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GAURS. 
been from all eternity ; but this sect was reputed heterodox, the 
original doctrine being, that the good principle only was eternal, and 
the other created.; 
Plutarch gives the following account of the Magian traditions in 
relation to these gods, and the introduction of evil into the world, viz. 
that Oromazes consisted of most pure light, and Arimanius of dark- 
ness, and that they were at war with each other ; that Oromazes 
created six gods : first, the author of benevolence ; second, of justice; 
third, of truth ; fourth, of contentment; fifth, of pleasure ; and sixth, of 
riches ; and that Arimanius made as many, who were the authors of 
the opposite evils or vices ; that then Oromazes, triplicating himself, 
removed as far from the sun as the sun is from the earth, and adorned 
the heavens with stars, appointing the dog-star for their leader ; 
that he also created twenty-four other gods, and enclosed them in an 
egg, by which means evil and good became mixed together. However, 
the fatal time will come, when Arimanius, the introducer of plagues 
and famine, must of necessity be utterly destroyed by the former, and 
annihilated ; then the earth being made plain and even, mankind shall 
live in a happy state, in the same society, and using one and the same 
language. Theopompus writes, that, according to the Magians, the 
said two gods, during the space of three thousand years, alternately 
conquer and are conquered, that for other three thousand years they 
will wage mutual war, fight and destroy the works of each other, till 
at last Hades, or the evil spirit, shall perish, and men become perfectly 
happy, their bodies needing no food, nor casting any shadow, i. e. 
being perfectly transparent. 
Gabres or Gaurs. 
A RELIGIOUS sect in Persia and India, called also Gaurs. Those of 
this sect are dispersed through the country, and said to be the re- 
mains of the ancient Persians, or followers of Zoroaster, being worship- 
pers of fire. They have a suburb at Ispahan, called Gaurabad, or 
the town of the Gaurs, where they are employed in the meanest 
drudgery ; some of them are dispersed through other parts of Pei’sia ; 
but they principally abound in Kerman, the most barren province in 
the whole country, where the Mahometans allow them liberty for the 
exercise of their religion. Several of them fled many ages ago into 
India, and settled about Surat, where their posterity still remain. 
There is also a colony of them at Bombay. They are an ignorant, 
inoffensive people, extremely superstitious, zealous for their rights, 
rigorous in their morals, and honest in their dealings. They believe 
a resurrection and a future judgment, and worship only one God. 
Although they perform their worship before fire, and direct their 
devotion towards the rising sun, for which they have an extraordinary 
veneration, yet they strenuously maintain that they worship neither ; 
but that, as these are the most expressive symbols of the Deity, they 
turn towards them in their devotional services. Some have supposed 
that these are persons formerly converted to Christianity, who being 
afterwards left to themselves, mingled their ancient superstitions with 
the truths and practices of Christianity, and so formed for themselves. 
