Posted on: 17 November 2012

Article:
Zoroastrianism - Where have all the Parsis gone?
By Bharati Sarkar

India is richer today due to the contributions of a tiny community. In the sciences, the arts and industry, Parsis have given back more than a thousand-fold in return to the land that gave them shelter a thousand years ago. But, they are a dying community. With UNESCO stepping in to help preserve their heritage, their story is one that must be told, read and preserved.

A little over a thousand years ago, a bedraggled and tired group of persecuted people from Iran landed at Sanjan. Sanjan, a tiny principality, (about 100 km north of present day Mumbai,) was ruled by Jadi Rana.

The beleaguered king, not too keen on allowing foreign refugees to settle in his tiny kingdom, sent a bowl full of milk to the foreigners, signifying that the land was full and could support no more.

Understanding Jadi Rana's ploy, the leader of the refugees added a pinch of sugar to the bowl which did not overflow.

Jadi Rana understood this astute gesture of sweetening the milk and the message behind it, and graciously allowed the Parsis to stay. Since then, legend has it, that they have added sweetness to local life without being a burden.

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Image:
Studio portrait of a large Parsee family group, Bombay - 1867

Group of 13 men, women and children, posed in front of a backdrop taken by Hurrichund Chintamon c. 1867 at Mumbai, India. This photograph is from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections and was in show in the 1867 Paris Exhibition. The Parsees, or Parsis, are descendants of Persians who fled to India in the seventh and eighth centuries to escape Muslim persecution. Their communities are concentrated in Maharashtra and Gujarat states, especially in Bombay. The Parsis are Zoroastrian, often described as fire-worshippers. However, they do not worship fire, instead they revere many aspects of nature as manifestations of the divinity of Ahura Mazdah.

Copyright © The British Library Board


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these are the real human people. they didnt influence any religion, never attempted converting any other people, never influenced by other religions and never uttered a single word about any other religion and lived in harmony with every one. hail the parsis.

@ Venkatesh ; thank you for speaking so highly of us Parsis. Every word you have mentioned is true. It is a very elating feeling when our small but hardworking, honest community is being spoken so well about. Thank you once again.

thank u sir, it is my pleasure.

People who have built communities, hospitals, schools you name it and its Parsis who have done it. Great admiration for them! Sadly becoming extinct in Karachi

the zoroastrians or parsees believe in quality education for all. i wonder why the UN does nothing to help entire communities, but loves others?

Respects to Parsis,who had to flee their Motherland fearing Islamic Arab invaders & Respects to Mother India and our ever tolerant SANATANA DHARMA,which has welcomed with open hearts all cultures of the world and given safety & security to the persecuted folks like Jews & Parsis !

satya vachan jai bharat!

Nitin Tomer ...you would be interested. :) I found this shared by 3 friends today.

What is the name of the family? talk about viewing a community as a species!

Talk about kindness, social causes, honesty, and virtue - the Parsis brought all of these even while running businesses, which many others used as a medium only for personal gain. All the companies run by Parsis, like Tata, Godrej, etc. are built on grounds of honesty and virtue, unlike many others.

Parsis are also said to be the most educated community in Pakistan.

apart from the sweetness do not forget the opium they added under english rule. the charity of opium profits built a lot of colonial karachi and bombay

Just to put it in perspective... Opium was as legal then as tobacco and liquor are today.

yes, of course. opium became illegal only recently. as did swindling land documents to takeover naive kingdoms. am not judging here but the sanjan refugee did turn into an opportunistic trader and aided opium addiction across the empire.

Ahhh 'legality' such a funny term :)

'Considering that importation of opium into China had been virtually banned by Chinese law, the East India Company established an elaborate trading scheme partially relying on legal markets, and partially leveraging illicit ones. British merchants carrying no opium would buy tea in Canton on credit, and would balance their debts by selling opium at auction in Calcutta. From there, the opium would reach the Chinese coast hidden aboard British ships then smuggled into China by native merchants.' I guess Chinese legality had nothing to do with ummm legality? :)

gd bro we love our parsi friends

Those innocent eyes of women and kids :) purity