Sere er ee ee much intelligence and wisdom, the morality he teaches is of a high standard for the age in which he lived, and, while anxious to uphold the power and privileges of the priest- hood, he is widely tolerant of all deficiencies in the conduct of the laity that do not arise from wilful persistence in sin. The reader will search in vain for any confirmation of the foreign notion that Mazda-worship is decidedly more dual- istic than Christianity is usually shown to be by orthodox writers, or for any allusion to the descent of the good and evil spirits from a personification of ‘boundless time,’ as asserted by strangers to the faith. No atten:pt is made to account for the origin of either spirit, but the temporary character of the power of the evil one, and of the punisn- ment in hell, is distinctly asserted.
Although Manisfihar does not mention, in his writings, any of the lost Nasks or sacred books of the Mazda-wor- shippers, except the Hiasparim (Dd. LXI, 3) and the Sakadiim (Ep. I, viii, 1, 6, 7), he certainly had access to many Pahlavi books which are now no longer extant ; hence he is able to give us more information than we find else- where regarding some of the legendary personages mentioned in Dd. II, 10, XXXVI 4,5, MEVITT, 33, XC 3 eee that the second month of the year (April-May) was called Zaremaya in the Avesta (Dd. XX XI, 14); and he mentions two places, instead of one, intermediate between heaven and hell, one for the souls of those not quite good enough for heaven, and one for those not quite bad enough for hell (Dd. XXIV, 6, XXXTET; 2).
The present translation of this work is not the first that has been attempted. Shortly before the late Professor Haug left India he delivered a lecture on the Parsi religion to a large assemblage of Parsis in Bombay, at their request, and at his desire the sum of goo ripis, out of the net proceeds of the entrance-tickets sold, was offered as a prize for an edition of the Pahlavi text of the Dadistan-t Dintk with a Gugarati translation and glossary. Some years afterwards this prize was awarded to Mr. Shehriarji Dadabhoy and Mr. Teh- muras Dinshawji Anklesaria, for their joint Gugarati trans- lation of the work, which still, however, remains unpublished
Introduction. Xxv
for want of funds, and has, therefore, been inaccessible to the present translator.
3. THE EPISTLES OF MANUSKIHAR.
It has been already stated (see pp. xiii, xiv) that Zad- sparam, a younger brother of MAndsfthar, after having been at Sarakhs, in the extreme north-east of Khurdsan, where he seems to have associated with the heretical Tughazghuz, was appointed high-priest of Sirka4n, south or south-west of Kirmén*. Shortly after his arrival there he issued a decree, regarding the ceremonies of purification and other matters, which was so unpalatable to the Mazda-worshippers of that place that they wrote an epistle to Manisfthar, complaining of the conduct of his brother (Ep. I, i, 2, ii, 1).
In reply to this complaint, which was sent by a special courier (Ep. I, i, 2), and after going to Shiraz and holding a general assembly of the priests and elders (Ep. II, i, 11), Mantsfihar wrote his first epistle, completed on the 15th March 881 (Ep. I, xi, 12), in which he condemned the practices decreed by Zad-sparam, to whom he sent a confidential agent, named Yazdan-panak (Ep. I, xi, 1, 2, 6, 10, II, vii, 2), with a copy of this epistle and a further one to himself, which has not been preserved, for the purpose of inducing his brother to withdraw his decree and conform to the usual customs.
It would appear that Yazd4n-panak was not very suc- cessful in his mission, as we find M4nisihar writing a general epistle (Ep. III) to all the Mazda-worshippers in Iran, in the following June or July (Ep. III, 21), denouncing as heretical the mode of purification decreed by Zad- sparam, and ordering an immediate return to former customs, At the same time (Ep. II, vii, 2, viii, 1) he wrote a second epistle (Ep. II) to his brother, as he had already
? The city of Kirm4n was itself called Sirgan, or Sirgan, in the middle ages, and is evidently mentioned by that name in Ouseley’s Oriental Geography, pp. 139, 143, though the Sirgan of pp. 138, 141 of the same work was clearly further south. Which of these two towns was the Sirkan of these epistles, may, therefore, be doubtful.
XXVI1 PAHLAVI TEXTS.
promised in Ep. I, xi, 2, and, after referring to an epistle (now lost) which he had received from Zad-sparam in the previous November or December, he proceeded to enforce his views by a judicious intermingling of argument, entreaty, and threats. He also contemplated making preparations (Ep. I, xi, 4, II, vii, 3) for travelling himself to Sirkan, notwithstanding his age (Ep. II, ix, 1), to arrange the matters in dispute upon a satisfactory basis. Whether he actually undertook this journey is unknown, but that his brother must have finally submitted to his authority appears from Zad-sparam retaining uis pusition in the south, as has been already noticed (p. xiv).
The matter in dispute between Zad-sparam and the orthodox Mazsda-worshippers may seem a trivial one to people of other religions, but, inasmuch as the ceremonial uncleanness of a person insufficiently purified after contact with the dead would contaminate every one he associated with, the sufficiency of the mode of purification was quite as important to the community, both priests and laity, as avoidance of breach of caste-rules is to the Hindd, or refraining from sacrifices to heathen gods was to the Jew, the early Christian, or the Muhammadan. And much more important than any disputes about sacraments, infallibility, apostolic succession, ritual, or observance of the Sabbath can possibly be to any modern Romanist or Protestant.
In his mode of dealing with this matter Mantsihar displays at once the moderation and tact of a statesman accustomed to responsibility, the learning and zeal of a well-informed priest, and the kindly affection of a brother. That he was not without rivals and enemies appears from his casual allusions to Zaratist, the club-footed, and Ati76- pad in Ep. II, i, 13, v, 14, ix,11; but in all such allusions, as well as in his denunciation of heretical opinions, he refrains from coarse invective, and avoids the use of exaggerated language, such as too often disfigures and weakens the arguments in polemical discussions.
Indirectly these epistles throw some light upon the con- dition of the Mazda-worshippers after more than two
INTRODUCTION. XXVi centuries of ceaseless struggle with the ever-advancing flood of Muhammadanism which was destined to submerge them. Shiraz, Sirkan, Kirman, Rai, and Sarakhs are still mentioned as head-quarters of the old faith; and we are told of assemblies at Shiraz and among the Tughazghuz, the former of which appears to have had the chief control of religious matters in Pars, Kirman, and the south, acting as a council to the high-priest of Pars and Kirman, who was recognised as the leader of the religion (Dd. XLV, 5). We also learn, from Ep. I, iii, 11, II, v, 14, that the leaders of the Mazda-worshippers, if not their high-priests, were still in the habit of maintaining troops; and, from Ep. II, i, 9, that when a high-priest became very old his worldly duties were performed by four of the most learned priests, forming a committee, which had full authority to deliberate and act for him in all worldly matters. Mdantsfthar even speaks of emigrating by sea to China, or by land to Asia Minor (Ep. II, viii, 5), in order to escape from the annoyances of his position.
But the statements which are most important to the Pahlavi scholar, in these epistles, are the date attached to the third epistle, corresponding to A.D. 881, and the men- tion of Nishahpthar in Ep. I, iv, 15,17 as the supreme officiating priest and councillor of king Khtsré Noshirvan (A.D. 531-579), engaged apparently in writing commen- taries on the Avesta. The date of these epistles not only limits that of the Dadistan-i Dinik to the latter half of the ninth century, but also fixes those of the larger recension of the Bundahis and of the latest revision of the Dinkard within the same period, because it is stated in Bd. XX XIII, 10, 11 that the writer of that chapter was a contemporary of Zad-sparam, son of Yidan-Yim, and Attr-pdd, son of Hémid, the former of whom was evidently the brother of Manisfihar, and the latter is mentioned in Dinkard ITI, cccexiii as the latest editor of that work. The actual com- piler of a great part of the Dinkard (especially of the fourth and fifth books) was, however, the somewhat earlier writer Atar-frobag, son of Farukhtizad (Dd. LX XXVIII, 8, Ep. 1, iii, 9g). The name of Nishahpthar is also mentioned as that
XXVIil PAHLAVI TEXTS.
of a commentator in the Pahlavi Vendidad and Nirangistan, which works must, therefore, have been revised since the middle of the sixth century. And as we are informed in the book of Arda-Viraf (I, 35) that ‘there are some who call him by the name of Nikhshahpdir, we ought probably to refer that book to the same'age. These epistles, therefore, enable us, for the first time, to fix the probable dates of the latest extensive revisions of six of the most important Pah- lavi works that are still extant; and from the relationship of these to others we can readily arrive at safer conclusions, regarding the age of Pahlavi literature in generai, thau have been hitherto possible.
4. THE APPENDIX.
For the sake of elucidating certain matters, mentioned in the writings of Mantséihar, further information than could be given in the foot-notes has been added in the shape of an appendix.
To a brief summary of the Avesta legends, relating to the ancient hero Keresasp, has been added a translation of a Pahlavi legend regarding the fate of his soul, in which several of his more famous exploits are detailed. This legend is found in the Pahlavi Rivayat preceding the Dadistan-i Dinik in the manuscripts BK and J, and is evidently derived from the fourteenth fargard of the Sidkar Nask, whose contents, as described in the ninth book of the Dinkavd, are also given. It is likewise found in the later Persian Rivdyats, with several modifications which are duly noticed.
The Nirang-i Kusti, or ceremony of tying the sacred thread-girdle, is also described in detail, with a translation of the ritual accompanying it, partly from actual observa- tion, and partly from Gugardati accounts of the rite.
It having become necessary to ascertain with certainty whether the term ‘next-of-kin marriage’ was a justifiable translation of khvétaik-das, as used by Pahlavi writers, an extensive examination of all accessible passages, which throw any light upon the meaning of the word, has been
Introduction. Xxix
made. The result of this enquiry can be best understood from the details collected, but it may be stated in general terms that, though ‘marriage among kinsfolk’ might fairly represent the varying meaning of khvétik-das in dif- ferent ages, its usual signification in Pahlavi literature is more accurately indicated by ‘next-of-kin marriage.’
Some apology is perhaps duc to the Parsi community for directing attention to a subject which they consider dis- agreeable. But, by the publication of a portion of the Dinkarvd, they have themselves placed the most important passaye, bearing on the subject, within the reach of every European Orientalist; thus rendering it easy for any pre- judiced translator to represent the practice of such mar- _ riages as having been general, instead of their being so distasteful to the laity as to require a constant exertion of all the influence that the priesthood possessed, in order to recommend them, even in the darkest ages of the faith. _ To avoid such one-sided views of the matter, as well as to hinder then: in others, has been the special aim of the present translator in trying to ascertain the exact meaning of the obscure texts he had to deal with.
The translations from the Pahlavi Vendidad, regarding
the Bareshniim ceremony and the purifications requisite
after finding a corpse in the wilderness, will be found neces-
sary for explaining many allusions and assertions in the
Epistles of Mantsihar.
The text followed in all. passages translated from the Dinkard is that contained in the manuscript now in the library of DastOr Sohrabji Rustamji, the high-priest of the | Kadmi sect of Parsis in Bombay. It was written A. D. 1669, and was brought from Persia to Surat by Mulla Bahman in 1783. All other known copies of the Dinkarvd are descended from this manuscript, except a codex, brought from Persia by the late Professor Westergaard in 1843, which contains one-fifth of the Dinkard mostly written in 1574, and is now in the University Library at Kopenhagen.
For translations from the Pahlavi Vendidad the text
adopted, wherever available and not evidently defective,
has been that of L4, a manuscript of the Vendiddd with
