PARSISM. - This is the name given to that small group of Persians who were followers of Zarathustra (v. PERSIANS, religion of) and who, not wishing to renounce their own religion, fled before the Arab invasion that occupied Persia (650) and made their way toward India, first occupying the islands of Hormuz and Din (Persian Gulf), then passing into the territory of Sanjan granted to them, and finally settling in Bombay, which became their adopted capital; the city had been ceded in 1668 by Portugal to England, which thus became the effective protector of the Parsis.
During the long centuries from the 7th to the 18th, the Parsis always remained faithful to their religious traditions, modifying them only partially through contact with both the English and the Hindus. These traditions consist of: 1) veneration (not adoration) of fire, considered the most radiant manifestation of the power of God (Ahura Mazda) and kept always alive in the appropriate temple by the priest (dastur, zoth) acting as guardian of the fire (raspi) by lighting, five times a day, six pieces of sandalwood stacked two by two; 2) the profession of 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 molten fire that will purify and rejuvenate the world (frashokereti); 3) respect for the three good elements of creation: fire, water and earth, which imposes on them that special form of treatment of the corpse which must be neither buried, so as not to pollute the earth, nor cremated, so as not to pollute the fire, but exposed as food for vultures in specially built circular buildings called "towers of silence" (dakhmo); these are the principal religious characteristics of the Parsis. They, numbering 100,000, enjoy an enviable economic position given their commercial ability, unhampered by the shackles of the Hindu regime, and a high cultural position because of the sums they generously spend to increase the cultivation and the well-being of the people.
The Parsis wear a garment of white muslin (sudra), drawn close to the body by the sacred cord (kusti); the women, in addition to the inner muslin garment, wear the sair when going out, a long silk drape bordered by a ribbon. They enjoy a more honorable position than that of Muslim or Hindu women.