The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-02-18
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PRIEST

BOmbRy.-In all OF polyglot India
there is no more unique class than the
-Parsis, who worship fire and abandon
their dead to vultures. These people
are the descendants OF Persian refugees
fand constitute the smallest and most
compact race IN existence, Their total
Number is estimated to be less than
600, and fully So, 900 of them reside
Bombay. Although more than a
ShOusand years have elapsed since they
Swere d self-gOv erning people, during
which time they have lived under the
government Of many creeds, including
Hindus. Mohamm edans and Christians
the Parsis have succeeded in preserving
their religion and their personality.
They have mixed freely with their
neighbOrs at all times, readily adopt-
ing whatever would promote their COM
mercial or political welfare, but have
steadfastly refrained from intermar-
riage with other races, or from change
in heir domestic life.
The strength of Parsi character Is
shown by the fact that among all
3 their women there is not a servant nor
a 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
s ground that they were cripples without
- NIL lAE AAlEAl J. GE D6 AOQIlO III every
= profession and .rade, but never in
position Of seTvitude. Among them
there are no day labOrers, scavengeTs,
: BARRIERS, laundrymen or grOoms. Mel
the 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 tilIers of the soil. A
Hindu or Mohammedan family of eight
= or ten persons VIII be content to live
(in a single room, but even the poorest
Parsi would not allow himself to be
crowded in this way. AS a result Of
pure blood and careful living, their
children are mUch heavier and harder
than those Of any other race. suffering
least of all from the deadly conditions
of the swarming life Of Bombay.
Foremost Race of Asia.
The Parsis, although few in num-
= Der, are proud people. They claim
zsthey are he progeny Of a mighty race
that ruled Persia centuries before the
time of Christ. They say that the
spl9ndor and opulence Of the reign Of
their ancestors was unequaled by any
z other nation OF ancient times; the chas-
tity of their women and the valor Of
: their men making them easily the fore
most race of Asia. This glorious era
was brought 10 an end by an invasion
of Mussulmans, the kingdom being
shattered by the plundering of Arab
bands, so numerous that successful re-
sistance 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
oDeyance to the commands of Allah
the dominion Of Islam was to be ex-
tended over all 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
or continue to fight. Although the ruler
of the Persians was not I'm a position
to continue the struggle, he scorned the
proposition and planned what he con-
sidered a gross insult to his enemies.
He caused bag OF earth to be brought,
and, giving this TO the Arab delegation.
told them II was all the tribute they
could expect from him. The Arab
spokesman neatly turned this affront
by carrying the sack OF dirt 10 his gen
eral, and throwing it down before him.
exclaimed: 1.-The soil Of Persia is ours, -
and they straightway took it.
The Symbol of Submission.
The Persians fed in all directions
and suffered untold hardships by land
s~and sea. For several centuries little
was heard of the scattered remnants OF
this once powerful race, and no one
knows just how the last descendants OF
( Ii happened to locate In Bombay. It S
known that one of their number visited
Delhi when 1t was Akbar's capital to