Parsis

Parsis or Parsees (Old Persian Parsa, “Persia”), followers of the ancient Persian religion known as Zoroastrianism, living in India, Iran, and Pakistan. Their ancestors fled from Persia in the 7th and 8th centuries to avoid persecution by Muslim invaders. They now number some 155,000, of whom 120,000 live in and around Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Indian Parsis are largely engaged in business. Pakistani Parsis, who number fewer than 5,000, live mainly in Karāchi.

The Parsis divided into two sects in the 18th century over a calendar disagreement, and almost all present-day Parsis belong to either one of these sects. The religious and ethical literature of the Parsis is derived chiefly from the Avesta. Their priesthood is hereditary, and they regard fire as purifying and sacred. A fire is kept constantly burning in the main temples by priests, and prayers and sacrifices are offered before this fire on all festival days. Parsis prefer not to defile the earth through burial or fire through cremation, and so they have traditionally left their dead exposed on towers to the Sun and to vultures and other carrion-eating birds.