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.
They have been ascribed the same importance of the
Talmud to
Judaism by
Jivanji Jamshedji Modi
Dr. Sir Ervad Jivanji Jamshedji Modi (1854–1933), who also carried the title of Shams-ul-Ulama, was a prominent Parsis, Zoroastrian Parsi-Indian priest, scholar and community leader in Bombay. One of "the most decorated priests in history", he w ...
.
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
The BROACH warhead is a Tandem-charge, multi-stage warhead developed by Team BROACH; BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions, Thales Missile Electronics and QinetiQ. BROACH stands for ''Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented CHarge''.
Development of ...
.
Hoshang was a layman, supported by
Chang Asa
Chang may refer to:
People Surname
* Chang (surname), the romanization of several separate Chinese surnames
* Chang or Jang (Korean name), romanizations of the Korean surname
Given name
* Chang Bunker () (1811–1874), one of the original ...
a notable leader of the
Navsari Parsi community. Hoshang spent a year in
Yazd, learning
Persian and supported himself by 'petty trade'.
Eventually his Persian improved to the extent that he was able to question the
dasturs 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
Darab ( fa, داراب, translit=Dārāb) — formerly Darabkert, or Darábgerd ("city of Darius")— is a city and capital of Darab County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 54,513, in 13,279 families.
Historical ...
, and
Barzo Kamdin.
The Revayats are notable as the only Modern Persian text composed in the
Avestan script
The Avestan alphabet (Middle Persian: transliteration: ''dyn' dpywryh'', transcription: ''dēn dēbīrē'', fa, دین دبیره, translit=din dabire) is a writing system developed during Iran's Sasanian era (226–651 CE) to render ...
.
During the 18th Century the
Kadmi
Zoroastrianism has numerous festivals and holy days, all of which are bound to the Zoroastrian calendar. The ''Shahenshahi'' and ''Kadmi'' variants of the calendar do not intercalate leap years and hence the day of the Gregorian calendar year on w ...
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