DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22900#0147
chap, in.] SHE HENSHA IS AND KADMIS.
105
sion in the British army, why should not a Parsi, who
is the born subject of the Queen - Empress ? Only
then would the Parsis feel themselves thoroughly
identified with the British nation. But of course
the Parsi must first show that the lapse of even
many centuries has not detracted from his warlike
spirit or courage. It is a fact not unknown in
Bombay that during the riots some years ago a very
small number of Parsis kept at bay a mob of about a
thousand persons with no other weapons than bambu
sticks, and thus prevented their gaining an entrance
into the Parsi quarter.
The Parsis of India are divided into two sects, the
Shehenshais and the Kadmis.1 They do not differ on
any point of faith, as the Protestants do from the
Eomanists, or the Bomanists again from the Greek
Church; nor does the distinction between them at all
resemble that which divides the different castes of the
Hindus, or the Shias and Sunnis among the Maho-
medans. Their forms of worship and religious cere-
mony, as well as all the tenets of their religion, are
the same in every respect. The cause of the division
between the two sects is merely a difference as to the
correct chronological date for the computation of the
1 The name Shehenshai means " Imperial," and that of Kadmi is
derived from qadim, "ancient," or qadam, (walking in) " the footstep,"
i.e. of one's ancestors. The Shehenshais are also called Rasmi, derived
from Easm, "custom"—that is, according to the custom obtaining in
India.
105
sion in the British army, why should not a Parsi, who
is the born subject of the Queen - Empress ? Only
then would the Parsis feel themselves thoroughly
identified with the British nation. But of course
the Parsi must first show that the lapse of even
many centuries has not detracted from his warlike
spirit or courage. It is a fact not unknown in
Bombay that during the riots some years ago a very
small number of Parsis kept at bay a mob of about a
thousand persons with no other weapons than bambu
sticks, and thus prevented their gaining an entrance
into the Parsi quarter.
The Parsis of India are divided into two sects, the
Shehenshais and the Kadmis.1 They do not differ on
any point of faith, as the Protestants do from the
Eomanists, or the Bomanists again from the Greek
Church; nor does the distinction between them at all
resemble that which divides the different castes of the
Hindus, or the Shias and Sunnis among the Maho-
medans. Their forms of worship and religious cere-
mony, as well as all the tenets of their religion, are
the same in every respect. The cause of the division
between the two sects is merely a difference as to the
correct chronological date for the computation of the
1 The name Shehenshai means " Imperial," and that of Kadmi is
derived from qadim, "ancient," or qadam, (walking in) " the footstep,"
i.e. of one's ancestors. The Shehenshais are also called Rasmi, derived
from Easm, "custom"—that is, according to the custom obtaining in
India.