CONTENTS Imagined Reality - a historical paucity 2 The Achaemenians 8 Greek Wars14 The Sassanians 16 The Arabs 18 Dramatis Personae 22 Introduction 28 Hidden in the Folds of History - Medieval India 32 A Historical Summary 35 Trade 38 Arrival 39 Murky Times : Mohammedan Rule and Mughal India of Family Tales and Lore 43 State and Politics 45 Parsee Lore 48 Mughals 49 Oral Tradition and Personal Accounts 53 Gaining Ground 58 - making of a new homeland The Panchayat : from Dastur to Dastur and Parsee Seth The Behdins 63 The Panchayat 65 Of Community Building 65 Religious Institutions Fire Temples - Agiyari 69 Tower of Silence - Dokhma 83 Social Institutions Sanitorium 98 Library 102 Traces of Inhabitation106 - a narrative of identily Getting Rooted - Names - Place, Profession and Native Titles Phase I - Village Saronda 122 Tadgam 146 Nargol 164 Udwada 168 Cities Navsari 182 Surat 198 Bharuch 246 Phase II - Princely states Bhuj 276 Porbander 296 Jamnagar 322 Bhavnagar 324 Epilogue 328 through the 'pin-hole' 328 Left on the drawing board 332 Appendix 1335 Glossary 336 Select Bibliography339 Index 343 Illustration Credits 347