Exile and the Nation: The Parsi Community of India and the Making of Modern Iran

329 Pages·2020·43.784 MB·English

by  Afshin Marashi

E X I L E
AND THE
N A T I O N
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E X I L E
AND THE
N A T I O N
The Parsi Community of India
and the Making of Modern Iran
AFSHIN MARASHI
University of Texas Press Austin
Copyright © 2020 by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2020
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♾ The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Marashi, Afshin, author.
Title: Exile and the nation : the Parsi community of India and the making of modern
Iran / Afshin Marashi.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019040609
ISBN 978-1-4773-2079-2 (cloth)
ISBN 978-1-4773-2080-8 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4773-2081-5 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-4773-2082-2 (ebook other)
Subjects: LCSH: Parsees—History. | Zoroastrians—History. | Iran—History. |
Zoroastrianism.
Classification: LCC DS432.P3 M37 2020 | DDC 305.6/950955—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019040609
doi:10.7560/320792
For Kathleen

CONTENTS
Note on Transliteration and Dates ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
CHAPTER 1
To Bombay and Back
Arbab Kaykhosrow Shahrokh
and the Reinvention of Iranian Zoroastrianism 21
CHAPTER 2
Patron and Patriot
Dinshah J. Irani, Parsi Philanthropy,
and the Revival of Indo-Iranian Culture 55
CHAPTER 3
Imagining Hafez
Rabindranath Tagore in Iran, 1932 97
CHAPTER 4
Ebrahim Purdavud and His Interlocutors
Parsi Patronage and the Making of the Vernacular Avesta 135
CHAPTER 5
Sword of Freedom
Abdulrahman Saif Azad and Interwar Iranian Nationalism 189
Conclusion 233
Notes 237
Bibliography 283
Index 303

NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND DATES
This book uses a transliteration system based on the Iranian Studies and
International Journal of Middle East Studies guidelines, with some simpli-
fications and modifications to accommodate Persian language pronunci-
ation. Short vowels are rendered as a, e, and o. The long vav is rendered
as u. Diacritics and macrons have been omitted in most cases. Ayn and
hamzeh have generally been rendered as (‘) and (’) respectively. For the
Persian ezafeh I have used –e (following a consonant) and –ye (following
a vowel). Names and proper nouns that have common English-language
renderings have generally been preserved in these more familiar English
forms. In most bibliographic entries, dates have been converted to the
common Gregorian calendar.
ix