Karaka, Dosabhai Framji: History of the Parsis: including their manners, customs, religion and present position ; in two volumes (Band 1) (London, 1884)

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HISTOR Y OF THE PARSIS. [chap. hi.

Mahomedan wife would only require one or two saris
a year for her covering as a dress, each not costing
more than three rupees. As for the children, they
go almost naked till they get to the age of ten. The
poorest Parsi woman would want at least two silk
saris a year, costing at least ten rupees each, besides
trousers, shirts, shoes, etc., with proper covering for
the children. How can a Parsi, then, become a
soldier on seven rupees a month ?

If, however, a few Parsis could be induced to take
service as soldiers, however poor the remuneration
might be, a bright future would after a time open out
for them. They would have the opportunity of
proving what good soldiers they could make. We
venture to predict that the State would also benefit
by their service in the army. Educated, energetic,
and consistently loyal, they would surely infuse a
most wholesome spirit into any regiment. Some of
them would soon rise to the position of non-commis-
sioned officers, and when opportunities offered they
would, by their coolness, courage, and discipline,
show that they were not unworthy descendants of
the men who at one time gained, by their heroic
valour under their own kings, an empire from the
Hellespont to the Indus. This much accomplished, it
could not then be long before they would earn
commissions in the army; for, if a German or a
European of another nationality can secure a commis-