Revival of ancestral links between Iranians and Kurds and Parsis picking up pace around the world
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@aryobarzan jaan, we thought that Sinjaar was the spark that would light up your young population.
The fire smouldering under the rakhyu (pure silver ash).
But it did not happen.
Instead we see with great concern you guys getting cornered and embroiled in small fights.
Learn from our past.
Or repeat it.
Cheers, Doc
OldenWisdom...قول بزرگ
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Shah was an ally and in those days perhaps, the best! And "yes" he would've gone for Balochistan, had things deteriorated into disintegration. Baloch problem is partly created by Pakistan itself by merging, former princely states and purchased Gwadar, in the province. Balochistan is ethnically and linguistically diverse, on top of being the most thinly populated one... it would have been better to dissect it in manageable parts.
All politics being local... take it and give it to the people and they care not what you eat in your home... right now tribes whose total territory doesn't exceed more than a district, hold mandate for a combined Baloch state of not only different ethnicities but national boundaries of three states. Anyways, make governance easy and hold leaders accountable in their local settings.
About Pakistan's aspirations, states must have a direction, common cause and be conforming/predatory/proliferating(think shah's threat). A winning idea is an expanding idea... won not necessarily at the edge of a sword(leaves looser guessing for centuries to come and keeps frat groups with grudge of centuries with twist, a switch). Pakistan has too much at hand, and first among many is consolidation! Consolidation on what is there and then etch ahead. Second is integration, hard borders make it impossible, keeps you an outlier and most importantly ceases projection of soft power. To the west of Pakistan, states exist in a perpetual power vacuum seeking stability on the shoulders of have beens.
Lastly, Iran faces challenge of the century. One created by it's own leadership, that is pseudo Islamic/ethnic, based on former glories. In doing so they have picked a fight with everyone, too clever for their own good... A storm is gathering pace and it seems all are standing against it or idle witnesses. Though, Pakistan is not a party against Iran, due in part because of China and partly because any conflict will invariably be destabilizing.
In light of all this, if it all goes up for grabs, then "yes" Pakistan should go for Sistan!
hussain0216
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It's like the Hindus saying
"Oooooo Pakistanis remember when we all used to worship monkeys and idols and have the caste system, why don't you dump your faith and culture and go back thousands of years and start worshipping monkeys and idols again
"Iran is under attack and these clowns want them to worship fire or something with the U.S and it allies alongside treacherous western Iranians waiting to attack
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I say Sistan because of its highly strategic location on the Hormuz. And no attacking or invading. ONLY and IF EVER Iran disintegrates. I know what the follies of creating a permanent enemy to the west might have.
Pakistan has pretty much shot itself in its own foot in Balochistan. Balochistan used to be four or five princely states. Then some wise guy decided to join all of them together into one province in the 1950s.
I believe inviting in Iranian refugees of the educated kind in 1979 and post 1979 would have been a good idea at integrating the two countries and giving us leverage over Iran. One of my more radical ideas is that Pakistan should also have supported an independent Hazara state to the north of Balochistan.
Khomeini Iran is a sinking ship. An incredibly isolated pariah state that might just disintegrate completely after oil becomes irrelevant.
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MASSACRE AT VARIAV (JUNG VARIAV)
The movie Padmaavat depicts the ancient practice of `Jauhar’, where Rajput women commit mass self-immolation by jumping into the fire to avoid being captured and humiliated by invading armies. But not many know that around 900 years ago, Parsi women sacrificed their lives in a tiny village called Variav near Surat in Gujarat by jumping in the river Tapi.
The exact date is not recorded in history, but oral tradition says the incident happened towards the end of the 11th Century when Parsis, who had arrived from Iran to escape persecution, had settled in villages in Gujarat. The local Raja had levied a crushing tax and demanded a heavy tribute from the prosperous Parsi settlement in Variav. When they protested, the Raja sent his soldiers but were beaten back and made to retreat. The Raja did not give up and dispatched more troops after sometime. Unfortunately on that day, all the Parsi men had left the village for a feast, leaving the women behind. Instead of fleeing, the brave women put on the armour of their men, tied their hair, covered their faces and rode on horses to fight the army. Such was the ferocity, so the story goes that the Raja’s army was on the verge of defeat. But a fatal blow on the helmet, revealed a woman’s face. Shocked that they were being beaten by women, the soldiers returned with zeal and fought them. By now weary and tired, the women decided they would never surrender and rushed to the Tapi river and drowned. Subsequently, the army destroyed the entire Parsi settlement in Variav. The battle is popularly known as Jung Variav in Parsi history. The brave martyrs are remembered till today with special prayers and ceremonies held every year in the Zoroastrian month of Farvardin, day Ashishwang, which falls sometime in September.
One of the most moving stories related to a Commemorative Gahambar, I have come to learn from my mother, Homai Wandrewala: That of the vaal-no-Gahambar, or the Variav behedin-nu-parabh. This is connected with the historic and heroic Jung-e-Variav,or the Battle of Variav, fought sometime during the late 11th Century, or early 12th century AD. The small village of Variav, near Surat, on the banks of the river Tapti, (now part of Greater Surat), had a largely Parsi Population. A Rajput Price who had suzerainty over Variav, the Raja of Ratanpur, was enraged with the Parsees of Variav, because they defied him, and refused to pay the unjust, excessive tribute / revenue (mehesul), which he would forcibly collect. In order to enforce his unjust demand, he would send mercenaries, (called garasias’), to claim the mehesul. Generally, these garasias were repulsed by the brave Parsi men of Variav. One day, the menfolk had gone off to a far-off village, for a vaal and toddy party, leaving behind the women and the elderly. It was on that fateful day that the garasias decided to pay another visit to Variav. The women, pre-warned of the impending attack from the clouds of dust across the river raised by the horses’ hoofs, decided to try and repulse the garasias themselves in the absence of the menfolk. Led by a brave lady named Navaz, the women donned their men’s riding attire, put on visors on their faces, and got astride horses with whatever arms they could lay their hands on. Indeed, they fought so bravely, that the garasias were repulsed and started riding back towards the bridge fording the river, when one of them happened to turn around and noticed the earring on the ear of a woman, whose visor had shifted askew during the fight. Realizing that they were being beaten by women, the garasias returned with renewed frenzy. The women, apprehending molestation by the garasias if caught alive, en masse jumped into the river and drowned. The garasias then forcibly collected the mehesul from the elderly folk of Variav, who narrated what had happened to the young men when they returned. It appears that on that day every year thereafter, the men of Variav, to commemorate the bravery of their women, held what they called the vaal-no-gahambar, or the Jung-e-Variav Gahambar, at which only vaal was served. Apparently, this was on roz Ashishvang, mah Ferverdeen. There is some uncertainty as to the historical authenticity of this story. Apparently however, there is mention of the Jung-e-Variav in one of the Disa Pothis (Family Death Register) unearthed by Dr. Sir Jivanji Mody, during his researches. It appears that most families then kept a Disa Pothi’ which, apart from giving details and genealogies of individual families, also was a repository of much historical information.
@-=virus=- @Bagheera @Chhatrapati @dharmi @Shapur Zol Aktaf @Dariush the Great @aryobarzan @Bahram Esfandiari
It was not all a bed of roses with the Hindus either.
This is the dish that is cooked in our homes to commemorate this day and this battle and those brave sisters of ours.
Its called Vaal or Titori.
Usually accompanied by doodh paak (sweet rice kheer) and small puris (actually more like small round deep fried soft crusty biscuits).
Cheers, Doc
The movie Padmaavat depicts the ancient practice of `Jauhar’, where Rajput women commit mass self-immolation by jumping into the fire to avoid being captured and humiliated by invading armies. But not many know that around 900 years ago, Parsi women sacrificed their lives in a tiny village called Variav near Surat in Gujarat by jumping in the river Tapi.
The exact date is not recorded in history, but oral tradition says the incident happened towards the end of the 11th Century when Parsis, who had arrived from Iran to escape persecution, had settled in villages in Gujarat. The local Raja had levied a crushing tax and demanded a heavy tribute from the prosperous Parsi settlement in Variav. When they protested, the Raja sent his soldiers but were beaten back and made to retreat. The Raja did not give up and dispatched more troops after sometime. Unfortunately on that day, all the Parsi men had left the village for a feast, leaving the women behind. Instead of fleeing, the brave women put on the armour of their men, tied their hair, covered their faces and rode on horses to fight the army. Such was the ferocity, so the story goes that the Raja’s army was on the verge of defeat. But a fatal blow on the helmet, revealed a woman’s face. Shocked that they were being beaten by women, the soldiers returned with zeal and fought them. By now weary and tired, the women decided they would never surrender and rushed to the Tapi river and drowned. Subsequently, the army destroyed the entire Parsi settlement in Variav. The battle is popularly known as Jung Variav in Parsi history. The brave martyrs are remembered till today with special prayers and ceremonies held every year in the Zoroastrian month of Farvardin, day Ashishwang, which falls sometime in September.
One of the most moving stories related to a Commemorative Gahambar, I have come to learn from my mother, Homai Wandrewala: That of the vaal-no-Gahambar, or the Variav behedin-nu-parabh. This is connected with the historic and heroic Jung-e-Variav,or the Battle of Variav, fought sometime during the late 11th Century, or early 12th century AD. The small village of Variav, near Surat, on the banks of the river Tapti, (now part of Greater Surat), had a largely Parsi Population. A Rajput Price who had suzerainty over Variav, the Raja of Ratanpur, was enraged with the Parsees of Variav, because they defied him, and refused to pay the unjust, excessive tribute / revenue (mehesul), which he would forcibly collect. In order to enforce his unjust demand, he would send mercenaries, (called garasias’), to claim the mehesul. Generally, these garasias were repulsed by the brave Parsi men of Variav. One day, the menfolk had gone off to a far-off village, for a vaal and toddy party, leaving behind the women and the elderly. It was on that fateful day that the garasias decided to pay another visit to Variav. The women, pre-warned of the impending attack from the clouds of dust across the river raised by the horses’ hoofs, decided to try and repulse the garasias themselves in the absence of the menfolk. Led by a brave lady named Navaz, the women donned their men’s riding attire, put on visors on their faces, and got astride horses with whatever arms they could lay their hands on. Indeed, they fought so bravely, that the garasias were repulsed and started riding back towards the bridge fording the river, when one of them happened to turn around and noticed the earring on the ear of a woman, whose visor had shifted askew during the fight. Realizing that they were being beaten by women, the garasias returned with renewed frenzy. The women, apprehending molestation by the garasias if caught alive, en masse jumped into the river and drowned. The garasias then forcibly collected the mehesul from the elderly folk of Variav, who narrated what had happened to the young men when they returned. It appears that on that day every year thereafter, the men of Variav, to commemorate the bravery of their women, held what they called the vaal-no-gahambar, or the Jung-e-Variav Gahambar, at which only vaal was served. Apparently, this was on roz Ashishvang, mah Ferverdeen. There is some uncertainty as to the historical authenticity of this story. Apparently however, there is mention of the Jung-e-Variav in one of the Disa Pothis (Family Death Register) unearthed by Dr. Sir Jivanji Mody, during his researches. It appears that most families then kept a Disa Pothi’ which, apart from giving details and genealogies of individual families, also was a repository of much historical information.
@-=virus=- @Bagheera @Chhatrapati @dharmi @Shapur Zol Aktaf @Dariush the Great @aryobarzan @Bahram Esfandiari
It was not all a bed of roses with the Hindus either.
This is the dish that is cooked in our homes to commemorate this day and this battle and those brave sisters of ours.
Its called Vaal or Titori.
Usually accompanied by doodh paak (sweet rice kheer) and small puris (actually more like small round deep fried soft crusty biscuits).
Cheers, Doc
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Last Stands & Flight from Iran
After the Arab conquest of Iran in the mid 7th century CE, Zoroastrians started to flee their ancestral homeland. They were either pursued by the Arabs and their allies or they felt compelled to leave in the face of intolerable conditions. The Qissa-e Sanjan narrates one such flight. There are other accounts.
One of these is is in an Arabic book Futuh-ul-Buldan by Ahmad Ibn Yahya Ibn Jabir Al Biladuri, a ninth century CE writer who died c 892. In his book the author tell us about Zoroastrians who took a stand against the advancing Arabs at Hormuz on the southern Iranian coast. The Zoroastrians were over-powered and fled by sea to Makran, the coast of Baluchistan to the east of Hormuz. The text reads:
"He (Mujasa bin Masood) conquered Jeraft (Jiroft, Kerman) and having proceeded to Kerman (city), subjugated the city and made for Kafs (Hormozgan) where a number of Persians, who had emigrated, opposed him by at Hormuz (the port of Kerman). So he fought with and gained victory over them and many people of Kerman fled away by sea. Some of them joined the Persians at Makran and some went to Sagistan (Sistan)." (cf. Translation from the Arabic by Rustam Meheraban Aga as quoted in an article The Kissah-e-Sanjan by Dr. Jivanji Modi in the Journal of the Iranian Association Vol. VII, No. 3. June 1918.)
Sistan, the legendary home of Sam, Zal and Rustam, was where a scion of the Sassanian royal family Kaikhusrau together with a number of family members and other Zoroastrians fled immediately after the Arab invasion.
The fleeing Zoroastrians made their last stands against the Arabs in several places including Sistan and Hormuz. There they either died in the struggle, were taken prisoner, submitted, or continued fleeing east and into India.
We note that the Zoroastrians from Hormuz "joined the Persians at Makran". Makran is Baluchistan's coastal region and today span south-eastern Iran and southern Pakistan. It appears from this account that Makran already had a 'Persian' (Zoroastrian) community. If the Zoroastrians (Persians) were fleeing from the advancing Arabs, they would have continued fleeing after the Arabs conquered Makran. The logical direction would have been to continue eastward either by land or sea. The coastal regions to the east of Makran are lower Sind and Gujarat.
Introduction to the Qissa-e Sanjan
The Qissa-e Sanjan (also spelt Qissa-i Sanjan, Kisse-i Sanjan, and Kisseh-i Sanjan), is a book written in c.1599 CE (969 YZ) by a Parsi priest Bahman Kaikobad, whose full name, according to Dastur Firoze Kotwal, was Bahman Kaikobad Hamjiar Sanjana. When he wrote the Qissa, Bahman Kaikobad was a (Sanjana) priest in the Gujarati town of Navsari.
The Qissa chronicles the early history of the Parsees (Parsis) - the initial group of Zoroastrians who fled from Iran to India following the Arab conquest of Iran and the overthrow of the last Zoroastrian-Sassanian king of Iran, Yazdegird III in 636 CE.
Qissa is an Arabic word meaning 'story', perhaps 'legend'. The name Qissa-e Sanjan means the 'Story (or Legend) of Sanjan'. Sanjan is a small town in the Indian state of Gujarat close to its border with the state of Maharashtra (also see Sanjan Description below). The Qissa states that Parsi (Indian Zoroastrian) history in India as a community, starts with the landing by the original refugees from Iran at Sanjan.
The original Qissa manuscript has been lost. However, copies of the original manuscript survive. One such copy was scribed by Dastur Rustamji Tehmulji Mirza. From the copies of the Qissa we note that it was written as Persian poetry in a style reminiscent of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. It is apparent from the text that the writer was not fluent in Persian nor did he have access to historical accounts. Rather, he had he rely on anecdotal history of which large chunks had been forgotten in transmission from one generation to the next. Given these limitations, the Qissa is still a remarkable achievement and is the only account of its type that we have. While the Qissa cannot be taken literally nor can it be taken as history - even the author calls it a story - it can nevertheless provide us with important clues and information-leads, which when supported by other sources or archaeological evidence, can assist in reconstructing early Parsi history.
The first translation of the work into English was by a Lieutenant in the British Indian army, E. B. Eastwick. His translation was published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay, Branch, in 1842. Other translations were by P. B. Paymaster, Shahpurshah Hormasji Hodivala in Studies in Parsi History (Bombay, 1920, pp. 94-117.), and Lieutenant Colonel M. S. Irani, this writer's great-grand maternal uncle, in his book The Story of Sanjan (Poona 1943).
One copy of the Qissa contains 430 couplets or 439 lines. The first sixty three couplets are a prayer to God and a self-effacing apology for the writer's shortcomings and inadequacies. The couplets that follow the opening prayer, credit at the outset, the information narrated to a learned Dastur Hushang who provided the Qissa's author with 'secrets' regarding the history of the Zoroastrian refuges.
The legendary / historical account starts with the seventy fifth couplet:
"It was in the days of Gushtasp
That holy Zarathushtra showed us the path of religion."
The Three Tragic Cycles
The next verses (adapted by this author from Col. M. S. Irani's text) chronicle the adversities faced by Zoroastrians throughout history, the three stages being presaged in the Avesta:
Qissa couplet lines #80-84.
Three times will the Behdin (Good Religion) be shattered.
Three times will the behdins (Good Religionists) be ruined and made weary.
This will happen at the hands of the sitamgars, the destroyers.
First, came Sikandar (Alexander of Macedonia) who openly burned the books of our religion.
For three hundred years, the Good Religion was in ruins and the faithful were oppressed.
85. After a long period the Ardeshir (Papakan, 224/6-241 CE, first Sassanian king) took the kingdom.
The Good Religion was revived and came to be known throughout the world for its excellence.
He sent Arda Viraf to the Divine Court to gain knowledge of the spiritual world.
Then the Evil Spirit wrought destruction again on the Good Religion,
And reports of evil came from all directions.
90. After a time (pas az moddat), Shahpur* ascended (to the throne) and caused the Good Religion to shine again.
Then did Adarbad Meher-Safand (Mahraspandan)** girth his loins in service of the Good Religion.
(So righteous was he that he survived) molten metal of seven elements poured over his body.
Behdins had all doubts resolved and the creed shone with brilliance.
From king Shahpur to Yazdegird splendour and dignity came to the Good Religion.
95. Then the Time-assigned days of the Zarthosht's Good Religion came to an end.
With this millennium's passing, nary a vestige of the Good Religion remained.
The sovereignty of Yazdegird was seized away by one of alien faith,
Alas! From that moment on, Iran lay shattered - the kingdom, the Good Religion desolated
From that moment on, all who loved the Zand and wrote Pazand were scattered.
[Note: * We are uncertain about which king Shapur the Qissa's author, Bahman Kaikobad is referring to here:
Shapur I (241-272 CE), Ardeshir Papakan, the first Sassanian king's son,
Shapur II (310-379 CE), or
Shahpur III (383-388 CE).
** It is commonly assumed that Adarbad Meher-Safand is Adarbad Mahraspandan, a Zoroastrian high priest and prime minister of Shapur II. Adarbad Mahraspandan is said to have 'purified' the Avesta and fixed the number of nasks at twenty one, the number of words in the Ahunavar prayer. However, Hodivala figures the reference in the Qissa is to Shapur III. We are not aware of any great evil of the magnitude of the invasions of Alexander and the Arabs, between the start of Sassanian rule and say the rule of Shapur II. Adarbad Meher-Safand surviving the test of molten metal is fanciful.
We can see that bits and pieces of history had trickled down to the ears of the author of the Qissa, and that he is attempting the combine the three millennium concept (cf. 'Time-assigned days') from the time of Zarathushtra to the coming of a final Saoshyant or saviour with his information. In addition to other problems reconciling the event chronicled in the Qissa with Zoroastrian history or tradition elsewhere, Hodivala notes that Alexander of Macedonia "defeated Darius at Arbela in 331 BCE and Ardeshir Papak's accession cannot be placed earlier than 226 CE There was therefore an interval of 557 years and not 300 between Alexander and the Sassanian. (See Alberun's remarks on this confusion in the Persian Chronology in the Athar-al-Bakya, tr. Sachau. 116-121. West, S.B.E. XLVII. Introduction, xxxii.)"
This author notes that Macedonian rule of Iran-Shahr started to break up about 100 years after Alexander's invasion and lingered on in some western regions for about another 100 years (also see Timelines). It was the Parthians (Parthav / Pahlav, the people of northern Khorasan) and not the Sassanians who were responsible for expelling the Macedonians from Iran-Shahr. It is unfortunate that even Ferdowsi gives the Parthians short shrift, for it was the Parthians who were the real liberators of Iran-Shahr and revivers of the Zoroastrian religion. But we must forgive the Qissa's author for this oversight as we have the benefit of historical records while he had to rely on sparse information and legend.]
Beginnings of the Parsi Epoch
Journey from Iran
Kuhistan
Qissa couplet:
Line 100: Behdins and dasturs, one and all, did hide themselves and the practice of their faith.
Abandoned, did they, their homes, their gardens, their mansions, their halls - all for the sake of their faith.
There in Kuhistan* they made their abode for a hundred years, their condition reduced to a desperate state.
Of them, for the sake of preserving them and their beliefs, a wise and pious man pondered deeply their happenstance,
And afterwards said to the others, "We must leave for there is peril from the alien hordes in remaining here."
[Note: * Kuhistan or kohistan, means land of the mountains. It can mean just that, meaning the Zoroastrian refugees fled to some anonymous mountainous region, or it can refer to a specific region known by that name a thousand years ago. Of the latter, there are five locations within present-day Iran and another four in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. One feature they all share in common is that they were all remote, sparsely populated, not fertile, controlled by independent lords, and generally cut-off from the main population centres.
In Iran, there are six principal kuhistans or kohistans:
1. The mountainous region of south-east Khorasan i.e. Quhistan or Tun-o-Qa'in, Tun being modern Ferdows. In the centre lies Birjand;
2. The mountainous region of Khorasan north of Nishapur and west of Mashhad (controlled by Hephthalites - White Huns?);
3. The mountains in the southwest of Kerman, north of Jiroft;
4. The mountains in the southwest of Yazd;
5. The mountains in the west of Sistan & Baluchistan, south of Zahedan, and
6. The mountains in the northwest of Iran.
Outside of present-day Iran, there are at least five regions given the name Kuhistan or Kohistan:
6. The mountains in NW Afghanistan's Herat Province sometimes called the Paropamisus Range, and northeast of Herat city;
7. The mountains in north-central Afghanistan's Faryab Province north of the Paropamisus and across the Murgab river;
8. The mountainous district of Kapisa Province in Eastern Afghanistan;
9. The Badakhshan region that spans north-eastern Afghanistan and south-eastern & eastern Tajikistan i.e. Kuhistani-Badakshan/Pamir-Badakhshan, and
10. The mountains of north-western Pakistan
There is also a town named Kuhestan in Afghanistan's Herat province just east of its border with Khorasan.
A number of authors state that the kuhistan to which the Zoroastrians fled was in Khorasan**. Or, they in some fashion conclude that the initial migrants to Sanjan (the ones referred to in the passages above) came from Khorasan. While Khorasan is mentioned later in the Qissa (lines 216 & 217) in a completely different context, the Qissa does not mentioned Khorasan in this section, nor does it say that the Zoroastrians who hid in Kuhistan were from Khorasan, nor does it say in the line 216 & 217 that those from Khorasan were from the Kuhistan of Khorasan, nor can we assume that the Kuhistan that is today part of Khorasan was part of Khorasan in those days - Khorasan then meant all of Eastern Iran. The later reference in the Qissa to Khorasan suggests a later group who joined the initial group and who brought tools with them. See the section Tools from Khorasan. The First Mention of Khorasan.
(** Khorasan is also spelt Khorrasan, Khurasan or Khuresan, meaning land of the sun. This might have to do with it being in the east of Iran. However, since it was almost in the middle of the Iranian-Aryan lands, it is more likely that the name is in reference to it being on the solar meridian for these lands.)
It might also be useful for the reader to refer to the section Last Stands & Flight from Iran in our page on conditions in post-Arab Iran as well as our page on Khorasan.
The flight of Zoroastrians before the advancing Arab hordes scattered them to different locations eastwards and as a consequence all the kuhistans might very well have been home to some group of Zoroastrians. Even the royal family of King Yazdegird III, split up in different directions, the king fleeing to Merv i.e. Mouru where he was murdered; his wife and children fled to the mountains (kuhistans) of Yazd where they met their death, and we also know of one scion, Kaikhusrau, who fled with his followers to Sistan which has its own kuhistan. The Sistan kuhistan is sometimes the only kuhistan marked as the Kuhistan on old maps.
In this section we are interested in the identity of the Kuhistan referred to in the Qissa from which the initial party of Zoroastrians went to Hormuz and from there to Sanjan. While the mountains of Khorasan are a possibility, we cannot rule out the mountains of Kerman or Sistan, or for that matter some of the other mountainous regions to which Zoroastrians fled.]
City of Hormuz & Astrology
Qissa couplet
Line 105: With behdins, dasturs and friends, he marched to the city of Hormuz*.
There they spent fifteen years suffering oppression and abuse from the darwand, the dregvant, the followers of the Lie.
The learned dastur there with them was also an accomplished astrologer
After consulting his old astrological charts** (he said),
"Our time here is at an end. It is well we leave this country. Leave this country forthwith we must."
[Note: *Old Hormuz city was thought to be located near the city of Minab in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan. The ruins of the city of Hormuz have been identified some fifty kilometres from the province's present main city and port - Bandar Abbas. New Hormuz city was located on Hormoz Island. Both are at the horn of the Persian Gulf (see our page on Hormozgan).
** This reference to astrology being part of a learned dastur's training is interesting. That consulting the charts was part of important decision-making is even more interesting. The Zoroastrian calendar does have a Zodiac.]
Sailing to Hind (India)
Qissa couplet
Line 110: "If not, we will be caught in a snare, our wisdom will be of no help and all our effort will be naught.
It is for the better that we flee from the evil ones towards Hind (India)."
In fear of their lives and for the sake of their faith, they sped towards Hind.
In haste, a ship* they readied and hoisted its sail
After the women and children had boarded the ship, they set sail for Hind.
[Note: * Hodivala's translation refers to one ('the') ship. The translation in Colonel M. S. Irani's book first mentions 'the ship' in couplet 113 and then 'ships' in couplet 114. Again in couplet 120 we have 'ships' and then in 121 we have 'ship'.
Regarding the reason the migrants chose a sea route and a coastal area for settlement, we wonder if perhaps some of the refugees were traders or knew other Zoroastrian traders who owned ships and who wished a establish a home port away from Iran, but in a place they were familiar with and one that was part of their existing trade routes between the Middle East and China. In this manner, the ship(s) they used for the migration would continue to be used for trading and the settlers would provide a home base for the traders' families. The migration could have started with an initial sailing and once a settlement had been procured the ships would go back, spread the word and others especially, those familiar with trading and extended travelling would follow.
[Also see our page on Aryan Trade.]
Landing at Div (Diu?) & Astrology
Qissa couplet
Line 115: When at last they arrived at the shores of Hind, the weighed anchor at Div*.
There they disembarked and made their homes on the land at their feet.
There, the behdins remained for nineteen years, until the astrologer once again sought their future.
The aged dastur peered into his charts and said, "O enlightened friends,
Again we must depart and find another place which we can call our second home."
[Note: * Div is commonly taken to mean Diu, a coastal town in India (see map above).]
Sailing to Sanjan & Storm at Sea
Qissa couplet line 120. Delighted to hear his words, the party set sail towards Gujarat.
When the ship was at sea, a violent storm came upon them,
All the dasturs of the faith were thrown into consternations, giddy as in a whirlpool.
The rubbed their faces before the divine threshold. Then standing they made supplication thus:
"O Wise Lord, aid us in our work and deliver us from this calamity."
125. "O All powerful Varharan (Bahram), befriend us so that we may triumph over this adversity.
Through your grace, we will fear no tempest and free our hearts from despair.
For you heed the prayers of the helpless and guide the lost to the way.
If we find emerge safe from this whirlpool, if disaster does not destroy us,
If we reach the land of Hind happy and cheerful,
130. "We will kindle an Atash Varharan (Bahram). Deliver us then from these tribulations and give us strength.
We resign ourselves to the will of God, and for us there is no other."
Through the blessings of the Atash Varharan (Bahram), all emerged safe from these troubled waters.
Their entreaties were fulfilled and the Lord had assisted them in their efforts.
Now aided by a prosperous wind and guided by a divine light, no contrary wind came their way.
135. The captain of the ship, with God's name on his lips, could now command the ship's course.
All on board, dastur and behdins alike did their kusti while the ship sailed the seas.
Early Travellers' Accounts
The following accounts are noted in Rustom Burjorji Paymaster's book Early History of Parsees in India
Mandelslo (1616-1644 CE)
Rustom Paymaster quotes German traveller John (Jean) Albert de Mandelslo's Les Voyages du Sieur (1638, pp. 180, 184 & 186) as noting that in Gujarat (Guzuratta) there were a group called Parsees who were "Persians of Fars and Khorasan (Choransan), who fled into those parts to avoid persecution of the Mohametans in the Seventh Age (7 century CE)." Further that "the (Zoroastrian) king perceiving it was impossible for him to oppose it, took shipping with 18,000 men at Ormus, and landed at Indosthan. The King of Cambay... received him to dwell in his country, into which liberty drew several other Persians... ."
[Note: Paymaster also informs us that elsewhere Mandelslo also notes "that Parsees had settled in large numbers in the Konkan at the time of his visit." The Konkan is the coastline of Maharashtra. Maps from the 18th century show Konkan to include the Maratha coast up to Surat. We do know that Parsees had settled Thana and Chaul on the Maratha coast. Chaul is close to Revdanda, some 45 km south of Mumbai / Bombay as the crow flies.
Paymaster goes on to cite Mandelslo as saying that in Bijapur territories (probably referring to Bijapur district in Karnataka State south of Sholapur in Maharashtra State), "craftsman worked for Mussalmans, Hindus and Parsees, who were there in greater numbers than either Dakhnis (people of the Deccan) and Kanarians."]
Ogilby (1600 - 1676 CE)
Rustom Paymaster also cites John Ogilby, a Scottish cartographer, as stating in Atlas V (1670) p. 218-219, that the Parsees "came about AD 640 in a fleet of seven ships, some said as many as 18,000 men, women and children. The people of five ships settled at Sanjan, those from another at Variav near Surat, and those from the seventh at Cambay. In course of time, these settlers forgot their origin, their religion and even their name. At length, the name 'Persians' was made known to them by some men from Persia who instructed them in their religion and taught them to serve God. The physique of the Parsees was about the middle size; their faces pale, and especially the women excelled all other women of the country in beauty."
Henry Lord (1620 CE)
Another traveller cited by Rustom Paymaster is Rev. Henry Lord, a chaplain in the service of the East India Company. In his Discovery of Two Foreign Sects in the East Indies..., Lord notes "These Persians or Parsees... are people descended from the ancient Persians... He (the Persian king) was forced to fly to Karson (Khorasan?)... . Parsees, not enduring to live contrary to the prescript of their own law... determined a voyage to the Indies... . So repairing to Jasques* (Jask, Hormozgan. See note and map below), a place in the Persian Gulf, they obtained a fleet of seven junks to convey them and theirs, as merchantmen bound for the shores of India, in course of trade and merchandise. It happened that in safety they made to the land of St. Johns (Sanjan - and we may be permitted a chuckle here)."
[Note: * Jasques or Jasquez: Present-day Jask in Hormozgan, 200 km southeast of Hormuz Island. Part of the Makran Coast in the east of Hormozgan Province, Iran. Jask is a port on Jask peninsula. In addition there is a place called Jask-e Kohneh 10 km to the north of Jask. Jask-e Kohneh means Ancient Jask. According to Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, William Crooke in A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, Jask was an alternative port to Hormuz such as when Hormuz was occupied by the Portuguese. It is quite possible that some Zoroastrians could have sailed to India from Jask.]
Sir Thomas Herbert (1606-1682 CE)
In an account of a 1626 CE visit to India, Travels into Africa and Asia the Great, British traveller and author Sir Thomas Herbert notes, "...into India these Parsees came (such time as Omar the second Caliph after Mohomet subjected Persia*) in five junks from Jasquez* (Jask, Hormozgan. See note above and map below), sailing to Surras where after treaty with the Rahaes and Bannyans***, they got leave to plant; and living peaceably to exercise their religion."
[Notes: ** Omar: Probably meaning Umar ibn al-Khattab (c. 586/59-644), caliph from 634 to 644 and second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. Umar (Omar) was responsible for defeating the Persian armies in 636 at the battle of Qadisiyyah (now in South-Central Iraq), securing the Persian lands west of the Zagros, and again in 642 in the battle of Nehavand (near Hamadan), securing the Persian lands east of the Zagros.
[*** Bannyans: perhaps meaning Bania, specifically the trading caste (Vaishya) or generally, wealthy business-people. The merchant community of Gujarat, such as Shahs, Gandhis, Ambanis, Sarabhais, Mehtas, Parekhs, Parikhs, Kotharis and Desais, are also known as Banias. It is unclear to whom Rahaes refers - perhaps Brahmins?. It is curious that in this account, the Parsees made an agreement with two groups - an agreement perhaps regarding trade and religion; an agreement that allowed them settle (i.e. plant) in Gujarat.]
C. Dellon (1667 CE)
French physician, Dr. C. Dellon in A Voyage to the East Indies notes "...three of their vessels came to the Indian shore, whereof the first set up themselves near Suratte, the second at Diu, and the third at Gandevi, a town betwixt Suratte and Damaun."
Captain A. Hamilton (1716 CE)
Captain A. Hamilton in A New Account of the East Indies p.161 states, "They (the Parsees) are a remnant of the ancient Persians, who chose to be banished their country than change their religion; for in the seventh century of the Christian era, when Mahometism overran Persia, the Spirit of Persecution came there, and some 4 or 500 families were put on board of shipping, and sent out to sea, without compass or pilot; and they steering their course eastward, (in the southwest monsoons) from Jasques in about 20 days, fell with the coast of India in the night, and the first thing they saw was a fire ashore, which the exiles steered towards, and accidentally steered into the river of Navsari... . When they came ashore, the charitable Indians flocked about them, and there being some among them that could speak Indian languages. related what hard usage they had met with in their own country, and that Providence having directed them to the Indian country, begged leave to settle among them... . The generous Indians granted their request... ."
Analysis of the Accounts
The travellers would have written their accounts based on interviews with Parsees and represent a collective consciousness amongst the community. Allowing for hyperbole, confusion, embellishments and dim memories, we note the following:
The accounts refer to Parsi migrants originally from Pars and Khorasan who arrived in Gujarat via Hormuz and/or Jask, both in the present-day Hormozgan province of Iran. Jask was an alternative international port to Hormuz.
The figure of 18,000 migrants is consistent. Unless each of Ogilby's seven ships were capable of holding more than 2,000 passengers, it is doubtful if these 18,000 migrants arrived on the Gujarat coast in one flotilla. The number could, however, refer to the first migratory wave.
The number of ships or 'junks' that made up the first migration, are listed as between five and seven. An initial flotilla of up to seven ships is entirely plausible.
Diu, Surat, Gandevi, Variav, Cambay (Khambat), Navsari and Sanjan are all mentioned as the initial Parsi-Zoroastrian ports of landing.
Mandelslo notes that once the local king had consented to accommodating the Parsees, the conditions were suitable "into which liberty drew several other Persians." Once permission to migrate had been secured, the ships could have returned to pick up other migrants. Or word could have been transmitted by trading expeditions to other Zoroastrians dispersed along the coast. Other waves or groups of migrants could also have arrived by land. What makes the Sanjan migration different from any other migration to other parts of India is that it received official royal sanction from a sovereign king for a community to settle. This official sanction has many implications for the holding of land and the conducting of commerce. Such a royal sanction would have attracted other disparate Zoroastrian groups that might have settled elsewhere to come join and make community with the migrants to Gujarat.
The migratory wave appears to have included women and children. It has been the custom of some later Zoroastrian immigrants for the men to migrate first, secure a means of income and a home, and then return to collect their families.
Lord mentions that the Zoroastrians travelled as "as merchantmen bound for the shores of India, in course of trade and merchandise" confirming that the first wave of migrants from Hormuz were traders and that this occupation may have, if needed, disguised the true intent of their journey back home.
The various accounts are consistent in that the Zoroastrian refugees negotiated with the natives the terms of their settlement. Captain A. Hamilton adds that a few among the refugees spoke the local language. We seldom question how a group of foreigners can converse competently with the locals and this would hardly have been possible without the aid of someone in the group already familiar with the local people and their language.
As we have noted earlier, the travellers' accounts could only have been acquired from Zoroastrian-Parsees. The general consistency and specific differences add to, rather than detract from, their authenticity, since after a lapse of nearly a thousand years, it would have been impossible for a largely oral tradition to have been perfectly consistent.
Take for instance the difference in the names places where the refugees first landed. The consistency is that they came by sea, landed on the shore of Gujarat and negotiated the terms of their settlement. We take for granted that Parsees speak Gujarati as their mother tongue but do not ask why it is not Marathi, Hindi or another Indian language. And why before settling in Bombay, the Parsees were for the main part residents of Gujarat - and more specifically the coast of Gujarat rather than some inland towns on the trade routes to Central Asia. The preponderance of all of these observations lead us to the conclusion, that while the Qissa-e Sanjan may not meet the tests of unimpeachable history (which it does not claim to be), it does nevertheless generally and fairly represent the history of the Parsi-Zoroastrian's migration to India as a community - it represents the commonwealth of the collective consciousness of the Zoroastrians who fled to India.
For the preservation of this heritage we owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Bahman Kaikobad Hamjiar Sanjana, author of the Qissa-e Sanjan, and all those who persevered and preserved the temporal and spiritual flame. Bahman Kaikobad sought to preserve and honour the memory and sacrifice of the Zoroastrian refugees and in that task this author makes common purpose with him.
This page and this post is dedicated to the sacrifice of the early Zoroastrian migrants to India - to those who perished at sea, in battle, and to those who survived - the nameless children, women and men. For they all made it possible for this writer and his generation to be here on this earth and engage in this sharing. We honour them. We revere them. Aidun bad.
Cheers, Doc
After the Arab conquest of Iran in the mid 7th century CE, Zoroastrians started to flee their ancestral homeland. They were either pursued by the Arabs and their allies or they felt compelled to leave in the face of intolerable conditions. The Qissa-e Sanjan narrates one such flight. There are other accounts.
One of these is is in an Arabic book Futuh-ul-Buldan by Ahmad Ibn Yahya Ibn Jabir Al Biladuri, a ninth century CE writer who died c 892. In his book the author tell us about Zoroastrians who took a stand against the advancing Arabs at Hormuz on the southern Iranian coast. The Zoroastrians were over-powered and fled by sea to Makran, the coast of Baluchistan to the east of Hormuz. The text reads:
"He (Mujasa bin Masood) conquered Jeraft (Jiroft, Kerman) and having proceeded to Kerman (city), subjugated the city and made for Kafs (Hormozgan) where a number of Persians, who had emigrated, opposed him by at Hormuz (the port of Kerman). So he fought with and gained victory over them and many people of Kerman fled away by sea. Some of them joined the Persians at Makran and some went to Sagistan (Sistan)." (cf. Translation from the Arabic by Rustam Meheraban Aga as quoted in an article The Kissah-e-Sanjan by Dr. Jivanji Modi in the Journal of the Iranian Association Vol. VII, No. 3. June 1918.)
Sistan, the legendary home of Sam, Zal and Rustam, was where a scion of the Sassanian royal family Kaikhusrau together with a number of family members and other Zoroastrians fled immediately after the Arab invasion.
The fleeing Zoroastrians made their last stands against the Arabs in several places including Sistan and Hormuz. There they either died in the struggle, were taken prisoner, submitted, or continued fleeing east and into India.
We note that the Zoroastrians from Hormuz "joined the Persians at Makran". Makran is Baluchistan's coastal region and today span south-eastern Iran and southern Pakistan. It appears from this account that Makran already had a 'Persian' (Zoroastrian) community. If the Zoroastrians (Persians) were fleeing from the advancing Arabs, they would have continued fleeing after the Arabs conquered Makran. The logical direction would have been to continue eastward either by land or sea. The coastal regions to the east of Makran are lower Sind and Gujarat.
Introduction to the Qissa-e Sanjan
The Qissa-e Sanjan (also spelt Qissa-i Sanjan, Kisse-i Sanjan, and Kisseh-i Sanjan), is a book written in c.1599 CE (969 YZ) by a Parsi priest Bahman Kaikobad, whose full name, according to Dastur Firoze Kotwal, was Bahman Kaikobad Hamjiar Sanjana. When he wrote the Qissa, Bahman Kaikobad was a (Sanjana) priest in the Gujarati town of Navsari.
The Qissa chronicles the early history of the Parsees (Parsis) - the initial group of Zoroastrians who fled from Iran to India following the Arab conquest of Iran and the overthrow of the last Zoroastrian-Sassanian king of Iran, Yazdegird III in 636 CE.
Qissa is an Arabic word meaning 'story', perhaps 'legend'. The name Qissa-e Sanjan means the 'Story (or Legend) of Sanjan'. Sanjan is a small town in the Indian state of Gujarat close to its border with the state of Maharashtra (also see Sanjan Description below). The Qissa states that Parsi (Indian Zoroastrian) history in India as a community, starts with the landing by the original refugees from Iran at Sanjan.
The original Qissa manuscript has been lost. However, copies of the original manuscript survive. One such copy was scribed by Dastur Rustamji Tehmulji Mirza. From the copies of the Qissa we note that it was written as Persian poetry in a style reminiscent of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. It is apparent from the text that the writer was not fluent in Persian nor did he have access to historical accounts. Rather, he had he rely on anecdotal history of which large chunks had been forgotten in transmission from one generation to the next. Given these limitations, the Qissa is still a remarkable achievement and is the only account of its type that we have. While the Qissa cannot be taken literally nor can it be taken as history - even the author calls it a story - it can nevertheless provide us with important clues and information-leads, which when supported by other sources or archaeological evidence, can assist in reconstructing early Parsi history.
The first translation of the work into English was by a Lieutenant in the British Indian army, E. B. Eastwick. His translation was published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay, Branch, in 1842. Other translations were by P. B. Paymaster, Shahpurshah Hormasji Hodivala in Studies in Parsi History (Bombay, 1920, pp. 94-117.), and Lieutenant Colonel M. S. Irani, this writer's great-grand maternal uncle, in his book The Story of Sanjan (Poona 1943).
One copy of the Qissa contains 430 couplets or 439 lines. The first sixty three couplets are a prayer to God and a self-effacing apology for the writer's shortcomings and inadequacies. The couplets that follow the opening prayer, credit at the outset, the information narrated to a learned Dastur Hushang who provided the Qissa's author with 'secrets' regarding the history of the Zoroastrian refuges.
The legendary / historical account starts with the seventy fifth couplet:
"It was in the days of Gushtasp
That holy Zarathushtra showed us the path of religion."
The Three Tragic Cycles
The next verses (adapted by this author from Col. M. S. Irani's text) chronicle the adversities faced by Zoroastrians throughout history, the three stages being presaged in the Avesta:
Qissa couplet lines #80-84.
Three times will the Behdin (Good Religion) be shattered.
Three times will the behdins (Good Religionists) be ruined and made weary.
This will happen at the hands of the sitamgars, the destroyers.
First, came Sikandar (Alexander of Macedonia) who openly burned the books of our religion.
For three hundred years, the Good Religion was in ruins and the faithful were oppressed.
85. After a long period the Ardeshir (Papakan, 224/6-241 CE, first Sassanian king) took the kingdom.
The Good Religion was revived and came to be known throughout the world for its excellence.
He sent Arda Viraf to the Divine Court to gain knowledge of the spiritual world.
Then the Evil Spirit wrought destruction again on the Good Religion,
And reports of evil came from all directions.
90. After a time (pas az moddat), Shahpur* ascended (to the throne) and caused the Good Religion to shine again.
Then did Adarbad Meher-Safand (Mahraspandan)** girth his loins in service of the Good Religion.
(So righteous was he that he survived) molten metal of seven elements poured over his body.
Behdins had all doubts resolved and the creed shone with brilliance.
From king Shahpur to Yazdegird splendour and dignity came to the Good Religion.
95. Then the Time-assigned days of the Zarthosht's Good Religion came to an end.
With this millennium's passing, nary a vestige of the Good Religion remained.
The sovereignty of Yazdegird was seized away by one of alien faith,
Alas! From that moment on, Iran lay shattered - the kingdom, the Good Religion desolated
From that moment on, all who loved the Zand and wrote Pazand were scattered.
[Note: * We are uncertain about which king Shapur the Qissa's author, Bahman Kaikobad is referring to here:
Shapur I (241-272 CE), Ardeshir Papakan, the first Sassanian king's son,
Shapur II (310-379 CE), or
Shahpur III (383-388 CE).
** It is commonly assumed that Adarbad Meher-Safand is Adarbad Mahraspandan, a Zoroastrian high priest and prime minister of Shapur II. Adarbad Mahraspandan is said to have 'purified' the Avesta and fixed the number of nasks at twenty one, the number of words in the Ahunavar prayer. However, Hodivala figures the reference in the Qissa is to Shapur III. We are not aware of any great evil of the magnitude of the invasions of Alexander and the Arabs, between the start of Sassanian rule and say the rule of Shapur II. Adarbad Meher-Safand surviving the test of molten metal is fanciful.
We can see that bits and pieces of history had trickled down to the ears of the author of the Qissa, and that he is attempting the combine the three millennium concept (cf. 'Time-assigned days') from the time of Zarathushtra to the coming of a final Saoshyant or saviour with his information. In addition to other problems reconciling the event chronicled in the Qissa with Zoroastrian history or tradition elsewhere, Hodivala notes that Alexander of Macedonia "defeated Darius at Arbela in 331 BCE and Ardeshir Papak's accession cannot be placed earlier than 226 CE There was therefore an interval of 557 years and not 300 between Alexander and the Sassanian. (See Alberun's remarks on this confusion in the Persian Chronology in the Athar-al-Bakya, tr. Sachau. 116-121. West, S.B.E. XLVII. Introduction, xxxii.)"
This author notes that Macedonian rule of Iran-Shahr started to break up about 100 years after Alexander's invasion and lingered on in some western regions for about another 100 years (also see Timelines). It was the Parthians (Parthav / Pahlav, the people of northern Khorasan) and not the Sassanians who were responsible for expelling the Macedonians from Iran-Shahr. It is unfortunate that even Ferdowsi gives the Parthians short shrift, for it was the Parthians who were the real liberators of Iran-Shahr and revivers of the Zoroastrian religion. But we must forgive the Qissa's author for this oversight as we have the benefit of historical records while he had to rely on sparse information and legend.]
Beginnings of the Parsi Epoch
Journey from Iran
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| Locations related to the early Zoroastrian (Parsi) migration from Iran to Hind (India) Image credit: Base map courtesy Microsoft Encarta. Additions copyright K. E. Eduljee |
Qissa couplet:
Line 100: Behdins and dasturs, one and all, did hide themselves and the practice of their faith.
Abandoned, did they, their homes, their gardens, their mansions, their halls - all for the sake of their faith.
There in Kuhistan* they made their abode for a hundred years, their condition reduced to a desperate state.
Of them, for the sake of preserving them and their beliefs, a wise and pious man pondered deeply their happenstance,
And afterwards said to the others, "We must leave for there is peril from the alien hordes in remaining here."
[Note: * Kuhistan or kohistan, means land of the mountains. It can mean just that, meaning the Zoroastrian refugees fled to some anonymous mountainous region, or it can refer to a specific region known by that name a thousand years ago. Of the latter, there are five locations within present-day Iran and another four in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. One feature they all share in common is that they were all remote, sparsely populated, not fertile, controlled by independent lords, and generally cut-off from the main population centres.
In Iran, there are six principal kuhistans or kohistans:
1. The mountainous region of south-east Khorasan i.e. Quhistan or Tun-o-Qa'in, Tun being modern Ferdows. In the centre lies Birjand;
2. The mountainous region of Khorasan north of Nishapur and west of Mashhad (controlled by Hephthalites - White Huns?);
3. The mountains in the southwest of Kerman, north of Jiroft;
4. The mountains in the southwest of Yazd;
5. The mountains in the west of Sistan & Baluchistan, south of Zahedan, and
6. The mountains in the northwest of Iran.
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| Balochistan 1870 CE. Note "Kuhistan" (red box) in Western Sistan & Balochistan (Beloochistan) just north-east of Hormuz. This is the only Kuhistan noted on the map. Image credit: George Rawlinson. The Seven Great Monarchies |
6. The mountains in NW Afghanistan's Herat Province sometimes called the Paropamisus Range, and northeast of Herat city;
7. The mountains in north-central Afghanistan's Faryab Province north of the Paropamisus and across the Murgab river;
8. The mountainous district of Kapisa Province in Eastern Afghanistan;
9. The Badakhshan region that spans north-eastern Afghanistan and south-eastern & eastern Tajikistan i.e. Kuhistani-Badakshan/Pamir-Badakhshan, and
10. The mountains of north-western Pakistan
There is also a town named Kuhestan in Afghanistan's Herat province just east of its border with Khorasan.
A number of authors state that the kuhistan to which the Zoroastrians fled was in Khorasan**. Or, they in some fashion conclude that the initial migrants to Sanjan (the ones referred to in the passages above) came from Khorasan. While Khorasan is mentioned later in the Qissa (lines 216 & 217) in a completely different context, the Qissa does not mentioned Khorasan in this section, nor does it say that the Zoroastrians who hid in Kuhistan were from Khorasan, nor does it say in the line 216 & 217 that those from Khorasan were from the Kuhistan of Khorasan, nor can we assume that the Kuhistan that is today part of Khorasan was part of Khorasan in those days - Khorasan then meant all of Eastern Iran. The later reference in the Qissa to Khorasan suggests a later group who joined the initial group and who brought tools with them. See the section Tools from Khorasan. The First Mention of Khorasan.
(** Khorasan is also spelt Khorrasan, Khurasan or Khuresan, meaning land of the sun. This might have to do with it being in the east of Iran. However, since it was almost in the middle of the Iranian-Aryan lands, it is more likely that the name is in reference to it being on the solar meridian for these lands.)
It might also be useful for the reader to refer to the section Last Stands & Flight from Iran in our page on conditions in post-Arab Iran as well as our page on Khorasan.
The flight of Zoroastrians before the advancing Arab hordes scattered them to different locations eastwards and as a consequence all the kuhistans might very well have been home to some group of Zoroastrians. Even the royal family of King Yazdegird III, split up in different directions, the king fleeing to Merv i.e. Mouru where he was murdered; his wife and children fled to the mountains (kuhistans) of Yazd where they met their death, and we also know of one scion, Kaikhusrau, who fled with his followers to Sistan which has its own kuhistan. The Sistan kuhistan is sometimes the only kuhistan marked as the Kuhistan on old maps.
In this section we are interested in the identity of the Kuhistan referred to in the Qissa from which the initial party of Zoroastrians went to Hormuz and from there to Sanjan. While the mountains of Khorasan are a possibility, we cannot rule out the mountains of Kerman or Sistan, or for that matter some of the other mountainous regions to which Zoroastrians fled.]
City of Hormuz & Astrology
Qissa couplet
Line 105: With behdins, dasturs and friends, he marched to the city of Hormuz*.
There they spent fifteen years suffering oppression and abuse from the darwand, the dregvant, the followers of the Lie.
The learned dastur there with them was also an accomplished astrologer
After consulting his old astrological charts** (he said),
"Our time here is at an end. It is well we leave this country. Leave this country forthwith we must."
[Note: *Old Hormuz city was thought to be located near the city of Minab in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan. The ruins of the city of Hormuz have been identified some fifty kilometres from the province's present main city and port - Bandar Abbas. New Hormuz city was located on Hormoz Island. Both are at the horn of the Persian Gulf (see our page on Hormozgan).
** This reference to astrology being part of a learned dastur's training is interesting. That consulting the charts was part of important decision-making is even more interesting. The Zoroastrian calendar does have a Zodiac.]
Sailing to Hind (India)
Qissa couplet
Line 110: "If not, we will be caught in a snare, our wisdom will be of no help and all our effort will be naught.
It is for the better that we flee from the evil ones towards Hind (India)."
In fear of their lives and for the sake of their faith, they sped towards Hind.
In haste, a ship* they readied and hoisted its sail
After the women and children had boarded the ship, they set sail for Hind.
[Note: * Hodivala's translation refers to one ('the') ship. The translation in Colonel M. S. Irani's book first mentions 'the ship' in couplet 113 and then 'ships' in couplet 114. Again in couplet 120 we have 'ships' and then in 121 we have 'ship'.
Regarding the reason the migrants chose a sea route and a coastal area for settlement, we wonder if perhaps some of the refugees were traders or knew other Zoroastrian traders who owned ships and who wished a establish a home port away from Iran, but in a place they were familiar with and one that was part of their existing trade routes between the Middle East and China. In this manner, the ship(s) they used for the migration would continue to be used for trading and the settlers would provide a home base for the traders' families. The migration could have started with an initial sailing and once a settlement had been procured the ships would go back, spread the word and others especially, those familiar with trading and extended travelling would follow.
[Also see our page on Aryan Trade.]
Landing at Div (Diu?) & Astrology
Qissa couplet
Line 115: When at last they arrived at the shores of Hind, the weighed anchor at Div*.
There they disembarked and made their homes on the land at their feet.
There, the behdins remained for nineteen years, until the astrologer once again sought their future.
The aged dastur peered into his charts and said, "O enlightened friends,
Again we must depart and find another place which we can call our second home."
[Note: * Div is commonly taken to mean Diu, a coastal town in India (see map above).]
Sailing to Sanjan & Storm at Sea
Qissa couplet line 120. Delighted to hear his words, the party set sail towards Gujarat.
When the ship was at sea, a violent storm came upon them,
All the dasturs of the faith were thrown into consternations, giddy as in a whirlpool.
The rubbed their faces before the divine threshold. Then standing they made supplication thus:
"O Wise Lord, aid us in our work and deliver us from this calamity."
125. "O All powerful Varharan (Bahram), befriend us so that we may triumph over this adversity.
Through your grace, we will fear no tempest and free our hearts from despair.
For you heed the prayers of the helpless and guide the lost to the way.
If we find emerge safe from this whirlpool, if disaster does not destroy us,
If we reach the land of Hind happy and cheerful,
130. "We will kindle an Atash Varharan (Bahram). Deliver us then from these tribulations and give us strength.
We resign ourselves to the will of God, and for us there is no other."
Through the blessings of the Atash Varharan (Bahram), all emerged safe from these troubled waters.
Their entreaties were fulfilled and the Lord had assisted them in their efforts.
Now aided by a prosperous wind and guided by a divine light, no contrary wind came their way.
135. The captain of the ship, with God's name on his lips, could now command the ship's course.
All on board, dastur and behdins alike did their kusti while the ship sailed the seas.
Early Travellers' Accounts
The following accounts are noted in Rustom Burjorji Paymaster's book Early History of Parsees in India
Mandelslo (1616-1644 CE)
Rustom Paymaster quotes German traveller John (Jean) Albert de Mandelslo's Les Voyages du Sieur (1638, pp. 180, 184 & 186) as noting that in Gujarat (Guzuratta) there were a group called Parsees who were "Persians of Fars and Khorasan (Choransan), who fled into those parts to avoid persecution of the Mohametans in the Seventh Age (7 century CE)." Further that "the (Zoroastrian) king perceiving it was impossible for him to oppose it, took shipping with 18,000 men at Ormus, and landed at Indosthan. The King of Cambay... received him to dwell in his country, into which liberty drew several other Persians... ."
[Note: Paymaster also informs us that elsewhere Mandelslo also notes "that Parsees had settled in large numbers in the Konkan at the time of his visit." The Konkan is the coastline of Maharashtra. Maps from the 18th century show Konkan to include the Maratha coast up to Surat. We do know that Parsees had settled Thana and Chaul on the Maratha coast. Chaul is close to Revdanda, some 45 km south of Mumbai / Bombay as the crow flies.
Paymaster goes on to cite Mandelslo as saying that in Bijapur territories (probably referring to Bijapur district in Karnataka State south of Sholapur in Maharashtra State), "craftsman worked for Mussalmans, Hindus and Parsees, who were there in greater numbers than either Dakhnis (people of the Deccan) and Kanarians."]
Ogilby (1600 - 1676 CE)
Rustom Paymaster also cites John Ogilby, a Scottish cartographer, as stating in Atlas V (1670) p. 218-219, that the Parsees "came about AD 640 in a fleet of seven ships, some said as many as 18,000 men, women and children. The people of five ships settled at Sanjan, those from another at Variav near Surat, and those from the seventh at Cambay. In course of time, these settlers forgot their origin, their religion and even their name. At length, the name 'Persians' was made known to them by some men from Persia who instructed them in their religion and taught them to serve God. The physique of the Parsees was about the middle size; their faces pale, and especially the women excelled all other women of the country in beauty."
Henry Lord (1620 CE)
Another traveller cited by Rustom Paymaster is Rev. Henry Lord, a chaplain in the service of the East India Company. In his Discovery of Two Foreign Sects in the East Indies..., Lord notes "These Persians or Parsees... are people descended from the ancient Persians... He (the Persian king) was forced to fly to Karson (Khorasan?)... . Parsees, not enduring to live contrary to the prescript of their own law... determined a voyage to the Indies... . So repairing to Jasques* (Jask, Hormozgan. See note and map below), a place in the Persian Gulf, they obtained a fleet of seven junks to convey them and theirs, as merchantmen bound for the shores of India, in course of trade and merchandise. It happened that in safety they made to the land of St. Johns (Sanjan - and we may be permitted a chuckle here)."
[Note: * Jasques or Jasquez: Present-day Jask in Hormozgan, 200 km southeast of Hormuz Island. Part of the Makran Coast in the east of Hormozgan Province, Iran. Jask is a port on Jask peninsula. In addition there is a place called Jask-e Kohneh 10 km to the north of Jask. Jask-e Kohneh means Ancient Jask. According to Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, William Crooke in A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, Jask was an alternative port to Hormuz such as when Hormuz was occupied by the Portuguese. It is quite possible that some Zoroastrians could have sailed to India from Jask.]
Sir Thomas Herbert (1606-1682 CE)
In an account of a 1626 CE visit to India, Travels into Africa and Asia the Great, British traveller and author Sir Thomas Herbert notes, "...into India these Parsees came (such time as Omar the second Caliph after Mohomet subjected Persia*) in five junks from Jasquez* (Jask, Hormozgan. See note above and map below), sailing to Surras where after treaty with the Rahaes and Bannyans***, they got leave to plant; and living peaceably to exercise their religion."
[Notes: ** Omar: Probably meaning Umar ibn al-Khattab (c. 586/59-644), caliph from 634 to 644 and second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. Umar (Omar) was responsible for defeating the Persian armies in 636 at the battle of Qadisiyyah (now in South-Central Iraq), securing the Persian lands west of the Zagros, and again in 642 in the battle of Nehavand (near Hamadan), securing the Persian lands east of the Zagros.
[*** Bannyans: perhaps meaning Bania, specifically the trading caste (Vaishya) or generally, wealthy business-people. The merchant community of Gujarat, such as Shahs, Gandhis, Ambanis, Sarabhais, Mehtas, Parekhs, Parikhs, Kotharis and Desais, are also known as Banias. It is unclear to whom Rahaes refers - perhaps Brahmins?. It is curious that in this account, the Parsees made an agreement with two groups - an agreement perhaps regarding trade and religion; an agreement that allowed them settle (i.e. plant) in Gujarat.]
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| 1724 Map of Mughistan (Mogostan) by Lisle Guillaume. Note 'Jasques' just before the entrance to the Persian Gulf |
C. Dellon (1667 CE)
French physician, Dr. C. Dellon in A Voyage to the East Indies notes "...three of their vessels came to the Indian shore, whereof the first set up themselves near Suratte, the second at Diu, and the third at Gandevi, a town betwixt Suratte and Damaun."
Captain A. Hamilton (1716 CE)
Captain A. Hamilton in A New Account of the East Indies p.161 states, "They (the Parsees) are a remnant of the ancient Persians, who chose to be banished their country than change their religion; for in the seventh century of the Christian era, when Mahometism overran Persia, the Spirit of Persecution came there, and some 4 or 500 families were put on board of shipping, and sent out to sea, without compass or pilot; and they steering their course eastward, (in the southwest monsoons) from Jasques in about 20 days, fell with the coast of India in the night, and the first thing they saw was a fire ashore, which the exiles steered towards, and accidentally steered into the river of Navsari... . When they came ashore, the charitable Indians flocked about them, and there being some among them that could speak Indian languages. related what hard usage they had met with in their own country, and that Providence having directed them to the Indian country, begged leave to settle among them... . The generous Indians granted their request... ."
Analysis of the Accounts
The travellers would have written their accounts based on interviews with Parsees and represent a collective consciousness amongst the community. Allowing for hyperbole, confusion, embellishments and dim memories, we note the following:
The accounts refer to Parsi migrants originally from Pars and Khorasan who arrived in Gujarat via Hormuz and/or Jask, both in the present-day Hormozgan province of Iran. Jask was an alternative international port to Hormuz.
The figure of 18,000 migrants is consistent. Unless each of Ogilby's seven ships were capable of holding more than 2,000 passengers, it is doubtful if these 18,000 migrants arrived on the Gujarat coast in one flotilla. The number could, however, refer to the first migratory wave.
The number of ships or 'junks' that made up the first migration, are listed as between five and seven. An initial flotilla of up to seven ships is entirely plausible.
Diu, Surat, Gandevi, Variav, Cambay (Khambat), Navsari and Sanjan are all mentioned as the initial Parsi-Zoroastrian ports of landing.
Mandelslo notes that once the local king had consented to accommodating the Parsees, the conditions were suitable "into which liberty drew several other Persians." Once permission to migrate had been secured, the ships could have returned to pick up other migrants. Or word could have been transmitted by trading expeditions to other Zoroastrians dispersed along the coast. Other waves or groups of migrants could also have arrived by land. What makes the Sanjan migration different from any other migration to other parts of India is that it received official royal sanction from a sovereign king for a community to settle. This official sanction has many implications for the holding of land and the conducting of commerce. Such a royal sanction would have attracted other disparate Zoroastrian groups that might have settled elsewhere to come join and make community with the migrants to Gujarat.
The migratory wave appears to have included women and children. It has been the custom of some later Zoroastrian immigrants for the men to migrate first, secure a means of income and a home, and then return to collect their families.
Lord mentions that the Zoroastrians travelled as "as merchantmen bound for the shores of India, in course of trade and merchandise" confirming that the first wave of migrants from Hormuz were traders and that this occupation may have, if needed, disguised the true intent of their journey back home.
The various accounts are consistent in that the Zoroastrian refugees negotiated with the natives the terms of their settlement. Captain A. Hamilton adds that a few among the refugees spoke the local language. We seldom question how a group of foreigners can converse competently with the locals and this would hardly have been possible without the aid of someone in the group already familiar with the local people and their language.
As we have noted earlier, the travellers' accounts could only have been acquired from Zoroastrian-Parsees. The general consistency and specific differences add to, rather than detract from, their authenticity, since after a lapse of nearly a thousand years, it would have been impossible for a largely oral tradition to have been perfectly consistent.
Take for instance the difference in the names places where the refugees first landed. The consistency is that they came by sea, landed on the shore of Gujarat and negotiated the terms of their settlement. We take for granted that Parsees speak Gujarati as their mother tongue but do not ask why it is not Marathi, Hindi or another Indian language. And why before settling in Bombay, the Parsees were for the main part residents of Gujarat - and more specifically the coast of Gujarat rather than some inland towns on the trade routes to Central Asia. The preponderance of all of these observations lead us to the conclusion, that while the Qissa-e Sanjan may not meet the tests of unimpeachable history (which it does not claim to be), it does nevertheless generally and fairly represent the history of the Parsi-Zoroastrian's migration to India as a community - it represents the commonwealth of the collective consciousness of the Zoroastrians who fled to India.
For the preservation of this heritage we owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Bahman Kaikobad Hamjiar Sanjana, author of the Qissa-e Sanjan, and all those who persevered and preserved the temporal and spiritual flame. Bahman Kaikobad sought to preserve and honour the memory and sacrifice of the Zoroastrian refugees and in that task this author makes common purpose with him.
This page and this post is dedicated to the sacrifice of the early Zoroastrian migrants to India - to those who perished at sea, in battle, and to those who survived - the nameless children, women and men. For they all made it possible for this writer and his generation to be here on this earth and engage in this sharing. We honour them. We revere them. Aidun bad.
Cheers, Doc
Landing & Settlement in Sanjan
Sanjan Description
Sanjan is a "rather nondescript, sleepy little town in south Gujarat" (Rukshana Nanji and Homi Dhalla in The Landing at Sanjan). The Qissa mentions that the area around Sanjan which the Zoroastrian refugees selected for their settlement, was deserted. Sanjan is 145 kilometres north of Mumbai (Bombay), India, close to Gujarat's border with the state of Maharashtra. It is accessible by road and rail.
For an excellent Wikimapia interactive map of Sanjan, click here.
Sanjan lies some five kilometres inland from India's west coast and sits on the north bank of the Varoli River, a shallow stream that starts it journey to the Arabian Sea twenty km south-east of Sanjan in the Thana Hills. The river is navigable by boats only up to Sanjan, a feature allowed it to provide a small sheltered harbour. The river flows into the sea between the settlements of Umbargam / Umbergaon and Nargol (the latter also had a Zoroastrian enclave).
Landing at Sanjan
137. Providence decreed that they would make landfall at Sanjan,
And there a benevolent king ruled with righteousness.
Named Jadi* Rana, he was generous, wise and learned.
[Note: * Sometime thought to be a corruption of Jadev.]
Couplets 140 - 184 chronicle the negotiations with Jadi Rana as well as the explanation of Zoroastrian beliefs and customs given to him.
Settlement at Sanjan - Second Home
Qissa couplet line 185. The good king at once ordered that they (the Zoroastrian refugees) should make their abode in his kingdom.
A group of intelligent, good natured and prudent men set out
And examined sites one after another, until they found an extensive place, returning then to inform the mobed.
That deserted place* with good soil** was chosen on which to make their abode.
The people liked the place and a city appeared*** (Hodivala adds: where there had been a jungle).
190. Where the land was desolate and uncultivated, young and old assembled.
When the dastur saw the good land, he selected a place for their dwellings.
The dastur named the place Sanjan and it soon prospered as had Iran.
From that day forward, the people called him Sanjana. Know that the city is named after him.****
There they settled in joy and comfort - prospering, each to the extent desired.
[Note: Boyce (Zoroastrians p. 166) states that Jadi Rana was a Gujerati Silhara king. We believe that while the local king is credited as being kind and benevolent, it is also quite possible that allowing the Zoroastrians to settle would provide the king and his kingdom added revenues rather than them being a burden. If the Zoroastrians were international traders, they could be a source of revenue, even wealth, for the treasury (see Early Sanjan Zoroastrians Were Traders below).
* Hodivala has 'wilderness' and later 'jungle' while Irani has 'desert'. Both words convey that the place was unpopulated or sparsely populated. Further, there is no mention that the land needed to be fertile and suitable for agriculture. Rather, it was adjacent to a port or a place suitable for a port. This appears to be a principle criterion. Further, Zoroastrian ethic prizes taking fallow land and making it productive, useful or beautiful.
** Hodivala has 'good soil' while Irani has 'pleasant'. Both conflict with 'desert'.
*** Both translations use the word 'city' to describe the settlement. The connotation here is that the party was large enough to build an independent settlement and that they did not live among an existing population.
**** Irani has 'him' while Hodivala has 'them'. Both translators note the strange inconsistency of this statement with the previous one.]
Proposed Dates for the Sanjan Landing
H. E. Eduljee (1996) lists the following dates proposed by various researchers:
Archaeological evidence - see below - appear to support the earlier dates.
Sanjan Port
The port section of Sanjan known as Bandar Sanjan (Port Sanjan), contains a small hill - a strong indicator that the mound covers building ruins that may lie beneath. The mould is presently occupied by fishers, small growers and brick-makers. The bandar / port section of the original settlement appears to have been 1.5 x 1 km in size.
Sanjan Dakhma
Local legends state that Sanjan had nine towers of silence or dakhmas at one stage of it history. Today, the Nanji-Dhalla archaeological team have found evidence of one dakhma mound known locally as the bhastu (possibly meaning dakhma). On the basis of the ceramics found in and even as part of the structure, it is possible to date the construction of the dakhma to a period between the tenth and eleventh centuries (Nanji and Dandekar, 2005). The ruins of this dakhma are located to the north-east of Sanjan Port. Sanjan Dakhma was last used in the period 1410-1460 CE.
The dakhma excavations uncovered a structure consisting of a circular structure made from brick and brick-rubble encircling a platform. The platform sloped towards a brick lined ossuary well (bhandar) for collecting the bones, and with a diameter of five metres. Excavations of the bhandar under the supervision of Dr. Veena Mushriff-Tripathy (paleoanthropologist) uncovered the remains of at least 140 individuals in about 40% of the bhandar. Based on these results, the achaeological team suggests that the bhandar "holds the remains of at least 350 to 400 individuals." An examination of the bones showed that the individuals laid to rest belonged to all age groups from newborns to children, sub-adults, adults and elderly individuals. It would have been interesting is the team tabulated the numbers according to each group as this will provide an indication of mortality rates and perhaps reason. Excavations of the bhandar well also revealed a layer of lime that is standard dakhma practice - the lime helps the bones to disintegrate and acts as a filter as well. Glass bangles, bangle fragments, rings of silver, copper and mixed metal, gold-foil earrings and beads of glass were among the personal possessions found with the bones.
Sanjan Excavations
In Parsis in India and the Diaspora edited by John R. Hinnells and Alan Williams, a chapter titled 'The Landing at Sanjan' written by Rukshana Nanji and Homi Dhalla reports on the archaeological excavations at Sanjan supervised by The World Zarathushti Cultural Foundation, Mumbai from 2002 to 2004. The extent of the excavations is limited. Nevertheless, they have uncovered the ruins of a township some two by one kilometres in size on the banks of the Varoli Creek. The discoveries include the ruins a dakhma (tower of silence) on the top of a hillock.
While pre 8th century artefacts have been discovered at the site, the book cited above states "a middle phase which appears to be the most prosperous and intense phase of occupation - spanning the early to mid eight century and extending up to the end of the thirteenth century." The authors go on to state that "The most intense construction activities at Sanjan appear to belong to this phase. The Zoroastrian migration appears to have taken place at the start of this phase, and may well have provided the impetus for the increased commercial activity at the site and for the economic growth of the settlement."
Early Sanjan Zoroastrians Were Traders
The excavations at Sanjan point to trade being both the motivator for choosing the site as well as the primary source of its income and wealth. When the early Zoroastrians chose the site, they seemed to know what they were looking for - and it was not fertile land for agriculture. Rather it was sparsely populated location close to an established a port or one that could be further developed as such. Once they land at Sanjan, they didn't continue searching for, say fertile agricultural land but were content to stay at a site that is in other ways quite unremarkable. Even when the Zoroastrians started to disperse to other towns and cities in Gujarat, they did so to coastal, trading ports. Ofcourse, some did develop farms and while others engaged in a variety of other professions as well. But trade and commerce tigether with related industries have always been a defining feature of early Zoroastrian enterprise.
The artefacts found at the site and which date to the middle period, i.e., mid-eight to the end-thirteenth century, include Samarra horizon ware, turquoise glazed ware, unglazed west Asian wares, Chinese wares such as Changsha, Yeu, Dusun, and porcelain both cream and white. The presence of these artefacts indicate that the Sanjan Zoroastrian were international traders (cf. Aryan Trade) and their trade connections extended at the least from west Asia to China.
Based on their excavations (see above) Dhalla and Nanji propose the following: "The picture that emerges from the historical and archaeological evidence is that of an early settlement with some contact with the Persian Gulf and Persia possibly as early as the Sassanian period. Sassanian kings had close contacts with India and Gujarat in particular. Persian contact with India, which in fact, goes back to the Vedic period and is seen in the Achaemenian period (Kamerkar and Dhunjisha, 2002) as well as is mentioned in the Shah Name. Sanjan could well have had an outpost of Zarathushti traders from a very early date, just as such outposts and settlements are reported in China and elsewhere. The migrants would then have come to an area already familiar to them through their coreligionists. The finds at the site leave no doubt that the settlers were traders and that the port flourished during this period. There may have followed other groups and migrations. But the excavations have conclusively established the date of the Sanjan migration as described in the Kisse-i-Sanjan to the mid-eighth - early ninth century."
Also see our page on Aryan Trade.
Atash Behram Preparation
Qissa couplet line 195. It happened that they had some business with the raja, some they went to him in good spirits.
The dastur addressed the king, "O prince, you have given us shelter in this land.
We now wish to install an Atash Varharan (Behram) in the land of Hind.
It is necessary to clear land for three farsangs* in order to perform the nirang (purification) ceremonies.
No juddin (person of alien faith) can remain save wise members of the Behdin, the Good Religion.
200. No juddin (person of alien faith) can approach in order that the fire may be consecrated.
When if someone makes a sound, the work will be immediately interrupted
The raja responded, "I hereby grant you permission. I am pleased to make this accommodation.
From my heart I give this authority that a shah (the fire) be installed in my time.
What can be better than this? O wise man, gird up your loins and start work without delay.
205. The king proclaimed his order without delay and granted the dastur a pleasant place.
The Hindu Jadi Rana immediately had the land cleared in every direction.
All juddins (people of alien faith) were evicted for a distance of three farsangs and only the followers of the Behdin remained.
No one dwelt within three farsangs save wise people of the faith.
Around the arvesgah** each pious dastur shone brilliant like the sun.
210. There day and night they remained on watch, executing their divine duty
In those days, each one was knowledgeable and competent in duties of the faith.
Over the next days and months, they performed the Yezashna and worked with zeal.
The other people of faith, busy with their own work, also provided assistance,
Jadi Rana also sent many things in different ways.
[Note: In this account and up to this point we have heard no mention of an eternal, consecrated fire having been brought over from Iran. Rather the group makes preparations for consecrating a fire in keeping with their solemn promise after surviving the storm at sea.
* There is no consensus on the equivalent of a farsang. Three miles or five kilometres is a reasonable approximation.
** The consecrated space within which the Yazashna [Yasna] ceremony is performed.]
Tools from Khorasan. The First Mention of Khorasan
Development of Industry
Qissa couplet line 215. In those days, all workshops (commerce & industry) were in the hands of behdins.
Their work was made easy because of the tools they have brought from Khorasan**.
With these tools from Khorasan, they accomplished their work with competence.
The reason was that many dasturs and behdins that arrived at that place*
By the grace of God, these included several chemists*** thus making life easier for all.
[Note: * The implication here is unmistakable. Once the initial colony had been established, not few, but many other Zoroastrians, clergy and lay people alike, congregated at Sanjan.
** Here we hear the first mention of Khorasan. Almost every writer on this subject concludes from these words that the original sea-faring migrants to Sanjan came from Khorasan. What we understand from these passages is that the people who joined the initial settlers came from Khorasan. Further, these later migrants from Khorasan had been able to bring with them tools of trade and industry. Given that the Aryans had a long history of trade and related industries, it is entirely plausible that they would have wanted to continue using their talents. Based on the Qissa, we do not know how these Khorasanis arrived at Sanjan - whether by land or by sea.
*** The new arrivals included chemists! We can only imagine the different applications of their talents - from medicine to dyes and other manufacturing aids. This section is inserted to support the building of the temple housing a consecrated fire. However, the implications are broader.]
Installation of the Iranshah Fire
Lament - Lack of Orthodoxy in 16th & 17th Century India
Qissa couplet line 220. By means of these brought over tools and materials, the fire could be consecrated as stipulated by the doctrines of the religion.
In accord with tradition, the aged dasturs were then able to install the Iranshah fire, full of radiant lustre.
Well versed in spiritual matters*, the dasturs of those days, they observed all religious precepts in their practice.
These days, Lord only knows the state of the religion for practice is a matter of personal satisfaction**
In that land (bygone time? Iran?) all behdins and dasturs celebrated jashnes with much rejoicing.
[Note: * This is one of several allusions that the dasturs (and mobeds) who came with the original migration were well versed in religious matters and very wise, the implication being that by the time the Qissa was written (1600 CE - some eight hundred years later), the full spectrum of religious knowledge and wisdom had been lost. This is consistent with the sending of emissaries by the Indian Zoroastrian community to Yazd with sets of questions for which the local priests had no answers or which were a source of debate. The answers from the Dasturan Dastur of Iran, seated in Yazd, now form the Rivayats. ** Here the writer laments the lack of orthodoxy in religious practices.]
Dispersal of Zoroastrians
Qissa couplet line 225. More or less, three hundred years passed, while some men with their wives and relatives left the place.
They dispersed throughout the land of Hind in all directions to those places they desired.
Some turned towards Vankaner / Bankaner (Bikaner in Rajasthan), some towards Bharuch,
Others went to Variav. All hastened to their respective destinations.
Some arrived in the city of Anklesar, or journeyed to the city of Khambat (Cambay).
230. Others took their belongings, including their documents and fortune to Navsari,
Wherever, a person felt comfortable, he made his home in that place.
Two hundred years passed in this state of happiness, prosperity and peace.
Many houses of the dasturs that left remained in Sanjan.
They received God's judgment and I do not know where they all went.
[Note: Around 1290 CE the Parsi priesthood divided Gujarat into five panths (ecclesiastic groups) based on location:
1. The Sanjanas at Sanjan,
2. The Bhagarias (meaning sharers) serving Navsari,
3. The Godavras based at Anklesar,
4. The Bharuchas controlling rites in Broach, and
5. The Khambattas of Khambat (Cambay).
Each panth regulated its own clergy, laity, and religious matters through an anjoman (association). Alternatively, a group of lay families was also called a panthak, and the priest appointed to serve that group was their panthaki. The assignment of the panthak became hereditary.]
In 1142 Kamdin Zarthosht was the first priest to arrive in Navsari from Sanjan. Navsari would go on to become the headquarters of the Zoroastrian-Parsi priesthood and a centre of religious learning and authority (The Parsis of India: Preservation of Identity in Bombay City by Jesse S. Palsetia). Two families of priests settled in Navsari in the early thirteenth century and their descendants are the present priests of Navsari.
At Broach, the Parsees built their first dakhma or tower of silence. According to Palsetia, "a brick dakhma was built sometime before 1300 and a second tower was built in 1309."
Stay tuned for the last part.
Islam catches up with us again, trying once more to snuff out the threat from the True Path of Asha.
We break our oath to the Hindus and pick up our arms once more to fight the Muslim invaders along with the Rajputs.
The destruction of Sanjan and our flight with the Holy Atash into the forests of Vansda and deep into the Caves of Bahrot.
Ushta te.
Cheers, Doc
Sanjan Description
Sanjan is a "rather nondescript, sleepy little town in south Gujarat" (Rukshana Nanji and Homi Dhalla in The Landing at Sanjan). The Qissa mentions that the area around Sanjan which the Zoroastrian refugees selected for their settlement, was deserted. Sanjan is 145 kilometres north of Mumbai (Bombay), India, close to Gujarat's border with the state of Maharashtra. It is accessible by road and rail.
For an excellent Wikimapia interactive map of Sanjan, click here.
Sanjan lies some five kilometres inland from India's west coast and sits on the north bank of the Varoli River, a shallow stream that starts it journey to the Arabian Sea twenty km south-east of Sanjan in the Thana Hills. The river is navigable by boats only up to Sanjan, a feature allowed it to provide a small sheltered harbour. The river flows into the sea between the settlements of Umbargam / Umbergaon and Nargol (the latter also had a Zoroastrian enclave).
Landing at Sanjan
137. Providence decreed that they would make landfall at Sanjan,
And there a benevolent king ruled with righteousness.
Named Jadi* Rana, he was generous, wise and learned.
[Note: * Sometime thought to be a corruption of Jadev.]
Couplets 140 - 184 chronicle the negotiations with Jadi Rana as well as the explanation of Zoroastrian beliefs and customs given to him.
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| Locations related to the early Zoroastrian (Parsi) migration from Iran to Hind (India) Image credit: Base map courtesy Microsoft Encarta. Additions copyright K. E. Eduljee |
Qissa couplet line 185. The good king at once ordered that they (the Zoroastrian refugees) should make their abode in his kingdom.
A group of intelligent, good natured and prudent men set out
And examined sites one after another, until they found an extensive place, returning then to inform the mobed.
That deserted place* with good soil** was chosen on which to make their abode.
The people liked the place and a city appeared*** (Hodivala adds: where there had been a jungle).
190. Where the land was desolate and uncultivated, young and old assembled.
When the dastur saw the good land, he selected a place for their dwellings.
The dastur named the place Sanjan and it soon prospered as had Iran.
From that day forward, the people called him Sanjana. Know that the city is named after him.****
There they settled in joy and comfort - prospering, each to the extent desired.
[Note: Boyce (Zoroastrians p. 166) states that Jadi Rana was a Gujerati Silhara king. We believe that while the local king is credited as being kind and benevolent, it is also quite possible that allowing the Zoroastrians to settle would provide the king and his kingdom added revenues rather than them being a burden. If the Zoroastrians were international traders, they could be a source of revenue, even wealth, for the treasury (see Early Sanjan Zoroastrians Were Traders below).
* Hodivala has 'wilderness' and later 'jungle' while Irani has 'desert'. Both words convey that the place was unpopulated or sparsely populated. Further, there is no mention that the land needed to be fertile and suitable for agriculture. Rather, it was adjacent to a port or a place suitable for a port. This appears to be a principle criterion. Further, Zoroastrian ethic prizes taking fallow land and making it productive, useful or beautiful.
** Hodivala has 'good soil' while Irani has 'pleasant'. Both conflict with 'desert'.
*** Both translations use the word 'city' to describe the settlement. The connotation here is that the party was large enough to build an independent settlement and that they did not live among an existing population.
**** Irani has 'him' while Hodivala has 'them'. Both translators note the strange inconsistency of this statement with the previous one.]
Proposed Dates for the Sanjan Landing
H. E. Eduljee (1996) lists the following dates proposed by various researchers:
715 ACE | - S. K. Hodivala |
c. 750 ACE | - Kamerkar and Dhunjisha |
c. 780 ACE | - H. E. Eduljee |
785 ACE | - Jivanjee Modi |
Bahman day, Tir month, 936 ACE | - S. H. Hodivala |
Archaeological evidence - see below - appear to support the earlier dates.
Sanjan Port
The port section of Sanjan known as Bandar Sanjan (Port Sanjan), contains a small hill - a strong indicator that the mound covers building ruins that may lie beneath. The mould is presently occupied by fishers, small growers and brick-makers. The bandar / port section of the original settlement appears to have been 1.5 x 1 km in size.
Sanjan Dakhma
| 2004 Dakhma Excavations at Sanjan |
The dakhma excavations uncovered a structure consisting of a circular structure made from brick and brick-rubble encircling a platform. The platform sloped towards a brick lined ossuary well (bhandar) for collecting the bones, and with a diameter of five metres. Excavations of the bhandar under the supervision of Dr. Veena Mushriff-Tripathy (paleoanthropologist) uncovered the remains of at least 140 individuals in about 40% of the bhandar. Based on these results, the achaeological team suggests that the bhandar "holds the remains of at least 350 to 400 individuals." An examination of the bones showed that the individuals laid to rest belonged to all age groups from newborns to children, sub-adults, adults and elderly individuals. It would have been interesting is the team tabulated the numbers according to each group as this will provide an indication of mortality rates and perhaps reason. Excavations of the bhandar well also revealed a layer of lime that is standard dakhma practice - the lime helps the bones to disintegrate and acts as a filter as well. Glass bangles, bangle fragments, rings of silver, copper and mixed metal, gold-foil earrings and beads of glass were among the personal possessions found with the bones.
Sanjan Excavations
In Parsis in India and the Diaspora edited by John R. Hinnells and Alan Williams, a chapter titled 'The Landing at Sanjan' written by Rukshana Nanji and Homi Dhalla reports on the archaeological excavations at Sanjan supervised by The World Zarathushti Cultural Foundation, Mumbai from 2002 to 2004. The extent of the excavations is limited. Nevertheless, they have uncovered the ruins of a township some two by one kilometres in size on the banks of the Varoli Creek. The discoveries include the ruins a dakhma (tower of silence) on the top of a hillock.
While pre 8th century artefacts have been discovered at the site, the book cited above states "a middle phase which appears to be the most prosperous and intense phase of occupation - spanning the early to mid eight century and extending up to the end of the thirteenth century." The authors go on to state that "The most intense construction activities at Sanjan appear to belong to this phase. The Zoroastrian migration appears to have taken place at the start of this phase, and may well have provided the impetus for the increased commercial activity at the site and for the economic growth of the settlement."
| Excavations at Sanjan |
The excavations at Sanjan point to trade being both the motivator for choosing the site as well as the primary source of its income and wealth. When the early Zoroastrians chose the site, they seemed to know what they were looking for - and it was not fertile land for agriculture. Rather it was sparsely populated location close to an established a port or one that could be further developed as such. Once they land at Sanjan, they didn't continue searching for, say fertile agricultural land but were content to stay at a site that is in other ways quite unremarkable. Even when the Zoroastrians started to disperse to other towns and cities in Gujarat, they did so to coastal, trading ports. Ofcourse, some did develop farms and while others engaged in a variety of other professions as well. But trade and commerce tigether with related industries have always been a defining feature of early Zoroastrian enterprise.
The artefacts found at the site and which date to the middle period, i.e., mid-eight to the end-thirteenth century, include Samarra horizon ware, turquoise glazed ware, unglazed west Asian wares, Chinese wares such as Changsha, Yeu, Dusun, and porcelain both cream and white. The presence of these artefacts indicate that the Sanjan Zoroastrian were international traders (cf. Aryan Trade) and their trade connections extended at the least from west Asia to China.
Based on their excavations (see above) Dhalla and Nanji propose the following: "The picture that emerges from the historical and archaeological evidence is that of an early settlement with some contact with the Persian Gulf and Persia possibly as early as the Sassanian period. Sassanian kings had close contacts with India and Gujarat in particular. Persian contact with India, which in fact, goes back to the Vedic period and is seen in the Achaemenian period (Kamerkar and Dhunjisha, 2002) as well as is mentioned in the Shah Name. Sanjan could well have had an outpost of Zarathushti traders from a very early date, just as such outposts and settlements are reported in China and elsewhere. The migrants would then have come to an area already familiar to them through their coreligionists. The finds at the site leave no doubt that the settlers were traders and that the port flourished during this period. There may have followed other groups and migrations. But the excavations have conclusively established the date of the Sanjan migration as described in the Kisse-i-Sanjan to the mid-eighth - early ninth century."
Also see our page on Aryan Trade.
Atash Behram Preparation
Qissa couplet line 195. It happened that they had some business with the raja, some they went to him in good spirits.
The dastur addressed the king, "O prince, you have given us shelter in this land.
We now wish to install an Atash Varharan (Behram) in the land of Hind.
It is necessary to clear land for three farsangs* in order to perform the nirang (purification) ceremonies.
No juddin (person of alien faith) can remain save wise members of the Behdin, the Good Religion.
200. No juddin (person of alien faith) can approach in order that the fire may be consecrated.
When if someone makes a sound, the work will be immediately interrupted
The raja responded, "I hereby grant you permission. I am pleased to make this accommodation.
From my heart I give this authority that a shah (the fire) be installed in my time.
What can be better than this? O wise man, gird up your loins and start work without delay.
205. The king proclaimed his order without delay and granted the dastur a pleasant place.
The Hindu Jadi Rana immediately had the land cleared in every direction.
All juddins (people of alien faith) were evicted for a distance of three farsangs and only the followers of the Behdin remained.
No one dwelt within three farsangs save wise people of the faith.
Around the arvesgah** each pious dastur shone brilliant like the sun.
210. There day and night they remained on watch, executing their divine duty
In those days, each one was knowledgeable and competent in duties of the faith.
Over the next days and months, they performed the Yezashna and worked with zeal.
The other people of faith, busy with their own work, also provided assistance,
Jadi Rana also sent many things in different ways.
[Note: In this account and up to this point we have heard no mention of an eternal, consecrated fire having been brought over from Iran. Rather the group makes preparations for consecrating a fire in keeping with their solemn promise after surviving the storm at sea.
* There is no consensus on the equivalent of a farsang. Three miles or five kilometres is a reasonable approximation.
** The consecrated space within which the Yazashna [Yasna] ceremony is performed.]
Tools from Khorasan. The First Mention of Khorasan
Development of Industry
Qissa couplet line 215. In those days, all workshops (commerce & industry) were in the hands of behdins.
Their work was made easy because of the tools they have brought from Khorasan**.
With these tools from Khorasan, they accomplished their work with competence.
The reason was that many dasturs and behdins that arrived at that place*
By the grace of God, these included several chemists*** thus making life easier for all.
[Note: * The implication here is unmistakable. Once the initial colony had been established, not few, but many other Zoroastrians, clergy and lay people alike, congregated at Sanjan.
** Here we hear the first mention of Khorasan. Almost every writer on this subject concludes from these words that the original sea-faring migrants to Sanjan came from Khorasan. What we understand from these passages is that the people who joined the initial settlers came from Khorasan. Further, these later migrants from Khorasan had been able to bring with them tools of trade and industry. Given that the Aryans had a long history of trade and related industries, it is entirely plausible that they would have wanted to continue using their talents. Based on the Qissa, we do not know how these Khorasanis arrived at Sanjan - whether by land or by sea.
*** The new arrivals included chemists! We can only imagine the different applications of their talents - from medicine to dyes and other manufacturing aids. This section is inserted to support the building of the temple housing a consecrated fire. However, the implications are broader.]
Installation of the Iranshah Fire
Lament - Lack of Orthodoxy in 16th & 17th Century India
Qissa couplet line 220. By means of these brought over tools and materials, the fire could be consecrated as stipulated by the doctrines of the religion.
In accord with tradition, the aged dasturs were then able to install the Iranshah fire, full of radiant lustre.
Well versed in spiritual matters*, the dasturs of those days, they observed all religious precepts in their practice.
These days, Lord only knows the state of the religion for practice is a matter of personal satisfaction**
In that land (bygone time? Iran?) all behdins and dasturs celebrated jashnes with much rejoicing.
[Note: * This is one of several allusions that the dasturs (and mobeds) who came with the original migration were well versed in religious matters and very wise, the implication being that by the time the Qissa was written (1600 CE - some eight hundred years later), the full spectrum of religious knowledge and wisdom had been lost. This is consistent with the sending of emissaries by the Indian Zoroastrian community to Yazd with sets of questions for which the local priests had no answers or which were a source of debate. The answers from the Dasturan Dastur of Iran, seated in Yazd, now form the Rivayats. ** Here the writer laments the lack of orthodoxy in religious practices.]
Dispersal of Zoroastrians
Qissa couplet line 225. More or less, three hundred years passed, while some men with their wives and relatives left the place.
They dispersed throughout the land of Hind in all directions to those places they desired.
Some turned towards Vankaner / Bankaner (Bikaner in Rajasthan), some towards Bharuch,
Others went to Variav. All hastened to their respective destinations.
Some arrived in the city of Anklesar, or journeyed to the city of Khambat (Cambay).
230. Others took their belongings, including their documents and fortune to Navsari,
Wherever, a person felt comfortable, he made his home in that place.
Two hundred years passed in this state of happiness, prosperity and peace.
Many houses of the dasturs that left remained in Sanjan.
They received God's judgment and I do not know where they all went.
[Note: Around 1290 CE the Parsi priesthood divided Gujarat into five panths (ecclesiastic groups) based on location:
1. The Sanjanas at Sanjan,
2. The Bhagarias (meaning sharers) serving Navsari,
3. The Godavras based at Anklesar,
4. The Bharuchas controlling rites in Broach, and
5. The Khambattas of Khambat (Cambay).
Each panth regulated its own clergy, laity, and religious matters through an anjoman (association). Alternatively, a group of lay families was also called a panthak, and the priest appointed to serve that group was their panthaki. The assignment of the panthak became hereditary.]
In 1142 Kamdin Zarthosht was the first priest to arrive in Navsari from Sanjan. Navsari would go on to become the headquarters of the Zoroastrian-Parsi priesthood and a centre of religious learning and authority (The Parsis of India: Preservation of Identity in Bombay City by Jesse S. Palsetia). Two families of priests settled in Navsari in the early thirteenth century and their descendants are the present priests of Navsari.
At Broach, the Parsees built their first dakhma or tower of silence. According to Palsetia, "a brick dakhma was built sometime before 1300 and a second tower was built in 1309."
|
| Gujarat (India) towns where Parsees settled Image credit: Base map courtesy Microsoft Encarta. Additions copyright K. E. Eduljee |
Stay tuned for the last part.
Islam catches up with us again, trying once more to snuff out the threat from the True Path of Asha.
We break our oath to the Hindus and pick up our arms once more to fight the Muslim invaders along with the Rajputs.
The destruction of Sanjan and our flight with the Holy Atash into the forests of Vansda and deep into the Caves of Bahrot.
Ushta te.
Cheers, Doc
Baibars_1260
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Iran's single resistance to the Mongols
The Tiger of Khwarzim.
en.m.wikipedia.org
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu (full name: Jalal ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Abul-Muzaffar Manguberdi ibn Muhammad), Manguberdi or Mangubarni (Turkicfor "God-given"), also known as Jalâl ad-Dîn Khwârazmshâh(Persian: جلال الدین خوارزمشاه), was the last ruler of the Turkic Khwarezmian Empirefrom the Anushtegin dynasty. He was the eldest son of Ala ad-Din Muhammad II by his Turkmen wife Aychichek.
Quick Facts: Khwarezm Shah, Reign ...
Mongol invasion
Dirham of Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
Jalal al-Din Khwarazm-Shah crossing the rapid Indus River, escaping Genghis Khanand the Mongol army.
When it became known that Genghis Khan was marching towards Khwarazm, Jalal ad-din proposed to his father to meet the Mongols in one decisive battle near the Syr Darya. However, Muhammad II relied on his well-fortified fortresses and did not assemble troops, distributing them instead among the major towns of his empire. Meanwhile, the Mongols swiftly took one city after another. At the beginning of 1220, Bukhara fell, followed by Samarqand. Muhammad started to retreat west, and after a series of unsuccessful battles, was left with a handful of soldiers and his sons. The huge and undisciplined Khwarazmian army was unable to defeat the enemy, which was much inferior in number.
Legend has it that Muhammad, who fled to the Caspian Sea, being terminally ill, gathered his sons: Jalal ad-Din, Aqshah, and Uzlagh Khan and announced that he appointed Jalal ad-Din as heir to the throne, because only he could confront the enemy. Summoning the younger sons to obedience, he hung his sword on the belt of Jalal ad-Din. A few days later, Muhammad died and Jalal ad-Din was proclaimed a Khwarazmshah.
Following the defeat of his father, Ala ad-Din Muhammad II by Genghis Khan in 1220, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu came to power and retreated with the remaining Khwarazm forces, while pursued by a Mongol army and at the battle of Parwan, north of Kabul, defeated the Mongols.
Due to the Mongol invasion, the sacking of Samarkand and being deserted by his Afghan allies, Jalal ad-Din was forced to flee to India. At the Indus River, however, the Mongols caught up with him and slaughtered his forces, along with thousands of refugees, at the Battle of Indus. He escaped and sought asylum in the Sultanate of Delhi but Iltutmish denied this to him in deference to the relationship with the Abbasid caliphs. The cities of Herat, Ghazni and Merv were destroyed and massacred by the Mongols, for his resistance or rebelliousness.
Re-establishment of the kingdom
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu spent three years in exile in India. He entered into an alliance with the Khokhars, Lahore, and much of the Punjabwas captured. At this stage he requested an alliance with Iltutmish, the Turkish MamlukSultan of Delhi against the Mongols. The Sultan of Delhi refused so he could avoid a conflict with Genghis Khan and marched towards Lahore at the head of a large army. Mingburnu retreated from Lahore and moved towards Uchch, inflicting a heavy defeat on its ruler Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha, and plundered Sindh, then northern Gujaratbefore returning to Persia in 1224.
Having gathered an army and entered Persia, Jalal ad-Din sought to re-establish the Khwarazm kingdom, but he never fully consolidated his power. In 1224, he confirmed Burak Hadjib, ruler of the Qara Khitai, in Kerman, received the submission of his brother Ghiyath al-Din Pirshah, who had established himself in Hamadan and Isfahan, and the province of Fars, and clashed with the Caliph An Nasserin Khuzestan. In 1225, the sultan dethroned the Ildegizid Uzbek Muzaffar al-Din and set himself up in their capital of Tabriz on the 25 of July in 1225. In 1226, he attacked Georgia defeating their forces in the battle of Garni and conquered Tbilisi.
Warfare
Jalal ad-Din spent the rest of his days struggling against the Mongols, pretenders to the throne and the Seljuqs of Rûm. His dominance in the region required year-after-year campaigning. In 1226, the governor of Kerman, Burak Hadjib, rebelled against him, but after the sultan marched against him he was again brought back into agreement. Jalal ad-Din then had a brief victory over the Seljuqs and captured the town of Akhlat in Turkey from the Ayyubids. In 1227, he battled against the Mongols on the approach to Isfahanand while he did not defeat the invaders following their great losses they were not able to utilise their victory and withdrew afterwards across the Oxus river. In 1228, his brother Ghiyath al-Din rebelled and was defeated by the Sultan. Ghiyath al-Din fled to Burak Hadjib in Kerman where he and his mother were murdered. The revived Khwarezmid Sultan by this time controlled Kerman, Tabriz, Isfahan and Fars. Jalal ad-Din moved against Akhlat again in 1229. However he was defeated in this campaign by Sultan Kayqubad I at Erzincan on the Upper Euphrates at the Battle of Yassıçemenin 1230, from whence he escaped to Diyarbakir.
Death
Through the ruler of Alamut, the Mongols learned that Jalal ad-Din was weakened by a recent defeat. Ögedei Khan sent a new army of 30,000 men under the command of Chormagan and the Khwarazmians were swept away by the new Mongol army. In the winter of 1231, in the ensuing confusion the Mongols arrived into Azerbaijan from the direction of Khorasan and Rayy. The 30,000strong Mongol army led by Chormaganeasily defeated Jalal ad-Din and occupied northern Iran. Khwarazmshah retreated to Ganja. The Mongols followed him and captured Arran. Jalal ad-Din took refuge in the Mayyafarikin mountains and there in August of that year he was killed by an unknown Kurd, allegedly employed by the Seljuks.
The Tiger of Khwarzim.
Jalal al-Din Mangburni - Wikipedia
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu (full name: Jalal ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Abul-Muzaffar Manguberdi ibn Muhammad), Manguberdi or Mangubarni (Turkicfor "God-given"), also known as Jalâl ad-Dîn Khwârazmshâh(Persian: جلال الدین خوارزمشاه), was the last ruler of the Turkic Khwarezmian Empirefrom the Anushtegin dynasty. He was the eldest son of Ala ad-Din Muhammad II by his Turkmen wife Aychichek.
Quick Facts: Khwarezm Shah, Reign ...
Mongol invasion
Dirham of Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
Jalal al-Din Khwarazm-Shah crossing the rapid Indus River, escaping Genghis Khanand the Mongol army.When it became known that Genghis Khan was marching towards Khwarazm, Jalal ad-din proposed to his father to meet the Mongols in one decisive battle near the Syr Darya. However, Muhammad II relied on his well-fortified fortresses and did not assemble troops, distributing them instead among the major towns of his empire. Meanwhile, the Mongols swiftly took one city after another. At the beginning of 1220, Bukhara fell, followed by Samarqand. Muhammad started to retreat west, and after a series of unsuccessful battles, was left with a handful of soldiers and his sons. The huge and undisciplined Khwarazmian army was unable to defeat the enemy, which was much inferior in number.
Legend has it that Muhammad, who fled to the Caspian Sea, being terminally ill, gathered his sons: Jalal ad-Din, Aqshah, and Uzlagh Khan and announced that he appointed Jalal ad-Din as heir to the throne, because only he could confront the enemy. Summoning the younger sons to obedience, he hung his sword on the belt of Jalal ad-Din. A few days later, Muhammad died and Jalal ad-Din was proclaimed a Khwarazmshah.
Following the defeat of his father, Ala ad-Din Muhammad II by Genghis Khan in 1220, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu came to power and retreated with the remaining Khwarazm forces, while pursued by a Mongol army and at the battle of Parwan, north of Kabul, defeated the Mongols.
Due to the Mongol invasion, the sacking of Samarkand and being deserted by his Afghan allies, Jalal ad-Din was forced to flee to India. At the Indus River, however, the Mongols caught up with him and slaughtered his forces, along with thousands of refugees, at the Battle of Indus. He escaped and sought asylum in the Sultanate of Delhi but Iltutmish denied this to him in deference to the relationship with the Abbasid caliphs. The cities of Herat, Ghazni and Merv were destroyed and massacred by the Mongols, for his resistance or rebelliousness.
Re-establishment of the kingdom
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu spent three years in exile in India. He entered into an alliance with the Khokhars, Lahore, and much of the Punjabwas captured. At this stage he requested an alliance with Iltutmish, the Turkish MamlukSultan of Delhi against the Mongols. The Sultan of Delhi refused so he could avoid a conflict with Genghis Khan and marched towards Lahore at the head of a large army. Mingburnu retreated from Lahore and moved towards Uchch, inflicting a heavy defeat on its ruler Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha, and plundered Sindh, then northern Gujaratbefore returning to Persia in 1224.
Having gathered an army and entered Persia, Jalal ad-Din sought to re-establish the Khwarazm kingdom, but he never fully consolidated his power. In 1224, he confirmed Burak Hadjib, ruler of the Qara Khitai, in Kerman, received the submission of his brother Ghiyath al-Din Pirshah, who had established himself in Hamadan and Isfahan, and the province of Fars, and clashed with the Caliph An Nasserin Khuzestan. In 1225, the sultan dethroned the Ildegizid Uzbek Muzaffar al-Din and set himself up in their capital of Tabriz on the 25 of July in 1225. In 1226, he attacked Georgia defeating their forces in the battle of Garni and conquered Tbilisi.
Warfare
Jalal ad-Din spent the rest of his days struggling against the Mongols, pretenders to the throne and the Seljuqs of Rûm. His dominance in the region required year-after-year campaigning. In 1226, the governor of Kerman, Burak Hadjib, rebelled against him, but after the sultan marched against him he was again brought back into agreement. Jalal ad-Din then had a brief victory over the Seljuqs and captured the town of Akhlat in Turkey from the Ayyubids. In 1227, he battled against the Mongols on the approach to Isfahanand while he did not defeat the invaders following their great losses they were not able to utilise their victory and withdrew afterwards across the Oxus river. In 1228, his brother Ghiyath al-Din rebelled and was defeated by the Sultan. Ghiyath al-Din fled to Burak Hadjib in Kerman where he and his mother were murdered. The revived Khwarezmid Sultan by this time controlled Kerman, Tabriz, Isfahan and Fars. Jalal ad-Din moved against Akhlat again in 1229. However he was defeated in this campaign by Sultan Kayqubad I at Erzincan on the Upper Euphrates at the Battle of Yassıçemenin 1230, from whence he escaped to Diyarbakir.
Death
Through the ruler of Alamut, the Mongols learned that Jalal ad-Din was weakened by a recent defeat. Ögedei Khan sent a new army of 30,000 men under the command of Chormagan and the Khwarazmians were swept away by the new Mongol army. In the winter of 1231, in the ensuing confusion the Mongols arrived into Azerbaijan from the direction of Khorasan and Rayy. The 30,000strong Mongol army led by Chormaganeasily defeated Jalal ad-Din and occupied northern Iran. Khwarazmshah retreated to Ganja. The Mongols followed him and captured Arran. Jalal ad-Din took refuge in the Mayyafarikin mountains and there in August of that year he was killed by an unknown Kurd, allegedly employed by the Seljuks.
Destruction of Sanjan
End of the Age of Peace. Muslim Assault on Sanjan
Qissa couplet line 246. Five hundred years had passed in Hind when the Muslims came to Chapaner*.
[Note: *In 1206, Muslim rule was established in Delhi and the new Sultanate quickly began to spread its influence and control. The Qissa's author Bahman Kaikobad, appears to have confused two events involving Muslim armies, one five hundred years after the Zoroastrian-Parsi landing at Sanjan i.e. in the 1,200s and the other seven hundred years after the landing, i.e. in the 1,400s. We place line 246 here to maintain the chronological order of the two events.]
241. In this manner, seven hundred years went by and many of their descendants had lived in that town.
When several years passed over, the heavens became filled with misfortune,
The world suddenly became distressing for them and Time (destiny) resolved to take their lives.
247. A king ascended to the throne. He was called Sultan Mahmud**
He was known to his subjects as the 'shadow of God'.
After some years, he came to know of the Raja of Sanjan.
[Note: **In the mid fifteenth century, Sultan Mahmud Begada (r. 1458-1511 CE) ascended to the throne of Gujarat Sultanate. Alternatively, according to Kamerkar and Dhunjisha (2002) the Qissa's 'Sultan Mahmud' was Nasiruddin Mahmud Tughlaq and the assault on Sanjan took place in 1399 ACE.]
250. One day, the king's vazir (prime minister) went to Alaf (Ulugh?) Khan (a general?) with an order from the victorious king,
That he should march on Sanjan with speed and take possession of it.
Thus ordered by Sultan Mahmud, he rushed from his dwelling like smoke.
He readied his troops and unfurled his eagle (banner).
Marching with his army, he arrived at prosperous Sanjan.
255. The Hindu Raja received news that the advancing troops had been assembled from all quarters.
A host of thirty thousand horsemen, each with two mounts, all good warriors and famous heroes.
On hearing the news the raja lost consciousness and regained his senses in an hour.
Thereupon he summoned all mobeds, herbads and behdins.
The good king enquired of them, "My faithful, what measures do you propose we adopt?"
260. "My ancestors have extended their patronage to you and bestowed many favours.
In this hour of need, gird up your loins in my service and take the lead in battle.
If you acknowledge the obligations you owe my forbears, do not fail to raise your heads in gratitude."
The old mobed answered, "O Raja, do not weigh your heart with news of the approaching host.
As long as each one of us is alive, we will scatter the heads of a hundred thousand foes."
265. "Such is our tradition in battle, that as long as we are alive, we are of this worth,
That not a single one from among us will turn his back even if a grinding stone were to be held to his head."
The raja upon hearing the response gave each a robe of honour
In those days there were several fit to fight young and old behdins
When a count was taken, one thousand four hundred entered the rolls.***
[Note: *** This is our first idea of the remaining population of Sanjan and most likely surrounding towns.]
270. With speed, they saddled their horse and at the beat of the drum mounted their steeds.
Arrayed on the battlefield, they lined themselves with the raja and his forces.
The first light broke the darkness of night while the stars descended into this of the cave.
Alaf Khan prepared himself for battle with the forces of the Raja.
He and his horsemen donned their armour and approached the battlefield.
275. Jewelled saddles were placed on their chargers. Banners were raised on the back of their elephants.
The horses were harnessed and earth was filled with the sight of elephants.
The commanders lined up the forces in battle formation and weapons were drawn.
When the battlefield was filled with the armies at ready, the brazen trumpets were sounded,
The armies of Islam on one side and those of the Hindu raja on the other.
280. Day and night they battled and constantly at the gallop, the horses grew weary.
The two commanders fought like two water-dragons locked in a struggle with the fury of tigers.
The earth darkened from the clouds of swords, spears and arrows that came raining down.
The bodies of the slain from both sides began to pile in heaps.
There was none to heed their moans and calls for aid, for such was the decree of providence.
285. So many had fallen in battle, that nary a man could be seen standing
Suddenly, the Hindus took flight and no one could be recognized in the battlefield.
A behdin called to his comrades, "I cannot see any of our Hindu allies either to the front or to the rear
The Hindus have fled the battle, and no one save ourselves remain to do battle.
Now, dear friend, in this hour of combat we must battle like lions."
In 1297, the Muslim Sultan Allaudin Khilji launched a campaign under the command of Altaf Khan to conquer and subjugate Gujarat then ruled by King Karan Vaghela, (a possible descendant of King Jadav Rana). The Muslim armies destroyed the wealthy port of Khambat (Cambay) and pillaged the other towns and cities. Their killing of the civilian population was wonton and indiscriminate. The hated jizya tax was imposed on non-Muslims and unless non-Muslims consented to conversion, their lives became one of servitude and existence just to pay the tax.
Towards the late 14th century CE, the Muslim Sultanate started to break up after being being defeated by Timur Leng. Where possible, Hindus reasserted their independence and in places established local Hindu kingdoms. At the start of the fifteenth century, a Hindu king ruled over Godavra of which the village of Variav was a part. In a twist of history, the Hindu king imposed a heavy tax on the Parsees of Variav and when, by one account, they refused to pay, he slaughtered them all - men, women and children. But in other areas of Gujarat, the Parsees managed to live peaceably under whoever was the current ruler in their area.
Triumph of Ardeshir
Qissa couplet line 290. "If we attack as a body, we will draw the enemy's blood with sword and spear.
The first among the behdins to step forward was Ardeshir by name.
Seizing the moment the famed Ardeshir spurred his horse forward
Leaping in the air they landed within the ranks spear in hand
Dismounting, he stood upright clad in armour, spear in one hand, sword tied to the other.
295. At first, arrows raining from all sides tore through their armour
The world illuminating sun was hidden and no one could tell if it was night or day.
Then face of the sun was hidden by dust as man fell upon man
You might say the earth was covered with black tar in which arrow-heads glistened like diamonds.
From the thousands of spearmen and mace-bearers only a few remained standing
300. While the sky grew dark and gloomy, the soil, drenched with the blood of chiefs, grew red as a tulip.
For blood gushed from their bodies like a fountain, their shields were torn to shreds by the blade of the sword.
Men's armour entombed them from head to foot and every minute they became the guests of death.
The shafts of the arrows kept on flying in all directions and blood kept spilling on to the black earth.
Spears were buried into breast and blossom and blood oozed from the coats of mail.
307. For three days and nights the battle waged till at last there was no strength left in hand or leg.
309. The might of Islam had at last been stopped in that battle with the Hindu king.
310. In the dark of night Alaf Khan fled abandoning tent and equipment.
Confused, his whole army fled from Ardeshir,
Many of the enemy became his prisoner and he finally stood victorious.
All their tents, equipment and possessions became Ardeshir's prize
The next morning, the sun rose above the hills and it brightened the world once more.
Alaf's Victory & Sanjan's Destruction
Qissa couplet line 316-319. While the Hindu trumpets sounded the news of victory, Alaf prepared to do battle for a second time.
And on hearing the sounds of the drums of war Ardeshir rushed to the Hindu raja.
320. To the raja he said, "They have a hundred to our one."
The following couplets recount another bloody battle, with the Muslim hordes prevailing. Both Ardeshir and the Hindu raja were killed and Muslim armies destroyed Sanjan in every direction.
[Note: A possible date of the sack of Sanjan is 1465 CE (cf. The landing of the Zoroastrians at Sanjan by Rukshana Nanji and Homi Dhalla in Parsis in India and the Diaspora pp. 35–58 edited by John R. Hinnells & Alan Williams).]
Flight to Bahrot
Qissa couplet line 357. The behdins were now dispersed. There is a hill in Hind called Bahrot.
Many fled to it to save their lives. Man has no recourse against the decrees of God.
They had carried their Iranshah with them and twelve years passed there.
[Note: The Parsis hid in caves in Barhot hill. The 1,500 foot high hill is some twenty kilometres south of Sanjan, presently in Maharashtra near Bordi. The hill is reached via Gholvad town, which is about 12 km north of Dahanu station, and then a further 15-20 minute drive to Ashagadh Dam. The hill and its caves are accessed by a trek from the dam.]
Refuge in Bansda
Qissa couplet line 360. Then as heaven decreed, they all gathered together all families and relations.
Taking the Atash Behram with them, they arrived at Bansda.
When news of their arrival reached the town of Bansda, every one out to greet them with kindness
Three hundred men on horse and people of note when ahead to escort them
With a hundred marks of respect, they were brought into the town. It was like a sick person finds relief from poison.
365. From then on, Bansda flourished as if spring had arrived and in this manner time passed
From every clime where the pure religion existed, people of behdin descent
Old men as well as women, all came to pay homage to the Iranshah
Just as they had done in earlier times when they made an unequalled pilgrimage to Sanjan
so also now did did Parsees from various places come to Bansda carrying offerings.
Fourteen years passed in this ways while the celestial spheres revolved favourably for them.
[Note: Boyce (Zoroastrians p. 171) states that Bansda is some eighty kilometres inland (East) of Sanjan. Bansda is also spelt Vansda. There is another town called Vansada and sometimes spelt Vansda which is 80 km (50 km as the crow flies) north-east of Valsad or some 42 km (as the crow flies) east of Bilimora.]
Changashah / Changa Asa the Benefactor (1450 to 1512)
Qissa couplet line 372. A behdin appeared who had no equal in his time.
Known in his time for his devotion to the preserving the religion many good signs came from him
He was a dahyovad, leader, and his name was Changa, son of Asa and he always provided aid and solace to behdins.
375. That good natured man did not allow the faith to be neglected
Whoever had no kusti or sudreh, he provided them with these from his own pocket.
He made many arrangements for the faith. No suffering person who came to him
Did he not provide relief or console his heart.
In those days, many behdins became devoted to the faith through his good fortune.
380. My tongue is unable to describe this behdin who served the religion so well
One year that man of noble birth went to the Atash Kadeh, the fire temple, to fulfil a resolution
It was during the Jashan-e Sadeh, and the Atash Kadeh was at Bansda*
the Jashan-e Sadeh fell on Roz Adar, Mah Adar. Oh brother,
The devout and enlightened davar, upholder of justice, was accompanied by several behdins and dasturs
[Note: * According to what we read elsewhere, the Bansda Atash Kadeh housed in the Sanjan Atash Behram fire at that time.]
385. When they came before the fire, they all prostrated themselves, and then worshipped
They were filled with pleasure and pride
They took the road home with joy and gladness.
After two or three months of that year had passed, the benefactor took an idea to heart
He summoned an anjoman (community meeting) to be assembled and led a discussion about the Atash Kadeh.
Changashah / Changa Asa (sometimes also called Changa Asha), is said to have been the first Zoroastrian desai*, or large agricultural land owner (Pallonji Barjorji Desai, History of the Naosari Desais, Bombay 1887). Changa Asa was known for his piety and was a davar or community leader. [*The desaigiri was an feudal appointment of the Muslim court in Delhi and the position carried with it the responsibility of tax collection on behalf of the rulers. Changa Asa was given the desaigiri of the mahal of Navsari and the pargana of Parchol (mahal and pargana are like a borough). According to the Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. 7, when Achaga Asa's heir could not fulfil the responsibilities of the position, the office was conferred on Dastur Kaikobadji Meherji Rana.]
Rivayats
Changashah / Changa Asa persuaded the Zoroastrians of Navsari to send a representative to Yazd to clarify questions they had on practices and observances (in the seven hundred years since their landing in Sanjan, the Parsees had forgotten many practices). However, such a journey would be filled with peril for any Zoroastrian entering Iran. One brave soul, Nariman Hoshang undertook the task and sailed from Broach to the Persian shores whereupon he journeyed inland to Yazd and eventually met the Dasturan Dastur at Turkabad. While Nariman was warmly welcomed by the high priest of Yazd, little information of substance was exchanged between them since neither could speak the other's language. Undeterred, the indomitable Nariman decided to learn the vernacular, a task that took him a year before he had attained the proficiency required to communicate with the high priest. During this time, Nariman supported himself as a small merchant. When he had accomplished his mission, he returned to Navsari in 1478 CE carrying a lengthy letter, the first of the rivayats and two manuscripts written in Pazend for 'the priests, leaders and chief men of Hindustan' by two Sharifabadi priests.
Thereafter, for the next two hundred years, others Parsees followed in Nariman's footsteps, travelling to Iran at considerable risk to themselves. The Parsees of Navsari diligently collected and preserved all the rivayats and manuscripts they received from their Iranian coreligionists.
These documents from this period inform us that both the Parsi and Iranian communities shared a desire for orthodoxy and uniformity with the Parsees bringing their rites into line with the Iranian practice. These included the Nirangdin ceremony, the purity rites including the bareshnum, the method of consecrating a fire, temple and dakhma, preparation of the hom and using the barsom. The Yazdis also sent the Parsees ephedra (hom plant) twigs back with the Parsi envoys and at every other opportunity.
Mary Boyce on page 174 of her Zoroastrians informs us that one of the questions and its answer, according to B. N. Dhabhar, in p.276 of The Persian Rivayats of Hormazyar Framarz and Others (Bombay 1932), was whether they should allow into their fold their Hindu servants who wished to enter the religion. The Iranis replied that while it was preferable for Zoroastrians to be of Iranian blood, "if servant boys and girls have faith in the Good Religion, then it is proper that they should tie the kusti, and when they become instructed, attentive to religion, and steadfast, the bareshnum should be administered to them."
In the very first of the letters the Yazdis sent back with Nariman, the Yazdis noted with sadness that at no time since Gayomard at the dawn of Aryan history had times been more distressing and dangerous for behdins than during the present "millennium of the demon of wrath" (Mary Boyce in Zoroastrians p. 175 quoting Dhabhar p. 598). Some residents of Yazd were fugitives from the Safavid kings who made Shia Islam the official religion of Iran. Abbas II (1642-67 CE) expropriated Zoroastrian land around Isfahan and the last of the Safavids, the butcher Sultan Husain or Hosain (1694-1722 CE), issued a decree for the forced conversions of Zoroastrians to Shia Islam at the point of the sword the sword. A Christian archbishop witnessed the destruction of a Zoroastrian temple and the massacre of those Zoroastrians who refused to convert. The slaughter of Zoroastrians turned the river red with blood.
Bringing the Atash Behram to Navsari
Qissa couplet line 390. "I yearn that the King of Kings here (Navsari). Oh well-wishers,
If we look at the face of the king everyday, we will gain great merit
In addition, we have to endure great hardship making the journey every year
For in that month it rains heavily and the going is difficult
What can be better, O friends, than proceeding to Bansda with some men of distinction."
395. "And bring back the glorious Atash Behram so that we can behold it daily?
Our means of livelihood will be enhanced and the hearts of our behdins will be filled with light."
All rejoiced on hearing his words as they would longer suffer the ordeal of travelling to Bansda.
With a hundred marks of reverence they brought over the fire and gave it in a fine home.
Three behdins were assigned as attendants at all times.
400. Night and day worship was celebrated by the one associate at the appointed geh (watch)
One of them was (Dastur) Nagan Ram*, piety was his constant work;
The second dastur was named Khursheed, and his father was Kayam-ud-din who was in eternity;
The third was Dastur Chiayyian (Janian), son of Saer, and who was also always in its service.
Their families and kindred were with them and all of them attended the Iranshah.
[Note: * According to Hodivala, the Qissa's author, Bahman Kaikobad "himself was a lineal descendant of this Nagan Ram, the pedigree being Bahman, Kaikobad, Hamjiar, Padam, Kaman, Narsang, Nagan, Ram."]
405. They were received with great respect and greatest and were treated with honour
These three Dasturs had arrived at Navsari, with their relatives, after a long journey.
In those days, that pious dawar befriended these priests of the Iranshah.
May his servant's homage reach him from this world. May his abode be among the celestial beings.
And so ends our exposition of the Qissa-e Sanjan.
As we had noted in our previous page, Kamdin Zarthosht was the first priest to arrive in Navsari from Sanjan in 1142. Navsari would go on to become the headquarters of the Zoroastrian-Parsi priesthood and a centre of religious learning and authority (The Parsis of India: Preservation of Identity in Bombay City by Jesse S. Palsetia). Two families of priests settled in Navsari in the early thirteenth century and their descendants are the present priests of Navsari.
Changa Asa had an Atash Bahram built to house the Iranshah fire brought over from Bansda to Navsari in 1516 (also see Atash Behram Moved to Navsari, Udvada page). In 1531, Manek Changa, the son of Changa Asa, built a stone Dakhma in Navsari.
While Navsari became the religious medieval capital of the Parsi-Zoroastrians, Surat would become the community headquarters. In the modern era, Udvada would assume the position of religious capital, while Bombay became the community headquarters.
Cheers, Doc
End of the Age of Peace. Muslim Assault on Sanjan
Qissa couplet line 246. Five hundred years had passed in Hind when the Muslims came to Chapaner*.
[Note: *In 1206, Muslim rule was established in Delhi and the new Sultanate quickly began to spread its influence and control. The Qissa's author Bahman Kaikobad, appears to have confused two events involving Muslim armies, one five hundred years after the Zoroastrian-Parsi landing at Sanjan i.e. in the 1,200s and the other seven hundred years after the landing, i.e. in the 1,400s. We place line 246 here to maintain the chronological order of the two events.]
241. In this manner, seven hundred years went by and many of their descendants had lived in that town.
When several years passed over, the heavens became filled with misfortune,
The world suddenly became distressing for them and Time (destiny) resolved to take their lives.
247. A king ascended to the throne. He was called Sultan Mahmud**
He was known to his subjects as the 'shadow of God'.
After some years, he came to know of the Raja of Sanjan.
[Note: **In the mid fifteenth century, Sultan Mahmud Begada (r. 1458-1511 CE) ascended to the throne of Gujarat Sultanate. Alternatively, according to Kamerkar and Dhunjisha (2002) the Qissa's 'Sultan Mahmud' was Nasiruddin Mahmud Tughlaq and the assault on Sanjan took place in 1399 ACE.]
250. One day, the king's vazir (prime minister) went to Alaf (Ulugh?) Khan (a general?) with an order from the victorious king,
That he should march on Sanjan with speed and take possession of it.
Thus ordered by Sultan Mahmud, he rushed from his dwelling like smoke.
He readied his troops and unfurled his eagle (banner).
Marching with his army, he arrived at prosperous Sanjan.
255. The Hindu Raja received news that the advancing troops had been assembled from all quarters.
A host of thirty thousand horsemen, each with two mounts, all good warriors and famous heroes.
On hearing the news the raja lost consciousness and regained his senses in an hour.
Thereupon he summoned all mobeds, herbads and behdins.
The good king enquired of them, "My faithful, what measures do you propose we adopt?"
260. "My ancestors have extended their patronage to you and bestowed many favours.
In this hour of need, gird up your loins in my service and take the lead in battle.
If you acknowledge the obligations you owe my forbears, do not fail to raise your heads in gratitude."
The old mobed answered, "O Raja, do not weigh your heart with news of the approaching host.
As long as each one of us is alive, we will scatter the heads of a hundred thousand foes."
265. "Such is our tradition in battle, that as long as we are alive, we are of this worth,
That not a single one from among us will turn his back even if a grinding stone were to be held to his head."
The raja upon hearing the response gave each a robe of honour
In those days there were several fit to fight young and old behdins
When a count was taken, one thousand four hundred entered the rolls.***
[Note: *** This is our first idea of the remaining population of Sanjan and most likely surrounding towns.]
270. With speed, they saddled their horse and at the beat of the drum mounted their steeds.
Arrayed on the battlefield, they lined themselves with the raja and his forces.
The first light broke the darkness of night while the stars descended into this of the cave.
Alaf Khan prepared himself for battle with the forces of the Raja.
He and his horsemen donned their armour and approached the battlefield.
275. Jewelled saddles were placed on their chargers. Banners were raised on the back of their elephants.
The horses were harnessed and earth was filled with the sight of elephants.
The commanders lined up the forces in battle formation and weapons were drawn.
When the battlefield was filled with the armies at ready, the brazen trumpets were sounded,
The armies of Islam on one side and those of the Hindu raja on the other.
280. Day and night they battled and constantly at the gallop, the horses grew weary.
The two commanders fought like two water-dragons locked in a struggle with the fury of tigers.
The earth darkened from the clouds of swords, spears and arrows that came raining down.
The bodies of the slain from both sides began to pile in heaps.
There was none to heed their moans and calls for aid, for such was the decree of providence.
285. So many had fallen in battle, that nary a man could be seen standing
Suddenly, the Hindus took flight and no one could be recognized in the battlefield.
A behdin called to his comrades, "I cannot see any of our Hindu allies either to the front or to the rear
The Hindus have fled the battle, and no one save ourselves remain to do battle.
Now, dear friend, in this hour of combat we must battle like lions."
In 1297, the Muslim Sultan Allaudin Khilji launched a campaign under the command of Altaf Khan to conquer and subjugate Gujarat then ruled by King Karan Vaghela, (a possible descendant of King Jadav Rana). The Muslim armies destroyed the wealthy port of Khambat (Cambay) and pillaged the other towns and cities. Their killing of the civilian population was wonton and indiscriminate. The hated jizya tax was imposed on non-Muslims and unless non-Muslims consented to conversion, their lives became one of servitude and existence just to pay the tax.
Towards the late 14th century CE, the Muslim Sultanate started to break up after being being defeated by Timur Leng. Where possible, Hindus reasserted their independence and in places established local Hindu kingdoms. At the start of the fifteenth century, a Hindu king ruled over Godavra of which the village of Variav was a part. In a twist of history, the Hindu king imposed a heavy tax on the Parsees of Variav and when, by one account, they refused to pay, he slaughtered them all - men, women and children. But in other areas of Gujarat, the Parsees managed to live peaceably under whoever was the current ruler in their area.
Triumph of Ardeshir
Qissa couplet line 290. "If we attack as a body, we will draw the enemy's blood with sword and spear.
The first among the behdins to step forward was Ardeshir by name.
Seizing the moment the famed Ardeshir spurred his horse forward
Leaping in the air they landed within the ranks spear in hand
Dismounting, he stood upright clad in armour, spear in one hand, sword tied to the other.
295. At first, arrows raining from all sides tore through their armour
The world illuminating sun was hidden and no one could tell if it was night or day.
Then face of the sun was hidden by dust as man fell upon man
You might say the earth was covered with black tar in which arrow-heads glistened like diamonds.
From the thousands of spearmen and mace-bearers only a few remained standing
300. While the sky grew dark and gloomy, the soil, drenched with the blood of chiefs, grew red as a tulip.
For blood gushed from their bodies like a fountain, their shields were torn to shreds by the blade of the sword.
Men's armour entombed them from head to foot and every minute they became the guests of death.
The shafts of the arrows kept on flying in all directions and blood kept spilling on to the black earth.
Spears were buried into breast and blossom and blood oozed from the coats of mail.
307. For three days and nights the battle waged till at last there was no strength left in hand or leg.
309. The might of Islam had at last been stopped in that battle with the Hindu king.
310. In the dark of night Alaf Khan fled abandoning tent and equipment.
Confused, his whole army fled from Ardeshir,
Many of the enemy became his prisoner and he finally stood victorious.
All their tents, equipment and possessions became Ardeshir's prize
The next morning, the sun rose above the hills and it brightened the world once more.
Alaf's Victory & Sanjan's Destruction
Qissa couplet line 316-319. While the Hindu trumpets sounded the news of victory, Alaf prepared to do battle for a second time.
And on hearing the sounds of the drums of war Ardeshir rushed to the Hindu raja.
320. To the raja he said, "They have a hundred to our one."
The following couplets recount another bloody battle, with the Muslim hordes prevailing. Both Ardeshir and the Hindu raja were killed and Muslim armies destroyed Sanjan in every direction.
[Note: A possible date of the sack of Sanjan is 1465 CE (cf. The landing of the Zoroastrians at Sanjan by Rukshana Nanji and Homi Dhalla in Parsis in India and the Diaspora pp. 35–58 edited by John R. Hinnells & Alan Williams).]
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| Gujarat (India) towns where Parsees settled Image credit: Base map courtesy Microsoft Encarta. Additions copyright K. E. Eduljee |
Qissa couplet line 357. The behdins were now dispersed. There is a hill in Hind called Bahrot.
Many fled to it to save their lives. Man has no recourse against the decrees of God.
They had carried their Iranshah with them and twelve years passed there.
[Note: The Parsis hid in caves in Barhot hill. The 1,500 foot high hill is some twenty kilometres south of Sanjan, presently in Maharashtra near Bordi. The hill is reached via Gholvad town, which is about 12 km north of Dahanu station, and then a further 15-20 minute drive to Ashagadh Dam. The hill and its caves are accessed by a trek from the dam.]
| Tour and Plight of the Bahrot Cave |
Refuge in Bansda
Qissa couplet line 360. Then as heaven decreed, they all gathered together all families and relations.
Taking the Atash Behram with them, they arrived at Bansda.
When news of their arrival reached the town of Bansda, every one out to greet them with kindness
Three hundred men on horse and people of note when ahead to escort them
With a hundred marks of respect, they were brought into the town. It was like a sick person finds relief from poison.
365. From then on, Bansda flourished as if spring had arrived and in this manner time passed
From every clime where the pure religion existed, people of behdin descent
Old men as well as women, all came to pay homage to the Iranshah
Just as they had done in earlier times when they made an unequalled pilgrimage to Sanjan
so also now did did Parsees from various places come to Bansda carrying offerings.
Fourteen years passed in this ways while the celestial spheres revolved favourably for them.
[Note: Boyce (Zoroastrians p. 171) states that Bansda is some eighty kilometres inland (East) of Sanjan. Bansda is also spelt Vansda. There is another town called Vansada and sometimes spelt Vansda which is 80 km (50 km as the crow flies) north-east of Valsad or some 42 km (as the crow flies) east of Bilimora.]
Changashah / Changa Asa the Benefactor (1450 to 1512)
Qissa couplet line 372. A behdin appeared who had no equal in his time.
Known in his time for his devotion to the preserving the religion many good signs came from him
He was a dahyovad, leader, and his name was Changa, son of Asa and he always provided aid and solace to behdins.
375. That good natured man did not allow the faith to be neglected
Whoever had no kusti or sudreh, he provided them with these from his own pocket.
He made many arrangements for the faith. No suffering person who came to him
Did he not provide relief or console his heart.
In those days, many behdins became devoted to the faith through his good fortune.
380. My tongue is unable to describe this behdin who served the religion so well
One year that man of noble birth went to the Atash Kadeh, the fire temple, to fulfil a resolution
It was during the Jashan-e Sadeh, and the Atash Kadeh was at Bansda*
the Jashan-e Sadeh fell on Roz Adar, Mah Adar. Oh brother,
The devout and enlightened davar, upholder of justice, was accompanied by several behdins and dasturs
[Note: * According to what we read elsewhere, the Bansda Atash Kadeh housed in the Sanjan Atash Behram fire at that time.]
385. When they came before the fire, they all prostrated themselves, and then worshipped
They were filled with pleasure and pride
They took the road home with joy and gladness.
After two or three months of that year had passed, the benefactor took an idea to heart
He summoned an anjoman (community meeting) to be assembled and led a discussion about the Atash Kadeh.
Changashah / Changa Asa (sometimes also called Changa Asha), is said to have been the first Zoroastrian desai*, or large agricultural land owner (Pallonji Barjorji Desai, History of the Naosari Desais, Bombay 1887). Changa Asa was known for his piety and was a davar or community leader. [*The desaigiri was an feudal appointment of the Muslim court in Delhi and the position carried with it the responsibility of tax collection on behalf of the rulers. Changa Asa was given the desaigiri of the mahal of Navsari and the pargana of Parchol (mahal and pargana are like a borough). According to the Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. 7, when Achaga Asa's heir could not fulfil the responsibilities of the position, the office was conferred on Dastur Kaikobadji Meherji Rana.]
Rivayats
Changashah / Changa Asa persuaded the Zoroastrians of Navsari to send a representative to Yazd to clarify questions they had on practices and observances (in the seven hundred years since their landing in Sanjan, the Parsees had forgotten many practices). However, such a journey would be filled with peril for any Zoroastrian entering Iran. One brave soul, Nariman Hoshang undertook the task and sailed from Broach to the Persian shores whereupon he journeyed inland to Yazd and eventually met the Dasturan Dastur at Turkabad. While Nariman was warmly welcomed by the high priest of Yazd, little information of substance was exchanged between them since neither could speak the other's language. Undeterred, the indomitable Nariman decided to learn the vernacular, a task that took him a year before he had attained the proficiency required to communicate with the high priest. During this time, Nariman supported himself as a small merchant. When he had accomplished his mission, he returned to Navsari in 1478 CE carrying a lengthy letter, the first of the rivayats and two manuscripts written in Pazend for 'the priests, leaders and chief men of Hindustan' by two Sharifabadi priests.
Thereafter, for the next two hundred years, others Parsees followed in Nariman's footsteps, travelling to Iran at considerable risk to themselves. The Parsees of Navsari diligently collected and preserved all the rivayats and manuscripts they received from their Iranian coreligionists.
These documents from this period inform us that both the Parsi and Iranian communities shared a desire for orthodoxy and uniformity with the Parsees bringing their rites into line with the Iranian practice. These included the Nirangdin ceremony, the purity rites including the bareshnum, the method of consecrating a fire, temple and dakhma, preparation of the hom and using the barsom. The Yazdis also sent the Parsees ephedra (hom plant) twigs back with the Parsi envoys and at every other opportunity.
Mary Boyce on page 174 of her Zoroastrians informs us that one of the questions and its answer, according to B. N. Dhabhar, in p.276 of The Persian Rivayats of Hormazyar Framarz and Others (Bombay 1932), was whether they should allow into their fold their Hindu servants who wished to enter the religion. The Iranis replied that while it was preferable for Zoroastrians to be of Iranian blood, "if servant boys and girls have faith in the Good Religion, then it is proper that they should tie the kusti, and when they become instructed, attentive to religion, and steadfast, the bareshnum should be administered to them."
In the very first of the letters the Yazdis sent back with Nariman, the Yazdis noted with sadness that at no time since Gayomard at the dawn of Aryan history had times been more distressing and dangerous for behdins than during the present "millennium of the demon of wrath" (Mary Boyce in Zoroastrians p. 175 quoting Dhabhar p. 598). Some residents of Yazd were fugitives from the Safavid kings who made Shia Islam the official religion of Iran. Abbas II (1642-67 CE) expropriated Zoroastrian land around Isfahan and the last of the Safavids, the butcher Sultan Husain or Hosain (1694-1722 CE), issued a decree for the forced conversions of Zoroastrians to Shia Islam at the point of the sword the sword. A Christian archbishop witnessed the destruction of a Zoroastrian temple and the massacre of those Zoroastrians who refused to convert. The slaughter of Zoroastrians turned the river red with blood.
Bringing the Atash Behram to Navsari
Qissa couplet line 390. "I yearn that the King of Kings here (Navsari). Oh well-wishers,
If we look at the face of the king everyday, we will gain great merit
In addition, we have to endure great hardship making the journey every year
For in that month it rains heavily and the going is difficult
What can be better, O friends, than proceeding to Bansda with some men of distinction."
395. "And bring back the glorious Atash Behram so that we can behold it daily?
Our means of livelihood will be enhanced and the hearts of our behdins will be filled with light."
All rejoiced on hearing his words as they would longer suffer the ordeal of travelling to Bansda.
With a hundred marks of reverence they brought over the fire and gave it in a fine home.
Three behdins were assigned as attendants at all times.
400. Night and day worship was celebrated by the one associate at the appointed geh (watch)
One of them was (Dastur) Nagan Ram*, piety was his constant work;
The second dastur was named Khursheed, and his father was Kayam-ud-din who was in eternity;
The third was Dastur Chiayyian (Janian), son of Saer, and who was also always in its service.
Their families and kindred were with them and all of them attended the Iranshah.
[Note: * According to Hodivala, the Qissa's author, Bahman Kaikobad "himself was a lineal descendant of this Nagan Ram, the pedigree being Bahman, Kaikobad, Hamjiar, Padam, Kaman, Narsang, Nagan, Ram."]
405. They were received with great respect and greatest and were treated with honour
These three Dasturs had arrived at Navsari, with their relatives, after a long journey.
In those days, that pious dawar befriended these priests of the Iranshah.
May his servant's homage reach him from this world. May his abode be among the celestial beings.
And so ends our exposition of the Qissa-e Sanjan.
As we had noted in our previous page, Kamdin Zarthosht was the first priest to arrive in Navsari from Sanjan in 1142. Navsari would go on to become the headquarters of the Zoroastrian-Parsi priesthood and a centre of religious learning and authority (The Parsis of India: Preservation of Identity in Bombay City by Jesse S. Palsetia). Two families of priests settled in Navsari in the early thirteenth century and their descendants are the present priests of Navsari.
Changa Asa had an Atash Bahram built to house the Iranshah fire brought over from Bansda to Navsari in 1516 (also see Atash Behram Moved to Navsari, Udvada page). In 1531, Manek Changa, the son of Changa Asa, built a stone Dakhma in Navsari.
While Navsari became the religious medieval capital of the Parsi-Zoroastrians, Surat would become the community headquarters. In the modern era, Udvada would assume the position of religious capital, while Bombay became the community headquarters.
Cheers, Doc
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You never know.. sad if true.It was not all a bed of roses with the Hindus either.
This is the dish that is cooked in our homes to commemorate this day and this battle and those brave sisters of ours.
Its called Vaal or Titori.
Usually accompanied by doodh paak (sweet rice kheer) and small puris (actually more like small round deep fried soft crusty biscuits).
Cheers, Doc
Dish looks nice. Sweet rice with a fried bread, yummy.
Its a slightly bitter bean. I don't know the name in Hindi.
Very laborious preparation. Soaked in a wet muslin cloth and hung up overnight (2 nights actually).
Then the ladies (how friggin ironic is that!) sit down and peel each bean individually of the outer softened shell.
Then its cooked in large iron handis on slow flame (takes most of the morning and afternoon).
Usually we cook enough to give family and friends and its still eaten over 2-3 days.
I love it!
Cheers, Doc
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Never heard the story earlier, but then again I know little and only have cursory knowledge about the Parsis. Do most households acknowledge and commemorate said incident ?
Its universal. Parsis around the world. Its part of our Parsi calendar. Both Shahenshahi and Kadmi.
It definitely happened. Vaal nu Parab in Gujarati means Festival of the Vaal. Its celebrated every year in September some time.
To my knowledge this is the ONLY Hindu on Parsi conflict that happened of any significance in 1000 years.
Cheers, Doc
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