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

CHAP. I.] THE KABIR PANTH. 39

Surat, and revived among his co-religionists in India the ancient Persian institution of the Jamshedi Naoroz, or the feast of the vernal equinox. ‘Towards the persecuted Zoroastrians of Persia who sought a refuge in India, or who came there in quest of an openine for their talents, his hospitality was unbounded. Nor were his sympathies confined to his own race or creed. He was versed in the tenets of the Kabir Panth, or the philosophico-religious sect founded by the well-known Hindu reformer Kabir, for whose teaching he had a great predilection. He was well read in the Persian and Arabic languages, and he was one of the most enlightened citizens of Surat of his time.

He was succeeded in his business by his son Kharshedji, who died in 1852 at the age of seventyseven. While carrying on the family business of maritime insurance Kharshedji extended his dealings to China, sending his eldest son Fardunji to that country in 1815. Having met with reverses in business, and losing the remnants of his fortune in the great fire at Surat in 1837, when the family mansion was burnt down, Kharshedji devoted the latter portion of his life to literary pursuits. He was well known as a student of Oriental literature, and was considered an authority in all matters pertaining to the Zoroastrian religion. In his character as a scholar he enjoyed the esteem and friendship not only of his own people, but