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Article AN ANCIENT PEOPLE—PAST AND PRESENT.* Page 1 of 2 Article AN ANCIENT PEOPLE—PAST AND PRESENT.* Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Ancient People—Past And Present.*
AN ANCIENT PEOPLE—PAST AND PRESENT . *
IN the work before us the author deals slightly and generally with the very early history of the P arsis . Ifc is well known thafc they occupied Persia many centuries before the Christian era . Their kings were
amongst the most powerful on earth , and the youth , early taught " to ride , to draw the bow , and to speak the truth , " formed the backbone of an empire as large as half of modern Europe . Persia is supposed to have been peopled
by the children of Shem—the Elamites of the Scripture . But whatever may have been its real history , now obscured or lost in the mist of ages , to Zoroaster , who lived in the reign of Gushtasp , 1300 B . C ., is to be credited the
Parsi religion , which became the national faith , and which is still held in the highest esteem by the lineal descendants of the ancient empire—the Parsis of India , and the few still remaining in Persia . Time weaves myths in all
history , and Persia has shared the fate of other countries
whose greatness at one period was unmistakable , but whose records are either lost or exist in romantic traditions . Whatever may have been the history of Persia in other respects , there is a reality abont the wars it waged , especially with Greece and Macedonia . Who has not read
of Miltiades and Alexander the Great—of Marathon and
Arbela ? With these , however , the work we are now considering has little or nothing to do ; it begins really with the flight of the Persians in the sixth century , and with the present condition of their descendants . Naoshirvan ,
surnamed " Adal , " or the Just , was the " lasfc of those monarchs whose virtues and talents shed a lustre on the pages of Persian history , " whose reign began A . D . 531 . Enervating peace ancl luxurious indulgence in the course
of years left the people an easy prey to the all-conquering Mahomedans . Their fate was sealed A . D . 641 , on the field of Nahavand , under the monarchy of Tardegard . This ruler protracted a wretched and precarious existence
for some years after his defeat , and at last fled to Merv , bufc the city being treacherously surrendered he had to escape on foot for his life . He reached a mill eight miles from Merv , and after having sought for and obtained
concealment at the hands of the miller , the latter , in his lust for possession of the rich robes and arms of his guest , beheaded him . So ended ingloriously the last of the Persian Kings of fche ancient faith . After the complete
conquest of the country , the majority of the Parsis embraced Islamism . An effete people were just the material for apostates , and no surprise need be felt at the facility , if not alacrity , with which they cast off the old
garment , and put on the new . If any excuse were acceptable for their apparent too ready submission , it would be found in the fact thafc wherever Islam ruled , tbe Mahomedan faith was thrust upon the conquered people
with savage brutality , and resistance was threatened wifch a tyranny worse than death . Some faced the latter extremity , and suffered martyrdom in consequence . Indeed , they became almost extinct ; but whether that was owing
to other causes than oppression is open to question . Perse - cution , no doubt , was the chief instrument in the downward course of wretchedness and effacement . Only a hundred and fifty years ago the Parsis in Persia numbered
100 , 000 souls , and now they have dwindled down to 7000 or 8000 . This comparatively modern extinction is hardly accounted for by oppression alone ; but as that is a matter thafc does not affect our present purpose , we leave ifc
to those most interested to solve what appears to be a grave social and political problem . A considerable number of Parsis risked their chance in flight . They " abandoned the rights of dominion sooner than sacrifice
their most cherished religious convictions and their independence and self-respect . " The faithful band sought protection in the mountainous district of Khorassanwhere
, they led a hunted and chequered existence for a hundred years . At last they were compelled to seek a new home farther afield . Previous intercourse with the Hindus
seems to have suggested India as the future settlement
An Ancient People—Past And Present.*
They first went to Din , and afterwards to Sanjan ,, where they remained for six hundred years , " in tranquillity and
in the full enjoyment of their religious rights . " They were prudent enough to conciliate the Hindus by setting forth a brief description of the tenets of their faith , in which they masked some of their views , and in some
instances seemed to agree with their hosts . Still the sixteen " schloks , " or "distichs" in which they expressed their belief gave a broad outline of their creed . The Parsis found homes in other parts of India , but owing to their dispersion and the loss probably of their religious books , their faith became corrupted . In the fourteenth century an Italian monk , named Oderic , travelled in India , and he thus records his impressions of the Parsis : " The people thereof ( Thana ) are idolaters , for they worship fire and serpents , and trees also , and here they do not bury the dead , but carry them with great pomp to the fields , and cast them to the beasts and birds to be
devoured . " The latter charge will hardly hold good , for it is an essential element of Parsi faith not to bury their dead , as we shall see when we come to speak of the mode
of sepulture . Ifc is singular that during all these centuries nothing of importance is recorded of the Parsis . Their
history at this period has no romance . Tbey lived quietly with their neighbours , following agricultural pursuits chiefly , until they came in contact with the English , and
then began a life of activity , which if not national , has left , and is still leaving , its mark on the civilisation of India . Tbe Parsis had to leave Sanjan , and after wandering from place to place with the sacred fire , they ultimately
deposited ifc at TJdvada on the 28 th October 1742 , where it
now remains , and where it is held in great veneration . A small colony settled at Variav , some distance from Surat , and here an event happened that broke the peaceful tenure of their way . The Raja of Ratanpur attempted to extort
extraordinary tribute . He was opposed by the Parsis , and his troops were defeated . He took his revenge , however , in the most barbarous manner . Having invited a large number of Parsis to a marriage festival , he surprised them in
tbe midst of their pleasures , and caused the whole party , including women and children , to be ruthlessly massacred . " The anniversary of this cruel outrage is still observed at Surat , and religious ceremonies are performed in honour of those who fell on that disastrous occasion . " It
is rather remarkable , seeing that the Parsis lived under Hindoo , Mahommedan , and Christian Governments , and were somewhat scattered , and altogether insignificant in
number , that they should have escaped the usual penalty of weakness and those vicissitudes which generally mark the career of a conquered people in a strange land . But the Parsis , from disposition as well as from interest , found it
desirable to live on good terms with other races . There
were little breaks , however , and one of these occurred in the reign of Akbar , about 1556 , when a Parsi priest named Merji Rana visited Delhi at the request of the Emperor . He returned armed with privileges which laid the
foundation of a great change in Western India and in the career of the Parsis . Akbar seems to have been struck with the Parsi religion , and it is even related of him that he received
the " sudra" andthe "kusti . " Akbar was a wise ruler , and he saw good in most races . Speaking of him the Rajah of Joudpoor said , " He preserved every tribe and men in
ease and happiness , whether they were the followers of Jesus , or of Moses , of Brahma , or Mahomed . Of whatever
sect or creed they might be , they all equally enjoyed his countenance and favours . " Whatever may have been the religious inclinations of the Mogul Sultan , it is quite clear
that his favour was highly beneficial to the Parsis , who from that period began to manifest signs of a higher civilisation . The hundred years that elapsed between the mild reign of Akbar and the commencement of the British rule at Bombay in 1668 seems to have been spent in the
development of the capacity for trade , for the accumulation of wealth and the noble uses they made of it , which marked their subsequent career , and which still distinguishes
them . Amid the cares of mundane things other matters engaged the minds of the Parsis . The loss of their religious
books accounts in some measure for the difference that exists in the computation of time . In the absence of the authority of Zoroaster , the Parsis are divided into two sects , not as to points of faith , but " as to the correct
chronological date for the computation of the era of Tazdezard . " The sects arc called Shehenshais and Kadmis . The former means imperial , or according to custom , and the latter
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Ancient People—Past And Present.*
AN ANCIENT PEOPLE—PAST AND PRESENT . *
IN the work before us the author deals slightly and generally with the very early history of the P arsis . Ifc is well known thafc they occupied Persia many centuries before the Christian era . Their kings were
amongst the most powerful on earth , and the youth , early taught " to ride , to draw the bow , and to speak the truth , " formed the backbone of an empire as large as half of modern Europe . Persia is supposed to have been peopled
by the children of Shem—the Elamites of the Scripture . But whatever may have been its real history , now obscured or lost in the mist of ages , to Zoroaster , who lived in the reign of Gushtasp , 1300 B . C ., is to be credited the
Parsi religion , which became the national faith , and which is still held in the highest esteem by the lineal descendants of the ancient empire—the Parsis of India , and the few still remaining in Persia . Time weaves myths in all
history , and Persia has shared the fate of other countries
whose greatness at one period was unmistakable , but whose records are either lost or exist in romantic traditions . Whatever may have been the history of Persia in other respects , there is a reality abont the wars it waged , especially with Greece and Macedonia . Who has not read
of Miltiades and Alexander the Great—of Marathon and
Arbela ? With these , however , the work we are now considering has little or nothing to do ; it begins really with the flight of the Persians in the sixth century , and with the present condition of their descendants . Naoshirvan ,
surnamed " Adal , " or the Just , was the " lasfc of those monarchs whose virtues and talents shed a lustre on the pages of Persian history , " whose reign began A . D . 531 . Enervating peace ancl luxurious indulgence in the course
of years left the people an easy prey to the all-conquering Mahomedans . Their fate was sealed A . D . 641 , on the field of Nahavand , under the monarchy of Tardegard . This ruler protracted a wretched and precarious existence
for some years after his defeat , and at last fled to Merv , bufc the city being treacherously surrendered he had to escape on foot for his life . He reached a mill eight miles from Merv , and after having sought for and obtained
concealment at the hands of the miller , the latter , in his lust for possession of the rich robes and arms of his guest , beheaded him . So ended ingloriously the last of the Persian Kings of fche ancient faith . After the complete
conquest of the country , the majority of the Parsis embraced Islamism . An effete people were just the material for apostates , and no surprise need be felt at the facility , if not alacrity , with which they cast off the old
garment , and put on the new . If any excuse were acceptable for their apparent too ready submission , it would be found in the fact thafc wherever Islam ruled , tbe Mahomedan faith was thrust upon the conquered people
with savage brutality , and resistance was threatened wifch a tyranny worse than death . Some faced the latter extremity , and suffered martyrdom in consequence . Indeed , they became almost extinct ; but whether that was owing
to other causes than oppression is open to question . Perse - cution , no doubt , was the chief instrument in the downward course of wretchedness and effacement . Only a hundred and fifty years ago the Parsis in Persia numbered
100 , 000 souls , and now they have dwindled down to 7000 or 8000 . This comparatively modern extinction is hardly accounted for by oppression alone ; but as that is a matter thafc does not affect our present purpose , we leave ifc
to those most interested to solve what appears to be a grave social and political problem . A considerable number of Parsis risked their chance in flight . They " abandoned the rights of dominion sooner than sacrifice
their most cherished religious convictions and their independence and self-respect . " The faithful band sought protection in the mountainous district of Khorassanwhere
, they led a hunted and chequered existence for a hundred years . At last they were compelled to seek a new home farther afield . Previous intercourse with the Hindus
seems to have suggested India as the future settlement
An Ancient People—Past And Present.*
They first went to Din , and afterwards to Sanjan ,, where they remained for six hundred years , " in tranquillity and
in the full enjoyment of their religious rights . " They were prudent enough to conciliate the Hindus by setting forth a brief description of the tenets of their faith , in which they masked some of their views , and in some
instances seemed to agree with their hosts . Still the sixteen " schloks , " or "distichs" in which they expressed their belief gave a broad outline of their creed . The Parsis found homes in other parts of India , but owing to their dispersion and the loss probably of their religious books , their faith became corrupted . In the fourteenth century an Italian monk , named Oderic , travelled in India , and he thus records his impressions of the Parsis : " The people thereof ( Thana ) are idolaters , for they worship fire and serpents , and trees also , and here they do not bury the dead , but carry them with great pomp to the fields , and cast them to the beasts and birds to be
devoured . " The latter charge will hardly hold good , for it is an essential element of Parsi faith not to bury their dead , as we shall see when we come to speak of the mode
of sepulture . Ifc is singular that during all these centuries nothing of importance is recorded of the Parsis . Their
history at this period has no romance . Tbey lived quietly with their neighbours , following agricultural pursuits chiefly , until they came in contact with the English , and
then began a life of activity , which if not national , has left , and is still leaving , its mark on the civilisation of India . Tbe Parsis had to leave Sanjan , and after wandering from place to place with the sacred fire , they ultimately
deposited ifc at TJdvada on the 28 th October 1742 , where it
now remains , and where it is held in great veneration . A small colony settled at Variav , some distance from Surat , and here an event happened that broke the peaceful tenure of their way . The Raja of Ratanpur attempted to extort
extraordinary tribute . He was opposed by the Parsis , and his troops were defeated . He took his revenge , however , in the most barbarous manner . Having invited a large number of Parsis to a marriage festival , he surprised them in
tbe midst of their pleasures , and caused the whole party , including women and children , to be ruthlessly massacred . " The anniversary of this cruel outrage is still observed at Surat , and religious ceremonies are performed in honour of those who fell on that disastrous occasion . " It
is rather remarkable , seeing that the Parsis lived under Hindoo , Mahommedan , and Christian Governments , and were somewhat scattered , and altogether insignificant in
number , that they should have escaped the usual penalty of weakness and those vicissitudes which generally mark the career of a conquered people in a strange land . But the Parsis , from disposition as well as from interest , found it
desirable to live on good terms with other races . There
were little breaks , however , and one of these occurred in the reign of Akbar , about 1556 , when a Parsi priest named Merji Rana visited Delhi at the request of the Emperor . He returned armed with privileges which laid the
foundation of a great change in Western India and in the career of the Parsis . Akbar seems to have been struck with the Parsi religion , and it is even related of him that he received
the " sudra" andthe "kusti . " Akbar was a wise ruler , and he saw good in most races . Speaking of him the Rajah of Joudpoor said , " He preserved every tribe and men in
ease and happiness , whether they were the followers of Jesus , or of Moses , of Brahma , or Mahomed . Of whatever
sect or creed they might be , they all equally enjoyed his countenance and favours . " Whatever may have been the religious inclinations of the Mogul Sultan , it is quite clear
that his favour was highly beneficial to the Parsis , who from that period began to manifest signs of a higher civilisation . The hundred years that elapsed between the mild reign of Akbar and the commencement of the British rule at Bombay in 1668 seems to have been spent in the
development of the capacity for trade , for the accumulation of wealth and the noble uses they made of it , which marked their subsequent career , and which still distinguishes
them . Amid the cares of mundane things other matters engaged the minds of the Parsis . The loss of their religious
books accounts in some measure for the difference that exists in the computation of time . In the absence of the authority of Zoroaster , the Parsis are divided into two sects , not as to points of faith , but " as to the correct
chronological date for the computation of the era of Tazdezard . " The sects arc called Shehenshais and Kadmis . The former means imperial , or according to custom , and the latter