PARSIS IN THE GREAT GAME.

The article focuses on the early 20th-century aspirations of the Parsi community in India to establish a colony in Iran, driven by a desire to reconnect with their ancestral homeland and influenced by contemporary political dynamics. Key figures, such as Khan Bahadur Burjorjee Patel, advocated for this initiative, which was partly inspired by the Zionist movement and the precarious situation of Zoroastrians in Iran. Despite initial enthusiasm and British support for the idea, the political upheaval during Iran's Constitutional Revolution and subsequent events led to a shift in focus from colonization to fostering trade and cultural ties, ultimately resulting in the Parsis choosing to remain in India after independence in 1947. Today, the Parsi community continues to thrive in India, while Zoroastrians in Iran maintain their status as a recognized religious minority. [Extracted from the article]