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

CHAP, III.] THE REASONS. 103

We must look for the real reason of the Parsis not becoming soldiers to the fact that very little or no inducement is offered to them to enlist in the army. The native (Hindu or Mahomedan) soldiers are paid seven rupees or fourteen shillings a month, inclusive of rations, while a Parsi, in the lowest employment that he can enter upon—namely, that of a cook or domestic servant—earns nearly double the sum which is paid to the sepoy. During the mutinies, when Bombay was denuded of European troops, many Parsis would willingly have enlisted in the army if the pay of European soldiers had been accorded to them. We have not the slightest hesitation im saying that the Parsis would be found to be as good and brave soldiers as the Anglo-Saxons, whilst their loyalty and attachment to the Government they are called upon to serve would always be above suspicion.

To the Parsis generally it is a matter of regret that pecuniary considerations have prevented their people from enlisting in the ranks of the native army. Their mode of life, even among the poorest, is more expensive than that of the Hindus or Mahomedans of the same class. The latter can live on seven rupees a month; with the former it would be impossible to do so. Seven or eight of a Hindu or Mahomedan family would, without much regard for decency, occupy and sleep in one room. The poorest Parsi would not so much as think of doing so. The poor Hindu or