Emissary to Iran

The Zoroastrians became second class citizens in Iran after the Arab invasion in 636 AD. They were not allowed to practice their faith and had to put on a dirty torn cap and sew a yellow patch on the back of their shirts to mark them out. The inheritance law stipulated that a Zoroastrian convert to Islam could inherit his parents’ entire estate to the exclusion of his siblings. Zoroastrian women were kidnapped and forcibly married to Muslims. In legal matters the word of a Muslim prevailed over that of a Zoroastrian. Holy books were destroyed. Some converted to Islam to protect their co-religionists. The Zoroastrians were also subject to a poll tax (jazya) which ensured they always remained poor. They were denied the right to schooling.

Due to the oppressive climate, forced conversions, massacres and emigration to India the Zoroastrian population in Iran declined from around five million at the turn of the 15th century to around 7,000 at the middle of the 19th century. (No census was carried out at either time with mention of religious affiliation — editors.)

In 1854 Maneckji Limji Hataria was sent to Iran as its emissary by the Society for the Amelioration of the Conditions of the Zoroastrians in Persia. As a British citizen, Hataria was fortunate to get full support of the then British Ambassador to Iran. He traveled all over the country to observe their plight and the political realities in Iran. He found them to be uneducated, poor and demoralized. In his report he said, "I found the Zoroastrians to be exhausted and trampled, so much so that no one in this world can be more miserable than them.”

With persistence, tact and patience, he negotiated with the then Qajar ruler of Iran and, with the help of British and French emissaries, managed to get the poll tax reduced and later repealed in 1882. He was helped in his endeavors by many influential people, including Dadabhai Naoroji.

Concerned about the spiritual and educational welfare of the Zoroastrian community, Hataria obtained money from Indian Parsi benefactors and began restoring fire temples and dakhmas in Yazd and Kerman. He wanted to educate Iranian Zoroastrians and opened a boarding school in Tehran, asking families to send at least one son there to be educated. Surprisingly, he encountered resistance from the community because for years Zoroastrians had been prohibited from receiving education. Moreover, many children worked and whatever little money they earned was useful. Hataria even recompensed the families for their loss of income, hiring Parsi teachers and scholars to teach at the school. Many promising students were sent to India for further education. It was from these early students that future teachers evolved who then returned to Yazd, Kerman and other villages to teach.

By 1882 there were 12 Zoroastrian schools in Iran. This was no mean feat as the Muslims resented the Zoroastrians bettering their lot. By the end of the 19th century literacy among Zoroastrian men was almost universal. Though inequalities remained, Iranis gained confidence and thus began their rapid rise to wealth and influence.

Hataria also helped many Iranis to immigrate to Bombay which was then prospering. A statue of Hataria stands in the atash behram compound in Yazd in his memory. Having survived several attempts on his life, Hataria died of natural causes in 1890.

ASPI BULSARA

Carlingford, New South Wales, Australia

aspibulsara@bigpond.com