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Parsi (or Parsee) is one of two Zoroastrian communities (the other being Iranis) primarily located in South Asia. According to the ''Qissa-i Sanjan'', Parsis migrated from Greater Iran to Gujarat and Sindh between the 8th and 10th century CE to avoid the persecution of Zoroastrians by Muslim invaders who conquered Iran. At the time of the Muslim conquest of Persia, the dominant religion of the region (which was ruled by the Sasanian Empire) was Zoroastrianism. Iranians rebelled against Arab invaders for almost 200 years; in Iran this period is now known as the "Two Centuries of Silence" or "Period of Silence". During this time many Iranians who are now called Parsi rejected both options and instead chose to take refuge by fleeing from Iran to India.〔(PARSI COMMUNITIES i. EARLY HISTORY – Encyclopaedia Iranica ). Iranicaonline.org (2008-07-20). Retrieved on 2013-07-28.〕 The word پارسیان "Parsi" in the Persian language literally means ''Persian''.〔(Parsee, n. and adj. - Oxford English Dictionary ). oed.com. Retrieved on 2015-03-03.〕 Persian is the official language of modern Iran, which was formerly known as Persia, and the Persian language's endonym is ''Farsi'', a variation of the word ''Parsi''. The long presence of the Parsis in the Gujarat and Sindh areas of India distinguishes them from the smaller Zoroastrian Indian community of Iranis, who are much more recent arrivals, mostly descended from Zoroastrians fleeing the repression of the Qajar dynasty and the general social and political tumult of late 19th- and early 20th-century Iran. == Definition and identity == According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Parsi, also spelled Parsee, member of a group of followers in India of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster. The Parsis, whose name means "Persians", are descended from Persian Zoroastrians who emigrated to India to avoid religious persecution by the Muslims. They live chiefly in Mumbai and in a few towns and villages mostly to the north of Bombay, but also a few minorities near by in Karachi (Pakistan) and Bangalore (Karnataka, India). There is a sizeable Parsee population in Pune as well in Hyderbad. A few Parsee families also reside in Kolkata and Chennai. Although they are not, strictly speaking, a caste, since they are not Hindus, they form a well-defined community. The exact date of the Parsi migration is unknown. According to tradition, the Parsis initially settled at Hormuz on the Persian Gulf, but finding themselves still persecuted they set sail for India, arriving in the 8th century. The migration may in fact have taken place as late as the 10th century, or in both. They settled first at Diu in Kathiawar but soon moved to south Gujarāt, where they remained for about 800 years as a small agricultural community.〔(Parsi (people) - Encyclopedia Britannica ). Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-28.〕 The term ''Pārsi'', which in the Persian language is a demonym meaning "inhabitant of Pārs" and hence "ethnic Persian", is not attested in Indian Zoroastrian texts until the 17th century. Until that time, such texts consistently use the Persian-origin terms ''Zartoshti'' "Zoroastrian" or ''Vehdin'' "() the good religion". The 12th-century ''Sixteen Shlokas'', a Sanskrit text in praise of the Parsis,〔Parsi legend attributes it to a Hindu author; cf. incorrectly attributes the text to a Zoroastrian priest〕 is the earliest attested use of the term as an identifier for Indian Zoroastrians. The first reference to the Parsis in a European language is from 1322, when a French monk, Jordanus, briefly refers to their presence in Thane and Bharuch. Subsequently, the term appears in the journals of many European travelers, first French and Portuguese, later English, all of whom used a Europeanized version of an apparently local language term. For example, Portuguese physician Garcia de Orta observed in 1563 that "there are merchants ... in the kingdom of Cambaia ... known as Esparcis. We Portuguese call them Jews, but they are not so. They are Gentios." In an early 20th-century legal ruling (see self-perceptions, below), Justices Davar and Beaman asserted (1909:540) that "Parsi" was also a term used in Iran to refer to Zoroastrians. notes that in much the same way as the word "Hindu" was used by Iranians to refer to anyone from the Indian subcontinent, "Parsi" was used by the Indians to refer to anyone from Greater Iran, irrespective of whether they were actually ethnic Persian people. In any case, the term "Parsi" itself is "not necessarily an indication of their Iranian or 'Persian' origin, but rather as indicator – manifest as several properties – of ethnic identity" . Moreover, if heredity were the only factor in a determination of ethnicity, the Parsis would count as Parthians according to the ''Qissa-i Sanjan''. The term "Parseeism" or "Parsiism" is attributed to Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron, who in the 1750s, when the word "Zoroastrianism" had yet to be coined, made the first detailed report of the Parsis and of Zoroastrianism, therein mistakenly assuming that the Parsis were the only remaining followers of the religion. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Parsi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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