[19] Dosabhai Framji Karaka, Hist. of the Parsis, vol. i. pp. 101 et seq.
[20] The enrolment of the Parsis as volunteers, to the exclusion of the other nationalities, has reappeared since the publication of the work of Mr. D. F. Karaka. At Quetta, at Karachi, at Poona the Parsis are admitted freely into the corps of the European Volunteers, and lastly (June, 1894) Mr. Dinsha Dosabhai Khambatta is enrolled as a lieutenant in the “Poona Volunteers”; he is now a lieutenant in the “Quetta Corps.”
[21] Padamji Pestanji is the chief of the Parsi community of Poona; since the last riots, he obtained as a reward of his services the title of Khan Bahadur; he is a member of the Legislative Council and has the rank of a Sirdar of the First Class in the Dekkan.
[22] “We have not the slightest hesitation in saying that the Parsis would be found to be as good and brave soldiers as the Anglo-Saxons, while their loyalty and attachment to the Government they are called upon to serve would always be above suspicion” (see Hist. of the Parsis, vol. i. chap. iii. p. 103).
[23] “For if a German or a European of another nationality can secure a commission in the British Army, why should not a Parsee, who is the born subject of the Queen-Empress?” (See Hist. of the Parsis, vol. i. chap. iii. p. 104.)
[24] Opinions are divided amongst the Parsis themselves on the subject of their nationality and position in India. The Hon. Mr. P. M. Mehta considers them as natives to the backbone. Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, M.P., is of the same opinion, whilst a certain number decline to recognise this.
[25] The name of Shahanshahi means “imperial,” and that of Kadmi is drawn from qadim, “ancient.” The Shahanshahis are also called Rasmis, from Rasm, “custom,” that is to say, that which is followed in India.
[26] On this schism, see Anquetil Duperron, Zend-Avesta, Disc. Prel. p. ccccxxvi.; Wilson, The Parsi Religion, pp. 35, 36; Haug, Essays, pp. 57, 58. Aspandiarji Kamdin resumed the controversy of the Kabisa in a book appearing in Surat, in 1826: A Historical Account of the Ancient Leap-Year of the Parsis (Gujerati). Mr. K. R. Kama held, in 1869, a series of conferences on the ancient computation of time, and has published The Era of Yezdezard (Gujerati).
[27] This is how Anquetil Duperron relates the incidents of this memorable struggle:[28] “About forty-six years ago there came from Kirman a very clever Dastoor named Djamasp. He had been sent to re-unite the Parsis divided on the question of the Penom, a double piece of cloth with which the Parsis, on certain occasions, cover a part of the face. Some wished that it should be placed on the dead, others did not like this. Djamasp decided in favour of the latter, according to the custom of Kirman. If this Dastoor had not made the voyage to India, this frivolous contest would have caused streams of blood to flow.
“Djamasp is believed to have examined the Vendidad, which was current in Gujerat. He found the Pehlvi translation of it too long and not correct in several places. Ignorance was the predominating vice of the Parsis of India. In order to remedy it, the Dastoor of Kirman formed some disciples, Darab at Surat, Djamasp at Naosari, and a third at Bharooch, to whom he taught Zend and Pehlvi. Some time after, tired of the contradictions which he had to endure, he returned to Kirman. The books which this Dastoor has left in India are an exact copy of the Zend and Pehlvi Vendidad, the Feroueschi, the translation of the Vadjerguerd, and the Nerenguestan. These two works are in Persian, mixed with Zend, and purely on ceremonials.