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

CHAP, II.] KHATUN BANU. 85

The need of a charitable dispensary having been long felt in Persia, a subscription was set on foot which resulted in the collection of Rs.6,946. The amount, however, was insufficient for the purpose, and was therefore appropriated to the erection of a poorhouse in Teheran, which, besides furnishing, in ordinary times, the destitute poor with food and lodging, afforded relief and shelter to the victims of starvation, who took refuge there during the dreadful and desolating famine of 1862.

It only now remains to briefly notice charitable works of another kind, which, if not of equal importance, have been carried out by the benevolent efforts of the Zoroastrians of Bombay, at two of the localities rendered sacred by popular tradition and as enshrining memories of the last days of the old Persian rule. One of these legends, which has obtained general credence, relates to Khatun Banu, the daughter of Yazdezard, the last of the Persian monarchs. After the overthrow of the Persian empire the family of Yazdezard, unable to take shelter in Madayn, escaped with their lives and sought a safer refuge in the fortress of HaftAjar, the home of their ancestors. As the victors, however, were in hot pursuit and their numbers were overwhelming, the attempt proved futile, and the fugitives were scattered in various directions. One daughter, Meher Banu, sought and obtained relief in the stronghold of Gorab; another, Khatun Banu, to