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With Navroze just been, we've been thinking about the fascinating history of the Parsi community, which is - in the increasingly mainstream insistence on a grand unifying narrative of India's history - often overlooked. Here are a few works to pique your interest! (1/6)
@mjsharafi's piece on Parsis and Snoop Dogg. Her work on Parsi legal history is v interesting, exploring questions of how the community gained cultural autonomy in some ways by being one of the first to enter the legal profession in colonial India (2/6) https://scroll.in/article/738203/snoop-dogg-feels-the-bite-of-parsi-legal-culture
(Digression on legal history - we believe that the study of history always benefits from engaging with other disciplines like anthropology, literature - and law. @mjsharafi's discussion with @BCssaame is wonderful re the work of a legal historian - 3/6) https://www.borderlines-cssaame.org/posts/2020/12/10/legalhistoryfromthecourtrooms
@DinyarPatel's work on Dadabhai Naoroji, a Parsi and OG Indian MP in the House of Commons (Bombay peeps, you'll know him from his statue at Flora Fountain!) (4/6) https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/dadabhai-naoroji-swaraj-congress-nationalism-dinyar-patel-6524828/
We spoke in our first issue about 'India, but of whose imagination?'. In his book on Naoroji, @DinyarPatel positions him a pioneer of one version of how India came to be imagined. It's an interesting example too of the role that biographies can play in the study of history. (5/6)
@MeherM's lovely piece on her trip to Uzbekistan, a rich source of Zoroastrian history. We talk a lot about encouraging our readers to undertake their own historical enquiries, and this is a wonderful reminder of how deeply personal that can be. (6/6) https://catapult.co/stories/looking-for-my-ancient-religion-in-uzbekistan-zoroastrianism-meher-mirza
