Irani (India)

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Accounts and legends Dēnkard Bundahišn Book of Arda Viraf Book of Jamasp Story of Sanjan Chinvat Bridge Frashokereti
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Adherents Zoroastrians in India Zoroastrians in Iran Parsis Zoroastrianism in the United States Iranis Persecution of Zoroastrians
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The Irani (Persian: ایرانی; meaning Iranian) are an ethno-religious community in the Indian subcontinent; they descend from the Zoroastrians that emigrated from Iran to British India in the 19th and 20th centuries.^[1] They are culturally, linguistically, ethnically and socially distinct from the Parsis, who – although also Zoroastrians – emigrated to the Indian subcontinent from Greater Iran many centuries prior, starting with the Islamic conquest of Persia.

Distinction from Parsis[]

The Parsis and Iranis are considered legally distinct. A 1909 obiter dictum relating to the Indian Zoroastrians observed that Iranis (of the now defunct Bombay Presidency) were not obliged to uphold the decisions of the then regulatory Parsi Panchayat. Some of the Irani community speaks an ethnolect called Zoroastrian Dari. However, the two communities increasingly intermarry and are said to have been "integrated well" with each other.^[2] Also, Parsis avoided eating cow meat due to the beef ban in India, while Iranis and Zoroastrians outside South Asia have always eaten beef.

History[]

Although the term 'Irani' is first attested during the Mughal era, most Iranis are descended from immigrants who left Iran and migrated to the Indian subcontinent during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the time, Iran was ruled by the Qajars and religious persecution of Zoroastrians was widespread. Some Iranis still speak Persian and the Dari dialects of the Zoroastrians of those provinces. Iranis are generally seen as a subset of the wider Parsi community.

As is also the case for the Parsis, the Iranis predominantly settled the west-coast of India, in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. A concentration of their people live in and around the city of Mumbai.

See also[]

• Irani café

References[]

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