Maneckji Limji Hataria (1813–1890) was an Indian scholar and civil rights activist of

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

descent, who took up the cause of the Zoroastrians of Iran.

Early life

Maneckji was born at the village of Mora Sumali near

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

, in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, India in 1813; and as he himself tells, earned his own bread from the age of fifteen, traveling widely as a commercial agent in India. By the time of his appointment, he was already experienced, self-reliant and resourceful, and his choice by the Society proved a wholly admirable one. He is remembered among the Zoroastrians of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, for whom he was to labor, with only one brief intermission from then until his death in 1890.

Activities in Iran

In 1854 Hataria was appointed emissary by the "Persian Zoroastrian Amelioration Fund", an organization founded in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

Dinshaw Maneckji Petit Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, 1st Baronet (30 June 18235 May 1901) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist who founded the first textile mills in India. He was part of the Petit family and became the first Petit baronet. He founded the "P ...

with the aim of improving the conditions for the less fortunate co-religionists in Iran, who were being persecuted by the

Qajar The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...

rulers. In

Yazd Yazd (; ) is a city in the Central District of Yazd County, Yazd province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. At the 2016 census, its population was 529,673. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is rec ...

, Hataria established a Council of Zoroastrians, which succeeded in convincing a number of Iranian Zoroastrians to emigrate to India (where they are today known as

Parsis The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

). Hataria may also have been instrumental in obtaining a remission of the ''

jizya Jizya (), or jizyah, is a type of taxation levied on non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The Quran and hadiths mention jizya without specifying its rate or amount,Sabet, Amr (2006), ''The American Journal of Islamic Soc ...

'' poll tax for his co-religionists in 1882. Manekji preached the advantages of collective social work and communal unity. He urged the Zoroastrians of Yazd and

Kerman Kerman (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kerman County), Central District of Kerman County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. History Kerman was founded as a def ...

to form ''anjuman'' societies, based somewhat on the pattern of the

Bombay Parsi Panchayet The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (Also known as ''Bombay Parsi Panchayat'', ''Bombay Parsi Panchayet'' or ''BPP'') is the apex body representing the Parsi Community, Parsi Zoroastrian Community in Mumbai. BPP was founded in the 1670s. It is a charitable i ...

. Reports of early activities, sent by Manekji to Bombay, show that amongst other matters, the Kerman society attended to the restoration of the

fire temple A fire temple (; ) is a place of worship for Zoroastrians. In Zoroastrian doctrine, ''atar'' and '' aban'' (fire and water) are agents of ritual purity. Clean, white "ash for the purification ceremonies sregarded as the basis of ritual lif ...

there. Similarly, hearing of the efforts of Manekji, the Bombay Parsis (led by

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, whose wife Sakarbai Petit (née Pandey) was from her mother's side of Iranian ancestry) collected funds for the repair of the

Yazd Atash Behram The Fire Temple of Yazd (), also known as Yazd Atash Behram (), is a Zoroastrian fire temple in Yazd, Yazd province, Iran. It enshrines the Atash Bahram, meaning “Victorious Fire”, dated to 470 AD. It is one of the nine Atash Bahrams, the o ...

(not the same as the present one, which dates to 1932). A bust of Manekji stands in the entrance gallery of the present-day Atash Behram at Yazd. He founded the first boys-only school for the small community in Tehran in 1860, and later in Yazd and Kerman with money from the Amelioration Society. By 1882 there were, twelve Zoroastrian schools providing secular, Western-style education. He also brought in Parsi teachers from India to teach the Zoroastrian boys and girls in Iran. This enabled them to enhance their lives, and laid the knowledge framework for the community’s future prosperity, as well as political participation, and re-entry into the broader Iranian society

Association with thinkers and writers of Nasseri era

Maneckji Limji Hataria was the first envoy of Indian Parsis with the history of being interested in Iran and ancient relics of Iran as well as being affected by Neo Zoroastrian or Dasatiri text entered Iran. Despite his first mission was ameliorating the situation of Zoroastrian lives in Iran, but because of the reasons which were mentioned, a little later he was linked to the scholars and writers of Iran in Nasseri era.Hajianpour, H., & Aidi, A. (2017). Maneckji Limji Hataria and His Iranism Interactions with Elites of the Naaser-al-ddinshah Era (1847-1895). Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 6(4), 212-232.

Early life

Activities in Iran

Association with thinkers and writers of Nasseri era

References

Further reading