r
its close association with that wonderful race the "Guebres," better
known in Europe by the name of Parsees. The ancient city of Askizar was
buried by shifting sands, in a desert with a few oases, and was followed
by the present Yezd, which does not date from earlier than the time of
the Sassanian dynasty.

[Illustration: Ardeshir Meheban Irani and the Leading Members of the
Anguman-i-Nasseri (Parsee National Assembly), Yezd.]

Yezdeyard, the weak and unlucky last King of the Sassan family, which had
reigned over Persia for 415 years, was the first to lay the
foundations of the city and to colonize its neighbourhood. It is in this
city that, notwithstanding the sufferings and persecution of Mussulmans
after the Arab invasion of Persia, the successors of a handful of brave
people have to this day remained faithful to their native soil.

To be convinced that the Parsees of Yezd are a strikingly fine lot of
people it is sufficient to look at them. The men are patriarchal,
generous, sober, intelligent, thrifty; the women, contrary to the usage
of all Asiatic races, are given great freedom, but are renowned for their
chastity and modesty.

The name of Parsees, adopted by the better-known Guebres who migrated to
India, has been retained from Fars or Pars, their native country, which
contained, before the Arab invasion, Persepolis as the capital, with a
magnificent royal palace. From this province the whole kingdom eventually
adopted the name.

It is not necessary to go into the history of the nine dynasties which
ruled in Persia before it was conquered by the Arabs, but for our purpose
it is well to remind the reader that of all these dynasties the Sassanian
was the last, and Yezdeyard, as we have seen, the ultimate King of the
Sassan family.

One is filled with horror at the romantic tale of how, through weakness
on his part and treachery on that of his people, the fanatic Arabs,
guided by the light of Allah the Prophet, conquered Persia, slaying the
unbelievers and enforcing the Mahommedan religion on the survivors. The
runaway Yezdeyard was treacherously slain with his own jewelled sword by
a miller, in whose house he had obtained shelter after the disastrous
battle of Nahavand and his flight through Sistan, Khorassan and Merv.
Persia, with every vestige of its magnificence, was lost for ever to the
Persians, and the supremacy of Mahommedanism, with its demoralizing
influence, its haughty intolerance and fanatic b