The ''Revayats'' (also spelled as ''Rivayats'') are a series of exchanges between the Zoroastrian community in India and their co-religionists in early modern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. They have been ascribed the same importance of the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

by Jivanji Jamshedji Modi. The word is of Arabic origin, meaning "stories" or "narrations".

Overview

The content of each Revayat varies but they are usually queries on matters of worship, customs, rituals and observance. The issues range form the mundane, such as queries about the preparation of ink for the writing of religious documents, to important issues including conversion. Over three centuries, twenty-two Revayats were sent from India to Persia. The first Revayat was brought in 1478 AD by Nariman Hoshang of Broach. Hoshang was a layman, supported by Chang Asa a notable leader of the

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is situated between Surat & Mumbai. Navsari is a twin city of Surat. It is located 37 km south of Sura ...

Parsi community. Hoshang spent a year in

Yazd Yazd ( fa, یزد ), formerly also known as Yezd, is the capital of Yazd Province, Iran. The city is located southeast of Isfahan. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,138,533. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is recognized as a Wor ...

, learning

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and supported himself by 'petty trade'. Eventually his Persian improved to the extent that he was able to question the

dastur A dastūr, sometimes spelt dustoor, is a term for a Zoroastrian high priest who has authority in religious matters and ranks higher than a mobad or herbad. In this specific sense, the term is used mostly among the Parsis of India. The term has also ...

s of Iran. After this initial Revayat, Indian priests would gather up questions and send representatives to Iran with the questions. These Revayats are known by the emissary who brought them back. Some Revayats are anonymous as the person who brought them is unknown, these Rivatays are more or less incomplete. In the 17th century the Revayats were classified according to the subject they pertained to by Hormazdyar Framarz, Darab Hormazdyar, and Barzo Kamdin. The Revayats are notable as the only Modern Persian text composed in the Avestan script. During the 18th Century the Kadmi sects in both Iran and India exchanged additional Revayats, which culminated in the Revayat-e Haftad va Hast (translated as the Revayat of 78 Questions) (also known as the Ithoter Revayat).

References

{{Zoroastrian literature Zoroastrian texts