[465] 



MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &c. 



OF 



NATIONS AND CLASSES of PEOPLE. 



ACCOUNT OF THE PARSEES. 



(From Mrs. Graham's Journal of a 

 Residence in India.) 



IT appears that tlicre have been 

 two legislators of the name of 

 Zoroaster, one of whom lived in 

 times of such remote antiquity, 

 that no depLjndance can be placed 

 on the traditions concerning him. 

 The last flourished as late as the 

 reign of Darius, the son of Cam- 

 byses. He appears to have reform- 

 ed the religion of his country, 

 which there is reason to think was, 

 till that time, the same with that 

 of India, to have built the first 

 fine temples, and to have written 

 the books of Guebre laws, of whicli 

 only some fragments remain. 



The Parsees acknowledge uGood 

 Principle under the name of Ilor- 

 muzd, and an Evil Principle under 

 that of Ahrimanc. Subordinate to 

 Hormuzd, tlie fcrishta, or angels, 

 are charged with the creation and 

 preservation of the material world. 

 The sun, the moon, and the stars, 

 the years, the months, and the 

 days, have each their presiding an- 

 gds ; angels attend on every hu- 



VoL. LV. 



man soul, and an angel receives it 

 when it leaves the body. Myrh, 

 or Mithra, is the ferishta to whom 

 this important charge is assigned, 

 as well as that of judging the dead ; 

 he is also the guardian of the sun, 

 and presides over the sixth month, 

 and the sixth day of the month. 

 The good ferishta have correspond- 

 ing evil genii, who endeavour to 

 counteract them in all their func- 

 tions ; they particularly encourage 

 witchcraft, and willingly hold con- 

 verse with enchanters of both 

 sexes, sometimes revealing truly 

 the secrets of futurity for mali- 

 cious purposes. As in other coun- 

 tries, the old, the ugly, and the 

 miserable, are stigmatised as 

 witches, and the Indian Brahmins 

 are regarded by the Guebres as 

 powerful magicians. 



Fire is the chief object of ex- 

 ternal worship among the Parsees. 

 In each atsh-khaneh, or fire-house, 

 there are two fires, one of which it 

 is lawful for the vulgar to behold, 

 but the other, atsh-baharam, is kept 

 in the most secret and holy part of 

 the temple, and is approached only 

 by the chief dustoor; it must not 

 be visited by the light of the sun, 

 and iho chimneys for carrying off 



2H 



