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{{Short description|Overview of the Zoroastrian populace in India}}
{{Infobox religious group
| group = Indian Zoroastrians
| flag =
| flag_caption =
| flag_size =
| image = Maneckji Seth Agiary, Mumbai.jpg
| image_caption = [[Maneckji Seth Agiary]], the second-oldest Zoroastrian [[fire temple]] in the city of [[Mumbai]], 2009
| image_size =

| population = 61,000 (2012)<ref name=Roshan>{{cite web|last1=Rivetna|first1=Roshan|title=The Zoroastrian World A 2012 Demographic Picture|url=http://fezana.org/downloads/ZoroastrianWorldPopTable_FEZANA_Journal_Fall_2013.pdf|website=Fezana.org}}</ref>
| founder = [[Zoroaster|Zarathustra]]
| regions = Primarily [[Gujarat]] and [[Maharashtra]]
| tablehdr =
| region1 =
| pop1 =
| ref1 =
| region2 =
| pop2 =
| ref2 =
| region3 =
| pop3 =
| ref3 =
| religions =
| scriptures = [[Avesta]]
| languages = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Hindi]], and [[Indian English|English]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Anglicisation of the Parsis |date=30 April 2006 |url=https://parsikhabar.net/culture/anglicisation-of-the-parsis/375/ |publisher=Parsi Khabar |access-date=2020-03-05}}</ref>
| related-c =
| website =
| notes =
}}

{{Zoroastrianism sidebar}}
[[Zoroastrianism]], an [[Iranian religions|Iranian religion]], has been present in [[India]] for thousands of years.<ref name="Continuity" /> Though it split into a separate branch, it shares a common origin with [[Hinduism]] and other [[Indian religions]], having been derived from the [[Indo-Iranian religion]]. Though it was once the majority and official religion of the Iranian nation, Zoroastrianism eventually migrated to the [[Indian subcontinent]] in light of the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Muslim conquest of Iran]], which saw the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] annex the [[Sasanian Empire]] by 651 CE. Owing to the [[persecution of Zoroastrians]] in the post-Sasanian period, a large wave of Iranian migrants fled to India, where they became known as the [[Parsis|Parsi people]], who now represent India's oldest Zoroastrian community. Later waves of Zoroastrian immigration to India took place over the following centuries, with a spike in the number of these refugees occurring during the [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam]] and again during the reign of the [[Qajar dynasty]], whose persecution of Zoroastrians prompted many to flee to [[British Raj|British India]], where they became known as the [[Irani (India)|Irani people]].<ref name=Ringer/> Though Zoroastrian, the Parsis and the Iranis are culturally, linguistically, and socially distinct from each other due to their inception in separate periods of migration.

{{anchor | Hindustan}} The comparatively liberal atmosphere of India and the protection provided by historical Indian kingdoms to their Zoroastrian subjects enabled the religion to flourish outside of the [[Iranian Plateau|Iranian plateau]]. Today, India is home to the largest Zoroastrian population in the world, and despite their overall low population number, Indian Zoroastrians have had a significant impact on India's [[Economy of India|economy]], [[Culture of India|culture]], [[Politics of India|politics]] and [[Military history of India|military]], and also played a major role in the [[Indian independence movement]].

== History ==
By 632 CE, [[Yazdgird III|Yazdegerd III]] came to power in Persia but the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Arab/Muslim army]] had already begun [[Muslim conquest of Persia|invading Persia]]. The Muslims [[Battle of Nahāvand|defeated]] them at [[Nahavand]] and Yazdegerd was slain by a miller in [[Merv]] in 652, bringing an end to the Sasanian dynasty and with it Zoroastrianism's history as the official religion of Iran. While losing their religion and script along with some Sasanian historiographical literature, the language and culture essentially survived. Between the seventh and thirteenth century, political and social pressures resulted in ascendancy of Iranian Muslim over the Zoroastrians. With the conquests, Iranians gradually lost their predominant religion.<ref name=Continuity>{{cite book|title=Continuity in Iranian Identity: Resilience of a Cultural Heritage|pages=54–55, 136–137|publisher=Routledge|author=Fereshteh Davaran}}</ref>

The Zoroastrians moved to India in successive migrations in the Islamic period. The initial migration following the conquest has been characterized as a religious persecution by invading Muslims. According to the account, the Zoroastrians suffered at their hands and in order to protect themselves and safeguard their religion, fled first to northern Iran, then to the [[Hormuz Island|island of Hormuz]] and finally to India. This generally accepted narrative of migration emphasises Muslim persecution while identifying Parsis as religious refugees. Recently, scholars have questioned this explanation of Iranian origins. There is a scarcity of sources about the migration. Historians are forced to rely exclusively on ''[[Qissa-i Sanjan]]'' written in 1599 by a Parsi Priest and ''Qissah-ye Zartushtian-e Hindustan'' written more than 200 years later. This is complicated by the fact that there were already Zoroastrians in India in the Sasanian period.<ref name=Ringer>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7oyiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA25|title=Pious Citizens: Reforming Zoroastrianism in India and Iran|pages=25, 26|publisher=Syracuse University Press|author= Monica M. Ringer|date=13 December 2011|isbn=9780815650607}}</ref>

Iranian Zoroastrians are known to have been trading with India for centuries before the dates calculated for arrival of Parsis per [[Qissa-i Sanjan]]. Ruksana Nanji and Homi Dhalla while discussing archaeological evidence for 'The Landing of Zoroastrians at Sanjan', conclude that the most likely date for the migration at the start of the middle phase of their chronology, namely the early-to-mid-eighth century. Nevertheless, they express their general skepticism about the Qissa-i Sanjan account.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7i2wCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA205|title=The Zoroastrian Myth of Migration from Iran and Settlement in the Indian Diaspora: Text, Translation and Analysis of the 16th Century Qesse-ye Sanjān 'The Story of Sanjan|pages=205, 206|publisher=Brill Publishers|author= Alan Williams|date=24 September 2009|isbn=9789047430421}}</ref> Scholar Andre Wink has theorized that Zoroastrian immigrants to India, both before and after the Muslim conquest of Iran, were primarily merchants, since evidence suggests it was only some time after their arrival that religious experts and priests were sent for to join them. He argues that the competition over trade routes with Muslims may also have contributed to their immigration.<ref name=Ringer/>

Although historically unsubstantiated, the story of how Zoroastrians gained permission to step on the shores of [[Gujarat]] continues to be critical to the self-identity of the group. Per the commonly told narrative, the [[Rajah]] of [[Sanjan (Gujarat)|Sanjan]], summoned them and demanded to know how they would not be a burden on or a threat to the local communities. Replying to their request of practising their religion and till the land, he showed them a jug full of milk, saying Sanjan like it was full. In one version, a [[dastur]] added a coin to the milk, saying like the coin, no one would be able to see that they were there but they would enrich the milk nonetheless. In another version, he added sugar instead and claimed that like it, they would sweeten lands of Sanjan. In both of them their settlement is approved by the Rajah who addresses certain conditions for it: they would explain their religion, promise not to proselytise, adopt Gujarati speech and dress, surrender their weapons and only conduct their rituals after nightfall.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cb_U56WcdHMC&pg=PA75|title=Topographies of Faith: Religion in Urban Spaces|page=75|publisher=Brill Publishers|chapter=Excarnation and the City: The Tower of Silence in Mumbai|date=15 April 2013|isbn=978-9004249073}}</ref> During this period, Zoroastrian traders faced execution outside India, including in [[China]] where many were killed during the [[Guangzhou massacre]].<ref>"The Other Middle Kingdom: A Brief History Of Muslims In China" by Chiara Betta, p. 2</ref>

The immigration of Zoroastrians to India continued, and by 1477 they had lost all contact with Persia. Not until three hundred years had passed would they come into contact. Zoroastrians also played a notable role during the [[Indian independence movement|freedom movements]] of India.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Parsis of India: Preservation of Identity in Bombay City|pages=26–35|publisher=BRILL|author=Jesse S. Palsetia|date=January 2001|isbn=9004121145|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R6oNt3M_yLgC}}</ref> There were also subsequent migrations, especially resulting from attempts of [[Safavids]]' to convert their subjects to [[Shia Islam]] in the sixteenth century. This added to the Parsi population and cemented their close association with Iran.<ref name=Ringer/>

== Demographics ==
{{Historical populations
|title = Historical population of Zoroastrians (Parsi) in India
|align = Right
|footnote = Sources:<ref name="Census1872">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25057647 |jstor=saoa.crl.25057647 |access-date=20 May 2024 |title=Memorandum on the census of British India of 1871-72. |year=1872 |pages=50–54 |last1=Waterfield |first1=Henry |author2=Great Britain India Office Statistics AND Commerce Department }}</ref><ref name="Census1881">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25057654 |jstor=saoa.crl.25057654 |access-date=20 May 2024 |title=Report on the census of British India, taken on the 17th February 1881 ..., Vol. 2 |year=1881 |pages=9–18 }}</ref><ref name="Census1891">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25318666 |jstor=saoa.crl.25318666 |access-date=20 May 2024 |title=Census of India, 1891. General tables for British provinces and feudatory states. |year=1891 |pages=87–95 |last1=Baines |first1=Jervoise Athelstane |author2=India Census Commissioner |volume=1 }}</ref><ref name="Frazer 1897 p.">{{cite book | last=Frazer | first=R.W. | title=British India | publisher=G. P. Putnam's sons | series=The story of nations | year=1897 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9F8qAAAAYAAJ | page=355 | access-date=8 May 2023 | archive-date=8 May 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508025115/https://books.google.com/books?id=9F8qAAAAYAAJ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Census1901">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25352838 |jstor=saoa.crl.25352838 |access-date=20 May 2024 |title=Census of India 1901. Vol. 1A, India. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1901 |pages=57–62 }}</ref><ref name="Census1911">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25393779 |jstor=saoa.crl.25393779 |access-date=20 May 2024 |title=Census of India, 1911. Vol. 1., Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1911 |pages=37–42 |last1=Edward Albert Gait |first1=Sir |author2=India Census Commissioner |volume=2 |publisher=Calcutta, Supt. Govt. Print., India, 1913. }}</ref><ref name="Census1921">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25394121 |jstor=saoa.crl.25394121 |access-date=20 May 2024 |title=Census of India 1921. Vol. 1, India. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1921 |pages=39–44 }}</ref><ref name="Bureau of Manufactures">{{cite book |author=United States Department of Commerce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PYA0AQAAMAAJ |title=Trade and Economic Review for 1922 No.34 |publisher=Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce |year=1924 |edition=Supplement to Commerce Reports |page=46 |access-date=8 May 2023 |archive-date=13 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513164851/https://books.google.com/books?id=PYA0AQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Census1931">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25793234 |jstor=saoa.crl.25793234 |access-date=20 May 2024 |title=Census of India 1931. Vol. 1, India. Pt. 2, Imperial tables. |year=1931 |pages=513–519 }}</ref><ref name="Census1941">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215532 |jstor=saoa.crl.28215532 |access-date=20 May 2024 |title=Census of India, 1941. Vol. 1, India |year=1941 |pages=97–101 |author1=India Census Commissioner |volume=1 }}</ref><ref name="The Hindu-2016">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/Parsi-population-dips-by-22-per-cent-between-2001-2011-study/article14508859.ece|title=Parsi population dips by 22 per cent between 2001–2011: study|newspaper=The Hindu|date=July 26, 2016 |access-date=3 November 2021|archive-date=6 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106014327/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/Parsi-population-dips-by-22-per-cent-between-2001-2011-study/article14508859.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>
|percentages = pagr
|1872 | 69476
|1881 | 85397
|1891 | 89904
|1901 | 94190
|1911 | 100096
|1921 | 101778
|1931 | 109752
|1941 | 114890
|1971 | 91266
|1981 | 71630
|2001 | 69601
|2011 | 57264
}}
According to the [[2011 Census of India]], there are 57,264 Parsis in India,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/where-we-belong-the-fight-of-parsi-women-in-interfaith-marriages-4900480/|title=Where we belong: The fight of Parsi women in interfaith marriages|date=24 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/Parsi-population-dips-by-22-per-cent-between-2001-2011-study/article14508859.ece|title=Parsi population dips by 22 per cent between 2001-2011: study|newspaper=The Hindu|date=26 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/biotech-firm-tries-to-unravel-secret-behind-parsizoroastrian-longevity/331544/|title=Biotech firm tries to unravel secret behind Parsi-Zoroastrian longevity - Indian Express|date=5 July 2008|access-date=20 November 2016}}</ref> and the 2014 figures indicate there are now 69,000. These numbers do not include [[Irani (India)|Irani people]] who identify themselves as Zoroastrians. The previous figure of Zoroastrians in the [[diaspora]], and on the results of the Indian census of 1981, which counted over 71,630 Zoroastrians (Parsi). Independent estimates are that there are at least 100,000 Zoroastrians (Parsi) in India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indovacations.net/english/Zoroastrianism.htm|title=Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism in India|first=Indo Vacations|last=Team|access-date=20 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=National & Regional Styles of Cookery: Proceedings : Oxford Symposium 1981|page=71|author=Alan Davidson|publisher=Oxford Symposium}}</ref> Parsis' mother tongue is Gujarati.

The Zoroastrian community in India remains one of the most recognized groups, playing a part in various commercial sectors such as industry, movies, and politics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-jains-become-sixth-minority-community-1954568|title=Jains become sixth minority community - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis|date=21 January 2014|access-date=20 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Politics/fMzSdy9is9fL2R9QBwWA3I/Govt-grants-minority-status-to-Jain-community.html|title = Govt grants minority status to Jain community|date = 20 January 2014}}</ref>

== Communities ==
There are two major Zoroastrian communities in India.

=== Parsi ===
{{main|Parsi}}
[[File:Parsee Wedding 1905.jpg|thumb|right|A ''[[Parsi people|Parsi]]'' Wedding, 1905]]
The word ''Parsi'' in the [[Persian language]] literally means "Persian". Persian is the official language of modern [[Iran]], which is also known as [[Persia]]. The language (''Parsi'') is commonly referred to as ''Farsi'', because, after the [[Islamic conquest of Persia|Arab invasion of Persia]], because of the absence of the "P / G / Zh / Ch" sounds in the [[Arabic language]], ''Parsi'' became ''Farsi''. Similarly, [[Babak Khorramdin]]'s first name, originally ''Papak'' (Papa + Kuchak = Papak), "Young Father", became ''Babak''.{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}}

The long presence of the Parsis in the Gujarat and Sindh areas of India is supported by a [[genetic study]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1186/s13059-017-1244-9|title = "Like sugar in milk": Reconstructing the genetic history of the Parsi population|year = 2017|last1 = Chaubey|first1 = Gyaneshwer|last2 = Ayub|first2 = Qasim|last3 = Rai|first3 = Niraj|last4 = Prakash|first4 = Satya|last5 = Mushrif-Tripathy|first5 = Veena|last6 = Mezzavilla|first6 = Massimo|last7 = Pathak|first7 = Ajai Kumar|last8 = Tamang|first8 = Rakesh|last9 = Firasat|first9 = Sadaf|last10 = Reidla|first10 = Maere|last11 = Karmin|first11 = Monika|last12 = Rani|first12 = Deepa Selvi|last13 = Reddy|first13 = Alla G.|last14 = Parik|first14 = Jüri|last15 = Metspalu|first15 = Ene|last16 = Rootsi|first16 = Siiri|last17 = Dalal|first17 = Kurush|last18 = Khaliq|first18 = Shagufta|last19 = Mehdi|first19 = Syed Qasim|last20 = Singh|first20 = Lalji|last21 = Metspalu|first21 = Mait|last22 = Kivisild|first22 = Toomas|last23 = Tyler-Smith|first23 = Chris|last24 = Villems|first24 = Richard|last25 = Thangaraj|first25 = Kumarasamy|journal = Genome Biology|volume = 18|issue = 1|page = 110|pmid = 28615043|pmc = 5470188 | doi-access=free }}</ref> and it also distinguishes them from the smaller Zoroastrian Indian community of [[Irani (India)|Irani]]s, who are more recent arrivals.

=== Iranis ===

{{main|Irani (India)}}
Although the term 'Irani' is first attested during the [[Mughal era]], most Iranis are immigrants who arrived on the subcontinent during the 19th and early 20th centuries, that is, when Iran was ruled by the [[Qajar dynasty|Qajars]] and when religious persecution of non-Muslims was rampant. The descendants of the immigrants of those times remain culturally and linguistically closer to the [[Zoroastrians in Iran|Zoroastrians of Iran]], in particular to the Zoroastrians of [[Yazd]] and [[Kerman]]. Consequently, the [[Dari (Zoroastrian)|Dari]] dialect of the Zoroastrians of those provinces may be heard among the Iranis.

== See also ==
* [[List of countries by Zoroastrian population]]
* [[Indo-Sasanians]]
* [[List of fire temples in India]]
* [[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley]]
* [[Persecution of Buddhists by Zoroastrians]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.hindupedia.org/en/Zoroastrianism_and_Hinduism Zoroastrianism and Hinduism] - a comparison of both religions and exploring the origins of Zoroastrianism

== References ==
{{reflist}}


{{Zoroastrianism}}
{{Asia in topic|Religion in|PS=Palestinian territories#Religion}}
{{Religion in India topics}}

[[Category:Zoroastrianism in India| ]]
[[Category:Zoroastrianism by country|India]]

Zoroastrianism in India - Revision history

Ashok Hathrasi: Created A Stub Added Tags