Note 256 — THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. (continued 2)

Mr. Asher observes, upon this passage, "Our author states the ancient inhabitants of Chulam to be fire worshippers. Edrisi, however, (i. 176,) says of the king, 'he adores the idol of Boudha,' and Ibn-Batuta reports him to be 'an infidel.' Although the latter appellation was applied by the Mohammedans to the fire worshippers, we have no sufficient proof to show that Edrisi's information is wrong, or that the majority of the population adored the sun as a deity. There is no doubt, however, that Malabar became the asylum of this ancient sect after it had been vanquished by the Mohammedans, and had been forced by persecution, not only to seek refuge in the mountainous and less accessible parts of Persia (Kerman and Herat), but to toil on to distant regions. They found a resting place beyond the Indus, which they crossed in fear of their unrelenting pursuers; and here we still find their descendants, the Parsees, who form 'a numerous and highly respectable class of the population.' Very able papers on the history, religion, and worship of the Guebres, will be found in vols. i. and iii. of Ouseley's 'Travels,' and in Ritter's 'Erdkunde,' v. 615." [256]