vernor and declared themselves ready to
embrace Christianity, demanding as an only favour a delay till the
following Sunday before renouncing their faith, in order to take
advantage of the few days of respite to worship the sacred fire
and celebrate, for the last time, their festivals. The Portuguese
were so pleased with this prompt submission to their will that a
proclamation was issued to the effect that, on the day fixed, no one
should interfere with the Mazdiens in the performance of their rites
and ceremonies. The Parsis prepared a great feast, to which all the
notables were invited; wine flowed freely, and while the guests were
indulging themselves in it, the Parsis, to the sound of music and in
the middle of the dancing, left the town and reached Kalyan, to the
south of Thana, where they settled. [29]

Travellers in India from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries
have found Parsis in different places. There is reason to believe
that at that time nothing of any importance befell the community. The
Parsis lived amicably with the Hindoos, and were chiefly occupied in
agriculture. About 1305 an event of considerable importance occurred
in their history, at the time of a struggle maintained by the Hindoo
chief of Sanjan against Mahmood Shah or Ala-ud-din Khilji (Parsee
Prakash, p. 4), who had sent into Gujerat a strong army commanded by
Alp Khan. [30]

The Mahomedan general arrived before Sanjan with thirty thousand men;
the Hindoo prince, conscious of his danger, appealed to those whom his
ancestors had so generously received into their country. The Parsis
were not unmindful of this, and fourteen hundred of them, under the
command of Ardeshir, joined the troops of the Rana. In defending his
cause they were equally defending their own independence and religious
liberty which they had come to seek under his kindly protection. The
armies met not far from Sanjan. Already were the Hindoos giving way
under the stress of the Mahomedans when the Parsis engaged directly
in the combat. Ardeshir and his followers rushed into the thick of
the fight and compelled Alp Khan to fly. But the Mahomedan general
soon re-appeared with reinforcements. Ardeshir, addressing the Hindoo
prince, swore to him the most complete fidelity, and although the
enemy was in numbers superior to his handful of men, he returned to
the field of battle.

It was at this time that a single combat took place between Ardeshir
and one of the Mahomedan c