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The Zoroastrian Myth of Migration from Iran and Settlement in the Indian Diaspora By Alan Williams

The publishing house of Brill has once again done a yeoman service to the Zarathushtrain community, in publishing a recent work of Dr. Alan V. Williams titled : "The Zoroastrian Myth of Migration from Iran and Settlement in the Indian Diaspora". It is of course the text, translation and analysis of a sixteenth century Persian manuscript titled Qesse-ye Sanjan (The Story of Sanjan) authored by one Bahman Kay Qobad Sanjana. As the "Introduction" on page 1 states, the purpose of this book is five-fold. [1] to produce a new edition of the Persian text of the Qesse-ye Sanjan, from the best and oldest manuscripts, [2] to transcribe a romanised Persian text and offer a new literal translation, parallel to the transcribed text, [3] to provide a detail commentary on the text, [4] to discuss the narrative structure of the text, and [5] to discuss the mythological and religious dimensions of what is a foundational document of the Parsi Zarathushtrian culture. Perhaps for the first time in an easily accessible format, Zarathushtrians can see the facsimiles of the eleven folios of the SH manuscript of Darab Hormazdyar's Revayet ((1680), containing the Qesse-ye Sanjan, currently housed in the Library of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute in Mumbai (Bombay), India. But what is this manuscript and it's message?

It is a Persian verse composition of a story of defeat and victory, leaving and arriving, revenge and recconciliation. In the broad sense of an idealized story, the "Qesse-ye Sanjan" tells an account of the whole civilization of Iran, smashed, and how the Zarathushtrians who were inspired and guided by their religion, sought to make a new home in a new land (India). In response to this loss and displacement, it also tells of how the Zarathushtrians of Iran, became the Parsis of India.

The significance of the text touches the Parsis very profoundly, as they have no other account of their origins as a community that once emigrated from Iran.

Dr. Alan V. Williams has provided us with an excellent transcription of the Persian manuscript with a parallel English translation from pages 54 to 141, and a succinct and scholarly commentary on the original work. Chapter 5 of the book is an analysis of the "Qesse-ye Sanjan" as to whether it serves as a mirror or as a clock of the Parsi history, and has several discussions on important Parsi dates. The Appendix of the book, titled : "The Sixteen Sanskrit Slokas of Aka Adhyaru" containing a study and translation by another scholar, Hanns-Peter Schmidt, serves a very useful addition to the book. A relevant and detail bibliography brings further grace to the book, followed by three indices. The book is compact and succinct and every Parsi household would do well to own a copy and read it again and again. May scholars of Iranian studies elaborate and do further researches on many points where Dr. Willams left off.

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