Even as the Parsis celebrate Navroz on Friday by visiting fire temples, decorating homes, wearing traditional attire and spending time with the family, in Sanjan, South Gujarat, from where it all began several centuries ago, only a few Parsi families reside. Located in Umargam taluka of Valsad district, once upon a time nearly 100 families stayed in this small town.
However, over the years the number of families staying in Sanjan has come down to 12. Parsis also resided in Manekpur, Malkhet and Aahu villages near Sanjan.
They have moved to Mumbai and other cities for business. There are other factors as well.
The legend has it that Parsi had first reached Sanjan way back in 698 A.D. when they came from Persia. While they had sought asylum, the then king of Sanjan, Jadi Rana, had offered the community members a pot full of milk to indicate that there was no place. To this, the Parsis mixed sugar in the milk, without the milk spilling, indicating that they would easily mix with the inhabitants of the place and there would be no difficulty.
Mahmud Begada of the Delhi Sultanate captured Sanjan in the 1480s and then it was captured by the Portuguese. This was followed by the Maratha rule. Sanjan then fell to the British forces during the 18th Century and then later became part of Bombay State following India’s independence. It later became part of Gujarat in 1960.
Ahmedabad-based sociologist Gaurang Jani told Vibes of India that over the last several years, the Parsi population has seen a decline as a Parsi usually marries another Parsi. According to him, there is a gender imbalance as the community outcasts girl, who marries a non-Parsi.
However, children of a Parsi boy, marrying a non-Parsi girl, are considered Parsis. The non-Parsi girl is not allowed to enter the Fire Temple though. Citing the Census of 2011, he pointed out that then there were 53,000 families in the country. Several Parsis have even settled abroad.
In 2013-14, the then UPA Government had launched “Jiyo Parsi Scheme”. The scheme was aimed at reversing the declining trend of Parsi population. It adopted a scientific protocol and structured interventions to stabalise the population and increase the population.
A report from the Ministry of Minority Affairs in September 2013 documented reasons for the decline in the population and it included late marriages. The fertility rate was being affected as they married late.
Dr. Minoo Parabia, a retired professor of Bio Sciences at the Veer Narmad University in South Gujarat told Vibes of India that the Parsis had promised the then king Rana that they would never indulge into conversion. According to him, the “Jiyo Parsi Scheme” did help to a certain extent but said that there should have been more encouragement.
Further mentioning about the Parsis moving to Mumbai, he said they were invited by the Britishers to set up businesses as there were plans to built Mumbai as the business city. Not only Parsis, even Kutchis (people from Kutch) were also invited. After receiving education, Parsis were quite early to move to the US, he pointed out.
According to Dr. Parabia, 77, currently Mumbai has Parsi population of 45,000. It is followed by the community in South Gujarat. The rest are scattered across the country.
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