Les Parsis Part 3

There is some reason for not wondering at the disinclination of the Parsis for agriculture and the profession of arms. Agriculture had been very flourishing in the hands of the first colonists; but tastes changed, and from men of the field they became men of the town. At the beginning of the century some of them were still in possession of vast tracts of land, and spent much money in improving them. But these gradually pa.s.sed into other hands, a circ.u.mstance in any case greatly to be regretted. [80]

As to their apparent repugnance for military service we will see what an enlightened Parsi, who has in this case made himself the spokesman of his co-religionists, has to say. As a matter of fact, the Persians in olden times had distinguished themselves amongst all by their valour and courage. In the inscription engraved on his tomb at Nakch-i-Roustam, King Darius might well say, with a just feeling of pride, that they had only to look at the images of those who supported his throne to know into what distant places the Persian soldier had carried his arms! The famous struggles maintained by the Ardeshirs, the Shapoors, and the Noshirvans show that this warlike temper had not subsided. Why then should the descendants of such heroes abstain from taking part in military exercises and in defending the country [81]?

Mr. Dosabhai Framji Karaka gives the following explanation of this aversion. [82] In the first place he indignantly repudiates the theory put forward by certain European authors that it proceeds purely from religious motives, on account of the worship they are supposed to pay to fire, which would prevent them from handling a cannon or shouldering a gun. Nothing at all in fact prevents them from making use of fire in the handling of offensive and defensive weapons. At the time of certain riots in Bombay, gunsmiths' shops were seen to be rapidly emptied by the Parsis, and thirty-five years back they were enthusiastic in joining the first volunteer movement; but in 1877 only Europeans were invited to join. Still, protests Mr. D. F. Karaka, there are certainly no natives more eager than the Parsis to share in the defence of British interests. In several places they have joined the volunteers and have obtained much-envied distinctions. [83] They are able to attain a high degree of skill in the handling of firearms; for example, Mr. Dorabji Padamji, son of the late Khan Bahadur Padamji Pestonji, is one of the best shots in India. [84]

The most serious consideration which prevents a Parsi from enrolling himself in the army seems therefore, to us, to be the insufficiency of the pay. We only repeat it: it is a Pa.r.s.ee who says this. We have no desire either to weaken their motives or to exaggerate their grievances. We are well aware that these are very delicate questions, and require to be treated with care and skill, since they concern the relations of devoted subjects with a government of which they are proud. On the other hand, when we take into consideration the moral worth and intelligent co-operation which the Parsis bring to the service of this same government, we are not at all surprised at the conclusion which we see so clearly formulated. [85]

Native soldiers, whether Hindoos or Mussulmans, are paid at the rate of seven rupees a month, about fourteen shillings (17 fr. 50 c.), including rations, while a Parsi filling the most modest employment of a cook or a servant earns double that sum. During certain disturbances when Bombay was deprived of its European troops, many Parsis would willingly have enrolled themselves in the army if they had been given the pay of European soldiers. It is a matter of regret to them, perhaps a sort of degradation of which they feel the keenness, at being obliged to put forward pecuniary considerations; but their mode of life, even that of the poorest among them, cannot be compared with that of Hindoos and Mussalmans of the same cla.s.s. These can live on seven rupees a month; Hindoos and Mahomedans of the same family are content with one room, a thing which the humblest Parsi would never allow. The Hindoo or Mussulman woman hardly requires more than one or two saris, costing about three rupees, to clothe herself, and her children can go naked till the age of ten years. But as for the Parsi woman she requires several saris, trousers, shirts and slippers, besides suitable clothing for her children. How can a Parsi soldier then manage to live and bring up his family on seven rupees a month?

Mr. Karaka ends his long and eloquent appeal with a sentence which sounds the true keynote of the regret felt by the Parsis at being merely compared with the natives when they felt themselves to be morally and intellectually their superiors. Why are they not provided with commissions in the army like the Germans and other Europeans? [86] Then only will they feel completely identified with the British nation. [87]

The Parsis in India are divided into two sects, the Shahanshahis and the Kadmis. [88] When Anquetil Duperron visited India this division already existed, and he found them "more excited against each other than the Mahomedan sects of Omar and Ali." The Parsis, however, do not admit this. This division has nothing to do with their faith, and has nothing in common with the division between the Shiahs and the Sunnis. The schism [89] has arisen simply out of a difference of opinion concerning the exact date of computation of the era of Yezdezard, the last king of the ancient Persian monarchy. This division does not exist amongst the Zoroastrians who have remained behind in their own country.

The Parsis reckon their year on a calculation of three hundred and sixty-five days, each month consisting of thirty days. Their year commences with the month of Farvardin, and ends with the month of Spendarmad. At the end of three hundred and sixty days, five days, called the Gathas are added. The period of five hours and fifty-four seconds does not enter into their computation. The old Persians, therefore, in order to make their calculation agree with the solar year, had made at the end of every hundred and twenty years an intercalation or Kabisa, that is to say, they added one month to that period. The Persian Zoroastrians, after the loss of their independence, either through ignorance or simple forgetfulness, had ceased to practise this Kabisa, whilst the Parsis had continued this intercalation during their residence in Khora.s.san. Hence the origin of the sects with which we have to deal.

In 1720 [90] Jamasp Vilayati, a learned Zoroastrian from Persia, settled in Surat to advise the Mobeds, and it was he who discovered that his co-religionists of India were one month behind their Iranian brethren. Little importance however was attached to this fact. But in 1746 another Iranian, Jamshed, and some Mobeds adopted the date accepted by the Persian Zoroastrians, and took the name of Kadmis. The rest of the community were called Shahanshahis, and preserved the ancient system. Little by little the number of the adherents of Jamshed increased. Now it should be noticed that it was in Surat that this schism among the Parsis first took place, and for some time the harmonious relations between the two did not suffer by it. But two respectable men, Mancherji Kharshedji Seth, of the Shahanshahi sect, and Dhanjisha Manjisha, of the Kadmi sect, managed literally to ignite the powder in spite of their benevolent intentions. In order to get some enlightenment Dhanjisha Manjisha sent to Persia at his own expense a priest from Bharooch, Kavas Rustam Jalal. Born at Bharooch in 1733, this man was well versed in the Arabic and Persian languages. For twelve years he remained in Persia and Turkey, visited Yezd, Ispahan, Shiraz, and Constantinople, and returned to Surat in 1780. During his sojourn in Persia he had obtained an audience with Kerim Khan. Some months before his return Dhanjisha Manjisha had come to Bombay, and had there founded the Kadmi sect under the auspices of Dadiseth, one of the most influential men of the time. Mulla Kavas followed his patron to Bombay and was appointed Dastoor of the Atash-Behram erected by Dadiseth himself (Dadibhai Nasarwanji) for the Kadmi sect, which he consecrated on the 29th of September, 1783. The following year he quitted Bombay and settled in Hyderabad, in the Deccan, where he was honoured with the friendship of the Nizam. He remained there till his death, which took place in 1802 (Pa.r.s.ee Prakash, p. 92).

The Kadmi sect continued to flourish in Bombay, when, at the commencement of the century, rose the great dispute of the Kabisa, that is to say, the famous month by which the Kadmis were in advance of the Shahanshahis (Pa.r.s.ee Prakash, pp. 62, 198, 863, 867, &c.). Mulla Firoz, [91] son of Mulla Kavas, and another distinguished priest, Fardunji Marazbanji, const.i.tuted themselves the champions of the Kadmi sect, while the ma.s.s of the people, guided by Kharshedji Manockji Shroff, grouped themselves under the patronage of the pious Dastoor of the Shahanshahis, Edulji Dorabji Sanjana, [92] and clung to the date observed by the Parsis since their arrival in India. Meetings were organised to which learned Moguls were invited, in order to offer explanations, and, if possible, to terminate the discussion. The newspapers were full of virulent articles, pamphlets appeared in great numbers, and the people in some cases seemed disposed to settle the question by the right of might, an irrefutable argument.

The Shahanshahis maintained that the Zoroastrian religion admitted a month's intercalation at the end of a period of 120 years, and that at the time of the fall of the Persian Empire there had indeed been one intercalation during their sojourn in Khora.s.san, but once they were in India this usage had been abandoned; hence the backwardness by one month from the computation of the Kadmis. The latter declared on the other hand that the intercalation was forbidden in the Zoroastrian calendar, that it was only meant for political emergencies, and that this mode of calculation had never been practised in Khora.s.san.

Modern learning has brought this vexed question within its true limits. Mr. Kharshedji Rustamji Kama, of the Kadmi sect, known by his study of the Zoroastrian religion, has proved, or rather has attempted to prove, in a work on the computation of Yezdezard, that the Shahanshahis and the Kadmis were both in error (1870). The Kadmis were wrong in denying that the Pa.r.s.ee new year commenced on the 21st of March, for from a more exact knowledge of the language of the Avesta, and the deciphering of Pehlvi coins, it is demonstrated that the Zoroastrian religion admitted the intercalation; and the Shahanshahis were equally wrong, for, since the downfall of the Persian Empire, there had been no intercalation as they affirmed. The opinion of the Kadmis, in accordance with the date accepted by the Zoroastrians of Persia, which proves that there had been no intercalation after the fall of the national dynasty, is absolutely correct; but as the intercalation was not ordered by the Zoroastrian religion, it appears that both sides were wrong in the controversy of the Kabisa.

The greatest disputes had arisen from this religious quarrel; scenes of surprising violence had resulted from it. For instance, in Bharooch (1782-1783) a certain Homaji Jamshedji had struck a pregnant woman and been condemned to death; others got off with mere fines. In the heat of the disputes families became divided; marriages between Kadmis and Shahanshahis were very rare. [93] At present most of the difficulties have been smoothed down. It happens sometimes that the husband and wife belong to different sects; in that case the children invariably belong to the father's sect. There are no appreciable differences, the p.r.o.nunciation alone being at times not quite the same. Thus Ahu, Vohu, is p.r.o.nounced Ahi, Vohi among the Kadmis. There is also some difference in certain religious ceremonies, and in certain liturgical formulas. But the greatest divergence is in the mention of the month and the date of the day when the worshipper is reciting his prayers. All the feasts are observed by both the sects, but at different dates.

The Shahanshahis are greatly superior in numbers to the Kadmis. [94]

The latter can hardly count more than ten to fifteen thousand adherents. Many of them occupy the highest position. Mr. F. N. Patel, the members of the Cama, Dadiseth, and Banaji families, &c., are among them. The Shahanshahis are represented by Sir Jamshedji Jijibhoy, Sir Dinsha Manockji Pet.i.t, and many other not less respectable names.

II

The Parsis, at the time of their arrival in India, had made some changes in their national costume with a view to please the princes who had received them. Thus we note the resemblance of the angarakha and the turban of the men, and of the saris of the women, with the dress of the Hindoos of Gujerat.

NOTES

[1] The first mention of the Persians is made in Jeremiah x.x.xix. 3.

[2] Herodotus, Ctesias, Deinon, Theopompe, Hermippe, Plutarch, Diogenes Laertius, Pliny, Strabo, Pausanias, Dion Chrysostom, Damascius, Theodorus of Mopsuestia, &c.

[3] Mahomedan writers: Firdousi, Mirkhoud, Tabari, Masoudi, Shahrastani, Dimisqhi, Ibn Fozlan, &c. Armenian writers: Eznik, Elisee, &c.

[4] The cuneiform Achaemenian inscriptions found in Persia and in other places, deciphered and published by Grotefend, Burnouf, La.s.sen, Rawlinson, Norris, Spiegel, de Saulcy, Oppert, Menant, Kossowicz, &c., &c.

[5] Arrien, Expedition d'Alexandre, liv. iii., cxxii.

[6] Weil, Geschichte der Khalifen nach handschrift, Grosstentheils Quellen, &c., &c., ch. ii. pp. 54 et seq.; Mannheim, 1864. Caussin de Perceval, Histoire des Arabes, liv. ix. p. 400, 1848. Malcolm, Hist. of Persia, from the most early period to the present time, vol. i. c. vi. p. 170, London, MDCCCXV.

[7] "Quadesyeh--A place celebrated for the battles fought there between the Mussulmans and the Persians. (The town of Elkadder, not far from Kerbela, marks the old site of Kadesia. As to Koufah a collection of ruins marks the site of the capital of the Caliphate, which is said to have been as great as Babylon.) It is about fifteen farsakhs from Koufah and four miles from Ozhab; longitude, 69; lat.i.tude, 31 2'

3''. It was in the year 16 of the Hejira, under the Caliphate of Omar ben Khatthab, that the Mussulmans, commanded by Sa'd ben Abi Waqqas, fought against the infidels. During the action, Sa'd had withdrawn into the castle ("There was at Ozhab a castle belonging to the Persians called Qodas, whence, it is said, the name Quadesyeh. Sa'd occupied it with his harem, as he was suffering from gout, and could neither sit nor ride. Lying on the top of this fortress he watched his army, and some men posted below transmitted his military orders and arrangements"

(Merasid) (See Essai sur l'Histoire des Arabes by Caussin de Perceval, iii. 481-485, and Weil, Gesch. der Chal. i. pp. 65 et seq.) to watch the movements of his troops. This step was regarded as a proof of cowardice, and a Mussulman in the army composed the following verses against him (thawil metre):--

"Seest thou not that G.o.d has sent us the victory, whilst Sa'd is hiding behind the gates of Quadesyeh?

He was thinking then of increasing his family and of making his wives mothers, for the wives of Sa'd know not the privations of celibacy."

Another poet, Bischer ben Rebi'ah, has spoken of the battle of Quadesyeh in these terms (same metre):--

"My camel stopped at the gates of Quadesyeh; my chief was Sa'd ben (Abi) Waqqas.

Remember (may G.o.d guide thee) our prowess near Qodas, and the blindness of our perfidious enemies.

That evening many of us would willingly have borrowed the wings of the birds to fly away, When their battalions advanced one after another against us, like unto moving mountains.

With my sword I threw their ranks into disorder, and my lance dispersed them; for I am a man worthy of wielding the lance, I and my companions: Amr, father of Thawr, the martyr, Haschem, Qais, No'man the brave, and Djerir."

There exists a great number of poems composed in honour of this battle, one of the most celebrated, and fraught with the greatest blessings for the Mussulmans. Omar having written to Sa'd to ask for some information regarding the position of Quadesyeh, the latter sent him the following:--"Quadesyeh is situated between the moat and el-'Atiq (the ca.n.a.l of the Euphrates). On its left is the sea, a sort of bay, whence lead two roads to Hirah: the first, over high hills; the second, over the banks of a river called Khousous, which pa.s.ses out between Khawarnaq and Hirah; on its right are numerous streams which water the country. All the tribes who have made peace with the Mussulmans before my arrival tremble before the Persians, and are ready to a.s.sist me." The historians of the first conquests divide this affair at Quadesyeh into four battles. The first is called the battle of Ermath; the second, the battle of Aghwath; the third, the battle of Amas; the evening preceding the fourth, they called the evening of Herir or of the storm; and the last, the battle of Quadesyeh. The celebrated Rustam, son of Farrokh-Zad, lost his life in this battle, and the Persians could not replace this skilful general. (Dictionnaire geographique, historique et litteraire de la Perse et des Contrees adjacentes, taken from the Mo'd'jem el-Bouldan of Yaqout, &c. Trans. Barbier de Meynard, Paris, 1861, p. 432.)

[8] Malcolm, Hist. of Persia, vol. i. ch. vi. p. 174. Weil, Geschichte der Chalifen, ch. ii. pp. 54 et seq. Caussin de Perceval, Histoire des Arabes, bk. x. pp. 481 et seq. Masoudi, Prairies d'or, trans. Barbier de Meynard, c. lxxvi. p. 207. Tabari, trans. H. Zotenburg, part iv. ch. xli. pp. 385 et seq.

[9] Nehawend.--A large town about three days' journey from Hamadan, in the direction of the qiblah (south-west). Aboul-Moundher Hischam says it received this name because it was found wholly built, and in the same condition as at present. Others carry back its foundation to Noah, and think that its present name is an abbreviation of Nouh-Awend or Nouh-Wand, that is to say, the city of Noah. Hamzah thinks that its old name was Nouha-Wend, which means "the well multiplied." Nehawend is situated in the fourth climate, 72 longitude and 36 lat.i.tude; it is one of the oldest cities of Djebal. It was conquered about the year 19 or 20 of the Hejira. Abou Bekr el-Hodhali, relying upon the testimony of Mohammed, son of Hasan, says: "The battle of Nehawend was fought in the year 21, under the Caliphate of Omar, son of Khatthab. The Mussulmans were commanded by No'man ben Mokarren el-Mouzeni; this general had under him Hodhafah, son of Yemani, Djerir ben 'Abd Allah, el-Mogharah ben Scha'bah and el-Asch'ath ben Qas." When No'man, who was one of the companions of the Prophet, was killed, the commandership pa.s.sed into the hands of Hodhafah; it was this chief who concluded the peace, as we attribute it to the word Mah-Dinar. This is what el-Moubarek ben Sab, who derived this information from his father, relates: "Nehawend was taken by the army of Koufah, and Dinewer by the troops of Basrah. As the population of Koufah had considerably increased, some of its inhabitants were obliged to emigrate into the countries newly pacified and subject to Kharadj. It is thus that they came to inhabit Dinewer. The province of Koufah was received in exchange for Nehawend, which was annexed to the province of Ispahan, the remainder of Kharadj being taken off from Dinewer and Nehawend. It was in the reign of Mo'awiah ben Abi Soufian that Nehawend was called Mah-el-Basrah and Dinewer Mah-el-Koufah. The Persians, before the battle of Nehawend, had gathered together considerable troops; it is said that their army numbered about 150,000 men commanded by Firouzan. After this important battle, which was called the 'Victory of Victories,' the resistance of the Persians became less and less. The most accredited opinion is that these events took place during the fifth year of Omar's Caliphate, the year 19 of the Hejira." (Cf. Essai sur l'Histoire des Arabes, by Caussin de Perceval, vol. iii. p. 491, and the Annales of Abou'l Feda, ed. of Reiske, vol. i. p. 242. See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., p. 573.)

[10] Malcolm, Hist. of Persia, vol. i. ch. vi. p. 176. G. Weil, Geschichte der Chalifen, &c., ch. ii. p. 54. Masoudi, Prairies d'or, trans. Barbier de Meynard, ch. lxxvi. p. 233. Tabari, trans. Zotenberg, part iv. ch. xlvii. p. 467.

[11] Khora.s.san--A large country stretching from Iraq (Persian) to Azadwar (the chief town of the province of Djouen) and to Behaq. It is bounded on the side of India (on the south and east) by Thokharistan, Ghaznee, Sedjestan, and Kirman. It contains fine cities, such as Nisabour, Merve, which has been the capital of Balk, Herat, Thaleqan, Nesa, Abiwerd, Serakhs, and other large cities situate on this side of the river Oxus. Some geographers have placed the provinces of Kharezm and a part of Transoxiana in Khora.s.san, but that is an error.... When Islam appeared in the world, the Khora.s.sanians, by a quite special favour of Providence, eagerly welcomed it. They accepted without opposition the peace offered them; hence they were subjected to a light tax only, and escaped being ma.s.sacred or made prisoners. The conquest itself took place in the eighteenth year of the Hejira. 'Omar ben Khattab sent into Khora.s.san El-Ahnef ben Qas, who in a short time took possession successively of the two Thabes, Herat, Merv esch-Schahidjan and Nisabour, after having forced the Persian king Yezdezard, son of Schahriar, to take refuge in Transoxiana with the Khan of the Turks. (See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., p. 197.)

[12] This town is situated on an arm of the sea, communicating with Fars. It serves as a port to Kirman, and it is there that vessels from India deposit the merchandise destined for Kirman, Sedjestan, and Khora.s.san. Some authors write and p.r.o.nounce it Hormouz. (See B. de Meynard, Dict. geog., hist., &c., p. 595.)