Parsi – A community with declining population.

Between 1941 and 2011, the population of the Parsi population has decreased by 50.2%. The
population decreased from 114,890 in 1941 to 57,264 in 2011 as per Indian population census.

Some 1300 years ago, around 8th century, Zoroastrians migrated from Greater Iran to Gujarat.
Every Parsi while growing up at some point of time has heard the story of their ancestors
bravely sailing across the seas, facing the storms and landing up in India. The reason why they
had to do so is the Muslims in Iran at that time. The Zoroastrian king of Iran at that time,
Yazdegerd, lost the battle of Nehavand which left the Zoroastrians over there with two choices.
One was that they would have to pay a tax for not being an Islam and second was that they had
to adopt Islam as their religion.
The Parsis refused to do so, and as a result, they were exploited in many different ways. Due
to this oppression, they decided to migrate. They fled from Iran in around 755 A.D. They first
arrived in India on the shores of Sanjan in the state of Gujarat. Upon arrival, they asked the
local king Jadav Rana to let them stay there. The King politely declined their request by sending
a bowl full of milk indicating that their town was full. The leader of the Parsi group at that time
was a priest (aka Dastur). The Dastur immediately asked for some sugar and mixed the sugar
into the bowl of milk. According to him, this indicated that the Parsis would dissolve into the
town easily and that they would sweeten their lives just like the sugar did in the milk.
The king impressed by this notion, agreed to let them live there but on some conditions. The
conditions were that they had to learn local language and they had to adapt their lifestyle. This
story is now well known as ‘Qissa-i-Sanjan’.
The Zoroastrians came to be known as ‘Parsis’ because of where they had migrated from i.e.
Iran formerly known as Persia. ‘Parsi’ literally means ‘Persian’. A common misbelief is that
Parsis worship the fire. It is not the fire that they worship. They find all the natural elements
viz. air, fire, water, and earth pure. The fire only indicates the knowledge and wisdom of their
Lord Ahura Mazda.
Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest religions which is based on a monotheistic faith.
Zoroastrians are also called as Mazdayasna. They consider their almighty or the supreme being
as Lord Ahura Mazda. One prominent figure in the Zoroastrian faith is Zoroaster also known
as Zarathustra. Zoroaster was a prophet of Ahura Mazda. All his teachings are recorded in the
sacred text of Zoroastrianism known as ‘Avesta’. The Avesta is considered as a holy book for
Parsis through which they can gain knowledge and guidance for life.
Angra Mainyu also known as Ahriman, was considered to be the ‘destructive spirit’ whereas,
Spenta Mainyu was an aspect of Lord himself and was considered as the ‘holy spirit’ in
Zoroastrianism. Ahriman’s nature is Druj (lie) which consists of tendencies like envy, wrath
and greed. Parsis don’t pray in the north direction or the north direction is not considered as
holy because it is said that Lord Ahura Mazda resides in the south and as a result, Ahriman
being the evil spirit, resides in north.
The Zoroastrian Faith resides in ‘Manashni, Gavashni, Kunashni’ which translates to ‘Good
thoughts, good words, good deeds’.
While Parsi is a common term for the people who migrated from Iran formerly known as Persia,
two different terms namely Zoroastrians and Iranis have been coined based on some differences
between them. The first difference between Parsis and Iranis is that the Irani people often speak
Persian (languages like Farsi and Dari) whereas the Parsis don't. Interestingly, many Iranis also
speak Gujarati (the language of the Parsis), making them a very effective link between Parsis
and Iranian Zoroastrians in India.

The second difference would be the fact that the two reached India at different points of time.
Parsis arrived in India between the 8th to 10th century. This was mainly to get away from the
persecution by Muslims. On the other hand, Iranis came to India in the last 100–200 years
fearing prosecution during the islamization of Iran. They too settled in Gujarati towns of
Valsad, Navsari, Udvada and in Mumbai. Since they were fairer than the native Indians, they
had good relations with the British Rulers. Both Zoroastrians and Iranis have cultural
similarities and linguistic similarities. Parsis were mostly business families, while Iranis started
Cafe's, Bakeries and Restaurants in Mumbai which are very well-known.

The next difference would be surnames. This is because most of the Parsi surnames are similar
to Gujarati surnames. Also, Iranis can be identified from their surnames as most of them have
‘Irani’ itself as their surname. Also, the British in Surat required the Iranis to have surnames
which they didn't have then. So, they decided to have surnames relevant to their professions.
The surnames like Daruwala and Patrawala come from there. Iranis have their surname also
from the town they resided in like Vyarawalla from Vyara and Udvadia from Udvada.

However, even though some differences prevail in Zoroastrians and Iranis, the way of doing
prayer and the rituals are same. Only the day of the new year is different. Basically, there are
no cultural differences between Parsis and Iranis. However, in India both terms are occasionally
used along with each other but there are slight differences. Legal differences being that Iranis
are not required to abide by the regulations framed by the BPP (Bombay Parsi Punchayat).

The largest population of Zoroastrians is in India, which as further stated was around 57,264
followers. At least 50% of the Zoroastrian population of the world lives in India. After India
comes Iran with the second highest population for obvious reasons which is around 25,000
followers. Zoroastrianism is observed in many other countries like Unites States of America,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Singapore and other Persian-gulf countries.
However, the population of Parsis in India has been declining constantly for the last 50 to 60
years now. This is a matter of serious concern for the community as well the country. Parsis
have provided to the country in every sector. The Government started a Central Sector Scheme
for containing population decline of Parsis. Around 31% of Parsis are above the age of 60.
According to a report of Indian Ministry of Affairs under this scheme, the reasons of the
population decline are as stated. Parsis tend to marry late in their lives. Due to this, the infertility
rate in Parsi women increase. Also, in the 1970s and 1980s, there was this taboo that one had
to marry only within the community. Due to lesser people in the community, a lot of people
remained unmarried. Also, there is no peer or family pressure on getting married. Even today
30% of the Parsis choose to remain single, the reason being that they don’t find a suitable
partner within the community.
The Parsis, because of a smaller population, started marrying their blood relative i.e. cousins
(sometimes, even first cousins). As a result, babies were born with higher risk of inherited
diseases, weaker immune system and higher chances of birth defects. These babies whose
parents are blood relatives have a shorter life expectancy as well.
There is a fast decline in the population of Parsis because of the two factors stated above. A
statistical study shows us that when for every four Parsis that die, only one baby is born.
One of the main reasons why the population has declined over the years is inter marriages. As
the population of the community is small, people tend to marry different castes or religions.
A child maybe born into a Zoroastrian family but is only considered one after the auspicious
ceremony of Navjote. A Navjote ceremony can be held only for the child whose either father
is a Parsi or both the parents are Parsis. A child is considered a Parsi if its father has married a
woman out of the community. A child is not considered a Parsi if its mother has married some
guy from other community. A discrimination against Parsi women with a non-Parsi spouse has
been held for quite some time now. This further leads to a population decline.
However, the ‘burning issue’ not quite literally is the fire that they worship but the existential
crisis the Parsis are in.
In order to increase the Parsi population by encouraging child births, a joint effort of Parzor
Foundation, Ministry of minority affairs of the Government of India, Bombay Parsi Punchayat
and Tata Institute of Social Sciences introduced a Programme called ‘Jiyo Parsi’. This scheme
consists of two variables: Advocacy Component and Medical Component. This was the first
time in the history that the Indian Government had took an initiative to start a scheme for
decreasing the decline in the population of a minority community. ‘Jiyo Parsi’ means ‘Live
Parsi’ in literal sense. This scheme was started in 2013.
The medical component refers to the financial help given to the community for the detection
and treatment of infertility. The patient can choose any place and doctor as per their preference.
Financial aid of up to ₹5 lakhs is given for the same. The income brackets for the financial aid
provided is if the family earns below ₹15 lakh per annum then full reimbursement is provided.
Families between ₹15 lakh to ₹25 lakh will get 75% financial aid and families higher than ₹25
lakhs will get 50% financial aid under the scheme.
The advocacy component refers to influencing the mindset of people now a days which is to
have small nuclear families, marry late in their lives and have a single child. If the society could
change the norms of joint family in the earlier times, it can change the norms again. Possibly
because of this change in the mindset, people in the community will start having larger families.
An average Parsi woman’s total fertility rate is 0.8 i.e. an average Parsi woman has less than 1
child in her fertility period. Over 130 babies were born under the Jiyo Parsi Scheme within 4
years which is a sign of a huge success for the scheme and the community as well. Jiyo Parsi
is trying to make a change in the community’s population by encouraging larger families.
Hence, efforts have been made in order to increase the population of the community by
encouraging child births and larger families, but the Parsi community still has a long way to
go.