PARSISMO. — This is the name given to that small group of Persians who followed Zarathustra (v. dei) and who, unwilling to renounce their religion, fled before the Arab invasion that occupied Persia (650), making their way toward India. They first occupied the islands of Ormus and Din (Persian Gulf), then moved into the territory of Sanjan, which had been granted to them, and finally settled in Bombay, which became their adopted capital; the city had been ceded in 1668 by Portugal to Inglaterra, which thus became the effective protector of the Parsis.
During the long centuries from the seventh to the eighteenth, the Parsis always remained faithful to their religious traditions, modifying them only partially through contact both with the English
and with the Hindus. These traditions consist: 1) in veneration (not adoration) of fire, regarded as the most resplendent manifestation of the power of God (Ahura Mazda) and kept perpetually burning in the designated temple by the priest (dastur, zoth), acting as guardian of the fire (raspi), by lighting, five times a day, six pieces of sandalwood placed one pair atop another; 2) in professing a radical dualism, with abhorrence of the principle of Evil (Ahriman), which at the end of the world will be destroyed by a river of incandescent fire that will purify and rejuvenate the world (frashokereti); 3) in respecting the three good elements of creation: fire, water, and earth. This requires of them a special form of treatment for the corpse, which must neither be buried, so as not to pollute the earth, nor cremated, so as not to pollute the fire, but exposed as food for vultures in special circular buildings called “towers of silence” (dakhmo); these are the principal religious characteristics of the Parsis. Numbering 100,000, they enjoy an enviable economic position, owing to their commercial ability, unhampered by the constraints of the Hindu system, and a high cultural standing, because of the large sums they generously spend on advancing the education and well-being of the people.
The Parsis wear a white muslin garment (sudra) fastened close to the body by the sacred cord (kusti); in addition to the inner muslin garment, women wear the sair when going out, a long silk cloth edged with a ribbon. They enjoy a more honorable position than Muslim or Hindu women.