seven thousand. 
 
 To Yezd and the twenty-four surrounding 
 villages, these Zoroastrians of Persia are now 
 almost exclusively confined. From accounts 
 furnished to the writer by trustworthy 
 authority, there were in the year 1854, in the 
 above-mentioned city and its surrounding 
 villages, one thousand houses or families, 
 comprising a population of 6658 souls of 
 whom 3310 were males and 3348 females. 
 Of these about twenty or twenty-five were 
 
32 THE PARSEES. 
 
 merchants, but by far the larger number gained 
 a poor subsistence as tillers of the soil. A few 
 of the poorest class worked as artizans, brick- 
 layers, carpenters, weavers, or followed other 
 mechanical occupations. At Kir man the 
 number of Parsees does not exceed four 
 hundred and fifty, while in the capital of 
 Persia (Teheran), there are only about fifty 
 merchants of this race. A small number of 
 the poorer class, are however employed as 
 gardeners in the palace of the Shah, and at 
 Shiraz a few families are found in the grade 
 of shopkeepers. 
 
 Within the past one hundred and fifty 
 years four several revolutions have greatly 
 conduced to the destruction of the Zoroastrian 
 population of Kirman, which is now reduced 
 to the very insignificant number before men- 
 tioned. The Gilji Afghans, who had long 
 groaned under the misrule of Persia, determined 
 at last to emancipate themselves, and raised 
 the standard of rebellion under an able chief 
 of the tribe named Meer Yais, who speedily 
 subdued Candahar. The Persian monarch. 
 Sultan Hussein, unable to reduce them by force 
 of arms sent emissaries to persuade them into 
 submission ; but his mission was treated with 
 contempt and the Afghan chief determined to 
 
AFGHAN INVASION OF PERSIA. 33 
 
 invade Persia at the earliest opportunity. 
 This soon presented itself, and at the moment 
 when the north-eastern frontier of the kingdom 
 was threatened by the Abdalli Afghans of 
 Herat, and the Arabian ruler of Muscat was 
 seizing the lands in the Gulf, Mahamood, who 
 had succeeded his father Meer Vais in the 
 government of Candahar, carried out his 
 sire's resolve, and boldly invaded the empire 
 which had so long oppressed his nation. 
 
 The following account by Sir John Malcolm 
 of the Afghan leader's first entry into Persia, 
 gives a terrible picture of the misery to which 
 the inhabitants of Kir man were subjected on 
 this occasion alike from the invaders and their 
 rulers. " He (Mahamood) resolved to pene- 
 trate that country by the province of Kirman, 
 preferring a march over the desert of Seistan 
 to the obstacles which presented themselves in 
 every other direction. Though he took every 
 precaution to surmount the difficulties of the 
 march, he lost many men and horses ; but his 
 appearance was so unexpected, and his force 
 so considerable, that the city and province of 
 Kirman immediately submitted to his arms. 
 This ready acknowledgment of his authority 
 did not save the inhabitants from suffering the 
 most intolerable oppression, and it was with 
 
 D 
 
34 THE PARSEES. 
 
 joy they learnt that Lootf Aly Khan had left 
 the sea coast and was hastening to their relief. 
 That chief, who had collected a considerable 
 force, attacked and defeated the Afghan Prince, 
 and compelled him to fly to Candahar. Kirman, 
 however, was only exposed, by this victory, to 
 a repetition of what it had before suffered ; 
 and when Lootf Aly Khan marched from that 
 province, it was difficult to say whether the 
 invasion of the Afghans or the advance of the 
 Persian army to their relief had been most 
 ruinous to its inhabitants." During this in- 
 vasion by the Gilji Afghans, the Zoroastrians 
 of Kirman drank to the full their share in the 
 cup of suffering, and it was possible, that they 
 were made the special objects of the vengeance 
 taken by the troops of Lootf Aly Khan. At 
 all events, on this occasion their numbers were 
 greatly thinned either by massacre or con- 
 version. 
 
 In the second invasion of Persia by Ma- 
 hamood, he raised levies from among the 
 Zoroastrians of both the provinces of Kirman 
 and Tezd, persuading them to join his banner 
 by appealing to their miseries. They were 
 reminded of their ancestors and their wrongs, 
 and urged to seize the opportunity, which was 
 placed within their reach, of obtaining at 
 
^ FRESH PERSECUTIONS. 35 
 
 once honour and revenge. The proposal 
 seems to have been readily accepted, in the 
 hope that the success of the Afghan Chief 
 might alleviate the oppression to which they 
 were constantly subjected under Persian rule. 
 It is unnecessary to follow Mahamood in his 
 various successes in this campaign, or to 
 describe his final victory at, and capture of 
 Ispahan. How the Zoroastrians who formed 
 a portion of the army of Mahamood, fared at 
 the hands of the chief in the hour of victory, 
 we are altogether ignorant. We are not 
 even told what became of them afterwards, 
 but can rightly guess, that however valuable 
 may have been their services, they received 
 little substantial reward from a Mahomedan 
 chief, and when we look at the condition 
 of their descendants, we are tempted to con- 
 jecture, that they probably received the 
 reverse of what they had deserved. 
 
 It is stated again, that in the reign of 
 Nadir Shah, and that of his successor, the 
 remnants of this persecuted race were again 
 presented with the alternative of death or con- 
 version. Moreover, about seventy-five years 
 ago, when Agra Mahomed Khan Kujur, 
 conquered Kirman in a war with Lootf Aly 
 Khan Zund, many of the Zoroastrian race 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE PARSEES. 
 
 were put to the sword by that merciless bar- 
 barian. When these various circumstances are 
 taken into consideration, it ceases to be a 
 matter for wonder that a population number- 
 ing very recently many thousands of people, 
 should have been reduced nearly to extinc- 
 tion, by the cruelties of successive tyrants. 
 The city of Kirman, even at this day, proves, 
 by the numberless ruins of its fire-temples, 
 that it must have been, at no very remote 
 period, the abode of a considerable population 
 of the Zoroastrian persuasion. 
 
 To expect that after the revolutions, perse- 
 cutions, and oppressions, to which the small 
 remnant of the descendants of the ancient 
 Persians have been subjected, they should 
 to-day possess any of their religious books 
 or be well-informed respecting the tenets of 
 their religion, would be unreasonable. Among 
 all the vicissitudes of their race, they have 
 adhered in the most praiseworthy manner to 
 the form of faith which descended to them 
 from their ancestors, and they pretend to 
 nothing more. At one time the Parsees in 
 India believed, that their co-religionists in 
 Persia could furnish them with copies of their 
 ancient books, which were not possessed by 
 those in Hindoostan and that they might be 
 
RELIGIOUS WORKS IN INDIA. 37 
 
 able to enlighten them on matters of their 
 faith. But this delusion was not of long 
 duration. The accounts of their condition, 
 given by European travellers, as well as by 
 the Iranees, who have visited India in our 
 times, set all expectation at rest on the 
 above point, and prove that instead of im- 
 parting wisdom, the Zoroastrians of the 
 father-land now need advice and instruction 
 from those in India. 
 
 They have it is true their fire-temples 
 (thirty-four of them, including great and small, 
 are situated in Yezd and its vicinity), but they 
 have no ancient liturgical books among them, 
 beyond those in the possession of their brethren 
 in Hindoos tan. Professor Westergard of Copen- 
 hagen, who visited Persia in the year 1843, 
 writes to his friend Dr. Wilson of Bombay as 
 follows, on this subject : " I stopped at Yezd 
 eleven days, and though I often went out 
 among them, I did not see more than sixteen 
 or seventeen books in all ; two or three copies 
 ofthe Vendidad Sade, and the Izeshine (which 
 they call Ya9n), and six or seven of the 
 Khorde Avasta, of which I got two, and part 
 of a third. These, besides part of the 
 Bundesh, and part of another Pehelvi Book, 
 were all I could get, though I tried hard 
 
88 THE PARSEES. 
 
 to obtain more, especially part of the Izeshne 
 with a Pehelvi, or as they say, Pazund trans- 
 lation, of which there is only one copy in 
 Europe, at Copenhagen." The same learned 
 traveller speaking of the Zoroastrians now 
 residing in Kirman says ; " The Gabres here 
 are more brutalized than their brethren at 
 Yezd. They had only two copies of the 
 Vendidad and Ya9na, but a great many of the 
 Khorde Avasta, which however they would 
 not part with. No one here can read Pehelvi. 
 They complain that when Aga Mahomed 
 Khan gave the town up to indiscriminate 
 plunder and slaughter, most of their books 
 were destroyed, and great numbers of the 
 race were killed." 
 
 We have thus seen how wretched is the 
 general condition of the Zoroastrians now in 
 Persia. The few who can be called rich 
 belong to the merchant class, and besides 
 these, there are perhaps none who can be said 
 to be in good circumstances, while the great 
 majority are in a state of extreme poverty. 
 The Parsees of Bombay, who are much pained 
 at the ignorance and wretched condition of 
 this people, have of late been engaged in 
 devisinoj means for their relief. Schools have 
 recently been established, where instruction is 
 
POLL TAX. 39 
 
 gratuitously imparted to their children ; the 
 Parsees of Bombay having wisely considered 
 that the spread of education among their 
 brethren in Persia will prove the surest har- 
 binger of future good. 
 
 One of the severest oppressions under which 
 these people suffer is the levy of the poll- 
 tax, called jujia, to which they arc subjected. 
 The Moslem population is free from this tax : 
 all " unbelievers *' residing in the kingdom are, 
 however, compelled to pay it. The Armenians, 
 the Jews, and the Parsees, therefore, have to 
 submit to the obnoxious impost. The Arme- 
 nians residing at Tabriz, and in those parts 
 of Persia contiguous to the Russian frontier, 
 are exempt from the payment of this tax 
 through the influence of the Russian Govern- 
 ment ; but those residing in other provinces 
 have nothing left but to submit to the exac- 
 tion. 
 
 The distress to which these races are driven 
 to meet this tax is deplorable. We have no 
 means of knowing the amount of impost which 
 the Armenians and Jews are required to pay ; 
 but it has been ascertained that according 
 to imperial order, the annual tax levied on 
 the Parsees is 667 tomans. * As is the case, 
 
 * A toman is equal to ten shillings sterling. 
 
40 THE PARSEES. 
 
 however, in all Oriental kingdoms, the under- 
 governors or collectors and magistrates, en- 
 hance the amount hy their own commissions 
 on it, and consequently the sum required to be 
 paid by these poor people very often amounts 
 to 2,000 tomans. According to statistics 
 supplied to the writer from authentic sources, 
 it appears that about a thousand grown up 
 Parsees are required to pay the tax ; of these, 
 two hundred are able to bear the burden with- 
 out difficulty ; four hundred pay it with great 
 inconvenience, while the rest are unable to 
 pay it at all, even at the point of the sword. 
 
 Upon the annual collection of the tax, the 
 scene presented before the homes of those 
 who are unable to pay it, is most terrible to 
 witness. Unheard of cruelties are practised 
 in the hopeless attempt to extort the money. 
 Some, as a last resource to save themselves 
 from torture, give up their religion and em- 
 brace the faith of Mahomed, in which case 
 they are exempted from payment of the tax. 
 Others, who dare not violate their consciences, 
 abandon their homes to escape the clutches 
 of the tax-gatherer, leaving their wives and 
 children in misery and want. Ground down 
 to poverty, it is not strange that they should 
 be unable to pay anything in the shape 
 
MISERY OF THE PARSEES IN PERSIA. 41 
 
 of taxes. In this miserable condition the 
 Zoroastrians of Persia look towards their 
 co-religionists in India for rescue from such 
 oppression. A few who have found their 
 way to Bombay, often put the question, " Can 
 nothing be done to relieve our countrymen in 
 Persia by the interference of the British 
 ambassador at the court of Teheran at the 
 instance of the influential Parsees of Bombay ? 
 The court of St. Petersburgh and other 
 European powers have obtained various rights 
 and privileges for the Christian inhabitants of 
 Persia, and why cannot the English do so for 
 the Parsees ? " 
 
 It is not to be concealed that the Persian 
 Government has very negligently observed its 
 promise in regard to the Christians inhabiting 
 its dominions. In the capital, where these 
 people are immediately under the protection of 
 the ambassadors of the Christian courts, their 
 condition is comparatively comfortable, but in 
 the provinces they are a prey, equally with the 
 Jews and the Parsees, to the tyranny of the 
 local governors, and the fanatic race among 
 whom they dwell. Could the Zoroastrians, 
 however, be in some way represented at the 
 Persian court, their circumstances would prob- 
 ably be ameliorated. As it is, their wrongs 
 
42 THE PARSEES. 
 
 have seldom been heard at the head-quarters 
 of the government. The will of a Persian 
 monarch is his law, and if the present 
 sovereign, Nussroodin Shah, were to issue a 
 simple edict against this obnoxious tax, which 
 is to the poor Zoroastrian the cause of his 
 greatest misery, he would be conferring a 
 great and lasting boon upon the descendants 
 of the most ancient inhabitants of his country. 
 
 The treatment which the Zoroastrians 
 endure at the hands of other subjects of the 
 Persian monarchy, is harsh and oppressive. 
 They are contemptuously styled " Gabres," 
 and experience from the Persians much the 
 same sort of treatment as the low caste Mahar 
 in India receives at the hands of the high 
 caste Hindoo. A Mahomedan, who, without 
 prejudice to himself, holds intercourse with 
 every other caste, considers the touch of a 
 *' Gabre" as an impurity, and the latter is 
 consequently debarred from following such 
 occupations as are likely to bring him into 
 contact with his oppressor. 
 
 Many other causes stand in the way of 
 a Zoroastrian gaining an easy livelihood. In 
 trade, credit must often be given to the 
 purchaser, and the extreme difficulty which 
 Zoroastrians find in recovering their claims 
 
HARSHNESS OF THE LAW. 43 
 
 from " true believers," is a great bar to a 
 hearty or effective pursuit of commerce. 
 " The Mahomedan law against debtors," says 
 Sir John Malcolm, " is sufficiently severe, but 
 the law is in no point favourable to what are 
 termed in its language, unbelievers." We see 
 it mentioned on the same authority, that an 
 eminent Christian merchant, who resided many 
 years in Persia, and who enlightened Europe 
 by his observations on that country, states that 
 nothing but the establishment of the Urf 
 or customary law, which is administered by 
 the secular magistrates, could enable a person 
 not of the Mahomedan faith to carry on 
 any commercial transactions in Persia. The 
 bigotry of the priests, and the only law which 
 they administer, that of the Koran and its 
 traditions, would operate to deprive him of 
 every hope of justice. When an application 
 was made to the Court of Sherrah (by a 
 non-believer) against a Mahomedan bankrupt, 
 he was so sheltered under its forms and pre- 
 scriptive laws, that it was declared impossible 
 to attach his goods for the payment of his 
 debts. 
 
 Of other instances of the shameless injus- 
 tice of the laws, against those who do not 
 adopt the national religion of Persia, one 
 
44 THE PARSEES. 
 
 deserves prominent notice. If a rich man 
 dies, any distant relative who may have em- 
 braced Mahomedanism, can claim his property 
 in preference to the deceased's own lawful 
 children. Such is the justice administered 
 in Persia, and so shameless is it, that com- 
 ment upon it is rendered unnecessary. 
 
 Not only are the civil rights of a Parsee 
 unprotected, hut in every respect his position 
 is one of constant peril. If a Mahomedan, 
 whether from bigotry or malice, kills a Parsee 
 or Jew, or any " unbeliever," there is no 
 redress. The culprit is either slightly fined, as 
 the price of a " kaffir's" life is very lightly 
 estimated, or acquitted on some trivial pretext. 
 The mention of a few late instances of the 
 kind will suffice. An Armenian resident of 
 Tabriz was killed by a Moslem. The mur- 
 derer was fined seven Tomans (three pounds 
 ten shillings) and the sum offered to the heirs 
 of the deceased. The latter declined to 
 accept it, and demanded that a punishment 
 should be inflicted on the offender equal to the 
 guilt of his crime, but these remonstrances were 
 unheeded, and the murderer was set at large 
 to glory in having shed the blood of a kaffir. 
 At Yezd two Parsees were murdered by some 
 Mahomedans. The criminals were paupers 
 
LAW NOT JUSTICE. 45 
 
 and unable to pay a fine. They were conse- 
 sequently set at liberty, the judge declar- 
 ing it unjust to imprison the followers of 
 the true faith for merely laying violent hands 
 on simple kaffirs. How justice is reversed in 
 the case of the murder of a Mahomedan will be 
 presently seen. A Jew had a pecuniary 
 demand upon a Mahomedan, and the latter 
 refusing to pay it, both of them had recourse 
 to blows, in which the Mogul lost his life. In 
 this case, as the victim was a Mahomedan, the 
 fine was one thousand tomans, with imprison- 
 ment for some months. In short, a Parsee 
 may be murdered or maltreated, and insulted 
 to any extent, by a Mahomedan with open 
 impunity. The Mahomedan law is founded 
 on the Koran, and the administrators of it are 
 the Mullas or priests, and the decision is, 
 on principle, ever given against the " un- 
 believer," who is either in the position of a 
 complainant or defendant. 
 * The sanctuary of the fire-temples and towers 
 of silence of the Parsees is often invaded, and 
 any appeal to the authorities by the injured 
 race is almost invariably treated with contempt 
 or altogether unheeded. Rare instances do, 
 however, occur when justice is done to the 
 aggrieved, but when this exception is made, 
 
46 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the success gained only serves as a pretext 
 for further mischief. An instance of the 
 kind occurred a few years since. A Parsee 
 of Kirman having suffered an injury at the 
 hands of a Mahomedan priest, appealed to 
 the Shah of Teheran, and the MuUa was 
 immediately summoned hefore the court and 
 ordered to give immediate satisfaction for the 
 wrong he had done. The Mahomedan, though 
 forced at the time to comply with the mandate 
 of authority, eagerly watched for an oppor- 
 tunity when he could revenge himself upon his 
 enemy with impunity. In Persia all laws 
 remain in aheyance on the death of a monarch 
 till a successor is raised to the throne. During 
 this interregnum, people do not consider 
 themselves answerahle for their crimes, and 
 no notice can legally he taken of their conduct. 
 The MuUa, therefore, thought that period an 
 excellent opportunity for allaying his thirst for 
 revenge, and on the death of the Shah, he 
 endeavoured to stir up the Mahomedan mob 
 to kill every unbeliever in Kirman as a work 
 enjoined upon them by their holy Koran. 
 The Parsees became, of course, the[first victims 
 of the infuriated mob, and many of them were 
 killed. 
 
 Such instances are not of rare occurrence. 
 
PHYSICAL AND MORAL CONDITION. 47 
 
 It is said that the present Shah and his 
 ministers are not guilty of injustice, but, as 
 must be the case in all despotic states, there 
 is under their government no uniform system 
 of law for the guidance and regulation of the 
 conduct of officers entrusted with the admi- 
 nistration of justice and security of the lives 
 and property of the subject. The principal 
 check upon such officers, says a well-known 
 author, is the dread of superiors to whom the 
 injured may always appeal. It is easier, 
 however, to explain the duties than to describe 
 the conduct of men, who regulate their actions 
 by the varying dispositions of the despot of the 
 day, and are active and just, or corrupt and 
 cruel, as he happens to be vigilant and 
 virtuous, or avaricious and tyrannical. That 
 the majority of the sovereigns who have sat on 
 the throne of Persia have been of the latter 
 class is manifest, and we have no reason to 
 suppose that future ones will prove more rich 
 in virtue than their predecessors. 
 
 The physical and moral condition of the 
 Parsees in Persia have remained unchanged 
 since the time when they called the country their 
 own. Centuries of oppression have not been 
 able to destroy the strong, muscular and hardy 
 appearance of the Zoroastrian. He is greatly 
 
48 THE PARSEES. 
 
 superior in strength to the modern effeminate 
 and luxurious Persian ; and is ever willing to 
 work could he find employment. Centuries of 
 contact with a weak and idle race have not 
 exercised any perceptible influence upon the 
 habits of industry for which the ancestors of 
 the Parsees were remarkable. The Zoroas- 
 trian is taught by his religion to earn his 
 bread by the sweat of his brow, whereas the 
 Molsem is taught to believe, that he will be 
 the favoured of God by becoming a fakir and 
 living on alms. It is a fact creditable to the 
 blood which flows in Zoroastrian veins, that 
 the race has not degenerated by contact with 
 those by whom fate has surrounded them. 
 
 The same may be said of their moral conduct. 
 The Mahomedans, their inveterate enemies, 
 even admit this fact. Their women, the major- 
 ity of whom belong to poor families, are remark- 
 able for chastity ; an unchaste woman is unheard 
 of among them, while the men are noted for 
 their moral conduct. In the garden adjoining 
 the harem of the Shah, none are employed as 
 gardeners but Zoroastrians, and this because 
 of the national character for purity of these 
 men. They are also remarkable for their love 
 of truth, a virtue so highly extolled in their 
 ancestors by historians both ancient and modern. 
 
PROJECT FOR RELIEVING THE PARSEES. 49 
 
 Never were the unhappy effects of misrule 
 rendered more palpable than in the condition 
 of the present remnant of our race remaining 
 in the fatherland; while the state of the 
 Parsees of Western India, as strikingly ex- 
 emplifies the success and glory of an equit- 
 able and enlightened administration. But can 
 we ourselves do nothing for our unfortunate 
 co-religionists in Persia? Our community 
 possesses considerable weight, and includes 
 amongst its members, names known all over 
 the world for their exertions in the cause of 
 humanity, and the amelioration of the con- 
 dition of their countrymen generally. 
 
 A deputation, therefore, of our race to the 
 Persian Court, duly accredited by the English 
 government, and presented by the British 
 Ambassador at Teheran, might, we believe, 
 remonstrate with success against the cruelties 
 now practised upon our Zoroastrian brethren 
 in Persia. The amount raised by the capi- 
 tation tax now levied upon them, and which 
 is attended by circumstances of so much 
 cruelty, must be to the imperial revenue 
 insignificant in the extreme, and it is not 
 improbable that a dignified representation on 
 the subject made by a suitable embassy from 
 the Parsees of India mio^ht succeed in 
 
50 THE PARSEES. 
 
 abolishing it. Persian Princes seldom know 
 the true state of their subjects, and we can- 
 not but think that our countrymen would 
 reflect honour upon themselves by an adequate 
 effort to relieve the miseries of our Zoroastrian 
 brethren in the fatherland. 
 
 We are persuaded that the account we have 
 attempted to give here of the remnant of the 
 ancient Persian race, who have remained true 
 to the religion of their fathers, and have 
 continued on Persian soil, will not be without 
 interest to the general reader. The instability 
 of human grandeur receives no more striking 
 illustration than is afforded by the overthrow 
 of the great monarchies which ruled in Asia 
 before the Christian era. Inheritors of the 
 old glories of the Assyrian and Babylonian 
 empires, the Persian power spread its dominion 
 from the isles of Greece to the table-land 
 of Thibet from the Caspian Sea to the 
 confines of India. The ruins of ancient Per- 
 sepolis tell of the splendour and the power of 
 the Magian princes. The remains of mighty 
 causeways, cut step by step on the Bakhtyari 
 mountains, which divide the valley of the Tigris 
 from the plains of Ispahan, and form the 
 natural defence on that side of the modern 
 Moslem empire of Persia, tell of the passage 
 
DECLINE OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 51 
 
 of myriads of busy feet, and the inarch of heavy 
 bodies of soldiery in ancient times, where now 
 even the caravanserai dare not pass, and the 
 wild robbers of the hills gain a precarious 
 subsistence by plundering the plains, and 
 by tending cattle, which form their only 
 wealth. In short, here is a country, once the 
 most powerful, groaning under fanatic and 
 despotic rulers, while the few descendants of 
 that proud ancient race are sunk into un- 
 noticeable insignificance. All this, we again 
 say, forcibly reminds us of the instability of 
 human grandeur. To a Parsee, however, the 
 decline and fall of the old Persian empire is a 
 subject of peculiar interest. That strong 
 feelinof of association which binds to the 
 present the memory of the past stages of 
 a man's private existence that same feeling 
 presents vividly before our minds the memory 
 of what our forefathers were. Our race in 
 India enjoys all the blessings of an enlightened 
 and liberal government and our only wish is 
 that our brethren in the Persian soil may also 
 be as happy and fortunate as ourselves. 
 
 B 2 
 
52 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MAISTNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 Parsee population in India How dispersed Sects among the 
 Parsees Causes which led to the division Domestic life of 
 a Parsee family Birth of a child Consultation with the 
 Astrologer as to the fortunes of the infant Naming of 
 children Dress of a child Its baptism into Zoroastrianism 
 ' Investiture of the Sudra and Kusti Home and outdoor 
 costume of a Parsee Appearance and dress of females 
 Mode of living Nature of food used by them Mode of 
 eating Occasions for entertainments Position of Parsee 
 women Marriage festivities Mode of betrothal Wedding 
 and other ceremonies Freedom of remarriage Prohibition 
 of bigamy Pules regulating bigamy in certain cases 
 Funeral ceremonies Mode of disposing of the dead bodies. 
 
 The numerical strength of the followers of 
 Zoroaster at the present day does not exceed 
 150,000 persons, including the Parsees of 
 Persia. The greater number is found in 
 Bombay, and in some of the cities of Gujerat, 
 a province 200 miles to the north of that 
 city. Parsees have also settled for the pur- 
 poses of trade in Calcutta, and in other cities 
 
PARSEE POPULATION. 
 
 53 
 
 of British India, in China, and in other parts 
 of Asia. The returns from the census of 
 Bombay, taken on the night of the 20th of 
 August, 1851, show that the number of 
 Parsees in the island on that day was 110,544, 
 of whom 68,754 were males, and 41,790 
 females, the proportion of the former to the 
 latter being nearly seven to four. The fol- 
 lowing table classes the population according 
 to age 
 
 Under 2 years of age 
 
 
 
 . 2,900 
 
 From 2 to 6 
 
 
 
 6,996 
 
 7 to 13 
 
 
 
 . 9,509 
 
 14 to 24 
 
 
 
 . 16,542 
 
 25 to 34 
 
 
 
 20,366 
 
 35 to 44 
 
 
 
 19,484 
 
 45 to 54 
 
 
 
 . 18,000 
 
 55 to 64 
 
 
 
 9,037 
 
 65 to 74 
 
 
 
 5,967 
 
 75 and above 
 
 
 1,743 
 
 
 1 
 
 :otal 
 
 110,544 
 
 When the above returns were made public 
 the Parsees generally believed that they were 
 inaccurate, and that the number given ex- 
 ceeded the real strength of the people. Let 
 the fact be as it may, it can hardly be doubted 
 that the Parsee population of to-day may 
 fairly be estimated at the above figures ; and, 
 as the community is a healthful and thriving 
 
o4 THE PARSEES. 
 
 one, its increase is very rapid. On the general 
 question of the propagation of the human 
 race, "its power of increase," says John 
 Stuart Mill, " is indefinite, and the actual 
 multiplication would be extraordinarily rapid, 
 if that power were exercised to the utmost. 
 It never is exercised to the utmost; and yet 
 in the most favourable circumstances known 
 to exist, which are those of a fertile region 
 colonized from an industrious and civilized com- 
 munity, population has continued, for several 
 generations, independently of fresh immigra- 
 tion, to double itself in not much more than 
 twenty years. That there is a capacity of 
 multiplication in the human species beyond 
 even this is evident if we consider how great 
 is the ordinary number of children to a family 
 where the climate is good, and early marriages 
 usual; and how small a proportion of them 
 die before the age of maturity, in the present 
 state of hygienic knowledge, where the locality 
 is healthy and the family inadequately pro- 
 vided with the means of living. It is a very 
 low estimate of the capacity of increase if we 
 only assume that, in a good sanitary condition 
 of the people, each generation may be double 
 the number of the generation which pre- 
 ceded it." 
 
INCREASE OF PARSEES. 55 
 
 Now, though the Parsecs have not paid 
 so much attention to sanitary improvements 
 as the English, they certainly approximate 
 nearer to them on this point than any other 
 race in India; and the mortality of children 
 under the age of six years is twenty per cent, 
 less among those of the Parsees than amongst 
 those of other natives. The Parsees form 
 twenty per cent, of the population of Bombay, 
 while the rate of mortality is but 4*71 per 
 cent.; and it cannot be doubted that under 
 the protection of the British rule they have 
 a tendency to multiply faster than any other 
 of the races of India. 
 
 In Bombay, the increase has been very 
 evident indeed. Fifteen or twenty years ago 
 the Parsee population was confined to only 
 a part of the fort and the native town. At 
 the present time, the fort is almost wholly in 
 their occupation, while numbers are spread 
 in all directions through the island. They 
 have no fear of being absorbed by the Hindoos 
 or Mahomedans, intermarriages with others 
 than those of their own community being not 
 only distasteful to the people themselves, but 
 prohibited by law. 
 
 The Parsees at Surat at one time greatly 
 exceeded in number those of Bombay; but 
 
56 THE PARSEES. 
 
 as the latter city became the great emporium 
 of trade in Western India, the enterprising 
 spirit of the people soon brought them down 
 from Surat to that place, and the popula- 
 tion at the old city, it is supposed, does not 
 now exceed 20,000 souls. 
 
 At Broach and Nowsaree there are about 
 5,000 Zoroastrians, and the number at Ahmed- 
 abad, Dumaun, Gundavee, Oodwarra, Bul- 
 sar, and Billimora, as well as those who are 
 scattered about for the purposes of trade, does 
 not in all exceed 10,000. To these we must 
 add about 6,000 Zoroastrians in Persia, and 
 we have the whole Parsee population, which, 
 as we have said above, does not exceed 
 150,000. 
 
 / The Parsees of India are divided into two 
 sects, the Shensoys and the Kudmis. They 
 do not differ on any point of faith as the 
 Protestants do from the Eomanists, nor does 
 the distinction between them at all resemble 
 that which divides the different castes of the 
 Hindoos, or the Shyas and Soonees among 
 the Mahomedans. Their form of worship 
 and religious ceremonies are the same in 
 every respect. They freely mingle in society, 
 and in every relation of life, and the dispute 
 is solely confined to a quarrel as to the correct 
 
THE SHEN80Y AND KUDMIS. 5/ 
 
 chronological date for the computation of the 
 era of Zezdezird, the last King of the ancient 
 Persian monarchy. The difference has, as 
 yet, heen productive of no further inconve- 
 nience than arises from the variation of a 
 month in the celebration of the festivals. 
 
 The Shenshoy sect greatly outnumbers the 
 Kudmis. Out of a population of 110,000 
 souls, there are hardly 10,000 Kudmis. But 
 the smallness of their number has been no bar 
 to their gaining a position in the community, 
 or to their advancement in life. Within the 
 last twenty-five years, a number of the most 
 influential Parsees belonged to this sect, and 
 even at the present day it numbers some of 
 the most distinguished merchants. The late 
 Framjee Cowasjee, than whom a more enlight- 
 ened Parsee never lived, was of this sect. ' In 
 our day this class is represented by the highly 
 respected Framjee Nusserwanjee, Esq., the 
 members of the Cama family, enlightened, 
 liberal, enterprising, and wealthy merchants, 
 and the Dadysett family, whose ancestors were 
 highly renowned for their public spirit and 
 generosity. 
 
 The more numerous, class, the Shenshoys, 
 is represented by Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, 
 Bart., and many rich families. How this 
 
58 THE PARSEES. 
 
 division arose remains to be explained. There 
 was no such distinction whatever among the 
 Zoroastrians when in the peaceful possession 
 of their fatherland. It has resulted from 
 the exile of their descendants in India. In 
 the year of Yezdezird 1090, or nearly 200 
 years ago, one Jam asp, a learned Zoroastrian 
 from Persia, arrived at Surat to undertake 
 the instructions of the Mobeds, or priests ; 
 and he is said to have been the first to dis- 
 cover that his co-religionists in India differed 
 with their brethren of Iran in the calculation 
 of time by full one month, but no great 
 importance was attached to the point, and all 
 went smoothly as before. But in the year of 
 Yezdezird 1114, or 1746 of Christ, an Iranee, 
 named Jemshid, attaching to himself a few 
 moheds or priests, and by adopting the notion 
 imported by Jamasp, formed the Kudmi Sect ; 
 the bulk of the people however adhered to 
 their former views. 
 
 For a time the difiference was neither pro- 
 ductive of argument nor collision among the 
 people, but about thirty years ago Bombay 
 became the theatre of a great discussion on 
 this point. The Kudmis, headed by their 
 high priest MuUa Firoz, fought for the new 
 era, while, on the other side, the mass of the 
 
KUBEESA CONTROVERSY. 59 
 
 people, headed by a then very popular and 
 influential member of the community, the late 
 Shet Cursetjee Manackjee,* was arrayed against 
 them. Public meetings were held, to which 
 learned Moguls and others were invited, and 
 where many highly animated discussions took 
 place. Newspapers were started as the organs 
 of the respective parties, and a good deal 
 of violent vn-iting was indulged in, but no 
 satisfactory result ensued from the con- 
 troversy. 
 
 This celebrated discussion is known to every 
 Parsee by the designation of the " Kubeesa 
 Controversy." The men of the present day 
 attach, however, little importance to the sub- 
 ject, and prefer quietly pursuing their ordi- 
 nary avocations to re-opening a question which 
 could lead to no satisfactory results. The 
 chief importance of the matter arises from the 
 fact that a Parsee when he prays has to 
 repeat the year, month, and day on which 
 he offers his petition, f therefore the mention 
 
 * The father of Mr. Manockjee Cursetjee, who Tisited 
 
 England some years ago, and who is now third Judge of the 
 
 Court of Small Causes at Bombay, 
 j- The names of the Parsee days and months are as follows: 
 Days: 1, Hormazd; 2, Bahman ; 3, Ardebehest ; 4, Shu- 
 
 rever ; 5, Aspundad ; 6, Khordad ; 7, Amerdad ; 8, Depadur ; 
 
 9, Adur; 10, Ava; 11, Khorshed; 12, Mhor ; 13, Teer; 14, 
 
/ 
 
 60 THE PARSEES. 
 
 of the date, is the only distinction between 
 the prayer of a Kudmi and that of a Shenshoy, 
 and the same difference exists in the keeping 
 of the festivals which are common to both 
 sects.* 
 
 Gosh; 15, Depmeter ; 16, Meher; 17, Serosh ; 18, Rashne ; 
 19, Furvurdeen; 20, Behram; 21, Ram; 22, Guvad; 23, 
 Depdin ; 24, Din ; 25, Ashasang ; 26, Ashtad ; 27, Asman ; 
 28, Zamiad ; 29, Maharesphand ; 30, Aniran. 
 
 Months : 1, Furvurdeen ; 2, Ardibehest ; 3, Khurdad ; 4, 
 Tir ; 5, Amerdad ; 6, Sherevur; 7, Meher ; 8, Aban ; 9, Adur ; 
 10, Deh ; 11, Behman; 12, Aspendadmad. 
 
 * As a work of this nature would be incomplete without 
 some account of the Parsee festivals, the following description 
 of them, abridged from the Bombay Times Calendar, is given 
 for the information of the reader : 
 
 ^ Pappati, or New Year's Day. Among the festivals observed 
 by the Parsees, the first and universally kept is the Pappati, or 
 new year's day. This day is celebrated in honour of Yezdezerd, 
 the last king of the Sassanide dynasty, who was dethroned by 
 Khalif Omar about a.d. 640. The ancient Persians reckoned 
 a new era from the accession of each successive monarch, and 
 as Yezdezerd had no successor, the date of his accession to 
 the throne has been brought down to the present time, thus 
 making their current year 1227. In their calculations of the 
 year only 365 days are allowed ; the leap year is unknown to 
 them, though there are records which prove that in every 120 
 years one month was added to the period, to correspond with 
 the solar year. The year is divided into twelve months of 
 thirty days each, and five days, or " gathas," as they are called, 
 are added at the end to make up the deficiency. On this day 
 the Parsees rise early, and dress themselves in new suits of 
 clothes, and those piously disposed say their prayers in their 
 private residences, or attend the fire-temples, where a large 
 congregation is gathered. After prayers the Parsees visit their 
 friends and relations, when the " Hamma-i-jour," or "joining 
 
RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS. 6 1 
 
 Havinor furnished in a foot note an account 
 of the Parsee religious festivals, we pass on to 
 
 of hands," is performed. This ceremony is a sort of greeting, 
 corresponding to the European fashion of wishing each other 
 a happy new year. Their friends and relations are invited to 
 breakfast. The morning being thus occupied, they spend the 
 rest of the day in their country houses and clubs, where feast- 
 ing, rejoicing, and nautch -parties are kept up till a late hour. 
 Alms are also given to the poor in the course of the day, and 
 new suits of clothes are presented to their servants and de- 
 pendants. 
 
 / Khordad-Sal. The second of the Parsee festivals is the 
 "Khordad-Sal" day, or the anniversary of the birth of their 
 prophet Zoroaster, who was born in the city of Rai in the 
 north of Persia, in the reign of Darius Hystaspis, about 520 
 years before Christ, according to Greek writers. 
 
 Amardad'Sal.^-Thh holiday, which falls on the day imme- 
 diately after the preceding festival, appears to have no origin 
 in the books of the Parsees. It is merely kept up as a conti- 
 nuation of the "Khordad-Sal;" no religious ceremonies are 
 required, and the day is always spent in the enjoyment of 
 pleasures. 
 
 Furrohurdin Jasan. This day is set apart for the perform- 
 ance of ceremonies for the dead, Furrohur meaning soul or 
 spirit. This holiday is kept with some slight variations in 
 other parts of India. The Parsees are enjoined by their reli- 
 gion to preserve the memory of their dead by annual religious 
 ceremonies performed in the house ; but such of their friends 
 who die on long voyages or in unknown places, and the date of 
 whose death cannot be positively ascertained are, according to 
 the forms of their religion, honoured by sacred rites on this 
 day. 
 
 Ardibehest Jasan. This festival, as its name implies, is main- 
 tained in honour of Ardibehest Amsaspund, the controlling 
 angel over the sacred fire, that element being one of the sjtu- 
 bols of worship. The fire temples are crowded this day, and 
 prayers offered to the Supreme Deity. 
 
62 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the description of the domestic life of the 
 people. / Beginning with the infant, we may 
 
 The Nowroz. The fifth on our list is the celebrated ISTowroz, 
 called by some the Nowroz-i-Jamshid, or the I^owroz-i- 
 Sultan, the King's day. This celebrated festival falls generally 
 on the 21st day of March, and is coeval with our vernal 
 equinox, and the Mukhr Saccaranti of the Hindus. This day 
 is observed by the modern Persians, the Arabs, the Turks, and 
 several other Asiatic nations, for the computation of the solar 
 year, and for state purposes, such as the collection of revenue, 
 and the arrangements for the agricultural operations of the 
 year. Eastern writers date the origin of this festival from the 
 time of Jamshid, the third king of the Peshdadian dynasty of 
 Persia, and our own Western writers are not disposed to doubt 
 this statement. Jamshid is supposed to have flourished, 
 according to Bailey, 3,209 years before Christ; the Shah 
 Ifameh celebrates him as the first prince of his race who intro- 
 duced civilization among mankind, and established the compu- 
 tation of time. If we are to believe the host of Persian writers, 
 the exquisite bas-reliefs at the ruins of Persepolis still visible 
 in all their pristine beauty after a lapse of two thousand years 
 are representations of the court of Jamshid, more especially 
 on the festival of Nowroz. The sculptures at this remarkable 
 place, indeed, contain representations of the courts of ancient 
 Persia, with their long train of attendants bringing in ofi'erings 
 to the feet of the monarchs ; and as the JSTowroz is a sort of 
 "revenue settlement" day, when the chiefs of the different 
 provinces lay their annual contributions before the throne, and 
 are allowed audience with the monarch, the idea of a part of 
 the Persepolitan bas-reliefs being a picture of some ancient 
 king of Persia holding his court on the day of the ISTowroz, 
 does not appear to be without a good foundation. In Persia 
 this festival is kept up for several days with unusual pomp by 
 all the inhabitants, whether Mahomedans or Parsees. In India 
 it is simply a day of rejoicing. 
 
 Ava Ardui Sur Jasan. Ava, in the Zend text, is the name 
 
BIRTH OF A CHILD. 63 
 
 mention that it is introduced into the world 
 on the ground-floor of the house, to which the 
 
 of the angel who presides over the sea, and this " Jasan " or 
 festival is held in his honour. The Parsees are simply required 
 on this day to approach the sea-shore, or any stream of water, 
 and chant the prayers which are written in Zend ; hut, owing 
 to their long residence in this country, they have borrowed 
 many Hindoo rites in the observance of this hohday, and offer- 
 ings of sugar, cocoa-nut, flowers, &c., to the sea, on this daj', are 
 not uncommon. The better informed portion of the commu- 
 nity, however, do not join with their brethren in these super- 
 stitious acts. In Bombay a fair is held on the Esplanade in 
 honour of this festival. 
 
 Addar Jasan. Addar, another synonyme for fire, is the 
 name by which the ninth month of the Parsee year is called. 
 This is the most religious of the twelve months, and the ninth 
 day of that month is held in great respect and sanctity. On 
 this day the fire-temples are very much crowded, and offerings 
 of sandal- wood are made to the sacred flame, and money distri- 
 buted among the priests. 
 
 Besides the above, the festivals of the Parsees are the Meher 
 Jasan, the Boman Jasan, and a few others of less importance, 
 all of which are partially observed. 
 
 The Mooktads is the name of a ceremony which is performed 
 at the end of the Parsee year. It consists of a pile of brass 
 or silver vessels filled with water and raised above the ground 
 on iron stools. Flowers and fruits are placed there, and reli- 
 gious ceremonies in honour of the dead are performed before 
 the Mooktads. A society for religious reform, which has been 
 lately established among the Parsees, has denounced this cere- 
 mony in no respectful terms. According to the tracts pub- 
 lished by these reformers, the Parsee Scriptures only require 
 that the last ten days of the year should be spent in deeds of 
 charity, prayers, and freedom from worldly pursuits ; they add 
 further, that the ceremony of the brass and silver vessels, &c., 
 is borrowed entirely from the Hindoos. 
 
64 THE PARSEES. 
 
 mother is conveyed as soon as she is seized 
 with the pains of labour, and she remains 
 there for forty days, at the expiration of which 
 period, after undergoing purification, she is 
 allowed to appear in the family as before. 
 
 For five days after the birth of the child 
 the mother is fed simply with conjee or other 
 light food, and the infant is sustained chiefly 
 by sugar and water, given to it by means of 
 a wick. The exact period of birth is care- 
 fully noted down, and ^ye days after the event, 
 or as soon as convenient, an astrologer is 
 invited, who is either a Brahmin or a Parsee 
 priest, to cast the nativity of the child. 
 He begins by drawing on a wooden board 
 a set of hieroglyphics in chalk, and his dex- 
 terity in counting and recounting the stars 
 under whose region or influence the child is 
 declared to be born, is marvelled at by the 
 superstitious creatures thronging around him. 
 All the relatives of the child press forward to 
 hear the astrologer predict the future life and 
 prospects of the babe. The fellow, who 
 thoroughly understands the worth of his fore- 
 castings, gives out, with an air of satisfaction, 
 that the child is destined to hold a distin- 
 guished position in the com.munity ! He has 
 first, however, to enumerate the names which 
 
ASTROLOGERS PREDICTIONS. 65 
 
 the child may bear, and the parents have the 
 right to make choice of one of them. 
 
 The astrologer is then consulted as to 
 the influence the child will exert upon the 
 fortunes of the father, the mother, brother, 
 and family generally. The pretender gravely 
 delivers himself in some such strain as this, 
 " The child really is a fortunate one. To 
 its father it has brought increased respecta- 
 bility and wealth ; the mother will be very 
 fortunate. By the birth of this babe there 
 will be increased affection between the husband 
 and wife. With its brothers and sisters it 
 will be on good terms when of age." The 
 men generally laugh at the absurdity of this 
 stuff, but the condition of the Parsee females 
 is not yet sufficiently advanced to make them 
 conscious of its folly. The spread of educa- 
 tion, now happily commenced, will soon purge 
 away such superstitious trash from among 
 them. \ 
 
 The costume of the Parsees is well adapted 
 for the hot climate of the country. The dress 
 of a child, till it is seven years of age (when 
 it has to be invested with the sudra and kusti, 
 or the sacred shirt and cord) is exceedingly 
 simple and becoming. It consists of a single 
 piece or garment called the "jubhla," which 
 
 V 
 
66 THE PARSEES. 
 
 extends from the neck to the ankles. It is a 
 sort of loose shirt, through which the head 
 and arms are passed. The topee, or skull- 
 cap, covers the head, and completes the dress. 
 The holiday attire is exceedingly elegant and 
 fanciful. The juhhla and topee are bravely 
 embroidered with China silks, or with gold 
 and silver lace. Pearls, emeralds, and other 
 jewels are also arranged about the person. 
 
 A writer in one of the magazines lately 
 published at Delhi thus describes a band of 
 Parsee children at holidav time. " Both sexes 
 take a more than ordinary pride and pleasure 
 in the children, who appear^ abroad on high 
 days and holidays in all the bravery of rich 
 silks, jewels, embroidery, and variegated 
 colours ; and with their handsome attire, and 
 smiling intelligent faces, as they sport about, 
 or are driven along in the parental carriage, 
 prettier or more interesting little creatures 
 can nowhere be found." Another writer says, 
 " Though Parsees take particular pride in 
 extravagantly adorning their children, the 
 most fastidious European eye would not take 
 offence at their costume, unless it be an 
 apprehension of dread for the cupidity which 
 would desire the costly ornaments that are 
 shown to such advantage." 
 
THE SUDRA AND KUSTI. 67 
 
 The investiture of the child with the sudra 
 and kustl^ or its baptism, if we may be allowed 
 the expression, into the Zoroastrian religion, 
 takes place, according to religious injunctions, 
 after it has attained the age of six years 
 and three months. The "jubhla" is then 
 thrown off, and the sudra and kusti are put 
 on, which is not done without an appropriate 
 ceremony. After washing and undergoing 
 certain ceremonies, the child is seated before 
 the dasto jiz^ov high priest, and those who are 
 invited to witness the ceremony. The dastoor 
 then pronounces a benediction, and with due 
 forms the emblems of Zoroastrianism are 
 put on. 
 
 The sudra is made of linen or linen gauze, 
 or net, while the kusti is a thin woollen cord, 
 or cincture of seventy-two threads.* The 
 former is called, in the language of the Avasta, 
 Suttehur Pesung/iem, which means " The 
 garment of the good and beneficial way." The 
 kusti is passed round the waist three times, 
 and tied with four knots, during the chanting 
 of a sort of hymn. At the first knot the 
 person says " There is only one God, and no 
 other is to be compared with him;" at the 
 
 * These threads represent the seventy-two Has or chapters 
 of the Sacred Book of the Parsees, called Izashne. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 second, " The religion given by Zurtosht is 
 true;" at the third, "Zurtosht is the true 
 Prophet, and he derived his mission from 
 God ;" at the fourth and last, " Perform good 
 actions, and abstain from evil ones." 
 
 The house costume of a Parsee consists of 
 a long muslin shirt {sudra) and girdle, with a 
 vi^aistcoat of vy^hite cloth or chintz, loose 
 trousers of cotton, slippers, and a skull-cap 
 of China silks. When going abroad he puts 
 on an angrakha^ or loose ungirdled tunic, 
 which is thrown over the muslin shirt, and 
 the sleeves of which are twice the length of 
 the arm, and are folded up in wrinkles above 
 the wrist. The turban, which is generally 
 of a dark chocolate colour, of a fanciful 
 pattern, forms the out-door covering for the 
 head, and is worn over the skull-cap. 
 
 The rich wear silk trousers, stockings, and 
 English shoes. The full-dress of a Parsee 
 consists, in addition to the above, of ajama of 
 white linen and s. pichoree. The sleeves and 
 upper portion of the former are of the same 
 fashion as the angrakha, but the skirt is full, 
 and resembles that of an English lady's gown. 
 The pichoree is a long cloth about a yard wide, 
 and many yards in length, and is passed round 
 the waist in successive folds. This dress is 
 
PARSEE WOMEN. 69 
 
 only used at funeral and wedding parties ; but 
 the Parsees have thought it becoming to 
 assume it when invited to an English ball, or 
 to Government-house. 
 
 The dress of the Kudmi sect of the Parsees 
 does not differ from that of the Kushmis. A 
 few priests of the former wear a peculiar 
 dress of their own, in imitation of that used 
 by their late high priest, MuUa Firoz, which, 
 in a great measure, resembles the dress of an 
 Armenian or a Turk. The Parsee priests 
 generally adopt the same dress as laymen, 
 with the exception of the turban, which is of 
 folded white cloth. 
 
 The Parsee women are generally graceful 
 and well formed ; fair in complexion, and of 
 a pleasing countenance. They are robbed of 
 a part of their beauty by the custom of con- 
 cealing their hair under a thin cloth of white 
 linen, called mathabana^ or the head-binder. 
 The hair is gathered into a knot at the back 
 of the head, and tied with the ends of the 
 mathahana. Like the men, they put on the 
 shirt and the kusti, and wear silk trousers. 
 Their sarees, or outer dress, are several yards 
 in length, and are generally of bright coloured 
 silks or satins, sometimes embroidered with 
 fanciful design, or fringed with deep gold lace, 
 
70 THE PARSEES. 
 
 for great occasions. This dress is first folded, 
 round the waist, covering the lower limbs, and 
 the remainder is gracefully thrown over the 
 head, from which it falls upon the right arm. 
 Under the saree they wear a silk vest, with 
 short sleeves, called the Icanchri or cholL A 
 Parsee woman, whether rich or poor, has 
 ornaments to adorn her person. The rich 
 possess jewels in the shape of the necklace, 
 the nose-ring, composed of three large pearls, 
 with an emerald pendant, and bangles of 
 pearls, gold and brilliants for the wrist and 
 ankle. They sometimes may be seen in 
 slippers worked in pearls. 
 
 The dress of the modern Parsees of India 
 differs from that worn by their ancestors in 
 Persia, and by their present co-religionists in 
 that country. They have adopted the present 
 costume in accordance with their agreement 
 with the Hindoo princes who received them 
 in India, and to this is attributable the great 
 resemblance of the angrakha and turban of 
 the men, and the saree of the women, to the 
 dress of the Hindoos of Guzerat. 
 
 The Parsee mode of life may be described 
 as half-European and half-Hindoo. Every 
 year advancing in civilization and enlighten- 
 ment, they copy more closely English manners 
 
DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS. /I 
 
 and modes of living'. The Greek historians 
 remarked, that of all nations, (the ancient 
 Persians were generally distinguished by their 
 readiness in imitating foreign manners and 
 customs, this peculiarity their descendants 
 retain to the present day. ) During their 
 sojourn in Guzerat, they adopted the language, 
 dress, and other social customs of that countr}% 
 and they are now being drawn into European 
 manners and customs. The educated and 
 influential classes have already adopted in 
 their domestic life the comforts, conveniences, 
 and elegancies, and we may add, the costliness, 
 of the European style. 
 
 The domestic arrangements of their resi- 
 dences have also of late undergone a vast 
 change. Their houses are generally built in 
 good taste, upon well-conceived plans, and are 
 admirably ventilated ; their villas or garden- 
 houses are the best in Bombay. The reception- 
 rooms are richly furnished and decorated, and 
 the walls adorned with landscape and historical 
 pictures, while the glory of a* Parsee house is 
 to be one blaze of light from lamps and 
 chandeliers. 
 
 A great improvement is now observable 
 among the Parsees in their manner of eating. 
 Formerly they sat on the ground at meals like 
 
n 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the Hindoos, and took their food out of one 
 brazen dish, on which the viands were spread 
 in confusion. Now the table and chair, with 
 all the accompaniments of a European dinner, 
 are put in requisition. When large parties 
 are given, the table is spread exactly in 
 the English mode, instead of as formerly, 
 when hundreds would be grouped upon the 
 floor, each eating his dinner from a plantain 
 leaf! 
 
 The Parsees, properly speaking, eat three 
 times a day. In the morning, soon after their 
 ablutions, they sit down to breakfast,* which 
 consists of tea, bread and butter, and eggs. 
 Between twelve and one dinner or tiffin is 
 served, at which rice and curry, with mutton, 
 vegetables, and fish, are the principal dishes. 
 The poorer classes are, however, content with 
 simple rice and curry. Between four and five 
 in the afternoon tea is again prepared, and the 
 time for supper is between eight and ten. 
 This is the most substantial meal of the day, 
 and wines are then consumed in large quan- 
 tities by those who can afiTord them ; but it is a 
 fact creditable to the sobriety of the Parsees 
 
 * The Parsee is enjoined before each meal to acknowledge 
 "with grateful thanks, the kindness of Providence in providing 
 him -with his daily bread. 
 
EATING. 73 
 
 generally, that they drink no intoxicating 
 liquors during the day. 
 
 The males take their meals apart from the 
 females. The male members of the family 
 either sup together or separately, and the 
 female members do the same. This custom 
 is certainly derived from the Hindoos, as the 
 ancient Persians observed no such distinction. 
 History fully proves that the ancestors of the 
 Parsees not onlv dined with their mothers, 
 wives, and sisters, but took their ladies out 
 with them to feasts. At a dinner, said to 
 have been given by Amintus, king of Mace- 
 don, to the Persian ambassador, at his court, 
 the latter, in acknowledgment of some toast, 
 is said to have expressed his grief that no ladies 
 were present, as was the custom in his own 
 country, for without their fair companions the 
 happiness of the company could not be said to 
 be complete. Many educated Parsees, how- 
 ever, have commenced the practice of taking 
 their meals with their fair partners, an intro- 
 ductory step certainly in the right direction. 
 
 The Parsee women occupy a much more 
 honourable position than either their Hindoo 
 or Mahomedan sisters. The Parsees in gene- 
 ral are good and affectionate husbands, and 
 discharge faithfully their duties towards their 
 
/4 THE PARSEES. 
 
 wives, while the latter are not unconscious of 
 theirs towards their lords, and hence most 
 families lead a peaceable and very happy life. 
 In a great number of cases the husbands are 
 much influenced by their wives, and consider- 
 ing the present state of education among the 
 latter, it is remarkable that such exceptions 
 ever should exist. Though the Parsee ladies 
 are not seen in society, it is not to be 
 supposed that their life at home is spent in 
 entire seclusion or in female company only, 
 as is the case among the Hindoos and 
 Mahomedans. At home they mix freely in 
 the family,* join in the conversation and 
 take part in other affairs without reserve, 
 while during the day they are engaged 
 in visiting and gossiping among themselves. 
 They also find employment in making dresses 
 for their children, in which they take much 
 interest, also in working in embroidery 
 and Berlin wool, an occupation introduced 
 among them of late years only, but in which 
 they have made considerable progress. The 
 
 * The members of a Parsee family often number by scores. 
 The sons do not after their marriage live separately from their 
 parents, and oftentimes in the same houses are to be seen the 
 great grandfather and the great grandchildren. Sir Jamsetjee's 
 family, including the aged and little ones, numbers about one 
 hundred. 
 
AMUSEMENTS. 7''> 
 
 halls of the wealthy contain many exquisite 
 specimens of this art, which constantly attract 
 the admiration of European visitors. The 
 females of the poorer classes are mostly en- 
 gaged in the kitchen, attending to domestic 
 matters, or in fetching water from the wells, 
 which are generally situated at some distance 
 from the house. 
 
 As a race the Parsees are highly social, 
 and they embrace every opportunity of visit- 
 ing or entertaining their friends and relations. 
 A religious festival or holiday, a birthday or 
 a marriage, are the great occasions for their 
 social enjoyments. As an indication of the 
 increasing intellectual taste of the Parsees, it 
 may be noted that of late English music forms 
 one of the amusements of their evening parties 
 instead of the ugly and absurd nautches of 
 native dancing girls, accompanied by musi- 
 cians (save the mark !) who are no great 
 masters of their profession, but who grin, nod, 
 and stamp, and make horrible faces in their 
 excitement, with a view to deceive the audience 
 into the belief that they are absorbed in the 
 spirit of their art ! 
 
 /The marriage festivities of the Parsees are 
 very noteworthy. The marriages of children 
 engage the earliest attention of the parents. 
 
 j^^-- 
 
 -T^^ 
 
76 THE PARSEES. 
 
 An Englishman's first care is the education of 
 his children a Parsee's their marriage. Some 
 improvement has doubtless taken place in the 
 matter of late, and a wiser practice may possi- 
 bly soon supervene upon the old. The absurd 
 custom of early marriage is to be traced t6 
 the sojourn of the Parsees in India. 
 
 According to the law of Zoroaster, a boy or 
 girl ought not to be married before the age of 
 fifteen, and this rule must have been observed 
 by the ancient Persians ; but among a number 
 of customs which the Parsees in India adopted 
 from the Hindoos, this one of early marriages 
 may safely be included. Hindoos are most 
 strictly enjoined by their shasters to have their 
 girls married before they have attained the 
 age of nine years, in failure whereof, great 
 shame is attached to their parents. This idea 
 of shame has been, to some extent, participated 
 in by the Parsees, and hence the early mar- 
 riage of their daughters. There are, besides 
 this, other causes which have greatly contri- 
 buted to the anxiety which exists among them 
 as to the marriage of their children. As 
 weddings are legitimate occasions for rejoicings 
 and festivities, most of the wealthy are glad of 
 the opportunities they afibrd for the display of 
 their wealth in giving dinners and nautch 
 
EARLY MARRIAGES. 77 
 
 parties on an extensive scale to their relatives, 
 neighbours, friends, and acquaintances. On 
 the other hand the women, who on these 
 occasions invite their friends, have the grati- 
 fication of displaying their jewellery and rich 
 dresses, and so urge on the men in bringing 
 about an early consummation of their wishes. 
 
 Under these circumstances, there is little 
 chance that a Parsee gentleman should enter 
 the family of his proposed partner in order to 
 win her affections, or that he should obtain a 
 wife of his own personal choice. To those un- 
 acquainted with Parsee manners and customs it 
 will perhaps be startling to learn that instances 
 are not wanting of the betrothal of a boy of 
 three years of age to a girl of two. It may 
 seem very ridiculous, but it is nevertheless a 
 fact, that not later than fifteen or twenty 
 years ago it was the custom in Bombay, and 
 in some of the cities of Guzerat, to arrange or 
 negociate for the marriage of children which 
 had not even seen the light of this world; 
 that is to say, if the respective wives of two 
 friends became enceinte^ they came to an 
 understanding that if one bore a son and the 
 other a daughter, the infants should be united 
 in marriage. 
 
 This foolish system is, we believe, no longer 
 
78 THE PARSEES. 
 
 practised in Bombay ; but instances of the 
 kind still occur among the Parsees in some of 
 the villages in Guzerat, where the march of 
 enlightenment is not so rapid as it is in Bom- 
 bay. A great change has taken place within 
 the last fifteen or twenty years in Bombay, 
 and though the majority of marriages are still 
 celebrated while the children are very young, 
 instances frequently occur of marriages of 
 gTown up boys and girls. The feeling of 
 shame, which, in common with the Hindoos, 
 was for a long time shared by the Parsees, 
 has to a great degree disappeared, and it 
 may, with some degree of confidence, be as- 
 serted that ten or twenty years hence, early 
 marriao^es amono^ the Parsees will be a thino^ 
 of the past. 
 
 As this subject is likely to be interesting 
 to the European reader, the writer feels that 
 no apology is necessary for his entering 
 minutely into the details of the marriage 
 ceremony among the Parsees. Some of the 
 priests, who have extensive acquaintance with 
 influential families, follow the profession of 
 match-makers. Having made due inquiries 
 about the rank and position of the families 
 possessing daughters to dispose of, they go 
 amongst the families with sons who are can- 
 
MATCH MAKING. 79 
 
 (lidates for the estate of matrimony, and en- 
 deavour to mate the two. The parents or 
 guardians of the boy institute inquiries whether 
 the parents of the girl pointed out to them 
 are respectable persons.* On being satisfied 
 that they are so, the match-maker's recom- 
 mendation is favourably received, and direct 
 negociation is opened with the parents of the 
 girl by requesting them to furnish for a day 
 or two the horoscope or birth-paper of the 
 maiden, that the astrologer may be consulted 
 as to the eligibility or otherwise of the match. 
 The horoscope of the boy, as well as that 
 of the girl, is then handed over to the pro- 
 fessor of astrology, in order that he may ex- 
 amine whether the "stars" of the proposed 
 pair are favourable to the union, and whether 
 it is likely to prosper. On the answer of this 
 sage much depends. If he does not approve 
 the match, but augurs that ill will arise from 
 it, negociations are at once broken off; but if 
 he shows no such apprehension, and prognosti- 
 cates happiness for the pair, the proposal has 
 advanced one important stage towards its 
 accomplishment. The stars once declared 
 
 * In some cases the parents of the boy or girl commission 
 some of the match-making priests to find out a proper match 
 for their children. 
 
80 THE PARSEES. 
 
 favourable to the union, the parents of the 
 boy and girl cause further inquiries to be 
 made into each other's means, respectability, 
 position, and connections in the community. 
 The parents of the girl inquire particu- 
 larly as to the amicability or otherwise of the 
 mother of the future son-in-law, as, in a 
 Par see family, the happiness of the wedded 
 girl depends greatly upon the behaviour of 
 the mother-in-law towards her, the husband 
 being, like herself, a minor. 
 
 When the heads of both families are satis- 
 fied as to the fitness of the match, the betrothal 
 of the young people takes place, a propitious 
 day for the celebration of which is named by 
 the astrologer. There is no tedious ceremony 
 attending the betrothal. The parents of the 
 boy send a present of a dress for the girl, and 
 those of the girl one for the boy. This ex- 
 change of presents makes the marriage con- 
 tract " pucka " complete, and it cannot now 
 be dissolved. There is no fixed period at 
 which the marriage ceremony should neces- 
 sarily be performed. It rests with the con- 
 venience of the parties, but the latest time 
 at which the final ceremony is performed is 
 a little before or immediately after the girl 
 has arrived at the age of puberty. But 
 
WEDDING PRESENTS. 81 
 
 instances are not wanting, as we have above 
 stated, of both the betrothal and the marriage 
 ceremony taking place while the bride and 
 bridegroom are little more than infants. 
 
 The day for the celebration of the marriage 
 is named of course by the astrologer. Certain 
 days in the year are supposed to be propitious 
 for the ceremony, and that is the reason why 
 a foreigner during his stay in India is struck 
 by the number of marriages taking place on 
 the same day. During several days before 
 the marriage, if the parties are rich, continual 
 dinners and nautches are given to friends, 
 both males and females, and many thousands 
 of rupees are thus spent. It is also customary 
 on such occasions for the parents and kins- 
 men of the bride and bridegroom to exchange 
 presents of ornaments and rich dresses. To 
 the bride ornaments of great value are pre- 
 sented by her father-in-law. The above prac- 
 tices, though little objectionable among those 
 who can afford it, are extremely injurious to 
 the poorer classes, who ruin themselves for 
 the sake of imitating their richer neighbours. 
 When their own means will not bear the 
 expense which they are about to incur, the 
 money lender is resorted to, and a loan secured 
 on payment of so heavy a premium, that the 
 
 G 
 
82 THE PARSEES. 
 
 man is frequently embarrassed during his 
 whole life. 
 
 On the wedding-day large parties* are invited 
 to their respective houses by the parents of 
 the bride and bridegroom to witness the 
 nuptial ceremony, which takes place in the 
 evening after the custom of the Hindoos, and 
 the promise given to the Eaja of Sunjan by 
 the ancestors of the present Farsees on their 
 landing at that place. The gentlemen are 
 accommodated with chairs and benches in the 
 verandah and the two sides of the road facing 
 the house where the ceremony is to be per- 
 formed, while the apartments are gallantly 
 left to the ladies. On this occasion the former 
 dress in Jamas and Pichoree, the full costume 
 of the Parsees, while the latter array them- 
 selves in dresses of the most rich and variegated 
 colours, ornamented with gold and jewellery. 
 
 About sunset the whole of the bridegroom's 
 party, both males and females, repair in pro- 
 cession to the house of the bride. The pro- 
 cession is headed by a European or native 
 band of music, according to the means of the 
 parties ; the bridegroom, accompanied by the 
 
 * The wedding party in a highly respectable or wealthy 
 family consists of from 500 to 1,000 persons, including males 
 and females. 
 
NUPTIAL BENEDICTION. 83 
 
 dustoors, then follow, after whom walk the 
 male portion of the assembly, the female com- 
 pany bringing up the rear of the procession. 
 When the whole of this party is accommo- 
 dated at the bride's quarters, the nuptial 
 ceremony is commenced soon after sunset. It 
 generally takes place in a hall or spacious 
 room on the ground-floor of the house, where 
 a galicha or carpet is spread. The bride and 
 bridegroom are seated close to each other 
 on ornamented chairs, and facing them stand 
 the dustoors or priests, who repeat the nuptial 
 benediction first in the Zend and then in the 
 Sanscrit,* of which the following is a short 
 abstract, " Know ye, that both of you have 
 liked each other, and are therefore thus 
 united. Look not with impious eye on other 
 people, but always make it your study to love, 
 honour, and cherish each other as long as 
 both of you remain in this world. May 
 quarrels never arise between you, and may 
 your fondness for each other increase day by 
 day. May you both learn to adhere to truth, 
 and be always pure in your thoughts as well 
 as actions, and always try to please the 
 Almighty, who is the lover of Truth and 
 
 * The repetition of the benediction in Sanscrit, is in accord- 
 ance with the promise given to the Hindoo Rajah, vide page 14. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 THE PARSEES. 
 
 Righteousness. Shun evil company, abstain 
 from avarice, envy, and pride, for that is the 
 road to destruction. Think not of other 
 men's property, but try industriously, and 
 without any dishonest means, to improve your 
 own. Cultivate friendship between yourselves, 
 and with your neighbours, and among those 
 who are known to be good people. Hold out 
 a helping hand to the needy and poor. Always 
 respect your parents, as that is one of the 
 first duties enjoined upon you. May success 
 crown all your efforts. May you be blessed 
 with children and grandchildren. May you 
 always try to exalt the glory of the religion 
 of Zoroaster, and may the blessings of the 
 Almighty descend upon you." 
 
 The concluding ceremony of washing the 
 toes of the bridegroom's feet with milk, and 
 rubbing his face with his bride's choice,* 
 as well as other trivialities need not be men- 
 tioned here, as they are not enjoined by the 
 Parsee religion, but are mere *^ grafts of 
 Hindooism." When the above ceremonies 
 are nearly concluded, bouquets of roses, or 
 other beautiful and fragrant flowers, and 
 little triangular packets of pan soparee,f 
 
 * Silk vest worn as a waist-coat, 
 j- A kind of leaf and Betel- nut. 
 
WEDDING SUPPERS. 85 
 
 profusely gilded, are distributed to each mem- 
 ber of the company. Rose-water from a golden 
 or silver goolabdanee, is also showered upon 
 the persons of the guests. The signal is then 
 given for the bridegroom and his party to 
 retire to their quarters. 
 
 When the marriage ceremony is thus con- 
 cluded, the parties invited sit down to a 
 banquet. The ladies are first served, and 
 when they have quitted the table, it is 
 relaid for the gentlemen. The Parsees, 
 from their earliest sojourn in India, use only 
 vegetable food on the day of marriage to 
 avoid giving offence to, and out of respect 
 for, the Hindoos, as otherwise a number of 
 animals would require to be killed for a large 
 festive party. The viands, therefore, consist of 
 fish, vegetables, sweetmeats, fruits, preserves, 
 &c. European and native wines are drank 
 very freely, and many toasts proposed to the 
 company. The health of the wedded pair, 
 of their parents, and of the chief men of the 
 assembly, is formally proposed and drunk. 
 But we should be doing great injustice to our 
 countrymen if we omitted to mention that 
 no party ever leaves the table without drink- 
 ing the health of Her Most Gracious Majesty 
 of England, Queen Victoria, and the Eoyal 
 
86 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 family. These toasts are always received with 
 enthusiasm and deafening cheers. 
 
 After dinner the ladies retire to their own 
 houses, but the gentlemen sit till a late hour 
 enjoying the pleasures of the nautch that 
 follows. A repetition of the nuptial bene- 
 diction is also performed by the priests after 
 midnight, but before a few select friends 
 only. 
 
 Such are the ceremonies attendant upon 
 a Parsee marriage at the present day, but 
 it may be as well to notice that increased 
 intercourse with Europeans has considerably 
 modified the nature of the festival from what 
 it once was. It has lost in a great measure 
 those purely Eastern features which formerly 
 characterized it ; and, although it may conse- 
 quently be less splendid and showy, it is more 
 in consonance with that enlightenment which 
 Parsees have displayed under Western influ- 
 ence. The long processions, made noisy by 
 horrible ear-splitting native music, the fanci- 
 fully caparisoned steeds, the boys habited as 
 European officers, and the little girls as 
 English ladies, together with the silver- 
 plated palankeens, and all the semi-barbarous 
 ornaments, have latterly almost entirely dis- 
 appeared before the effects of increased civi- 
 
FAMILY PARTIES. 8/ 
 
 lization, which, while giving a more sombre 
 tone to the marriage ceremonials, has imbued 
 them with an infinitely more rational air. 
 
 As the married couple are invariably young, 
 separate accommodation is seldom allotted 
 them after their wedding, nor even after they 
 have attained adult age. They live in the\ 
 same house with the other members of their ' 
 parents' family. Though a person has six or 
 seven sons, they all reside with their wives and 
 children in the mansion of the sire, and the 
 grey-headed father can often look with pride 
 and pleasure upon the group of children and 
 grandchildren around him. Europeans in 
 Bombay have often witnessed Sir Jamsetjee 
 Jeejeebhoy driving in his spacious open carriage 
 along the public roads in the evening, with 
 half a dozen little ones beside him, and many 
 following him in other carriages. There are, 
 of course, numerous instances where the sons 
 have left their fathers' houses and taken sepa- 
 rate quarters for themselves and their wives, 
 and of brothers who, after the death of their 
 parents, have separated from each other. 
 This, however, is not done from any ideas 
 similar to those which prompt Europeans 
 to live separately from their parents after 
 their marriage. Domestic quarrels among 
 
88 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the wives of brothers, or with the mother-in- 
 law are generally the causes of the removal. 
 
 It is matter of just pride that we find the 
 Parsees have not imitated the barbarous and 
 tyrannical custom of prohibiting widows from 
 remarrying, which is fraught with so much 
 sin and mischief among the Hindoos. The 
 Parsees allow their widows to remarry, and 
 where any are so unfortunate as to lose several 
 husbands, they can enter again into the matri- 
 monial state as often as they desire. Parsee 
 widows, if they marry again, generally do so 
 before they have attained the age of forty ; and 
 if one is blessed with children, and is left with 
 sufficient money by her husband to provide 
 for her own and their maintenance, she gene- 
 rally prefers living in celibacy to giving her 
 hand to another. 
 
 Bigamy among the Parsees is prohibited 
 except under peculiar circumstances, such as 
 the barrenness of the living wife, or her 
 immoral conduct. The law against bigamy 
 was ever strictly adhered to by the ancient 
 followers of Zurtosht, and by their descendants 
 in India. The Parsee punchayet, who ad- 
 judged social and religious disputes among 
 the Parsees, had ever been jealous that this 
 law should not be infringed; and whenever 
 
BIGAMY. 89 
 
 special cases occurred, and parties sought 
 permission to take an additional wife, they 
 reserved the right of deciding as to the vali- 
 dity or otherwise of the grounds on which 
 the application was preferred, and sanctioned 
 or rejected it accordingly. 
 
 This practice lasted for centuries after the 
 Parsees had arrived in India, hut about the 
 end of the 12th century of the era of Yezde- 
 zird, or the beginning of the nineteenth of 
 the Christian era, it was found that the 
 Parsees were gradually infringing the law, and 
 that many an innocent and unoffending wife 
 was forsaken by a vicious husband on trivial 
 grounds, and a new wife taken with impunity. 
 The evil engaged the attention of the pun- 
 chcayet, and they resolved, by every means 
 in their power, to arrest its progress among 
 their countrymen. A public meeting of the 
 Parsee inhabitants of Bombay was convened, 
 by order of the punchayet, in the Dadyshett 
 Fire Temple, where, among other matters 
 relating to the body, certain rules strictly 
 prohibiting bigamy were adopted with the 
 unanimous consent of the assembly. As these 
 rules are not only interesting in themselves, 
 but afford an insight into the special cases 
 under which a person is allowed to take a 
 
90 THE PARSEES. 
 
 second wife while the first one is living, we 
 give herewith a literal translation of them : 
 
 "Further, we, the whole punchayet now 
 assembled, have this day resolved that from 
 and after this day no person who has a wife 
 living shall marry another ; and if any person 
 feel compelled to marry another wife, he shall 
 put his case in writing, and represent the 
 same to the above members of the punchayet; 
 after which the said members will fix a 
 certain time as they shall think proper for the 
 investigation of the case . and the hearing of 
 the petition of the complainant, which shall 
 be admitted by the complainant and by all 
 the people ; and those who will not admit such 
 decision shall be punished as mentioned below 
 by the punchayet, as to them shall appear fit. 
 
 "Further, a person requiring divorce with 
 his first wife, and then permission to marry a 
 second, shall represent his case to the pun- 
 chayet as above stated; and the punchayet 
 shall meet and inquire into the merits of the 
 case thus brought to their notice ; and in case 
 the bad conduct of the first wife be proved 
 acccording to the usages of our religion, the 
 punchayet shall take securities from him for 
 her alimony (food, clothing, and lodging,) and 
 her jewels, and for funeral expenses on her 
 
RULES REGULATING BIGAMY. Ql 
 
 death, as the punchayet shall deem proper, 
 and then they shall give him permission to 
 take another wife. 
 
 ** Further, any person having a trifling dis- 
 pute with his wife shall not be allow^ed to 
 marry another. In case he shall marry with- 
 out the permission of the punchayet obtained, 
 as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, he 
 shall be put out of our community. 
 
 Further, any person going out of Bombay 
 to take unto himself a wife at Tanna, Car- 
 ranjah, or at any town or village, while his 
 first wife is alive, shall be turned out of caste 
 by the punchayet on his return to Bombay. 
 
 "Further, whoever shall marry a second 
 wife, by permission of the punchayet, the 
 marriage ceremony of such person, if he be 
 a Shensho?/, shall be performed by Dustoor 
 Cursetjee Jamsetjee himself, or with his order 
 by priests under him ; and if he be a Kudmee, 
 by MuUa Firoz, or under his order by priests 
 under him. If any other priests shall perform 
 the ceremony, the punchayet will not acknow- 
 ledge it, and shall not allow the offending 
 party to enter any Fire Temple ; nor shall any 
 person give to priests officiating as above, 
 without permission, donations in funeral and 
 other ceremonies. Any one not acting accord- 
 
92 THE PARSEES. 
 
 ing to what is above stated, shall be further 
 punished as the punchayet shall think proper. 
 
 " Further, any person attending the nuptials 
 of any individual who shall marry a second 
 wife without permission from the punchayet, 
 shall also be punished by the punchayet as 
 they think proper. 
 
 "Further, any person having no children, 
 and his wife not passed the age of delivery, 
 shall not marry a second wife, even though he 
 should promise to satisfy his first wife, and 
 obtain her consent to do so. On the other 
 hand, he shall not allow his wife to take unto 
 herself another man for her husband ; and the 
 punchayet shall not acknowledge any writing 
 or agreement for the mutual discharge of 
 marriage vows, and shall not allow him to 
 take unto himself another wife, nor the woman 
 to take unto herself another husband ; and 
 all who do so without the permission of the 
 punchayet shall be turned out of caste, or 
 shall receive such other punishment as the 
 punchayet shall deem proper. 
 
 " Further, any person obtaining permission 
 from the punchayet to take a second wife (his 
 first wife being alive) shall be subject to the 
 payment of such a sum of money for charity, as 
 the punchayet shall deem him able to afford ; 
 
JUST PUNISHMENT. 93 
 
 and after the payment of such sum, the 
 punchayet may give him permission to marry 
 a second wife." 
 
 These rules were passed in March, 1818, 
 and in the June following, one Jemshedjee in- 
 fringed their conditions by marrying a second 
 wife while his first one was living, and the 
 resolution and justice with which the punchayet 
 of those days punished the offender deserved 
 much praise. Though Jemshedjee was a 
 wealthy person, and connected by relationship 
 with a member of the punchayet, he was not 
 let off easily. He and his father were imme- 
 diately excommunicated, and only after much 
 solicitation were they re-admitted into the 
 community, and then only on the payment of 
 the proper fine, and undergoing the prescribed 
 ceremonies of purification.* The offender was 
 also compelled to give 2,000 rupees towards 
 the maintenance of his first wife, and to 
 deliver to her all her jewels and ornaments. 
 The severity with which Jemshedjee was 
 punished, deterred others for some time from 
 following his example. 
 
 We have now to describe the ceremonies 
 
 * He was also compelled, before an assembly of the Parsee 
 community, to beat his own face with his own shoe, for using 
 insulting words to the punchayet. 
 
94 THE PARSEES. 
 
 attending the death of a Parsee. When the 
 medical attendant states that the case is hope- 
 less, the body of the dying man is washed 
 and arrayed in clean clothes. The dustoor^ 
 or mohedy with other priests, repeat sundry 
 texts of the Zend Avasta, the substance of 
 which tends to afford consolation to the 
 dying man, and breathes a prayer on his 
 behalf for the forgiveness of his sins. " May 
 the Almighty pardon you for anything that 
 you may have done against His will, His 
 commandments, and the dictates of the true 
 religion of Zoroaster. May the merciful Lord 
 give you a good and happy abode in the world 
 to which you are about to enter, and may he 
 have mercy on you." 
 
 If the dying man be in possession of his 
 senses, he himself joins in these exercises ; if 
 not, his son, or nearest relative, or the family 
 priest, bends over him, repeating the words 
 in his ears. When life becomes extinct, the 
 body is wrapped in clean clothes, and placed 
 on an oblong piece of polished stone, which is 
 laid on the floor. The female members and 
 relations of the family then sit down together 
 on a carpet spread in the same room in which 
 the body is placed, the men sitting on benches 
 in the verandah of the house. If death takes 
 
FUNERAL OBSEQUIES. 95 
 
 place at night, the body is kept in the house 
 till the next morning ; but if it happens during 
 the day (four or five hours before sunset), it 
 is removed to its last resting place in the 
 evenino^. 
 
 NWhen the time for the removal of the 
 body approaches, it is placed upon an iron 
 bier, which is brought in by the nassesalars, 
 or corpse bearers. This being done, two 
 priests stand facing the corpse, and recite a 
 certain part of the Izeshne^ a sort of funeral 
 sermon,* containing many solemn and in- 
 structive lessons. That human beings are 
 mortal, and must some day or other be 
 called upon to quit this world and enter into 
 the presence of God to give a full account of 
 their doings here, is fully explained. The 
 punishment awaiting the sinner, and the 
 reward in store for those who practice virtue 
 in thought, word, and deed, are fully dilated 
 on. That as riches, wealth, influence, and 
 friends, will have no avail in the next world, 
 the assembly is directed to be heedful how 
 they spend their life in this. That as we do 
 not know at what moment we may be called 
 to give our last account, the duty of being 
 
 * The effect of this semion is lost upon the audience who do 
 not understand the language in which it is delivered. 
 
96 THE PARSEES. 
 
 prepared for death, and of meeting it with 
 resignation and willingness, is fully impressed. 
 That those who desire to reach the eternal 
 paradise in the other world must spend their 
 days in this in holiness and prayers, and in 
 doing good to their fellow creatures. The 
 assembly is forcibly reminded of the day of 
 judgment, when every soul will have to give 
 account. The sermon lasts in this train for 
 about an hour, and is concluded with the 
 words, " May God have mercy on the dead." 
 
 The dead body is then taken out of the 
 house to be carried to the Dokhma^ or Tower 
 of Silence, which is erected in a solitary place, 
 and generally upon a mountain.* The rela- 
 tives of the departed break into cries and 
 lamentations. The male relatives and friends 
 of the deceased follow the dead body in the 
 funeral procession. Arrived at its resting- 
 place, the iron bier is placed upon the ground, 
 and the face of the dead uncovered for a few 
 minutes, that a last look may be directed upon 
 it, and the whole assembly bow to it.f After 
 a few minutes it is carried by the bearers into 
 
 * In Bombay the Dokhraas are built on the most secluded 
 and highest part of the Malabar Hill. 
 
 j- It is customary among the Parsees, whenever they meet 
 a dead body of their tribe on the road to bow to it, and to 
 remember that the same fate will overtake them sooner or later. 
 
PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD. 97 
 
 the Dokhma^ Tower of Silence, and then ex- 
 posed to the fowls of the air, where it is soon 
 denuded of flesh, and the bones fall through 
 an iron grating into a, pit beneath, from which 
 they are afterwards removed into a subter- 
 ranean entrance made for the purpose. 
 
 When the corpse bearers return from the 
 Dokhma, the mobeds, relatives and friends 
 who may have attended the funeral, wash 
 their faces and hands, and jointly offer up 
 prayer to the Almighty to have mercy on the 
 spirit just departed. On the death of a per- 
 son, his friends, neighbours, and acquaintances 
 visit the relatives of the deceased every morn- 
 ing and evening for three days continuously, 
 to offer consolation to them. On the fourth 
 day a solemn feast takes place, and the rela- 
 tives go to the Fire Temple, and once more 
 offer prayers for the deceased. The women 
 remain in mourning three, ten, or thirty days, 
 as they may find convenient. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LAWS AND INTERNAL GOVERNMENT OF THE 
 PARSEES. 
 
 The punchayet Its origin Progress and decline A new 
 ^sociation established for obtaining civil laws for the 
 Parsees. 
 
 The affairs of the Parsee community, after 
 their expatriation from Persia, seem generally 
 to have heen managed by a punchayet or com- 
 mittee of five, selected from among their most 
 influential and their wisest men. We have no 
 record of the early history of this body, and 
 are in ignorance as to what laws it was guided 
 by, in its early existence, in the decision of 
 the religious, social, and other disputes arising 
 among the people. The authorities of the 
 place were never called upon to interfere in 
 the matter. 
 
 The punchayet was the court of justice, and 
 its decisions, being invariably given after great 
 care and deliberation, were never disputed by 
 the contending parties. Any one refusing to 
 
THE PUNCHAYET. 99 
 
 obey the decision of that tribunal was excom- 
 municated from the caste, and his co-reli- 
 gionists held no further intercourse with him. 
 He was not invited to their feasts, religious 
 ceremonies, funeral processions, or marriage 
 festivals. He could not attend the Fire Tem- 
 ples ; nor, if he died while in this state of dis- 
 grace, could he receive the rites of Parsee 
 burial. Priests were prohibited from perform- 
 ing any religious ceremonies in his family. In 
 fact all intercourse between the party excom- 
 municated and his countrymen was entirely 
 stopped. So great, therefore, was the penalty 
 of excommunication, that the Parsees seldom 
 failed to bow to the decision of their governing 
 body. 
 
 This state of affairs seems to have con- 
 tinued until about the middle of the eighteenth 
 century, when the punchayet of Bombay found 
 that they could no longer rule their country- 
 men so effectively as formerly. Under the 
 old system offenders were punished by being 
 beaten with the shoe ; but this mode of pun- 
 ishment it was found almost impossible to 
 enforce when the Parsees were under British 
 rule. The punchayet, therefore, about the year 
 1778 petitioned the then Governor, William 
 Hornby, requesting legal power to inflict this 
 
 H 2 
 
100 THE PARSEES. 
 
 punishment. The prayer was granted, and 
 the punchayet for the first time, we believe, 
 exercised this power under the sanction of 
 authority.* 
 
 About eight years subsequent to this, a 
 violent dispute arose among the andiaroos, 
 order of priests, and the behdins, or laity, 
 which again rendered Government inter- 
 ference necessary. It arose out of a regulation 
 or ordinance made by the punchayet of Bom- 
 bay, with the consent of their community, in 
 the year 1777? which prohibited the behdins 
 from giving their daughters in marriage to 
 the andiaroos. The punchayet took this step 
 in order to counteract an ordinance which the 
 priests had passed among themselves, to the 
 effect that the andiaroos should continue to 
 receive in marriage the daughters of the 
 behdins, but that they should not bestow 
 their own females upon them. The pun- 
 
 * " To the Parsees not of the Priest Caste 
 
 " You are hereby empowered to meet and inquire into all 
 matters that are committed by your caste contrary to what has 
 been agreed to by the majority of the caste, and to punish the 
 offender agreeable to the rules of your caste, so far as not per- 
 mitting them to come to your feasts, or beat them with shoes, 
 but no other corporeal punishment. 
 
 (Signed) " William Hornby." 
 
 " Bmibay, 5th Jvly, 1778." 
 
DISPUTES. 101 
 
 chayet, therefore, prohibited the gitviji^ : hX 
 daughters in marriage to the priests, ard thu^ 
 sought to deprive them of the unfair adVaiit age 
 they had gained for themselves. ' 
 
 The immediate cause of the quarrel owed 
 its origin to an aridiaroo contracting his son 
 in marriage to the daughter of a behdin, in 
 defiance of the regulations passed by the pun- 
 chayet. So great was the excitement, that 
 Government was compelled to take notice of 
 the event,* and a committee, composed of 
 three European gentlemen, w^as appointed to 
 investigate into the causes of the disputes, and 
 to report upon the best mode of bringing 
 about a satisfactory settlement. 
 
 After considerable inquiry the commis- 
 
 * The follo^^'iDg is a true copy of an extract from the minutes 
 of consultation, dated the 21st April 1786 : 
 
 "The President acquaints the Board that some religious 
 disputes at present subsist in the caste of Parsees, which he is 
 apprehensive, from the nature and temper of these people, may 
 be attended with disagreeable consequences unless properly 
 settled, and recommends that a committee be appointed to 
 inquire into the rise of these disputes, and to report upon the 
 best mode of finally settling the same. The president at the 
 same time lays before the Board several papers, which have 
 been delivered to him on the occasion by both parties. On 
 consideration of the above, the Board agree to appointment of 
 a committee as proposed by the President, and accordingly 
 Messrs John Forbes, Edward Revenscroft and James Stevens 
 senior, are appointed to form the same." 
 
102 THE PARSEES. 
 
 sioijiers gave it as their opinion that the hurt- 
 dohust, or .ordnance, made by the andiaroos^ 
 i*^as linfair, and fully warranted the hehdins in 
 withholding their daughters from them. That 
 the resolution passed by the former was cal- 
 culated to enrich and aggrandise their own 
 caste, and as the hehdins were excluded 
 from marrying the daughters of the priests, 
 their own women and property were carried 
 into the other caste without any reciprocal 
 advantages being gained by the laity. On 
 these grounds the commissioners observed 
 that the hehdins had every right to put a stop 
 to this unequal intercourse by the Eegulations 
 of 1777. 
 
 Before these commissioners the Parsees 
 asserted that the priests made their regula- 
 tion in their period of power at Surat, while 
 the latter contended that it was the original 
 law of their own religion, and not a modern 
 institution. On this head the commissioners 
 reported that there formerly did exist a mutual 
 intercourse of marriage between the two castes, 
 and the priests themselves were forced to 
 admit that there had been special cases of 
 such marriages. The Commissioners further 
 reported that the Eegulation of 1777, which 
 was the immediate cause of the dispute, was 
 
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 103 
 
 equitable in principle, and no blame whatever 
 could with justice be attached to the pun- 
 chayet, but the fault lay with the priesthood, 
 whose selfishness had necessitated the esta- 
 blishment of some such resolution. 
 
 In order to prevent the recurrence of such 
 disputes, and to preserve peace and good order 
 for the future, the commissioners recom- 
 mended that the punchayet should be formed 
 upon a more equitable basis, and that its 
 authority, which seemed to them to have been 
 rather assumed than conferred, should be 
 defined by, and derived immediately from. 
 Government. In order to effect this, they 
 recommended that some formal instrument 
 should be drawn up which would have the 
 effect of giving more weight and efficacy to 
 the decisions of the punchayet. They further 
 advised that the punchayet, so constituted, 
 should have powers given to it for settling 
 petty disputes and matters of religious forms 
 and ceremonies. But they likewise gave it as 
 their opinion that the power of punishing 
 by the shoe, which the punchayet exercised, 
 was objectionable, and recommended that it 
 should be withdrawn. 
 
 With the general tenor of this report the 
 Governor in Council concurred. It w^as 
 
104 THE PARSEES. 
 
 decided that the punchayet, or general as- 
 sembly of the Parsees, had a right to 
 make regulations for the general benefit and 
 good of the Parsee people, as is customary 
 with the tribes of every denomination living 
 under the protection of the British Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 In conformity with the recommendation 
 of the committee, the Governor in Council 
 directed the punchayet, to return the names 
 of twenty-four persons, from whom twelve 
 could be selected as a committee for the 
 management of the affairs of the Parsees 
 and the settlement of their private disputes. 
 It was hoped that a committee thus ap- 
 pointed would be the means of putting a 
 stop to further dissension in the body. 
 
 The names of twenty-four gentlemen having 
 been sent in, twelve* (six of whom were priests 
 and six laymen) were appointed by Govern- 
 ment, under date the 1st of January, 1787, 
 for the purposes above mentioned, and enjoined 
 to do " strict justice to all parties without 
 
 * The twelve appointed were, Jarasetjee Bhooga Mody, 
 Nanabhoy Byramjee, Manackjee N^ourojee Wadia, Dadabhoy 
 Xasserwanjee, Heerjee Jewanjee, Sorabjee Muncherjee, Sa- 
 poorjee Bomonjee, Dustoor Cowasjee Ilustomjee, Sorabjee 
 Nanabhoy Sett, Dorabjee Framjee, Cowasjee Bhicajee, Do- 
 tabjee Furdoonjee. 
 
GATHERING OF THE 4tH OF MARCH, 1818. 105 
 
 fear, favour, or affection to any one." The 
 decisions of a body thus expressly sanctioned 
 by Government had great influence and weight 
 with the majority of the Parsees, and its 
 decrees were respected and obeyed. 
 
 But this hopeful state of afikirs was not 
 of long duration ; before the end of the 
 eighteenth century the punchayet was again 
 powerless. Death had considerably thinned 
 the numbers of the committee originally 
 appointed by Government, and proper steps 
 had not been taken to fill the vacancies as 
 they arose. The sons of the old members 
 assumed a seat in the body, and, as is usual 
 in such cases, their authority was estimated 
 at its proper worth. 
 
 On the great Parsee gathering of the 4th 
 March, 1818, when certain rules were framed 
 against the practice of bigamy, the punchayet 
 candidly confessed its own weakness, and duly 
 proceeded to elect a fresh council, consisting 
 of eighteen* members, of whom twelve were 
 
 * The members of this second council were, Davar Framjee 
 Nanabhoy, Wadiajee Nourojee Jamshedjee, Sett Cursetjee, 
 Ardasurjee, Dhunjeebhoy Sorabjee Ready Money, Wadiajee 
 Hormisjee Bomonjee, Framjee Cowasjee Bunajee, Sorabjee 
 Vacha Ghandy, Burjorjee Dorabjee Dady Burjorna, Cursetjee 
 Manackjee Shroff, Dadabhoy Cowasjee Sayerna, Pestonjce 
 
106 THE PARSEES. 
 
 laymen and six priests. The punchayet, thus 
 resuscitated, was respected for a time, but 
 unfortunately it again fell into contempt. 
 
 In the year 1838, backed by almost all the 
 wealthy and respectable part of the com- 
 munity, the punchayet again made an effort 
 to derive formal power directly from the 
 Legislative Council of India. They also 
 sent to that Assembly, through the Bombay 
 Government, certain questions and answers 
 embracing the rights of inheritance among 
 their own people, with a request that, upon 
 the basis of those answers, a law regulating 
 the same might be framed. 
 
 In their petition to the Legislative Council, 
 the Parsees, with a view to obtain power for 
 the punchayet, thus expressed themselves : 
 " If, as we hope, your Lordship and the Legis- 
 lative Council of India may be graciously 
 pleased to pass a regulation in conformity with 
 our desires, the next point to be considered 
 is the enforcement of such regulation. The 
 punchayet, we regret to inform your Lordship, 
 is now almost powerless, either for good or 
 
 Beramjee Pandena, JS'ourojee Meherjee, Dustoor Cursetjee 
 Jamsetjee of Nowsaree, Moolla Ferooz ben Kavusjee, Mer- 
 wanjee Nourojee Sett, Sett Eustomjee Sapoori, Dorabjee 
 Framjee Punthekee, and Hormusjee Dorabjee Laskaree. 
 
PETITION TO go\t:rnment. 107 
 
 evil; and unless that body is made respected 
 by the act of Government, the most serious 
 consequences must ensue to the best interests 
 of our caste. So long as the caste continued 
 limited in number, and willing to obey the 
 decisions of the punchayet, the want of 
 recognised authority in that body did not 
 appear so forcibly as it now does to the 
 feelings and understandings of those interested 
 in the welfare and prosperity of the Parsee 
 nation. Of late, however, a new spirit has 
 sprung up, and each man claims a right of 
 acting as he may think fit, and very often in 
 defiance of the decisions of the punchayet, 
 and in wilful opposition both to the spirit and 
 letter of our laws and usages. To be useful 
 and of avail, both the law, and those who 
 administer it, must be respected ; and respect 
 in ignorant minds seldom exists without some 
 portion of fear. The lower orders of Parsees 
 see that the punchayet has no power to punish, 
 and, therefore, do not respect its authority or 
 its decisions ; and as it has hitherto been our 
 pride, and almost the wonder of surrounding 
 people, that so large a body as the Parsees 
 now comprise, should be self-governed, we are 
 led thus most urgently to pray that your Lord- 
 ship will invest the punchayet with an efficient 
 
lOS THE PARSEES. 
 
 authority to control the vicious and encourage 
 the virtuous." 
 
 Before the memorial was transmitted to the 
 Supreme Government, it was referred by the 
 local authorities to the Judges of the Supreme 
 Court of Judicature at Bombay, and the 
 opinion they expressed was unfavourable to 
 the creation of the authority solicited by the 
 punchayet. They wrote : 
 
 " We concur in their (petitioners') wishes 
 in regard to the punchayet so far as to think 
 it highly desirable that there should exist a 
 tribunal satisfactory to themselves, and autho- 
 rized to decide matrimonial and some other 
 questions where Parsees only were parties to 
 them. But we fear the difficulties are much 
 greater than they apprehend. If its authority 
 were compulsory, questions might arise as to 
 the legality and regularity of proceedings 
 before it ; besides that, no longer depending for 
 their force on general consent, its decisions 
 would be much less likely, in the absence of 
 any authentic standard of law, to give general 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " But we conceive the inevitable consequence 
 would be, that, unless they had a lawyer as an 
 assessor, which probably they would by no 
 means desire, the Parsee community would be 
 
LEGAL OPINIONS. 109 
 
 greatly harassed by collision between that 
 Court and the Supreme Court. If once its 
 jurisdiction were established, its exercise in 
 proper cases would be a matter of right which 
 must, if withheld, be enforced by a writ of 
 mandamus from the Queen's Court. If the 
 limits of its jurisdiction, which it would be 
 most difficult accurately to define, and the 
 definition of which would with great difficulty 
 be applied (particularly by persons of totally 
 different habits of thinking) to particular 
 cases as they occurred, were exceeded, writs 
 of prohibition would be the necessary con- 
 sequence. 
 
 " From the Reformation to the eighteenth 
 century, in the course of which period most 
 of the chief questions have been settled, 
 our books are full of collisions of this kind 
 between the spiritual and temporal courts in 
 England. But it is manifest that they would 
 be more frequent and more harassing here. 
 We are very sensible of the value of that 
 highly respectable body the Parsee punchayet, 
 but we fear that a total change of its 
 character from an assembly qualified to 
 administrate a liberal system of arbitration 
 to one cramped on every side in its operations 
 by the necessity of administering, with the 
 
110 THE PARSEES. 
 
 rigour of law, a system (if it amount to one) 
 only calculated to guide the discretion of 
 arbitrators, must be the result of giving it 
 coercive authority." 
 
 This opinion of her Majesty's Judges vv^as 
 fatal to the petition ; and from that time 
 until the present, all hope of obtaining a 
 Government sanction for the punchayet has 
 been abandoned. Thus disappointed, that 
 body tried to assume the power over the people 
 which was refused them by the authorities ; 
 and, as a matter of course, they failed. 
 
 The members of the punchayet did not, 
 however, seem to feel the humiliating position 
 in which they were placed, but continued not 
 only to assume the name of a punchayet, but 
 fruitlessly attempted to carry on the functions 
 of that body. 
 
 For the last fifteen or twenty years, the 
 body known among the Parsees as the 
 punchayet, has not possessed the slightest 
 influence over the people. It has occasionally 
 exhibited some signs of vitality, but never in 
 the right direction. Its orders, if it ever 
 dare issue any, are unheeded or disobeyed. 
 Excommunication from caste, a sentence 
 which the Parsees of old so greatly dreaded, 
 is not only unheeded, but ridiculed, as 
 
THE MODERN PUNCHAYET. Ill 
 
 the party excommunicated is sure to possess 
 the sympathy and intercourse of his friends 
 in the teeth of the order of the pun- 
 chayet. 
 
 It is not to be imagined that this state of 
 feeling arises from a riotous community. The 
 decisions of the present punchayet, while 
 they are neither consistent nor impartial, are 
 not in accordance with justice, and the conse- 
 quence is, that the body is as destitute of moral 
 weight as of legal power. When a friend or 
 relative of any member of the punchayet, or, 
 indeed, any person of wealth or influence, 
 commits an offence against his caste people, 
 he is not only screened, but justified. While, 
 if the offender be a poor man, the punchayet 
 steps forward, with all the severity which 
 characterized its rule of old, to make him an 
 example to others. 
 
 Common sense suggests that a body profess- 
 ing to do justice with one law for the rich and 
 another for the poor cannot command any 
 moral respect whatever. Its shameless par- 
 tiality, some time since, drew forth from one 
 of its oldest and most respectable members an 
 ugly exposure of the acts of his colleagues 
 perfectly fatal to their respectability. This 
 memorable protest was the work of the late 
 
112 THE PARSEES. 
 
 Framjee Cowasjee, Esquire,* a name still 
 revered by the whole Parsee community. The 
 punchayet was thus virtually extinguished, 
 and our worthy baronet, Sir Jamsetjee 
 Jeejeebhoy, publicly acknowledged this fifteen 
 years since.f It is now powerless either for 
 good or evil, and performs no other functions 
 than those of trustees to certain charitable 
 
 * The following is a short abstract of Framjee's minute, from 
 a literal translation of it published in an English newspaper 
 some years ago. The minute was addressed to the members of 
 the punchayet, and it fully exposes the extent to which cor- 
 ruptions had reached the Parsee community, and the utter 
 apathy and carelessness with which the punchayet overlooked 
 the unhappy state of things. " I have resolved," says Framjee, 
 " that I shall not hereafter join with you in transacting any of 
 the punchayet's business. Individuals calling themselves Zo- 
 roastrians have now become so reckless, that they look upon 
 bigamy and other monstrous sins as anything but sinful. I 
 can cite numberless instances of persons in this place, who have 
 not only deserted their lawful wives and joined in matrimony 
 with others, in defiance of the rules of our community, as also 
 of many who are recklessly living and spending their existence 
 in the houses of unprincipled women. You, who call your- 
 selves members of the punchayet, will not only take no notice 
 of these affairs, but allow such sinful persons to participate in all 
 the rights of Zoroastrianism. You will not bring such offenders 
 to punishment, but on the contrary, sometimes think very 
 lightly of their offences. It cannot be said that you are not 
 cognizant of this growing evil, and if you do not discharge 
 your trust faithfully, what answer will you give to your 
 Maker on the Day of Judgment ? " 
 
 -) See Kholasa-i-Punchayet, edited by Sir Jamsetjee. 
 
RIGHTS OP INHERITANCE. 113 
 
 funds. The word punchayet, therefore, now 
 applied to the body, is a misnomer. 
 
 We conclude this chapter with some notice 
 of the laws by which the Parsees are guided 
 in the distribution of their property, and which 
 regulate the rights of inheritance among them. 
 The Parsees in India seem never to have pos- 
 sessed the code of laws which their prophets 
 had devised for them. It is said to have 
 been lost with their other religious books on 
 their expatriation. In their early sojourn in 
 India, they probably depended upon ordinary 
 and recognised principles of justice and equity, 
 and if any dispute arose regarding succession 
 to property, or rights of inheritance, their 
 punchayet gave a final decision. 
 
 It is evident, however, that the ancient 
 usage was to divide equally among all the 
 children the whole of the property, whether 
 personal or landed, of an intestate person, 
 and this course having been followed from 
 generation to generation, became common 
 law in the community. No questions were 
 ever raised respecting the rights of dividing 
 landed property by will. 
 
 So long as they agreed among themselves, 
 and kept their disputes from being taken into 
 the authorized courts of justice, this usage 
 
 I 
 
114 THE PARSEES. 
 
 was strictly adhered to. But when litigious 
 fellows discovered that disputes regarding 
 inheritance and succession might be deter- 
 mined according to English law by the autho- 
 rised court of the country (no provision having 
 been made in the charter of that court for the 
 regulation of such disputes among them, as 
 was provided for the Hindoos and Mahome- 
 dans) a new spirit arose among them. Many 
 elder sons whose fathers had died intestate, 
 threatened, in violation of long observed usage, 
 to take the whole of the freehold property to 
 themselves, to the prejudice of their brothers, 
 as they knew that the English law being on 
 their side, the court would decide in their 
 favour. This created much excitement among 
 the Parsees, who lost no time in forwarding a 
 memorial to the Legislative Council, in which 
 they clearly pointed out the mischief that 
 would be occasioned by the application of 
 English law to themselves in the above matter. 
 The petition had its due weight with that 
 assembly, and on the 15th of May 1837, an 
 Act * was passed by the Governor- General 
 
 * Act:N"o.IXofl837: 
 
 I. It is hereby enacted, that from the 1st day of June, 1837, 
 all immoveable property situate within the jurisdiction of any of 
 the Courts estabhshed by His Majesty's Charter, shall, as far 
 as regards the transmission of such property on the death and 
 
EDICT OF THE SUPREME COURT. 115 
 
 of India in Council, "vvhich declared that 
 " real property within the jurisdiction of the 
 Supreme Court shall, as regards its transmis- 
 sion by the will of a Parsee testator, or on the 
 death of a Parsee intestate, be taken to be, 
 and to have always been, of the nature of 
 chattels real." The dispute in this matter 
 was thus finally settled. But the application 
 of English law in various other civil disputes 
 has been productive of much inconvenience as 
 well as misery among the Parsees. 
 
 As the litigious propensities of the people 
 began to increase, and the punchayet lost its 
 power, the want of a regular recognised code 
 
 intestacy of any Parsee having a beneficial interest in the same, 
 or by last will of any such Parsee, be taken to be and to 
 have been of the nature of chattels real, and not of freehold. 
 
 II. Provided always that in any suit at law or in equity, 
 which shall be brought for the recovery of such immoveable 
 property as is aforesaid, no advantage shall be taken of any 
 defect of title arising out of the transmission of such property 
 upon the death and intestacy of any Parsee having a benefici^ 
 interest in the same, or by the last will of any such Parsee, if 
 such transmission took place before the said 1st day of June, 
 1837, and if such transmission were, either according to the 
 rules which regulate the transmission of freehold property, or 
 else took place with the acquiescence of all persons to whom 
 any interest in that property would, according to the rules 
 which regulate the transmission of chattels real, have accrued 
 upon the death of such Parsee. 
 
 "W. H. Macnaghten, 
 Secretary to Government of India, 
 
 1 2 
 
116 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 of laws among the Parsees was keenly felt. 
 The British Government, true to its pledge, 
 administers justice impartially to each class of 
 the community, according to its ow^n customs 
 and rules. Disputes among the Hindoos 
 and Mahomedans, are decided according to 
 the sacred books of those people as interpreted 
 by their Shastrees and Kazees. 
 
 The case of the Parsees is unhappily dif- 
 ferent. The few sacred books that they now 
 possess do not contain much to guide the 
 judges in their civil disputes. In the absence 
 of such information, an English judge finds it 
 extremely difficult to ascertain with certainty 
 what the rules and customs of the people are. 
 The Judges, who have within the last twenty 
 years presided over Her 'Majesty's Supreme 
 Court at Bombay, have frequently suggested 
 to the Parsees to remedy this evil by preparing 
 a code of laws, which, if agreed upon by the 
 mass of their people, would be accepted as 
 law in the English Courts of Justice. 
 
 Acting upon such advice, two or three 
 efforts were made to devise a code for the 
 Parsees, but they proved unsuccessful, owing 
 to a want of unanimity among the people. 
 The last step, however, which the Parsee 
 community has taken in this matter, aided 
 
MEETING OF 20tII AUGUST, 1855. 117 
 
 by the wisdom and experience of the elders, 
 and the vigour, activity, and industry of their 
 educated and younger members, is likely to 
 meet with better success. 
 
 In pursuance of advertisements which ap- 
 peared in all the Guzerati Journals, a public 
 meeting of the members of this community 
 was held on the 20th August, 1855, in the 
 hall of one of their fire-temples, for the purpose 
 of adopting measures for declaring the laws 
 binding upon the professors of the Zoroastrian 
 Faith. There were present on the occasion, 
 besides the heads of the community, many of its 
 most influential members. The whole assem- 
 blage numbered upwards of 3,000 persons. 
 
 The object of the meeting was so fully 
 explained by one of the speakers, that we are 
 tempted to give here an English translation 
 of his speech entire. It not only furnishes 
 a full account of the previous efforts to obtain 
 the object, but shows the great necessity of 
 such an enactment for the Parsees as they are 
 now seeking. The following is the address : 
 
 " At the time when India became subject 
 to the beneficent and constitutional sway of 
 the British, the Government gave a pledge 
 and guarantee to the people of this extensive 
 country, that all civil cases in which Hindoos 
 
118 THE PARSEES. 
 
 and Mahomedans were concerned would be 
 decided according to Hindoo and Mahomedan 
 law. That the enjoyment of those rights and 
 privileges which they have possessed from 
 their ancestors, will he secured to them in all 
 English Courts. From the time the country 
 came into the hands of the English, about two 
 centuries ago, to the present moment, the 
 British Government have performed their 
 promise, and the customs and usages of the 
 Hindoos and Mahomedans have been respected 
 by them in all matters bearing upon their civil 
 rights, and in consequence, they have been 
 able to enjoy the benefit of such rights. 
 
 "It is to be regretted, that members of the 
 Zoroastrian community who live in this country 
 under the British rule, are not in a position 
 to enjoy, in the administration of justice, the 
 same privileges with respect to their ancestral 
 customs and usages, and the British autho- 
 rities and the Courts of Justice have not up 
 to this time recognised any of their laws. 
 
 "It is our bounden duty to endeavour to 
 obviate the evils that from time to time arise 
 from the want of such fixed laws applicable 
 to our people, as would be recognised and 
 enforced by British authorities and judges, and 
 from application of the English, '^Hindoo, or 
 
LEGAL DISPUTES. 119 
 
 Other laws, in the adjudication of those cases 
 in which Zoroastrians are concerned. It 
 appears from an English pamphlet relating 
 to the Parsee laws, published in 1843, that 
 during the years 1836, 1837, and 1838, most 
 of the leading members of the Parsee commu- 
 nity endeavoured to procure such legislative 
 enactments as seemed to them necessary. All 
 cases involving questions of inheritance, con- 
 jugal rights and disputes among the Parsees, 
 are decided by the Supreme Court according 
 to English law, and not according to Parsee 
 customs and usages; hence the evils and 
 disadvantages from which we suffer. 
 
 " In 1835, a Parsee filed a suit in the 
 Supreme Court here, claiming, as eldest son, 
 the whole of the landed property of his father, 
 who died intestate. This step created a great 
 sensation among the Parsees, who petitioned 
 the Legislative Council, through the Bombay 
 Government, praying for an act for the Parsee 
 community for preventing the eldest son from 
 inheriting the whole of his father's freehold 
 estate, and declaring such property to be per- 
 sonal property, divisible among all the heirs 
 of the Parsee according to their usage. The 
 Legislative Council at once acceded to this 
 prayer, and in the month of May, 1837, an act 
 
120 THE PARSEES. 
 
 was passed to that effect. Mr. Borradaile, on 
 behalf of the Government, had put several 
 questions to the Parsee community of Surat 
 regarding their laws of inheritance, but that 
 body not having replied to them, the leading 
 members of the Parsee punchayet of Bombay 
 published those questions in the form of a 
 pamphlet in the year 1832, and solicited 
 answers from the Parsee community, but this 
 invitation was likewise unsuccessful. 
 
 "In 1836, however, the members of the 
 Parsee punchayet and other Zoroastrians 
 having framed answers to those questions 
 submitted them, in 1838, through the local 
 Government to the Legislative Council, with 
 a petition praying for an enactment for regu- 
 lating the laws of inheritance among the 
 Parsees according to their ancestral customs. 
 But owing to another petition having been 
 transmitted to the Legislative Council by 
 some of the Zoroastrians, embodying adverse 
 opinions, and owing to several other causes, 
 the object was not gained. 
 
 "In 1841 Mr. Borradaile was again applied 
 to, but owing to want of unanimity among our 
 community, and other obstacles, the matter 
 was neglected and dropped altogether. The 
 judges of the Supreme Court have at various 
 
OPINIONS OF SIR ERSKINE PERRY. 121 
 
 times suggested to our countrymen the pro- 
 priety and advisability of procuring an enact- 
 ment on the subject of their laws of inherit- 
 ance, marriage, and divorce, which enactment 
 would obviate the difficulties now experienced 
 in cases that come before the court involving 
 such questions, and would promote domestic 
 peace and happiness, and secure to the Parsees 
 the observance of their ancient customs and 
 usages. 
 
 ** Sir Erskine Perry, our late Chief Justice, 
 and a well-wisher to the natives, wrote thus 
 to a well-known member of the Parsee com- 
 munity in 1843, * I have been so fully im- 
 pressed for some time past with the necessity 
 of a legislative enactment for the Parsees, 
 that I had determined to draw up a report 
 to Government, pointing out what the sub- 
 jects are on which legislation is required, and 
 discussing the different provisions which it 
 might be expedient to adopt.' It is well 
 known to all that this intelligent, experienced, 
 and clever jurist repeatedly expressed his 
 earnest desire and willingness to assist us in 
 procuring laws for our guidance. 
 
 " Now it is the duty of the Parsees to make 
 a combined effort to procure suitable and 
 requisite laws framed for the Zoroastrian com- 
 
122 THE PARSEES. 
 
 munity, and without showing any sign of indo- 
 lence or tardiness, to deliberate and make such 
 arrangements, and adopt such measures as 
 will ensure to us the fulfilment of our object. 
 Their exertions will not remain unappre- 
 ciated, and they will have the proud satis- 
 faction of seeing their labours, through Divine 
 favour, crowned with success. 
 
 " Mr. Le Geyt, our well-wisher, who is 
 conversant with the customs and feelings of 
 the Parsees, and who now fills the honourable 
 post of member for Bombay of the Legislative 
 Council of India, will, we trust, exert his- 
 utmost to obtain for us the enactment of 
 suitable and requisite laws. It is our hope 
 that our local judges will also assist us in 
 this undertaking. 
 
 " Those of our countrymen who are subject 
 to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of 
 Bombay are at present subjected to English 
 law, and are debarred from the benefit of 
 their ancestral usages ; the ruin entailed on 
 the Parsees by that English law which awards 
 all freehold property to the eldest son of all 
 intestate property, to the exclusion of the 
 other heirs, has been remedied by Act IX. 
 of 1857. Nevertheless, the property of a 
 Zoroastrian who dies without having made 
 
MR. BORRODAILe's LETTER. 123 
 
 a will, is still liable to be divided according 
 to the English law, and it is therefore the duty 
 of all Zoroastrians to provide a proper remedy. 
 
 " Our people have to suffer much injury and 
 disadvantage, owing to our not possessing a 
 regular code of laws recognised by the autho- 
 rities; and, furthermore, the judges expe- 
 rience inconvenience and difficulty in deciding 
 cases relating to the Parsecs, and sometimes 
 theV are unable to arrive at a satisfactory 
 conclusion. They have, therefore, frequently 
 recommended to the leading members of our 
 caste the advisability of preparing, after 
 mature deliberation, a draft of laws, with a 
 view to get them sanctioned by Government. 
 
 " So far back as the year 1827, Mr. Bor- 
 rodaile. Registrar of the S udder Adawlut, 
 addressed a letter, at the recommendation of 
 Government, to Mody Rushtomjee Khur- 
 shedjee and the Parsee community of Surat, 
 which is of such importance that I take leave 
 to read to the meeting the first three para- 
 graphs. 
 
 " ' First. It appears, from observing your 
 customs and usages since the time of Governor 
 Duncan, that you do not possess a regular 
 code of laws, to which all the men of your 
 nation pay obedience. In consequence of this 
 
124 THE PARSEES. 
 
 a great many disputes arise amongst you, to 
 the great detriment of your people. 
 
 " ' Second. It would not have been deemed 
 necessary to ask you to frame a code if you 
 had an ancient book of laws or tradition 
 which the whole of your tribe accept ; but, 
 on inquiry, it appears that amongst your 
 books there is no such work. From mature 
 consideration, and an attentive observance of 
 your present manners and customs, it appears 
 that some of your usages are founded on the 
 laws recorded in your books, while a great 
 many are based on your ancient immemorial 
 customs that prevailed amongst your ancestors, 
 w^hile some of your tribe at present follow 
 no laws, and act in any way they please. At 
 present there is no record of your ancient 
 usages. It is therefore the opinion of Govern- 
 ment that you should assemble and consult 
 together, and with your unanimous consent 
 commit these laws and customs to writing; 
 and, after holding mature deliberations, adopt 
 a code of laws for your government and 
 guidance, otherwise there will be no end to 
 disputes and litigation amongst the body of 
 your nation. I have, by the order of Govern- 
 ment, prepared and transmitted to you a series 
 of questions on the subject of your laws, which 
 
NECESSITY OF LAWS FOR PARSEES. 125 
 
 you are desired to take into your serious 
 consideration, and after deliberating on the 
 subject, forward explicit answers to them, 
 such as you all unanimously agree to and 
 approve. 
 
 " * Third. After unanimously adopting such 
 laws in the manner aforesaid, should it be 
 thought necessary to amend, alter, erase, or 
 add any clauses therein, you are at liberty to 
 do so with the unanimous consent of all the men 
 of your nation. It is therefore advisable that 
 you should desire the welfare and prosperity, 
 of your tribe, and of your posterity, and after 
 deliberating on this important subject, you 
 should, with one voice, frame answers to the 
 questions herewith forwarded to you for your 
 attentive consideration, and return the same to 
 Government. All cases, actions, and suits 
 will be decided by Government functionaries 
 in conformity to the laws approved, agreed 
 upon, and transmitted by the unanimous con- 
 sent of your nation.' 
 
 "It is the duty of our countrymen, the 
 Parsees, to adopt the important recommenda- 
 tion contained in the letter of Mr. Borrodaile 
 I have just quoted, and to prepare a draft 
 of suitable and appropriate laws, and to adopt 
 measures for the purpose of procuring an 
 
126 THE PARSEES, 
 
 enactment from the Legislative Comicil in 
 India. 
 
 " If such laws were passed, all disputes and 
 differences between the members of our com- 
 munity would be decided according to the 
 customs and usages of our ancestors, and not 
 in accordance to English laws and usages. 
 Thus the peace and prosperity of our people 
 will be enhanced, and the rich and poor will 
 derive the same benefit, namely, that of a fixed 
 and uniform code of laws ; all of us will 
 succeed in obtaining substantial justice in 
 conformity to our immemorial usages ; and 
 disputes and quarrels which frequently take 
 place between mother and children, brother 
 and sister, husband and wife, will greatly 
 diminish, and every one will know exactly 
 what his rights are, and act on such know- 
 ledge. If the leading and other members 
 of our community unite, co-operate, and 
 zealously exert themselves in the noble cause 
 of procuring a legislative enactment adapted 
 to our nation, this object will, through the 
 grace of God, be accomplished." 
 
 The meeting having resolved that it was 
 deeply impressed with the necessity of pro- 
 curing for their community the enactment of 
 laws adapted to their race, and such as might 
 
PROPOSED ACTS. 12? 
 
 be recognised- and enforced by the local 
 authorities and by courts of justice, a managing 
 committee of one hundred and fifty gentlemen 
 was appointed. These again selected by ballot 
 from among themselves twenty to form a 
 sub-committee, to which was entrusted the 
 task of framing a draft of the requisite 
 provisions. 
 
 After considerable inquiries and investi- 
 gation into the manners, customs, and religion 
 of the Parsees, a draft Act has been prepared 
 by this body, and there is little doubt that it 
 will finally be adopted by the whole com- 
 munity. We have been fortunate enough to 
 obtain a copy of it, and conclude this chapter 
 by annexing an English translation of the 
 document, as a perusal of it will afford the 
 best index to the social customs of the Parsees, 
 and an insight into the advanced spirit of 
 these people from the liberal views it exposes. 
 
 Whekeas doubts have arisen as to the laws to be administered 
 with regard to the succession and inheritance to the estates of 
 deceased Parsees; and whereas it is expedient that one uni- 
 form and settled law on the subject should prevail through- 
 out India, having reference to, and incorporating as far as is 
 consistent with sound principles of legislation, the usages and 
 customs which hitherto have prevailed among the Parsees, and 
 been authorised by their sacred writings: Be it enacted as 
 follows : 
 I. That from and after the passing of this Act, every Parsee, 
 
128 THE PARSEES. 
 
 "whether male or female, single or married, who shall have 
 attained the age of twenty-one years, shall be entitled by will 
 to dispose of any property whether real or personal, ancestral 
 or acquired, of which he or she may die possessed, to such 
 person or persons as he or she thinks fit : and that for this 
 purpose a married woman with regard to her own property, 
 howsoever acquired, shall be treated and considered as a 
 feme sole. 
 
 II. Such will in order to be valid must be in writing, and 
 executed in a manner hereinafter mentioned (that is to say) it 
 shall be signed at the foot or end thereof by the testator or 
 testatrix, or by some other person in his or her presence, and 
 by his or her direction, and such signature shall be made or 
 acknowledged by the testator or testatrix as the signature to 
 his or her will or codicil, in the presence of two or more 
 witnesses present at the same time, and such witnesses shall 
 subscribe the will in the presence of the testator or testatrix ; 
 but no form of attestation shall be necessary. 
 
 III. That after the payment of debts, funeral expenses, and 
 just expenses of every sort, the clear residue of the property, 
 whether real or personal, ancestral or acquired, of any Parsee 
 dying intestate, shall be distributed in manner following : 
 
 To the widow or widower, one share. 
 
 To the sons one share each. 
 
 To the daughters, half a share each. 
 
 IV. If any child of the intestate shall have died in his 
 or her lifetime, the widow and issue of such child shall be 
 entitled in the proportions hereinbefore mentioned in section 
 iii., set forth to such share of the property of the intestate to 
 which such child would have been entitled, had he or she sur- 
 vived the intestate ; but if there shall be no issue, the widow 
 shall be entitled to one fourth only of such share as aforesaid. 
 Provided always that the widow of such child shall not have 
 contracted a second marriage at the time of the death of the 
 said intestate, in which case such widow shall not be entitled to 
 any portion of such property, but the same shall be distributed 
 as if such widow were also deceased. 
 
 V. That a son duly adopted in the manner pointed out in 
 
LAW OF PROPERTY. 129 
 
 section xii. to xviii. shall be entitled to, and shall take the same 
 share of any intestates, as a natural born son is entitled to by 
 virtue of the preceding sections. 
 
 VI. If the intestate leave no lineal descendants, nor any 
 adopted son, his or her father and mother shall take one moiety 
 of the estate, in equal shares if they both be living, and his 
 or her widow or widower the other moiety. If there be no 
 father or mother, his or her father's relatives, in the order in 
 the table hereinafter specified, shall take one moiety, and the 
 other shall go to the widow or widower. If there be no 
 relatives on the father's side, the widow or widower shall take 
 the whole. 
 
 VII. If the intestate leaves neither widow nor widower, nor 
 issue, nor any adopted son, his or her next of kin, in the order 
 set forth in the following table, shall be entitled to succeed to 
 the whole of his or her property, whether real or personal, 
 ancestral or acquired. The next of kin standing first in the 
 table shall always have preference over those standing second, 
 the second to the third, and so on in succession, subject to the 
 condition that each female shall receive half the portion of 
 each male, standing in the same degree. of propinquity. 
 
 1 . Father and mother. 
 
 2. Brothers and sisters, 'father's side, and the widows and 
 
 issue of any deceased brother or sister subject to the 
 rules and in the proportions hereinbefore set forth. 
 
 3. Nephews and nieces by the father's side, and the widow 
 
 and issue of any deceased nephew or niece in the pro- 
 portions and subject to rules hereinbefore set forth. 
 
 4. Paternal grandfather and paternal grandmother. 
 
 5. Children of the paternal grandfather. 
 
 6. Grandchildren of the paternal grandfather, or in failure 
 
 of these their lineal descendants. 
 
 7. Great grandfather and great grandmother, paternal. 
 
 8. Children of the great grandfather, paternal. 
 
 9. Grandchildren of great grandfather paternal, or in failure 
 
 of these their lineal descendants. 
 10. Brothers and sisters, by the mother's side, and the 
 widows and issue of any deceased brother or sister by 
 
 K 
 
130 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the mother's side, subject to the rules and in the pro- 
 portions hereinbefore set forth. 
 
 1 1 . Nephews and nieces by the mother's side and the widows 
 
 and issue of any deceased nephew or niece, in the pro- 
 portions and subject to rules hereinbefore set forth. 
 
 12. Maternal grandfather and grandmother. 
 
 13. Children of maternal grandfather. 
 
 14. Grandchildren of maternal grandfather, or in failure of 
 
 these, their lineal descendants. 
 
 15. Son's widow (if she has not contracted a second marriage 
 
 at the death of the intestate). 
 
 16. Daughters-in-law of the father (if they have not con- 
 
 tracted a second marriage at the death of the intestate.) 
 
 17. Daughters-in-law of the paternal grandfather (if they 
 
 have not contracted a second marriage at the death of 
 the intestate.) 
 
 18. Daughters-in-law of maternal grandfather (if they have 
 
 not contracted a second marriage at the death of the 
 intestate.) 
 
 19. Husband of the intestate's deceased daughter. 
 
 20. Children of the intestate's father-in-law (father of his 
 
 last wife if more than one), or in failure of these, their 
 lineal descendants. 
 
 21. Widows of brothers-in-law of the intestate (brothers of 
 
 his last wife if more than one.) 
 
 22. Father and mother of maternal grandfather. 
 
 23. Children of maternal grandfather. 
 
 24. Grandchildren of maternal great grandfather, or in failure 
 
 of these, their lineal descendants. 
 
 25. Children of paternal grandmother's father, or in failure 
 
 of these, their lineal descendants. 
 And whereas doubts have arisen as to the rights of married 
 women over property given or bequeathed to them after 
 betrothal or during marriage. 
 
 Vni. Be it enacted, that all property of whatever kind soever, 
 which shall be given, granted, conveyed, or bequeathed to, or 
 which shall in any way be acquired by any woman, whether 
 married or single, shall unless the same shall be otherwise ex- 
 
INHERITANCES. 131 
 
 pressed by the %vriting or deed, granting or conveying, assigning 
 or bequeatliing the same, be and be taken to be her sole and sepa- 
 rate property, and she shall have and exercise the same absolute 
 control over the disposal and use thereof, notwithstanding any 
 marriage which she may contract, and may enter into any con- 
 tracts relating to the disposition and use thereof, and give as 
 effectual acquittances and receipts in respect thereto, and sue and 
 be sued in any action or suit in respect thereof or touching the 
 same as if she were z,fenie sole. 
 
 IX. That no husband shall be held liable for any debt con- 
 tracted by his wife, unless contracted by his express or implied 
 authority. Provided that nothing herein contained, shall be 
 construed to exempt the husband from his liability to provide 
 for his -wife suitable maintenance and necessaries. 
 
 X. The illegitimate child of any intestate shall be entitled to 
 be maintained out of his or her estate until such child shall 
 have attained twenty-one years but no longer. 
 
 XI. The widow or widower, sons or adopted son and 
 daughters, or lineal descendants of a bastard dying intestate, 
 shall inherit his or her property in the several proportions 
 hereinbefore specified, in the same manner as if he or she had 
 been born in lawful wedlock. 
 
 XII. K any man above the age of fourteen years and three 
 months have no son nor any male lineal descendant, and if he 
 shall have adopted in his lifetime any person, whether he be 
 his blood relation or not, as his son by his last will, or by a 
 written instrument duly executed and attested by two witnesses, 
 the person so adopted shall be treated and shall have the same 
 rights as his lawfully begotten son, and if the adopted die 
 intestate, such adopted son shall inherit the property of the 
 deceased, in the same manner as if he were his own lawful 
 son. 
 
 Xni. If a man having adopted a son authorised in section 
 xii., should subsequently have a son bom to him in lawful 
 wedlock, the adoption shall be null and void. In case a son be 
 not bom, no one except the adoptive father has the right of 
 cancelling or annulling the adoption. 
 
 XrV. If a person die intestate, leaving neither a son nor any 
 
 K 2 
 
132 THE PARSEES. 
 
 male lineal descendants, and if he in his lifetime has not adopted 
 a son, as authorised by section xii., any one of his under- 
 mentioned nearest of kin, in the order hereinafter set forth, 
 shall have the right of being adopted as a son of the deceased ; 
 and if the person, having such right, consent in his own name, 
 if of legal age, or by guardian if a minor, to be adopted as the 
 son of the deceased, the party so consenting shall be held to be 
 the son and heir of the deceased, in the same manner as if he 
 were the lawfully begotten son of the deceased. 
 
 1 . The son either of the brother or paternal uncle of the 
 
 deceased, if betrothed or married to the surviving 
 daughter of the deceased at or before the time of his 
 death, shall have the right to be adopted. If more 
 daughters than one are in this category, the right of 
 precedence shall be claimed by the husband of the 
 eldest daughter ; in case of failure or refusal, the sons 
 (according to the priority of birth) of the eldest 
 daughter of the deceased, if married to a lineal descend- 
 ant of the paternal grandfather or great-grandfather 
 shall be eligible, in default of these, or if they refuse to 
 be adopted. 
 
 2. The brothers of the deceased in the order of their birth, 
 
 in case of defect or refusal. 
 
 3. The sons of the eldest brother (in the order of their 
 
 birth. In case of defect or refusal of these, the sons of 
 the next brother in like manner shall be eligible and so 
 on. In failure of these or in case of a refusal 
 
 4. The eldest son of the eldest paternal uncle by the father's 
 
 side. In case of defect or refusal, the other sons of the 
 other paternal uncles, in like manner, shall be eligible ; 
 or in failure of these, or in the event of their not con- 
 senting 
 
 5. The sons of the eldest daughter in the order of their 
 
 birth, and failing these, the sons of the next daughter in 
 like manner. 
 
 6. The sons of the eldest sister in the order of seniority ; 
 
 and failing these, the sons of the next sister in like 
 manner. 
 
PROPERTY OF THOSE WHO DIE INTESTATE. 133 
 
 XV. If any person, cither by his will, or by any writing 
 executed in the presence of two- attesting witnesses, delegate to 
 another the power of adoption to take effect after his death, 
 the person so adopted by virtue of such power, shall, agreeably 
 to section xii., be held to be the son and heir of the deceased, 
 in the same manner as if he were his own legitimate son. 
 
 XVI. If a person die intestate, and if he have neither a 
 son nor male lineal descendant, and if none of the relatives and 
 connections mentioned in section xiv. be available for the pur- 
 pose of adoption, the widow of the deceased, or in case of 
 defect or refusal, his daughters in the order of their birth, or 
 in default of these, or in case they decline, the nearest of kin 
 of the deceased in the order prescribed in section vii., shall 
 have the power to adopt a son to the deceased, provided such 
 adoption take place in the presence of at least three witnesses, 
 on or before the morning of the fourth day after the death of 
 the deceased ; and if the person so adopted be of legal age and 
 consent to be adopted, or if a minor consent through his guar- 
 dian to such adoption, he shall be deemed to be the son and 
 the heir of the intestate, as if he were a lawfully begotten son 
 of the deceased. But if the intestate die in a foreign country 
 a son shall be adopted to him as aforesaid within the period of 
 four days after the receipt of the intelligence of his death. If 
 the person so nominated subsequently decline the nomination 
 another person might be appointed at any subsequent 
 period. 
 
 XVII. Any person who does not profess the Zoroastrian 
 religion, or who is a lunatic, or who shall at the death of the 
 intestate be undergoing sentence of transportation, shall be 
 deemed disqualified for the duties of such adopted son, and 
 the person who next to him has a right to be adopted, as 
 directed in sections xiv. and xvi., shall be nominated in his 
 place, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of an adopted 
 son of the deceased. 
 
 XVIII. Any person adopted as a son of a deceased Parsee 
 in conformity to sections xii., xiv., xvi., and xvii., cannot again 
 be adopted as a son to another deceased Parsee. 
 
 XIX. If a person die without leaving a will, letters of 
 
134 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 administration of the property of the intestate shall be granted 
 to the undermentioned relatives successively in the following 
 order. If such relatives refuse to take out letters of adminis- 
 tration, or if they be not of a legal age or be otherwise dis- 
 qualified, letters of administration shall be granted to the 
 person standing next in order. And if there shall be no person 
 standing in such a degree of relationship to the intestate, then 
 to such other fit and proper person as to the court shall seem 
 meet. 
 
 1. Widow or widower and sons. 
 
 2. Son's son. 
 
 3. Daughters. 
 
 4. Father. 
 
 5. Mother. 
 
 6. Daughters of son. 
 
 7. Sons of daughters. 
 
 8. Daughters of daughters. 
 
 9. Brother. 
 
 10. Sisters. 
 
 11. Uncles by the father's side. 
 
 12. Widow of the deceased son if she has not contracted 
 
 a second marriage at the death of the intestate. 
 
 XX. If a testator at his death has not appointed an executor 
 of his last will and testament, or if the person so appointed 
 refuse to act, in either of which cases administration shall be 
 granted to the persons mentioned in section xix. 
 
 XXI. A Parsee shall be deemed to have attained his or her 
 majority at the age of twenty-one years, and shall thenceforth 
 be competent to make contracts, to claim the free use of his or 
 her property, to act as guardian, executor, or administrator, 
 and to dispose of his or her property by will. And whereas it 
 is desirable to ascertain the law and define the rights and 
 the relative positions of parent and child and guardian and 
 ward. 
 
 XXII. Be it further enacted, That the father shall be 
 entitled to the custody of his children, whether legitimate or 
 illegitimate, and the guardianship of their estates until they 
 attain the age of twenty-one years, provided he be not by 
 
\ MARRIAGE CONTRACTS. 135 
 
 Irraacy or other cause disqualified for the due discharge of 
 his duties and and the exercise of his rights towards such 
 child. And he may appoint one or more guardians by will 
 duly executed. And upon his death, in the absence of any 
 such appointments, the mother, or in case of her death or dis- 
 qualification, the other relatives of the child, in the order men- 
 tioned in section vii., shall be appointed guardian, and shall 
 possess all the rights and privileges of the father, except as 
 hereinafter is provided. 
 
 XXIII. Where any dispute shall arise between the father 
 and mother of any child under the age of six years, the per- 
 sonal custody of the child shall belong to the mother until 
 the child shall have attained its full age of six years. 
 
 XXIV. Any betrothal or marriage contracted by a child 
 under the age of twenty- one years without the consent of the 
 father, or if the father be dead or disqualified as aforesaid, of 
 the mother, shall be considered null and void. And every 
 betrothal or contract of marriage made by the parents on 
 behalf of a child above the age of sixteen years, shall not be 
 binding on the child if made without obtaining his or her con- 
 sent. In case the father and mother be both dead or disquali- 
 fied, the right of granting or withholding consent to betrothal 
 or marriage shall be vested in the guardian, but in such case 
 shall wholly cease and determine on the child attaining the age 
 of sixteen years. 
 
 XXV. The right of the mother, upon the death or disquali- 
 fication of the father as aforesaid, to the custody and guardian- 
 ship of the child shall cease altogether on her re-marriage, 
 except where the child shall be under the age of six years, in 
 which case the personal custody of the child shall remain with 
 the mother, notwithstanding her re-marriage, until such child 
 shall have attained the age of six years ; and the guardianship 
 shall, on such attainment by the child of the age of six years, be 
 vested in and exercised by the paternal grandfather, brother, 
 maternal uncle, or paternal grandmother of the child, in the order 
 set forth in the following section. But, if all these relatives be 
 dead, disqualified, or unwilling to act, the right of the mother 
 shall revert to her notwithstajiding such re -marriage. 
 
136 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 XXVI. Upon the death or disqualification as aforesaid of 
 the father and mother, and the non-appointment of any testa- 
 mentary guardian, the undermentioned surviving relatives, 
 according to the following order, shall be entitled to the custody 
 and guardianship of the person and property of the child ; pro- 
 vided they are not by lunacy, difference of religion, or other 
 just cause, disqualified for so acting. 
 
 1. Grandfather, paternal. 
 
 2. Brothers, in the order of seniority. 
 
 3. Uncles by the father's side, in the order of seniority. 
 
 4. Grandmother, paternal. 
 
 5. Sisters, in the order of seniority. 
 
 6. Sons of the uncle by the father's side, in the order of 
 
 seniority. 
 
 7. Grandfather, paternal. 
 
 8. Grandfather, maternal. 
 
 9. Uncles by the mother's side, in the order of seniority. 
 
 10. Father's sisters, in the order of seniority. 
 
 11. Mother's sisters, in the order of seniority. 
 
 12. Any relative or suitable person who may be desirous 
 
 of being appointed. 
 XX'V'TE. In constructing this Act the relationship, if not 
 otherwise expressed, is to be traced through the male line only, 
 and brethren of the half-blood by the mother's side are 
 not in any case to be entitled to succeed unless expressly 
 named. 
 
137 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 COMMERCIAL PURSUITS. * 
 
 Early occupations of the Parsees in India British power ex- 
 ceedingly favourable to their interest and the development 
 of their commercial and enterprising spirit Extensive com- 
 mercial intercourse at the present day A remarkable 
 instance of industry and a love for the extension of agricul- 
 ture Testimony to their general intelligence and enterprise 
 Their success as railway contractors The various pro- 
 fessions followed by them Their charity and hospitalities 
 Sir Jamsetjee's benefactions Notices of the generous spirit 
 of well-known Parsees. 
 
 When it is remembered that the Parsees 
 at Bombay, are the descendants of a small 
 colony which emigrated from Persia in cir- 
 cumstances the most miserable, it is a matter 
 of some surprise to strangers in India, that 
 this people have simultaneously with the 
 progress of British power in India risen into 
 affluence and importance, while the other 
 natives of the land, Mahomedans and Hindoos, 
 have fallen into insignificance. The ancestors 
 of the present race were remarkable for their 
 warlike, enterprising, and industrious spirit. 
 
138 THE PARSEES. 
 
 If ever called to arms, the present Parsees 
 will not be found wanting in the courage 
 which distinguished their ancestors, hut living 
 under a Government which they consider 
 quite paternal, and having no political in- 
 terest in the land, there is nothing for them 
 to fight for, and they have consequently con- 
 centrated all their strength in the two latter 
 qualities of their ancient race, industry and 
 enterprise. 
 
 These qualities in which the other natives 
 of India are sadly deficient, have given to the 
 Parsees that position which they now hold. 
 On their arrival in India the Parsees chiefly 
 employed themselves as cultivators of the soil, 
 and as artisans. They followed these pursuits 
 for about a thousand years, but no sooner 
 did they perceive that there were openings 
 for gaining wealth and distinction, than the 
 spirit which had laid dormant for nearly ten 
 centuries, burst forth again with renewed 
 vigour and power. 
 
 To the British power in India the Parsees 
 are chiefly indebted for their present position. 
 Under its authority their commercial spirit 
 revived, and they began for the first time to 
 reap the fruit of their own industry. The 
 native governments of India had invariably 
 
REDIVIVUS. 139 
 
 acted as a check to industry and enterprise 
 no man cpuld enjoy the fruits of his own 
 labour, as the people were constantly subjected 
 to the caprice of the ruler, and the tyranny 
 and oppression of his innumerable hosts of 
 subordinate officers. 
 
 The cause of the depressed, ignoble, and 
 cowardly spirit of the Hindoos, can safely be 
 traced to the system pursued by those Govern- 
 ments under which they had groaned for 
 thousands of years. The accession of British 
 power in India was therefore a godsend to the 
 Parsees ; it enabled them to enter upon higher 
 and nobler pursuits, and at once removed those 
 restraints which the tyrannical rule of native 
 princes had imposed upon them. Dadysett, 
 Pestonjee and Hormusjee Wadia, the earliest 
 Parsees of wealth and influence, had by their 
 individual enterprise, raised themselves from 
 obscurity to a distinguished position. 
 
 Almost all the Parsee Shots now living, 
 have been the creators of their own fortunes. 
 Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, whose name is 
 known in almost every part of the world, as 
 the first merchant prince in India, was the son 
 of poor parents. Shet Framjee Nusserwanjee, 
 Shet Cowasjee Jehangir, Shet Manackjee 
 Nusserwanjee, and a number of other Parsee 
 
140 THE PARSEES. 
 
 gentlemen, reputed for their wealth, have also 
 been the architects of their own fortunes. 
 And how have all these attained their present 
 position? By their commercial enterprise 
 and remarkable industry. Wherever wealth 
 is to be acquired, or wherever the English 
 standards have been carried, the Parsees have 
 followed with the fearless energy of men who 
 required but the simple assurance that the 
 protection of English law and English justice 
 would be thrown around them. The Parsee 
 tradesman followed the British army to Cabul, 
 and is now to be found in every city of 
 India, foremost in every enterprise, and 
 ready to take advantage of every opening. 
 We may be forgiven the boast, but we can 
 safely say, that in the short space of a 
 century, we have placed ourselves in compe- 
 tition with the merchant princes of the English 
 Babylon, and no history of the commerce 
 of the East would be complete without a 
 prominent place being given to the mercantile 
 houses established by the Parsees in India 
 and China. Even London, the great com- 
 mercial metropolis of the world, possesses a 
 Parsee mercantile house. Those wealthy and 
 spirited Camas, who can justly boast of 
 possessing first-rate mercantile houses in 
 
ENTERPRISE OF PARSEES. 141 
 
 India and China, opened a similar house in 
 London about three years ago, and Messrs. 
 Cama and Co. are daily seen in Gresham 
 House, carrying on extensive commercial in- 
 tercourse. It is the first Parsee house esta- 
 blished in London, and its projectors are 
 consequently entitled to no little praise for 
 their enterprising spirit. 
 
 No question has ever been raised as to 
 the commercial morality of the Parsees ; 
 they are upright and honourable in their 
 dealings. Between themselves written agree- 
 ments are unknown ; their word is truly 
 " their bond," and this system they extend to 
 most Europeans with whom they have 
 dealings. Being incapable themselves of dis- 
 honesty in such matters, they willingly believe 
 that others are actuated by similar honourable 
 feelings. 
 
 In the establishment in India of banks 
 and various other joint-stock companies, the 
 Parsees have been the prime movers. They 
 have shared largely in the introduction in 
 India of railways, those great pioneers of 
 civilization and commerce. They are ex- 
 tensive landholders, and the finest houses in 
 the Island of Bombay are owned by them. A 
 number of them are ship-owners. In short, 
 
142 THE PARSEES. 
 
 much of the prosperity of Bombay is owing 
 to the commercial spirit and activity of the 
 Parsees. They have aided considerably, both 
 by their influence and wealth, all projects for 
 public improvements. There is not a single 
 measure, having for its aim the good of the 
 public, which has not received a handsome 
 contribution from the purse of a Parsee. 
 
 One instance of remarkable industry and a 
 love for the extension of agriculture in India, 
 requires prominent notice. The late Framjee 
 Cowasjee, Esq., who, for half a century, 
 was one of the most enlightened, liberal- 
 minded, energetic, upright, and honourable 
 merchants, was the greatest native improver 
 in the Bombay Presidency, for which manifes- 
 tation of public spirit he was justly styled the 
 Earl of Leicester of India. On his estate at 
 Powai, about eighteen miles from Bombay, he 
 introduced the cultivation of cotton and tea, 
 and planted a great quantity of sugar canes, 
 indigo, and mulberries for silkworms, and 
 a large number of other valuable growths 
 of the soil. Though he did not succeed to 
 the extent of his desires, he converted the 
 place from a forest into a fertile estate, yield- 
 ing a net revenue of 20,000 rupees, or 2,000/. 
 per annum. 
 
powAi. 143 
 
 Framjec Cowasjee was the first Parsee, we 
 may safely say, the first and only native of 
 India who, in the year 1838, sent a present 
 of that sweet and delicious fruit the Bombay 
 mangoes, to her Most Gracious Majesty the 
 Queen.* The labours of this venerable old 
 man will be best understood by a perusal of 
 the following extract. Sir John Malcolm, in 
 
 * The following is the document which accompanied the 
 ffering : 
 " To Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen of England. 
 
 " May it please your Majesty, 
 " The improvement and extension of steam navigation have 
 now happily brought your Majesty's dominions at home and 
 your dominions in the Eastern world so closely together, that 
 I venture most humbly and most respectfully to lay at your 
 Majesty's feet some specimens of the celebrated Bombay Man- 
 goes, in the earnest hope that this delicious fruit, which has 
 never before been transmitted to Europe, may reach your 
 Majesty in a state of preservation and prove acceptable. 
 
 " Such precautions have been adopted to preserve the fruit as 
 appear most efficacious, but if the botanists of your Majesty's 
 dominions at home can prescribe a preferable method, it shall 
 be adopted in the transmission of further supplies of this or 
 any other kind of fruit peculiar to the country which has not 
 hitherto been seen in Great Britain. 
 
 " Your Majesty's most dutiful and faithful 
 " Eastern subject, 
 
 "Feamjee Cowasjee. 
 ''Bombay, ISth May, 1838." 
 
 In acknowledgment of this present, the Master of the House- 
 hold conveyed to him the Queen's approbation of the zeal 
 and enterprise evinced by him, and her Majesty's gratification 
 at the dutiful expression of loyalty by which it was accompanied. 
 
144 THE PARSEES. 
 
 his administration of India, thus speaks of 
 Powai under the head of improvements in 
 Salsett : 
 
 " A grant was given to Framjee of the 
 fine estate of Powai, in perpetuity, at a 
 moderate quit rent, on an understanding 
 that certain improvements were to be made. 
 My minute of the 30th of November, 1830, 
 fully explains how far that good and able 
 man has realized these expectations ; I shall 
 therefore quote it as the best illustration of 
 the consequences that have already resulted 
 from the measures adopted to promote the 
 prosperity of Salsett. I lately paid a visit to 
 the estate of Framjee Cowasjee at Powai, 
 and never was more gratified. This highly 
 respectable native has laid out much money 
 in a variety of useful improvements ; he has 
 sunk a number of wells, has built houses, 
 made an excellent road, planted a great 
 quantity of sugar cane, indigo, and mulberries 
 for silkworms ; he has erected an excellent 
 sugar mill, which I saw at work, and all the 
 necessary buildings of an indigo manufactory. 
 But what I was most delighted with was the 
 passionate fondness Framjee appeared to have 
 for his estate. His projected improvements 
 of a tank, a garden full of fruit trees of every 
 
' TESTIMONIAL TO FRAMJEE COWASJEE. 145 
 
 country, the erection of a bungalow for English 
 travellers, and a serai and stables at the spot 
 where the road to his estate leaves the Tannah 
 great road, will be most useful to the public, 
 as it is exactly half-way between Bombay and 
 Tannah, and mark the liberal spirit in which 
 he has determined to fulfil the obligation of 
 his lease. 
 
 " ' He evidently thinks less of profit than of 
 being the first native improver of the soil on 
 a scale that will match the science and enter- 
 prise of a European settler. His ambition 
 is directed by the possession of this fine estate 
 to the object of being a country gentleman ; 
 and whatever be the pecuniary result to him 
 of his speculation, he will gain much in health, 
 reputation, and enjoyment, while Government 
 will eventually have a hundred-fold for any 
 petty immediate or prospective sacrifices it 
 may have made in the mere value of the land 
 or its produce. 
 
 *' I was so gratified by what Framjee showed 
 me of his actual improvements, and the plans 
 he had in contemplation, that I regretted not 
 having provided myself with an appropriate 
 token of my marked approbation of his public 
 spirit, and of the benefits that might be 
 derived from his example. To remedy this 
 
 L 
 
146 THE PARSEES, 
 
 forgetfulness, I presented him, on the spot, 
 with my own valuable watch and chain, ex- 
 pressing at the same time, before the gentle- 
 men who accompanied me and a crowd of the 
 natives employed or settled on his estate, my 
 delight with what I had witnessed, and the 
 gratification I should have in conveying to 
 the Board and to my superiors in England 
 information of all I had seen, and my sense 
 of the value of such improvements as he had 
 made and projected, both to the Government 
 and to the country. Framjee Cowasjee was 
 delighted with the approbation I gave him. 
 He would persevere, he said, whatever dis- 
 couragement he might at first meet with in 
 his plans: my watch, he added, should be 
 preserved in his family ; and he deemed 
 the gift bestowed on the spot, and in the 
 manner it was, as rendering stronger than 
 ever the pledge he had given to Government 
 to improve in every way the lands they have 
 granted him." 
 
 The same distinguished statesman bears 
 testimony to the intelligence and enterprise 
 of the Parsees in the following words : 
 There is no body of natives in India so remark- 
 able for their intelligence and enterprise as the 
 Parsees. Bombay has owed its advancement 
 
EFFECT OF COWASJEE's IMPROVEMENTS. 147 
 
 in a great degree to this class ; and in the 
 actual condition of this presidency it appears 
 to me a political consideration of much im- 
 portance to strengthen their attachment to 
 Government by new ties which are of a nature 
 calculated to combine the promotion of their 
 interests with those of the state. Salsett is 
 recommended to them by its vicinity to 
 Bombay, its excellent roads, and security. 
 It may not yield the profit they anticipate, 
 but they will render it a garden, and free 
 us from trouble and expense in its manage- 
 ment; and above all, it will give to the 
 wealthy and public-spirited men that interest 
 in the soil, and that knowledge of the benefits 
 of works like roads, canals, and bridges, 
 which may be of the greatest use, both, as it 
 disposes them to embark in works that ad- 
 vance the interests of Government and the 
 general prosperity of this presidency. The 
 feelings which will be inspired, and the know- 
 ledge attained by men of this class being land- 
 holders in Salsett, will gradually lead them 
 to the Conkan and Deccan, where such per- 
 sons are much required to promote plans of 
 improvement, without which these countries 
 will never pay the expenses of their occu- 
 pation and management." 
 
 L 2 
 
148 THE PARSEES. 
 
 How eager a Parsee is to betake himself 
 to any profession, will be best judged of from 
 the fact that no sooner was railway enterprise 
 introduced into India than several of the 
 race found employment for themselves as con- 
 tractors for the construction of railroads. In 
 a field of labour entirely new to them, they 
 have made a name and attained distinction. 
 Jamsetjee Dorabjee is now considered the 
 foremost native railway contractor in India. 
 This Parsee began his railway career by 
 tendering unsuccessfully for the first two con- 
 tracts on the line from Bombay to Thanna. 
 His oflPer for the third contract was accepted 
 at a very considerable reduction of the esti- 
 mate of the chief engineer, and the manner in 
 which it was executed gave every satisfaction. 
 
 Jamsetjee next undertook to construct three 
 large viaducts, each of them nearly 200 yards 
 long, and over fifty feet in height. At this 
 time it was predicted that the work was 
 beyond his strength, or more than he could 
 perform, but it was finished within the ap- 
 pointed time, and in the words of the chief 
 engineer, Mr. Berkeley, "in a style worthy 
 of any contractor, of any country, and of the 
 approbation of any engineer." He again took 
 another contract of twenty miles from Callian 
 
LINE FROM WASIND TO KUSTSARAH. 149 
 
 to Narel; and again a further length of seven- 
 teen miles from Narel to Campoolee, at the 
 foot of the Bhore Ghaut, all of which he 
 executed to the satisfaction of the railway 
 authorities. 
 
 In the year 1857, Jamsetjee Dorabjee 
 obtained, by public competition, from the 
 directors of the Great Indian Peninsula 
 Railway, in London, a contract for the 
 construction of a further twenty-six miles 
 of their line, extending from Wasind to Kust- 
 sarah, at the foot of the Thul Ghaut incline. 
 These works are very formidable, and partake 
 very much of the same character as the great 
 works which are being executed on the two 
 Ghaut inclines. They lie in a difficult and 
 unfavourable district, nearly covered with 
 jungle, full of trap hills and mountain torrents ; 
 imhealthy in places, difficult of access, devoid 
 of water during the hot season, and thinly 
 populated. 
 
 The contract is a large one, amounting 
 probably to nearly 200,000/., and the Parsee 
 contractor has undertaken to complete the 
 w^orks by the month of December, 1859, in a 
 period of little more than two years. It com- 
 prises about 1,000,000 cubic yards of embank- 
 ment and many heavy rock cuttings. Also four 
 
150 THE PARSEES. 
 
 large viaducts, of which one consists of six 
 50 feet arches 100 feet high, another of seven 
 30 feet arches 50 feet high, a third of seven 
 50 feet arches 100 feet high, and the fourth 
 of three 50 feet arches 70 feet high. It also 
 contains a large mass of masonry, in numerous 
 smaller bridges ^and culverts, in addition to 
 which, the contractor has undertaken to con- 
 struct all the stations. 
 
 His arrangements for this great work have 
 been workman-like and comprehensive. He 
 has largely availed himself of native agency, 
 and has entrusted the practical superinten- 
 dence to several Europeans of acknowledged 
 abilities and experience, who have received 
 liberal appointments from him. He has em- 
 ployed, notwithstanding the great demand for 
 labour, 17,000 hands, and by judicious pro- 
 visions for their health and necessities, has 
 succeeded in keeping the greater portion of 
 them upon the works during the unfavourable 
 part of the year. He has exhibited consider- 
 able judgment and foresight in the prepa- 
 rations which he has made, and which will 
 enable him to cope successfully with the 
 unusual difficulty of his contract. 
 
 The progress of his works has been rapid, 
 and he has given entire satisfaction to the 
 
PARSEE POPULATION. 151 
 
 Company, by his exertions and his care and 
 liberality in the execution of the works which 
 he has undertaken. When this contract is 
 completed, Jamsetjee Dorabjee will have con- 
 structed ninety miles of railway, or the whole 
 of the line upon the Concan, except the four 
 miles between Tannah and Perseek, which 
 were made by Messrs. Wythes and Jackson. 
 
 We here subjoin a table showing the pro- 
 fessions and number of Parsees as given in 
 the last census of Bombay, which cannot fail 
 to be interesting. The number here given, 
 denotes the females and minors, as included in 
 the profession of the head of the family : 
 
 Annuitants, independents .... 2,657 
 
 Auctioneers 128 
 
 Bakers, confectioners 1,417 
 
 Bullock drivers 97 
 
 Cane workers 474 
 
 Clothiers, drapers, mercers . . .328 
 
 Cotton workers or retailers . . . 124 
 
 Domestic servants 5,468 
 
 Fishmongers 13 
 
 Grain dealers 5 
 
 Hawkers 347 
 
 Horse dealers, drivers ... . . 2,025 
 
 Iron dealers 8 
 
 Jewellers and watchmakers . . .1,125 
 
 Labourers 41 
 
 Liquor sellers, distillers, palm wine drawers . 5,227 
 
 Marine store dealers 37 
 
 Medical men 577 
 
152 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 Merchants, bankers, or brokers 
 
 Money changers, assayers 
 
 Oil dealers 
 
 Pensioners 
 
 Policeman 
 
 Priests .... 
 
 Printers, stationers, bookbinders 
 
 Schoolmasters 
 
 Tailors, embroiderers, tent makers 
 
 Tavernkeepers 
 
 Vagrants 
 
 Water carriers 
 
 "Wood workers and dealers 
 
 Writers and accountants 
 
 Total 
 
 1,535 
 163 
 
 1,274 
 1 
 
 5,656 
 616 
 
 2,056 
 172 
 826 
 127 
 
 1,584 
 
 4,101 
 11,028 
 
 110,544 
 
 It will be seen from this table, that the 
 largest number, or more than one-half of 
 the whole Parsee population, follow the 
 avocations of merchants, bankers, or brokers, 
 which fact furnishes a clear proof of the 
 commercial bent of the Parsee mind. It 
 will also be seen from the table that the 
 commoner trades, such as butchers, barbers, 
 laundrymen, palkee-bearers, sweepers, or 
 scavengers, are not resorted to by them. 
 
 It may, perhaps, strike the reader as 
 curious that the Parsees, whose ancestors 
 were remarkable for their martial spirit, have 
 not embraced the profession of arms. The 
 matter can be easily explained. We must, in 
 the first place, observe that there is no 
 
WHY PARSEES ARE NOT SOLDIERS. 153 
 
 objection whatever to a Parsee embracing the 
 profession of a soldier on religious grounds, 
 as is erroneously supposed by Europeans. 
 The veneration the Parsees have for fire has 
 been the groundwork of this supposition, and 
 on this belief it is surmised that they would 
 not fire a gun or pistol. This idea, however, 
 is simply ridiculous. The Parsees hold fire 
 in veneration in the sense which will be 
 explained in the chapter on religion, but this 
 circumstance offers no impediment to their 
 employing fire-arms as offensive or defensive 
 weapons. When the Parsees were lately 
 ajDprehensive of a disturbance in Bombay, 
 the shops in the place were cleared of guns 
 and pistols by the Parsees. 
 
 We must look for the real reason of 
 the Parsees not becoming soldiers, in the 
 fact that very little or no inducement is 
 offered to them to enlist in the army. The 
 native (Hindoo or Mahomedan) soldiers are 
 paid seven rupees, or fourteen shillings a 
 month, inclusive of rations, while a Parsee, 
 in the lowest employment that he can enter 
 upon, namely, that of a cook or domestic 
 servant, earns nearly double the sum which 
 is paid to the sepoy. During the late 
 mutinies, when Bombay was denuded of 
 
154 THE PARSEES. 
 
 European troops, many Parsees were willing 
 to enlist in the army if the pay of European 
 soldiers was accorded to them. We have not 
 the slightest hesitation in saying that the 
 Parsees would be found to be as good and 
 brave soldiers as the Anglo-Saxons, whilst 
 their loyalty and attachment to the Govern- 
 ment they would be called upon to serve, 
 would always be above suspicion. 
 
 In the foregoing list, the number of writers 
 and accountants stands at 11,028. Of these, 
 nearly half are in the service of Government, 
 which, when we consider the total number 
 of natives in Government employ, shows 
 only a small percentage of Parsee officials. 
 Indeed, the Parsees have not found extensive 
 employment in the public service. The native 
 functionaries, and other servants of Govern- 
 ment, are chiefly drawn from among the 
 Hindoos and Mahomedans. But it is a 
 matter of no little gratification to us to 
 mention, that whenever any one of this tribe 
 has been placed by Government in some 
 responsible post, requiring considerable ability, 
 energy, and judgment, he has been found 
 fully equal to the task. At the present 
 day, one Parsee is a Judge of the Court of 
 Small Causes at Bombay, another is the 
 
PARSEES AS DIPLOMATISTS. 155 
 
 Translator and Interpreter in her Majesty's 
 Supreme Court, one a Deputy- Magistrate in 
 one of the zillas of the Bombay presidency, 
 three or four are Assistant-Commissioners in 
 the Nagporc territories, and about half a 
 dozen are Sudur Ameens, or native judges. 
 
 All these gentlemen, it is well known, 
 perform the responsible duties of their offices 
 ably and satisfactorily. 
 
 A very few Parsees have served Govern- 
 ment in political employment.* The services 
 
 * A number of Parsees are members of a political body 
 called the Bombay Association, formed for the purpose of 
 obtaining reforms in the government of the country. Though 
 the president of this association, the much respected Jagonuthjee 
 Sunkersett, Esq., and his son, Venoyeklon Jagonuthjee, Esq., 
 one of the secretaries, are Hindoos, most of the chief members 
 are Parsees. The position taken up by this body is not one 
 of antagonism to Government, nor is the constant decrying 
 of all its measures the aim of the association. Its object is 
 rather to obtain information from unprejudiced sources, which 
 to the authorities might be sealed up, and to lay it before the 
 Government and suggest remedial measures. Every one of its 
 members is fully sensible of the benefits they enjoy under 
 British rule. We cannot do better than quote the sentiments 
 on the subject of the senior secretary, JVIr. Nowasjee Fur- 
 doonjee, delivered at a public meeting, from which the feelings 
 of the members of the association towards the Government will 
 be best judged. 
 
 " Let us for a while examine the character and poHcy of the 
 British Government, under whose sway we have the good 
 fortune to be placed. This liberal and enlightened Govern- 
 ment has conceded several important and valuable privileges, 
 
 A^ OF THE "^f^ 
 
156 THE PARSEES. 
 
 of a Parsee named Khurshedjee Modee, with 
 the political embassy at Poona, at the Court 
 of the- Peshwa, are well described by Grant 
 Duff, in his history of the Maharattas. The 
 late Ardasir Dhunjeeshaw, Bahadoor of 
 Surat, and his ancestors, have done immense 
 service to the Government. Mr. H. G. 
 Briggs, a name not unfamiliar in literary 
 circles in Bombay, in his work entitled 
 
 and has conferred on us several boons for which we ought to 
 be thankful. I will here enumerate a few of them which affect 
 and exercise a powerful influence on our social progress. The 
 first is civil and political^ liberty, which consists in the power of 
 thinking and acting with perfect independence, just as we deem 
 fit, without any restraint or control on the part of our rulers, 
 except from the laws of nature, which wisely and properly 
 impose certain restrictions that are necessary for our safety 
 and welfare. The second is rehgious liberty or toleration, 
 which is the free right of adopting and maintaining opinions on 
 religious subjects, and of worshipping the Almighty according 
 to the dictates of our conscience, and the doctrines of our 
 respective religions, without any interference or control on the 
 part of Government or any private individual. It cannot be 
 denied that these privileges were either withheld in toto, or 
 greatly abridged and unjustly curtailed under the former 
 dynasty of rulers. The prosperity and greatness of the British 
 nation depend mainly on the possession and enjoyment of these 
 privileges, which are the birthrights of every British subject : 
 and the British Government, in consonance^to the enlightened 
 and liberal policy which they have thought proper to adopt 
 towards the people of this country, having conceded to the 
 latter the full enjoyment of these rights, the chief cause which 
 operated as a check to native improvement and progress has 
 thereby been removed." 
 
FORMER STATE OF SURAT. 157 
 
 " Cities of Gujarashtra," gives a brief but 
 accurate summary of Ardeshir s distinguished 
 services. So well has Mr. Briggs treated 
 the subject, that we shall be excused for 
 quoting his remarks. He says : 
 
 " Among the natives of Western India he 
 (Ardasir) stands alone for his abilities, his 
 energy, and his unwearied zeal for the 
 Government he served, the country which 
 gave him birth and his countrymen refuge 
 in exile. To form any idea of the state of 
 Surat at this time, and to appreciate the 
 exertions of Ardasir, it must be borne in 
 mind that both the city and the river were 
 plagued wath robbers and pirates equally 
 daring and adroit. The indolent avaricious- 
 ness of the citizen was exposed to the rapacity 
 of his needy neighbour, at whose means the 
 villanous Koli of Gujarat could be introduced 
 into his dwelling; and the nature of such 
 felonies was frequently rendered more atrocious 
 by the commission of murder : but the stealthi- 
 ness and security with which such feats were 
 performed wholly defeated the aim and the 
 ends of justice. 
 
 " Nor w^as the system of piracy any half- 
 handed measure : the Gifts of the Ocean (the 
 happy sobriquet) were shared from Cambay 
 
158 THE PARSEES. 
 
 north, as far southward as Daman by a leagued 
 fraternity, whose emissaries were too frequently 
 the servants or friends of the enterprising mer- 
 chant. It was nothing unusual to learn of 
 singular storms and stranger shipwrecks ; yet 
 Swali Nest or Thari Hole had received many 
 hundred bales of cotton or richer spoil both 
 unsoiled by the sea and unknown to any voyage 
 but that of the river. The gains were equally 
 distributed ; which permitted the existence of 
 the band such a series of years. But, even 
 this nefarious, audacious, and extensive plot, 
 perished under proper vigilance and due 
 discrimination. 
 
 " Mr. Anderson, lately Governor of Bombay, 
 a man of severe thought and determined prin- 
 ciples of action when session judge of Surat, 
 had bestowed some attention on this subject, 
 but was at fault as to the means of extirpating 
 these evils, and he bent his eye upon a young 
 and adventurous instrument for accomplish- 
 ing the required purpose : his penetration of 
 character found in Ardasir the willing engine. 
 From this period is to be dated the extra- 
 ordinary exertions of Ardasir for Surat ; in- 
 stantly diverting his notice to the amount and 
 nature of the existing sore, he probed their 
 extent, and then resorted to remedial steps. 
 
SERVICES OF ARDASIR. 159 
 
 "The employment of his energies for the 
 state did not terminate in the suppression 
 of the grievances noticed : they were followed, 
 by remodelling the police of the city the 
 introduction of an establishment of dondias, 
 or watchmen an improved gaol discipline, 
 quite as well as the foundation of a paper 
 manufactory to engage the time of the 
 prisoners in salutary pursuits, and the im- 
 provement of the roads. Amid these trying 
 labours he devoted a large portion of his time 
 in rendering considerable assistance to Mr. 
 Borrodaile, of the civil service, in a valuable 
 work prepared for the Government, which 
 that gentleman had the candour to admit 
 without Ardasir's services the undertaking 
 must have failed. 
 
 "The intricate, the substantial, the im- 
 portant services of Ardasir induced the Govern- 
 ment in November, 1825, to bestow upon him 
 a khilat, or honorary garb, in that manner 
 most gratifying to the pride of the recipient. 
 The ceremony was performed in open durbar 
 by the agent for the honourable the Governor, 
 and the opportunity availed of to present 
 Ardasir with 5,000 rupees. On this occasion 
 a petition, signed by 800 of the principal 
 native residents of Surat, was delivered to 
 
160 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the agent, expressive of the pleasure expe- 
 rienced in this prominent notice of the efforts 
 of their fellow-citizen for the general security 
 and weal of the community. 
 
 "Upon the 22nd of December, 1829, and 
 during his stay at Surat, Sir John Malcolm, 
 the then Governor of Bombay, by way of 
 particularly marking the meritorious labours 
 of Ardasir, at a special durbar held, to which 
 were summoned all the principal personages 
 in and about Surat, invested him with a khilat, 
 and conferred the title of bahadur in them- 
 selves no ordinary honours, but which in this 
 instance were accompanied by the presenta- 
 tion of a horse with rich trappings, and a 
 jaghir of the annual rental of 3,000 rupees, 
 promising Ardasir, at the same time, to send 
 him a gold medal. Upwards of 20,000 natives 
 had assembled to witness the ceremony, and 
 to signify their thanks to the Governor for 
 the honours paid Ardasir. General Hessman 
 was ordered to afford a strong military force 
 to give importance to the occasion, and a 
 company of infantry escorted Ardasir, with 
 a military band, to his residence. 
 
 "In 1830, the Judicial Commissioner, Mr. 
 James Sutherland, having received special 
 instructions from the Government of Bombav, 
 
ARDASIRS ZEAL. I6l 
 
 held a durbar on the 14th of December to 
 carry into effect the intentions of the honour- 
 able the Governor in presenting Ardasir with 
 the promised medal. In the presence of a large 
 concourse, composed of European and native 
 gentlemen, after a long, eloquent, and appro- 
 priate speech in Hindoos tani, detailing the 
 several valuable and useful services rendered 
 by Ardasir to the state and the community 
 of Surat, and ably expatiating upon the high 
 sense entertained by Government of this public 
 servant, Mr. Sutherland delivered to Ardasir 
 the gift of the Bombay Cabinet. It is a plain 
 round slab of gold, bearing the following 
 inscription on one side, " This medal is pre- 
 sented to Ardasir Dunjeeshah Bahadoor, Kot- 
 wal of Surat, in token of the high sense enter- 
 tained by the Bombay Government of the 
 diligence and fidelity with which he has per- 
 formed his public duties both as an officer of 
 police and in other capacities. 1st January, 
 1830." The obverse bears a translation in 
 Gujarati. 
 
 " Years have since fled, and Ardasir s un- 
 remitting ability, his unwearied zeal remain 
 unaltered ; his assistance in the general affairs 
 of the country, have continued to prove the 
 theme of all his superiors. His counsel has 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 1)6611 fr6qu6ntly sought, his opinion nev6r 
 disr6garded ; and his merits were found of no 
 ordinary calibre in the diplomatic arrange- 
 ments required in the affairs of native states, 
 particularly those of the ISTawabs of Surat and 
 Suchin and the Rana of Dharampur. In the 
 last matter where the pecuniary embarrass- 
 ments of the prince had been so promptly and 
 satisfactorily arranged while Ardasir was native 
 agent to the Governor, the Hindoo chieftain, 
 in grateful recollection of the Zoroastrian's 
 intervention, summarily thrust upon him a 
 village affording a yearly revenue of two 
 thousand rupees, which Ardasir, with his usual 
 spirit, declined to accept ; a reference was 
 subsequently submitted by the Eana to the 
 Bombay Government on the subject, and the 
 expected negative reply ensued." 
 
 The European reader will thus see, that of 
 all the races inhabiting India, the Parsees 
 are the most intelligent and energetic. Not 
 trammelled by that cursed system of " Caste,'* 
 they are at liberty to trade and inhabit all 
 quarters of the globe, and follow whatever 
 professions they think will be conducive to 
 their advancement in life. They may justly 
 boast that, upon the first opportunity the race 
 has possessed for a thousand years of rising 
 
LIBERALITY OF PARSEES. l63 
 
 into eminence, they have proved themselves the 
 worthy descendants of a renowned ancestry. 
 
 Although insignificant in point of numbers, 
 the Parsec community can never be absent 
 from the European mind, when contemplating 
 the vast empire of India. The Parsee has 
 been flatteringly described as the Saxon of the 
 East, and under the jegis of the just and 
 enlightened rule of England has entered, with 
 success, into competition with the Saxon of 
 the West in the meed for honourable dis- 
 tinction.* 
 
 The wealth acquired by the Parsees, we 
 are proud to say, is rarely mis-spent. There 
 are, of course, as in all communities, some 
 who wisely hoard up their riches, while others 
 squander away large fortunes in luxury and 
 debauchery without contributing a penny to- 
 wards any charitable fund or object of public 
 utility. But it cannot be denied that the 
 majority of the Parsees are benevolent to 
 a degree ; some even forget that charity 
 begins at home, and are liberal beyond their 
 means. The race has inherited this spirit of 
 liberality from its ancestors, who were con- 
 
 * Rustomjee Byramjee, a graduate of the Grant Medical 
 College, obtained in 1857, by public competition, a commission 
 as Assistant Surgeon on the Bombay estabhshment. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 THE PARSEES. 
 
 spicuous for their love of charity. It is 
 enough to show to a Parsee an ohject 
 deserving of relief or support, and his purse 
 is at once opened. 
 
 This good quality which flows in the Par- 
 see veins has been noticed by the earliest 
 Europeans, who came in contact with this 
 people. The benevolence of one Sorabjee 
 Muncherjee is thus referred to in a Bombay 
 newspaper, dated 1790. "We are happy in 
 the opportunity of pointing out the liberality 
 of Sorabjee Muncherjee, whose conduct does 
 honour to humanity. During the present 
 scarcity of provisions, he daily feeds upwards 
 of 2,000 people, of different castes, at his 
 own expense." 
 
 Mrs. Graham, in her journal of a residence 
 in India in the years 1805 and 1806, says, 
 **the Parsee merchant, Ardeshir Dady, fed 
 five thousand people, besides contributing in 
 other ways towards the support of the starv- 
 ing population." The Rev. Mr. Ovington, 
 who has published an account of his voyage 
 to Surat in the year 1689, has said that "the 
 Parsees are ever ready to provide for the 
 sustenance and comfort of such as want them. 
 Their universal kindness, either in employing 
 such as are needy and able to work, or 
 
SIR JAMSETJEE JEEJEEBHOY. l65 
 
 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, and herein so far comply with 
 that excellent rule of Pythagoras, to enjoy a 
 kind of community among friends." Major 
 Moore, in his narrative of the operation of 
 Captain Little's detachment, &c., says, ** The 
 benevolence of the Parsees is not restricted 
 to persons of their own seot. Their industry 
 and extensive mercantile spirit have enabled 
 many of them to amass considerable fortunes, 
 which they spend with generous profusion 
 in acts of charity and hospitality." 
 
 But let us come nearer to our own times. 
 Who has not heard of that very prince of 
 munificence, the venerable Parsee baronet,. 
 Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, whose unbounded 
 charity is not only unsurpassed, but without 
 a parallel in ancient or modern times. Since 
 1822, when his charitable acts began to be 
 publicly noticed, scarcely a year has passed in 
 which he has not displayed that spirit of 
 liberality which has made his name so famous 
 throughout the world, and brought upon him 
 the blessings and regard of his people and 
 unprecedented honours from his gracious 
 Sovereign. 
 
166 THE PARSEES. 
 
 The capital of Western India, and Surat, 
 Nowsari, and other places in Guzerat, and 
 Khandalla and Poona in the Deccan, bear 
 testimony to his liberality, philanthropy, and 
 public spirit. He has at various times 
 released the prisoners confined in jail for 
 debt under the authority of the Small Cause 
 Court ; built causeways for the benefit of the 
 public and the promotion of traffic between 
 Bombay and Salsett; founded schools and 
 colleges for the education of his countrymen ; 
 erected hospitals for the relief of the suffering 
 poor; established benevolent institutions for 
 relieving the indigent and poor at Bombay, 
 Surat, Nowsaree, and other places ; built 
 spacious and comfortable dharumsallas for tlie 
 convenience of travellers ; and erected works 
 for the supply of water, and relieved people 
 from the scarcity of the most precious of 
 all commodities. 
 
 Sir Jamsetjee's subscriptions to various 
 charitable objects have always been handsome 
 and extensive, while we cannot guess the 
 extent of his private charity. To the poor, 
 the needy, and the distressed, he has always 
 held out a helping hand. Nor are his 
 charities confined to people of his own caste 
 or race ; he gives indiscriminately without 
 
SIR JAMSETJEE KNIGHTED. l67 
 
 reference to caste, colour, or creed. So widely 
 had the fame of his munificence spread, that 
 in 1842 he received the honour of knighthood 
 from the hands of our gracious and most 
 beloved Sovereign, Queen Victoria. The 
 patent of knighthood* was, amidst great 
 ostentation and public demonstration, pre- 
 sented to Sir Jamsetjee, at the Government- 
 house at Parol, by Sir George Anderson, 
 then Governor of Bombay. On the 15th 
 of December, 1843, Sir Jamsetjee received 
 a further mark of her Majesty's appro- 
 bation of his generosity and public spirit 
 
 * The following account of the armorial bearings of Sir 
 Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy is taken from a newspaper of the day: 
 
 " Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy's ' coat of arms ' consists of a 
 handsome shield in the form of the shields used by the Knights 
 of St. John at the defence of Malta, beautifully emblazoned by 
 scrolas of gold. At the lower part of the shield is a landscape 
 scene in India, intended to represent a part of the island of 
 Bombay, with the islands of Salsette and Elephanta in the dis- 
 tance. The sun is seen rising from behind Salsette to denote 
 industry, and in diffusing its light and heat displaying libe- 
 rality. The upper part of the shield has a white ground to 
 denote integrity and purity, on w^hich are placed two bees 
 representing industry and perseverance. The shield is sur- 
 mounted by a crest consisting of a beautiful peacock, denoting 
 wealth, grandeur, and magnificence ; and in its mouth is placed 
 an ear of paddy, denoting beneficence. Below the shield is a 
 white pennant folded, on which is inscribed the words ' Indus- 
 try and Liberality,' which is Sir Jamsetjee's motto." 
 
168 THE PARSEES. 
 
 in the shape of a gold medal* set in 
 diamonds. 
 
 His grateful countrymen were not, however, 
 behind hand in recognising and publicly testi- 
 fying their respect for the good qualities which 
 distinguish this great man. In the month of 
 June, 1856, a public meeting, organised by 
 the native population of Bombay, and cordially 
 supported by the Europeans of the city, was 
 held in the Town Hall of Bombay, under the 
 presidency of the Right Hon. the Governor, 
 Lord Elphinstone. The object of the demon- 
 stration was to vote a statue to the venerable 
 Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, to be set up in the 
 Town Hall, where the effigy of the first native 
 of India will be placed, by the side of those 
 of Elphinstone, Malcolm, and Forbes. 
 
 Excellent speeches were delivered at the 
 meeting, two of which we are tempted to 
 reprint, as they not only fully describe the 
 excellent qualities of Sir Jamsetjee, but as 
 they are the spontaneous expressions of two 
 men high in authority in India, they will 
 carry greater conviction with them than the 
 
 * The medal bears, on its face, the image of the Queen 
 encircled with diamonds. The reverse bears this inscription : 
 *' Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, Bart., from the British Govern- 
 ment, in honour of his munificeiice and his patriotism." 
 
SPEECH OF LORD ELPHINSTONE. l69 
 
 opinions which emanate from one who belongs 
 to Sir Jamsetjee's own country and race. 
 
 The eloquent and impressive speech of Lord 
 Elphinstone runs thus : " When I was asked 
 to preside over this meeting, I felt no ordinary 
 satisfaction in accepting the invitation. The 
 occasion was unusual, I believe I may say, in 
 India, unprecedented. Every one must ap- 
 prove of the object so far, that every one must 
 wish to do honour to Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. 
 Those who take an interest in the improve- 
 ment and progress of the natives of this 
 country must, I think, view our proceedings 
 to-day with peculiar pleasure. It is a good 
 sign when a community comes forward of its 
 own accord to do homage to real worth ; in 
 honouring Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, the 
 community honours itself. The mere fact of 
 this meeting renders it superfluous that I 
 should expatiate upon Sir Jamsetjee Jeejee- 
 bhoy's claims to our respect and love. But I 
 would point out that these do not rest solely 
 upon the vast sums which he has contributed 
 to objects of public charity and convenience. 
 The extent, indeed, of those contributions is 
 almost incredible ; to enumerate the various 
 benefits which he has conferred not only upon 
 this town, but upon the presidency at large, 
 
170 THE PARSEES. 
 
 would be to trespass unduly upon your time. 
 I may, however, be permitted to observe that 
 his public benefactions alone amount to a 
 quarter of a million sterling or exactly the 
 sum which it will take to construct the great 
 works which will supply this island with 
 water. In what age, and in what country, can 
 we find another example of such princely 
 munificence? Three of the largest cities in 
 Great Britain, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Man- 
 chester whose united population, however, is 
 not double that of Bombay have lately 
 incurred, or are at this moment incurring an 
 expense of upwards of two millions sterling 
 upon water-works. I will suppose that the 
 imited wealth of these three cities exceeds 
 that of Bombay in the proportion that the 
 cost of their water- works bears to ours. I 
 must admit that this is no criterion at all, and 
 that it is very probable that I have much 
 under rated their superiority of wealth but 
 which of these cities, I ask, can boast of a 
 citizen who has devoted 250,000/. to purposes 
 of public charity and benevolence ? 
 
 "But I have just said it is not the amount 
 only of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy's charities 
 that commands my admiration. True libe- 
 rality is shown in the manner of distribution 
 
MUNIFICENCE OF SIR JAMSETJEE. 171 
 
 no less than in the amount. I will not go 
 back to the dark ages, and cite the times 
 when Christian monasteries and Buddhist 
 wickaras were endowed by men, who sought 
 to gain the favour of Heaven by renouncing 
 their possessions and performing what they 
 considered an act of charitv, and which was 
 certainly one of abnegation. I may, however, 
 refer to those who founded our great collegiate 
 institutions, and to the monarchs who built 
 the Hotel des Invalides at Paris, and Green- 
 wich and Chelsea Hospitals near London. 
 The former afforded education only to those 
 who participated in the founder s faith. The 
 latter were for the worn out soldiers and 
 sailors of the kings who established them. 
 Far be it from me to undervalue these noble 
 foundations but I cannot help remarking 
 that Sir Jamsetjee's benefactions, with the 
 sole exception I believe of the Parsee bene- 
 volent institution, are made to the entire 
 community, not for Parsees only, but for 
 Hindoos, Jews, Christians, and Mahomedans. 
 "It is this Catholic character of Sir Jamset- 
 jee's benevolence his sympathy for the poor 
 and suffering of all castes and creeds that has 
 won for him the universal respect and esteem 
 of all classes of the community, and it is to 
 
172 THE PARSEES. 
 
 this feeling that we owe the gathering which 
 the sheriff's requisition has collected to-day in 
 this hall. The manner in which Sir Jam- 
 setjee Jeejeebhoy acquired his great wealth 
 was hardly less honourable to himself and 
 beneficial to the community than the mode 
 in which he dispenses it. By strict integrity, 
 by industry and punctuality in all his com- 
 mercial transactions, he has contributed to 
 raise the character of the Bombay merchant 
 in the most distant markets. His whole life 
 is a practical illustration of the truth of the 
 homely proverb that "honesty is the best 
 policy," and in this respect and in others he 
 will leave behind him an example which I 
 trust will long continue to be held up for 
 imitation among us. But I have said enough, 
 though certainly very far less than I might 
 have said, upon Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy 's 
 claims upon our admiration and gratitude. 
 
 " I must not sit down without offering a few 
 remarks upon the mode in which it is 
 proposed that we should testify these senti- 
 ments. I hear that some object to a statue: it 
 would be more consistent, they say, with the 
 character of the man whom we seek to 
 honour to make our tribute assume the shape 
 of a work of charity than a work of art. I 
 
STATUE TO SIR JAMSETJEE. 173 
 
 am unable to concur in this view. In the 
 first place, I would remark that Sir Jamsetjee 
 has anticipated us in every work of charity 
 with which we might seek to connect his 
 name. We have already hospitals, dhurum- 
 sallas, educational institutions, tanks, cause- 
 ways, and I know not how many other things, 
 intended for the relief and instruction and 
 convenience of the people, called after him. 
 Besides I think we may well wish to per- 
 petuate among the worthies who have a place 
 in this hall, or our public streets, the likeness 
 of a man who has conferred such great 
 benefits upon the community, and who will 
 leave behind him so bright an example of all 
 the qualities which dignify the acquisition of 
 wealth, and render its possession a blessing. 
 " Most civilized nations, both in ancient and 
 modern times, have adopted this mode of 
 honouring distinguished public virtues and 
 services. At Athens, we read that the 
 porticos were crowded with statues, and at 
 Eome the number in the forum became so 
 great that the censor, P. Cornelius Scipio and 
 M. Papilius, removed all those which had not 
 been erected with the sanction of the senate 
 and the people. It is not likely that such an 
 accumulation will take place anywhere in 
 
174 THE PARSEES. 
 
 modern times least of all is it likely in 
 India; but if it were possible, I would 
 venture to predict tbat no future censor would 
 be found to direct the removal of the statue 
 of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy from the spot 
 w^here it is to be placed, and that it will 
 remain to distant generations a monument of 
 the civic virtues of the man, and of the 
 gratitude of the community." 
 
 In an equally eloquent speech, H. L. Ander- 
 son, Esq., Secretary to Government, thus 
 testified to the good qualities of Sir Jam- 
 setjee : " I feel that some apology is due 
 from me for presenting myself to the meet- 
 ing at so early a period of our proceedings. 
 I may be permitted thus briefly to explain 
 that, in undertaking to move this resolution, 
 I have yielded to the opinion expressed to me, 
 by several native gentlemen, that my near 
 relationship to one of his oldest friends would 
 render my performance of this duty acceptable 
 to Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. It has been also 
 indirectly intimated to me that a similar feel- 
 ing was entertained by Sir Jamsetjee's sons. 
 Under these circumstances, and having very 
 much at heart the object for which this 
 meeting was convened, I have felt that I 
 ought not to shrink from the work which has 
 
SPEECH OF H. L. ANDERSON, ESQ. 175 
 
 been thus assigned to me. In this hall we 
 have frequently met to render our tribute 
 of admiration to the heroes and statesmen 
 who have illustrated the policy and the arms 
 of our common country. This day we acquit 
 ourselves of a duty dear to us all, of ex- 
 pressing our gratitude to one who, having 
 acquired vast wealth by a long career of 
 honourable industry, has distributed that 
 wealth with unparalleled benevolence. The 
 days are past when good deeds done in India 
 remain unknown; this country is daily occu- 
 pying a larger space in the minds of thought- 
 ful men, and there is not a region on the 
 civilized globe, from China to the far Eepublic 
 of the West, which has not heard of the 
 benevolent Knight of India. This island 
 owes much to the public spirit of our native 
 fellow citizens, it has enabled Bombay to 
 maintain no unequal contest in the honour- 
 able emulation which progress must ever call 
 forth between the three presidencies. I believe 
 that gentlemen who have devoted their best 
 energies to the interests of Calcutta and 
 Madras have said, ' What could we not do if 
 our natives were like the natives of Bombay.' 
 " Pre-eminent among those who have thus 
 contributed to the prosperity of this pre- 
 
176 THE PARSEES. 
 
 sidency, is Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. I 
 fear that I should exhaust the patience of 
 the meeting if I were to recount all the great 
 public works which have been constructed by 
 his munificence. I shall therefore only rapidly 
 glance at some of the most prominent ; but 
 it ought not to be forgotten that, in addition 
 to the great works which will endear his 
 name to remote generations, his private his 
 almost secret charities have divided the 
 weekly bread to thousands of his fellow - 
 creatures. The characteristic of his munifi- 
 cence has been enlightened usefulness. 
 
 " His wealth has been achieved by sagacity, 
 industry, and the purest good faith ; it has not 
 been lavished with mere ostentatious and ill- 
 considered profusion. In the long list of his 
 public benefactions, there is not one which 
 does not exhibit a wise discrimination, and 
 amply deserve the title of a good work. Some 
 have naturally been devoted to the relief and 
 the improvement of the members of that 
 ancient faith in which he was himself born 
 and nurtured, but the greater portion have 
 solely contemplated the common good of all. 
 If a stranger landing on these shores were 
 to inquire what were the works by which the 
 Parsee Knight, of whom he had heard so much. 
 
SIR jamsetjee's good works. 177 
 
 had acquired his renown, we should but have 
 to tell him *to look around.' He would sec 
 hospitals which, besides the tender offices they 
 have extended to the afflicted, have, in con- 
 junction with the Grant College, conferred 
 on India the inestimable benefit of a skilled 
 body of native medical practitioners. He 
 would see tanks, by which, to adopt the ex- 
 pression of Edmund Burke, the industry of 
 man carefully husbands the precious gift of 
 God. He would see, and not only here, but 
 also at Nowsary in the north, and Khan- 
 dallah in the south, dhurumsallas the homes 
 of charity, in which the houseless and the 
 wandering find refuge and relief. He would 
 see the noble causeway which unites the 
 Islands of Bombay and Salsette. He would 
 see the water-works at Poona, the bridges at 
 Earla Parla and Bartha. He would see roads, 
 wells, aqueducts, and reservoirs." 
 
 "But these works, great as they are, are very 
 far from representing all the good deeds of Sir 
 Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. He has founded and 
 endowed an institution for the education and 
 maintenance of the children of poor ParseeSy 
 at an expense of nearly 50,000/. Many of those 
 whom I now address must have been present, 
 as I was, when he gave in one gift to the 
 
 N 
 
178 THE PARSEES. 
 
 sacred cause of education the sum of 30,000/. ; 
 and they will not easily forget the sensation 
 created by that announcement made with so 
 much calmness and simplicity. But besides 
 founding the schools which bear his name, 
 and besides contributing most liberally to 
 various other educational institutions, he has 
 proposed to give a new impetus to the native 
 mind, to develope, if possible, another vein of 
 talent by the formation of a school of design. 
 To this great purpose he has devoted a sum 
 of 10,000/. But it would be to gild refined 
 gold to dwell on the abundant evidences of 
 the public spirit of this excellent citizen. 
 
 " It will be sufficient for me to repeat what 
 has been said by the noble lord in the chair, 
 that he has expended, for the solid and endur- 
 ing benefit of Bombay, no less a sum than a 
 quarter of a million sterling. But in address- 
 ing a meeting at which many of my own 
 countrymen are present, I must not fail to 
 allude to the facts that, when the bones of 
 thousands of heroic men Europeans and 
 sepoys were whitening in the snows of 
 Cabool, when famine decimated the High- 
 lands of Scotland, when a mysterious dis- 
 pensation of Providence deprived our poor 
 Irishmen of their daily food, when the widows 
 
HONOUR TO SIR JAMSETJEE. 1/9 
 
 and the orphans of the brave men who died 
 for the right at Alma and Inkermann, stretched 
 forth their hands for aid, none evinced a more 
 generous sympathy, none showed more alacrity 
 in giving bread to the hungry, and binding 
 up the wounds of the broken-hearted, thaii 
 he whom this day we honour ourselves in 
 honouring. If, gentlemen, such deeds as these 
 go without recognition in his own genera- 
 tion, the shame will be ours. The bloodless 
 triumphs of commerce have been illustrated 
 by the ennobled names of Ashburton and 
 Overs tone. In the glorious temple which 
 adorns the capital of the British Empire, in 
 which lie the bones of the iron victor of a 
 hundred fields, and the mutilated form of 
 him, 
 
 * The saviour of the silver coasted isle, 
 The shaker of the Baltic and the Nile ;* 
 
 in that temple near the marble which gives 
 to posterity the form of Samuel Johnson, 
 stands the statue of the illustrious philan- 
 thropist, John Howard. Nor could learning 
 and valour demand a worthier associate. Let 
 us then, in the same spirit, give a great 
 example to all India ; let us show how a good 
 man can be appreciated ; and in this island, 
 in which due reverence has been rendered 
 
 N 2 
 
180 THE PARSEES. 
 
 to the genius of Wellesley and Elpliinstone, 
 to the virtues of Cornwallis and the gallant 
 spirit of Malcolm, let us enable the humblest 
 of his countrymen, in distant times, to gaze 
 on the lineaments of their great benefactor. 
 Such tributes are usually reserved for the 
 illustrious dead. But in so mixed a popu- 
 lation as that of Bombay, it is very meet that 
 ^our venerable friend should know that all 
 creeds and races, Parsees, Hindoos, Mussul- 
 mans, Jews, and Christians, have accorded 
 to him their gratitude. That he should be 
 assured by the concurrent voices of all, he has 
 not laboured in vain, that he should see his 
 good deeds, in the language of our great 
 poet 
 
 " ' Formed in the applause 
 Where they are intended, and which like an arch reverberates 
 The voice again, or like a gate of steel. 
 Fronting the sun, receives and renders back 
 His figure and his heat.' 
 
 " He is now full of years. The evening of 
 his days is brilliant with the lustre which 
 anticipates the praises of posterity. Long 
 may he husband out life's taper at the close, 
 happy in his most estimable family happy in 
 the applause and affection of his fellow-citizens 
 ^happiest in the memory of his honourable 
 and useful life." 
 
SIR jamsetjee's benefactions. 181 
 
 Her Majesty has lately, we are glad to say, 
 further honoured Sir Jamsetjee by conferring 
 a baronetcy upon him. Mr. Cursetjee Jam- 
 setjee, who is already so extensively known in 
 society, is the heir-apparent to the baronetcy 
 
 We cannot conclude our short notice of 
 this great man without appending a list of 
 his benefactions so far as we have been able 
 to ascertain them : 
 
 Rupees 
 
 Sum paid for the relief of poor debtors in 1822, 1826, 
 
 and 1842 3,040 
 
 Endowment for the performance in Bombay and 
 
 Guzerat, of various Parsee rites and ceremonies . 1,80,000 
 
 Cost of a building and adjoining ground for the cele- 
 bration of Public Festivals among the Parsees . 70,000 
 
 Contribution in money, grain, and clothes for the be- 
 nefit of the sufferers by the great fire at Surat 
 and Syed Poora 30,800 
 
 Sums remitted for the relief of poor Parsees at and 
 
 near Surat, from 1840 to 1847 . . . . 39,000 
 
 Subscriptions to the Panjrapol in Bombay . . 71,600 
 at Patton . . 3,000 
 
 Endowment for the relief of poor Hindoos in Guzerat, 
 
 in memory of a Hindoo friend .... 30,000 
 
 Parsee cemeteries in various places .... 29,600 
 
 Sums given in aid of distressed members of native 
 
 families 44,000 
 
 Building and repairs of various Parsee places of 
 
 worship 16,700 
 
 Cost of sundry wells and reservoirs in Bombay and 
 
 other places in the Presidency .... 15,000 
 
 Fund for the benefit of the poor blind at Nowsaree . 5,000 
 
 Subscriptions to the Parsee punchayet for charitable 
 
 works 15,000 
 
182 THE PARSERS. 
 
 Rupees 
 
 Parsee church at Poona 45,000 
 
 Dharumsalla at Khandalla . . . . . 20,000 
 
 at Nowsaree 20,000 
 
 Fund for the funeral expenses of poor Parsees at 
 
 Gundevee near Nowsaree 5,000 
 
 Redemption of the body-tax levied by the Gaikwad 
 
 Government on the Parsees at Nowsaree . . 17,000 
 Endowment for poor Parsees at Nowsaree . . 62,500 
 
 at Surat . . . 1,25,000 
 Buildings at Nowsaree for Parsee religious obser- 
 vances 8,400 
 
 Buildings connected with the cemetry at the same 
 
 place 8,600 
 
 Contribution towards the construction of the J. J. 
 
 hospital 1,60,500 
 
 The Obstetric Institution in connection with the J. J. 
 
 hospital 30,000 
 
 Mahim causeway 1,55,000 
 
 Mahim road 22,000 
 
 Bridge at Aria Parla 4,000 
 
 Tank at Bandora 6,500 
 
 Dharumsalla, Bellasis road, Bombay .... 1,50,000 
 
 Water-works at Poona 1,80,270 
 
 Bridge at Bartha near Surat , 7,300 
 
 Tank on the Byculla road 23,000 
 
 Endowment to the Parsee Benevolent Institution for 
 
 the education and maintenance of the children of 
 
 poor Parsees at Bombay 4,40,000 
 
 School of design in Bombay 1,00,000 
 
 A Zend Avasta school for Parsees .... 3,000 
 Book and prize fund Grant Medical College . . 15,000 
 Subscription to the Parsee punchayet for charitable 
 
 works 15,000 
 
 Contribution to the fund for the benefit of European 
 
 pensioners and their widows .... 5,000 
 Subscription to the Elphinstone Professorships . . 11,500 
 
 Byculla schools 1,000 
 
CHARITABLE PARSEE8. 183 
 
 Rupee? 
 
 Subscription to District Benevolent Society, Bombay 5,00G 
 
 Sailors Home, Bombay 2,000 
 
 Shivry School of Industry (founded by Dr. 
 
 Buist) 1,500 
 
 Free school, Calcutta 2,000 
 
 Fund for the relief of the Scotch and Irish . 10,000 
 
 Naval school at Devonport .... 1,000 
 
 Wellington Testimonial 7,000 
 
 Patriotic Fund 5,000 
 
 Relief Fund 2,000 
 
 Havelock Testimonial 1,000 
 
 Total Rupees 2,219,810 
 Total Sterling ^221,981 
 
 It would be a great injustice were we to 
 altogether fail in noticing the charitable and 
 generous spirit of other Parsee gentlemen. 
 Framjee Nusserwanjee, Esq., is well known 
 both to the native and European community 
 of Bombay for his great liberality ; there 
 is scarcely any charitable object which does 
 not receive some assistance from his purse. 
 He was one of the four Parsee gentlemen 
 who mainly contributed towards the esta- 
 blishment of the Parsee Girls' Schools, and 
 he is at this day one of its warmest sup- 
 porters. He has of late evinced such an 
 interest in the education and general enlight- 
 enment of his countrymen that any measure 
 
184 THE PARSEES. 
 
 tending to further this object receives his best 
 sympathies, and his purse is ever ready to 
 minister to the wants of institutions which 
 have for their object the promotion of the 
 welfare and advancement of the people. 
 
 Cowasjee Jehanjeer, Esq., has also by his 
 generous acts established a claim upon the 
 gratitude of the poor. Without noticing his 
 handsome subscriptions to various charities, 
 one or two of his acts deserve prominent 
 mention. Two years ago he contributed a 
 sum of 30,000 rupees to the fund for re- 
 lieving indigent Parsees ; and with the view 
 of encouraging young men of his race to pro- 
 secute their studies for a lengthened period, 
 he has founded a scholarship in the Sir Jam- 
 setjee Jeejeebhoy Parsee Benevolent Institu- 
 tion, towards the support of which he has 
 likewise given a handsome sum. 
 
 Manockjee Nusserwanjee, Esq., an equally 
 generous man, beloved by the poor and 
 honoured by his people, on the death of his 
 wife* set apart 30,000 rupees for different 
 ^charitable institutions ; and his contributions 
 to charitable purposes are invariably charac- 
 terised by great liberality. On the death of 
 
 * The Parsees, en the death of a near relative, generally 
 -contribute to a charitable fund. 
 
LIBERALITY OF THE CAMA FAMILY. 185 
 
 the late ^Jecjecblioy Dadabhoy, Esq., a fund 
 of 2,00,000 rupees was set apart in his will ; 
 the interest of the sum was from time to 
 time to be contributed to such objects of 
 charity as the trustees thought proper. By- 
 ramjee Jeejeebhoy, Esq., the son of the 
 deceased, is an equally liberal man. 
 
 The wealthy individuals who compose the 
 Cama family are all ever ready to meet the 
 calls of humanity. On the death of the late 
 Nusservvanjee Muncherjee Cama, his sons 
 voluntarily set aside a fund of 1,25,000 rupees 
 for different charitable institutions. This 
 spirit of liberality is highly commendable, as 
 it displays on the part of the sons of the 
 deceased a generous self-denial in apply- 
 ing a handsome sum of money to noble 
 purposes which otherwise would have been 
 their own. 
 
 We could thus go on enumerating instance 
 after instance to prove the benevolent and 
 generous nature of this race. It is possible 
 that the foregoing notices may wound the 
 feelings of those whose names we have men- 
 tioned, but in a work like the present it would 
 be impossible to leave such noble acts unre- 
 corded. It is solely owing to the benevolence 
 of the wealthy Parsees that not a single Parsee 
 
186 THE PARSEES. 
 
 beggar is to be seen, a fact highly creditable 
 to the race. The committee of the Bombay 
 District Benevolent Society* thus publicly 
 acknowledged the fact in one of their reports, 
 " The public at large owe a debt of gratitude 
 to the Parsees of Bombay, for not one beggar 
 of that caste has ever applied to this society 
 for relief, nor is a Parsee pauper ever to be 
 seen in our streets." 
 
 * This institution is supported by Government, its officers, 
 and the European and native gentlemen. 
 
187 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 Education of males Female education Future prospects upon 
 the increasing desire for learning Notices of rich men's sons 
 devoting themselves to study. 
 
 We now proceed to the consideration of the 
 progress of education among the Parsees. Of 
 all the natives of India this race has shown 
 itself the most desirous of receiving the bene- 
 fits of an English education; and their eager- 
 ness to drink the waters of the science and 
 literature of the West has been conspicuous. 
 
 The commencement of the educational move- 
 ment with the Parsees can only be dated as 
 far back as twenty-five or, thirty years ago. 
 Before the establishment, in the year 1820, 
 of the Bombay Native Education Society by 
 the Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, the great 
 benefactor of the people of India, only a few 
 schools existed at Bombay for imparting in- 
 struction in English. These seminaries were 
 conducted by half-educated In do-Britons, and 
 
188 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the scholars were chiefly Parsees. The acces- 
 sion of the above-mentioned enligfhtened states- 
 man to the Governorship of Bombay was the 
 commencement of an educational era in that 
 presidency ; as the Governors who preceded 
 him had made no attempts to instruct their 
 subjects. The Hon. Mountstuart Elphin- 
 stone, therefore, is fully entitled to the honour 
 of being called the first European in the 
 Bombay Presidency who evidenced a deep 
 interest in the education and welfare of the 
 natives. In the year 1820 he established the 
 Bombay Native Education Society, for the 
 education of native youth. The Parsees were 
 the first to benefit by the opening of this 
 school ; thus clearly showing, at the very 
 earliest opportunity which presented itself, 
 their eagerness and desire for education. As 
 this infant tree grew in strength, the valuable 
 fruit it yielded was recognised as a great 
 boon by the people, and its extension was 
 extremely desired by the natives themselves. 
 
 An opportunity for the fulfilment of their 
 wishes soon presented itself. On the Hon. 
 Mountstuart Elphinstone's retirement from 
 the Governorship of Bombay, the natives of 
 the island, among whom the Parsees took a 
 prominent part, subscribed among themselves 
 
ELPHINSTONE INSTITUTION. 189 
 
 large'sums of money, and raised a fund for the 
 establishment and maintenance of a college 
 for the education of their countrymen in the 
 higher branches of European science and lite- 
 rature. To this institution they resolved to 
 join the name of Elphinstone, in commemo- 
 ration of the very valuable and praiseworthy 
 efforts of that great and good man. This 
 tribute of respect was at once gratifying to 
 the heart of the gentleman to whom it was 
 paid, and highly honourable to those from 
 whom it emanated; while it also evidenced 
 in a most graceful manner, the value the 
 natives of Bombay set upon education. 
 
 In the year 1840 the two educational 
 establishments were amalgamated under the 
 designation of the Elphinstone Institution, 
 by which name it is still known. This brief 
 sketch of an institution, in the founding of 
 which the Parsees had taken no insignificant 
 part, and who of all the other races have 
 derived the largest amount of benefit from it, 
 is certainly not out of place here. Though 
 the Hindoos* greatly outnumber the Parsees, 
 the number of the latter who receive instruc- 
 tion at the Institution has always exceeded 
 
 * We leave out the Mahomedans altogether in our calcula- 
 tion, as they never trouble their heads about English education. 
 
190 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the former. In fact, the Parsees are the 
 most intelligent and persevering of all the 
 races inhabiting India, and it is only neces- 
 sary for them to understand the value and 
 benefits of that which is offered to them to 
 induce them to grasp it with eagerness. 
 This has been the case with English 
 education. No Parsee, whose means can 
 afford it, will neglect giving one to his 
 children. The Elphinstone Institution swarms 
 with Parsees ; private schools, conducted by 
 European gentlemen, are crowded with them ; 
 English and vernacular schools, established 
 by Government in the different towns in the 
 Mofussil are, wherever Parsees are to be 
 found, chiefly resorted to by that race ; indeed, 
 the Parsees are mostly benefiting themselves 
 by the education provided by the state. 
 
 If there is one fact more than another which 
 can redound to the credit of this race, it is 
 the enliofhtened manner in which the Parsees 
 have recently viewed the question of education. 
 They consider that the time has arrived when, 
 independent of Governmental aid, they should 
 provide for the education of their own people. 
 In Bombay there is an institution superin- 
 tended by a European professor, who has had 
 considerable experience in the educational 
 
SIR jamsetjee's institution. 191 
 
 systems both of Europe and America, for the 
 exclusive education of the Parsees. The name 
 of this institution is not unfamiliar to those 
 who have been in Bombay, or v^^ho have 
 watched the progress of education in that 
 presidency ; we allude to the " Sir Jamsetjee 
 Jeejeebhoy Parsee Benevolent Institution." 
 As this institution is founded and entirely 
 maintained by funds contributed by the Par- 
 sees, and especially by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejee- 
 bhoy, a short account of its origin and design 
 may not be uninteresting. 
 
 In the year 1842, when Sir Jamsetjee 
 Jeejeebhoy was raised to the dignity of knight- 
 hood, the Parsees were highly gratified at the 
 mark of honour bestowed upon one of their 
 number. They considered it their paramount 
 duty to offer publicly their sincere congratu- 
 lations to the man, who had, by his well-known 
 public spirit and generous application of the 
 means placed by Providence at his disposal, not 
 only earned honour for himself but reflected 
 credit on the race of which he was a member. 
 
 The Parsees accordingly presented a hand- 
 some testimonial to Sir Jamsetjee accompanied 
 by an address, in which they said, " To com- 
 memorate this auspicious event, we request 
 your permission to apply a sum of money 
 
192 THE PARSEES. 
 
 which we have subscribed, in forming a fund 
 to be designated * Sir Janisetjee Jeejeebhoy's 
 Translation Fund,' and to be vested in trustees 
 for the purpose of being appropriated in 
 defraying the expenses of translating into 
 the Guzerati language such books from the 
 European and Asiatic languages, whether 
 ancient or modern, as may be approved of 
 by the committee, to be by them published 
 and distributed gratis or at a low price among 
 the Parsee community, in furtherance of the 
 education of our people of which you have 
 ever been a warm friend and zealous patron." 
 Sir Jamsetjee's reply to this address, fully 
 explains the origin of the institution which 
 now bears his illustrious name. He said: 
 " Nothing could please me more than the 
 purposes to which you propose to devote the 
 funds that have been subscribed. I shall ever 
 wish my name to be connected with every 
 endeavour to diffuse knowledge amongst our 
 people ; and the surest way to incite them to 
 elevate and improve themselves, to fit them to 
 appreciate the blessings of the Government 
 under which they live, and to deserve those 
 honours which have now, for the first time, 
 been extended to India, is to spread far and 
 wide amongst them, gratuitously, or in a cheap 
 
PLAN OF THE INSTITUTION. 193 
 
 form, translations into our own language of 
 the works of the most approved authors. Con- 
 nected with this subject is a scheme that I have 
 long contemplated, for relieving the distresses 
 of the Parsee poor of Bombay, Surat, and its 
 neighbourhood. You know full well the state 
 of misery in which many of our people are 
 living, and hopeless ignorance in which their 
 children are permitted to grow up. My object 
 is to create a fund, the interest of which shall 
 be applied towards relieving the indigent of 
 our people, and the education of their children, 
 and I propose to invest the sum of 300,000 
 rupees in the public securities, and to place it 
 at the disposal of trustees, who with the 
 interest, shall carry out the object I have 
 mentioned, and this trust I hope you will 
 take under your care." 
 
 To this sum of 200,000 rupees, the muni- 
 ficent knight further added fifteen shares in 
 the Bank of Bengal, Lady Jamsetjee five, and 
 the Parsee punchayet thirty-five shares. This 
 further contribution of fifty-five shares being 
 valued at the time at three lacs and 96,000 
 rupees. The annual income of the institution, 
 derived from the interest of the sum of three 
 lacs of rupees, and dividend on the above 
 mentioned shares amounts to 40,000 rupees. 
 
 o 
 
194 THE PARSEES. 
 
 The aggregate number of boys receiving in- 
 struction in the central and Mofussil schools 
 of this institution, was at the date of the last 
 report, 1,294. For the success and usefulness 
 of the establishment Sir Jamsetjee has the best 
 wishes of every Par see. 
 
 In connection with the subject of education 
 we must not omit to mention that there are now 
 springing up several schools for the instruction 
 of infants, on the plan adopted in the United 
 Kingdom, and this system of early education 
 is likely to be of much advantage in the mental 
 training and in the formation of the moral 
 habits of Par see children. 
 
 In medical science, too, the Parsees have 
 made considerable progress. The Grant 
 Medical College has its fair proportion of 
 Parsee students and graduates. One of them, 
 as we have already mentioned, has competed 
 successfully for a commission as assistant- 
 surgeon in the Honourable Company's service. 
 The reader will have observed from the fore- 
 going pages, that the Parsees are now making 
 a very fast run in the pursuit of knowledge. 
 One clever Parsee, Mr. Dadabhai Naorosjee, 
 was lately professor of mathematics and 
 natural philosophy, in the Elphinstone Insti- 
 tution, while his general acquirements were 
 
FEMALE EDUCATION. 19^ 
 
 known to be of a high order. Others were 
 assistant-professors in the same institution. 
 These undoubtedly are but a few instances, 
 and we mention them to show that the favour- 
 able state of things which has now com- 
 menced, will in time be attended by the most 
 happy results. Every day adds to the number 
 seeking instruction in the literature of the 
 West. Much good is expected from this 
 thirst for knowledge, as the effect of English 
 education upon the Parsees generally, will 
 be to raise them still higher in the scale of 
 civilization. 
 
 The history of female education among the 
 Parsees, is very interesting. The first who 
 appreciated its value, and endeavoured to in- 
 troduce it into his own family, was the late 
 lamented Framjee Cowasjee, Esq. The enter- 
 prising spirit, which had essayed the culture 
 of silk and the manufacture of sugar, had ob- 
 servantly noted the effect of education upon 
 European ladies. Where, then, could he in- 
 troduce it more fittingly, and with greater 
 promise of success, than in his own family? 
 He, however, did not realize his best expec- 
 tations, and the first experiment, owing to 
 causes which need not be mentioned here, 
 failed. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 THE PARSEES. 
 
 No other Parsee then thought of turning 
 Ms attention to the culture of the female 
 memhers of his family. From the failure 
 of the first experiment, the wisdom of their 
 ancestors in keeping females in a state of 
 ignorance became manifest. The present 
 Parsee Judge of the Court of Small Causes 
 at Bombay, who had visited Europe, did not, 
 however, share in the prejudices of his time. 
 He, to his credit be it said, boldly opposed 
 the popular prejudice, received with indiffer- 
 ence and contempt the vulgar remarks of the 
 ignorant, and commenced the education of his 
 family in English. 
 
 The people generally thought that the 
 4itmost limit to which female education could 
 extend was to teach their wives and daughters 
 ta scrawl letters, in order that they might be 
 .able to write a list of old clothes before send- 
 ing them to the washerman or laundress ; to 
 understand the daily bazaar expenses, which, 
 if they exceeded five rupees, would pass their 
 limits of comprehension ; and to read the name 
 and residence of their husbands or fathers 
 on a small bit of paper, which was sent from 
 the market with the fuel or corn. These 
 three acquirements of ''reading, ri ting and 
 rithmetic " were luxuries indeed, and the pos- 
 
EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENTS. 197 
 
 sessor was envied on account of her superior 
 training ! 
 
 A great chang^, however, soon took place^ 
 The young men who had been educated in 
 Government schools and colleges viewed the 
 question of female education in its proper 
 light. They began to feel for the condition 
 of their better halves. They plainly saw that 
 their own domestic life could not be rendered 
 happy if their wives remained uneducated, nor 
 could the Parsee community generally be said 
 to have advanced in a moral or social point 
 of view if their women remained in a semi- 
 barbarous state. They rightly understood 
 that, if the seeds of education were to be 
 generally spread, they should first germinate 
 with the gentler sex. The influence which 
 a mother or sister exercises upon a child- 
 was rightly conceived, and the enthusiastic: 
 youths determined to do some service to their 
 country and countrymen, by earnestly direct-^ 
 ing their attention to the cause of female 
 education. 
 
 The Students' Literary and Scientific So- 
 ciety* was the great medium for the expo- 
 sition of the feelings and sentiments of 
 
 * The following, which we take from the address of Pro- 
 fessor Reid, delivered at the annual exhibition of the distribu- 
 
198 THE PARSEES. 
 
 these young men. Here numerous essays 
 on tlie social condition of the women of India 
 
 tion of prizes to the girls' school, explains the origin of this 
 useful institution and its vernacular branches : 
 
 "It was during the May vacation of 1848, two months after 
 our arrival in Bombay, that my much-regretted friend, the late 
 Professor Patton, and myself, determined to attempt something 
 of this sort. There was then in a very languishing condition a 
 sort of historical debating club called the Native Literary 
 Society, where the merits of the 'dire Hannibal' and the 
 guilt of Brutus were occasionally discussed. One visit to this 
 society was enough to satisfy us of its utter want of adaptation, 
 either to the necessities of the students, or to the position in 
 which they stood with respect to their country. The question 
 before the meeting was, 'Whether Cajsar was or was not a 
 great man.' The champions of the affirmative had read their 
 speeches on a former night, and their opponents now came 
 forward with written answers, which were expected to provoke 
 on some future occasion written rejoinders ! In the place of 
 this sickly exotic was fixed a plant more suited to the soil, 
 which with tropical luxuriance grew up, in less than three 
 years, into a goodly tree, beneath the wide -spreading branches 
 of which hundreds of both sexes, adults as well as infants, were 
 congregating to enjoy the life-bestowing fruits of knowledge. 
 
 " Our First Session. It was proposed that the business of 
 the new society should be conducted by the reading of essays 
 on literary, scientific, and social subjects ; and by discussing the 
 topics introduced in a conversational manner. It was con- 
 sidered prudent not to open the society, at first, to others than 
 professors, masters, students, and ex-students of the Elphin- 
 stone Institution ; and also to exclude from the sphere of dis- 
 cussion all questions connected with the politics of the day, as 
 well as all matters of religious controversy. At the close of 
 the first session, in May, 1849, forty-six students being double 
 the number of the original members were enrolled. Twenty 
 jneetmgs had been held, at which thirty-five essays were read 
 
THE FIRST STEP. 199 
 
 were read, and the necessity of education 
 as a means of raising them in the social 
 
 and discussed, most of the questions treated of being of a social 
 character. 
 
 " Vernacular Branches Organised. In September, 1848 
 three months after the foundation of the parent society two 
 vernacular branches were organised, under the Sanskrit appel- 
 lation of Dnt/dn-prasurak^ or knowledge -diffiiser, and styled 
 respectively Maruthi and Gujaruti from the language used by 
 each as the medium of communication. The object proposed 
 by their foimdation was ' to promote the diffusion of know- 
 ledge among the imeducated masses, by the reading and dis- 
 cussing of essays on literary, historical, and social subjects ; by 
 lectures on physical and chemical science, accompanied by ex- 
 periments ; and by the publication of a cheap monthly periodi- 
 cal literature, suited to the requirements and tastes of the 
 people." The nature of the connection which exists between 
 these vernacular branches and the parent society is explained 
 in the reports of the Managing Committee : ' In this society, 
 all who become members are expected to contribute. They 
 come here to give, as well as to receive, information. This is 
 a Mutual Improvement Society. In the branch societies, the 
 members of this society go out among their brethren as 
 teachers. The knowledge which they discuss and digest here, 
 they there convey, through the medium of a conunon language, 
 to their less fortunate brethren, who have neither access to the 
 walks of knowledge, nor time to devote to its pursuit." 
 
 '''Lectures on Popular Science. In those branch societies 
 almost every topic of popular science has, in its turn, been lec- 
 tured upon, illustrated with experiments, or otherwise familiarly 
 expounded : the air-pump, the balloon, and the magic lantern 
 the mariner's compass, steam, and the electric telgraph 
 the properties of food, and the la^vs of health, 
 
 ' And somewhat of the frame, the rock, the star ; 
 Electric, chemic laws ; and all the rest.' 
 
 ^^ Discussion on Social Beform. Still more important in 
 
200 THE PARSEES. 
 
 scale was emphatically pointed out. Dis- 
 cussions on these subjects appeared in news- 
 papers, magazines, and afterwards in lectures 
 in the vernacular branches of the before 
 mentioned society. The most sanguine of 
 the educated Parsees never allowed any 
 opportunity to be lost when they could sift 
 the question of female education, and impress 
 its advantages on the people. 
 
 Still nothing was practically done, excepting 
 some isolated efforts made by a husband or 
 
 their effects are the teachings on social matters. It is proposed 
 to discuss some favourite theme : let us suppose ' The advan- 
 tages to be derived from foreign travel,' or 'The unhappy 
 results of early marriages.' Notice of the debate is given in 
 the daily or weekly newspapers, written in the language of the 
 orators newspapers of which the orators themselves, or their 
 friends, are, in most cases, the editors. Four or five hundred 
 individuals of various classes and creeds eagerly throng to 
 listen. The discussion is conducted for hours; it has some- 
 times happened for consecutive meetings. The representative 
 units of the unleavened masses listen, at first with astonish- 
 ment, then with interest, and finally, let us hope, with delight 
 and gratitude; and, when the meeting breaks up, return 
 home to their respective circles, determined, as far as their 
 influence and authority extend, to carry out the recommended 
 reform." 
 
 The services this society has rendered to the natives of 
 India are thus acknowledged by the Honourable the Court of 
 Directors in their despatch to the Bombay Government ; 
 
 " We regard with special interest the efforts made by the 
 Students' Literary and Scientific Society for the mental im- 
 provement of their countrymen and countrywomen." 
 
EXERTIONS OF MR. BETHUNE. 201 
 
 brother to teach his wife or sister. The pro- 
 fessors of the Elphinstone Institution, who 
 were connected with the Students' Society, 
 took great interest in the cause ; and it 
 must be mentioned that their encourage- 
 ment and guidance mainly contributed to its 
 success. The future generation of Parsee 
 women will remember the names of Patton 
 and Keid with gratitude and respect. 
 
 While the question was in the highest state 
 of agitation in Bombay, a new stimulus came 
 from an unexpected quarter. In Calcutta, 
 about this time, the cause of female education 
 was advocated with a spirit and eloquence 
 quite unprecedented by the late Mr. Bethune, 
 then law member of the Legislative Council 
 of India, and his large-hearted munificence 
 promised for Eastern India the commence- 
 ment of a new era. In Bombay Mr. Bethune's 
 exertions brought fresh moral strength, as 
 many were anxiously waiting for a leader 
 fortified with the prestige of rank, and pos- 
 sessing social and political influence. 
 
 Fortunately Parsee female education did 
 not commence under such auspices. It might 
 have thrown a bright light at the beginning, 
 dazzled many, and attracted the people by 
 the novelty ; but with all these aids female 
 
202 THE PARSEES. 
 
 education would have remained an exotic 
 plant. There would have been wanting the 
 stability and strength against accidents which 
 are so conspicuous in an indigenous system.* 
 
 Education among the Parsee females can- 
 not be said to have truly commenced until 
 the latter end of the year 1849. To the 
 society so frequently mentioned, the Parsees 
 of Bombay are indebted for a systematic 
 scheme for the education of their daughters. 
 Numerous essays, which were read on the 
 much-discussed subject, had prepared the 
 
 * "14. There is one point connected with the schools which 
 we feel some delicacy in noticing ; but as it is one concerning 
 which the public press, while for the most part affording us 
 the kindest and most flattering assistance, has fallen into some 
 degree of error, we may perhaps be allowed to make a very cur- 
 sory allusion to it. It has been assumed that the movement in 
 the cause of female education which we sought to initiate was 
 scarcely likely to succeed, unless assisted by the prestige of 
 rank and of political and social influence. That prestige of 
 this description is very powerful in India, it would of course 
 be idle to dispute ; but in the estabhshment of female schools 
 the extremely sensitive prejudices which were to be encoun- 
 tered were evidently far less likely to take alarm at a project 
 originating among the people themselves, and originally carried 
 out by funds and by gratuitous teaching from the same quarter. 
 And this too was the view taken by one of our daily papers, 
 which observed, ' We must say, we think that the education 
 of their females, which is undertaken by the natives them- 
 selves, is most likely to prosper.' " Second Annual Beportofthe 
 Students" Literary and Scientific Society. 
 
ACTION. 203 
 
 minds of the hearers for action ; and the last 
 essay came in when every one was ready to 
 commence the good work.* The evening on 
 which that essay was read was the proudest 
 in the history of the Students' Literary and 
 Scientific Society. When the reading was 
 concluded, the members present proceeded to 
 the consideration of the measures for the con- 
 summation of their long-cherished desires. 
 
 They thought that there had been sufficient 
 talking, and that the time had arrived for 
 action, accordingly that evening the work was 
 inaugurated. But could anything be done with- 
 out pecuniary aid? This question was also 
 easily solved. Several members of the society 
 not only volunteered as teachers, but offered 
 apartments in their own premises to serve as 
 temporary schoolrooms. The hours of instruc- 
 tion were fixed from seven till ten a.m., that 
 the other avocation of the volunteer teachers 
 might not be interfered with. 
 
 * " Behramji's essay came in proper time. It was brimful 
 of enthusiam. His earnest appeal accompanied, in the im- 
 pressive oriental style, with a prayer to the Almighty to do 
 something, met with a hearty response. ' Let every student 
 here present use his influence with the members of his o^vn 
 family to get one pupil at least.' ' Yes ; ' responded scores of 
 voices. ' Let us teach the schools ourselves, and show that we 
 are in earnest.' 'Yes! yes!' exclaimed all." Report of the 
 Students' Literary and Scientific Society for 18o4-5J. 
 
204 THE PARSEES. 
 
 Under this arrangement four Parsee girls' 
 schools were opened on the 22nd of October, 
 1849, and forty-four pupils attended on the first 
 day.* For six months instruction was given 
 
 * The following circular drawn up by Professor Patton, 
 briefly explains the nature of the instruction which it was 
 proposed should be imparted at the schools : 
 
 " The members of the Students' Literary and Scientific So- 
 ciety, deeply impressed with the necessity of female education, 
 and anxious to contribute, as far as in their power, to its dis- 
 semination among the people of this country, have established 
 seven girls' schools, from the 1st October last. 
 
 "The Society is anxious to draw the attention of those 
 parents who have already promised to send their children, and 
 of such as may still wish for further information, to the follow- 
 ing particulars regarding the schools ; and they feel confident, 
 that the character of the teachers, and the 'nature of the edu- 
 cation to be communicated, will command the sympathy and 
 support of all who are interested in the regeneration of India. 
 
 " It is usual in elementary schools to teach only reading and 
 "writing ; but these, although important as contributing to future 
 progress, have no influence on the moral and intellectual 
 nature, and consequently have little title to the name of 
 education. 
 
 " In the schools of the Society the chief attention will be 
 given to the culture of the moral nature, under which is 
 included the formation of habits of order, propriety, and clean- 
 liness ; and this is proposed to be effected chiefly by means of 
 moral tales read by the masters, which will interest the children. 
 In the mental culture, every effort will be made to form habits 
 of observation by means of lessons on familiar objects, such as 
 animals, trees, &c. ; and the Society hope that in a short time 
 they will have attached to each school a small museum and a 
 collection of pictures, which will cultivate not only the senses, 
 but also the taste." 
 
SUCCESS OF girls' SCHOOL. 205 
 
 in these schools by the volunteer teachers, 
 and well and creditably did they perform 
 their self-imposed task. The following eulogy 
 was passed upon their labours in a late report 
 of the society : 
 
 " The prudence and caution which these 
 youthful reformers displayed in applying them- 
 selves to the laborious details of their self- 
 imposed task, were as admirable as the gene- 
 rous enthusiasm which sustained them through- 
 out its performance. Carefully did they pre- 
 pare themselves for their duties, by reading 
 every work on practical education within their 
 reach, and by holding frequent meetings to 
 consider how they might best instruct the 
 children that were entrusted to their care. 
 Their design was not simply to teach reading 
 and writing, but to give such an education 
 as would have an influence on the whole 
 character." 
 
 The schools firmly established, the advan- 
 tages resulting therefrom were at once per- 
 ceived by those who visited them. The efficient 
 practical working of the schools made a stronger 
 impression on the minds of the people than 
 the mere talk of years. Men not wanting in 
 liberality of sentiment, and ready of purse, 
 now came forward to assist in the good and 
 
206 THE PARSEE8. 
 
 noble cause which a few youthful reformers 
 had undertaken with so much credit to them- 
 selves. The first pecuniary aid received towards 
 the maintenance of the schools was from four 
 Par see gentlemen, whose names, at their 
 special request, were not publicly given out 
 at the time, for they loved to do good " by 
 stealth, and blushed to find it fame." Lat- 
 terly, however, these names transpired, and 
 they are well worth preserving in these pages 
 as those of the first Parsees through whose 
 pecuniary assistance, so seasonably given, the 
 girls' schools of their community were com- 
 menced on something like a solid foundation. 
 Hope was now brightened for the success and 
 duration of the schools. 
 
 Messrs. Nusserwanjee Muncheejee Cama, 
 Framjee Nusserwanjee Patel, Dhungheebhoy 
 Nusserwanjee Cama, and Cursetjee Nusser- 
 wanjee Cama, were the liberal gentlemen who 
 performed the good work. They placed at 
 the disposal of the Committee a sum of 
 4,800 rupees, to be expended in maintaining 
 the schools then opened for a period of two 
 years ; at the expiration of which time it was 
 thought "the public would not willingly let 
 them die." 
 
 The benefits arising from the schools were 
 
INTEREST TAKEN IN THE SCHOOLS. 207 
 
 now fully appreciated by the Parsees : the 
 number attending them in the second year 
 of their establishment greatly exceeded that 
 in the first year. The European residents 
 of the place also began to take a warm 
 interest in the undertaking. Men like Sir 
 Erskine Perry, the indefatigable President 
 of the late Board of Education, and 
 many other influential gentlemen, not only 
 interested themselves in the promotion of 
 the object by presenting liberal donations, 
 but by their advice and encouragement 
 greatly contributed to the success of the 
 scheme. 
 
 In the second year of their foundation these 
 schools were viewed in the light of valuable 
 public institutions. Their progress and suc- 
 cess were watched with peculiar interest, and 
 the care and prudence with which their affairs 
 were managed by the society which founded 
 them, afforded an additional security towards 
 the accomplishment of the great end for which 
 they were brought into being. In the year 
 1851 the Government of Lord Falkland re- 
 garded the spontaneous institution of these 
 schools ''as an epoch in the history of educa- 
 tion in the Bombay Presidency, from which, 
 it was hoped, would in due time be traced 
 
208 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the commencement of a rapid, marked, and 
 constant progress." * 
 
 One of the great drawbacks to the spread 
 of female education at present is, that the 
 girls are generally removed from the schools 
 
 * The following, which we extract from Professor Sinclair's 
 address to the Right Hon. the Governor, who presided at a late 
 exhibition of these schools, will give an idea of the nature of 
 the instruction imparted to pupils at the female schools : 
 
 " The children are taught exclusively in their vernacular 
 languages. The following hooks have been prepared both in 
 the Gujarati and the Marathi, with the exception of -^sop's 
 Fables, which as yet is confined to Marathi schools : Dnyan- 
 bodhak, parts 1 and 2; Moral Class Book; Major Candy's 
 Vernacular Eeader, Balmitra, Arithmetic as far as fractions. 
 Moral tales taken chiefly from English books, are conveyed by 
 their masters in the vernacular languages to the children; 
 these tales, a few days after, the children repeat to the master, 
 when they have been for a little while in the alembic of their 
 own thought ; this is a very excellent exercise, it engages their 
 interest and cultivates at the same time the memory and the 
 affections, and their general inteUigence. Garbas or songs of a 
 moral nature are sung by them in the way of recreation ; these 
 are chanted in the anthem or responsive manner, generally, 
 with a good deal of spirit, but with a deficiency of taste and 
 intonation. To proceed to the external world : they have 
 lessons on the surrounding objects ' What is the table made 
 of? ' * How was the copper-pot made ? ' ' Whence did the 
 copper come ? ' ' Why is the copper-pot tinned ? ' &c. They 
 have pictures to illustrate natural history and the trades. 
 There have been also lately received wooden figures of various 
 quadrupeds and birds. Their domestic industry so far consists 
 of sewing, working in Berlin wool, and of embroidering ; habits 
 of cleanliness, order, regularity and truth are habitually 
 inculcated." 
 
FEMALE TEACHERS. 209 
 
 between the ages of ten and twelve. This is 
 owing to early marriages and the prejudices 
 still existing against allowing grown up girls 
 to attend schools entirely conducted, super- 
 intended, and planned by men. So long 
 as the places of teachers are not supplied 
 by females, there is little hope that girls will 
 be allowed to continue their stay at the schools 
 to a more advanced age. 
 
 To meet this difficulty a class of qualified 
 native female teachers is essential, and the' 
 subject has already engaged the attention of 
 the committee. One girl, we are happy ta 
 sav, is now mistress in one of the schools. She 
 owes her education entirely to the school over 
 which she now proudly presides. This is 
 a beginning of the most important kind ; and 
 when the number of such teachers shall have 
 multiplied, one great obstacle to the further- 
 ance of the noble cause will have been re- 
 moved. 
 
 Every encouragement to induce girls to 
 continue at the schools with the view of quali- 
 fying themselves for the post of teacher, is 
 held out. At the last exhibition, the Presi- 
 dent of the Society announced that a noble- 
 minded Parsee gentleman had signified his 
 intention of bestowing annually a prize of 
 
 p 
 
210 THE PARSEES. 
 
 500 rupees upon the best qualified pupil in 
 the girls' schools, who may be found willing 
 to conduct a school as teacher for a period 
 of not less than three years." * 
 
 If so much has been accomplished by a 
 society of young men, much is expected from 
 the new impetus that has lately been given 
 to this cause. The Parsee community can 
 now be said to be entirely agreed as regards 
 the necessity of female education. Some of 
 the most influential and leading members of 
 the body have very recently resolved upon 
 a plan for the extension and entire re- 
 organization of the schools. 
 
 After thankino: the members of the Students' 
 
 * In the year 1853, Professor Reid, President of the Students' 
 Society threw out a suggestion by which female education may 
 be continued to a very advanced age, if not in the schools, at least 
 in the children's own houses. He advised the publication, and 
 at first the gratis distribution of entertaining monthly miscel- 
 lanies in the vernacular language of the children, and specially 
 adapted to the Capacity and taste of those young girls who 
 yearly leave the schools, with sufficient prehminary instructions 
 to profit by such a publication. The idea was good, but was 
 not adopted till the commencement of last year, when a 
 cheap monthly publication of thirty pages, the size of the 
 Family Herald, at a cost of a rupee per annum was commenced, 
 containing articles on various subjects likely to interest female 
 readers. The circulation of this periodical within a year of its 
 starting reached 1,500 copies ; a number unprecedentedly large 
 among any one class of native readers. 
 
TRANSFER OF SCHOOLS. 211 
 
 Society for what has already heen achieved 
 through their agency, these gentlemen re- 
 quested them to transfer the schools to their 
 charge, and offered to provide ample funds for 
 their permanent maintenance. The society 
 cordially acceded to their request, and our 
 European readers, by whom the value and 
 blessings of female education cannot be better 
 appreciated, will be rejoiced to learn, that in 
 addition to the funds which the above-men- 
 tioned Society made over to schools, no less 
 than 15,000 rupees were subscribed in a few 
 days.* We can now fairly say that as the 
 Parsees themselves have undertaken the edu- 
 cation of their females, it is most likely to go 
 
 * We here subjoin the names of such as have subscribed 500 
 rupees and upwards. 
 
 Framjee Nusserwanjee, Esq. 
 Manockjee Nusserwanjee, Esq. 
 Cursetjee Nusserwanjee Camajee, Esq. 
 Byramjee Jeejeebhoy, Esq. 
 Boraonjee Framjee Camajee, Esq. 
 Dhunjeebhoy Nusserwanjee Camajee, Esq. 
 Jehanjee Nusserwanjee Wadia, Esq. 
 Soonabai, widow of Nusserwanjee Muncherjee 
 
 Camajee, Esq. .... 
 Pestonjee Framjee Camajee, Esq. . 
 Dosabhoy Framjee Camajee, Esq. . 
 Dosabhoy Hormusjee Camajee, Esq. 
 Pestonjee Hormusjee Camajee, Esq. 
 Sorabjee Pestonai, Esq. 
 
 p 2 
 
 Kupees. 
 2,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 
 1,000 
 500 
 5C0 
 500 
 500 
 500 
 
212 THE PARSEES. 
 
 on and prosper. The schools have now taken 
 a natural and firm root, and promise a per- 
 manent existence. 
 
 With prospects so brilliant before us, it is 
 right to confess that female education among 
 the Parsees is still in its infancy. Much 
 is expected when girls' schools shall have 
 multiplied, with a good staff of female 
 teachers. At present there are seven* Parsee 
 girls' schools in Bombay, attended by 1,000 
 girls. According to a late census, there are 
 12,000 Parsee female children under the age of 
 fourteen. The average age of leaving school 
 is eleven, and the pupils commence the atten- 
 dance at four, so that it will be seen a very 
 large percentage of the Parsee girls are re- 
 ceiving instruction. 
 
 We fervently hope, that with the increasing 
 sense of the responsibility of educating females, 
 and the great encouragement and pp ort the 
 scheme receives from all quarters, the Parsee 
 females of a quarter of a century hence, will 
 rise far superior in intellect to their sisters 
 of preceding generations. We trust, too, 
 they will not only become better wives and 
 
 * This number includes the three schools established in 
 connection with the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy's Parsee Bene- 
 ncYolent Institution. 
 
EFFECTS OF EDUCATION. 213 
 
 better mothers, but by their mental qualifi- 
 cations and advanced position exercise a great 
 influence on the future moral and social 
 advancement of their race. 
 
 That education has and will exercise great 
 influence on the Parsees is a fact not to be 
 controverted. The difference between the 
 Parsees of thirty years ago and those of the 
 present day, is simply the result of English 
 education and intercourse with Englishmen. 
 The question may perhaps be asked, how 
 many Parsees have received what might be 
 called a sound education? Not many, we 
 freely admit, comparing the number educated 
 to the whole mass, but we unhesitatingly 
 assert that the example and influence of the 
 few, have worked wonderful changes on the 
 minds of the many. 
 
 Our educated men have, almost without 
 exception, been remarkable for the purity of 
 their conduct, while the disinterestedness of 
 their views, their honesty of purpose, their love 
 for the good of their countrymen, and their 
 high moral courage, have been the theme of 
 universal praise. To spread generally among 
 their less fortunate brethren that enlighten- 
 ment and knowledge which they have received 
 through the means provided by a beneficent 
 
214 THE PARSEES. 
 
 Government, has been their constant aim and 
 the highest object of their ambition. 
 
 A noble band of educated Parsees have 
 within the last few years, by the publication 
 of cheap newspapers* or magazines, or by 
 public lectures, all more or less calculated to 
 impart information and knowledge to the 
 mass, worked such an extraordinary change 
 on the character of their race, that whatever 
 we could say in praise of the exertions of the 
 
 * There are fourteen newspapers published in the Guzerati 
 language, which are mostly circulated among the Parsees. 
 Three of them are published daily, one tri-weekly, three bi- 
 weekly, six weekly, and one fortnightly. The Rast-Goftar^ 
 a weekly newspaper, is the most influential and best of all. 
 It enjoys the largest circulation, is conducted by the most 
 talented men of the community, and always represents the 
 sentiments and feelings of the educated, liberal-minded, and 
 enUghtened portion of the population. It deals, we may say 
 without fear of contradiction, with public men and public 
 measures in a pungency of style and independence of tone at 
 least equal to that of its English brethren on the spot. To 
 this paper is undeniably due the credit of having greatly con- 
 tributed, by the force and weight of its vigorous articles, to the 
 abolition of many superstitions practised among the natives, 
 and the introduction of reforms calculated to raise the moral 
 and social condition of the people to a higher scale of civiliza- 
 tion. The daily papers are also creditably conducted. Of the 
 bi-weekly journals the Chdbook is the best, and is one of the 
 most spirited native journals in India. The Suttaya Prakash, 
 a journal circulated chiefly among the Hindoo portion of the 
 population of Bombay, is a very clever paper indeed, and is 
 expected to do that service to the Hindoos which the Rasf- 
 Goftar has done to the Parsees. 
 
PROGRESS, 215 
 
 youthful innovators, would be inadequate to 
 express our sense of what they have done. 
 We are content to say that they have fully 
 succeeded in awakening in the minds of their 
 countrymen the necessity of a general and 
 rapid advancement in the path of knowledge 
 and enlightenment, if they desire to be classed 
 among the civilized nations of the earth. 
 
 In this spirit the Parsces are now acting, 
 and if it should happen to continue, another 
 age, will, under God's blessing, produce no 
 insignificant results. Even to-day, those 
 seekincy instruction and enlif^htenment are not 
 confined to the walls of the schools. At the 
 meeting of the literary societies, at public 
 lectures, and at libraries, large numbers of 
 Parsees are always to be seen gathering infor- 
 mation in every shape and from whatever 
 source it can be obtained. 
 
 It has hitherto been a just subject for 
 reproach, that our wealthy families pay less 
 attention to the education of their youths than 
 they ought to do ; those hitherto extensively 
 benefiting by English education belonging to 
 the middle class. We cannot say whether 
 this remark will stand good any longer, as 
 indeed some change for the better has already 
 taken place. The rich have seen that wealth 
 
216 THE PARSEES. 
 
 will not be the only qualification for maintain- 
 ing their position in society. They have 
 perceived that if they do not leave for their 
 sons a better legacy than gold, they will be 
 thrown overboard in society, and the educated 
 and enlightened members of the middle or less 
 wealthy classes will take precedence of them 
 in every way. Such a result would be inevi- 
 table, if the rich Parsees still neglected to 
 educate their families in a manner befitting 
 their position. But we are not doomed to this, 
 since matters are mending in this respect. 
 
 As one example does more in bringing about 
 a, desirable efibct than a hundred precepts, 
 one or two instances have in some measure 
 contributed towards creating a taste for study 
 among our wealthier class, and we think we 
 may with justice notice them here. Mr. So- 
 rabjee Jamsetjee, the youngest son of Sir 
 Jamsetjee, though he bids fair to walk in the 
 general footsteps of his venerable parent, has 
 distinguished himself in a new sphere of use- 
 fulness. He is a member of the Bombay 
 Branch of the Eoyal Asiatic Society, and 
 has an extraordinary taste for the study of 
 languages. He has given to the world three 
 works in the vernacular language of the 
 country, showing an extensive acquaintance 
 
MR. SORABJEE JAMSETJEE. 217 
 
 with Oriental literature. These were not 
 published by him with a view to pecuniary 
 profit. Providence has favoured him with 
 abundance, and one of the best uses he made 
 of his money was to distribute the works, of 
 which thousands of copies were struck off, 
 gratis among the people. 
 
 A gentleman of extended and liberal views, 
 greatly in advance of his other rich brethren, 
 Mr. Sorabjee Jamsetjee is always ready to 
 assist, by the prestige of his wealth and 
 influence, any undertaking which may have 
 for its object the welfare of his countrymen. 
 Himself a man of high moral conduct, he is 
 always ready to preach to others what he 
 himself practises. On a late occasion, he did 
 not think it beneath his dignity to deliver a 
 public lecture on " human life, its duties and 
 responsibilities."* Such was the estimation 
 
 * The following notice of the lecture is taken from the 
 Bombay Times: 
 
 " The lecture delivered by Mr. Sorabjee Jamsetjee in the 
 Council-room of the Town Hall, on Thursday evening, the 
 27th March, 1856, a sketch of which will be found in another 
 column, was one of extreme interest both in a social and ethical 
 point of view. It was in the Guzerati language, the vernacular 
 tongue of the people of his tribe, the Parsee, but interspersed 
 with many quotations from English, Persian, and other lan- 
 guages, Avhich were uniformly correctly translated for the 
 benefit of the audience. It was entirely of a moral character, 
 dealing with the responsibility of man to God, the importance 
 
218 THE PARSEES. 
 
 in whicli the lecture was held, that the Town 
 Hall, where it was delivered, was literally 
 crammed to excess. From the millionaire to 
 the poorest man, from the most learned to the 
 humblest student, every one was present to 
 listen to the oratory and sentiments of the 
 Parsee baronet's son. After the lecture, the 
 Bev. Dr. Wilson, head missionary of the Free 
 Church of Scotland, and several other Euro- 
 pean and native speakers, bore testimony to 
 the ability and eloquence with which it was 
 delivered. 
 
 Mr. Sorabjee Jamsetjee has thus set a 
 valuable example to his wealthy brethren, and 
 
 of life in relation to eternity, the necessity of preparation for 
 death, and the final judgment which awaits every individual of 
 the human race. It appropriately and strikingly illustrated 
 the primary and essential duties of man to himself, to his 
 fellows, and to his Maker, its whole aim being to induce every 
 member of the community to live soberly, righteously, and 
 godly. It may be safely asserted that seldom has such an 
 excellent discourse been delivered to such a large assembly of 
 natives in Bombay, comprising about six or seven ^hundred of 
 the most influential classes of society of all sects and ages. 
 With a very few alterations it might have done for the 
 Christian pulpit. We are glad to hear that it will imme- 
 diately obtain publicity through the press. It will convince 
 multitudes that the Jamsetjee family is illustrious not only for 
 princely almsgiving, but for the most commendable philan- 
 thropic action. The Mobeds will see from it that they must 
 either soon amend their teaching or have their services dis- 
 pensed with altogether." 
 
MR. DHUNJEEBHOY FRAMJEE. 219 
 
 shown that advancement in learning is not 
 incompatible with business in public life, and 
 that wealth without wisdom is but a poor 
 satisfaction to its possessor. He has engaged 
 a European teacher for the instruction of his 
 sons in the science and literature of Europe. 
 
 Another gratifying instance of a son of a 
 rich man devoting himself to study, and bene- 
 fiting his countrymen by the light of his own 
 knowledge, while also engaged in extensive 
 business transactions, deserves notice. Mr. 
 Dhunjeebhoy Framjee, a son of Shet, Framjee 
 Nusserwanjee, and partner in the firm of 
 Messrs. Wallace and Co., at Bombay, has 
 long been distinguished as an Oriental scholar. 
 He, too, is a member of the Bombay branch 
 of the Royal Asiatic Society, and at one of 
 its meetings read a very interesting paper on 
 the "origin and authenticity of the Iranian 
 family of languages." About two years since, 
 he published a grammar of the Huzwaresh or 
 Pehlvi proper, which was highly spoken of, 
 and favourably reviewed by the Press. 
 
 Mr. Dhunjeebhoy Framjee has been engaged 
 for many years on a most laborious but useful 
 task, that of compiling a dictionary of Zend, 
 Pehlvi, and English terms, and his country- 
 men look forward to its publication with 
 intense interest. This work will be an in- 
 
220 THE PARSEES. 
 
 valuable addition to the literature of the East, 
 which has now engaged the attention of some 
 of the best of our continental scholars. 
 
 We have also much pleasure in recording in 
 these pages the fact, that four Parsee students, 
 sons of rich Parsee merchants of Bombay, are 
 now receiving education at the University 
 College, London. The advantages which will 
 result are obvious, and the benefits these 
 young gentlemen will derive from their educa- 
 tion in England, will, no doubt, stimulate 
 others to follow their example. 
 
 We trust the example thus set to the younger 
 members of our wealthy families, will be 
 generally followed, and we fondly hope that 
 the future historian of the Parsees will be 
 able to make honourable mention of hundreds 
 of instances of this kind. In the meantime 
 we cannot do better than recommend to the 
 attention of such of our countrymen who, by 
 the possession of riches, either think lightly of 
 the pursuit of knowledge, or unjustly urge 
 against its continuance, after they have left 
 the walls of the school or college, on the score 
 of active professional or business occupation, 
 the following sentiments of the late Professor 
 Forbes of Edinburgh. 
 
 " Plausible as this objection seems, it is 
 not well founded. The proof that it is not 
 
PROFESSOR FORBES ON EDUCATION. 221 
 
 SO lies in the fact that many of the ablest 
 professors of natural history, as well as of 
 other sciences, and I may add, of literature 
 and philosophy, are men diligently engaged in 
 daily duties of a different kind, and doing 
 their tasks thoroughly and well. The names 
 of many of the most eminent of British men 
 of science are those of fully occupied physicians 
 and successful merchants. In the last century, 
 Ellis, a busy London merchant, changed the 
 Vhole face of zoophytology. Only last year 
 died Charles Stokes, a name not popularly 
 known, but very familiar to men of science 
 at home and abroad, similarly occupied with 
 Ellis, who, nevertheless, found time to aid, 
 by his extensive original knowledge and ever 
 judicious advice, almost every naturalist of 
 whatever denomination in Europe. At the 
 present moment I could point out several of 
 our very best zoologists and geologists among 
 the most diligent and ablest of British mer- 
 chants. Let it iiot be pleaded, then, that 
 science and literature are to be put aside 
 on account of active professional occupations 
 of any kind. The excuse never comes from 
 the able and willing. It is exactly by the aid 
 of the classes of men who do their professional 
 and business duties best that science and lite- 
 
222 THE PARSEES. 
 
 rature have reaped, and are reaping, their 
 most valuable interests." 
 
 Of all the natives of India the Parsees are 
 undoubtedly the most loyal subjects of the 
 British Government. Their loyalty is not 
 one of empty show, nor the result of a fear 
 of a strong and powerful government, but is 
 the offspring of deep-rooted conviction. When 
 they compare their condition in India with 
 that of their co-religionists in Persia, who are 
 reduced to the most miserable state by mis- 
 government and persecution, they fully and 
 rightly appreciate the blessings which they 
 enjoy under this Government. When they see 
 that for more than full ten centuries they had 
 to drag on in misery and poverty under the 
 native rulers of India, and their own enter- 
 prise or spirit could bring them no reward; 
 bearing all this in mind, when they reflect 
 upon their present prosperous condition, and 
 inquire into its causes, they find abundant 
 reasons to pray that the Sovereignty, which 
 the Almighty God in the wise dispensation 
 of his Providence has been pleased to place 
 over them, may be for ever preserved. 
 
 Whenever fitting opportunities' have oc- 
 curred, the Parsees have not forgotten or 
 neglected to show this love towards their 
 
LOYALTY OF PARSEES. 22S 
 
 rulers. When the British Government ap- 
 pointed a day of humiliation and prayer for 
 the speedy restoration of peace and success 
 to the arms of England and France during 
 the late war with Russia, the Parsees behaved 
 themselves as the most worthy subjects of the 
 British Crown. In a highly loyal spirit they 
 made arrangements for the observance of that 
 day according to the invitation of their much- 
 respected Government. No less than 6,000 
 of this race met together in one of their fire- 
 temples, for the purpose of offering their 
 prayers for the success of the Allied Powers 
 and the restoration of peace. In the follow- 
 ing prayer, which was prepared for the occa- 
 sion, the rich and the poor alike joined 
 with heart and soul : 
 
 *' I offer my prayer to Thee, O glorious 
 and exalted God, that the Sovereign of this 
 realm may gain the victory with honour and 
 triumph in the war. May the Sovereign of 
 sovereigns inspire with wisdom and endow 
 with strength her army and navy. Long live 
 the Sovereign, and may the empire flourish. 
 May God annihilate her enemies, and may 
 His blessing rest upon her. May He watch 
 over all the events, and destroy the enemy. 
 I make my prayer and supplications unto 
 
224 THE PARSEES. 
 
 Thee, Almighty God, that success may attend 
 the cause of our Queen in the field of battle. 
 May our Queen continue her rule in justice 
 and mercy, and may her name and her power 
 be handed down to many generations. May 
 she ever maintain in all its integrity her exalted 
 position, which is illumined with light and 
 glory. Such is my prayer. Amen." 
 
 To show how sincere the Parsees were in 
 what they were doing, it must be mentioned 
 that, previous to the prayer, they performed 
 certain religious ceremonies, similar to those 
 which the ancient Zoroastrians were in the 
 habit of performing when their own monarchs 
 were engaged in formidable wars against their 
 enemies. At this day the Parsees acknow- 
 ledge Her Most Gracious Majesty, the Queen 
 of England, as their lawful Sovereign, and 
 they therefore feel no hesitation in doing that 
 for their present government w^hich their fore- 
 fathers were wont to do for their ancient Kings. 
 
 When a day was appointed, on the capture 
 of Sebastopol, for a general thanksgiving to 
 the Almighty, the Parsees again performed a 
 similar ceremony, and we here give a trans- 
 lation of the prayer which was compiled for 
 the occasion, as it not only shows the feeling 
 and spirit of the Parsees in the brightest 
 
THANKSGIVING. S25 
 
 light, but strongly displays their appreciation 
 of the Government under which they live. 
 
 " O Almighty God, let Thy shadow always 
 fall wherever the British rule exists. Grant 
 it, O God, success in all its undertakings ; 
 vanquish by the aid of Thy powerful hands all 
 its enemies, and grant that its greatness may 
 still rise, and its moral effects be spread over a 
 still greater portion of the world. Receive our 
 humble acknowledgments, O Lord, for having 
 placed us under such a beneficent rule, and 
 we pray to Thee to preserve us under it. 
 Grant, O Heaven, that the Government over 
 our head, be actuated in ruling over us, with 
 still greater kindness, and its effects be 
 spread still wider. O Almighty Protector, 
 preserve for ever secure our lives and proper- 
 ties, as they now are and grant that the 
 security may be still more strengthened. 
 Bestow, O Lord, a still more merciful heart 
 to the Queen who reigns over us. We pray 
 to Thee, O Almighty God, to bless her 
 armies with success in the great war in which 
 they are now engaged, and bring to a speedy 
 termination the great strife, by granting 
 victory to those who have gone to shed their 
 blood in the right cause. Grant, O Gra- 
 cious God, that we may continue to live, as 
 
 Q 
 
226 THE PARSEES. 
 
 we now do, with perfect security to ourselves 
 under the Government in which we now are, 
 and that we may ever be impressed with a 
 grateful sense of the advantages which we 
 enjoy under this benign reign. Amen." 
 
 We may add, that similar proceedings were 
 instituted by this loyal race on the final termi- 
 nation of the great war. In connection with 
 this subject, we reproduce here the speech 
 of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, delivered on the 
 occasion of the "Patriotic Fund" meeting in 
 the Town Hall of Bombay (January 3rd, 
 1855). Though the interest of the war has 
 long since paled, we are anxious to record in 
 these pages, the views and feelings of the 
 Parsees in India in regard to it. We have 
 no doubt that even at this distant day, the 
 speech will be read with interest by the 
 European community, as the unprejudiced 
 voice of the natives of India on a subject, 
 which had so lately engaged the attention 
 of the whole civilized world. The reader is 
 requested particularly to mark the venerable 
 Parsee's love for the Queen. Addressing 
 Lord Elphinstone, who had presided on the 
 occasion. Sir Jamsetjee said, 
 
 " My lord, Under the weight of years I 
 am unable to take that active part in aid of 
 
SPEECH OF SIR JAMSETJEE. 227 
 
 the Patriotic Fund which it has hitherto been 
 my greatest happiness to take in promoting 
 the benevolent enterprises of the day. I felt 
 all the more desirous, therefore, to assure your 
 lordship and the community of my most cordial 
 and unqualified sympathy with this great 
 movement. My lord, when I consider that 
 the principle of this meeting, convened in 
 answer to your lordship's call, is pure bene- 
 volence, I cannot repress the desire which 
 I feel to have a voice in it; and as I am 
 prevented by the infirmities of age from 
 personally addressing so large an audience, 
 I would solicit the favour of being permitted 
 to address the meeting by the mouth of a 
 beloved son." 
 
 Mr. Sorabjee Jamsetjee then said, " My 
 lord, with your lordship's kind permission, I 
 beg most respectfully to communicate to your 
 lordship and the gentlemen of Bombay here 
 assembled, the views and feelings of my 
 venerable father in reference to the deeply 
 aficcting and interesting occasion and object 
 of this meeting. 
 
 " My lord and gentlemen, I should not be 
 able to offer any apology for addressing you, if 
 I did so in the feeling that I had a right to 
 demand your attention to my own personal 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 THE PARSEES. 
 
 sentiments on the subject which has brought 
 you together. But if I endeavour, in the few 
 remarks I have the honour to offer, to make 
 you acquainted with the sentiments of the 
 most reflecting portion of the Parsee commu- 
 nity on this subject, I trust that you will not 
 consider any apology necessary, but that I 
 shall perform an acceptable service. My lord, 
 I am sure all must feel that great seriousness 
 becomes such a meeting as the present. Of 
 none of the great evils which afflict our race 
 do we form such inadequate conceptions as of 
 the evils of war. War is exhibited to us in 
 the dazzling dress of poetry, fiction and 
 history, where its horrors are carefully con- 
 cealed beneath its gaudy trappings ; or we 
 see, perhaps, its plumes and epaulettes, and 
 harlequin finery, we hear of the magnificence 
 of the apparatus, the bravery of the troops, 
 the glory of the victors, but the story of 
 the wholesale miseries and wretchedness, and 
 wrongs which follow in its train, is untold. 
 
 ^' What nation is not groaning under war- 
 debts, the greatest of national burdens ! Had 
 the inconceivable sum wasted in the work of 
 human butchery, been applied to promote 
 individual comfort and national prosperity, 
 the world would not now be so far behind 
 
HORRORS OF WAR. 229 
 
 as it is in its career of progress. But if the 
 earth has always groaned under the pecuniary 
 expense of war, how much more deeply, in a 
 dilFerent sense, has it groaned under the 
 expense of human life incurred in war. It is 
 estimated that not less than eighteen times 
 the present population of the globe have 
 perished in war. Oh ! what lamentations 
 and wailings of heart-broken widows and 
 helpless orphans, and destitute old age, have 
 been caused by the butchery of so many 
 husbands, fathers, and sons. 
 
 " While all confess, however, that war is an 
 evil, we must consider that it may be a neces- 
 sary evil, and if necessary, then justifiable. I 
 believe, my lord, that there is but one feeling 
 in the Parsee community regarding the justice 
 of the war which Britain is now waging. 
 There is not one among us who agrees with 
 John Bright, that ' the present war is the 
 wickedest in which Great Britain ever was 
 engaged.' No, my lord, we all feel that there 
 never was, in the history of the world, a more 
 honourable spectacle than that which has been 
 exhibited by the British and French nations 
 the arms of Britain and France raised in com- 
 bat for the purpose not only of supporting the 
 weak against the strong, but of supporting the 
 
230 THE PARSEES. 
 
 sacred principles of international right, the 
 violation of which would have turned the world 
 upside down the arms of Britain and France 
 raised in combat, not seeking conquests for 
 selfish objects, but for those of the most noble 
 and generous character for the peace of the 
 world, for the progress of civilization, and for 
 the interests of freedom. Truly has it been 
 said, that, ' in the great European movement 
 towards free institutions which has been the 
 keynote of history since 1815, Kussia has 
 always headed the party of absolutism and re- 
 action. The whole weight of the Russian 
 monarch has been thrown into the scale of 
 despotism ; his aid has always been ready to 
 put down liberty, and it has been rendered 
 with an unscrupulous and conscientious zeal.' 
 And the position of Russia, my lord, more 
 than that of any Government in existence, or 
 that ever existed, puts tremendous evil in her 
 power, unless the mercy of the Almighty shall 
 check it by the arms of Britain and France. 
 She is the only power which has partially the 
 command of two land-locked seas. By her 
 diplomacy directed against Denmark, and her 
 arms directed against Turkey, she has been 
 trying to get full possession of these seas. Had 
 she succeeded, her fleets would soon have 
 
RELIEF FOR SUFFERERS BY WAR. 231 
 
 swept the ocean, and ravaged the world. She 
 has betrayed her diabolical designs, and she 
 will now be deprived, I trust, of both the Bal- 
 tic and Black seas. Her diabolical designs ! 
 Yes ; the last mail brought us the Czar's ma- 
 nifesto, in which he expounds his policy, and 
 the object which Kussia seeks to attain by the 
 present war, and that object is to put down 
 Britain, and the free government which Britain 
 is extending over the earth. Such is the plain 
 avowal of the Czar. 
 
 " My lord, our duty to relieve the sufferers in 
 this great war would have remained the same 
 whether the war had been a just one or not; 
 but, considering the nature and objects of this 
 war, we extend this relief now more as a pri- 
 vilege than as a duty. There is a luxury at 
 any time in relieving the sufferings of the 
 broken-down soldier who has manfully and 
 bravely fought the battles of his country, or 
 in alleviating the grief of the soldier's desolate 
 widow and fatherless children ; but there is a 
 peculiar bliss in doing it on such an occasion 
 as the present. My lord, I must adopt as my 
 own language on this occasion the memorable 
 words of Sir John McNeill : ' I trust that 
 all those who have the means will feel that 
 this is an opportunity of exercising a privilege. 
 
232 THE PARSEES. 
 
 It is an opportunity which I, for one, am deter- 
 mined not to be deprived of. I care not whe- 
 ther the funds are to be raised by taxation or 
 otherwise. I claim for myself the privilege of 
 gratifying my own feelings, by contributing to 
 the alleviation of their sufferings. I reserve 
 to myself the right of exercising my own bene- 
 volence by contributing to alleviate the distress 
 of the families of those whose death we glory 
 in as an honour to their country.' 
 
 " " Breathe all thy minstrelsy, immortal Harp ! 
 
 Breathe numbers warm with love, while I rehearse 
 
 Thy praise, O Charity ! thy labours, most 
 
 Divine ; thy sympathy with sighs, and tears, 
 
 And groans ; thy great, thy godlike wish, to heal 
 
 All misery, all Fortune's wounds, and make 
 
 The soul of every living thing rejoice. 
 
 Oh ! thou wast needed much in days of Time ! 
 
 No virtue, half so much ; none half so fair ! 
 
 To all the rest, however fine, thou gavest 
 
 A finishing and polish, without which 
 
 No man e'er entered heaven.' " 
 
 " Moreover, my lord, the Queen has made an 
 appeal to us, and it is our duty to respond to 
 it. I cannot refrain from eulogizing our gra- 
 cious Queen. Religious Sovereigns are scat- 
 tered at distant intervals along the centuries 
 of the world's history, like * angels' visits, few 
 and far between.' In all this dreary length of 
 way, they appear like five or six lighthouses on 
 as many thousand miles of coast. But, my 
 
RESPECT FOR THE QUEEN. 233 
 
 lord, the greatest nation now on earth is 
 favoured with the hest of earthly Sovereigns. 
 The present appeal of her gracious Majesty 
 is dictated by her pious heart ; and I must say 
 in reference to it, in the language of another : 
 * I should just as soon expect to see British 
 soldiers refuse to bear their share in the storm- 
 ing of Sebastopol, because they did not ap- 
 prove of the general plan of the siege, as to 
 find men who call themselves leal-hearted sub- 
 jects, hesitate to meet this otherwise irresistible 
 call, because the mode in which it is proposed 
 to achieve the object, jars somewhat unplea- 
 santly with their preconceived notions of 
 Political Economy.' 
 
 " To the call of our Gracious Sovereign, and 
 to the call of humanity, the Parsees, my lord, 
 will cordially respond." 
 
 When the late unhappy revolt broke out in 
 the upper provinces of India, the Parsees had 
 further opportunities of displaying their loyalty 
 to their rulers. They embraced the first that 
 offered of presenting an address to his Lord- 
 ship, the Governor, assuring him of their 
 loyalty and attachment to the British Govern- 
 ment, and offering their services in whatever 
 way they might be required in suppressing the 
 mutinies. 
 
234 THE PARSEES 
 
 So great and well-known has been the 
 loyalty of the Parsees, that while all the other 
 races were, after the commencement of the 
 rebellion, looked upon with distrust, not even 
 a breath of suspicion was directed against the 
 Parsees. Every European and the whole of 
 the English Press acknowledged that this race 
 would never be inimical to British rule. The 
 best and most convincing proof of the loyalty 
 of the Parsees will be found in the fact 
 that, if there was any individual of this sect 
 at any station where the revolt occurred, he 
 suffered equally with the Europeans at the 
 hands of the rebels, his sympathy with the 
 Government being so well known. 
 
 If, unhappily, a disturbance ever occurred 
 in Bombay the Europeans and Parsees of the 
 place would be in one common boat, the latter 
 being so well known to be in the interest of 
 the present rulers, and to have no sympathy 
 either with the Hindoos or Mahomedans. We 
 do not think we need say more on a subject 
 in which our sentiments are shared to the 
 fullest extent by every Englishman in India, 
 and by all those in England who have any 
 knowledge of the character of the different 
 races inhabiting that peninsula. 
 
235 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 RELIGION. 
 
 V 
 
 The antiquity of the Parsee religion Identity of Zoroaster 
 Birth of the Parsee prophet His persecutions Progress of 
 Zoroastrianism The Zend language The Avasta The 
 fragments of the Avasta in the possession of modem Parsees 
 ^Disputes as to the liturgical works of the Parsees Nature 
 of the Parsee rehgion Fire the emblem of the Almighty 
 The Parsees not worshippers of the elements Ardai Verafs 
 vision Rehgious reform Education of Parsee priests. 
 
 The faith professed by the Parsees in India is 
 one of the most ancient. As we have shown, 
 it was once the religion of the most famous 
 empire of the world. It has had its day of 
 greatness as well as of decline, and has during 
 a period of twenty-four centuries undergone 
 various persecutions and vicissitudes. From 
 the time it was founded, in the reign of 
 Gushtasp, or Darius Hystaspes, till the con- 
 quest of Persia by Alexander the Great, a 
 period of three hundred years, it was in its 
 most flourishing condition, the envious Greek 
 
236 THE PARSEES. 
 
 having, it is said, destroyed a great many of 
 the religious books of the Parsees. 
 
 For a period of five hundred and fifty-six 
 years after the subversion of the Persian 
 dynasty by the Macedonian Conqueror, the 
 religion of Zoroaster seems to have declined, 
 until revived by Ardeshir Babekan in a.d. 226. 
 In the reign of this monarch great efforts 
 were made for restoring its primitive purity, 
 according to the doctrines propounded by 
 Zoroaster, it having been greatly corrupted 
 during the period above mentioned. The 
 king himself was a person of great piety and 
 religious enthusiasm. He collected the sacred 
 books of the Parsees and had them translated 
 into Pehlvi, the language then current in 
 Persia, built fire-temples for the worship of 
 God, and restored the ancient religion of 
 Persia to its original and pure state. This 
 reformation by Ardeshir Babekan seems to 
 have lasted for a period of four hundred 
 and sixteen years, indeed until the religion 
 and monarchy of Persia were overthrown 
 by the Arab invaders in the year 641. 
 
 There is some dispute, even now, among the 
 Parsees as to the exact date of the birth of 
 Zurtosht. European authors are in doubt as to 
 whom to select of the half-dozen philosophers 
 
IDENTITY OF ZOROASTER. 237 
 
 who, at different times, bore the name of 
 Zoroaster, as the lawgiver of the Parsees. 
 One is described as a Chaldean or Assyrian, 
 one as a Bactrian, another as a Pamphylian ; 
 a fourth as an Armenian, and, lastly, one as 
 a Persian. 
 
 Sir William Ouseley, in his valuable and 
 well-known travels in Persia, is of opinion 
 ** that the prophet or legislator whose name 
 we find written in Persian books Zerdehust or 
 Zaratusht, is manifestly that Zoroaster whom 
 the Greek historian Agathias calls Zoroados 
 or Zarades, and justly assigns to the age of 
 King Hystaspes, preceding Christ by about 
 five hundred years." Mr. Nourozjee Fur- 
 doonjee, a learned Parsee of Bombay, a man of 
 great research and undoubted ability, one of 
 the companions of Sir Alexander Bumes in 
 his second mission to Cabool, and now holding 
 the position of translator and interpreter in 
 her Majesty's Supreme Court at Bombay, in 
 a work published by him in the year 1851, 
 and entitled " Tareekh-i-Zurtoshtee ; or. Dis- 
 cussion on the Era of Zurtosht or Zoroaster," 
 has proved, to the satisfaction, it is believed, 
 of the majority of the Parsees, by the testi- 
 mony of Greek, Latin, French, English, and 
 other European, as well as Pehlvi, Arabic, and 
 
238 THE PARSEES. 
 
 Persian authors of ancient and modern times, 
 that Zurtosht flourished in the sixth century 
 before the Christian era. Hyde, Prideaux, 
 Anquetil, Kluker, Herder, Gorres, Von Ham- 
 ner, Malcolm, De Gaigniant Kalprath, and 
 others, have also adopted the view that places 
 Zoroaster in the reign of Darius Hystaspes, in 
 the sixth century before Christ. 
 
 The lawgiver of the Parsees, Zurtosht, 
 Zerdusht, Zeratusht, or Zoroaster, as he is 
 variously styled, was born at the city of Kai in 
 Persia, and flourished in the reign of King 
 Gushtasp, who embraced and propagated the 
 faith propounded by him. One Poroshusp, 
 remarkable for the uprightness of his life, was 
 selected by God to be the father of the pro- 
 phet. In Pehlvi works, originally compiled by 
 the disciples of Zurtosht, it is said that an 
 angel presented Poroshusp with a glass of 
 wine ; having drunk which, his wife Doghdo 
 soon after conceived and bore a son, destined 
 to create a new era in Eastern history. The 
 circumstance of Zurtosht 's father having re- 
 ceived wine from an angel was publicly talked 
 about, and the governor of the province 
 resolved, at the instigation of wicked coun- 
 sellors, to destroy the infant. The hands of 
 the destroyers are said to have been, in every 
 
CHILDHOOD OF ZOROASTER. 239 
 
 attempt for its destruction, arrested by divine 
 agency. 
 
 While yet a child, he was subjected to no 
 ordinary persecutions. He was, it is said, cast 
 into blazing fire, but came out unscathed. He 
 was once taken into a narrow lane where the 
 oxen were accustomed to pass, that he might 
 be trampled to death when the brutes came 
 that way, but he remained unhurt. The 
 same result ensued when he was thrown in 
 the way of wolves and other wild beasts 
 of the forest. Other instances of his escapes 
 from the machinations of those in authority 
 are related, but need not be repeated here, 
 as at last he was allowed to remain un- 
 molested. 
 
 In the Pehlvi books still existing, and 
 originally compiled by the disciples of Zurtosht, 
 the Persian Prophet, at the age of thirty, is 
 said to have left his native town of Eai, and 
 to have proceeded with all the members of 
 his family to the capital of Persia. In the 
 fortieth year of his age, and in the thirtieth 
 of the reign of Gushtasp, he is reported to have 
 appeared at the court of the King, bearing 
 with him, into his presence, the sacred fire 
 called " Ader Boorzeen Meher," and a cypress 
 tree. The monarch having demanded who he 
 
240 THE PARSEES. 
 
 was and whence he came, the Persian law- 
 giver replied, *' The Almighty God has sent 
 me to you, and has appointed me a prophet 
 to guide you in the path of truth, virtue, and 
 piety." 
 
 Firdousi, the Persian Homer, thus describes 
 the first interview between Zurtosht and Gush- 
 tasp, " Learn," said Zardehusht to Gushtasp, 
 " the rites and doctrines of the religion of 
 excellence. For without religion there cannot 
 be any worth in a king. When the mighty 
 (or excellent) monarch heard him speak of 
 the excellent religion, he accepted from him 
 the excellent rites and doctrines." Zurtosht 
 was at first disbelieved, and persecuted by 
 the courtiers of Gushtasp ; but having esta- 
 blished his claim as a divine prophet, and 
 convinced the King and his court by per- 
 forming several miracles, he was taken into 
 favour. 
 
 Gushtasp not only himself embraced the 
 religion propounded by Zurtosht, but used 
 all his influence to spread it among other 
 kings and the wise men of the world. The 
 King's premier, Furshoster, and Jamasp, the 
 most learned men of the age, are said to have 
 become disciples of the prophet. These two 
 illustrious personages traversed difi'erent parts 
 
SPREAD OF THE ZOROASTRIAN FAITH. 241 
 
 of Iran as the apostles of the Zoroastrian 
 doctrines, and succeeded in converting all the 
 Iranians to the new religion. 
 
 The example of the King would of course 
 soon be followed by the nobles and the people ; 
 and the monarch having accepted the new 
 religion, there was little difficulty in propa- 
 gating it among his subjects. On learning 
 that the King was prepared to acknowledge 
 his claims, Zurtosht produced the sacred books 
 called Avasta, which he had brought with 
 him to the court of the King. These books 
 were written in the Zend language, a language 
 understood to have existed as far back as three 
 or four thousand years ago. 
 
 Some European authors contend that the 
 Zend language is derived from the Sanscrit, 
 but this has never been satisfactorily proved. 
 Authors of reputation are agreed in the 
 opinion that the language in which the Parsee 
 Scriptures are written first originated in the 
 province of Bactria, which, in the Vandidad, 
 is called Bukhdi. The Sanscrit, as is now 
 generally believed, was first spoken in the 
 country situated to the south of Bactria, or 
 in the region bounding the north of Afghan- 
 istan, in the vicinity of the range of moun- 
 tains known as Hindoo Koosh; hence some 
 
 R 
 
242 THE PARSEES. 
 
 similarity in the two languages from the 
 proximity of the countries in which they 
 originated, but it has never been satisfactorily 
 proved that the Zend was derived from the 
 Sanscrit. 
 
 The celebrated Professor Bopp is of opinion 
 that the Zend is a much more improved lan- 
 guage than the Sanscrit, and is as old as the 
 language of the Veds, which was composed 
 three or four thousand years ago. This 
 learned author, who has compiled a compara- 
 tive grammar of several European and Asiatic 
 classical languages on the basis of the Zend 
 says, '*that the Zend displays that inde- 
 pendence of the Sanscrit which Rask claims 
 for it perhaps in too high a degree," and adds 
 that " we are unwilling to receive the Zend as 
 a mere dialect of the Sanscrit, and to which 
 we are compelled to ascribe an independent 
 existence, resembling that of the Latin as 
 compared with the Greek, or the old Nor- 
 thern with the Gothic. It in many respects 
 reaches beyond, and is an improvement on 
 the Sanscrit." 
 
 The books, produced by the Prophet and 
 generally called Avasta, contained twenty- 
 one noosk, or volumes. The following 
 table shows the Zend names of these 
 
THE AVASTA. 243 
 
 volumes, with their corresponding ones in 
 Pehlvi: 
 
 ZEND. PEHLVI. 
 
 1. Yatha Suttood-Yeasht. 
 
 2. A-hoo Suttoodgur. 
 
 3. Verio Vehest-Mathre. 
 
 4. A-tha Bug. 
 
 5. Batoos Davajdeh-IIamas. 
 
 6. Ussad Nadoor. 
 
 7. Chid Pachem. 
 
 8. Hucha Kuttoostide. 
 
 9. Vungehoos .... Burrus. 
 
 10. Dujda Kussusroob. 
 
 11. Mimimgho .... Vishtasp. 
 
 12. Sieuthenanam . . . Khesuth. 
 
 13. Ungehoos Suffimd. 
 
 14. Muzdai Jursut. 
 
 15. Khusthremchai . . . Bugan-Teasht. 
 
 16. A-hoorai Neeyadoom. 
 
 17. Aa Hoosparem. 
 
 18. Eem Davasroosid. 
 
 19. Durregobio .... Ushkarura. 
 
 20. Dadada Vandidad. 
 
 21. Vastarem Hadokht. 
 
 The majority of these works are not in the 
 possession of the Parsees of this day. They 
 are supposed to have been destroyed either 
 during the invasion of Persia by the Mace- 
 donian, Alexander, or immediately after the 
 conquest of that country by the Arabs, who 
 entertained so great a hatred for the an- 
 cient religion of Persia, that they sought 
 out and collected all the works of Zurtosht 
 
 R 2 
 
244 THE PARSEES. 
 
 and his disciples which they could find in 
 Persia, and destroyed nearly the whole of 
 them. 
 
 A few of the works above mentioned, however, 
 survived destruction, and are now in the posses- 
 sion of the Parsees. They are the Vandidad, 
 Ya9na, or Izashne, and Vispard. These three 
 together are designated Vandidad Sade. Ogum 
 Decha, Khurdah-Avasta, and the Yeshts and 
 fragments of Yistasp Noosk, Hadokht Noosk, 
 and Damdad Noosk are also to be found. 
 The first, fourth, seventh, eighth, and ninth 
 of these works are mostly filled with prescrip- 
 tions for religious ceremonies and instructions 
 for the practice of the Zoroastrian religion. 
 They also contain injunctions for the adoration 
 of the Almighty, and abound with moral 
 precepts. The Izashne, Vispard, Khurdah- 
 Avasta, and the Yeshts are books of prayers. 
 
 It may be mentioned here that the oldest 
 manuscript copies now existing of the Van- 
 didad and Izashne were deposited in the 
 Eoyal Library at Copenhagen by Professor 
 Erasmus Eask, who, in the year eighteen 
 hundred and twenty, visited Bombay and 
 passed through Persia. The copy of the 
 first-named work bears date the 24th day of 
 the fourth month of the year of Yezdezard, 
 
SACRED BOOKS. 245 
 
 692, A.D. 1323. The latter work is dated ten 
 months later. 
 
 In India the oldest manuscript copy of the 
 Vandidad is to be found in the library of the 
 late Mulla Feroz, High Priest of the Kudmi 
 sect of the Parsees. Manuscript copies of 
 these works are also deposited in the Imperial 
 Library, Paris ; in the University Library, 
 Oxford ; and in the British, as well as the East 
 India Company's Museum, London. Professor 
 N. L. Westergard, of Copenhagen, published 
 an edition of the Vandidad Sade, in the Zend 
 character, in the year 1854. Professor Spiegel 
 has also published the Avasta in the original 
 Zend text, together with the original Pehlvi 
 translation, and is said to be preparing an 
 English version of the same for the press. 
 
 While enumerating the liturgical works of 
 the Parsees, now extant, it may be mentioned 
 that it has been asserted by Kichardson, 
 Kennedy, Jones, and some other European 
 authors, but without any satisfactory proof, 
 that the Zend books of the Parsees were 
 fabricated by the Parsee priests upon their 
 arrival in India in the seventh century. 
 Other Orientalists are of opinion that they 
 must have been written after the days of 
 Ardeshir Babekan, who, as we have seen, 
 
246 THE PARSEES. 
 
 restored the religion of Zoroaster in the third 
 century. The former hypothesis is utterly 
 gratuitous. It is altogether improbable and 
 beyond belief that a persecuted race of men, 
 driven from their native country, and suffering 
 vicissitudes of no ordinary kind refugees, 
 indeed, flying for their lives could have 
 compiled such elaborate works as the Van- 
 didad, Vispard, and Izashne. 
 
 On this point we have the opinion of a 
 learned German author. Adelung, in his 
 " Mithridates," says, " In the Zend some 
 writings still exist which have been made 
 known by Anquetil du Perron ; and these, 
 when the grounds on which their antiquity 
 are maintained are duly considered, will be 
 found to be the oldest works extant except 
 those of the Hebrews and the poems of 
 Homer." Professor Eask has also main- 
 tained that the Zend was a living language 
 and the spoken language of Media, and that 
 the Vandidad, as it exists, was written before 
 the time of Alexander the Great. 
 
 Dr. Bird, in his discourse on Oriental 
 literature, read at the anniversary meeting 
 of the Bombay branch of the Eoyal Asiatic 
 Society, in the year 1844, declares that 
 " Professor Rask supposes, with great pro- 
 
ANTIQUITY OF SACRED BOOKS. 247 
 
 bability, that the Zend was the popular lan- 
 guage, at least of a great part of Iran, and 
 not merely a sacred dialect introduced for 
 religious purposes. The testimony of so an- 
 cient an author as Masudi, that the books 
 called Asta (Avasta), and its commentary, 
 the Pazend, were in existence in his time, 
 establishes the comparative antiquity of the 
 Zend Avasta, and that the language of it is 
 not a forgery of modern times." 
 
 Professor Heeren, in his elaborate histo- 
 rical treatise, declares that " few remains 
 of antiquity have undergone such attentive 
 examination as the books of the Zend Avasta. 
 This criticism has, however, turned out to 
 their advantage ; the genuineness of the prin- 
 cipal compositions, particularly the Vandidad 
 and Izashne, as religious books of the ancient 
 Persians, has been demonstrated ; and we may 
 consider as completely ascertained all that 
 regards the rank of each book of the Zend 
 Avasta." Another well known author, Rhode, 
 who has examined the Zend works with 
 scrupulous care, has come to the conclusion 
 that the collection of books called the Zend 
 Avasta " contains either all or most of the 
 compositions which existed before the destruc- 
 tion of the Persian empire by Alexander." 
 
248 THE PARSEES. 
 
 Grotefend, another learned antiquarian, in 
 his essay on the cuneiform inscriptions, thus 
 delivers himself: " The ancient existence of 
 the Zend dialect, first discovered by M. du 
 Perron, being as little subject to be called in 
 question as that of the Pehlvi or Parsee, we 
 therefore consider the Zend Avasta as a 
 genuine religious code of the old Persians, by 
 reference to which we are enabled to judge 
 of their peculiar notions in matters of reli- 
 gion. The conformity in point of language 
 discoverable upon comparing the inscriptions 
 with the manuscripts of the Zend Avasta, 
 proves equally beyond a doubt the ancient 
 existence of the Zend, as the Sassanide in- 
 scriptions deciphered by M. de Sacy, prove 
 that the Pehlvi flourished some centuries 
 later." 
 
 Abbe Foucher is also of opinion that the 
 Zend books were composed in the reign of 
 Gushtasp. Anthony Troyer, the learned 
 translator of the Dabistan, says, " We may 
 reasonably believe that the Zend books were 
 written at a time when the Zend w^as a 
 living, nay the dominant, language in those 
 countries, where these books first appeared; 
 that is, in Georgia, in Iran, and in Azer- 
 bejan." Sir John Malcolm and Mr. J. B. 
 
GENUINENESS OF THE AVASTA. 249 
 
 Eraser, in their histories of Persia, both 
 maintain the antiquity and the authenticity of 
 the Zend Avasta. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the genuineness of 
 the Zend Avasta cannot be impeached, the 
 most learned and acute scholars of Europe 
 frankly recognising the Zend as one of 
 the most ancient of languages. The Zend 
 Avasta itself contains intrinsic evidence of its 
 being composed more than 2,500 years ago, 
 viz., in the reign of Gushtasp. The Parsee 
 Scriptures do not mention any event, king, or 
 person after Gushtasp and Zurtosht. The 
 Pehlvi works, compiled in the reign of 
 Ardeshir Bubekan, all speak of the existence 
 of the Zend Avasta. The works " Dinkard," 
 " Vujurkard," " Shayest Nashayest," and 
 " Nirangestan," believed to have been ori- 
 ginally compiled by the disciples of Zurtosht, 
 all make mention of the Zend Avasta promul- 
 gated by Zurtosht. 
 
 Mahomedan authors, again, who flourished 
 about a thousand years ago, make mention of 
 Zurtosht and his Zend Avasta. These evi- 
 dences must of course be held sufficient to 
 establish not only the antiquity, but also the 
 authenticity and genuineness of the sacred 
 writings of the Parsees, some parts of which 
 
250 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the followers of Zoroaster have at all hazards 
 preserved up to this day. 
 
 Besides the Zend Avasta, there are a few 
 works in Pehlvi, Pazend, and Persian, relating 
 to the religion of Zoroaster, but it is unneces- 
 sary to speak of them here, as in writing on 
 the Parsee religion, it is enough to notice 
 those books which are recognised as sacred 
 by the professors of that religion. 
 
 Now what is the religion of the Parsees, as 
 propounded in the sacred works above enu- 
 merated ? What do we find to be the nature 
 of the religion of Zoroaster, on examination of 
 the Zend Avasta ? The Persians, before the 
 advent of that prophet, were, more or less, 
 w^orshippers of idols. The mission of Zoro- 
 aster, therefore, was to effect a thorough 
 reformation of the religion, or rather super- 
 stition prevalent in Persia, and to lead the 
 people into the paths of virtue and piety. 
 
 He is said to have performed several 
 miracles for the purpose of convincing his 
 followers of the truth of his doctrines and 
 revelations. The religion propounded by him 
 is a simple form of theism, recognising but one 
 God, the Creator, Ruler, and Preserver of the 
 universe, without form, and invisible. To 
 Him is assigned a place above all, and to Him 
 
WHAT IS THE PARSEE RELIGION? 251 
 
 every praise is to be given for all the good 
 in this world and all the blessings we enjoy. 
 Zoroastrianism does not require any image of 
 God to be made for the purpose of worship, as 
 to Him is attributed no form, shape, or colour. 
 He is an immense light from which all glory, 
 bounty, and goodness flow. He is represented 
 as the mightiest, the most just, and the most 
 benevolent. His mercies are as boundless as 
 His being. The adoration or worship of any 
 other object is blasphemous. Such, in short, 
 is the picture of God as depicted in the re- 
 ligion of Zurtosht. _^ 
 
 The whole foundation of the sacred or 
 religious works of the Parsees is, as it were, 
 built upon three important injunctions which 
 pervade the Parsee Scriptures, and are pithily 
 expressed by three significant terms used in 
 the Avasta, viz., Homute^ Hookhte, and 
 Vurusie, which mean purity of speech, purity 
 of action, and purity of thought. This is the 
 moral of the Parsee religion, and on it the 
 whole structure of the Zend Avasta is raised. 
 
 A perusal of these works will show that they 
 inculcate those sublime doctrines and sound 
 precepts of morality which command the respect 
 of every civilized nation on earth. Evil actions 
 are placed in their proper light and condemned, 
 
252 THE PARSEES. 
 
 whereas the practice of every virtue is 
 enjoined, highly extolled and sanctioned by 
 reward in this as well as in the next world. 
 The Avasta seeks strongly to impress that 
 virtue alone is happiness in this world ; and 
 that its path is the path of peace. It is a 
 garment of honour, while wickedness is repre- 
 sented as a robe of shame. The most accept- 
 able sacrifices to God are good actions, while 
 intentions, as well as actions, must be good to 
 be acceptable to Him. The best court of 
 equity is a good conscience. Truth is laid 
 down as the basis of all excellence ; untruth 
 is punishable as one of the worst of sins. 
 Industry, inasmuch as it is never unfruitful, 
 and is a guard to innocence and a bar to 
 temptation, is highly recommended, while 
 idleness is represented as the parent of want 
 and shame. Principles of hospitality, general 
 philanthropy, and benevolence, are strongly 
 inculcated. 
 
 We now quote the opinions of unpreju- 
 diced European authors as to what Par- 
 seeism truly is. Anquetil du Perron, the 
 celebrated Frenchman, who was the first 
 European who examined the Zend Avasta, is 
 an able illustrator of the Parsee faith. His 
 extensive acquaintance with the facts of the 
 
PARSEE DOCTRINES. 253 
 
 system which he has unfolded is a sufficient 
 guarantee for the weight to be attached to his 
 opinions. 
 
 In his " Critical view of the theological 
 and ceremonial system of Zurtosht," he says, 
 " the first point in the theological system of 
 Zoroaster is to recognise and adore the Master 
 of all that is good, the Principle of all 
 righteousness, Ormuzd, according to the form 
 of worship prescribed by him, and with 
 purity of thought, of word, and of action. A 
 purity which is marked and preserved by 
 purity of body, which must always accompany 
 it, and which is found only in entire sub- 
 mission to the law of Zoroaster. Next, to have 
 a respect, accompanied with gratitude, for the 
 intelligence to which Ormuzd has committed 
 the care of Nature, to take in our actions 
 their attributes for models, to copy in our 
 conduct the harmony which reigns in the 
 different parts of the universe, and generally 
 to honour Ormuzd (the Almighty as he is 
 styled in the Avasta) in all that he has 
 produced. 
 
 "The second point of the religion of the 
 Parsees consists in detesting the author of all 
 evil, moral and physical, Ahriman his pro- 
 ductions, and his works ; and to contribute, as 
 
254 THE PARSEES. 
 
 far as in us lies, to exalt the glory of Ormuzd, 
 by enfeebling the tyranny which the Evil 
 Principle exercises over the world which the 
 Good Principle has created. 
 
 " On these two points bear the prayers, the 
 religious practices, the civil usages, and the 
 moral precepts, which are presented in the 
 Zend and Pehlvi books ; and these different 
 objects arise, as we shall see, from the theolo- 
 gical ideas of the legislator of the Persians. 
 
 " Prayer is one of the duties most strongly 
 enjoined, because man, continually exposed 
 to the assaults of Ahriman, (the evil prin- 
 ciple) stands in need of the succour which 
 it procures ; and because it affords oppor- 
 tunity for those intelligences to whom it is 
 addressed, to fulfil the object for which they 
 were created. 
 
 " The priest prays for himself, for all the 
 Parsees, and in particular, as in the days of 
 Herodotus, for the king whom Ormuzd has 
 placed over his people ; and to give greater 
 efficiency to his prayers, unites them to those 
 of all the Parsees, of all the souls acceptable 
 to Ormuzd, which have existed, or shall exist 
 until the resurrection. He declares also that 
 he takes part in the good deeds of all the 
 righteous, and that he joins his action to theirs. 
 
PRAYER. 255 
 
 This communion of prayers and actions ap- 
 pears in all the forms and all the offices which 
 compose the liturgical works of the Parsees. 
 It is well adapted to maintain the spirit of 
 peace and union which ought to characterize a 
 people who profess to adore the Author of all 
 good. 
 
 " The Parsees commence prayers with a 
 sincere confession of the sins they have com- 
 mitted."* 
 
 This is a pretty fair account of the theolo- 
 gical system of Zoroaster reduced to practice. 
 Ahriman should, however, be taken in an 
 allegorical sense to denote the cause of the 
 temptation under which man often falls into 
 evil. 
 
 Dr. Hyde, in his celebrated work on the 
 ancient Parsee religion, also says that, " The 
 Persians, from the beginning of their existence 
 as a nation, always believed in only one and 
 the same true and omnipotent God. They 
 believed in all the attributes of the Deity 
 believed by us ; and God is called in their own 
 writings, the Doer, the Creator, the Governor 
 and the Preserver of the world. They also 
 believed that the Deity was eternal (without 
 beginning or end) and omnipotent, with a 
 
 * Translated from the French by the Rev. Murray ]\Iitchel. 
 
256 THE PARSEES. 
 
 great many attributes, which to enumerate par- 
 ticularly would be tedious. They also believed 
 this Deity to be the judge of all men, and that 
 there was to come a general resurrection of 
 every man, to be judged and accounted accord- 
 ing to his merits or demerits. And they 
 also believed that God has prepared for the 
 blessed a place, of happiness called heaven 
 or paradise. And as there was a heaven for 
 the good, there was also a place of torture 
 for the wicked (as may be proved from their 
 old works), where they undergo a punish- 
 ment for their faults and misdeeds. They 
 acknowledged that they sinned daily, but pro- 
 posed themselves to be penitent for all the 
 sins committed by them either by thought, 
 word, or deed." 
 
 In alluding to these remarks of Dr. Hyde, 
 Sir William Ouseley says, " I sincerely join in 
 respecting the old Persian worship, and sym- 
 pathize in lamenting the infamous persecution 
 which has caused its decay." 
 
 We have said above that the Zoroastrians 
 are theists. There is no doubt of their being 
 monotheists ; they tolerate no other worship 
 but that of the Supreme Being ; and we are 
 confirmed in this view not only by the European 
 authorities quoted above, but by the practices 
 
PARSEES NOT FIRE WORSHIPPERS. 257 
 
 and religious prayers of the Parsees at this 
 day. That the Parsees are not idolaters is 
 sufficiently plain to all the Europeans who 
 come in contact with this community. The 
 images which existed in Persia when Zurtosht 
 promulgated his doctrines and reformed the 
 national religion were soon destroyed, and 
 active efforts are said to have been made to 
 extinguish heretical forms of worship, and 
 destroy the idols worshipped in the border- 
 ing countries. Xerxes, the immediate suc- 
 cessor of Gushtasp, had such a hatred for 
 idolatry that he destroyed all the Grecian 
 temples dedicated to the gods. ^ 
 
 The charge of fire, sun, water, and air wor- 
 ship has, however, been brought against the 
 Parsees by those not sufficiently acquainted 
 with the Zoroastrian faith to form a just 
 opinion. The Parsees themselves repel the 
 charge with indignation. Ask a Parsee whe- 
 ther he is a worshipper of the sun or fire, and 
 he will emphatically answer No ! This de- 
 claration itself, coming from one whose own 
 religion is Zoroastrianism, ought to be sufficient 
 to satisfy the most sceptical. God, according 
 to parsee faith, is the emblem of glory, reful- 
 gence^ and light, and in this view, a Parsee, 
 while engaged in prayer, is directed to stand 
 
258 THE PARSEES. 
 
 before the fire,* or to direct his face towards 
 the sun as the most proper symbols of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 All Eastern historians have acknowledged 
 that the Persians from the most early time 
 were no idolaters, but worshipped one God, 
 the Creator of the World, under the symbol 
 of Fire, and such is also the present practice 
 among their descendants in India. 
 
 The following is the opinion of Dean Pri- 
 deaux on this subject : '' They (the Persians) 
 abominating all images, worshipped God only 
 by fire. Light was the truest symbol of the 
 good God, and therefore they always worshipped 
 him before fire as being the cause of light, 
 and especially before the sun, as being in their 
 opinion the perfectest fire, and causing the 
 perfectest light. And for this reason, in all 
 their temples, they had fire continually burn- 
 ing on altars erected in them for that purpose, 
 and before these sacf'ed fires they offered up 
 
 * In Bombay at present there are three Fire-temples for 
 public worship. The first of these was erected in the 1153 
 year of Yezdeziyd, 1780 of the Christian era, by a wealthy 
 Parsee named Dadysett. The second was built about the 
 year 1830, at the expense of the late Hormusjee Bomonjee, 
 Esq.; and the third one was erected by the late Framjee 
 Cowasjee, Esq., in the year 1844, at a cost of Rs. 250,000, 
 or 25,000. 
 
FIRE A SYMBOL OF THE ALMIGHTY. 259 
 
 all their public devotions, as likewise they did 
 all their private devotions before their private 
 fires in their own houses. Thus did they pay 
 the highest honour to light, as being in their 
 opinion the truest representative of the Good 
 God, but always hated darkness as being what 
 they thought the truest representative of the 
 Evil God, whom they ever had in the utmost 
 detestation, as we now have the Devil." Sir 
 William Ouseley perfectly agrees with Dean 
 Prideaux, and says " I shall here express 
 my firm belief that the first Persian altars 
 blazed in honour of God alone ; as likewise, 
 that the present disciples of Zurtosht, both in 
 India and the mother country, Iran or Persia, 
 have no other object when they render to fire 
 a semblance of veneration." Dr. Hyde, an 
 English theologian, whom we have already 
 quoted, does not hesitate to declare that 
 the ancient Medes and Persians were wor- 
 shippers of the true God, a race of the faith- 
 ful, and haters of idolatry. 
 
 Anquetil du Perron, than whom no other 
 European has more critically examined the 
 Zend Avasta, says that " the religion preva- 
 lent in Persia till the destruction of the 
 empire, and carried into India by the Parsees, 
 who still possess it, merits more attention 
 
 s 2 
 
260 THE PARSEES. 
 
 than almost any other. It was at first pure 
 theism, though even in the time of Abraham 
 debased by heterodox opinions ; but they have 
 ever zealously preserved the doctrine of the 
 unity of God ; and we are not to conclude 
 from the veneration they showed, and still 
 show, to fire and the sun, that they have ever 
 adored either the element or the luminary. 
 Zoroaster, their great teacher, directed them 
 to turn towards the sun or the fire when they 
 prayed ; but the prayers which they recite in 
 this position are addressed solely to the Sove- 
 reign Being, and not to the symbols of Him. 
 
 " The doctrines, however, which these mira- 
 cles" {i.e. those of Zoroaster) "confirmed, were 
 wise and rational. They taught the unity of 
 God ; His omnipotence ; His goodness towards 
 men; a great veneration for fire, the visible 
 type of the invisible divinity; and a great 
 aversion for Ahriman, the evil principle, the 
 instigator of evil thoughts, but not co-eternal 
 with God. The morality contained in the 
 books of Zoroaster is very pure, and all 
 founded on the love of our neighbour." 
 
 The following extract from Forbes' " Orien- 
 tal Memoirs," also proves that the Parsees are 
 not worshippers of the elements. 
 
 *' These fires {i. e. the sacred fires of the 
 
SACRED FIRES. 261 
 
 Parsees) are attended day and night by the 
 Andiaroos or priests, and are never permitted 
 to expire. They are preserved in a large 
 chafing-dish, carefully supplied with fuel, per- 
 fumed by a small quantity of sandal-wood or 
 other aromatics. The vulgar and illiterate 
 worship this sacred flame, as also the sun, 
 moon, and stars, without regard to the invisi- 
 ble Creator; but the learned and judicious 
 adore only the Almighty Fountain of Lights 
 the author and disposer of all things, under 
 the symbol of fire. Zoroaster and the ancient 
 magi, whose memories they revere, and whose 
 works they are said to preserve, never taught 
 them to consider the sun as anything more 
 than a creature of the great Creator of the 
 universe : they were to revere it as His best 
 and fairest image, and for the numberless 
 blessings it diffuses on the earth. The sacred 
 flame was intended only as a perpetual monitoi? 
 to preserve their purity, of which this element 
 is so expressive a symbol. But superstition 
 and fable have, through a lapse of ages^ 
 corrupted the stream of the religious sys- 
 tem which in its source was pure and 
 sublime." 
 
 The following extract from Hanway's Travels 
 is one of the numerous evidences that the 
 
262 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 Parsees are monotheists : ''He (Zoroaster, the 
 founderof the ancient religion of the Persians) 
 considered light as the most perfect symbol of 
 true wisdom and intellectual endowment ; and 
 darkness the representative of things hurtful 
 and destructive. From hence he was led to 
 inculcate an abhorrence of all images, and to 
 teach his followers to worship God only, under 
 the form of fire, considering the brightness, 
 activity, purity, and incorruptibility of that 
 element, as bearing the most perfect resem- 
 blance to the nature and perfections of the 
 good deity. For the same reason the Persians 
 showed a particular veneration to the sun, 
 which was founded on their belief that it is 
 the noblest creature of the visible world. . . 
 
 " He taught that there is one supreme, in- 
 dependent, and self-existent being." 
 
 Sir John Malcolm in his splendid work on 
 the history of Persia, acknowledges that the 
 reproachful name of fire-worshippers is not 
 merited by the Parsees. He says " God, 
 he" (Zoroaster) ''taught, existed from all 
 eternity, and was like infinity of time and 
 space. There were, he averred, two principles 
 in the universe good and evil. Light was the 
 type of good, darkness, of the evil spirit ; and 
 God had said unto Zoroaster, ' My light is 
 
TESTIMONIES TO THE PARSEE FAITH. 263 
 
 concealed under all that shines.' Hence the 
 disciple of that prophet, when he prays in 
 a temple, turns towards the sacred fire that 
 burns upon its altar; and when in the open 
 air towards the sun, as the noblest of all 
 lights, and that by which God sheds His 
 Divine influences over the whole earth, and 
 perpetuates the works of His creation. . . . 
 His religion inculcated the worship of one 
 immortal and beneficent Creator. Whatever 
 might have been his (Zoroaster's) intention, 
 his introduction of flame from an earthly sab- 
 stance, as the symbol of God, opened a wide 
 door for superstition. There can be no doubt 
 that the devotion intended for the Deity by 
 Zoroaster has been given to the symbol by 
 'many of his followers, who have merited by 
 such a practice the reproachful name of 
 worshippers of fire." 
 
 Captain J. A. Pope, who has studied the 
 Parsee religion, and has deliberately expressed 
 his opinion on the morality of that faith, 
 thus writes : " They " (the Par sees) " follow 
 as near as possible the tenets of Zurtusht, 
 professing their belief in one God, consider- 
 ing fire only as an emblem of his purity, and 
 the sun as the most perfect of his work ; they 
 believe also in the rewards and punishments 
 
264 THE PARSEES. 
 
 in a future state, as related in the revelations 
 of Ardai Viraf." 
 
 The following is an extract from Niebuhr's 
 travels through Arabia and other countries 
 in the East. " The Parsees, followers of Zer- 
 dust, or Zoroaster, adore one God only, 
 Eternal and Almighty. They pay, however, 
 a certain worship to the sun, the moon, the 
 stars, and to lire, as visible images of the 
 invisible Divinity. Their veneration for the 
 element of fire induces them to keep a sacred 
 fire constantly burning, which they feed with 
 odoriferous wood, both in the temples and in 
 the houses of private persons who are in easy 
 circumstances." 
 
 The Rev. J. Ovington, who visited Surat 
 in the year 1689, says, from personal observa- 
 tion, that ** the Parsees own and adore one 
 Supreme Being, to whom, as he is the original 
 of all things, they dedicate the first day of every 
 month in a solemn observance of his worship. 
 And enjoin, besides these, some others for the 
 celebration of public prayer." 
 
 The following extract from Butler's " Hora? 
 Biblicse " also explains the nature of the 
 Parsee faith : " Fire was considered by 
 Zoroaster as the purest symbol of the Divinity, 
 and the original element from which Ormuzd 
 
ADDITIONAL TESTIMONIES. 265 
 
 produced all beings : he therefore enjoined his 
 disciples to keep up a perpetual fire, and to 
 perform other devotional exercises in the pre- 
 sence of fire ; and every supposed corruption of 
 fire is forbidden, under the severest penalties. 
 To every act of devotion purity of heart is 
 necessary ; and to purity of heart Zoroaster 
 supposes purity of body greatly contributes." 
 
 The following is from " Rollings Ancient 
 History" : " As the Magi held images in utter 
 abhorrence, they worshipped God only under 
 the form of fire, looking upon that, on account 
 of its purity, brightness, activity, subtilty, 
 fecundity, and. incorruptibility, as the most 
 perfect symbol of the Deity." 
 
 The subjoined extract from the Asiatic 
 Journal for April, 1840, also explains the 
 reasons of the observances paid to fire : 
 
 " The observances paid to fire (it is unjust 
 to call them worship) are only parts of a 
 ritual which prescribes a similar respect for, 
 and mention in prayers of, all the classes of 
 animated nature, and some objects inanimate. 
 The respect paid to fire is more prominent \ 
 than the other parts of the ritual, inasmuch as . 
 that element is considered the terrestrial 
 image of the Supreme Being." 
 
 Mrs. Postans, a very intelligent lady, who 
 
266 THE PARSEES. 
 
 visited Bombay about fifteen years ago, and 
 who made herself acquainted with the manners 
 and customs of the Parsees, says, in a work 
 recently published by her : " I have used this 
 title (fire- worshippers) in conformity with the 
 popular English notion of Parsee worship ; but 
 the term is, I believe, quite unfounded. They 
 do not worship either the elements or the 
 heavenly bodies, being, in fact, pure Deists, 
 and reo^ardino^ the works of God's hand as to be 
 reverenced only as proofs of the Divine power." 
 Various Mahomedan authors have likewise 
 freed the Parsees from the charge of the wor- 
 ship of the elements. The authors of the 
 "Tarikh-i-Tabri," " Shah - Namah," and 
 " Dabestan " take the same view of Parsee 
 worship as the European authors above 
 quoted. 
 
 That the whole of the Zend Avasta, the 
 sacred work of the Parsees, abounds with high 
 moral precepts does not admit of a doubt, and 
 that it impresses upon the minds of its be- 
 lievers the principles of moral duty is evident 
 from the customs, mode of living, and characters 
 of the Parsees. With religion Zurtosht has 
 combined moral philosophy in a remarkable 
 degree ; and it was in this very spirit that 
 his system was attempted to be revived in the 
 
REDIVIVUS. 267 
 
 reign of Ardeshir Babekan. That monarcli 
 assembled all the learned men and priests of 
 the Empire to deliberate upon and devise the 
 best plan for restoring the ancient purity of 
 the national religion, which had been neglected 
 and forgotten since the days of Alexander. 
 
 A monster meeting composed of more than 
 40,000 men invited from all parts of the 
 kingdom is said to have been held by that 
 king, of whom the most able were selected, and 
 under the guidance of the pious and learned 
 Ardai Veraf, a code of morals called the 
 " Eevelations of Ardai Veraf" was composed 
 and published for the people. This celebrated 
 work was dictated by Ardai Veraf. It professes 
 to be a description of what he beheld in a 
 vision in which he was transported into the 
 other world, and visited the abodes of the 
 deceased, that inherited heaven or hell, accord- 
 ing to their acts while they sojourned upon 
 earth. 
 
 Many Parsees believe in the reality of 
 the narrative, and regard the revelations as 
 genuine, whilst others, holding a more philo- 
 sophic view, look upon the work as simply a 
 vivid imaginative picture of the future destiny 
 of men who follow the good or bad examples 
 described in the revelations. Thev believe 
 
268 
 
 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the work was composed for the vulgar with 
 the object of encouraging virtue and morality, 
 and deterring them from immoral conduct 
 and pursuits. The proposed object of the 
 revelations, was one greatly to be desired, 
 namely, to banish heresy and schism from 
 the earth, and to restore the worship of the 
 true God to its wonted purity. The national 
 religion of Persia, from the invasion of Alex- 
 ander to the accession of Ardeshir Babekan, 
 had become much corrupted, and these reve- 
 lations effected a reform. 
 
 Regarded in this light, the Ardai Yeraf 
 Namah is an excellent work, the whole tenor 
 of it being strictly moral, while no one can 
 read it without being impressed with an idea 
 of the greatness and goodness of God, and 
 imbued with sound principles of morality. 
 Capt. J. A. Pope has translated the work 
 into English, and on publishing it in the 
 year 1816, declared that the motives which 
 led him to undertake its publication, "arose 
 from a strong desire to be more intimately 
 acquainted with the principles of a morality 
 he admired, and of the daily exercise of 
 benevolence that sprang from those principles." 
 He further trusts, that "it will be the 
 means of removing many an ill-founded opinion 
 
PARADISE. 269 
 
 with regard to the morality of this interesting 
 tribe." Zoroaster has said, and the Zend 
 Avasta proclaims in every page, that men 
 are saved only by their good deeds in this 
 world ; every soul is punished or rewarded 
 according to his conduct, and the motives by 
 which he was actuated in his mundane career. 
 Nothing can be more true, nothing more 
 compatible with the nicest sense of justice 
 rewards according to merit, punishment ac- 
 cording to crime. And these, in fact, are the 
 very objects which the revelations of Ardai 
 Veraf profess to show and prove. The de- 
 scription which the Parsee sage gives of 
 heaven and hell, the happy state in which the 
 good and virtuous souls were located, and the 
 torments and miseries which those who had 
 walked in evil ways were condemned- to 
 suffer, are eminently calculated to stimulate 
 virtuous conduct, and induce the evil to amend 
 his ways, and lead a life of piety and holiness. 
 Ardai Veraf speaks of a place that he 
 beheld, which seemed to him to be composed 
 of diamonds and rubies, the splendour of 
 which surpassed that of the sun at noon- 
 day, and bore resemblance to flashes of vivid 
 lightning. That it appeared like a spacious 
 garden, planted with trees and shrubs of 
 
270 THE PARSEES. 
 
 various kinds, and adorned with rivulets 
 and springs. That the trees were alive with 
 singing-birds, filling the air with their melo- 
 dious notes. That the spring sent out the 
 scent of roses. That this was the residence 
 of those who had worshipped none other than 
 one God, and had walked in the way of 
 holiness and devotion all their lives, perform- 
 ing the duties enjoined by the laws of God 
 with zeal and activity; that the gems repre- 
 sented their virtues, while their souls were 
 absorbed in splendours which could not be 
 gazed upon. On the other hand the place of 
 the sinner, the evil disposed, and the wicked, 
 is described in the darkest colours imaginable. 
 When it is remembered that this picturesque 
 style of writing appeals forcibly to an Eastern 
 mind, it cannot be doubted that it held forth 
 the most powerful inducements to the practice 
 of virtue, and the shunning of evil. 
 
 What the nature of the religion, revived in 
 the reign of Ardashir Babekan, and up to this 
 day professed by the Parsees of India is, will 
 be best explained by the following injunctions 
 given to Ardai Yeraf, when he is said to have 
 returned from his mission for the instruction 
 of the people in the way of righteousness. 
 
 "Listen, O Ardai Veraf !" said the Angel, 
 
FAITH. 271 
 
 " without trouble nothing can be attained, the 
 poor day labourer is worthy of his hire, and 
 thus those who perform good actions will have 
 their reward in eternal life according to their 
 several merits. The life of man is of short 
 duration, and many troubles and anxieties fall 
 to his lot ; and a man after fifty years of 
 prosperity and happiness, may be, by some 
 unforeseen accident, reduced to sickness and 
 poverty. 
 
 " Many are tried by this criterion, and but 
 few are found worthy. To suffer a day of 
 pain, after fifty years of pleasure, is too much 
 for them, and they complain, in bitterness of 
 spirit, to the Creator of all good, of His in- 
 justice and cruelty, without remembering the 
 good they have so long enjoyed, or calling to 
 mind the eternity of punishment in reserve 
 for the wicked. Therefore, O Ardai Veraf ! 
 walk yourself in the paths of righteousness, 
 and teach others also to do so. Recollect 
 that your body will return to dust, but that 
 your soul, if rich in good works, will mount 
 to immortality, and partake of the happiness 
 you have already witnessed. 
 
 " Take less care of your body, and more of 
 your soul; the pains and aches of the body 
 are easily cured, but who can minister to the 
 
2/2 THE PARSEES. 
 
 diseases of the soul ? When you set out on a 
 journey in the lower world you provide your- 
 selves, and take with you money, clothes, 
 provisions, and are prepared against all the 
 exigencies of the road, hut what do you 
 provide yourselves with for your last journey 
 of the soul from the lower to the upper world ; 
 and whose friendship have you to assist you on 
 the way ? Hear, O Ardai Viraf ! and I will 
 describe to you the provisions requisite for the 
 voyage to eternal life. 
 
 " In the first place, the friend who will assist 
 you is God ; but to attain his friendship you 
 must walk in his ways, and place in him the 
 firmest reliance. The provisions must be 
 faith and hope, and the remembrance of your 
 good works. Thy body, O, Ardai Viraf! 
 may be likened unto a horse, and thy soul to 
 its rider, and the provisions requisite for the 
 support of both are good actions. But as with 
 a feeble rider the horse is ill managed, so 
 with a feeble horse the rider is but ill accom- 
 modated, care ought to be taken that both are 
 kept in order ; so in a spiritual sense, the soul 
 and body must be kept in order by a suc- 
 cession of good actions. Even in the w^orld 
 the multitude would sneer at a man who took 
 more care of his horse than of himself; for 
 
HOW TO LIVE. 273 
 
 this reason a man ought to take more care of 
 his soul than of his body. God! O Ardai 
 Viraf ! requires only two things of the sons of 
 men ; the first, that they should not sin ; the 
 second, that they should be grateful for the many 
 blessings He is continually bestowing on them. 
 
 " Let the world, O Ardai Viraf ! be taught 
 not to set their hearts on the pleasures and 
 vanities of life, as nothing can be carried 
 away with them. You have already seen the 
 rewards given to the good and deserving; how 
 they have been repaid for all their trouble ; the 
 poor and the rich, the king and the peasant, 
 here receive honours and distinction, accord- 
 ing to their good works. The herdsman and 
 shepherd, you have seen their condition. 
 
 "In youth, and in the prime of manhood, 
 when blessed with health and vigour, you 
 suppose that your strength will never fail; 
 that your riches, your lands, your houses, and 
 your honours, will remain for ever ; that your 
 gardens will be always green, and your vine- 
 yards fruitful; but O Ardai Viraf! teach 
 them not to think so ; teach them the danger 
 of such a way of thinking all, all will pass 
 away as a dream. 
 
 " The flowers fade, and give lessons unto 
 man that he is unwilling to profit by. Yea^ 
 
274 THE PARSEES. 
 
 the world itself will pass away, and nothing 
 will remain but God." 
 
 It is unnecessary to defend the morality 
 or excellence of such sentiments as these ; 
 but many causes have operated to place 
 the religion of the Parsees in a false light. 
 A persecuted race, destitute of many of its 
 sacred books, and coming in contact with a 
 people highly jealous of their own religion, 
 and to whom the slightest touch from one of 
 another caste was a source of impurity, it was 
 natural that the Parsees should have contracted, 
 as time passed on, many of the practices of 
 their neighbours. 
 
 The first Parsees in India had of necessity to 
 follow certain of the Hindoo practices, in order 
 to secure the protection, assistance, and good- 
 will of the Hindoo princes, in whose country 
 they took refuge. Time rolled on, and suc- 
 ceeding generations of Parsees fell into the 
 error that these borrowed practices were sanc- 
 tioned by their own religion. "Our forefathers 
 did so," and, according to Asiatic ideas, the 
 children thought that their ancestors could do 
 no wrong. The study of the few religious 
 books which they had with them was not culti- 
 vated, for there were few learned men among 
 the body. The result was that many of the 
 
RELIGIOUS REFORM ASSOCIATION. 275 
 
 usages, customs, practices, and prejudices of the 
 Hindoos were received and acted upon by the 
 Parsees. It is thus that we may easily explain 
 how it is that an ignorant Parsee, or his wife, 
 at the present day, sends an offering of a cocoa- 
 nut to the Holi^ or a cup of oil to the Hunoo- 
 man^ or cakes, sugar, and flowers to the sea. 
 
 The Parsee punchayet, some twenty-five 
 years ago, took steps with the view of eradi- 
 cating such ceremonies and practices as had 
 crept into their religion since their expatri- 
 ation from Persia ; but they did not succeed, to 
 the extent of their wishes, with the majority 
 of the people. Religious usages which the 
 Parsees of India had observed for nearly 
 twelve centuries could not easily be eradicated. 
 
 What the punchayet failed to do by com- 
 pulsory measures is now sought to be done 
 by an appeal to the sense of the people. An 
 association composed of many influential and 
 wealthy Parsees, and a number of young and 
 educated men of the race, was formed in the 
 year 1852, under the title of the "Rahnumai 
 Mazdiasna," or Religious Reform Association, 
 which has for its object the regeneration of the 
 social condition of the Parsees, and the resto- 
 ration of the Zoroastrian religion to its pristine 
 purity. 
 
 T 2 
 
2/6 THE PARSEES. 
 
 In the face of considerable opposition from 
 the ignorant classes of the community, this 
 association has done much good and wrought 
 considerable changes in the social condition 
 of the Parsees. Essays, composed in lan- 
 guage eloquent and impressive, showing the 
 disadvantages resulting from adhering to 
 practices and usages which really do not 
 belong to the religion, are read in public 
 meetings before a crowd of eager listeners. 
 Pamphlets by thousands have been circulated 
 among the people, and judging from present 
 appearances, the efforts of this body seem 
 to have had a beneficial influence on the 
 minds of the people. 
 
 The committee of the Sir Jamsetjee Jee- 
 jeebhoy Translation Fund, lately contributed 
 its quota to this much-desired object. An 
 essay on the " Origin and History of the Zend 
 Avasta, with an account of the investigations 
 of European authors regarding the Zend 
 books, with suggestions for enhancing reli- 
 gious education among the Parsees, and par- 
 ticularly among the priests," was invited, and 
 a prize of Es. 500, or 50^., oifered to the suc- 
 cessful competitor. 
 
 There were three candidates for the prize, 
 and the essay by Mr. Sorabjee Shapoorjee, 
 
PRIESTS. ^in 
 
 formerly Secretary of the Religious Reform 
 Association above-mentioned, was honoured 
 with success. It is said that this brochure 
 is distinguished by considerable research, and 
 is remarkable for the ability with which the 
 subject is treated. Mr. Sorabjee's name is 
 w^ell-known in the Parsee community as the 
 coadjutor of the indefatigable Nourosjee Fuz- 
 doonjee in his labours for the improvement of 
 the social and religious condition of the Parsees. 
 
 The condition of the Parsee priesthood 
 demands improvement. Very few of them 
 understand their liturgical works, although 
 able to recite parrot-like all the chapters 
 requiring to be repeated on occasions of re- 
 ligious ceremonies ; for which services they 
 receive the regulated fees, and from them 
 mainly they derive a subsistence. The priest- 
 hood is an hereditary profession among the 
 Parsees. The priest does not acquire his 
 position from sacerdotal fitness or superior 
 learning. Strictly speaking he cannot be 
 called a spiritual guide. The son of a priest 
 is also a priest, unless he chooses to follow 
 another profession, which is not prohibited to 
 him. But a layman cannot be a priest. 
 
 The Parsee religion does not, however, 
 sanction this hereditary office; which is, indeed. 
 
2/8 THE PARSEES. 
 
 contrary to the ancient law. The custom is 
 merely derived from usage. Ignorant and 
 unlearned as these priests are, they do not 
 and cannot command the respect of the laity. 
 The latter are more enlightened and educated 
 than the former, and hence the position of the 
 so-called spiritual guides has fallen into con- 
 tempt. The consequence is that some of the 
 priests have of late years given up a profes- 
 sion which has ceased to be honourable, and 
 have betaken themselves to useful and in- 
 dustrious occupations, whilst a few have 
 become contractors for constructing railroads 
 in the Bombay Presidency. 
 
 It is, however, very gratifying to notice an 
 attempt that is now being made to impart a 
 healthy stimulus to the priesthood for the 
 study of their religious books. In memory of 
 the late lamented high priest of the Kudmi 
 sect of the Parsees, an institution, styled the 
 " MuUa Firoz Mudrissa,"rhas been established, 
 under the superintendence of competent 
 teachers. Here the study of Zend, Pehlvi, 
 and Persian, is cultivated, and many of 
 the sons of the present ignorant priests, it 
 is confidently hoped, will occupy -a higher 
 position in the society of their countrymen 
 than their parents now enjoy. 
 
PARSEE BISHOPS. 279 
 
 Inquiring and intelligent youths from 
 among the laity, are also now engaged in 
 the study of their religious books ; and con- 
 sidering the present state of Parsee society, it 
 is probable that through their instrumentality 
 more good will be effected than from the 
 exertions of the priesthood. A Nourosjee 
 Furdoonjee, a Dhunjeebhoy Framjee, or a 
 Sorabjee Shapoorjee, can more satisfactorily 
 propound and explain their religion than an 
 assembly of modern priests. 
 
 The present dastoors or bishops, among the 
 Parsees, namely Dastoor Peshotun, the suc- 
 cessor of the learned and well-known Edul 
 Daroo, and MuUa Ardashir, the successor of 
 the equally renowned Mulla Feroz, are intel- 
 ligent and well-informed men, possessing a con- 
 siderable knowledge of their religion ; but the 
 mass of the priesthood are profoundly ignorant 
 of its first principles. As the minds of the 
 Parsee people are now awakening to the dis- 
 graceful state of existing matters, and as 
 active measures are being devised for improve- 
 ment, the darkness and gloom of the present 
 will doubtless be succeeded by a bright dawn 
 in the future. 
 
280 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 Progress of the Parsees Influence on the other natives of India 
 Home influences Commercial prospects Loyalty The 
 ftiture of the Parsees. 
 
 In the foregoing pages, we have endeavoured 
 to trace the progress of the small remnant of 
 the followers of Zoroaster, who have, under 
 the most changing vicissitudes, clung to the 
 faith of their forefathers. We have watched 
 this people, driven by persecution from their 
 native land, now taking refuge in mountain 
 fastnesses, and now wandering to the shores of 
 the stranger to seek an asylum. At times 
 falling a prey to the sword of an enemy, and 
 again driven almost to desperation by the iron 
 hand of despotism ; but under all the miseries 
 through which they have had to pass, it is 
 curious to note the tenacity with which 
 they have preserved those good qualities, and 
 those distinguishing characteristics, which in 
 ancient times rendered the Persians the fore- 
 most nation on the earth. The spirit of 
 
THE MODERN PARSEES. 281 
 
 independence, the high courage, the truth- 
 fulness, and the energy and enterprise which 
 distinguished their forefathers, have been 
 preserved by the modern Parsees ; and from 
 being simply a band of fugitives on a foreign 
 shore, they have grown into an important 
 people, occupying an honourable and dis- 
 tinguished position in the Eastern empire of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Of all the nations now in India, the 
 Parsees the most nearly approximate to 
 Europeans. As we have already shown, no 
 sooner did the Parsees come into contact with 
 the English, and receive the privileges that 
 belong to a British subject, than their enter- 
 prise and energy, which had so long lain 
 dormant, awakened with renewed vitality and 
 force. Under the fostering protection of an 
 enlightened Government, the civilization of 
 the Parsees commenced, and has since pro- 
 ceeded with such rapid strides, that year by 
 year they are becoming more Europeanized,* 
 
 * As confirmatory of this view, we have most opportunely 
 discovered in the Homeward Mail of the 19th July, 1858, the 
 following notice of the intention of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy 
 to adopt the European plan of settling the entail of the 
 baronetcy : 
 
 " ' Our Parsee Baronet.' We understand that Sir Jam- 
 setjee Jeejeebhoy has invested twenty-five lakhs of rupees in 
 the Four per Cents, for the due maintenance of the title which 
 
282 . THE PARSEES. 
 
 not only in their manners and customs, but 
 in their thoughts and feelings. This great 
 advance, which is not only manifested in 
 increased commercial enterprise and aptitude 
 for business, but is also extending to the 
 development of intellectual tastes and pursuits, 
 is fraught with the brightest promises for the 
 future ; and in time to come it will be found 
 that the Parsees form the great connecting 
 link between the English Government in 
 India and its native subjects. Already have 
 they exerted some influence in this direction ; 
 and when it is seen that the enlightenment, 
 energy, and enterprise of the Parsees insure 
 for that race a respect and esteem from the 
 governing powers far superior to that which 
 can be secured by the mere display of Oriental 
 magnificence and barbaric profusion of wealth, 
 the other natives of India must inevitably 
 seek to follow so bright an example. That 
 this happy state of things can only be the 
 
 has "become hereditary in his family. The interest of this sum, 
 amounting to ' ten thousand a year,' is entailed upon the future 
 successors of the baronetcy, who will be required to assume 
 the patronymic of its founder. The mansion at Mazagon is in 
 like manner entailed, and Western India will, we trust, never 
 be without a Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, inheriting alike the 
 virtues and the fortune of the good old man still with us, who 
 has won the approbation of his country and the favour of her 
 Majesty the Queen." 
 
PROGRESS OF THE PARSEES. 283 
 
 work of time is an undoubted fact, but we 
 believe that eventually this influence of the 
 Parsees will accomplish a great revolution, 
 and secure for the British Government in 
 India a loyalty of feeling from the other 
 natives, such as is now accorded to it by the 
 Parsees. 
 
 Whatever progress the Parsees have made, 
 they have still much to do ; but they have few 
 prejudices to stand in the way of their ad- 
 vancement. They are neither trammelled by 
 the miserable institution of caste, nor does 
 their religion lie like a stumbling block to 
 arrest their onward progress. Education, both 
 of males and females, is now spreading ; if not 
 with gigantic strides, it is certainly advancing 
 with sure steps, and is based upon a solid 
 foundation. Day by day they are freeing 
 themselves from the restraints which Oriental 
 ignorance has imposed upon them. In their 
 domestic relations, they are almost European ; 
 women with them are something more than 
 the degraded playthings which they are with 
 other Eastern nations. A Parsee's house is 
 now becoming that which all Englishmen so 
 greatly prize, his "home;" in which he seeks 
 from family intercourse that solace from the 
 cares of life, which is only to be obtained 
 
284 THE PARSEES. 
 
 in the bosom of those who are nearest and 
 dearest to us. The Par see's wife is his com- 
 panion, and his children are his friends. The 
 beneficial influences of this intercourse can- 
 not be overrated ; whenever we find w^oman 
 occupying a position in which she ministers to 
 something higher than the passions of men, it is 
 certain that that nation is on the road to civi- 
 lization. In commerce, we hope we have shown 
 that the Parsees are following close on the heels 
 of the British; they have exhibited a com- 
 prehensiveness in their business transactions 
 which secures for them the recognition of the 
 commercial world as thorough men of business, 
 while their honour and liberality gain for them 
 the proud designation of " honest merchants." 
 We have already adverted to the loyalty of 
 the Parsees, but the writer may be pardoned 
 for once more pointing out the unshaken faith 
 they have displayed to the British Govern- 
 ment throughout the late disastrous rebellion 
 in India. This has arisen not only from an 
 innate love of order and respect for the ruling 
 power, but from the fact that the Parsees, we 
 may say, thoroughly comprehend the nature of 
 the British Government. They truly appre- 
 ciate the blessings of an enlightened rule, 
 which instead of repressing the energies of the 
 
FUTURE OF PARSEES. 285 
 
 people, fosters their attempts at advancement, 
 and endeavours by example to induce them to 
 join the march of progress, and while respect- 
 ing the religion and customs of the natives 
 seeks to inspire them with a desire [to rise in 
 the scale of civilization. 
 
 Taking all these facts into consideration, 
 we feel we are justified in claiming a bright 
 future for the Parsees of Western India. 
 Their progress has not resulted from the 
 application of any artificial stimulants, but 
 has proceeded from a deep-rooted conviction 
 that it is in the nature of man to advance. 
 Looking round upon the other natives of 
 their land of adoption, the Parsees found them 
 steeped in ignorance, remaining stationary 
 whilst the Western world was rapidly ad- 
 vancing; settling in fact into an effete state 
 which was rotting at the core. While under 
 native rule, it is not to be wondered at that 
 the Parsees could do no more than keep just 
 in advance of those who were their rulers; 
 but it is a matter of surprise that they should, 
 under these circumstances, have preserved 
 inviolate those precious seeds of good which 
 they had received as a legacy from their fore- 
 fathers. Those seeds, though buried in a 
 parched ground, were not destroyed; and no 
 
286 THE PARSEES. 
 
 sooner did the fertilizing stream of civilization 
 fall upon them, than they germinated, took 
 deep root, and sprang into a flourishing 
 existence. Under British rule, the Parsees 
 found employment for their talents ; no longer 
 repressed and kept down hy the ignorance 
 of those in authority over them, they are 
 enabled to give full scope to their powers, and 
 a new field has opened to them, in which they 
 are encouraged to labour, and from which 
 they can reap both profit and honour. The 
 Parsees of to-day are a difiorent race from the 
 Parsees of twenty years ago, and we think we 
 may safely predict that the Parsees of twenty 
 years hence will stand far higher in the scale 
 of civilization than even those of our own 
 time. 
 
 Our task is now accomplished, and if the 
 present work has succeeded in familiarizing 
 Europeans with a race who are seeking to 
 become, in one sense, Europeans themselves, 
 the aim and end of the writer v*^ill have been 
 realized. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 London : Printed by Smith, Eldeii & Co., Little Green Arbour Court, E. C. 
 
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