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PARSEES, or PARSIS

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 867 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PARSEES, or PARSIS , the followers in See also:India of Zoroaster (Zarathustra), being the descendants of the See also:ancient Persians who emigrated to India on the See also:conquest of their See also:country by the See also:Arabs in the 8th See also:century. They first landed at Sanjan on the See also:coast of See also:Gujarat, where the See also:Hindu rulers received them hospitably. To this See also:day their See also:vernacular See also:language is See also:Gujarati, which they hgve cultivated in literature and journalism. Their See also:settlement in Bombay See also:dates only from the See also:British occupation of that See also:island. In 1901 the See also:total number of Parsees in all India was 94,000, of whom all but 7000 were found in the Bombay See also:presidency and the adjoining See also:state of See also:Baroda, the See also:rest being widely scattered as traders in the large towns. Among Parsecs the men are well formed, active, handsome and intelligent. They have See also:light See also:olive complexions, a See also:fine aquiline See also:nose, See also:bright See also:black eyes, a well-turned See also:chin, heavy arched eyebrows, thick sensual lips, and usually See also:wear a light See also:curling See also:moustache. The See also:women are delicate in See also:frame, with small hands and feet, See also:fair complexions, beautiful black eyes, finely arched eyebrows, and a profusion of See also:long black See also:hair, which they See also:dress to perfection, and See also:ornament with pearls and gems. The Parsees are much more liberal in their treatment of women than any other See also:Asiatic See also:race; they allow them to appear freely in public, and leave them the entire management of See also:household affairs. The characteristic See also:costume of the Parsees (now frequently abandoned) is loose and flowing, very picturesque in See also:appearance, and admirably adapted to the See also:climate in which he lives. The See also:head is covered with a See also:turban, or a cap of a See also:fashion See also:peculiar to the Parsees; it is made of stiff material, something like the See also:European See also:hat, without any rim, and has an See also:angle from the See also:top of the forehead backwards. It would not be respectful to uncover in presence of an equal, much less of a See also:superior.

The See also:

colour is See also:chocolate or. maroon, except with the priests, who wear a See also:white turban. A Parsee must be See also:born upon the ground See also:floor of the See also:house, as the teachings of their See also:religion require See also:life to be commenced in humility, and by " See also:good thoughts, words and actions " alone can an elevated position be attained either in this See also:world or the next. The See also:mother is not seen by any member of the See also:family for See also:forty days. Upon the seventh day after the See also:birth an astrologer is invited to See also:cast the nativity of the See also:child. He has first to enumerate the names which the child may See also:bear, so that the parents may make choice of one of them. Then he draws on a wooden See also:board a set of hieroglyphs in See also:chalk, and his dexterity in counting or recounting the stars under whose region or See also:influence the child is declared to be born is marvelled at by the superstitious creatures thronging around him. This document is preserved in the family archives as a guidance and encouragement to the child through life. At the See also:age of seven or thereabouts, according to the See also:judgment of the See also:priest, the first religious ceremony is performed upon the See also:young Parsee. He is first subjected to the See also:process of See also:purification, which consists of an See also:ablution with narang (cow-urine). The ceremony consists in investing him with the kusti, or See also:girdle of his faith. This is a See also:cord,See also:woven by women of the priestly class, composed of seventy-two threads, representing the seventy-two chapters of the Yasna, a portion of the Zend-Avesta, in the sacredness of which the young See also:neophyte is figuratively See also:bound. The priest ties the cord around the See also:waist as he pronounces the See also:benediction upon the child, throwing upon his head at each See also:sentence slices of See also:fruit, seeds, perfumes and spices.

He is thus received into the religion of Zoroaster, and is henceforth considered morally accountable for his acts. If a child See also:

die before the performance of this ceremony he is considered to have gone back to Ahura-Mazda, who gave him, as pure as he entered into this world, having not reached the age of accountability. The marriages of See also:children engage the earliest See also:attention of the parents. The See also:wedding day having been fixed by an astrologer, who consults the stars for a happy See also:season, a Parsee priest goes from house to house with a See also:list of the guests to be invited, and delivers the invitations with much ceremony. The See also:father of the See also:bride See also:waits upon near relatives and distinguished personages, soliciting the See also:honour of their attendance. A little before sunset a procession is formed at the house of the bridegroom, and proceeds with a See also:band of See also:music, amid See also:great pomp and ceremony, to the house of the bride's father. Here a number of relatives and See also:friends are collected at the See also:door to receive the bridegroom with due honour. Presents are sent before, according to the See also:time-honoured See also:custom of the See also:East. Upon the arrival of the See also:pro-cession at the house of the bride the gentlemen gallantly remain outside, leaving See also:room for the ladies to enter the house as the escort of the bridegroom. As he passes the See also:threshold his future mother-in-See also:law meets him with a See also:tray filled with fruits and See also:rice, which she strews at his feet. The fathers of the young couple are seated See also:side by side, and between them stands the priest ready to perform the ceremony. The young couple are seated in two chairs opposite each other, their right hands tied together by a silken cord, which is gradually See also:wound around them as the ceremony progresses, the bride in the meantime being concealed with a See also:veil of See also:silk or See also:muslin.

The priest See also:

lights a See also:lamp of See also:incense, and repeats the nuptial benediction first in Zend and then in See also:Sanskrit. At the conclusion of the ceremony they each throw upon the other some grains of rice, and the most expeditious in performing this feat is considered to have got the start of the other in the future See also:control of the household, and receives the See also:applause of the male or See also:female See also:part of the See also:congregation as the See also:case may be. The priest now throws some grains of rice upon the heads of the married pair in token of wishing them abundance; bouquets of See also:flowers are handed to the assembled guests, and See also:rose-See also:water is showered upon them. The bride and bridegroom now break some sweetmeats, and, after they have served each other, the See also:company are invited to partake of refreshments. At the termination of this feast the procession re-forms, and with lanterns and music escorts the bridegroom back to his own house, where they feast until midnight. As midnight approaches they return to the house of the bride, and escort her, with her See also:dowry, to the house cf the bridegroom, and, having delivered her safely to her future See also:lord and See also:master, disperse to their respective homes. Eight days afterwards a wedding feast is given by the newly-married couple, to which only near relatives and particular friends are invited. This feast is composed entirely of vegetables, but at each course the See also:wine is served, and toasts are proposed, as " happiness to the young couple," &c. The funeral ceremonies of the Parsees are See also:solemn and imposing. When the medical attendant declares the case hopeless a priest advances to the See also:bed of the dying See also:man, repeats sundry texts of the Zend-Avesta, the substance of which tends to afford him See also:consolation, and breathes a See also:prayer for the forgiveness of his sins. After life is See also:extinct a funeral See also:sermon is delivered by the priest, in which the deceased is made the subject of an exhortation to his relatives and friends to live pure, See also:holy and righteous lives, so that they may See also:hope to meet again in See also:paradise. The See also:body is then taken to the ground floor where it was born, and, after being washed and perfumed, is dressed in clean white clothes, and laid upon an See also:iron bier.

A See also:

dog is brought in to take a last look at his inanimate master in See also:order to drive away the evil See also:spirits. This ceremony is called sagdad. A number of priests attend and repeat prayers for the repose of the soul of the departed. All the male friends of the deceased go to the door, See also:bow down, and raise their two hands from the floor to their heads to indicate their respect for the departed. The body, when put upon the bier, is covered over from head to See also:foot. Two attendants bring it out of the house, holding it See also:low in their hands, and deliver it to four See also:pall-bearers, called nasasalar, clad in well-washed, white clothes. A procession is formed by the male friends of the deceased, headed by a number of priests in full dress, to follow the body to the dakhma, or "See also:tower of silence." In Bombay these towers are erected in a beautiful See also:garden on the highest point of See also:Malabar See also:Hill, amid trees swarming with vultures; they are constructed of See also:stone, and rise some 25 ft. high, with a small door at the side for the entrance of the body. Upon arriving at the " tower of silence " the bier is laid down, and prayers are said in the sagri, or house of prayer, containing a See also:fire-See also:sanctuary, which is erected near the entrance to the garden. The attendants then raise the body to its final resting-See also:place, See also:lay it upon its stony bed, and retire. A See also:round See also:pit about 6 ft_ deep is surrounded by an See also:annular stone See also:pavement about 7 ft. wide, on which the body is exposed to the vultures, where it is soon denuded of flesh, and the bones fall through an iron grating into a pit beneath, from which they are afterwards removed into a subterranean entrance prepared for their reception. On the third day after See also:death an assemblage of the relatives and friends of the deceased takes place at his See also:late See also:residence, and thence proceed to the Atish-bahram, or " fire-See also:temple." The priests stand before the urns in which the See also:celestial fire is kept burning, and recite prayers for the soul of the departed. The son or adopted son of the deceased kneels before the high-priest, and promises due performance of all the religious duties and See also:obsequies to the dead.

The relatives and friends then See also:

hand the priest a list of the contributions and charities which have been subscribed in memory of the deceased, which concludes the ceremony of " rising from See also:mourning," or " the resurrection of the dead." On each successive anniversary of the death of a Parsee funeral ceremonies are performed in his memory. An iron frame-See also:work is erected in the house, in which shrubs are planted and flowers cultivated to See also:bloom in memory of the departed. Before the frame, on iron stands, are placed See also:copper or See also:silver vases, filled with water and covered with flowers. Prayers are said before these iron frames two or three times a day. These ceremonies are called muktad, or " ceremonies of departed souls." The Parsees of India are divided into two sects, the Shenshahis and the Kadmis. They do not differ on any point of faith; the dispute is confined to a See also:quarrel as to the correct See also:chronological date for the computation of the era of See also:Yazdegerd, the last See also:king of the See also:Sassanian See also:dynasty, who was dethroned by the See also:caliph See also:Omar about A.D. 640. The difference has been productive of no other inconvenience than arises from the variation of a See also:month in the celebration of the festivals. The Parsees compute time from the fall of Yazdegerd. Their See also:calendar is divided into twelve months of See also:thirty days each; the other five days, being added for holy days, are not counted. Each day is named after some particular See also:angel of See also:bliss, under whose See also:special See also:protection it is passed. On feast days a See also:division of five watches is made under the protection of five different divinities.

In midwinter a feast of six days is held in See also:

commemoration of the six periods of creation. About the 21st of See also:March, the vernal See also:equinox, a festival is held in honour of See also:agriculture, when planting begins. In the See also:middle of See also:April a feast is held to celebrate the creation of trees, shrubs and flowers. On the See also:fourth day of the See also:sixth month a feast is held in honour of Sahrevar, the deity presiding over mountains and mines. On the sixteenth day of the seventh month a feast is held in honour of Mithra, the deity presiding over and directing the course of the See also:sun, and also a festival to celebrate truth and friend-See also:ship. On the tenth day of the eighth month a festival is held in honour of Farvardin, the deity who presides over the departed souls of men. This day is especially set apart for the performance of ceremonies for the dead. The See also:people attend on the hills where the " towers of silence " are situated, and perform in the sagris prayers for the departed souls. - The Parsee scripturesrequire the last ten days of the See also:year to be spent in doing deeds of charity, and in prayers of thanksgiving to Ahura-Mazda. On the day of Yazdegerd, or New Year's Day, the Parsees emulate the western world in rejoicing and social intercourse. They rise See also:early, and after having performed their prayers and ablutions dress themselves in a new suit of clothes, and sally forth to the " fire-temples," to See also:worship the See also:emblem of their divinity, the sacred fire, which is perpetually burning on the See also:altar. Unless they duly perform this ceremony they believe their souls will not be allowed to pass the See also:bridge " Chinvad," leading to See also:heaven.

After they have performed their religious services they visit their relations and friends, when the ceremony of hamijur, or joining hands, is performed. The ceremony is a See also:

kind of greeting by which they wish each other " a happy new year." Their relatives and friends are invited to See also:dinner, and they spend the rest of the day in feasting and rejoicing; See also:alms are given to the poor, and new suits of clothes are presented to servants and dependants. There are only two distinct classes among the Parsees—the priests (dast4rs, or high priests; mobeds, or the middle order; and herbads, or the lowest order) and the people (behadin, behdin, or " followers of the best religion "). The priestly See also:office is hereditary, and no one can become a priest who was not born such; but the son of a priest may become a layman. The See also:secular affairs of the Parsees are managed by an elective See also:committee, or panchayat, composed of six dasturs and twelve mobeds, making a See also:council of eighteen. Its functions resemble the Venetian council of ten, and its See also:objects are to preserve unity, See also:peace and See also:justice amongst the followers of Zoroaster. One law of the panchayat is singular in its difference from the custom of any other native community in See also:Asia; nobody who has a wife living shall marry another, except under peculiar circumstances, such as the barrenness of the living wife, or her immoral conduct. Recently a serious difference arose among the Parsees of Bombay on the question of proselytism. A Parsee had married a See also:French See also:lady, who took the necessary steps to adopt the religion of her See also:husband. But it was decided by the High See also:Court, after prolonged See also:argument, that, though the creed of Zoroaster theoretically admitted proselytes, their See also:admission was not consistent with the practice of the Parsees in India. Their religion teaches them benevolence as the first principle, and no people practise it with more liberality. A See also:beggar among the Parsees is unknown, and would be a See also:scandal to the society.

The sagacity, activity and commercial enterprise of the Parsees are proverbial in the East, and their See also:

credit as merchants is almost unlimited. In this connexion may be mentioned the well-known names of See also:Sir Jamsetjee See also:Jeejeebhoy and Sir Dinshaw See also:Petit, both baronets, and also of J. N. See also:Tata, founder of the See also:Institute of Scientific See also:Research at See also:Bangalore. The Parsees have shown themselves most desirous of receiving the benefits of an See also:English See also:education; and their eagerness to embrace the See also:science and literature of the See also:West has been conspicuous in the wide spread of female education, and in the activity shown in studying their sacred writings in See also:critical texts. In See also:recent years many have taken to the professions of law and See also:medicine, and a Parsee See also:barrister was appointed a See also:judge of the High Court at Bombay in i906. Two Parsees have also been the only natives of India elected to the House of See also:Commons. See See also:Menant, See also:Les Parris (See also:Paris, 1898); Dosabhai Framji Karaka, See also:History of the Parsees (See also:London, 1884) ; Seervai and See also:Patel, Gujarat Parsees from the Earliest Times (Bombay, 1898).

End of Article: PARSEES, or PARSIS

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