History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

CONTENTS. ix

sealed ”—Choosing a name—Parsi system of giving names—The “‘joshi” —Tist of Parsi names—Inyestiture with the ‘‘sudra” and ‘‘kusti’”Question of making converts—What the Panchayet decided—Ceremony of marriage—Early marriages—Usual age of marriage—Custom among the Zoroastrians in Persia—Professional match-makers—The details of the religious ceremony—The social rejoicings—The final shower of rice —The number seven—The closing questions—And prayers—Healths giyen at the banquet—That of the Queen-Empress—Families not broken up by marriage—aAll reside together—Separations rare between parents and children on this account—Mode of marriage in Persia— Widows permitted to re-marry—Death ceremonies—The last prayers—The funeral procession—Manner of nullifying evil influences—The seven ‘‘has”Early remoyal of the body—The “dokhma” or tower of silence Various erroneous suppositions concerning Parsi funerals—Belief as to the soul not quitting the body for three days—Description of a tower of silence—They vary in size, but are built on one plan—Ceremonies at its consecration—Great merit in building ‘‘dokhmas ”—Their inviolability preserved—Sir Richard Temple’s opinion—The whole question of Parsi burial reviewed—Objections to it qualified on closer knowledge—Mr. Monier Williams’s opinion—Visit of the Prince of Wales to a “dokhma” —In Memoriam services to the dead—Offerings in fruit and flowersThe prayer of repentance : ; : . Pages 153-213

CHAPTER V. INTERNAL GOVERNMENT AND LAWS.

Internal government—The Panchayet—Ignorance of the past—Missions to Persia—Books of religion brought from Persia—The first PanchayetThe priests of Navsari—The Panchayet as a court of justice—The penalty of excommunication— Beating with a shoe—Sanction of Governor of Bombay—Internal disputes—The priests pass a law in their own favour, and overreach themselyes—The firmness of the laity—Supported by the English Government—A committee of affairs—The first twelye—A new Panchayet—Decline in efficiency—The practice of polygamy—Law against bigamy—Growth of the evil—The case of Jamshedji Beramji Laskari—Law to prevent women going out unattended—Prohibition of offerings to Hindu temples—Decay of the Panchayet—A law for the rich and for the poor—Framji Kavasji—A Parsi petition—Parsi charitable funds—The trusteeship of the Panchayet—The present trustees—A state of confusion—The want of a distinct law—The rule of customQuestion of succession—Intestate properties—The law in Bombay and in the Mofussil—‘‘The nature of chattels real”—A code of inheritance drawn up—A commission appointed—A code of betrothal, etc.—Various questions and considerations—The resolutions of the commissionersAction of the Government—Substitution of courts for the PanchayetThose to whom the credit of the new order of things was due = 214-279