IOverview
Parsi means a person from Pars, the region of southwest Iran. It is the name of the Zoroastrian community of India, descended from people who left Iran for the coast of Gujarat more than a thousand years ago. They are a community, not a separate sect: they share the Avesta, the teaching and the fire temples with Zoroastrians in Iran.
Small as they are, the Parsis are the largest Zoroastrian community in the world and the main keepers of the religion's ritual system. Eight of the nine Atash Behrams, the highest grade of sacred fire, are in India. Parsis speak Gujarati as their mother tongue but pray in the original Avestan.
IIHistorical Development
The main account of the Parsi arrival is the Qissa-i Sanjan, a Persian poem written by the priest Bahman Kaikobad in 1599. It tells of a group that left Khorasan, stayed on the island of Diu and then reached Sanjan on the Gujarat coast, where a local king let them settle on four conditions. Three landing dates are proposed: 716, 785 and 936. The earliest independent evidence is the Kollam copper plates of 849, bearing Pahlavi signatures. According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, the oldest surviving document on the division of Gujarat into five priestly districts, or panthaks, dates from 1543.
From the 17th and 18th centuries many Parsi families moved from Surat to Bombay. There they became prominent merchants, shipowners, industrialists and philanthropists, founding hospitals, schools and housing for the community.
- 716, 785 or 936Landing at SanjanThree dates proposed, depending on how the 1599 text is read.
- 1728Bombay Parsi PunchayetThe founding year usually given for the Bombay community council.
- 1742Iranshah fire reaches UdvadaThe Parsis' most revered fire has burned at Udvada ever since.
- 1851Rahnumae Mazdayasnan SabhaA reform society that opens the reformist current.
- 1908Petit v. JijibhaiThe Bombay court considers who counts as a Parsi.
- 1941Population peakThe census records 114,890 Parsis.
- 2013Jiyo Parsi schemeThe Indian government supports the community against population decline.
IIIReligious Life and Distinctive Features
In doctrine the Parsis follow the shared faith: worship of Ahura Mazda, the triad of good thoughts, good words and good deeds, prayer before fire. What is particular lies in three areas. First, a hereditary priesthood is still fairly strictly maintained, organised by panthak. Second, most follow the Shahenshahi calendar, so their New Year currently falls in August. Third is membership: in the traditional view a Parsi is someone with a Parsi father who has undergone the Navjote, and the community does not accept converts.
Misconception: Parsi is a separate religion that split from Zoroastrianism. In fact: Parsi names a community defined by its migration history. The Iranis of India and the Zoroastrians of Iran share the same faith, scriptures and temples.
IVRitual and Everyday Life
Parsi children undergo the Navjote, putting on the sudreh and tying the kusti, usually before puberty. Homes have a prayer corner with a divo lamp. Worshippers visit the fire temple, which Parsis call an agiary at the ordinary grade, bringing sandalwood for the fire. By community custom in India, non-Zoroastrians may not enter the halls where the sacred fire burns.
The traditional funeral places the body in a tower of silence, as at Doongerwadi in Mumbai. With the steep decline of India's vultures, solar concentrators have been installed there to help decomposition, and some families choose cremation, which remains contested within the community.
VOrganisation and Distribution
The Parsis have no central church. Each major temple has its own dastur, and communal affairs are run by local councils called anjumans or panchayats. The Bombay Parsi Punchayet is the oldest and largest, managing charitable trusts, housing colonies and the Doongerwadi grounds.
| Year | Parsis in India | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1941 | 114,890 | Census, as cited on English Wikipedia |
| 1971 | 91,266 | Census, as cited in the main article |
| 2001 | 69,601 | Census of India |
| 2011 | 57,264 | Census of India |
The Parsi population of India has fallen census after census, owing to low fertility, late marriage and emigration. In 2013 the Indian government launched the Jiyo Parsi scheme to support childbearing. Outside India there are communities in Karachi, where Pakistan's 2023 census recorded 2,348 Zoroastrians, and in Britain, North America, Australia and Singapore, where Parsis often share associations with Zoroastrians of Iranian origin.
VIIn Vietnam
The library has found no reliable source recording a Parsi community, fire temple or association in Vietnam, including in the colonial period when Indian traders came to Saigon. The nearest Parsi community is in Singapore, where the first Parsi is recorded in 1827.
VIISymbol of the Branch
No distinct symbol, shares the sacred fire altar
VIIISub-branches
- Bombay Parsi Punchayet (community council)
- Five priestly districts (panthaks) in Gujarat
IXOther Branches of Zoroastrianism
Parsisપારસી ParsiDescendants of Zoroastrians who left Iran for Gujarat over a thousand years ago.
Iranian Zoroastriansزرتشتیان ZartoshtiyanZoroastrians who remained in Iran, centred in Yazd, Kerman and Tehran, with a Council of Mobeds in Tehran.
Iranis (India)IraniZoroastrians who came from Qajar Iran to British India in the 19th and early 20th centuries, still speaking Zoroastrian Dari.Uses the common symbol of the pathShahenshahi calendar groupShahanshahi, ShenshaiFollowers of the traditional Indian Parsi calendar, the majority among Parsis.Uses the common symbol of the pathKadmi (Qadimi) calendar groupQadimi, KadmiA section of Parsis adopted the Qadimi calendar in 1745.Uses the common symbol of the pathFasli calendar groupFasli, called Bastani in IranA seasonal calendar with a leap day, proposed in 1906 and widely adopted in Iran after 1930 and in the West.Uses the common symbol of the pathReformist ZoroastriansReformistA tendency since the mid-19th century that takes the Gathas as the core and treats much ritual law as later accretion.Uses the common symbol of the pathIlm-e-KhshnoomIlm-e KhshnoomAn esoteric school started by Behramshah Shroff in India after 1875, teaching reincarnation and vegetarianism and keeping strict ritual observance.Uses the common symbol of the pathZoroastrian revival in Iraqi KurdistanZardeshti (Kurdish)A Kurdish revival movement officially recognised by the Kurdistan Regional Government in August 2015, with a fire temple in Sulaymaniyah.Uses the common symbol of the pathZurvanismZurvanA Sasanian-era tendency that made Infinite Time the source of both Ohrmazd and Ahriman.Uses the common symbol of the pathXSources
The library cross-checks the sources below. Where they disagree, the page gives both.
?Quick Questions
Are the Parsis a separate religion?
No. The Parsis are the Zoroastrian community of India, descended from those who came from Iran to Gujarat over a thousand years ago. They share the faith, the Avesta and the fire temples with Zoroastrians in Iran.
How many Parsis are there?
The Census of India 2011 counted 57,264 Parsis, down from 69,601 in 2001. The FEZANA survey of 2012 gives about 61,000 in India.
Can someone become a Parsi?
In the community's traditional view, no: a Parsi has a Parsi father and has undergone the Navjote, and converts are not accepted. Some diaspora associations are more open, and the question is still debated.
When is the Parsi New Year?
Most Parsis follow the Shahenshahi calendar, so their New Year currently falls in August. Many also keep Jamshedi Navroz at the spring equinox, around 21 March.