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

CHAP. 1] THE FIRST CHIEF DASTOR. 3

lantry tended to greatly improve their condition and status, and promoted the interests of their small colonies with the ruling powers wherever they happened to establish themselves.

In this chapter we propose, therefore, to notice some of the distinguished Parsis of Gujarat, as well as the interesting events with which they were connected.

As the Parsis grew in importance at Navsari, and as, unfortunately, the members of the priesthood began to be continually at difference among themselves, it was considered advisable to elect a suitable man as chief “dastur” or high priest, who would not only be the head of the sacerdotal caste but also the chief adviser and controller of the religious affairs of the entire community. ‘The choice for this office, made on the 12th of March 1579, fell unanimously upon a pious and learned priest named Merji Rana. By his piety, learning, and irreproachable character he not only gained the esteem of his fellow-countrymen but his fame spread far and wide, even to the ears of the Emperor Akbar the Great, and he was summoned by that wise ruler to Delhi, that he might explain to him the tenets of the Parsi religion. It is said that the emperor was favourably impressed with the religion of Zoroaster, and bestowed upon the “dastur” a free grant of two hundred acres of land at Navsari, as a

mark of his royal favour. In the year 1595 Akbar