I am a Parsi. My ancestors were Zoroastrians who came to India from Persia around the mid seventh century. Like the English Pilgrims who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620, at the risk of life and limb, to assure themselves religious freedom, so did my ancestors sail the stormy seas to escape religious conversion by the sword. Only they did it nearly a thousand years before the Pilgrims!
The religion of the prophet Zoroaster, spelled variously as Zarathustra, Zarthust, etc., began in Persia around 700 B.C. Though the exact date of his birth is lost in antiquity, Zoroaster’s influence on the great Persian kings, and through these kings, his influence throughout the world that these kings conquered, is well documented.
At around age 20, Zoroaster left home in search of religious truth. Like Christ seven centuries later and Buddha who followed some three hundred years later, Zoroaster wandered into the wilderness and communed with God and nature. For over a decade he lived alone, meditated and had many revelations. In each revelation he communed with the Supreme Being, Ahura Mazda, and was told to preach the constant pursuit of goodness and to ask his followers to actively battle against evil. It was not sufficient merely to be good; it was also necessary to fight evil in order to be a good Zoroastrian.
Though Zoroastrianism was one of the first major monotheistic religions, Zoroaster also preached that this world, and the cosmos, were a constant battle between good and evil. This philosophical dualism, symbolized by fire, is often misconstrued to be anti-monotheistic. However, one realizes the compatibility between a monotheistic religion and a dualistic philosophy when one understands Zoroaster’s preachings. Zoroaster believed that though there is a conflict between Good and Evil, between God and the Devil, between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, in the long run Good, God and Ahura Mazda will triumph. This is so because men and women have free will and human beings properly trained in the tenets of the faith will conquer Evil, the Devil and Ahriman. The Holocaust is a good illustration of this philosophy; evil taking the upper hand but eventually destroyed by the good.
The three major commandments of the faith are to cultivate and practice good thoughts (humate), good words (hukte) and good deeds (huvaraste). Fire was viewed as the symbol of this philosophical concept of conflict between good and evil; for fire could be used to sustain life or to destroy it. This was not fire worship. Just as the cross is viewed as the symbol of Christianity and the six pointed star as the symbol of Judaism, so is fire the symbol of Zoroastrianism. The Zend Avesta, the bible of Zoroastrianism and the Gathas akin to hymns, continuously emphasize the monotheistic nature of Ahura Mazda and the triumph of Good over Evil.
The Great kings of Persia, among them Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes, carried these religious tenets and philosophy of life on their vast conquests. By 500 B.C. the Persian Empire extended from North Africa and South Eastern Europe in the west, to India in the east and from the Gulf of Oman in the south to Southern Russia in the north. Through these conquests the Zoroastrian faith brought to Judaism the concept of free will and the triumph of good over evil. The concept of heaven and hell, as first expounded by Zoroaster, was later absorbed into Christianity and it is believed that one of the Three Wise Men may have been a Zoroastrian king or priest.
Cyrus the Great, who reigned from 559 to 529 B.C., was a wise ruler and a generous conqueror. He freed the Jews from Babylon and permitted them to return to Jerusalem. Darius I, who reigned from 521 B.C. to 486 B.C., was a genius at administration and consolidated the Persian Empire. His son Xerxes I, who reigned from 485 B.C. to 465 B.C., came to power soon after his father was defeated by the Greeks at Marathon. To avenge his father, Xerxes amassed an army of 180,000 men and sailed to Greece. He won an immense victory at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. His fleet, however, on its return voyage, was destroyed in a storm with great loss of life, a loss from which the Persian Empire never fully recovered. After Xerxes, the military might of the Persian Empire declined. However, its civilization continued to flourish, as did the religion of Zoroaster.
In 331 B.C. Alexander the Great conquered Persia. He burned the Persian library in a drunken fit of jealousy because it more than rivaled the library in Athens and was considered the greatest in the world. With the destruction of the library, much of the history of Zoroastrianism and the scientific knowledge of the Persian Empire were also destroyed. Departing Persia, Alexander left behind Greek rulers under whom Greek civilization intermingled with the Persian culture. Though the religion of Zoroaster and its influence still flourished, the Zoroastrians lacked power in their own country for nearly five centuries.
In 224 A.D. a Persian named Ardeshir organized a revolt that overthrew the Greek rulers. The defeated masters were treated magnanimously and were allowed to remain in Persia, if they so desired. As often happens, the Greek conquerors had become ‘persianized’ and some even voluntarily converted to Zoroastrianism, often through the influence of their Zoroastrian wives. Once again the Zoroastrians ruled their own country under the Sassanid Dynasty of Persia. The arts and sciences flourished but the military might and glory of the Great kings of the Peacock Throne were never fully regained. There were many indecisive battles and skirmishes with the Roman Empire which further sapped the resources of Persia. In 641 A.D. the Persian Empire ended when nomadic Arabs united under the banner of Islam, conquered Persia. Persia, known as the home of the Aryans, was renamed Iran.
The Moslems believed in Jihad, a Holy War to protect and promote their faith. The Koran, their holy book, preached conversion by the sword, if only as a last resort. Many Zoroastrians were converted by force, many continued to practice their religion secretly and some still survive in Iran today. Others, like my ancestors, fled religious persecution by sea, and eventually settled in Mumbai (Bombay).
The ships the Zoroastrians sailed on, docked at a port called Sanjan on India’s southwest coast. They asked the Rana, ruler of the kingdom, where they had landed, for permission to settle on his land. Even then India was a crowded country. The Rana, to show his courtesy to his foreign guests, and at the same time to symbolically convey that his land was full, sent them a pot filled to the brim with milk. The Zoroastrians who had invented refined sugar, unknown in India at that time, added this sugar to the milk. The milk was returned to the Rana with a request that he and his courtiers taste it. They were duly impressed. The symbolism of this gesture, adding sweetness to the milk, was not lost on the Rana and his courtiers; they decided to let the Zoroastrians add something better to their way of life. The Rana responded by giving land to the Zoroastrians. They called them Parsis, (Parsees) ,coming from Persia, not to be confused with Farsi, the language of Iran, or the Pharisees, the people referred to in the Bible.
About 600 Parsis settled on the land given to them by the Rana in Sanjan. Throughout their journey from Persia they had kept alive their sacred fire. Using this fire they built a fire temple in nearby Udvada. This fire still burns unextinguished for over thirteen centuries; it has been the source of the fire that burns in all the fire temples throughout India, and many other parts of the world, including the United States.
The fire temple also had a school nearby, for the Parsis believed that learning was essential toward leading the good life. Hygiene was also emphasized since cleanliness was considered a virtue for good health. Though the fire temple could only be used by the Parsis, the school was opened to Hindus and others. It was the beginning of a symbiotic relationship that has lasted in harmony for lo these many years.
Economically the Parsis flourished. For many generations in Persia they had been successful farmers and they succeeded as agriculturists in India. The Persian civilization, combined with the Greek influence, had taught the Parsis the healing arts and they became successful doctors. The ships they sailed on to reach India opened to the Parsis the bounties of the seas. At the height of their power under Darius, Zoroastrians had mastered shipbuilding and learned much from the sea faring Phoenicians. The ability to build seafaring vessels eventually opened up the world of international trade. Trade, an entrepreneurial spirit and their reputation for honesty, brought them great prosperity. This in turn led to the founding of many industries. By the time India achieved its independence in 1947, a mere hundred thousand Parsis in the subcontinent’s population of over half a billion, dominated the steel industry, the aviation industry, the textile industry, the movie industry, and the fields of medicine, science and law. They had a reputation for philanthropy second to none and even today many charities bear Parsi names.
My ancestors for example, established a Wadia College, a Wadia Institute of Technology, a Wadia Cardiology Hospital, a Wadia Fire Temple, and countless other educational, medical and religious charities. Though the Wadia fame and fortune came from many sources, such as textiles, movies and medicine, their original renown came from the shipbuilding enterprise and international trade.
The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts has evidence of members of the Wadia family trading with the United States as early as 1799 and visiting Salem around 1850. Since 1803 the portrait of Nusserwanjee Maneckjee Wadia had been displayed at this museum almost continuously for nearly two hundred years. There is also a statue of this sailor-merchant, presently stored for safekeeping in this museum, that was once prominently displayed.
The Wadias were master shipbuilders. Originally they built and repaired ships in the port of Surat. The British acquired Bombay from the Portuguese under the ‘Treaty of Marriage of 1662’. A century later shipbuilding and ship repairs gradually shifted from Surat to this larger natural port. In July 1750, a major dry dock and shipbuilding facility was completed under the supervision of Lowjee Nusserwanjee Wadia.
The Wadias built many ships, for the British Navy, for trade and for war. Even Lord Nelson sang the praises of the ships built in Bombay. But the one ship that the Wadias built which fills my heart with special fervor, was the H.M.S. Minden. It clearly established the Wadias as master shipbuilders, second to none in design, craftsmanship, speed and durability of their many vessels.
The following has been extracted from The Bombay Courier, dated June 23, 1810, regarding this great ship:
“On Tuesday last His Majesty’s Ship, the “Minden” of 74 guns, built in the new docks of this Presidency by Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia was floated into the stream at high water, after the usual ceremony of breaking the bottle had been performed by the Honourable Governor Jonathan Duncan.
In having produced the “Minden”, Bombay is entitled to the distinguished praise of providing the first and only British ship of the line built out of the limits of the Mother Country; and in the opinion of very competent judges, the “Minden”, for beauty of construction and strength of frame, may stand in competition with any man-of-war that has come out of the most celebrated Dockyards of Great Britain.
For the skill of its architects, for the superiority of its timber, and for the excellence of its docks, Bombay may now claim a distinguished place amongst naval arsenals.”
For patriotic Americans, familiar with U.S. history, the Minden must hold a dear and inspired place. During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key boarded a British warship to intercede on behalf of some prisoners. From this vantage point, Key witnessed the ship’s bombardment of Fort McHenry, in Baltimore Harbor. The bombardment lasted from twilight to dawn’s early light. Key observed this shelling with great anxiety, hoping that our flag would still be flying the next day. When he saw the stars and stripes flying in all its glory the next morning, he was inspired to compose our national anthem on board this British man-of-war.
The Star Spangled Banner was composed by Francis Scott Key, in the port of Baltimore, on board the H.M.S. Minden, a ship built by the Wadias, in the port of Bombay.
What a marvelous connection with our history!
Photo Credits
Raphael’s School of Athens – Wikimedia Public Domain
Relief of Cyrus the Great. – Wikimedia Creative Commons
Fire Temple – Wikimedia Creative Commons
Wadia, Nussarwanji Maneckji – zoroastrian.org
Francis Scott Key standing on boat – Wikimedia Public Domain
Nigel Patrick says
Hi, my name is Nigel Patrick O’Sullivan born in New York City (Manhattan) in 1972. My purpose of write here is cause I have been making some search of my “unknown father” My mother Collette O’Sullivan (an Irish women) have never talk about who was my father, she died very young (at 25 years) so I was adopted by a family from the island of Puerto Rico. The most important things here is that I look very very similar to the photos of B.P Wadia when he was younger and more old. I not pretending he was my father (is impossible) but I am sure that maybe some relatives of him, some brother, son or grandson, anyway someone could have a blood connection with me. I have made my DNA test and I am 46% irish by mother side and 46% from India by the father side. I just want someone to help me to search or find some connection. I was born in august of 1972 and by this time my mother use to seen with a men from India. Just in case I write, cause I have been searching since around 20 years for some details that help me in finally find who was my father. I hope this could not be a scandal or reveling some old secret buy I will keep investigating. Please someone try to help me with this. Once my mother Collette tell to the social worker of the foster care home that my father was Indian. There are many theories that he was teaching or giving some conference in NYC during 1971 maybe in Columbia University or somewhere in NYC. Also my mother travel to California to participate in conference of an Indian men. I have more info that could provide more later. My only interest is to try find some relatives from my father side. I was lucky when in 1997 I found my O’Sullivan family by an article I have write to Irish American Magazine. I know soon I will found info about my father family or from him. Please write soon , someone could help me?
Thanks,
Nigel Patrick
sharid amiri says
very informative article about the Parsis and the war of 1812. INCREDIBLE PEOPLE INDEED, the more I study them, the more I see a strong parallel between the Parsi spirit and the american spirit.
ian shipclark says
Fascinating article. I’ve studied a little bit about the Zoroastrians over the years just out of curiosity, and was aware of the possible ‘magi’ link; but had no idea about the maritime connection nor with the war of 1812. Thanks for tying so many interesting historical threads together in a very entertaining read.
Grahame Jones says
I have come across this site by courtesy of Mr Google. I was looking for a Maneck Wadia who in 1909 sent his Christmas wishes by a locally posted postcard (I buy that sort of thing!) to Master Hans Zuberbuhler in Bombay. I wonder if the sender was an ancestor of Mr Wadia and if anyone has any information on him.
Best wishes
Grahame Jones
England.