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

170 AISTORY OF THE PARSIS. [CHAP. IV.

the best creations upon the animal and vegetable world are enumerated, and the Almighty, the Creator of all, is praised and thanked.

The Yashts are twenty-two in number, and are prayers in the form of invocations to different angels or guardian spirits which, under the sovereignty of one Supreme God, the Almighty, preside over different physical objects and mental qualities. These Yashts, which form the bulk of the Khordeh-Avesta, differ from the Yasna in this, that in each of them are sung praises of only one attribute of God, whereas in the Yasna all His attributes are praised and invoked together. The devotee implores the assistance of the guardian spirit presiding over that particular attrbute, and in so doing enumerates the services done by that guardian spirit to other illustrious persons of antiquity. Thus these Yashts serve as an important record of the lives and doings of ancient personages. We therefore meet in the Yashts with historical allusions about the lives and achievements of almost all the kings of the Peshdadian and Kayanian dynasties of ancient Persia, from King Kaiomars down to Kai Gushtasp. The description of these kings found therein corresponds to a great extent with that given by the eminent poet Firdusi in his world-renowned Shah-Nama, or the Book of kings. For their historical value the Yashts form a very important part of the Khordeh-Avesta.