Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T03:01:23.163Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Parsi Panchayat in Bombay City in the Nineteenth Century*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Christine Dobbin
Christine Dobbin
Affiliation:
Department of Pacific History, Australian National University, Canberra A.C.T.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

From the Middle Ages each of the great merchant castes and communities of Gujarat possessed its own guild (Mahajan) to regulate trade, and a Panchayat to regulate caste matters. The migration of members of these castes to the British city of Bombay in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries caused considerable disruption in the traditional methods of regulating caste affairs. In the Mofussil control over almost every aspect of mundane life had been exercised by the leading shets of the caste. In Bombay, however, the precedence of certain Mofussil villages and Mofussil families was no longer unequivocally recognized. Western-educated caste members began to demand in all areas of life ‘the inauguration of a new era, showing that opinion had taken the precedence of mere hereditary authority’. Even to those without Western education the proximity of the British law courts gave confidence in an appeal against traditional obedience. The fear of the interference of the courts on behalf of an excommunicated man limited the sanctions available to the caste shets to enforce their authority. All these factors circumscribed the power the caste heads could exercise through their traditional Panchayats, and by the middle of the nineteenth century it seemed that the cohesiveness of many castes and communities was breaking down. But there was another side to the coin. While the bonds of caste discipline and authority were being loosened, awareness of communal identity was being heightened by the competitiveness of urban life. Castes and communities became aware of the need to reorganize themselves in order to present a united front on questions affecting the community, and of the need to put caste funds to the best use to maximize the possibilities of secular achievement for the members of the community.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , March 1970 , pp. 149 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1970

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Rast Goftar, 22 06 1862.Google Scholar

2 Karaka, D. F., History of the Parsis, London, 1884, i, 215–17;Google ScholarDavar, S. P., The History of the Parsi Punchayet of Bombay, Bombay, 1949, pp. 2–4.Google Scholar

3 Report from the Committee Appointed for the Examination of Disputes Amongst the Parsees, 1 May 1786 in Government of Maharashtra Secretariat Record Office, Judicial Department (Hereafter JD), 1863/20, C. 143, Pamph. No. I, pp. 377–81.Google Scholar

4 Davar, , op. cit., p. 39;Google ScholarKaraka, , op. cit., i, p. 235.Google Scholar

5 Cursetjee, M., The Parsee Panchayet, Bombay, 1860, p. 3;Google ScholarFramjee, D., The Parsees. Their History, Manners, Customs and Religion, London, 1858, p. 111.Google Scholar

6 To the Hon. the Leg. Coun. of India (Petition of the Parsi Law Association), 1 March 1860, Para. 21 in JD 1862/21, C. 468, pp. 151–77.Google Scholar

7 Petition to the Right Hon. Ld. Auckland…21 November 1838 in JD 1863/20, C. 143, Pamph. No. 1, pp. 351–7.Google Scholar

8 Cursetjee, , op. cit., pp. 21–4.Google Scholar

9 Opinions of the Press in JD 1863/20, C. 143, Pamph. No. 2, pp. 428–9.Google Scholar

10 Ibid., p. 430.

11 To the Hon. the Leg. Coun. of India (Petition of the Parsi Law Association), 1 March 1860, Para. 16 in JD 1862/21, C. 468, pp. 151–77.Google Scholar

12 Report into the Usages recognized as laws by the Parsee Community of India…, para. 9 in JD 1863/20, C. 143, pp. 215–331.Google Scholar

13 To the Hon. the Leg. Coun. of India (Petition of the Parsi Law Association), 1 March 1860, Para. 10 in JD 1862/21, C. 468, pp. 151–77.Google Scholar

14 Times of India, 23 09 1885. Obituary of Naoroji Furdunji.Google Scholar

15 Bengallee, N. S., The Life of Sorabjee Shapoorjee Bengallee, Bombay, n.d., p. 9;Google ScholarNatesan, G. A. (Ed.), Famous Parsis, Madras, 1930, p. 82.Google Scholar

16 The Bombay Miscellany, vi, 05–10 1863, p. 231.Google Scholar

17 Opinions of the Press in JD 1863/20, C. 143, Pamph. No. 2, p. 429.Google Scholar

18 Ibid., p. 430.

19 Minutes of Proceedings of a Public Meeting of the Parsee Inhabitants of Bombay…in JD 1862/21, C. 468, pp. 171–5.Google Scholar

20 Bengallee, , op. cit., p. 31.Google Scholar

21 To the Hon. the Leg. Coun. of Ind. (Petition of the Parsi Law Association), Paras. 18 and 19 in JD 1862/21, C. 468, pp. 151–77.Google Scholar

22 See JD 1862/21, C. 468, pp. 279–378.Google Scholar

23 To the Hon. the Leg. Coun. of India (Petition of the Parsi Law Association), Para. 21 in JD 1862/21, C. 468, pp. 151–77.Google Scholar

24 Bombay Times, 30 07 1859.Google Scholar

25 See Bombay Gazette, 14 02 1860.Google Scholar

26 Bombay Gazette, 13, 14, 15, 16 02 1860.Google Scholar

27 Proceedings of the Legislative Council of India 1860, vi, col. 319 et seq., 1861, vii, col. 844.Google Scholar

28 Report into the Usages recognized as laws by the Parsee Community of India… paras. 21, 22, 23 in JD 1863/20, C. 143, pp. 215–331.Google Scholar

29 Abstract of the Proceedings of the Council of the Governor-General of India, 1865, iv, 198.Google Scholar

30 An Address Presented to the Parsee Law Commission… with a Draft Code of Laws of Betrothment, Marriage and Divorce, 15 February 1862 in JD 1863/20, C. 143, Pamph. 4, pp. 526–80.Google Scholar

31 Ibid., p. 541.

32 Ibid., p. 531.

33 Ibid., p. 532.

34 Ibid., p. 536.

35 Report into the Usages recognized as Laws by the Parsee Community of India…para. 29 in JD 1863/20, C. 143, pp. 215–331.Google Scholar

36 Abstract of the Proceedings of the Council of the Governor-General of India, 1865, iv, 37.Google Scholar

37 Ibid., p. 38.

38 Ibid., p. 45.

39 Rast Goftar, 19 February 1865.Google Scholar

40 Abstract of the Proceedings of the Council of the Governor-General of India, 1865, iv, 140.Google Scholar

41 Ibid., pp. 141–2; p. 146. See Bengalee, S. S., The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1865, Bombay, 1868.Google Scholar

42 Memorandum in JD 1865/31, C. 104, pp. 328–30.Google Scholar

43 Rast Goftar, 10 September 1865.Google Scholar

44 Native Opinion, 13 October 1867, p. 322; 12 September 1869, p. 289.Google Scholar

45 Rast Goftar in Times of India, 13 11 1872.Google Scholar

46 In the 1872 census Parsis were 44,091 (6.8 per cent) in a city population of 644,405 ( Census of the City of Bombay taken 21st February 1872, p. 20).Google Scholar

47 Times of India, 27 05 1879.Google Scholar

48 Karaka, , op. cit., i, 296.Google Scholar

49 Menant, D., Les Parsis, Paris, 1898, p. 303;Google ScholarMody, J. R. P., Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, Bombay, 1959, p. 133.Google Scholar

50 The Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island, Bombay, 1909, iii, 327, n. 2.Google Scholar

51 Ibid., iii, 327; Davar, . op. cit., p. 54.Google Scholar

52 Desai, S. F., The Parsi Punchayet and its Working, Bombay, 1951, pp. 2–3;Google ScholarKaraka, , op. cit., i, 241;Google ScholarMody, , op. cit., p. 64.Google Scholar

53 Karaka, , op. cit., i, 241–2.Google Scholar

54 Indian Spectator, 30 09 1883, pp. 614–15.Google Scholar

55 Ibid., 26 August 1883, pp. 536–7.

56 Ibid., 30 September 1883, pp. 614–15.

57 Ibid., 24 February 1884, p. 149; 27 07 1884, pp. 589–90.

58 Ibid., 24 February 1884, p. 149.

59 Ibid., 27 April 1884, p. 326.

60 Karaka, , op. cit., i, 71–87;Google ScholarThe Times of India Calendar and Directory, 1869, p. 304.Google Scholar

61 Karaka, , op. cit., i, 2.Google Scholar

62 Native Opinion, 15 07 1877, p. 437.Google Scholar

63 Ibid., 19 August 1877, p. 515.

64 Times of India, 12 07 1877.Google Scholar

65 Ibid., 6 August 1873.

66 Ibid., 16 April 1873, letter signed ‘Correction’.

67 Ibid., 17 April 1873.

68 Ibid., 17 April 1873, letter signed ‘Another Correction’.

69 Quoted in Times of India, 13 08 1873.Google Scholar

70 Times of India, 6 09 1873;Google ScholarRast Goftar in Times of India, 16 09 1873.Google Scholar

71 Times of India, 30 07 1873.Google Scholar

72 In Times of India, 11 and 23 08 1873.Google Scholar

73 Times of India, 26 08 1873;Google ScholarBombay Samachar in Times of India, 29 08 1873.Google Scholar

74 Times of India, 30 08 1873; letter signed ‘Parsee’.Google Scholar

75 The shetias concerned were Sir Jamshedji Jijibhai, Mervanji Framji Panday, D. M. Petit, Hirjibhai Hormasji Sethna and Kharshedji, Furdunji Parekh.Google Scholar

76 In Times of India, 6, 8, 10 09 1873.Google Scholar

77 Bombay Samachar in Times of India, 15 09 1873.Google Scholar

78 Times of India, 24 09 1873.Google Scholar

79 Mody, H. P., Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Bombay, 1921, i, 87.Google Scholar

80 Rast Goftar, 22 February 1874 in Native Press Reports, 28 February 1874, p. 6.Google Scholar

81 Times of India, 24 07 1877, letter signed ‘D.D.C.’.Google Scholar

82 Bengallee, , op. cit., p. 62;Google ScholarMody, H. P., op. cit., i, 87.Google Scholar

83 Times of India, 23 07 1877.Google Scholar

84 Idem.Google Scholar

85 Idem.Google Scholar

86 Idem.Google Scholar

87 Times of India, 19 07 1877, letter signed ‘A Parsee’; 20 07 1877, letter signed ‘Parsee Community’.Google Scholar

88 Times of India, 21 07 1877, letter signed ‘A Parsee’.Google Scholar

89 Ibid., 20, 21 July 1877, letter signed ‘Signs of the Times’.

90 Ibid., 26, 27 July 1877; Native Opinion, 29 July 1877, p. 469.

91 Times of India, 20 07 1877.Google Scholar

92 Ibid., 31 July 1877.

93 Malabari, B. M., Gujarat and the Gujaratis (2nd ed.), Bombay, 1884, p. 191.Google Scholar

94 Ibid., p. 186.