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

CHAPTER VI.

PROGRESS AND PRESENT POSITION.

Parsi qualities—The ‘‘ bania””—The commerce of Bombay—Extent of Parsi enterprise— Parsi bankers—Cotton-mills—A large engine—Old Parsi weavers—The construction of railways—Parsi share in them—Parsi shipwrights—The China trade—Jews v. Parsis—“ The share mania’”’—Some of the staple trades—Commercial morality of Parsis—Parsi officials—‘‘ The salt of the Bombay community ’’—Parsi benevolence—Special cases—The public works of Bombay—Female doctors—Hindu charity—Parsi mendicants—Parsi loyalty—Prayers during Crimean War—Speech of Sir Jamshedji Jijibhai—The Indian Mutiny—The Queen-Empress—The royal family—The Prince of Wales—His serious illness—Prayer for his recovery—Parsi thanksgiving day—The Prince of Wales in India—His reception in Bombay—The national anthem—The Gujarati textParsis well behaved—Parsi convyerts—A period of excitement—Dr. Wilson—The present position of Parsis.

‘WHEN strangers in India are reminded that the Parsis of Bombay are the descendants of a small band which emigrated from Persia under the most miserable circumstances, it is a matter of surprise to them that they should hold at the present day in that city a pre-eminent position among the natives. The causes are not far to seek. Descended originally from an enterprising, courageous, industrious, and self-sacrificing people, who at one time were masters of a vast empire, they did not absolutely lose those characteristic qualities of their race, ‘although