1841.
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Diary and Journal of Parsees.
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Darius, about twelve centuries anterior to the period of the Indian emigration of the Parsees; and that there is scarcely a single radical of any importance, in any of the sacred books of the Parsees, which may not be traced, under some modification or other, to a corres- pondent term in some living dialect of Persia ; and consequently he has come to the conclusion that these writings of the Parsees were brought from Persia in their present state, and are thus now entitled to the same degree of consideration, among the Parsees in India, as they enjoyed among their ancestors at the period of their expatriation.
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Education among the Parsees of India has been, and is still, great- ly neglected. Females have little, or no knowledge of letters. In sew- ing and embroidery they are expert, and are well accustomed to the duties of the kitchen. They are, it is said, most faithful to their busbands. They are, in their way, more devoted to religiou than are the men, and have the almost entire charge of the religious educa- tion of the young, who are for this purpose placed under their care usually when about three years old. This branch of education con- sists in learning to recite prayers, which neither teachers nor pupils understand. In the day schools, the boys are first taught arithmetic by a master, who gives oral lessons; writing the same lessons on boards, with chalk, comes next in course. At this stage, certain cere- monies must be observed by their parents. The alphabet is now to be learnt, and reading follows. The pay to the masters is very small never more than six rupees annually, even by the rich. The schools,
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fact, hardly deserve this designation, and children are often sent, to them solely in order that they may be out of the way of their pa- rents at home. However, within a few years some English schools have been opened for their benefit. In 1822, a foundation was laid by Elphinstone, of which Parsees have availed themselves for the edu- cation of their sons. In periodical literature, the Parsees have also become interested, and have already four newspapers and a monthly journal, all published at Bombay.
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*} Notes,—–7]. One of these papers appears thrice a week, another twice, and two once. One is called the Bombay Telescope, another is the Bombay Whip (Bombay Chabook), and the monthly is styled the Ocean of Knowledge: all 'pub lished in Guzarattee, the common language among the Parsees of India,
2. We here correct an expression in our number for October, where we ought to have said 'Mr. Herjeebhoy's donation, and not Mr. Rustomjee's donation.' Rustomjee is the name given to his father at birth, and then Rustomjee's sons father, and
must each have their respective given name preceding that of the ter
thas we ought to have 'written Herjeebhoy Rustonjee.
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While on this subject, we may remark, that, yery few of the names of the Par sees in India are of Persian origin. In Guzarattee, jee means master, and byee mistress, and are similar in use to our Mr. and Mrs' "The names are usually selected by astrologers, who in doing this mark out a horoscope showing the suq's
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