"We are not alone"

On reading the reply of the Editor ("We are not alone,” Parsiana, June 2004) regarding the killing of the Parsis in the early days of their settlement in India, I wish to draw attention to three incidents described in the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency. There were also two Parsis who were beheaded though protesting their innocence to the end.

We know very little about the early history of the Parsis in India. Most of the evidence is gleaned from travellers’ tales on which even the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency relied. The second source is the oral tradition handed down from family to family (see Rustom Burjorji Paymaster’s Early History of the Parsees in India from their landing in Sanjan to 1700 AD and Piloo Nana­vutty’s The Parsis).

The first massacre of the Parsis took place at Khambat/Cambay. According to Captain Robertson in his article, "(Historical) Narrative of the City of Cambay,” Parsis settled in large numbers in Khambat during the period 942-997. They grew arrogant and drove out the local population. A Bania named Kalian­rai nursed revenge. He settled in Surat and grew rich by selling pearls. He hired a band of Rajputs and Kolis and on a dark, moonless night attacked the Parsis, burning down their houses, though the men donned their armor and fought back. By dawn only a few remained. They felt it wise to leave with their priest and the holy fire and never returned to Khambat. The Parsis of Surat, Navsari and other settlements (Udvada?) must have come to their help. Thus ended the Kumarika Kshetra tragedy.

Yet the worst tragedy in our history was the massacre at Variav some time at the end of the 12th century. Again, it was the prosperity of the community which roused the greed of a young prince, the Rajput prince of Ratanpur (name not given). He demanded an enormous tribute from the Parsis at Variav. They refused to pay. Troops were sent in to force the Parsis to pay, but the Parsis defeated the contingent. The young prince was furious, but he bided his time. When the Parsi men were attending a gahambar dinner at Tena near Surat, the Yuvraj of Ratanpur sent a force of his picked Rajput soldiers to massacre the women and children. But the women put on the armor and helmets of their husbands and fought the Rajputs and nearly won when the helmet of one of the women fell from her head and revealed her long hair. The Rajputs were ashamed to be beaten by mere women. They rallied and fought back. The women were exhausted and when they saw that they were losing they flung themselves into the Tapti preferring death to dishonor. When the men returned from the feast, they were taken by surprise and slaughtered, together with the children. Variav became a city of the dead.

When news of the disaster at Variav reached the Parsis at Tena, there was shock and sadness. Small groups of Parsis with shovels and pickaxes went to Variav and buried the remains of the dead under great mounds. Jashans for the dead were performed in private homes and in agiaries and atash behrams in Surat, Navsari, Udvada. To this day, on Fravardin mah and Fravardin roz special jashans are performed in and around Surat, Navsari, Udvada, Bharuch. When I was six years old (1920), my Bapaiji (Dinbai Maneckji Nanavutty) showed me the family Khordeh Avesta, where on the back pages were inscribed the names of some of the Variav dead, special friends of the family. When the Khordeh Avesta got worn out, the new edition bought had the names of the friends at Variav inscribed again at the back. And so those innocent men, women and children are remembered to his day.

A similar tragedy could have occurred at Thana but was avoided by a clever trick. The Portuguese governor at Thana guarding the fort noticed that among the citizens of the little town there was a group that was loved and respected by all communities. These were the Parsis, the men with "hooked noses and great round beards like bees-wax” while the women were "all fair and chaste.” The Portuguese governor longed to convert them to Christianity. He sent for a delegation of elders to meet him. The Parsis went, a small group of three elders. The governor gave them an alternative: either the entire community embrace Christianity, the Roman Catholic brand, or else he would put the entire community to the sword, men, women and children. The elders were shocked, but said they would consult wth the others and bring an answer the next day. This they did. All they asked for was three days in which to perform their rituals and prayers when they begged they should not be disturbed. The governor was delighted by such meekness and gave orders that nobody should disturb the Parsis for the next three days. On the fourth day the Parsis invited the governor and his senior officers and others to a great feast which they had been preparing behind closed doors. Wine flowed like water and to the sound of music and dancing, the Parsis left, in small batches, taking the road to Kalyan where they arrived exhausted but safe and where the Parsis helped them to recover. Year after year the story of the Great Escape was told by the elders to the young. So traumatized were the Parsis that they never set foot in Thana for the next 300 years!

Finally, I would like to mention two Parsi martyrs who were beheaded, protesting their innocence to the end. Both men belonged to Bharuch and both had similar names.

Kama Behdin Homa was a poor weaver of Bharuch. He had a dispute with a Kazi over some wages due to him. The Kazi in a fit of rage complained to the Nawab Hamad Beg that the Parsi had insulted him by calling him a "Kafir” in the marketplace. Kama Homa was tried by a court of Kazis and Maulvis and sentenced to death by beheading. The Nawab agreed with the decision unless Kama Homa became a Muslim. The Parsi preferred to be beheaded. On December 8, 1702 Kama Homa was duly beheaded. This event so shook the Parsi community that they swore they would never give up their faith come what may. He is remembered in our Afrin as "Garothmani Kama Behdin Homa.” Garothman is a corruption of the Gathic phrase, Garo démana, house of heavenly song, or paradise.

The second martyr also came from Bharuch. He was Homaji Jamshedji. He was accused of kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach thereby causing her death and that of her stillborn child. Like his namesake, he too protested his innocence but to no avail. In 1783 he was hanged by order of the court. Homaji Jamshedji also promised he would help any Parsi in distress if he prayed for assistance. Both men are remembered during our muktad prayers (source Paymaster and Nanavutty)

PILOO N. JUNGALWALLA

New Delhi