An Ethnography of the Parsees of India
1886–1936

This volume explores a wide spectrum of Parsee culture and society derived through essays from the Journal of Anthropological Society of Bombay (1886?1936). This journal documents intensive scholarship on the Parsee community by eminent anthropologists, Indologists, orientalogists, historians, linguists, and administrators in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Comprising 0.05% of India?s total population today, the Parsees (now spelled ?Parsis?) have made significant contributions to modern India.

Through contributions of Jivanji Jamshedji Modi, Bomanjee Byramjee Patell, and Rustamji Munshi, eminent Parsee scholars, the essays in this book discuss the social and cultural frameworks which constitute various key phases in the Parsee life nearly 100 years ago. They also focus on themes such as birth, childhood and initiation, marriage, and death. The volume also features works on Parsee folklore and oral literature.

An important contribution to Parsi culture and living, this book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of sociology, social anthropology, ethnography, cultural studies, history, and South Asia studies.

PART I: Birth and Initiation 1. Birth customs and ceremonies of the Parsees 2. Parsee life in Parsee songs: cradle songs 3. The baby language among the Parsees 4. The initiation ceremonies and customs of the Parsees Marriage Marriage 5. Marriage customs among the Parsees and their comparison with similar customs of other nations 6. Some Parsee marriage customs. How far they are borrowed from the Hindus? 7. A few marriage songs of the Parsees at Nargol, Part I 8. A few marriage songs of the Parsees at Nargol, Death 9. On the funeral ceremonies of the Parsees, their origin and explanation 10. Notes on the Towers of Silence in India 11. The first-year funeral expenses of a Parsee of the last century (1763) 12. A vahi or register of the dead of some of the Parsees of Broach and a Parsee martyr mentioned in it 13. Another Parsee martyr of Broach PART II 14. Statistics of births, deaths and marriages among the Parsees of Bombay during the last ten years (1881-1890) 15. Statistics of births, deaths and marriages among the Parsees of Bombay during the last ten years (1891-1900) 16. A Parsee deed of partition more than 150 years old: a form of slavery referred to therein Folklore 17. A few Parsee riddles – I 18. A few Parsee riddles – II 19. Omens among the Parsees 20. Charms or amulets for some diseases of the eye.

A. M. Shah was a former professor of sociology at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, and a national fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, India.

Lancy Lobo has been a professor and the director of the Centre for Social Studies, based in Surat, India. He holds a master’s degree in anthropology and a doctoral degree in sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India. He is the founder-director of the Centre for Culture and Development, at Vadodara.