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

cHap.u.] THE PERSIAN SETTLEMENTS. 55

the rate at which that remnant has declined even in recent times when it is stated that, while about 2 hundred and fifty years ago it numbered one hundred thousand souls, it does not at present exceed seven or eight thousand.

The Zoroastrians of Persia are now almost exclusively confined to Yezd and the twenty - four surrounding villages. From accounts furnished to the Persian Amelioration Society of Bombay by its agent in Persia, it appears that im the year 1854 there were in the first-mentioned city and the surrounding villages one thousand houses or families, representing a population of 6,658 souls, of whom 3,310 were males and 3,348 females. Of these about twenty or twenty-five were merchants, but by far the larger number gained a scanty subsistence as tillers of the soil. A few of the poorer class worked as artisans, bricklayers, carpenters, and weavers, or followed other mechanical occupations. At Kerman the number of Parsis does not exceed four hundred and fifty, while in the capital of Persia (Teheran) there are only about fifty merchants of this race. A small number of the humbler class are, however, employed as gardeners in the palace of the Shah, and at Shiraz some families are found occupying the grade of shopkeepers.

At no time after the overthrow of their ancient monarchy were the Zoroastrian residents of Persia