The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-02-25
WONDERFUL PARSEE TOWER OF SILENCE
Remarkable Custom OF
a Most Remarkable
People.

BOMBAY-In all of polyglot India
there IS no more unique class than
The Parsfs. who worship fire and aban-
don their dead to vultures. These peo-
nIa are the descendants of Persian re-
fugees. and constitute the smallest and
most compact race in existence. Their
total number is estimated to be less
than 100000 and fully $4,000 of them
reside in Bombay. Although more
than a thousand years have elapsed
since they were a self-governing peo-
ple during which time they have lived
under the government of many creeds,
including Hindus, Mohammedans and
christians, the Parsis have succeeded
in preserving their religion and their
personality They have mixed freely
with their neighbors at all times, readi-
~ adopting whatever would promote
their commercial or political welfare,
but have steadfastly refrained from m
termarriage with other races, or from
change in their domestic life.
The strength of Parsi character Is
shown by the fact that among all their
women there is not a servant nor
prostitute. Of 10000 beggars enumer-
ated by the census in Bombay only SIX
were Parsis-five men and one woman.
Apology was made for these on the
ground that they were cripples without
kin. The men may be found in every
profession and trade, but never IN a
position of servitude. Among them
there are no day laborers, ScaVengers,
BARRIERS, laundrymen or grooms. Nelth-
er are they agriculturists or soldiers.
Their instincts are purely commercial,
the explanation being that they cannot
maintain themselves upon the wages
paid to menials or tillers of the soil
A Hindu or Mohammedan family of
eight or ten persons will be content
to live in a single room. but even the
poorest Parsi would not allow him
self to be crowded in this way. AS
result of pure blood and careful liv
ing their children are much heav-
Ter and harder than those of any
other race. suffering least Of all from
the deadly conditions of the swarminS
life of Bombay.
The Parsis, although few in number,
are proud people. They claim they
are the progeny of a mighty race that
ruled Persia centuries before the time
of Christ. They say that the splendor
and opulence of the reign of their an
cestors was unequaled by any other |
nation of ancient times; the chastity |
of their women and the valor of their |
--ilx- Ia
race of Asia This glorious era was
brought to an end by an invasion of
Mussulmans, the kingdom being shat
tered by the plundering of Arab bands,
so numerous that successful resistance
was impossible.
The old Parsi records tell of one odd
incident in this struggle. A deputation
from the victorious Arabs waited upon
the Persian king and told him that
in obedience to the commands of Allah
the dominion of Islam was to be ex-
tended over ali nations; that the Per-
slams must adopt the Mohammedan
faith and become religious brothers OF
their conquerors; the only alternative
TO this demand being to pay tribute
Dr. continue to fight. Although the
ruler of the Persians was not in posi-
ton to continue the struggle, he scorn-
I'd the proposition and planned what ;
he considered gross insult to his enc
mics. He caused a bag of earth to
be brought and giving this to the Arab :
told them it was all the trfb- .
lite they could expect from him. The >
Arab spokesman neatly turned this af-
ront by carrying the sack of dirt to
ais general, and throwing it down be-
ore him exclaimed: 1.-The soil of Per-
;ia is ours'-and they straightway .
ook it. =
THE SYMBOL OF SUBMISSION. n
The Persians fled in all directions I
nd suffered untold hardship by land t
nd sea. For several centuries little f
vas heard of the scattered remnants c
f this once powerful race, and no one n
nows just how the last descendants 2
it happened to locate in Bombay. a