Parsis

Topic: India, a Home to Many: Diasporas and Refuge · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 5 "India, a Home to Many"; Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"

Meaning

The Parsis are Zoroastrians (followers of the prophet Zarathushtra) who fled Persia after Arab Muslim forces conquered the Sasanian Empire in the mid-7th century. They reached the coast of present-day Gujarat sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries [4]. The name Parsi simply means "people from Pars/Persia".

They matter because their story shows India giving shelter to people fleeing religious persecution. India today has the world's largest Zoroastrian population.

Explanation

Background: the faith they carried

• Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest living religions. It was founded by the prophet Zarathushtra, whom the Greeks called Zoroaster [6].

• NCERT says he came from Central Asia. Britannica places the founding "in Persia in the 6th century BCE" [6]. Scholars still disagree on both the place and the date, so use the NCERT version in the exam.

• One God, Ahura Mazda ("the Wise Lord"). He made everything good and keeps the cosmic order (the rule the universe runs by) going [7].

• Choosing good over evil is at the heart of the faith [7]:
• Spenta Mainyu is the good spirit. It chooses truth and light.
• Angra Mainyu / Ahriman is the destructive spirit. It chooses lies and darkness.

• Every person must choose a side.

• Holy book: the Avesta. Its oldest part is the Gathas, hymns that Zarathushtra composed in Old Avestan. The Avesta was put together in stages and finished under the Sasanians [5][6].

• Fire stands for purity and for Ahura Mazda's order. It is not worshipped as a god. Believers face it when they pray.

Causes: why they left Persia

• Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Sassanid (Sasanian) Empire, which lasted from 224 to 651 CE [5].
• In the mid-7th century the empire fell to Arab Muslim forces. Zoroastrians who stayed faced:
• forced conversions
• jizya (a religious tax paid by non-Muslims)
• the destruction of their fire temples

• social and legal marginalisation: fewer rights in courts, in jobs and in daily life

• So many of them left by sea. They carried little except their sacred fire.

The journey and the Sanjan legend

• The route, according to tradition:
• First they settled at Hormuz on the Persian Gulf. Persecution followed them there [4].
• They sailed across the Arabian Sea to India and stopped first at Diu in Kathiawar [4].

• Then they moved on to Gujarat, where they lived for about 800 years as a small farming community [4].

• Date of arrival: Britannica dates the ships to the 8th century. It adds that the migration may have happened as late as the 10th century, or in two waves [4].

• The milk-and-sugar legend is set at Sanjan, on the Gujarat coast, ruled by Jadi Rana:
• The refugees and the Raja shared no language, so they "spoke" with objects.
• The Raja held out a jug filled to the brim with milk. It meant: "My kingdom is already full."
• A Parsi wise man stirred a spoon of sugar into it, and not a drop spilled. It meant: "We will mix in, add sweetness and take no extra space."
• The Raja was pleased and gave them a safe place to settle.

Results: a lasting community

• The fire still burns. The ancient sacred fire is kept at Udvada in south Gujarat, near where the refugees landed. The shrine is the Iranshah Atash Behram [2].
• Atash Behram is the highest grade of Zoroastrian fire temple.

• The temple building shown in NCERT is 18th-century. The building is newer, but the fire inside is much older.

• They mixed in without giving up their faith. Parsis kept their fire, faith and rituals, but took up the Gujarati language and dress.

• They are few in number but have deep roots. They have lived in India without a break for more than a thousand years. India now has the world's largest Zoroastrian population.
• The state recognises them today. The Ministry of Minority Affairs has held events to honour the legacy of Zoroastrians in India, under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat idea [2].

Time, place and evidence

• Period:
• Sasanian Empire: 224–651 CE [5]
• Arab conquest: mid-7th century

• Arrival in Gujarat: between the 8th and 10th centuries, so the exact date is uncertain [4]

• Places:

• Pars/Persia: their homeland
• Hormuz (Persian Gulf): first halt, according to tradition
• Diu (Kathiawar): early stop in India
• Sanjan (coastal Gujarat): where they settled under Jadi Rana
• Udvada (south Gujarat): the sacred fire

• Navsari: home town of the author of the Kisseh-i-Sanjan

• Key people:

• Zarathushtra/Zoroaster: founder of the faith
• Jadi Rana: ruler of Sanjan

• Bahman Kaikobad of Navsari: author of the Kisseh-i-Sanjan

• How we know:

• The Kisseh-i-Sanjan (Qissa-i-Sanjan) is the oldest written record of the Parsis in India. Bahman Kaikobad of Navsari wrote it in Persian verse in 969 AY (c. 1600 CE) [3].
• It was written about 600–800 years after the events. So it is a community memory written down much later, not an eyewitness account.
• The living fire at the Iranshah Atash Behram, Udvada, is itself evidence of the community's unbroken tradition [2].

Don't confuse with

• Zoroastrianism vs Parsis. Zoroastrianism is the religion, founded by Zarathushtra. The Parsis are one community that follows it: the Persian Zoroastrians who settled in India.
• Sanjan vs Udvada. Sanjan is where the refugees landed and met Jadi Rana. Udvada, in south Gujarat, is where the ancient sacred fire burns today, in the Iranshah Atash Behram [2].
• Kisseh-i-Sanjan vs Avesta. The Kisseh-i-Sanjan is a Persian-verse history of the Parsis in India from c. 1600 CE [3]. The Avesta is the holy book, and its Gathas are in Old Avestan [6].
• Ahura (Avestan) vs asura (Vedic). The two words come from the same root, but their meanings are reversed. Ahura is the chief god in the Avesta. In post-Vedic texts, asura means a harmful power or demon. In the same way, Vedic deva (god) became Avestan daeva (evil being).

Prelims Hooks

• Founder: Zarathushtra (Greek: Zoroaster). One God: Ahura Mazda. Holy book: Avesta. Its oldest part, the Gathas, is in Old Avestan [6].
• Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Sassanid Empire (224–651 CE), which fell to Arab Muslim forces in the mid-7th century [5].
• Order of the journey, according to tradition: Hormuz → Diu (Kathiawar) → Gujarat. They arrived between the 8th and 10th centuries [4].
• Milk-and-sugar legend: Raja Jadi Rana of Sanjan, coastal Gujarat.
• Kisseh-i-Sanjan: written by Bahman Kaikobad of Navsari, 969 AY (c. 1600 CE), in Persian verse. It is the oldest Parsi record in India [3].
• Sacred fire: Iranshah Atash Behram, Udvada, south Gujarat [2]. Trap: the building in the NCERT picture is 18th-century, not from the 8th century.

Mains Points

• India as a land of refuge. The Parsis were a religious minority fleeing persecution (jizya, forced conversion, burnt fire temples), and a local ruler gave them shelter. Compare them with the Jews at Kodungallur and the Tibetans after 1959 to show that India has long taken in refugee communities.
• Accommodation, not assimilation. In the milk-and-sugar legend, sugar dissolves into the milk. It does not float on top or make the milk spill over.
• The Parsis kept their fire, faith and rituals.
• They also took up the Gujarati language and dress.

• This shows Indian pluralism working by making room for difference, not by erasing it.

• Legend versus record. The Sanjan story comes from the Kisseh-i-Sanjan (c. 1600 CE), written centuries after the events [3]. The date of arrival is still disputed: 8th century, 10th century, or two waves [4]. This shows how historians use community memory: it tells us a lot about identity even when exact dates cannot be fixed.

Related concepts

• Zoroastrianism
• Jadi Rana
• Udvada Atash Behram
• Avesta

Read more

• The Parsis: flight from Persia and the milk-and-sugar legend