In his letter "Remembrance with…” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, September 21-October 6, 2024) B. T. Dastur seems to have become confused between two different persons. He first praises Khurshedji Bapa of Navsari, but then seems to mix him up with Khurshedji Pavry.
Khurshedji Pavry (l) and his daughter Bapsybanu
Khurshedji Bapa was Khurshedji Tehmulji Desai who flourished in Navsari in the 18th century. His family’s original surname was Seervai, but since his father Tehmulji went to Delhi and secured the "desaiship” of Navsari, his family surname became Desai. Khurshedji helped greatly in getting an atash behram consecrated at Navsari in 1765. This was after the Iranshah fire, which had resided in Navsari for nearly 300 years, was shifted to Udvada in 1740 and the Parsis of Navsari felt a great spiritual void. At that time there was only one atash behram in India, the Iranshah.
Pavry was a learned scholar-priest who has authored several works on the Zoroastrian religion. He was based in Poona where he lived with his children Jal and Bapsybanu in the 20th century, 200 years after Khurshedji Bapa. Jal has donated his father Khurshedji’s entire library to the Vaidika Samshodhana Mandala (Vedic Research Institute), a prominent academic institute in Poona.
Ervad ROOYINTAN PESHOTAN PEER
rppeer@yahoo.co.in