“Cambay celebrates”

I was very pleased to read in Yazdi Karanjia’s letter from Surat ("Cambay celebrates,” Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, October 7, 2006), that the Cambay Institute of Commerce established by his late father, Naoshirwan, has completed 75 years of fruitful existence and he has decided to celebrate its platinum jubilee. May he also celebrate the centenary of this institute!

Frankly, on reading the headline, I had expected and felt happy that at last something was being done about Cambay (Khambat), which has fallen on very bad days as far as Parsis are concerned. The Parsi agiary and other structures are in a deplorable condition, bringing shame on the community. There are just a handful of Parsis living in Khambat who are in very poor financial circumstances.

Khambat had a flourishing Parsi population in the good old days. "There are evidences of a prosperous Parsi settlement at Cambay from about 1090 till about 1575 or 1593 AC. Cambay is even mentioned as a Parsi town in the Persian Rivayats. A fire temple was constructed there in the 14th century. Meherwan Kaikhusro wrote Avesta and Pahlavi manuscripts at Cambay between 1321 and 1324 AC. A Tower of Silence was built and consecrated at Cambay in 1535 AC [Outlines of Parsi History, Zoroastrian Religion & Ancient Iranian Art (pg 92) condensed by Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Parvez Karanjia (1999) from Outlines of Parsi History by Dastur (Dr) Hormazdyar Kayoji Mirza (1974)].” "A Tower of Silence was erected and consecrated and a dar-e-meher and two wells were built at Cambay at the expense of Hirji Asha of Surat in about 1534 AC (pg 96).” The account of John Albert de Mandelso mentions 18,000 men landing at Cambay (pg 90).

"Many of them (Parsis) had moved into other parts of India with their families. They had gone among other places to Cambay. . . in the north. . . The earliest emigration from Sanjan seems to have been to Cambay (History of The Parsis by D. F. Karaka, Vol. I, pp 35-36).”

"Henry Lord in 1620 AC came to Surat and wrote a book about the Parsis in which it is mentioned that seven boats left Diu of which one reached Khambat. The second went to Suvali and the remaining five boats went south and landed at the port of Sanjan (An Illustrated Biography of Shams-ul-Ulama, Dr Sir Ervad Jivanji Jamshedji Modi by Marzban Jamshedji Giara, pg 14).”

There are very well-to-do Parsis from Khambat living in India and abroad who proudly declare that their ancestors hailed from there. Some of them have visited their ancestral town, while others have not cared to do so but none of them appears to have extended a helping hand to restore the Parsi structures or to ameliorate the condition of the Parsis living there.

Why has no one come forward during Federation meetings claiming that he/she is representing Khambat?

RASHID S. MEDORA

Ahmedabad