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

CHAP. 1.] THE MODIS OF SURAT. 19

with the Kadmis. His contemporary Dhanjisha Manjisha, the head of the Kadmis, was an extensive “jaghirdar.” He also traded largely with Bombay and China, and owned a great number of ships, besides many country craft called ‘ batelas,” which were used for the coasting trade.

In 1667 there died at Surat Nanabhai Punjiabhai, who was the head of the Parsi community of that city. The Modis of Surat are his descendants. Nanabhai was in the highest sense of the term a charitable man, while his building a ‘“‘dokhma” at Surat testified to his religious feelings.

Since Nanabhai’s time his descendants have been the heads of the Parsi community at Surat. All representations from the Parsi community, formerly to the nawab and latterly to the English authorities, were made through their medium. When Bhimji Kuvyarji was the Modi of Surat, he represented to the Nawab Hyder Ali Khan the grievances of the Parsis in being impressed by the Mahomedan officers of the nawab for various kinds of labour, among which the most disagreeable was the digging of graves for dead Mussulmans; and the nawab was pleased to issue a firman exempting the Parsis from such impressment. In former times as well as at the present day the Parsis levied small dues upon marriages among their co-religionists for the benefit of the funds for the amelioration of the poor belonging to the