Apr 1969

IS-J s> %S: I V. ^^41 S'- -V.-' '".i .'>c' kJ ’ <^!‘^- AM W ' X \ 44 ?? UJ ? ?? *4 VOL V No 6 ^&T.*kL ¦fl --v- W' 'it*' ¦ ! ’** ¦* iSfeS ¦7^, t 'V, -f J? ''4.’ » / rt. . ? S>'t' • S' d -^ ¦ r/W r ' , ’-• /.'.A -i i -• • _ ,J '• /'A'.j:''' i,S Kt^- fty' - i. Rs 'f>: '1^* .? b's* t < J \»w^ 5 Br, ‘•--’I’ ' '?-*¦ ''. <\~* «/ - e * £ ->aH 'iX^ ks ¦< *, historical PERSIAN CARPET APRIL 196S ?/' V.. ELECTRONIC ENG1^ A. 1. E. R. E. (U. K,) A. I. E. E. E.(U. S. A, A. 1. Mar. Icch. tlndia Radio Officer, Price•r VOL. V 6 Contents: EDITORIAL T Historical Persian Carpet by P. B. Warden . Sir Jamshedji Behramji Kanga by P. B. Vatcha Correspondence Lt-Gen Man^haw Our next Army Chief ... Cults and Cultures by P. B. Warden APilL 19^9 Page 3 5 9 13 15 19 24 Managing Editor; P. B. WARDEN, M.S. (Bom.), D;P.M. (Bom.) ADVISORY BOARD Dasturji Navroz Minocher-Homjl, M.A., B.Ed. Major Adarbad Irani R.A.M.C., D.O.M.S, (Lond); D.O. (Oxon) Mrs, Gool K. Savakshah Mrs. Shera N. Vazifdar, M.Com. Dr. R. C, Cooper, M.Com., Fh.D. (Econ.), F.C.A. Mr. Jehangir F. Shroff Prof. Nadir Ardeshir Mody, M.A., LL.B Dr. Sohrab H. Batliwala, Ph.D. Mr. Bejon N. Desai, M.A., B.Ed. Mr. Homi Burjor Dhalla, M. A. ( Harvard ) Single Copy; 50 paise. Yearly subscription for 12 issues Rs. 6. Inland. Sh. 10 for U.K. and 2 dollars for U.&A Office Address; C/o Warden’s (Mysore) Pvt Ltd., 378, Grant Road, BOMBAY 1. Published and edited by Editor-Proprietor P. B. Warden from 378, Grant Road, Bombay 7 and printed by him at Godrej Memorial Printing Press, Gamadia Colony, Tardeo, Bombay 7rPITOElAL Some persons have criticised Parsiana asking us what good Parsiana is to its readers if it repeats life-sketches from current news ­ papers, when they have already; read them. Somfe persdrfs have expressed their views that they became subscribers in expectation of reading articles pertaining to 2^oroastrian religion only. Others have inquired why Gujarati section A^as introduced as that lessens their reading space of English matter and they became subscribers pre ­ cisely for learning something about our ancient, faith and history in English language. Some have accused Parsiana for not counter ­ acting against what they consider reckless propaganda of reform mongers. The Community had need* of a magazine of its own and I had the urge to supply it, as all previous publications exclusively of the Parsi Community, its religion, its recent and remote past, its undivi- dual and collective peculiarity had gone out of print. It is very unhealthy for any group of people to be resourceless for want of a constant remerbrancer. Preliminary survey revealed multitu^ of causes for failure of previous publications. - Sbhie failed because of the death of the publisher, some failed for lack of finances, some others failed because of the change of policy of the paper, at least one failed because it switched over from Parsi Gujarati to pure Guja ­ rati, and the rest failed because, the ways and the tastes of the Pafsi changed — to look intelligent was to look westernised. There is nothing basically wrong in being orthodox but the present day spate for reforms is the epileptic ’s froth to look westernised. If times have changed who are we to arrest the tide and order like king Canute “Thus far and no further ”? In a vast process all are involved —You and I. You preferred au nEnglish medium paper on ourselves and I liked your idea. The word Parsiana was coined to make the magazine eompre- hensive in'its scope. The suflBx “ana ” means “pertaining to ” or “all about ” as in Johnsoniana, Shakespearana, Gandhiana, Americana. Ramayana is all about Rama. Those who have expressed their views about the short comings of this fnagazine will find their answer in the name given to it. It caters to every phase of Parsi life. It acts as digest of all things Parsi, religion, sociology, cults, legends, history, as well as as a remembrancer. HoW many of you readers of daily news ­ papers can produce those copies in which the life sketch of Sir Jamsedji Kanga appeared or the copies which described the military career of Gen. Manekshah? They are recent news but in time to come the Parsis of tomorrow will read of them in the preserved copies of Parsiana and get inspiration if they are big enough for it. So to others they will be remembrancers. Let us not deprive the future generation of their food for thought. At least 50% of subscribers have all their issues bound in volumes; Even at present on the table are requests from readers for supplying them missing numbers to complete their volumes. The management of Parsiana are aware of several requests which they have failed to answer. If they will write to us again we shall do our best to replenish their volumes if the old copies are available. .5'll HISTORICAL PERSIAN CARPET by P. B. WARDEN This genuine Persian Carpet measuring 10’-4” (3.15m) long by 5’-10” (1.78m) wide bearing hand-loomed artistic work in pure wool represents a masterpiece of fine art in colours with details executed on special order in the Lunar Year 1240, corresponding to about .1810 A. D. illustrative versions with vivid background depicting pecularities and teachings, so that Carpet may remain for good a Per ­ sian Antique in form of a ‘Living Tableau ’ During the Islamic rule of Arabs in Per ­ sia with persecution to the followers of Zoroastrianism, religious books of Avesta and Historical Documents were burnt A glance at the Carpet gives the on- and destroyed by the enemy and stringent lookers; an opportunity to study the His- rules clamped down for their reproduc- tory of ancient Achaemanid, Parthian, tions. This Carpet provides in. itself the Sassanid and Islamic dynasties with re- truth by disguising the original identity of presentation in pictures of some of their a few personalities of the Zoroastrian faith rulers, court-scenes and characters harmo- in different dresses, J head-gears and niously covered in closely fine weave of scenery to misquote them. The sixth the Carpet. border of the Carpet portrays along with some Persian Shahs (reigning before and As is known, with passing of centuries during the period of making the Carpet), the historical events which followed wars many well known ancient Zoroastrian different dresses, and other happenings in old Iran brought Monarchs, members of royal families an end to the grandeur and glory of the and nobilities, chiefs and courtiers, hero^ Zoroastrian Monarchs with prominence and distinction of their very names practi ­ cally obliterated by the Arab conquerors in that Great Country, and heroins. Their names are in the seventh border deliberately set and indi ­ cated not in accordance with the reign and rank on account of powerful hatred and discrimination prevailing at that time The designer of this Historical Carpet, against the Zoroastrians. possessed great moral courage despite restrictions at that time. Being an admirer of Zoroaster, he selected from old Avestic literature as well as from Arabic and Persian books a few true stories and ins- Nader, Tehmasp, Sultan Hosain, Shah tractive legends and combined them skil- Sulaiman, Shah Abbas, Shah Abbas-Haji, So, looking horizontally in the sixth border of the Carpet at the top from left to right are : Nader, Tehmasp, Sultan Hosain, fully with the portraits of ancient Persian Shah Esmail, Amir Taimur, Halakoo and Kings and completed the whole work in Changiz. 5r Following M ffiis end perpendidularly " ministers, ZaF ^d B^stom, W> subjects downwards are : ^ud defeated Dievs. Yezdegard, Farokhzad, Azarmidokht, 2). The Prophet Zoroaster in a Poorandokht, Yezdegard II, Sherzad, posture of meditation. Shiruyeh, Khosrow, Hormaz, Gobad, Balash, Firoz, Hormaz II, Yezdegard III, Adi known for his impartial justice, is Behram, Shahpur, Behram II, Narsi, Beh- seen delivering a cow under dispute to its ram III and Hormaz III. Continuing horizontally at bottom from second right to left are : Shahpur n, Ardeshir, Askandar, Dara, body-guard, where he demonstrates h« Lab, Homaye, Behman, Gushtasp and ProAcency in P™.pn,n, sbnotinn on the Azarmidokht, r 3). The Court of King Anooshirwane rightful owner. 4). Behram Goor is seen on a hunting mission with his Palizian favourite and a r” _ , 5). Prophet Zoroaster having predic- Sindif, Shantur, Iraj, Faridun, Zohak, ted from his knowledge of Astronomy the bnanpur u, . • pin-point shooting on the Darab Homaye, Behman, Gushtasp and p f e uarao, nuuiayv, r beast-of-prey saying : “Be active first Lo^rasp. thyself, then seek the aid of Heaven, Then following from left and perpendi- because the Almighty helps him, who cularly upwards are : helps himself by moving steadily in the Kaikavos, Kaikobad, Kaikhasrow, Ger- path of duty ”. shasb, Zab, Afrasiab, Nozar, Minocher, 5). Prophet Zoroaster having predic- Sindif, Shantur, Iraj, Faridun, Zohak, ted from his knowledge of Astronomy the Jamshid, Tehmurasp, Hoshang, Shiamak, birth of a new King of Hebrews — Christ, Kayomers and Karim. after centuries a Zoroastrian Monarch of Beside the above busts, several picture- old Iran was^awaiting the^ accordinrto the'custom of those days this picture illustrates the astronomers attractively costumed and impressively bringing that news at its time to the Iran- it « £ shown prediction. So, to strengthen that story. are sque groups of personalities Monarch, who orders at once three of his Zoroastrian Wisemen called “Magi ” to depart to the direction of the Star with iicu ntvrLi and legends drawn out from his three gifts of gold, frankincenre and old documentary texts book of kings, myrrh to present them on ha Iwhalf to the - “Ahuramazda, of the King of earthly kings and Overlord in poised with clear views of birds, and ani- ian world ”. 6). Sanan in deep thought brings be ­ fore his vision the face of his beloved and mals, plants and flowers, bushes and trees to give glowing represenatation of digni ­ fied stories ! (Shahnameh) and other literary works newly born comprising poems, verses and epigrams C- r Iskandar; Shahpour, Sani, Kapour, Hafiz, heaven knows His spiritual course for the Saadi, Nezami, Mani and Behzad. Illustrated in the middle and the fourth border on all sides of the Carpet are : 1). The Great -------------- Jamshid. The bird Simorg, Symbolic of of man ” his strength and power, is seen f------- on h ’S throne surrounded by his court- Zoroastrian Monarch considering “Hope as the chief blessing •’ starts to drink heavily to her seated health in the next picture in “hope to win her soon as his better-half: but his better-half: 6Sanan ’s stupidity leads him to drink in excess to inebriety, which puts him in despair and grief giving a lesson : “Rule your passions, or they will rule you ”. 7) This is a heart-rending story in four scences which shows fight between father and son — Rustom and Sohrab, unknown to eachother, setting a lesson with raised hands Rustom : “Ignorance is a dangerous and spiritual poison, which all men ought to shun ”. 8). King a ( makes a man perfect ”. From the day of the birth of that animal, she had been shouldering the calf • daily. By adding continuously to her strength, she could in spite of being a woman, thereby stand ready at Behram Goor ’s side against his enemy, saying : “The most I can do for my husband, is to be his real friend in deed ”. another picture of sees Khosrow “Let courage 12). This story is illustrated in three 11). This is Behram Goor in his advanced age, when Shrin he, remembering and heartened by the commoner taking bath in open after above practical precept of his wife, goes her ride. He falls in love at first sight to kill a dragon saying ; and sends message with his courtiers that be as keen, but at the same time, as poli- he is ready to marry her at his palace sharp as your sword . despite the absence of royal blood in her saying : “I want to marry her, because scenes in which Nemrood sitting on a of her beauty ”. throne carried by four vultures towards 9). The legend of Laila Majnoon is the sky to satisfy his evil desire to cha- demonstrated in this picture. Majnoon Henge the power of God, decides to kill fallen deeply in love with Laila is seen all fish with his arrow, but the arrow re ­ pining away and though reduced to a turns to him after striking only, one fish, skeleton requests Laila to become his So, Nemrood comes to his senses to bride, the acceptance of which may res- accept in shame the Omnipotent ’s protec- tore in him health and happiness. This tion for all His created lives everywhere, being not achieved for a long time, Maj- He then said ; “Nature is a volume of noon a forsaking all wordly pleasures lives which the Great Lord Ahuramazda is the secluded life with wild animals as his author ”. best and near friends. Their silent sym ­ pathy and prayer for his welfare make Laila meet and wed. Majnoon Finally saying : “As gold is tried by fire, so is true love tried by pain ”. 10). Behr am Goor is seen watching teeth, his consort lifting a cow on her shoulders having fallen in love with a Princess, and going up the stairs of their palace, was asked by the King in his court to win Behram Goor asks, how she can carry his daughter by wrestling with Pooryae such a heavy animal up and down the Vali. Seeing Princess also deeply in love stairs? To this she answers : “Practice with the youth, Pooryae Vali sacrificed 13). Once upon a time when Pooryae Vali was one of the Champion wrestlers and a great hero for saving lives of many besides being an expert in pulling and controlling several vicious dogs by his a poor but intelligent youth 7his championship. He allowed the youth to win his wrestling match and made him marry the Princess saying ; “All wordly joys grow less to one joy of doing kind ­ ness ”^ To this the youth answered “Sweet mercy is nobility ’s true badge ”. 14). Queen of Shiba is seen sitting on her throne, where a letter from Monarch Jamshid is delivered to her by a pigeon giving epitome as how to gain wisdom and justice, which may elevate her posi ­ tion and prestige among her own subjects sayin. ig: The mind grows by what it feeds on, because knowledge is the trea ­ sure, but judgment the treasure of a wise person ”. 15). This story is illustrated in two scenes, where riding on a horse-back Shi ­ rin, before her marriage to Khosrow, was loved desperately by Farhad — a stone cutter shown in upper picture engaged in carving mountain of Behistoon saying : “Where there ’s a will, there ’s a way, Ahu- ramazda has made every man free and fit for his choice and work ”. *1 Mr. Jehangirshah Badni, the donor of this beautiful Carpet was in Iran for 25 years working as an Engineer. He purchased it there on the recommendation of a Carpet dealer of repute. Mr. Badni is now settled in Canada. He decided to donate it to a Zoro- astrian Institution in India in sacred memory of the deceased members of Badni family. Udwada was his first choice but it did not come off. Shri Homi Taleyarkhan and Shri Boman-Behram prevailed upon Mr. Badni to give this in Bombay and the Trustees of Banaji Atash Behram agreed to accept it and fix it prominently in t h e entrance of the Atash Behram in a permanent frame, which cost the Trustees about Rs. 7,500/- The Carpet is valued at Rs. 150,000/- to Rs. 200,000/-by people in the know of the Carpets and this valuation is confirmed by the assistant Curator of Prince of Wales Museum (Bombay) at Rs. 150,000 minimum. / 8JI Xif* Born 27-2-1875 Died 23-3-1969 Sir Jamshedji Behramji Kanga P. B. Vatcha Z r Sir Thomas Strangman, while warmly even at the age of 90-95; he has been strai ght mentally, straightforward in his advo ­ cacy, so much so that successive genera" tions of judges have relied implicitly on his statements of facts and law, secure that he would never mislead them. With a straight, clear and lucid head and a large heart, he has dominated the Bombay Bar for over sixty years. In the begining he was rather hesitant and un ­ fluent, and often fumbled for the right word. But in course of time, he became master of a very effective and convincing IF I were asked to describe Sir Jamshedji Kanga ’s personality, character and legal commending and appreciating my “Judi- eareer in a single word, I would say cial History of Bombay — 1661-1947”, 'straight ” Straight^^as^ a stick physically published in 1962, wrote from England, expressing his keen disappointment at my omitting to give a full-length portrait of Kanga, regarding it as a serious defect of the. History. I also later felt that I made a mistake in not including Kanga in my pen ­ portraits of eminent advocates. Although at the time I had made it a principle to leave out all living and active practitioners, I could, and should have made an excep ­ tion in favour of Sir Jamshedji. He had given up active practice; and although still in great demand for consultations, forensic idiom, which carried great weight opinions and advice, in his Chamber, he and,enabled him to win his cases. Intellectually straight and clear, he refrained from subtlety, and roundabout involved reasoning of some of his distin ­ guished contemporaries, like Bhulabhai Desai and Vicaji Taraporwalla, who could legal career. After the departure of Eng- argue a priori any point of law, and not lish stalwarts like Lowndes, Raikes, infrequently puzzle and perplex the court. Strangman and Jardine, to the intense was “civilly dead ”, and ought to have been included in the Chapter on Eminent Advocates, like Strangman, Marten and Beaumont who too were alive at the time. Kanga has had a most distinguished 9petence of a junior opposed to him. He was altogether a rare and generous per ­ sonality, with an exceptionally long and successful legal career, a charming and lovable character, devoid of the cunning, crookedness and avid ambition to win a case by any means and at all costs. In an Advocate as in a Judge, a generous, straightforward nature, personal probity valuable and distress of Sir Basil Scott G- J-? Kang^ Desai dominated the High Court Bar and practically eollared aU the briefs on the Original Side. They reaped an unprece ­ dented harvest of briefs, sometimes a.^ many as to 40 briefs in Commercial Causes, Short Causes, Chamber Summon ­ ses and Miscellaneous matters, during the hectic period of Sir Norman Macleod ’s nrecioitate perfunctory, and slap-dash and integrity, are more Uoas disposing off suits and appeals, est^mablejhan mere Kanga has had a marvellous memory, 3C to 40 briefs in Commercial or knowledge of law. It should be added that during his career on the Bench only both verbal and factual. He could re- two of his judgments were reversed by member and be ready with a judicial pre- the Appeal Court; and boA were appro- cedent for any point of law; and cases not merely of the Bombay High Court, but of all English and Indian Courts, and of the Judicial Committee of the Privy great English Barriers Council. No lawyer in my experience has 1917, "ftar ’in In had such a wonderful memory and mas ­ tery over case-law as Kanga. Another very fine and really admirable dominated the Bar. feature of his character is his open mind, generous acknowledgment of any point or case suggested by his junior while a case was being argued. It is not uncommon even for some leading Counsels to appropriate the points or c as if they were their own discovery. Kanga disdained to earn such undeserved credit. Chief Justice Scott had a warm regard ved and restored by the Privy Council. As noted above, after the departure of English Barristers between 1912- exodus, the end of the English Bar in In dia, which for half-a-century since the establishment of the High Court in 1862, To strengthen the Engish Bar, Scott brought Campbell from the Central Pro ­ vinces, and persuaded Coltman to come to Bombay, leaving his practice before as if they were their own discovery. Kanga risters who came to Bombay High Court made little headway. One noteworthy English aspirant who came to the Bombay Bar was a man named Shortt who was so ------------- J , • • nai was a mail iiam^^« ........................ for Kanga and encouraged him in h j^^j^ie-headed, that Old Chundulal, of early appearances in the Appeal Court. - - At the same time, Kanga was most reasonable and broadmined. He never prolonged litigation, was ever ready to set ­ tle a case even when he was in a winning ----- position. ’ Nor did he pver take unfah Strangman for n Tyabi Dayabhai & Co, who was very ex ­ perienced Solicitor, and understood In ­ dian Books of Accounts, and method & usages of business policy better than any other Solicitor used to say; I prefer Advantage of the inexperience or incom- doubtful cases. Shor.h knew little and ex - toi Prior to the publication of this book the pressed less and confounded the Court; from that muddled situation something Treatise on Income Tax by Mr. Sundaram good could turn out to our advantage. But on the Bench, Kanga like his dis ­ tinguished predecessor Sir Dinshaw Davar, , - , V knew personally too much of solicitors & chargii^ llfem with copying ^trom his litigants to observe judicial detachment & la Madras Lawyer) held the field. Sunda- ram ’s book was completely dusted. He filed a suit against Pa||hiwala Hd Kanga _ _ ............... ' work. Palkhiwala defended the case in reticence of a Judge. Nor was he above person and conviiteed the courf that there ¦J pulling the leg, or even playing a prac- was nothing original in the book and that t ’cal joke, ofcourse in a kindly spirit at both had quoted from a comnfdn source the expense of some persons whom he open to all. Th^CS^ was dismi^^d. In the eally loved. matter of the cofeboration in;ljiis stan- Born at Dastur Hall, Poona, on Febru- dard work Sir Jamshedji gavd | all the ary 27, 1875, Mr. Kanga was educated at credit to Mr. modestly saying the Elphinstone High School and Wilson “I have only te^^^i^'pame ”. College, Bombay. He obtained his M.A. and I L.B. degrees and was the first Indian to be enrolled as an Advocate (O.S.) on November 23, 1903. He read in the cham ­ bers of the then Advocate-General of Bombay, Sir Basil Scott. Mr. Kanga built up a large practice and was soon a leading member of the bar. His knowledge of_case law was phe ­ nomenal. In 1919, Mr. Kanga was elevated to the Bench as an additional judge of the High Court in Bombay. Three years later, however, he stepped down from the Bench to become the first Indian Advo­ cate-General of Bombay (1922-35) follow every year, ing the retirement of Sir Thomas Strang- man. matter of the coffaboration in comnfdn source dismisHd. In the Sir Jamshedji WaSibeen admitted by a number of brflliailt ^d eminei^fe lawyers as their Guru. His Member h^ been a place of a spur life and their Guru. His Member h^ been has produced great'chelas. Sir Jamshedji has left his foot-prints on the ' floor of Bombay High Court and time Will not efface them. ' Kanga represented the Government of India before a commission (1^32) that was set up for division of militsty expen- dllUre between the Governments of Bri- } : I tain and India. By his verdict the British Government was to pay Rs. two crores Kanga was a keen student I of Per ­ sian literature and spoke fluent Persian. He had also a love for English /^erature. A bachelor, Mr. Kanga was the young- Income-tax Treatise He retired at the age of 60 in 1935, but actively pursued his profession for long afterwards. From 1922 onwards he con ­ centrated on income-tax law and the ex ­ perience he thus gained enabled him to co-author with Mr. N. A. Palkhivala of a in his Athravan ’s paghdi as his usual head ­ standard treatise on income-tax law. wear. est of 14 brothers and sixers Jhil nearest relatives are two nieces, the ^afighters of his sisters. He was a true Athravan and was proud of this status and appeared in the Court -Ji 11t CORRESPONDENCE To the Editor, Through your valued journal ‘Parsiana ’ I would like to seek some clarification through your learned readers, the correct significance and meaning of the prefix ‘Spitaman ’ placed before the name of our great prophet Zarathushtra. The popular belief is that ‘Spitaman ’ merely signifies his ancestral nanie i.e. of the family of Spitaman that once resided near Vehdaiti river in Rae in the province of Azebaizan and hence the correct evalu ­ ation of the word ‘Spitaman ’ is lost. A great prophet like Zarathushtra sure ­ ly has a prefix before his name which sig ­ nifies something more than his ancestral family name only; and to my mind ‘Spita- This Correspondence is open for discussions & Suggestions ? ? ? ? ? ¦> <» •> <• ? ? •> ? ? 4 ? ? 4 ? 4 4 4 •> 4 4 man’ is directly derived from ‘Spenta Maihyu’ — ‘Spenta ’, ‘Spitama ’, ‘Spitam ’. Thus the word ‘Spitaman ’ would rightly signify “the enlightened one ” or ‘the one who has attained to ‘Spenta Mainyu’ or ‘one in whom ‘the shining light of Spent a ’ is revaled. If my presumptions as a layman are correct then it is about time that the po ­ pular belief prevalent about the signifi ­ cance of the word ‘Spitaman ’ should be -duly corrected by our learned scholars and the right significance of the word ‘Spitaman ’ placed before the name of out prophet Zarathushtra should be properly propounded. Yours sincerely, Noshir P. Mehta. 'J' Eyes tested by qualified eye­ specialist on attendance A place for Style, Quality and Precision for glasses. HOMI & CO. Charni Road Junction ? ? ? ? ? « ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? $ ? ? ? (COURTESY and FAIR-DEAL) 13 J '¦'.ft- Lt-Gen Manekshaw Oar next Army Chief War Record Courtesy’—The Tinies of India. On Jamshedi Navroz day (21-3-1969) the front page news in many newspapers was of the appointment of Lieut-General Manekshaw to the post of Army Chief, era Jamshedi Navroz is really an auspicious day to announce the selection of the le ­ gendary figure whose chequered career in the army appears below : Lt.-Gen. S. H. F. J. Mapekshaw, GOC- Harbaksh Singh in 1935, he ppointed the next Chief of the Army (j^jring the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict. But subsequently the Defence Ministry raised their respective seniority, on the re- commendation of the then Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. J. N. Chaudhuri, who held that Gen. Manekshaw ’s promotion had been unfairly withheld earlier on po ­ litical considerations. 30 years’ service This gave Gen. Manekshaw the neces- Harbaksh Singh, GOC-in-C _ -a A .1_ _ __ -I.J ZXT ' * It was a neck-and-neck radeLEB3tf«aMC engineer, Lt.-Gen. “Sam ” Manekshaw xxttiuajvoii uxxx^jix, J Mar. Tech, ;73 Command, for the covetf^^jj^^jj^. Army Chief. Both are outstanding soldiers with excellent war records. Though Gen. Manekshaw was commis- sioned from the Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun about five months earlier in-C, of the Eastern Command, has been Lt.-General a couple of weeks aVir- Staff in succession to Gen. P. P. Kumara- mangalam, due to retire. He will be the first Indian Commission ­ ed Officer to become the Chief of the Army Staff 22 years after independence. Gen. Kumaramangalam is the last of the King ’s Commissioned Officers in the Indian Army and with his retirement ends an era in its chequered history. sary edge over Gen. Harbaksh Singh in 15I Legendary figure The appointment of Gen. Manekshaw ther in tilting the scales definitely in his as the next Chief has been widely welcom- favour was the fact that he had done a ed in army circles. He is immensely popu- wide range of staff jobs both at the Army lar with officers and other ranks of the Headquarters and in the field during the army and is by and large looked upon as last 30 years. Gen. Harbakh Singh is the only army commander'.. — — a war against Pakistan in ............... . .......... senior general in the Indian Army have shaw takes over as Army Chief. their closely contested race for the post of the Army Chief. And what weighed fur- a legendary figure. ____ ________By a strange coincidence, almost all who had" actually conducted other top commanders of the army will 1965. All other be retiring in an year after Gen. Manek- not commanded more than a division not even a corps —under active war condi ­ tions. The normal procedure followed for the leading to a chain of promotions selection of a new Chief of the Army Staff ^^e field commands and the senior staff is that the out-going Army Chief submits Army headquarters. to' the Defence Minister a detailed assess ­ ment of the experience, suitability and se ­ Many changes likely So in the next ten or 12 months there will be many changes at the top levels of At least five of the 15 Lt.-Generals in niority of the army commanders who are the army are expected to retire, another eligible for the appointment, along with five will get promoted to senior conamands his recommendation about which one of and the rest will take their turn them should in his view succeed him. The Defence Minister then adds his own forward the long line of Major ­ comments to the Army Chief ’s recom- Q^nerals and Brigadiers who have reason ­ mend ation and forwards the papers to the chances of promotion in the wake of Prime Minister, who makes the final selec ­ tion. But the out-going Army Chief ’s recom ­ mendation has not always been accepted ....... by the Government. Nor has seniority pfQ^nuusji Framji Jamshedji (Manekshaw) L.. ..........................." selection for this key appointment. In the queue awaiting the next instalment of re ­ tirements. And this in turn will steadily top change|^ these A Bombay man,'Gen. Manekshaw who is known to his friends as “Sam, ” is 54. His initials S. H. F. J. stand for Sam been the sole consideration in making the conversant with six languages of selection for this key appointment. In the the Indian past the Government has not only ovej- knows English, Gujarati, Hindi, 1 tion on one or two occasions, but also ignored the seniority of some officers who were not considered fit enough for the top post in the army. ruled the out-going chief s recommends- Punjabi and Gurkhali. A graduate of the Imperial Defence College, U.K., he has displayed marked ability as an Infantry Officer. 4 I 4 J 16During the closing days of the war, Gen. Manekshaw was a Staff Officer to Gen. After the Japanese surrender, he helped in rehabilitation of over 10,000 prisoners- of-war. His father, Capt, Manekshaw, was an He is an authority on tactical planning. 114th Army Troops under Gen. Slim and As Director of military operations at saw bitter action again against the re- the Army Headquarters during the criti- treating Japanese. cal days of the Kashmir operations in 1948 he came into prominence. His indomitable courage in the face of P^isy in Indo-China. heavy odds came to light during the Bur ­ ma campaign. In battling with the Japa ­ nese as they pushed towards Rangoon, he led his company with courage and tena ­ city despite several severe wounds in the abdomen. He still harbours a bullet in officer in the Indian Medical Service and his body. His survival was such a plea- served in Mesopotamia during World War sant surprise to the army men, who sport- I. ingly joked that Manekshaw had no stomach. When Major Gen. Cowen in command of the 17th army saw Manek ­ shaw in a pool of blood looking lost he removed his own Military Cross, put it on Manekshaw and said “Recover my boy, a dead man can ’t be awarded a Military Cross. To bring home to Australians Indian ’s war effort and the achievements of the Indian Armed Forces, he was sent on a six-month lecture tour to Australia in 1946. ?3 He was awarded the Padma Bhusan in 1968. Manekshaw was evacuated to India and hospitalised for six months. Military Cross was awarded to him with appropriate Grids'of Assam against the rebell ele- military ceremony subsequently. ,,js latest prize is the capture of Back again later his regiment (12 Fron- the China-returned Naga underground tier Force Rifles) joined the victorious army chief “Gen. ” Mowa Angami. In recent years, he planned and executed the operations in Nagaland and the Mizo COLOUR ADVISORS AND PAINT CONTRACTORS. 25. REDDER ROAD, BOMBAY-28. ______________________________________PHONE- 367996 17 IR Six nd (Srxd yiC^cH ilXi, *41. ¦MRil X^lMl ^1 HcS 441 ^>»[(d dm ^l(64^ Gixldiii h=^3i m(d'haH4 •HlrdXSRdl 6^d4^ill (^’5 c^^Xr41511 4Mdl Hd2K^i«{ly awdi. wil^41 vfleiH^ »i4 4idi41 aH4si4i R^ ^nid M^lddl W. W^ldXi v^tlRcfl li^ ^l'*Hctl. ’4d\iR4l, tlM-v fculd'jr «i(4cH 4»ii ^I’widi, d41, d4l 6^dQi6Hd Mdi *1 JsRrtl VctU • . ^ • <5. •. • • • <<• ljldlM«dl aH4i '*tdl4l a'widl 'f«ld, QUHld^ • ni«/ <«zi^k4 d “h4 4^^,’’ “L -. 5i^dld. 4di §'5i (n^^i ^Cdmmra HmcG 6^d i&Ro-Rt xi SKftwa <£tin, «8H«i6rt H- XMld njj 641. aHl«/dl »lX^Xld »il 4nd4l XfHdi4i }a«i ^41 SR 6. 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B WARDEN “A myth is a A cult is basically a worship arising from some religious belief. Cultivation was always preceded by some form of worship and the aggregate of such forms of worship resulted in a peculiar combi ­ nation of beliefs with their wide spread impact on the life of the people forming their own Culture. Cultures thus differ because each one is an outcome of some accentuated system of beliefs and as be ­ liefs travel across borders they mingle together and produce identical, similar or contrasting cults and legends in course of time. Rawlinson in his lecture series on Historic Evidences says pure and absolute imagination; a legend has a basis of fact, but amplifies, abridges, or modifies that basis at pleasure ” of the narrator or chronicler or a simple record ­ er. One can thus notice distortions within generalised similarities in the comparative studies of the interactions of cults and the legends of different nations. Sir Jehangir Cm Coyajee, Late Principal, Presidency College, Calcutta, in his learned work Cults and Legends of Ancient Iran and China says “I can confidently assert that a great harvest awaits accomplished scho ­ lars of Iranian and Chinese Archaelogy, when they turn their attention to the scien ­ tific and systemmatic comparison of these two great spheres of beliefs and legends ” and looks to the feudal age of China (two centuries before Christ) as the period likely to yield ample material. Amongst his great many narrations we here select the Cult of the waters as in this April month runs Avan month (Shen- shahi Calendar). The following material comes as selections and extracts from the work of Sir J. C. Coyajee. Sacrifices were offered to Avan Ardui- sur to secure Her help and she accepted or rejected them on their merits and de ­ merits. Good desire was merit; bad desire was demerit as could be gathered from the reading (or translation) of AVAN YASHT. The corresponding Chinese deity is “Ping-i ”. Iranian worshippers have certain holy rivers and mountains near which they offered sacrifices. The river described in Avan Yasht has a large number of bran ­ ches fed by innumerable tributaries which would need a fleet horse forty days of riding across. Sacrifices could be offered anywhere along the banks of the River. But Hoshang offered sacrifices on Hara mountain, Yima on the height of Hukair- ya and Kaikoos on Mount Erezifya. The Chinese preferred the Lake of Tsong-ki or Mount Yang-yu. Lintsin was another great place for the worship of “the Yellow River ”. The Kings of China pe ­ riodically offered WANG, a sacrificial ce ­ remonial in honour of both mountains and rivers to avert floods and droughts. The explanation for the strangeness of 24a » ¦ '.lu ? bridal attire and set afloat on a couch to be drowned. (What a waste ?) Avan Yasht mentions the deity driving forward her chariot, with four horses offering sacrifices to or on mountains to piece is the measure of man ’s willingness placate the Goddess of water is that for sacrifice — but he cannot go and burn rivers and mountains are both instrument- out a five rupee note or five one rupee al in producing and storing rain water, notes. Sacrifice must please or satisfy the In Tir Yasht Vouruksha Lake is honour- deity and because of this belief the best ed for similar reason. According to Con- available is offered. It will be surprising fucius beneficient influences of the spirit to note that at one time the Chinese sacri- of mountains and rivers suffice to regu- ficed as offering the best and the most late the world as guardians of the earth beautiful girls to placate local God of th and of harvests. Mountains and rivers Yellow River. They were dressed in full are terrestial delegates of high Heaven. The cult of Tien-Fei, a goddess worship ­ ped to avert ship-wreck, has no Avestan counterpart. The water Goddess of China helped (allegorically, wind, clouds, rain and hail) the Lords of Tsin in their fights and also similarly a bas-relief in Chan-tong depicts in their vendettas. Even the enemies of a surface vehicle drawn over the water by the TSIN though at first reluctant to pay . fishes and escorted by armed aquatic homage to the deity of the enemy at last beings. worshipped her, as the enemies of Iran like Zohak and Afrashiab did worship Avan Arduisur. In the sacrifices horses and oxen and ample crop to grow) takes the form of a lambs in hundreds and thousands were the benevolent WHITE HORSE. ¦ His oppo* principal victims. Great care was taken ne^t Apaosha (wanting to spread drought by priests or invokers of deity in selecting assumes the shape of a BLACK HORSE the victims. Victims were offered up by flgbt the WHITE HORSE. The white immersion. It is averred that ttie numeri- horse loses the fight first but overcomes cal presentation of sacrificial figures does jhe black horse after the people at first not actually mean the real total number unmindful of the boon from him offer of them but suggests the equivalent in the prayers to him. There are yellow ox and eflfectiveness of the offering. An illustra- black ox of benevolent and disturbing - fion to clarify that idea may be taken from ju Chinese legends, the latter hiding tbe description of the energy out-put of under river beds causing floods. On detec- a machine. When it is said to be ten Horse ^he yellow ox overpowers the black ox into submission with promise to stop his destructive activities. Bundahish (chapter XIX) describes Similarity extends also to Tir Yasht, in vvhich Tistar Tir- Yezd (the benevolent water-god dropping rain in abundance for Bower if does not mean that ten horses are actually harnessed td^ tl^ engine. Likewise Dasturji Kharshedji Dabu had o&rTngs" in * terms of "the willingness for several aquatic animals amongst them explained the quantity of Sandalwood sacrifice a devotee stood for. A five rupee being a three legged ass in the ocean con- 25stantly shaking the waters (ebb and tide), of different races ethnologically the un- Darmesteter looks upon it as a meteoro- derlying possibility is a high probability logical myth. A Chinese legend describes that human race originated at only one a.green bodied, hornless bull in the East- place on Earth and Spread out by happily ern Sea. When it enters the water or escaping from storms, strifes and natural emerges from it there follows a strong calamities during migrations. Recently a wind or rain. These are the poetic ac- couple of He-men successfully ventured counts of the normal changes in the seas, to cross the ocean from European to American shore in an ordinary boat to This book of Sir J. C. Coyajee (pub- prove the possibility that people in pre- lished by Karani 1936) narrates iden- historic period might have migrated si- tity in thought and images prevailing at milarly on rafts. Essentially humanity is a given point of time in the history of everywhere alike (if not the same) as can adjoining countries. It is but natural that be seen from its version in THE FAMILY it should be so. Setting aside the origins OF MAN. ? X I X K O K JEENA & COMPANV Travel* Clearing, Forwarding, Warehousing Agents HEAD OFFICE-. SODIRIN® TABLET FOR SWEETNESS < THAT IS NOT SUGAR 10, VEER NARIMAN ROAD. FORT. BOMBAY-i. Tel. 258413 & 256942 * Non Caloric. Non Nutritiva Swootenar • Indicatad In Diabatic Dials ' • 1 Ta Wat— 2 Taaspoont Sugar. • No Bitter After Taste And Completely Stable In Cooking, Baking A Heating. . • Diaaolvas Immediately In Warm Liquids • Packing Of 100 And 500 Tablets. ® BRANCHES AT NEW DELHI & CALCUTTA '‘Gi^ae!!:3^sgi::a^z3gzigz:igz:3gs:3ge:agzsg?:igz:3gz^^ 26