History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

158 HISTORY OF THE PARSIS. [CHAP. III.

16. Ahurai. : : : Dubasrujd. 17. A ‘ : : ; Husparam. 18. Yim. . 5 . Sakadum. 19. Dregubyo . ‘ ‘ Videvadada. 20. Dadat . : . : Hadokht. 21. Vastarem . ; : Stud Yasht.

These twenty-one volumes derive their names from the twenty-one words of a very old and sacred prayer of the Parsis known as “‘Yatha Ahu Vairyo.” The majority of these works are not in the possession of the Parsis of this day. They are supposed to have been destroyed either during the invasion of Persia by Alexander or immediately after the conquest of that country by the Arabs, who entertained so great a hatred for the ancient religion of Persia that they sought out and collected all the works of Zoroaster and his disciples which they could find in that country, and destroyed nearly the whole of them. The supposition that some of the books were destroyed by Alexander the Great is contained in the introductory chapter of the Pehlevi Viraf-Nama, a book written in the Sassanian times, about the sixth or seventh century, and in which the event is thus chronicled: —‘“ The wicked accursed Guna Mino (the evil spirit), im order to make the people sceptical about their religion, instigated the accursed Alexiedar (Alexander) the Ruman, the inhabitant of Egypt, to carry war and hardships to the country of Ivan (Persia). He (Alexander) killed the monarch of Iran and destroyed and made