in this latter place is the most recent
of all. The earliest mention made of it does not go further back
than 1478. It was there that the community first acquired its great
importance and came in contact with the Europeans. We shall see its
destiny further on.

It is very difficult to assign a fixed date to the arrival of the
Parsis in Bombay. It seems probable that they were induced to do this
by English merchants, and that their first settlement in this island
was a little before the time it was ceded to England by the Portuguese,
as the dowry of Catherine of Braganza on her marriage with the Stuart
king Charles II. (1668).

Dr. Fryer, who visited Bombay in the year 1671, [33] says: "On the
other side of the great bay, towards the sea, there is a sort of
promontory called Malabar Hill, a rocky mountain covered with woods,
on the top of which is a recently erected Parsi tomb." [34] Now, as
the first care of the Parsis, wherever they settle, is to construct
a "Tower of Silence," it is to be presumed that the community could
not have been of any importance before this period; it has prospered
since. It is in Bombay at the present time that can be best studied
the changes that have been going on for two centuries, and which
make the modern Parsis the most loyal subjects of the British Crown,
and the most active agents of civilisation and progress.

In this first chapter we have confined ourselves to a summary
indication of their principal settlements in the Presidency and to a
succinct recital of the most prominent events which have signalised
their sojourn in India before the arrival of the Europeans. We will
now freely approach the study we have proposed to undertake. The
reader will not, we hope, lose sight of their grievous exodus; and,
at the height of the fame of the Dadiseths, the Banajis, the Jamshedji
Jijibhoys, the Camas, the Petits, and many other no less illustrious
names, will remember the first fugitives of Persia, and their kindly
reception by the Rana of Sanjan. "Welcome," said the prince, "welcome
to those who walk faithfully in the way of Hormuzd! May their race
prosper and increase! May their prayers obtain the remission of their
sins, and may the sun smile on them! May Lakshmi by her liberality and
her gifts contribute to their wealth and to the fulfilling of their
desires; and, for ever, may their rare merits of race and intellect
continue to distinguish them in our midst!"

CHAPTER