Editing Parsis (section)

== History ==
=== Arrival in the Indian subcontinent ===
According to the [[Qissa-i Sanjan]], the only existing account of the early years of Zoroastrian refugees in India composed at least six centuries after their tentative date of arrival, the first group of immigrants originated from [[Greater Khorasan]].{{sfn|Hodivala|1920|p=88}} This historical region of [[Central Asia]] is in part in northeastern Iran, where it constitutes modern [[Khorasan province]], part of western/northern [[Afghanistan]], and in part in three Central-Asian republics namely [[Tajikistan]], [[Turkmenistan]] and [[Uzbekistan]].

According to the ''Qissa'', the immigrants were granted permission to stay by the local ruler, [[Jadi Rana]], on the condition that they adopt the local language ([[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]) and that their women adopt local dress (the ''[[sari]]'').{{sfn|Hodivala|1920|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}} The refugees accepted the conditions and founded the settlement of [[Sanjan (Gujarat)|Sanjan]], which is said to have been named after the city of their origin ([[Sanjan (Khorasan)|Sanjan]], near [[Merv]], modern Turkmenistan).{{sfn|Hodivala|1920|p=88}} This first group was followed by a second group from Greater Khorasan within five years of the first, and this time having religious implements with them (the ''alat''). In addition to these ''Khorasani''s or ''Kohistani''s "mountain folk", as the two initial groups are said to have been initially called,{{sfn|Vimadalal|1979|p=2}} at least one other group is said to have come overland from [[Sari, Iran]].{{sfn|Paymaster|1954}}

[[File:IslamicConquestsIroon.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Map of the [[Sasanian Empire]] and its surrounding regions on the eve of the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]]]]
Although the Sanjan group are believed to have been the first permanent settlers, the precise date of their arrival is a matter of conjecture. All estimates are based on the ''Qissa'', which is vague or contradictory with respect to some elapsed periods. Consequently, three possible dates – 716, 765, and 936 – have been proposed as the year of landing, and the disagreement has been the cause of "many an intense battle ... amongst Parsis".{{sfn|Taraporevala|2000}} Since dates are not specifically mentioned in Parsi texts prior to the 18th century, any date of arrival is perforce a matter of speculation. The importance of the ''Qissa'' lies in any case not so much in its reconstruction of events than in its depiction of the Parsis – in the way they have come to view themselves – and in their relationship to the dominant culture. As such, the text plays a crucial role in shaping Parsi identity. But, "even if one comes to the conclusion that the chronicle based on verbal transmission is not more than a legend, it still remains without doubt an extremely informative document for Parsee historiography."{{sfn|Kulke|1978|p=25}}

The Sanjan Zoroastrians were certainly not the first Zoroastrians on the subcontinent.{{Citation needed|date=February 2016}} [[Sindh]] touching [[Balochistan]], the easternmost periphery of the Iranian world, too had once been under coastal administration of the [[Sasanian Empire]] (226-651), which consequently maintained outposts there.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} Even following the loss of [[Sindh]], the Iranians continued to play a major role in the trade links between the east and west.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} The 9th-century Arab historiographer [[Al-Masudi]] briefly notes Zoroastrians with fire temples in al-Hind and in al-Sindh.{{sfn|Stausberg|2002|p=I.374}} There is evidence of individual Parsis residing in Sindh in the tenth and twelfth centuries, but the current modern community is thought to date from British arrival in Sindh.{{sfn|Hinnells|2005|p=199}} Moreover, for the Iranians, the harbours of Gujarat lay on the maritime routes that complemented the overland [[Silk Road]] and there were extensive trade relations between the two regions. The contact between Iranians and Indians was already well established even prior to the [[Common Era]], and both the [[Puranas]] and the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' use the term ''[[Parasika]]s'' to refer to the peoples west of the [[Indus River]].{{sfn|Maneck|1997|p=15}}

"Parsi legends regarding their ancestors' migration to India depict a beleaguered band of religious refugees escaping the new rule post the Muslim conquests in order to preserve their ancient faith."{{sfn|Maneck|1997|p=15}}{{sfn|Paymaster|1954|pp=2–3}}{{sfn|Boyce|2001|p=148}}{{sfn|Lambton|1981|p=205}}{{sfn|Nigosian|1993|p=42}} However, while Parsi settlements definitely arose along the western coast of the Indian subcontinent following the Arab conquest of Iran, it is not possible to state with certainty that these migrations occurred as a result of religious persecution against Zoroastrians. If the "traditional" 8th century date (as deduced from the ''Qissa'') is considered valid, it must be assumed "that the migration began while Zoroastrianism was still the predominant religion in Iran and economic factors predominated the initial decision to migrate."{{sfn|Maneck|1997|p=15}} This would have been particularly the case if – as the ''Qissa'' suggests – the first Parsis originally came from the north-east (i.e. Central Asia) and had previously been dependent on [[Silk Road]] trade.{{sfn|Stausberg|2002|p=I.373}} Even so, in the 17th century, Henry Lord, a [[chaplain]] with the [[East India Company|English East India Company]], noted that the Parsis came to India seeking "[[liberty of conscience]]" but simultaneously arrived as "merchantmen bound for the shores of India, in course of trade and merchandise."

=== Early years ===
The ''Qissa'' has little to say about the events that followed the establishment of Sanjan, and restricts itself to a brief note on the establishment of the "Fire of Victory" (Middle Persian: ''[[Atash Bahram]]'') at [[Sanjan, Gujarat|Sanjan]] and its subsequent move to [[Navsari]]. According to Dhalla, the next several centuries were "full of hardships" (''sic'') before Zoroastrianism "gained a real foothold in India and secured for its adherents some means of livelihood in this new country of their adoption".{{sfn|Dhalla|1938|p=447}}

Two centuries after their landing, the Parsis began to settle in other parts of Gujarat, which led to "difficulties in defining the limits of priestly jurisdiction".{{sfn|Kulke|1978|p=29}} These problems were resolved by 1290 through the division of Gujarat into five ''panthak''s (districts), each under the jurisdiction of one priestly family and their descendants. (Continuing disputes regarding jurisdiction over the ''Atash Bahram'' led to the fire being moved to Udvada in 1742, where today jurisdiction is shared in rotation among the five ''panthak'' families.)

Inscriptions at the [[Kanheri Caves]] near Mumbai suggest that at least until the early 11th century, [[Middle Persian]] was still the literary language of the hereditary Zoroastrian priesthood. Nonetheless, aside from the ''Qissa'' and the Kanheri inscriptions, there is little evidence of the Parsis until the 12th and 13th century, when "masterly"{{sfn|Dhalla|1938|p=448}} Sanskrit translations and transcriptions of the [[Avesta]] and its commentaries began to be prepared. From these translations Dhalla infers that "religious studies were prosecuted with great zeal at this period" and that the command of [[Middle Persian]] and Sanskrit among the clerics "was of a superior order".{{sfn|Dhalla|1938|p=448}}

From the 13th century to the late 16th century, the Zoroastrian priests of Gujarat sent (in all) twenty-two requests for religious guidance to their co-religionists in Iran, presumably because they considered the Iranian Zoroastrians "better informed on religious matters than themselves, and must have preserved the old-time tradition more faithfully than they themselves did".{{sfn|Dhalla|1938|p=457}} These transmissions and their replies – assiduously preserved by the community as the ''[[rivayat]]''s ([[epistle]]s) – span the years 1478–1766 and deal with both religious and social subjects. From a superficial 21st century point of view, some of these ''ithoter'' ("questions") are remarkably trivial – for instance, ''Rivayat'' 376: whether ink prepared by a non-Zoroastrian is suitable for copying [[Avestan language]] texts – but they provide a discerning insight into the fears and anxieties of the early modern Zoroastrians. Thus, the question of the ink is symptomatic of the fear of assimilation and the loss of identity, a theme that dominates the questions posed and continues to be an issue into the 21st century. So also the question of conversion of ''Juddin''s (non-Zoroastrians) to Zoroastrianism, to which the reply (R237, R238) was: acceptable, even meritorious.{{sfn|Dhalla|1938|pp=474–475}}

Nonetheless, "the precarious condition in which they lived for a considerable period made it impracticable for them to keep up their former [[proselytizing]] zeal. The instinctive fear of disintegration and absorption in the vast multitudes among whom they lived created in them a spirit of exclusiveness and a strong desire to preserve the racial characteristics and distinctive features of their community. Living in an atmosphere surcharged with the Hindu caste system, they felt that their own safety lay in encircling their fold by rigid caste barriers".{{sfn|Dhalla|1938|p=474}} Even so, at some point (possibly shortly after their arrival in India), the Zoroastrians – perhaps determining that the [[social stratification]] that they had brought with them was unsustainable in the small community – did away with all but the hereditary priesthood (called the ''asronih'' in Sassanid Iran). The remaining estates – the ''(r)atheshtarih'' (nobility, soldiers, and civil servants), ''vastaryoshih'' (farmers and herdsmen), ''hutokshih'' (artisans and labourers) – were folded into an all-comprehensive class today known as the ''behdini'' ("followers of ''daena''", for which "good religion" is one translation). This change would have far reaching consequences. For one, it opened the gene pool to some extent since until that time inter-class marriages were exceedingly rare (this would continue to be a problem for the priesthood until the 20th century). For another, it did away with the boundaries along occupational lines, a factor that would endear the Parsis to the 18th- and 19th-century colonial authorities who had little patience for the unpredictable complications of the [[Indian caste system|Hindu caste system]] (such as when a clerk from one caste would not deal with a clerk from another).{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

=== Age of opportunity ===
Following the commercial treaty in the early 17th century between [[Mughal Empire|Mughal emperor]] [[Jahangir]] and [[James VI and I|James I]] of England, the [[East India Company]] obtained the exclusive rights to reside and build factories in [[Surat]] and other areas. Many Parsis, who until then had been living in farming communities throughout Gujarat, moved to the English-run settlements to take the new jobs offered. In 1668 the English East India Company leased the [[Seven Islands of Bombay]] from [[Charles II of England]]. The company found the deep harbour on the east coast of the islands to be ideal for setting up their first port in the sub-continent, and in 1687 they transferred their headquarters from Surat to the fledgling settlement. The Parsis followed and soon began to occupy posts of trust in connection with government and public works.<!--{{Harvnb|Hull|1913}}-->{{sfn|Palsetia|2001|pp=47–57}}

Where literacy had previously been the exclusive domain of the priesthood, in the era of the [[British Raj]], the British schools in India provided the new Parsi youth with the means not only to learn to read and write but also to be educated in the greater sense of the term and become familiar with the quirks of the British establishment. These capabilities were enormously useful to Parsis since they allowed them to "represent themselves as being like the British," which they did "more diligently and effectively than perhaps any other South Asian community".{{sfn|Luhrmann|2002|p=861}} While the colonial authorities often saw the other Indians "as passive, ignorant, irrational, outwardly submissive but inwardly guileful",{{sfn|Luhrmann|1994|p=333}} the Parsis were seen to have the traits that the authorities tended to ascribe to themselves. [[Johan Albrecht de Mandelslo]] (1638) saw them as "diligent", "conscientious", and "skillful" in their [[mercantile]] pursuits. Similar observations would be made by [[James Mackintosh]], Recorder of Bombay from 1804 to 1811, who noted that "the Parsees are a small remnant of one of the mightiest nations of the ancient world, who, flying from persecution into India, were for many ages lost in obscurity and poverty, till at length they met a just government under which they speedily rose to be one of the most popular mercantile bodies in Asia".{{sfn|Darukhanawala|Jeejeebhoy|1938|p=33}}

One of these was an enterprising agent named [[Rustom Maneck Seth|Rustom Maneck]]. In 1702, Maneck, who had probably already amassed a fortune under the Dutch and Portuguese, was appointed the first broker to the East India Company (acquiring the name "Seth" in the process), and in the following years "he and his Parsi associates widened the occupational and financial horizons of the larger Parsi community".{{sfn|White|1991|p=304}} Thus, by the mid-18th century, the brokerage houses of the [[Bombay Presidency]] were almost all in Parsi hands. As James Forbes, the Collector of Broach (now [[Bharuch]]), would note in his ''Oriental Memoirs'' (1770): "many of the principal merchants and owners of ships at Bombay and Surat are Parsees." <!-- [...] ---> "Active, robust, prudent and persevering, they now form a very valuable part of the Company's subjects on the western shores of [[Hindustan]] where they are highly esteemed".{{sfn|Darukhanawala|Jeejeebhoy|1938|p=33}}In the 18th century, Parsis with their skills in ship building and trade greatly benefited with trade between India and China. The trade was mainly in timber, silk, cotton and opium. For example [[Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy]] acquired most of his wealth through trade in cotton and opium{{sfn|Palsetia|2001|pp=53–56}} Gradually certain families "acquired wealth and prominence (Sorabji, Modi, Cama, Wadia, Jeejeebhoy, Readymoney, Dadyseth, Petit, Patel, Mehta, Allbless, Tata, etc.), many of which would be noted for their participation in the public life of the city, and for their various educational, industrial, and charitable enterprises."{{sfn|Hull|1911}}{{sfn|Palsetia|2001|pp=37–45, 62-64, 128-140, 334-135}}).

Through his largesse, Maneck helped establish the infrastructure that was necessary for the Parsis to set themselves up in Bombay and in doing so "established Bombay as the primary centre of Parsi habitation and work in the 1720s".{{sfn|White|1991|p=304}} Following the political and economic isolation of Surat in the 1720s and 1730s that resulted from troubles between the (remnant) Mughal authorities and the increasingly dominant [[Maratha]]s, a number of Parsi families from Surat migrated to the new city. While in 1700 "fewer than a handful of individuals appear as merchants in any records; by mid-century, Parsis engaged in commerce constituted one of important commercial groups in Bombay".{{sfn|White|1991|p=312}} Maneck's generosity is incidentally also the first documented instance of Parsi philanthropy. In 1689, [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] chaplain John Ovington reported that in Surat the family "assist the poor and are ready to provide for the sustenance and comfort of such as want it. Their universal kindness, either employing such as are ready and able to work, or 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".{{sfn|Ovington|1929|p=216}}

[[Image:Persians (Parsees) in Bombay 1873.jpg|thumb|upright|right|"Parsis of [[Bombay]]" a wood engraving, ''ca.'' 1878]]
In 1728 Rustom's eldest son Naoroz (later Naorojee) founded the [[Bombay Parsi Panchayet]] (in the sense of an instrument for [[self-governance]] and not in the sense of the trust it is today) to assist newly arriving Parsis in religious, social, legal and financial matters. Using their vast resources, the Maneck Seth family gave their time, energy and not inconsiderable financial resources to the Parsi community, with the result that by the mid-18th century, the Panchayat was the accepted means for Parsis to cope with the exigencies of urban life and the recognized instrument for regulating the affairs of the community.{{sfn|Karaka|1884|pp=215–217}} Nonetheless, by 1838 the Panchayat was under attack for impropriety and nepotism. In 1855 the ''[[The Times of India|Bombay Times]]'' noted that the Panchayat was utterly without the moral or legal authority to enforce its statutes (the ''Bundobusts'' or codes of conduct) and the council soon ceased to be considered representative of the community.{{sfn|Dobbin|1970|pp=150–151}} In the wake of a July 1856 ruling by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council that it had no jurisdiction over the Parsis in matters of marriage and divorce, the Panchayat was reduced to little more than a Government-recognized "Parsi Matrimonial Court". Although the Panchayat would eventually be reestablished as the administrator of community property, it ultimately ceased to be an instrument for self-governance.{{sfn|Palsetia|2001|pp=223–225}}

At about the same time as the role of the Panchayat was declining, a number of other institutions arose that would replace the Panchayat's role in contributing to the sense of [[structural cohesion|social cohesiveness]] that the community desperately sought. By the mid-19th century, the Parsis were keenly aware that their numbers were declining and saw education as a possible solution to the problem. In 1842 [[Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy]] established the Parsi Benevolent Fund with the aim of improving, through education, the condition of the impoverished Parsis still living in Surat and its environs. In 1849 the Parsis established their first school (co-educational, which was a novelty at the time, but would soon be split into separate schools for boys and girls) and the education movement quickened. The number of Parsi schools multiplied, but other schools and colleges were also freely attended.{{sfn|Palsetia|2001|pp=135–139}} Accompanied by better education and social cohesiveness, the community's sense of distinctiveness grew, and in 1854 [[Dinshaw Maneckji Petit]] founded the Persian Zoroastrian Amelioration Fund with the aim of improving conditions for his less fortunate co-religionists in Iran. The fund succeeded in convincing a number of Iranian Zoroastrians to emigrate to India (where they are known today as Iranis) and the efforts of its emissary [[Maneckji Limji Hataria]] were instrumental in obtaining a remission of the [[jizya]] for their co-religionists in 1882.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Parsis had emerged as "the foremost people in India in matters educational, industrial, and social. They came in the vanguard of progress, amassed vast fortunes, and munificently gave away large sums in charity".{{sfn|Dhalla|1938|p=483}} Near the end of the 19th century, the total number of Parsis in colonial India was 85,397, of which 48,507 lived in Bombay, constituting around 6.7% of the total population of the city, according to the 1881 census.{{sfn|Karaka|1884|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=w6PNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA91 91–93]}} This would be the last time that the Parsis would be considered a numerically significant minority in the city.{{Original research inline|date=April 2020}}

Nonetheless, the legacy of the 19th century was a sense of self-awareness as a community. The typically Parsi cultural symbols of the 17th and 18th centuries such as language (a Parsi variant of [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]), arts, crafts, and sartorial habits developed into [[Parsi theatre]], literature, newspapers, magazines, and schools. The Parsis now ran community medical centres, ambulance corps, [[Scouting]] troops, clubs, and [[Masonic Lodge]]s. They had their own charitable foundations, housing estates, legal institutions, courts, and governance. They were no longer weavers and petty merchants, but now were established and ran banks, mills, heavy industry, shipyards, and shipping companies. Moreover, even while maintaining their own cultural identity they did not fail to recognize themselves as nationally Indian, as [[Dadabhai Naoroji]], the first Asian to occupy a seat in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]] would note: "Whether I am a Hindu, a Mohammedan, a Parsi, a Christian, or of any other creed, I am above all an Indian. Our country is India; our nationality is Indian".{{sfn|Ralhan|2002|p=1101}} While having an outsized role in the [[Indian independence movement]], the majority of Parsis [[opposition to the partition of India|opposed the partition of undivided India]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=none |journal=Asia and the Americas |date=1946 |volume=46 |page=212 |publisher=Asia Press |quote=Many Muslim organizations are opposed to it. Every non-Muslim, whether he is a Hindu or Sikh or Christian or Parsi, is opposed to it. Essentially the sentiment in favor of partition has grown in the areas where Muslims are in a small minority, areas which, in any event, would remain undetached from the rest of India. Muslims in provinces where they are in a majority have been less influenced by it; naturally, for they can stand on their own feet and have no reason to fear other groups. It is least evident in the Northwest Frontier Province (95 per cent Muslim) where the Pathans are brave and self-reliant and have no fear complex. Thus, oddly enough, the Muslim League's proposal to partition India finds far less response in the Muslim areas sought to be partitioned than in the Muslim minority areas which are unaffected by it.}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |agency=Press Trust of India |date=April 26, 2016 |title=Parsis have made immense contributions to India: envoy |work=Business Standard |location=India |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/parsis-have-made-immense-contributions-to-india-envoy-116042600954_1.html |access-date=2022-07-24 |archive-date=July 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220724231059/https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/parsis-have-made-immense-contributions-to-india-envoy-116042600954_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Indian Air Force Service ===

Parsis have made significant contributions to India’s defence services, particularly the Indian Air Force. Notable officers such as Air Vice Marshal Minoo Merwan Engineer, Air Marshal Aspy Engineer, and Air VMarshal Adi Rustom Ghandhi exemplify the community’s presence across ranks, from combat pilots to senior leadership. The cultural symbolism of the Faravahar, associated with Zoroastrianism, has been metaphorically linked to the community’s affinity for flight.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gupta |first=Anchit |title=The Faravahar Soars: Parsis in the IAF |url=https://iafhistory.in/2023/10/29/the-faravahar-soars-parsis-in-the-iaf/ |website=IAFHistory |date=29 October 2023 |access-date=5 May 2025}}</ref>