Parsis- The World's Smallest "Nation"
May 30, 2015 0:04:09 GMT
frankmcvey (Angel), Gregg1956, and 1 more like this
Post by geven46 on May 30, 2015 0:04:09 GMT
Parsis the Worlds Smallest Nation. -the San....kmz (1.34 KB)
Refer the post "Gonur, Bactria Margiana Archaeological Complex"-the BMAC; this was a civilization of Indo-Iranians of the late Bronze Age, from the earlier southern Russian Andronov Culture, who went from those Central Asian regions south to proper Iran. There, their descendants, the Persians ruled over a vast area of the Middle East from 600 BC to 640 AD, through three empires- the Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanid, with kings like Cyrus the Great whose cylinder inscription established the first Bill of Rights-the cylinder is housed in the British Museum and a copy is placed at the United Nations HQ in New York. Cyrus accorded equal freedom to all peoples under his rule, including the Jews whom he encouraged to return to Judea from Babylon, and even financed rebuild of their Temple. The Parsis are descendants of these ancient people of Zoroastrian Iran who perforce migrated to India after the Arab conquest of Iran.
2001 census in India put Parsis at 69,600. There are some 35,000 or 40,000 additionally, mainly in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Population estimates in India expect Parsis to come down to 40,000 by 2020. The UNESCO sponsored PARZOR (Parsi-Zoroastrian) project is documenting Parsi traditions, customs and other data, but there is no international-- nor at any other level-- effort (including within the minuscule community) to reverse the declining population. The Indian 2012 census has not yet revealed population details on Parsis, but there are some estimates that place this population numbers at 49,000 (in India.).
This the story of a people, who, out of a steadfast love of their identity, their religion, beliefs, customs and ancient traditions, and much more, that goes to forming a people/nation, decided they would rather find refuge in a new land than give up all that was precious and invaluable to them.
These were the Persian Zoroastrians, who after the debacle of the Sassanid Empire and the victory of the Arab conquerors, found they had lost king and country.
After the defeat of the Sassanid armies at Qadisiyyah in 636 A.D.( link ) and at Nahavand in 641 A.D.( link ) and the last Sassanid king, Yezdegerd III murdered in 651 A.D.(see the Conquest of Persia here), the way was open for the Arabs, and the Persian Zoroastrian Empires became a thing of the past. (Very ironically, Yazdegerd's son Pirooz became a very senior general in the Chinese army and was allowed by the Chinese Emperor to maintain a court in exile, a sort of king in exile.-( link )
Years of warfare between Sassanids and Byzantines, as well as the Khazar invasion of Transcaucasia put great strain on the Sassanid economy. Constant warfare had exhausted and demoralized the Persian armies, and with no effective ruler following Khosrau II, there was societal chaos and problems in provincial administration (until Yazdegerd III). The Persian army lost their previous battle worthiness and Yazdegerd III lacked experience and did not make attempts to rebuild the army or succeed in uniting warring factions at his court ( see fall of the Sassanids here)
The Arabs were not inclined in proselytizing for the new Islamic religion amongst what are considered "peoples of the book"- Christians and Jews; Zoroastrians were included, but with some reservations. This is evidenced by the several cases where local Zoroastrian populations were subject to considerable pressure to forsake their ancestral faith.
Here is an example from Islamic conquest of Persia : According to Tarikh-i Bukhara 'The residents of Bukhara became Muslims. But they renounced [Islam] each time the Arabs turned back. Qutayba b. Muslim made them Muslim three times, [but] they renounced [Islam] again and became nonbelievers. The fourth time, Qutayba waged war, seized the city, and established Islam after considerable strife….They espoused Islam overtly but practiced idolatry in secret.'
During the reign of the Ummayad dynasty, the Arab conquerors imposed Arabic as the primary language of the subject peoples throughout their empire, displacing the indigenous languages. This, and the introduction of several enticements for converting to Islam ( like the new law that a person who becomes Muslim inherits property to the exclusion of the other inheritors who remained Zoroastrian, or in other faiths.) Besides, harassment of Zoroastrians and the destruction of Fire Temples increased after more Persians became Muslims. It was a kind of harsh and definitive gesture that any ties with the old faith are fully severed. ( there are instances quoted by Prof Mary Boyce in History of Zoroastrianism, for example, of a member of the royal family trampling on fire after conversion to Christianity, this before the Arab conquest.)
By the 8th and 9th centuries A.D. small bands of Zoroastrians from Zanjan in northwest Iran and Merv in present Turkmenistan (near present day Mary), and a little later from Sari north east of present Tehran (they would later name one of their settlements in India, Navsari--new Sari) decided to travel south to Yazd and thence to the Iranian port of Bushire/Hormuz.
Here they finally set sail for India. History of Parsis to begin a new life in that hospitable land.
One of the many sacred consecrated fire that burns perpetually in a Zoroastrain Fire Temple, never allowed to go out.
The monument at Sanjan to commemorate Parsis landing here in the tenth century A.D.
From the Iranian port of Bushire or Hormuz, the emigrants set sail for the western shores of India, landing at Diu where they sojourned for around 19 years before sailing to the port of Sanjan (a link to their origins from Zanjan in northern Iran.) The probable date of this final stage of migration is placed at 936 A. D. see History of the Parsis- arrival in Gujarat section.
There is a legend, the local king Jadi Rana, a Rajput or Gujarati Prince, indicated his reluctance to accept these newcomers by handing them a large bowl of milk, filled to the brim- a gesture to show his kingdom has no place for more people. The Zoroastrian High Priest, who headed the emigrants' deputation to the Prince, dropped some sugar in the milk, to indicate they would so mix with his people without overflowing that bowl !
The Prince was impressed. After taking an agreement from them to adopt the Gujarati language, wear Indian dress, give up their arms and hold religious rituals after dusk (the marriage ceremony, esp.), they were allowed to settle in this small kingdom.
Jadi Rana also allowed them a generous piece of land to build their temple, their first Fire Temple at Sanjan, the sacred fire was consecrated on an auspicious religious day, and still burns today at Udvada, a little to the north of Sanjan.
The early history of these Zoroastrians is centered around their pious zeal to preserve their sacred fire, attested by the fact that when invading Muslims from North Gujarat (1400 A.D.) could not be repelled by a combined force of local and Zoroastrian men (and women!!!), the sacred fire was carried away to the nearby hills of Bahrot, and hidden in the caves there, for around 12 years. This sacred Fire was taken to Bansda nearby, then Navsari where it remained for over 300 years; then, as change of political or other circumstances so required, to Surat and Bulsar, all this to prevent any harmful vicissitudes on the Fire. It was finally brought to Udvada in 1742, where it still "resides" in a splendid temple to this day. see my post The Parsees and the Fire Temple at Udvada.
After 1400 A.D. more Parsis were leaving Sanjan and settling in other towns of Gujarat and later in Thana to the south,(now a suburb of Mumbai.) By the 15th century Parsis were wealthy enough to send 26 deputations to Iran from 1478 to 1773, twenty-six messengers took questions to Iran and brought back answers from the Zoroastrian priests in Iran.
Their presence in Gujrat was noticed by the great Mogul Akbar, who, keen to know more of other religions, invited the Parsi learned priest from Navsari, the first Dastur Meherji, to learn about Zoroastrianism. Akbar wanted to set up a new syncretic religion he called Din-i-Ilahi, and incorporated the practice of keeping a sacred fire in his palace; he also conferred the honor title of Rana on Dastur Meherji and his descendants, High Priests of Navsari, are still the Meherji Ranas, High Priests of the Navsari Temple.
The first great leader of this community, (they were now beginning to take on to trade and business, farming, weaving, brokers and other trades,) was one Chang Asa (1450-1512), who traded with the newly arrived Portuguese and English. Their growing influence is further attested by the fact that the English ambassador from the court of James I was accompanied to the court of Jehangir, Moghul Emperor, by a deputation of Parsis. They got the English permission, from the Emperor, to build a factory/trading post in Surat.
Parsis became agents par exellance, for the English, at the new factory at Surat, and later followed them to the newly acquired islands of Bombay.
The first Parsi to arrive in Bombay, then seven separate islands, was Dorabji Nanabhoy (in 1640,) soon after the Portuguese established the town of Bombay. He worked as a manager for the Portuguese. In 1668, when Bombay was given to the British, Dorabji became the tax collector and his family held this position till 1834. After 1668, more Parsis came to Bombay from Gujarat, and eventually Bombay becomes the main center of the Parsis, in the 19th and 20th centuries. The arrival of the Parsis in Bombay coincided with the rule of the British over most of India.
Somehow, the steely determination of this migrant community, by now fully acclimatised in India, continued to steer them, and some of the "firsts" in the country are pioneered by Parsis......the first docks and shipbuilding, contract for the first railway tracks from Bombay to Thana, the first introduction of electricity in the homes, supplying electricity to Bombay, the first cotton mills, steel mills, hotels-the Taj Palace Hotel built by the Tatas, first airlines, again by Tatas, locomotive manufacturing-Tatas, pioneers in research and generation of nuclear energy , and a center for scientific research etc. all this spanning a period of at least two centuries. The Tatas now own Jaguar and land Rover companies, Tetley Tea and Corus Steel, and Piaggio scooters.
This post is to give some idea how a small community of migrants- a total of some 100,000 at their maximum in the 1940s, and now (1950s onwards) dispersed, with only 69,000 (2001 Indian cencus) in India, could count so many outstanding individuals from their numbers
Mahatma Gandhi once said "Parsis, in numbers beneath contempt, but in deeds, beyond compare!"
Famous Zoroastrians
Prominent Parsis
Dr Dadabhoy Naoroji, first Asian-Indian member of the British Parliament, followed by two other Parsis, all elected from seats in the United Kingdom. He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress Party that, with some interruptions, has been India's ruling party till now.
Dadabhoy was elected to sit in Westminster Palace-House of Commons on the 5th of July 1892 , and he spoke there of self rule for India. Dadabhoy was followed by two other Indian Parsi Zoroastrians; Sir Muncherjee Merwanji Bhownagree and Sir Sorabji Saklatvala.
Dadabhoy Naoroji link
statue of Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy at the Asiatic Society in Mumbai.
Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, First Baronet, made the Baron of Bombay, by Queen Victoria; he was a great philanthropist, donated for hospitals, schools, Fire temples. trade with China- Sir JJ Hospital, JJ School of Arts, JJ School of Architecture. Link
Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, helped to found the city of Bombay, presiding over enactment of the Act to run Bombay as a Municipal/civic city. Pherozeshah Mehta link
Bhikaiji Cama, doyen of female freedom fighters, she designed the Indian national flag and served time in jail for the independence movement to free India from British rule. Madame Bhikaiji Cama link
Homi J. Bhabha, nuclear scientist, set up India's nuclear energy infrastructure, link.
Jamsetji Tata, set up a modern textile mill, the first steel mill, a 5 star hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, hydro-electric power generation plants, and founded The Institute of Science at Bangalore; called the Father of Modern Indian Industry. link-Jamsetji Tata
J.R.D. Tata, nephew of Jamsetji Tata, started an air postal service from Karachi to Bombay, founded Tata Airlines that became Air-India. see link.
Literary, hundreds of Indians have gone to the USA and other western countries on scholarships by the Tata Trusts and are leaders in the field of medicine, science, engineering etc.; J R D set up the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and the Tata Cancer Hospital in Mumbai. Today, the Tata group, under the chairmanship of JRD's nephew, Ratan Tata until December 1012-and now under the chairmanship of Cyrus Mistry, is a US $ 100 Billion group with around 75%+ stocks held by the Tata Trusts-there is a saying "buy Tata products and do charity!"
Field Marshall Sam Maneckshaw, Sam Bahadur, who planned the liberation of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. He died on 27th June 2008 link
Sir Cowasjee Jehanghir, Baronet ; three Parsis, Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, Dinshaw Petit and Cowasjee were created hereditary Baronets by the British crown. Cowasjee Jehanghir, and his descendants, made immense wealth selling or renting their vast land holdings in Bombay. The Jehanghirs went on to donate for setting up the the Elphinstone College and the CJ Art Gallery in Mumbai, the Jehangir Hospital and the N.M. Wadia Institute of Cardiology in Pune.
late Freddie Mercury (Faredun Balsara) famous as the front man of the Queen band link.in a BBC poll he was listed by the public as 58th in "100 Greatest Britons." In a Japanese national poll in 2007 he was voted the 52nd "most influential hero." This statue is erected in Switzerland and thousands from across the world gather annually in a memorial service here. Two of his songs have been voted as one of the world's greatest songs by Guiness Book of World Records. "He did for popular music what other Indians, Salman Rusdie and Vikram Seth did for literature."-Time Asia magazine. Unfortunately, his gay orientation did not go well within his community, and his contribution to music goes largely unrecognised there.
Zubin Mehta, conductor, presently Director of the Bavarian State Opera and conductor for life of the Isreal Philharmonic. He wears the Wagner ring, an honour given to great conductors, particularly their interpretation of Wagner's music. He has conducted most of the world's great orchestras. For several years he had the great privilege of conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on New Years Day Concert, a distinction held by Willie Boskowski, Herbert Von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, and other world's greatest conductors.. see link
Jamshed Mehta, founder of Karachi Municipal Council and President of this body for 12 years. see link.
Late Nani Palkhiwala , in his time India's highest ranking jurist, and Indian Ambassador to the US. see link.
Lovji Wadia, Known for his high standards of workmanship, Lovji secured contracts, in 1736, from the British East India Company, to build ships and docks in Bombay, in 1736. This, and subsequent efforts, would result in Bombay becoming a strategic port for the British colonial undertakings in Asia.The Bombay dry-dock, the first dry-dock in Asia, was built by Lovji and his brother Sorabji in 1750. see link.
Lovji Wadia and six further generations built ships, amongst these the HMS Minden- the American national anthem was composed on this Wadia built ship of the English Navy by an American prisoner Francis Scott Key on the ship. The Wadias also built the Royal Navy classic warships, the HMS Cornwallis and the HMS Trincomalee. The Nanking Treaty ceding Hong Kong to the British was signed on the HMS Cornwallis see this link .....
Later generations of Wadias established top of the line textiles manufacturing, the Bombay Dyeing Co. , the best Bombay based factory for confectionery by modern production techniques- the Britannia Biscuits Co., and also went into Indian film production-the Wadia Movietone Co.
Ardeshir ("Adi")- Ratan Bulsara, is a scientist in the area of nonlinear dynamics. He studied under the Nobel Prize winner Ilya Prigogine. The 2007 International Conference on Applied Nonlinear Dynamics (ICAND), held in Kauai, Hawaii, was a festschrift held in his honor of his 55th birthday.In 2004, Bulsara was elected to Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) "for fundamental contributions to the theory of nonlinear dynamics and the development of groundbreaking applications in classical, solid and fluid mechanics, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. see link
Sir Hormusjee Mody helped with finances to build the University of Hong Kong. see Link
Cowasji Dinshaw went to Aden in 1855, and was the prime mover to build the port of Aden. see link
Lord Karan Billimoria, first Parsi created a peer in modern times, founder of UK's Cobra Beer. see link
Ratan Tata, conceptualized and built India's popular cars, the Indica and Indigo, and the world's cheapest economy car the Tata Nano, he was Chairman of the Tata Group, a US 170 billion group, upto December of 2014. see link
Rohinton Mistry, novelist, shortlisted for the Booker prize and has won several awards. write up on his works in The Atlantic.
Ardeshir and Pirojsha Godrej, household name in India, founded companies that manufacture typewriters (at one time,) soaps, safety lockers, steel wardrobes, industrial goods such as forklift trucks. see link
Sir Sohrabji Pochkhanawalla, banker, founded or co-founded India's premier banks- The Central Bank of India, The Bank of India and The Union Bank of India.
Bomanji Narielwalla, banker, first Indian manager (1930's) of Citibank, at Bombay, then called The First National City Bank of New York.
A.D. Shroff, eminent economist, Founder Director of The Investment Corporation of India, served as Chairman of Bank of India and the New India Assurance Co. Ltd, he was a delegate at the United Nations Bretton Woods Conference on the state of world economies after World War II.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.D._Shroff
a late19th/early 20th century Parsi Sethia -Sir. He wears the pheta-a high top hard headgear covered with black silk; a dugli, full knee length loose coat made of white fine muslin and tied with bows; and dark red silk loose trousers. His side whiskers were a fashion all over the world that time.
late 19th/early 20th century Parsi Navjote-a child's initiation into the religion.
late 19th/early 20th century rural small town Parsi wedding, notice the ladies sit at the rear, but traditionally they have always 'ruled' the family.
late19th century group of priests, the High Priest is seated extreme left.
late 19th/early 20th century ladies, notice the court shoes!!!
in traditional dress, all Parsi women, until around the 1950's, covered their head with a white cotton/muslin cloth-a head scarf, hair was first tied in a bun and the scarf wound around the head, and tightly knotted-see picture. Falling hair was considered very unhygienic, just as indisposed cut nails. (chefs throughout the world wear a chef's cap to prevent hair falling in the cooking!!!)
High Priest Dr Dastur Firoze Kotwal. The office of High Priest, for each of the 8 principal fire templesin India- (only the great temple at Udvada has 2 High Priests))- or for a region/diocese like Poona or Karachi, is hereditary or an appointment on the basis of the individuals' learning and scholarship. Dastur Kotwal is non-hereditary appointment.(?)
water is a sacred element , this well is covered by a sacred enclosure, it is in the heart of south Mumbai, - 18th century.
a small town Fire Temple in Gujarat, Western India.
entrance porch of a priest's home in Udvada.....in a construction style of the late 19th century.
a Parsi enterprise, Tanchoi sarees, named after the 3 (tan) Choi brothers, who brought the weaving technique from China.
another example.
a Parsi crafts master with traditional work.
traditional saree kor- border.
a Parsi "Ghara" saree, filled with embroidery.
typical small town Parsi home.
and this is picture of the "Parsi diaspora." Parsis attending a community conference in New York.
No story of Parsis can be considered complete without the story of Zoroastrian Iranians (called Iranis by their co-religionists, Parsis) who migrated to India from the early 1900s ; they in turn are well known in Bombay/Mumbai for their unique restaurants and bakeries. Here is a blog that has documented their amazing flair for setting up these cafes and bakeries... LINK.
Geve Narielwalla
photos, courtesy of the owners of these photos, their ownership of these pictures remains fully acknowledged by me.
Refer the post "Gonur, Bactria Margiana Archaeological Complex"-the BMAC; this was a civilization of Indo-Iranians of the late Bronze Age, from the earlier southern Russian Andronov Culture, who went from those Central Asian regions south to proper Iran. There, their descendants, the Persians ruled over a vast area of the Middle East from 600 BC to 640 AD, through three empires- the Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanid, with kings like Cyrus the Great whose cylinder inscription established the first Bill of Rights-the cylinder is housed in the British Museum and a copy is placed at the United Nations HQ in New York. Cyrus accorded equal freedom to all peoples under his rule, including the Jews whom he encouraged to return to Judea from Babylon, and even financed rebuild of their Temple. The Parsis are descendants of these ancient people of Zoroastrian Iran who perforce migrated to India after the Arab conquest of Iran.
2001 census in India put Parsis at 69,600. There are some 35,000 or 40,000 additionally, mainly in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Population estimates in India expect Parsis to come down to 40,000 by 2020. The UNESCO sponsored PARZOR (Parsi-Zoroastrian) project is documenting Parsi traditions, customs and other data, but there is no international-- nor at any other level-- effort (including within the minuscule community) to reverse the declining population. The Indian 2012 census has not yet revealed population details on Parsis, but there are some estimates that place this population numbers at 49,000 (in India.).
This the story of a people, who, out of a steadfast love of their identity, their religion, beliefs, customs and ancient traditions, and much more, that goes to forming a people/nation, decided they would rather find refuge in a new land than give up all that was precious and invaluable to them.
These were the Persian Zoroastrians, who after the debacle of the Sassanid Empire and the victory of the Arab conquerors, found they had lost king and country.
After the defeat of the Sassanid armies at Qadisiyyah in 636 A.D.( link ) and at Nahavand in 641 A.D.( link ) and the last Sassanid king, Yezdegerd III murdered in 651 A.D.(see the Conquest of Persia here), the way was open for the Arabs, and the Persian Zoroastrian Empires became a thing of the past. (Very ironically, Yazdegerd's son Pirooz became a very senior general in the Chinese army and was allowed by the Chinese Emperor to maintain a court in exile, a sort of king in exile.-( link )
Years of warfare between Sassanids and Byzantines, as well as the Khazar invasion of Transcaucasia put great strain on the Sassanid economy. Constant warfare had exhausted and demoralized the Persian armies, and with no effective ruler following Khosrau II, there was societal chaos and problems in provincial administration (until Yazdegerd III). The Persian army lost their previous battle worthiness and Yazdegerd III lacked experience and did not make attempts to rebuild the army or succeed in uniting warring factions at his court ( see fall of the Sassanids here)
The Arabs were not inclined in proselytizing for the new Islamic religion amongst what are considered "peoples of the book"- Christians and Jews; Zoroastrians were included, but with some reservations. This is evidenced by the several cases where local Zoroastrian populations were subject to considerable pressure to forsake their ancestral faith.
Here is an example from Islamic conquest of Persia : According to Tarikh-i Bukhara 'The residents of Bukhara became Muslims. But they renounced [Islam] each time the Arabs turned back. Qutayba b. Muslim made them Muslim three times, [but] they renounced [Islam] again and became nonbelievers. The fourth time, Qutayba waged war, seized the city, and established Islam after considerable strife….They espoused Islam overtly but practiced idolatry in secret.'
During the reign of the Ummayad dynasty, the Arab conquerors imposed Arabic as the primary language of the subject peoples throughout their empire, displacing the indigenous languages. This, and the introduction of several enticements for converting to Islam ( like the new law that a person who becomes Muslim inherits property to the exclusion of the other inheritors who remained Zoroastrian, or in other faiths.) Besides, harassment of Zoroastrians and the destruction of Fire Temples increased after more Persians became Muslims. It was a kind of harsh and definitive gesture that any ties with the old faith are fully severed. ( there are instances quoted by Prof Mary Boyce in History of Zoroastrianism, for example, of a member of the royal family trampling on fire after conversion to Christianity, this before the Arab conquest.)
By the 8th and 9th centuries A.D. small bands of Zoroastrians from Zanjan in northwest Iran and Merv in present Turkmenistan (near present day Mary), and a little later from Sari north east of present Tehran (they would later name one of their settlements in India, Navsari--new Sari) decided to travel south to Yazd and thence to the Iranian port of Bushire/Hormuz.
Here they finally set sail for India. History of Parsis to begin a new life in that hospitable land.
One of the many sacred consecrated fire that burns perpetually in a Zoroastrain Fire Temple, never allowed to go out. The monument at Sanjan to commemorate Parsis landing here in the tenth century A.D. From the Iranian port of Bushire or Hormuz, the emigrants set sail for the western shores of India, landing at Diu where they sojourned for around 19 years before sailing to the port of Sanjan (a link to their origins from Zanjan in northern Iran.) The probable date of this final stage of migration is placed at 936 A. D. see History of the Parsis- arrival in Gujarat section.
There is a legend, the local king Jadi Rana, a Rajput or Gujarati Prince, indicated his reluctance to accept these newcomers by handing them a large bowl of milk, filled to the brim- a gesture to show his kingdom has no place for more people. The Zoroastrian High Priest, who headed the emigrants' deputation to the Prince, dropped some sugar in the milk, to indicate they would so mix with his people without overflowing that bowl !
The Prince was impressed. After taking an agreement from them to adopt the Gujarati language, wear Indian dress, give up their arms and hold religious rituals after dusk (the marriage ceremony, esp.), they were allowed to settle in this small kingdom.
Jadi Rana also allowed them a generous piece of land to build their temple, their first Fire Temple at Sanjan, the sacred fire was consecrated on an auspicious religious day, and still burns today at Udvada, a little to the north of Sanjan.
The early history of these Zoroastrians is centered around their pious zeal to preserve their sacred fire, attested by the fact that when invading Muslims from North Gujarat (1400 A.D.) could not be repelled by a combined force of local and Zoroastrian men (and women!!!), the sacred fire was carried away to the nearby hills of Bahrot, and hidden in the caves there, for around 12 years. This sacred Fire was taken to Bansda nearby, then Navsari where it remained for over 300 years; then, as change of political or other circumstances so required, to Surat and Bulsar, all this to prevent any harmful vicissitudes on the Fire. It was finally brought to Udvada in 1742, where it still "resides" in a splendid temple to this day. see my post The Parsees and the Fire Temple at Udvada.
After 1400 A.D. more Parsis were leaving Sanjan and settling in other towns of Gujarat and later in Thana to the south,(now a suburb of Mumbai.) By the 15th century Parsis were wealthy enough to send 26 deputations to Iran from 1478 to 1773, twenty-six messengers took questions to Iran and brought back answers from the Zoroastrian priests in Iran.
Their presence in Gujrat was noticed by the great Mogul Akbar, who, keen to know more of other religions, invited the Parsi learned priest from Navsari, the first Dastur Meherji, to learn about Zoroastrianism. Akbar wanted to set up a new syncretic religion he called Din-i-Ilahi, and incorporated the practice of keeping a sacred fire in his palace; he also conferred the honor title of Rana on Dastur Meherji and his descendants, High Priests of Navsari, are still the Meherji Ranas, High Priests of the Navsari Temple.
The first great leader of this community, (they were now beginning to take on to trade and business, farming, weaving, brokers and other trades,) was one Chang Asa (1450-1512), who traded with the newly arrived Portuguese and English. Their growing influence is further attested by the fact that the English ambassador from the court of James I was accompanied to the court of Jehangir, Moghul Emperor, by a deputation of Parsis. They got the English permission, from the Emperor, to build a factory/trading post in Surat.
Parsis became agents par exellance, for the English, at the new factory at Surat, and later followed them to the newly acquired islands of Bombay.
The first Parsi to arrive in Bombay, then seven separate islands, was Dorabji Nanabhoy (in 1640,) soon after the Portuguese established the town of Bombay. He worked as a manager for the Portuguese. In 1668, when Bombay was given to the British, Dorabji became the tax collector and his family held this position till 1834. After 1668, more Parsis came to Bombay from Gujarat, and eventually Bombay becomes the main center of the Parsis, in the 19th and 20th centuries. The arrival of the Parsis in Bombay coincided with the rule of the British over most of India.
Somehow, the steely determination of this migrant community, by now fully acclimatised in India, continued to steer them, and some of the "firsts" in the country are pioneered by Parsis......the first docks and shipbuilding, contract for the first railway tracks from Bombay to Thana, the first introduction of electricity in the homes, supplying electricity to Bombay, the first cotton mills, steel mills, hotels-the Taj Palace Hotel built by the Tatas, first airlines, again by Tatas, locomotive manufacturing-Tatas, pioneers in research and generation of nuclear energy , and a center for scientific research etc. all this spanning a period of at least two centuries. The Tatas now own Jaguar and land Rover companies, Tetley Tea and Corus Steel, and Piaggio scooters.
This post is to give some idea how a small community of migrants- a total of some 100,000 at their maximum in the 1940s, and now (1950s onwards) dispersed, with only 69,000 (2001 Indian cencus) in India, could count so many outstanding individuals from their numbers
Mahatma Gandhi once said "Parsis, in numbers beneath contempt, but in deeds, beyond compare!"
Famous Zoroastrians
Prominent Parsis
Dr Dadabhoy Naoroji, first Asian-Indian member of the British Parliament, followed by two other Parsis, all elected from seats in the United Kingdom. He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress Party that, with some interruptions, has been India's ruling party till now. Dadabhoy was elected to sit in Westminster Palace-House of Commons on the 5th of July 1892 , and he spoke there of self rule for India. Dadabhoy was followed by two other Indian Parsi Zoroastrians; Sir Muncherjee Merwanji Bhownagree and Sir Sorabji Saklatvala.
Dadabhoy Naoroji link
statue of Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy at the Asiatic Society in Mumbai. Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, First Baronet, made the Baron of Bombay, by Queen Victoria; he was a great philanthropist, donated for hospitals, schools, Fire temples. trade with China- Sir JJ Hospital, JJ School of Arts, JJ School of Architecture. Link
Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, helped to found the city of Bombay, presiding over enactment of the Act to run Bombay as a Municipal/civic city. Pherozeshah Mehta link Bhikaiji Cama, doyen of female freedom fighters, she designed the Indian national flag and served time in jail for the independence movement to free India from British rule. Madame Bhikaiji Cama link Homi J. Bhabha, nuclear scientist, set up India's nuclear energy infrastructure, link. Jamsetji Tata, set up a modern textile mill, the first steel mill, a 5 star hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, hydro-electric power generation plants, and founded The Institute of Science at Bangalore; called the Father of Modern Indian Industry. link-Jamsetji Tata J.R.D. Tata, nephew of Jamsetji Tata, started an air postal service from Karachi to Bombay, founded Tata Airlines that became Air-India. see link. Literary, hundreds of Indians have gone to the USA and other western countries on scholarships by the Tata Trusts and are leaders in the field of medicine, science, engineering etc.; J R D set up the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and the Tata Cancer Hospital in Mumbai. Today, the Tata group, under the chairmanship of JRD's nephew, Ratan Tata until December 1012-and now under the chairmanship of Cyrus Mistry, is a US $ 100 Billion group with around 75%+ stocks held by the Tata Trusts-there is a saying "buy Tata products and do charity!"
Field Marshall Sam Maneckshaw, Sam Bahadur, who planned the liberation of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. He died on 27th June 2008 link Sir Cowasjee Jehanghir, Baronet ; three Parsis, Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, Dinshaw Petit and Cowasjee were created hereditary Baronets by the British crown. Cowasjee Jehanghir, and his descendants, made immense wealth selling or renting their vast land holdings in Bombay. The Jehanghirs went on to donate for setting up the the Elphinstone College and the CJ Art Gallery in Mumbai, the Jehangir Hospital and the N.M. Wadia Institute of Cardiology in Pune. late Freddie Mercury (Faredun Balsara) famous as the front man of the Queen band link.in a BBC poll he was listed by the public as 58th in "100 Greatest Britons." In a Japanese national poll in 2007 he was voted the 52nd "most influential hero." This statue is erected in Switzerland and thousands from across the world gather annually in a memorial service here. Two of his songs have been voted as one of the world's greatest songs by Guiness Book of World Records. "He did for popular music what other Indians, Salman Rusdie and Vikram Seth did for literature."-Time Asia magazine. Unfortunately, his gay orientation did not go well within his community, and his contribution to music goes largely unrecognised there. Zubin Mehta, conductor, presently Director of the Bavarian State Opera and conductor for life of the Isreal Philharmonic. He wears the Wagner ring, an honour given to great conductors, particularly their interpretation of Wagner's music. He has conducted most of the world's great orchestras. For several years he had the great privilege of conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on New Years Day Concert, a distinction held by Willie Boskowski, Herbert Von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, and other world's greatest conductors.. see linkJamshed Mehta, founder of Karachi Municipal Council and President of this body for 12 years. see link.
Late Nani Palkhiwala , in his time India's highest ranking jurist, and Indian Ambassador to the US. see link. Lovji Wadia, Known for his high standards of workmanship, Lovji secured contracts, in 1736, from the British East India Company, to build ships and docks in Bombay, in 1736. This, and subsequent efforts, would result in Bombay becoming a strategic port for the British colonial undertakings in Asia.The Bombay dry-dock, the first dry-dock in Asia, was built by Lovji and his brother Sorabji in 1750. see link.
Lovji Wadia and six further generations built ships, amongst these the HMS Minden- the American national anthem was composed on this Wadia built ship of the English Navy by an American prisoner Francis Scott Key on the ship. The Wadias also built the Royal Navy classic warships, the HMS Cornwallis and the HMS Trincomalee. The Nanking Treaty ceding Hong Kong to the British was signed on the HMS Cornwallis see this link .....
Later generations of Wadias established top of the line textiles manufacturing, the Bombay Dyeing Co. , the best Bombay based factory for confectionery by modern production techniques- the Britannia Biscuits Co., and also went into Indian film production-the Wadia Movietone Co.
Ardeshir ("Adi")- Ratan Bulsara, is a scientist in the area of nonlinear dynamics. He studied under the Nobel Prize winner Ilya Prigogine. The 2007 International Conference on Applied Nonlinear Dynamics (ICAND), held in Kauai, Hawaii, was a festschrift held in his honor of his 55th birthday.In 2004, Bulsara was elected to Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) "for fundamental contributions to the theory of nonlinear dynamics and the development of groundbreaking applications in classical, solid and fluid mechanics, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. see link
Sir Hormusjee Mody helped with finances to build the University of Hong Kong. see LinkCowasji Dinshaw went to Aden in 1855, and was the prime mover to build the port of Aden. see link
Lord Karan Billimoria, first Parsi created a peer in modern times, founder of UK's Cobra Beer. see link Ratan Tata, conceptualized and built India's popular cars, the Indica and Indigo, and the world's cheapest economy car the Tata Nano, he was Chairman of the Tata Group, a US 170 billion group, upto December of 2014. see link Rohinton Mistry, novelist, shortlisted for the Booker prize and has won several awards. write up on his works in The Atlantic.
Ardeshir and Pirojsha Godrej, household name in India, founded companies that manufacture typewriters (at one time,) soaps, safety lockers, steel wardrobes, industrial goods such as forklift trucks. see link
Sir Sohrabji Pochkhanawalla, banker, founded or co-founded India's premier banks- The Central Bank of India, The Bank of India and The Union Bank of India.
Bomanji Narielwalla, banker, first Indian manager (1930's) of Citibank, at Bombay, then called The First National City Bank of New York.
A.D. Shroff, eminent economist, Founder Director of The Investment Corporation of India, served as Chairman of Bank of India and the New India Assurance Co. Ltd, he was a delegate at the United Nations Bretton Woods Conference on the state of world economies after World War II.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.D._Shroff
a late19th/early 20th century Parsi Sethia -Sir. He wears the pheta-a high top hard headgear covered with black silk; a dugli, full knee length loose coat made of white fine muslin and tied with bows; and dark red silk loose trousers. His side whiskers were a fashion all over the world that time. late 19th/early 20th century Parsi Navjote-a child's initiation into the religion.late 19th/early 20th century rural small town Parsi wedding, notice the ladies sit at the rear, but traditionally they have always 'ruled' the family. late19th century group of priests, the High Priest is seated extreme left.late 19th/early 20th century ladies, notice the court shoes!!!in traditional dress, all Parsi women, until around the 1950's, covered their head with a white cotton/muslin cloth-a head scarf, hair was first tied in a bun and the scarf wound around the head, and tightly knotted-see picture. Falling hair was considered very unhygienic, just as indisposed cut nails. (chefs throughout the world wear a chef's cap to prevent hair falling in the cooking!!!) High Priest Dr Dastur Firoze Kotwal. The office of High Priest, for each of the 8 principal fire templesin India- (only the great temple at Udvada has 2 High Priests))- or for a region/diocese like Poona or Karachi, is hereditary or an appointment on the basis of the individuals' learning and scholarship. Dastur Kotwal is non-hereditary appointment.(?) water is a sacred element , this well is covered by a sacred enclosure, it is in the heart of south Mumbai, - 18th century.a small town Fire Temple in Gujarat, Western India.entrance porch of a priest's home in Udvada.....in a construction style of the late 19th century. a Parsi enterprise, Tanchoi sarees, named after the 3 (tan) Choi brothers, who brought the weaving technique from China.another example.a Parsi crafts master with traditional work.traditional saree kor- border.a Parsi "Ghara" saree, filled with embroidery.typical small town Parsi home.and this is picture of the "Parsi diaspora." Parsis attending a community conference in New York.No story of Parsis can be considered complete without the story of Zoroastrian Iranians (called Iranis by their co-religionists, Parsis) who migrated to India from the early 1900s ; they in turn are well known in Bombay/Mumbai for their unique restaurants and bakeries. Here is a blog that has documented their amazing flair for setting up these cafes and bakeries... LINK.
Geve Narielwalla
photos, courtesy of the owners of these photos, their ownership of these pictures remains fully acknowledged by me.
