PARSIS

PARSIS (Pārsis, also rendered as Parsees), "Persians," or Zoroastrians, from Iran who settled in the Indian subcontinent during the tenth century ce, and their descendents.

Origins

Zoroastrians in Iran had contact with people in the Indian subcontinent from at least the fifth century bce through overland and maritime trade. After the Arab Muslim conquest of Iran in the seventh century ce, there were many small, poorly documented migrations by Zoroastrians away from that country over both land and sea. The one relocation that gained a historiography probably occurred in the tenth century and produced the Parsi community in India. That particular migration is recorded as the Parsi community's founding legend, known as the Qessa-e Sanjān (Story of Sanjan), a New Persian narrative poem based upon an older oral tradition, composed in 1600 ce. It forms the basis—idealized and augmented—for much of the Parsis' early history. According to the text, during the reign of the Samanid kings (892–1005) many Zoroastrians from the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan relocated overland via the mountains of Kuhestan to the Persian Gulf port of Hormuz, then by ship via the Persian Gulf and the Indian island of Diu to Gujarat in western India. Their date of arrival at Gujarat is assigned by tradition to 992 Vikram Samvat (an Indian calendar begun in 58 bce equivalent to 936 ce). Owing to uncertainty resulting from parallels between the local script and Devanagari numbers, the date came to be read as 772 Vikram Samvat or 716 ce—an inaccuracy still accepted by some Parsis and scholars. Yet the maritime migration to Gujarat and relocation there along the coastal region does not explain adequately accounts by Muslim travelers during the tenth century ce of groups that they referred to as gabr (hollow or empty, hence "one lacking faith, infidel"), a derogatory designation by Muslims for Zoroastrians, living in the hinterland of north India. The number and size of such inland communities suggest strongly that other Zoroastrians must have entered India via land routes from the northwest and, in time, fallen under the rubric of Parsis.

The Qessa-e Sanjān goes on to claim that a local raja or ruler named Jādi Rānā (Vajjardevrai or Vajjadadeva) of the Silhara dynasty agreed to grant the Zoroastrians safe haven in Gujarat on the condition that the newcomers explain their beliefs to the Hindus, adopt the Gujarati language, refrain from bearing weapons, perform weddings only at night, and ensure that their women blend with Hindu counterparts by wearing the local garb, the sari. Gujarat, as a result, became the region in India where most Zoroastrians settled. A complementary folk tale claims that the raja had shown the newcomers a pitcher full of milk to signify that India was already heavily populated, with little room for new settlers, but that a magus who was present deposited something worthwhile into the milk—sugar, a coin, or a ring, depending on the version—to indicate that Zoroastrians would coexist harmoniously with Indians, become Indianized, and enhance Indian society. Interestingly, neither the Qessa-e Sanjān nor the early folk tales mention any agreement or understanding between the Zoroastrians and the Hindu barring the former from proselytizing their faith.

Settlement Patterns

The Parsis founded the town of Sanjan. About five years after their arrival, the Parsis consecrated an ātash bahrām —a "victory fire," the highest level of ritual fire—named Irān Shāh (king of Iran), which remained their main flame for more than eight hundred years. Most religious rituals were performed using dādgāh (hearth) fires. During the first three hundred years after the arrival in Gujarat, as the community prospered and its population increased, some Parsis moved to Navsari on the banks of the Varoli River in 1142. They also spread to the towns of Surat, Anklesar, Cambay, and Broach. In each of those towns they worked as farmers, toddy brewers, carpenters, weavers, and merchants. Magi continued to dress in white robes and turbans as they had in Iran. Parsi laymen adopted Indian dress but wore white on ritual occasions. Parsi women wore the Indian sari, with minor variations in the manner of wrapping it around the body that became distinctive to Zoroastrians.

Clusters of families had their spiritual needs tended to by an individual magus, and those devotional clusters came to be known as the priest's panthak. In time, this association of particular lay or behdin families with a specific magian or athōrnān priest and his descendants as panthaki became hereditary. Around 1290 the Parsi magi divided Gujarat into five panths (ecclesiastic groups) based on location: the Sanjānas at Sanjan, the Bhagarias serving Navsari, the Godavras based at Anklesar, the Bharuchas controlling rites in Broach, and the Khambattas of Cambay. Each panth regulated its own clergy, laity, and religious matters through an anjoman (association). At many locales over the centuries, under the direction of priests and lay patrons, an ateshgah (fire precinct) was established for rituals by the living, as was a dakhma (funerary tower) for exposure of the dead.

Doctrines and Rites in Medieval Times

The jizya (poll tax) was imposed on non-Muslims in 1297 when the Delhi Muslim sultanate conquered Gujarat. Economic hardship created by payment of the jizya, plus the stigma of designation as a dhimmī (protected religious minority) resulted in conversion of portions of the Parsi population to Islam. Yet the community persisted in its beliefs and praxes, so that early European travelers in the region began to encounter them; in 1350, for example, the Dominican friar Jordanus commented on the exposure of Parsi corpses. In 1741, after a few previous relocations, the Irān Shāh ātash bahrām was brought to the city of Udwada, where it continued to burn at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The Bhagarias consecrated their own ātash bahrām at Navsari in 1765. Thereafter, six other fires of the ātash bahrām ritual level were established—two at Surat in 1823 and four at Bombay (later Mumbai) in 1783, 1830, 1845, and 1897.

As they assimilated into Indian society, pressure from Hindus compelled the Parsis to accept certain socioreligious transformations. For example, the ritual slaughter of cattle had to be discontinued gradually in accordance with Hindu veneration for that animal, although goats and sheep continued to be offered, with a portion of their bodies or fat being deposited in holy fires. As Parsis settled in parts of the Indian subcontinent where their numbers were insufficient to maintain funerary towers, they began adopting the custom of burial in an āramgāh (place of repose, cemetery, graveyard). Perhaps most important in terms of socioreligious change was that, over time, Parsis came to be regarded as a caste within Hindu society. So, despite accepting some converts from among Hindus who had close contact through friendship or work, the religion slowly became hereditary in an Indian context, with no converts being accepted. Parsis also had to mingle with members of other faiths in India and to explain their doctrines and praxes. For instance, in 1578 the emperor Akbar summoned a Bhagaria priest named Meherji Rāna to the Mogul court for a symposium. That contact proved beneficial to the Parsis, as the jizya on them was lifted a few years later.

In 1746 a disagreement relating to the calendar caused division of the community into Kadmīs, who accept the qadīmī (ancient) Iranian calendar, and the Shenshaīs, or Rasimīs (traditionalists), who maintain the original Parsi calendar. Since 1906 another group, the Fasalīs, or Faslīs, have formed, and its members utilize a fasl (seasonal) calendar for rituals. The majority of Parsis remain Shenshaī, but calendrical preferences have maintained those communal divisions and have produced minor variations in liturgies and rites.

Contact between Zoroastrians in India and Iran—the Parsis and the Iranis—gained momentum in the thirteenth century. Several religious texts were sent from Iran to India for safekeeping, and as a result, most of the oldest extant copies of Zoroastrian scripture and exegesis remained in India until the eighteenth century onward, when some of those documents were obtained by Western museums and universities. Just as important, Parsis began seeking religious advice from magi in Iran. A collection of treatises on religious observances, sent from Iran to India between 1478 and 1773 and known collectively as the Persian Revāyats, attests to the close ties that were developing as Parsi emissaries were welcomed, lived among, and educated by their Iranian coreligionists before returning to India.

Transformation in Premodern and Modern Times

Contact between the Parsis and Europeans grew with the establishment of trading posts in the seventeenth century. European eyewitness accounts note that at first the Parsis enforced their own customs, with violators being excommunicated or even, occasionally, executed. But as trade increased, so did the Parsi community's economic and social diversity. The port of Surat grew into a settlement of over 100,000 Parsi Zoroastrians between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Then, in 1661, the port of Bombay came under the British East India Company's administration and Parsis moved there to trade. Parsis flourished in Bombay, led by the commercial successes of individuals such as Lowji Nassarwanji Wadia (1702–1744) and Sir Jamsetji Jijibhai (1783–1859) in shipbuilding and the opium and cotton trades between India, England, and China. Parsis also established themselves quickly in textile manufacture and the bankingindustry. Steadily, Parsis became the mercantile arm of the British in India, serving in that capacity for over two hundred years. Members of the community then went on to play central roles in establishing the industrial base of modern India. Pioneers included Jamshedji N. Tata (1839–1904), who founded the iron and steel industries, early hydroelectric power plants in India, and the Indian Institute of Science, and Homi J. Bhabha (1909–1966), who pioneered research in atomic energy. Others, such as Lieutenant General Sam H. F. J. Manekshaw (1914–), led India's post-independence military during the late twentieth century.

Socioeconomic success would transform the community in many different ways. The Parsi Panchāyat, initially a council of elders, was established in 1728 to regulate community affairs. It did so not through law but through edicts and codes of conduct that were enforced by communal pressure. Since the question of religious freedom in Iran occupied the thoughts of Parsis, in 1854 they sent an emissary named Manekji Limji Hataria (1813–1890) to Iran. Hataria lived in Iran for four decades, married an Irani Zoroastrian woman, and even visited the Qajar court to intercede on behalf of Zoroastrians. Hataria's mission, coupled with pressure on the Qajar dynasty from the British Raj on behalf of prominent Parsis like Dadabhai Naoroji (1825–1917), succeeded in having the jizya abolished in Iran in 1882. Wealthy Parsis also began to look after the secular needs of their coreligionists in Iran by building schools, hospitals, orphanages, and retirement homes, in addition to renovating several ātashkada (fire temples) and dakhma and āramgāh funerary sites there.

Secular education, in particular, fundamentally reoriented the Parsis. In the nineteenth century, Parsis founded English-style schools, libraries, and educational trusts for their sons and daughters. Following mores that were emerging in Europe at the time, the Parsis began encouraging educated men and women to take up careers in public, multicommunal, workplaces. This development played a major role in fueling a demographic shift among Parsis—away from the coastal villages and orchards of Gujarat to large cities like Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Karachi, and Colombo. Rapid urbanization began in the 1900s, reaching 94 percent by 1961 among Parsis (compared to 27 percent for Muslims, 23 percent for Christians, and 16 percent for Hindus) on the Indian subcontinent. Parsi Zoroastrians, consequently, became a highly urbanized middle and upper class. As part of westernization and urbanization, the ritual slaughter of animals was slowly phased out by the late 1930s, as was the ātash-zōhr (offering to fire) of animal flesh, fat, and butter. Likewise, marriages arranged by relatives declined in frequency after the 1920s as women exercised their greater freedom to select their own spouses. At the same time, educated women in the community began to choose careers over marriage, family, and domesticity—close to 25 percent of Parsi women remained unmarried after the 1970s, and the community's birthrate declined drastically. Moreover, by the end of the twentieth century, women's expectations had begun to exceed the reality represented by potential male partners within the community—again reinforcing the trend in declining marital and reproductive rates.

Parsis began entering politics, with Naoroji, an architect of Indian independence, becoming the first president of the Indian National Congress in 1885. Other Parsis closely associated with the Indian nationalist movement were Sir Pherozeshah Mehta (1845–1915), Sir Dinshaw Wacha (1844–1936), and Madam Bhikaji Cama (1861–1936). In England, several Parsis have held elected office at various levels of government, starting with three members of the British Parliament—Naoroji of the Liberal Party mentioned previously, Sir Muncherji Bhownagree (1851–1933) of the Conservative Party, and Shapurji Saklatvala (1874–1936), who was a Communist. This trend in political involvement continues among Parsis globally. In Sri Lanka, Kairshasp Choksy (1932–) became minister of constitutional and state affairs and subsequently minister of finance. Jamsheed Marker (1922–) became a prominent diplomat, first for Pakistan and then for the United Nations. Loyalty and service to the countries and cultures in which they reside have emerged as important attitudes among Parsis.

International Dispersal and Its Consequences

During the time of the British Empire, Parsis began traveling to England for commerce and education, especially after the mid-nineteenth century. By 1861 a Zoroastrian Association had been founded there. However, a major international dispersion of Parsis from India occurred for a variety of socioeconomic reasons only after the early 1950s. A few left India to join the descendants of relatives who had immigrated earlier to England. Some departed India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to avoid rising nationalism and religious fundamentalism in those countries. Others went to Australia, Hong Kong, and countries in sub-Saharan Africa seeking economic opportunities. From the 1960s, migration has been for education and employment in the United States and Canada. Nonetheless, Parsis still dwell in most major cities of India, particularly Bombay (subsequently Mumbai), Delhi, and Calcutta.

Largely English-speaking, with many older Parsis still bilingual in English and Gujarati, Parsis number approximately 69,200 in India (in 2001), 10,000 in the United States (in 2000), 6,000 in Canada (in 2000), 4,000 in England and Scotland (in 2000), 3,000 in the European Union (in 2002), 2,200 in Pakistan (in 2003), 2,000 in Australia (in 2000), and 1,000 in the United Arab Emirates (in 2000). (Zoroastrian communities in each country consist of two broad groups: the Iranis, or Iranian Zoroastrians, and members of that group who have settled in many countries, and the Parsis, or Indian Zoroastrians, who are discussed in this entry. The demographic numbers refer to the Parsis only, not to overall Zoroastrian communities in each country.) Smaller communities live in New Zealand (200 in 2000), Hong Kong (190 in 2000), Singapore (150 in 2000), Bahrain (130 in 1996), Democratic Republic of the Congo (100 in 2000), South Africa (70 in 2000), and Sri Lanka (63 in 2001). The communities in Pakistan, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), Singapore, and Hong Kong date from British colonial times as a legacy of trade. Even smaller groups are found in countries as diverse as Japan, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Yemen, Seychelles, Bermuda, and Venezuela. In most of those countries, there are other Zoroastrians as well.

In most countries where Parsi diasporas exist, each community has at least one fire temple of the dādgāh ritual level, a community hall associated with the temple, and a graveyard to bury the dead (although cremation by electricity is becoming popular as a means of avoiding long-term ritual pollution of earth and fire), expect in India and in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where the funerary towers—now commonly called "towers of silence"—are still utilized amidst ongoing debate about how to ensure swift desiccation and decomposition of corpses placed therein. The communities have religious classes for children, and ceremonies of navjote (initiation) are conducted regularly for them. However, a low birthrate as individuals defer marriage in favor of professional careers, a widespread prohibition of the acceptance of converts, and a discouraging level of intermarriage with members of other sectarian groups have contributed to a gradual overall decline in numbers.

On the other hand, following a pattern common to many minorities, the international diasporas have been economically and socially successful in professions such as law, medicine, and academia, and in entrepreneurial endeavors from computer programming to watch manufacture. The arts, too, have caught the attention of a number of Parsis, including the American conductor Zubin Mehta (1936–), born in Bombay; the English rock musician Freddy Mercury (1946–1991), born in Zanzibar as Farrokh Bulsara; and the Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry (1952–), born in Bombay. As a direct result of westernization and secularization, educated women have come to wield leadership positions within Parsi diasporas, including editorial positions at widely read Zoroastrian newsletters, such as the FEZANA Journal in North America and Parsiana in South Asia, wherein issues of societal change are hotly debated.

Other Major Contemporary Issues

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European scholars concluded that the founder of the Parsis' religion, Zarathushtra, or Zoroaster, had preached a monotheistic faith that was debased by his followers. This viewpoint gained the acceptance of many Parsis, who sought to structure their religion into its allegedly pristine form based on the Gāthās (Devotional poems) ascribed to Zarathushtra. Zoroastrians who follow the teachings of Minocher Pundol (1908–1975) combine such trends with mysticism. The introduction of theosophy further attenuated doctrinal unity among the Parsis. Lack of doctrinal concord and a concomitant decline in theological education continue in the twenty-first century.

Poor wages, substandard living conditions, and the lure of secular professional careers have steadily sapped enrollment in the two madrasahs (seminaries)—the Athornan Boarding Madrasa at Dadar and the M. F. Cama Athornan Institute at Andheri—where Zoroastrian priests are trained in India. Thus, the number of priests available to perform rituals continues to decline. Therefore, rites in many instances have been abbreviated and in certain locales are restricted to the basic ones of passage—initiation, marriage, and death—and to jashan (thanksgiving) services. Likewise, the number of women who weave the kustī (holy cord) has also diminished as their priestly families take up secular occupations.

Other, interrelated topics of much debate worldwide within Parsi communities include the issues of who the Parsis are, whether intermarriage with non-Zoroastrians should be recognized, and whether converts can be accepted. As the Parsis became a de facto caste within Indian society, they diverged from their Iranian coreligionists by abjuring conversion to the faith. By the nineteenth century, magi who initiated as Zoroastrians the children of non-Parsi fathers or the adopted children (from non-Zoroastrian parents) of Parsis were subjected to censure by their clerical anjomans. Eventually, guidelines were set in India by that country's civil judiciary in 1909 and 1925 as the result of court cases seeking to exclude non-Parsi wives from fire temples and community institutions. Through those legal decisions, the civil courts upheld the community's restriction of its properties to the children of Parsi and Irani Zoroastrians plus duly initiated children of Parsi fathers by non-Zoroastrian wives. So in India and, as a result of colonial rule, in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Parsi Zoroastrian—male or female—is defined as a person whose father was or is a Parsi Zoroastrian. Converts are not accepted. The children of a Parsi woman who is married to a non-Zoroastrian are regarded as neither Parsis or Zoroastrians. They cannot enter fire temples, benefit from communal funds, or even have Zoroastrian last rites. Not all priests and laity accept that position, however, either in South Asia or elsewhere. For example, during the late twentieth in the United States (as previously in India), there were occasional instances when individuals who wished to join Zoroastrianism were initiated by Parsi priests. Moreover, enhanced contact between Zoroastrians and members of other faiths, especially in Europe, North America, and Australia, has led to an increase in the frequency of marriage across confessional boundaries. On this issue, the diaspora communities in the West have increasingly diverged from the Parsis on the Indian subcontinent by permitting non-Zoroastrian spouses to attend rituals at fire temples and cemeteries and to participate fully in community activities and governance. In so doing, Parsis living in the West have come closer to the long-standing position of Iranian Zoroastrians and Irani Zoroastrian immigrants to the West on those issues.

See Also

Ateshgah; Gender and Religion, article on Gender and Zoroastrianism; Zoroastrianism.

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