DOSABHOY FRAIIJEE'S PARSERS.*
IN advancing the ignorance of the public as one reason for the publication of his bock, our Parsee author falls into the common error of confounding what the public does not know, with what it does not care to learn. That the majority know little or no- thing of the Parsees may be true, and the same may be safely affirmed of a good many other branches of knowledge. But this want of information arises from lack of disposition rather than of means. And the present work, which deals but little with his- tory or antiquities, is valuable only as an account of the modern ideas and practices of the sect. An impression equally good of the older persecutions which the followers of Zoroaster suffered from the Mahometans might be gathered from Moore's "Fire-Wor- shippers " in Lac; Rookh ; to say nothing of more elaborate works. Of the wanderings and sufferings of the people from the period between the Conquest of Persia by the Mahometans and their emergence as Parsees with the first establishment of ihe English power at Bombay, nearly two centuries ago, very little seems known, even to themselves, and consequently our author can tell but little. Hardly a visitor to Bombay but has had his say about their descendants, our present friends ; and as regards their mode of sepulture, with greater plainness and particularity than Dosab- boy Framjee, who passes lightly over the repulsive horrors of their burial place. Their peaceful pursuits and prosperity are every body's theme. Of their general popularity there may be some doubt. They are in good case ; and persons whose habits or mis- fortunes keep them spare, have seldom much liking for "sleek headed men. Great wealth belonging to an old established " order " may be borne with. A patrician class reflects a sort of lustre upon their humbler countrymen, as according to Paley the effulgence of the Lord Chancellor beams upon the attorney's clerk. But a whole race of rich people are an abomination to the poor, especially when the beggarless and pauperless tribe are aliens, and upstarts as regards wealth : for the mass always associate the sud- den acquisition of immense wealth with roguery and hardness, adopting the satirist's classification—" thieves, supercargoes, sharpers, and directors."
The Parsees, like the Quakers, to whom they have some other resemblances, are philanthropists, and munificent in their chari- ties; but somehow the " people " do not like subscription-list gifts : they prefer the open hand to the " regulation " system. Loyal the Parsees claim to be, and loyal beyond all question they doubt- less are. A respectable mercantile interest is averse to revolts and revolutions as interrupting trade and exciting confusion. With the Parsees there is an additional element of loyalty. Remove the British government, and they are powerless aliens amid powerful and hostile creeds. It seems that after every allowance, and including the few of the sect lingering in Persia and else- where, the genuine Parsees who adhere to the fire-worship of their forefathers do not exceed 150,000 souls. Set up a native raj, and all the prosperity and triumphant mercantile competition even with free-born Britons described in the following extract would be quickly swept away. Differences about caste and creeds would be suspended for the time, and Moslem and Hindoo combine with edifying uniformity to squeeze such prosperous gentlemen wherever they could find them.
"To the British power in India the Parsecs are chiefly indebted for their present position. Under its authority their commercial spirit revived, and they began for the first time to reap the fruit of their own industry. The native governments of India had invariably acted as a check to industry and enterprise—no man could enjoy the fruits of his own labour, as the people were constantly subjected to the caprice of th-J ruler, and the tyranny and oppression of his innumerable hosts of subordinate officers. * * • The accession of British power in India was therefore a godsend to the Parsees; it enabled them to enter upon higher and nobler pursuits, and at once removed those restraints which the tyrannical rule of native princes had imposed upon them. Dadyaett, Pestoujee, and llomnsjee Wadia, the earliest Parsecs of wealth and influence, had by their individual enterprise, raised themselves from obscurity to a distinguished position.
."Almost all the Parsee Shets now living, have been the creators of their own fortunes. Sir Jamsatjee Jeejeebhoy, whose name is known in almost every part of the world, as the first merchant prince in India, was the son of poor parents. Shet Pramjee Nusserwanjee, Shet CowasjeeJehangir, Shet Wriaekjee Nusserwanjee, and a number of other Parsee gentlemen, reputed for their wealth, have also been the architects of their own fortunes. And how have all these attained their present position ? By their commercial enterprise and remarkable industry. Wherever wealth is to be acquired or wherever the English standards have been carried, the Parsees have Mewed with the fearless energy of men Who required but the simple as • The Parsees: their History, Manners, Customs, and Religion. By Dosabboy Pramjee. Published by Smith and Elder. We may be for- surance that the protection of English law and English justice would be thrown around them. The Parsee tradesman followed the British „y• Cabal, and is now to be found in every city of India, foremost in eVeryt8 enterprise, and ready to take advantage of every opening. given the boast, but we can safely say, that in the short space of a century" we have placed ourselves in competition with the merchant princes of tU English Babylon, and no history of the commerce of the East would be com- plete without a prominent place being given to the mercantile houses esta- blished by the Parsecs in India and China. Even London, the great com- mercial metropolis of the world, possesses a Parsee mercantile house. Mose wealthy and spirited Camas, who can justly boast of PaaSeSain first-rate mercantile houses in India and China, opened a similar houseg in London about three years ago, and Messrs. Coma and Co. are daily seen in Gresham House carrying on extensive commercial intercourse. It is the first Parsee house established in London, and its projectors are consequently entitled to no little praise for their enterprising spirit."
Bombay is, the head.-quarters of the Parsecs. Indeed, no less than 110,544.souls are found there, out of the total 150,000 of which the sect consists. The census classification is curious; though only of average exactness, females and minors being
ranked as belonging to the profession of the head of ar the family From this list it appears that some sixty per cent, or in exact figures 61.298, belong to the highly respectable class of "mer- chants, bankers, or brokers." There are 1535 moneychangers
- assayers, &e. ; 11,028 writers and accountants ; priests 5656—te keep up by numbers what we fancy is a shaken faith ? school- masters 2056 ; pensioners 1274 ; medical men 577 ;_ and, (which We are surprised to see,) 5227 living by the wine and spirit trade. There is neither a beggar or a pauper, but there are 127 "va- grants," doubtless "extravagant, and wheeling strangers, of here and everywhere." But with these and other drawbacks, what a census ! nearly ninety thousand of genteel vocations out of one hundred and ten thousand ; for if the wine and spirit busi- ness be objected to, let it be borne in mind that when Scotch he- raldic glory was at its height, and the cadet even of a laird's family could not touch trade, an exception was made in favour of the wine-merchant, as a gentleman's pursuit. The soldier is ab- sent from the list ; but that does not arise from a peace-at-any- price spirit, though price has something to do with the omission. The pay of the humblest Parsee is something like double that of a native hero.
"-We must look for the real reason of the Parsecs not becoming soldiers, in the fact that very little or no inducement is offered to them to enlist in the army. The native (Hindoo or Mahomedan) soldiers are paid seven rupees, or fourteen shillings a month, inclusive of rations, while a Parsee, in the lowest employment that he can enter upon, namely, that of a cook or domestic servant, earns nearly double the sum which is paid to the Sepoy. During the late mutinies, when Bombay was denuded of European troops, many Parsees were willing to enlist in the army if the pay of European soldiers was accorded to them."
The Parsee must be born upon the ground-floor. As soon as signs of approaching accouchement appear the materfamilias is removed to a room in that position. When born the baby must have its nativity cast by a Parsee or Brahmin priest. The hero- scopic professor is an imposter, and the lords of creation know it; but it is expedient to yield to the weaker vessel. "The men generally laugh at the absurdity of this stuff [the predictions]; but the condition of the Parsee females is not yet sufficiently ad- vanced to make them conscious of its folly." There is, however, another stage in Parsee life -when the horoscope comes into play. Except among a few of the more advanced, who are familiar with European manners, children are betrothed in early life or even in- fancy, and the match is consequently arranged by the parents.
" Some of the priests, who have extensive acquaintance with influential families, follow the profession of match-makers. Baying made due iu- quiries about the rank and position of the families possessing daughters to dispose of, they go amongst the families with sons who are candidates for the estate of matrimony, and endeavour to mate the two. The parents or guardians of the boy institute inquiries whether the parents of the girl pointed out- to them are respectable persons. On being satisfied that they are so, the match-maker's recommendation is favourably received, and di- rect negotiation is opened with the parents of the girl by requesting them to furnish for a day or two the horoscope or birth-paper of the maiden, that the astrologer may be consulted as to the eligibility or otherwise of the match.
" The horoscope of the boy, as well as that of the girl, is then handed over to the professor of astrology, in order that he may, examine whether the ' stars ' of the proposed pair ore favourable to the union, and whether it is likely to prosper. Oil the answer of this sage much depends. If he does not approve of the match, but augurs that ill will arise from it, nego- tiations are at once broken off; but if he shows no mil+ apprehension, and prognosticates happiness for the pair, the proposal has advanced one import- ant stage towards its accomplishment. The stars once declared favourable to the union, the parents of the boy and girl cause further inquiries to be made into each other's means, respectability, position, and connexions in the community. The parents of the girl inquire particularly as to the amia- bility or Otherwise of the Mother of the future son-in-law, as, in a Parsee family; the happiness of the wedded girl depends greatly upon the behaviour of the mother-in-law towanls her, the husband, being, like herself, aminor. ." Wham the heads of both. fa4lies are satisfied as to the fitness of the match, the betrothal of the young people takes place, a propitious day for the celebration of which is named by the astrologer. There is no tedious ceremony attending the betrothal. The parents of the boy send a present of a dress for the girl, and those-of the girl one-for the boy. This exchange of presents makes the marriage-contract 'pucka' complete, and it cannot now
be dissolved.".. •
Polygamy is prohibited to the Parsee, but not bigamy under certain circumstances. As the sect rose in wealth and considera- tion, and .cone more under European influence, the law or custom was regulated- by stricter rules. . Still it seems that permission to marry a. second wife, like a Papal dispensation, could be had by paying for. "These rules were passed in March, 1818, and in the June following, one Jemshedjee infringed their conditions by marrying a second wife while his first one wmi living,' and the resolution and justice with which the ;rancho,- yet of thok days punished the offender deserved much praise. 110110 acnishedjee was a wealthy person, and connected by relationship with a member of the pune.haytt, he was not let dressily.. He and his father were immediately excommunicated, and only after much solicitation were they readmitted into the comtnunity, and then only on the payment of the proper fine, and undergoing the prescribed ceremonies of purification. The of- fender was also compelled to give 2000 rupees towards the maintenance of his first wife, and to deliver to her all her jewels and ornaments. The se- verity with which Jemshedjee was punished, deterred others for some time .following his example."
As the punchayet—a sort of ruling committee of the Parsecs, both in secular and spiritual affairs lost its superstitious hold on the community, its power gradually declined. At present it has fallen into contempt—in part through its own self-seeking, and men do as they please.
For the last fifteen or twenty years, the body known among the Parsees as the punchayet, has not possessed the slightest influence over the people. It has occasionally exhibited some signs of vitality, but never in the right direction. Its orders, if it ever dare issue any are unheeded or disobeyed. Excommunication from caste, a sentence which the Parsecs of old so greatly dreaded, is not only unheeded, but ridiculed, as the party exeommunicated is sure to possess the sympathy and interoourse of his friends in the teeth of the order of the punehayet." Our remarks have been confined to the social, and domestic characteristics of the followers of Zoroaster. Those who with for information respecting their "history, manners, customs, and religion," may consult the volume. The ancient part of these subjects is treated rather jejunely ; the modern is more full and possesses a freshness in being exhibited from the inner or native side. Indeed, the great interest of the book arises from its being the work of a native, who writes English with ease, accuracy, and even spirit ; and from the tendency to change which it sug- gests as working in the Parsee mind. That change appears to be towards purif Deism; for the sect disavows the worship of fire, and mere ceremonial observances are losing ground.
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