Realizing the demographic decline of the Parsi Zoroastrian community of India, UNESCO in 1999 acted as a catalyst in the foundation of the UNESCO Parzor Project. This is a multi faceted project covering both tangible and intangible heritage, medical and demographic studies, research into personalities within the community who have made contributions to humanity and research and documentation of the arts and crafts of the Parsis. From its conception the project has worked to protect the manuscripts, books and other documentation available on the community across India.

 The methodology of the project has been to conduct field trips into various regions where the Parsis were or are to be found. This provides initial information on areas, which require further research. In the field there are often very exciting discoveries of people and places, which time has forgotten.  One such discovery, made at the very start of the project, on a field trip in Navsari, was that of the First Dastoor Meherjirana Library. While the Meherjirana Library has always provided priests and scholars with valuable documentation and advice on ritual practices it has unfortunately been forgotten by the majority of the community. Scholars too have concentrated mainly on the Avesta and Pahlavi documents and have ignored some of the most interesting Persian documents, which trace and preserve the history of the Parsis during the Mughal period of Indian history. It was a Mughal "Sanad" which led Parzor to understand the invaluable wealth of this great collection.

 The Meherjirana Library is unique in that it was established by the scions of the Meherjirana family of Dasturs who have not only collected, but also often themselves transcribed, a large collection of manuscripts. Dasturji Erachji Meherjirana's collection covers not only outlines of Zend grammar, explanations of the Yasna, various versions of the Khordeh Avesta and such ritualistic details as the consecration of Atash Behram's or the Varasio,(sacred bull), but also displays his interest in the esoteric art of the Jamaspi. There are Rivayats or letters exchanged between the Dastur's of India and the Dastur's of Iran and Dasturji Erachji in his capacity as a poet has left us Monajats in the Ketab-I- Kulliyat. In just this collection are hand written copies of manuscripts from the Mulla Feroze Library, stories recording Zoroastrian travelers from Iran and their history, as well as stories of royal visits, which have made available to us the history of a period which is otherwise unrecorded.

Throughout the Meherjirana Library collections are manuscripts with instructions on "Producing Rain", "Honouring Ancestors", " Consecration of the Darun", "Tying the Padan" (Mouth veil) and other little details of rituals which the priesthood has kept alive. Since the priesthood often referred to these manuscripts, such works were preserved and reasonably well maintained inside an old Godrej Safe. But other manuscripts and documents in the library have not been so lucky. Unfortunately we in India, surrounded by history, very often do not give it a second glance. This was the situation when Parzor reached the Meherjirana Library at the end of 1999. On a wall, covered with dust was an interesting looking framed manuscript. It was out of reach and so I asked Dastur Meherjirana, who was with me in the library, what it contained. He answered quite casually in Gujarati "Oh, Akbar Badshah gave this to us". I clambered up on a chair, and with my dupatta cleaned a part of this picture. An imperial gold and blue calligraphed seal, writings in letters of gold and a beautiful painted border, again worked in blue and gold, were revealed. Today the National Archives of India and the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property, both look at this find as an extremely significant piece of Mughal history. It was the Sanad or Deed of Gift from Emperor Akbar to the First Dastur Meherjirana, given as a token of the high esteem with which the Mughal Emperor regarded this hitherto unknown Zoroastrian priest. It was probably presented during Dastur Meherjirana's visit to the Imperial Court at Fatepur Sikri in 1578. .

 This Sanad and the Dastur's oral knowledge of the links between his ancestors and the Mughal Emperors led us to search further. An astonishing collection of correspondence came to light. Lying upstairs, on the floor were stacks of manuscripts completely brittle and fragile. They contained letters by Akbar's Prime Minister's Abul Fazl, Persian verses in praise of Emperor Jehangir composed by Kekobadji Mahiar Rana, various stories ranging from 17^th centuries stories for children such as the "Tuti-Nameh" (Tales of a Parrot) to the romances of Gulistan and Laila Majnum. There were important manuscripts on Divination as well as Medicine, Persian Lexicons, Persian histories, Rivayats, various treatises on astronomy and astrology and even a Cookery book. The Persian books on Zoroastrian Theology, such as the manuscript written by Sheikh Abdul Samad of Hansot revealed that Zoroastrianism was being discussed in the intellectual circles of Mughal India. Religious discussions and debates are reflected in manuscripts on Sufism, Christianity and Islam. Some of the Persian documents were presented to the library by descendants of Ervad Hormasji Behramji Dastur Meherjirana and included the Sanads, Farmans, Parvanas and other aspects or transfer of property dealing with the Jagir (large estate) bestowed by Akbar on the First Dastur Meherjirana.

 We realized that most Indian historians had overlooked this important part of Mughal history. It is little known how deeply Meherjirana and the Zoroastrian faith influenced Akbar. Legend has spoken of the importance of Zoroastrianism in the Din-I-Illahi, the religion that Akbar attempted to create out of all the philosophies of the Indian subcontinent; here we had proof of the historical connections. A famous Khyal (song) of Tansen describes the legend of Dastur Meherjirana's miracle in destroying black magic at Akbar's Court; here at the Meherjirana Library, manuscripts and letters of this period would provide important documentation of the cross cultural syncretism which was the base of the Mughal Empire at its zenith. Unfortunately it is these rare manuscripts that are in the worst possible condition and need very careful preservation. 

 In Navsari, we spoke to the Trustees of the Meherjirana Library and requested them to permit us to try and raise funding for the preservation of the Library. The senior Trustee Mr. Kersash Antia, who was based in Bombay, was also apprised of the situation. The Trustees of the Meherjirana Library wished to improve the library and preserve its contents but theirs is a small trust with a limited corpus and depends mainly on donations for its maintenance. The Trustees had been deeply concerned because there had been too many instances in India of "Experts" claiming to preserve documents who actually had malafide intentions. It was for this reason that they had taken a decision not to permit any outsiders to deal with the library and had expressly forbidden the removal of manuscripts or books from their premises. Parzor has fully supported the Trustees in their decision. It is only too apparent to those working in the field of preservation, how much India has lost of its cultural heritage and how much has disappeared abroad despite a ban on removing any items over 100 years old from the country.

 So we explained to the Trustees that any work we did would be on site and we would use the good offices of Dastur Dr. Kotwal as an Advisor along with Dastur Meherjirana to help us plan our work. In all our endeavors the librarian Mrs. Bharati Gandhi was a constant source of information and assistance. The Zoroastrian community owes a great deal to this lady who has single handedly tried to protect and preserve this library over almost three decades. Bharati Gandhi, gets a meagre salary, the Trust cannot afford more. Yet she works for the love of the library and of the community despite great personal sacrifice and hardship. When the National Press met her after we had created awareness across India about the treasures of the Meherjirana Library she said

 "I have been trying to get funds for preservation of these rare manuscripts since the time I took up the job of librarian 27 years ago. It was finally when Dr. Shernaz Cama visited Navsari in 1999 that things moved swiftly and we got 700 manuscripts microfilmed. Now they are preserved for reference of generations to come".  

With her help we managed to trace the various collections and work out a priority list. The Trustees were convinced of the integrity of our intentions and realizing that we were ready to do everything to help them, they came forward and offered unconditional support.

 Realizing the urgency for action the Parzor Project appealed to the National Archives of India under their manuscript scheme. A team was sent from the State Archives at Ahmedabad and the National Archives at Delhi to survey the library. They also realized the necessity for preserving on site and the urgency of the work. After consultations with Dastur Dr. Kotwal and the Core Committee of Parzor it was decided to first preserve by microfilming whatever could be microfilmed on site. UNESCO experts advised (in 1999) that microfilming was still the most tried and tested method of preserving documents for the maximum length of time. It was this that led us to stay with microfilming, rather than try digital preservation. A project application was created after another visit to Navsari with a team of microfilm experts led by Mr. Cyrus Patel, Managing Director of Microdata India, based in Bombay. They were appointed by UNESCO Parzor as the technical team to conduct the microfilming. Living in Navsari is not easy, but Cyrus Patel's team lived in Navsari for many months under often trying conditions and we at Parzor paid for and created a microfilm chamber at the library, managed to get the extra electricity load which the microfilming required and also contacted the district officials to ensure fire safety, for this is a completely wooden building.

 The National Archives of India helps under a partnership scheme. We needed to raise Rs. 6,00,000 to balance their contribution. It was at this point that a lady who has dedicated her whole life to promoting Zoroastrianism came forward to help. Mrs. Piloo Jungalwalla of Delhi is better known as Piloo Nanavutty (her maiden name). Today she is 92 years old. She very generously donated this huge amount to enable us to conduct the microfilming on site and also donated a microfilm reader to the library in the memory of her late husband Dr. Nowshir Jungalwalla. So the microfilming began and over 90,000 pages of microfilm were completed. All this entailed many visits to Navsari by the Parzor team. Mr. Dinshaw Tamboly of the WZO has been extremely helpful in providing accommodation to us at the WZO Senior Citizen's Centre during our visits.

 While we were working, we were also creating public awareness about this library not only in India but also at academic institutions all over the world. Parzor has helped researchers from Cambridge, Germany, Japan and currently Italy access and work on the Meherjirana collection. The entire list of microfilmed manuscripts is available on our website and researchers access it from many countries. It is generating great interest among researchers and scholars. In one instance a young researcher from Cambridge was in Navsari during the devastating Gujarat earthquake and we had to try and trace him for his Embassy with no means of communication since all telephone lines had been destroyed. It was Bharati Gandhi who rescued Aptin Khanbagi and kept him as a guest in her house during those very difficult days.

 While the Microfilm Centre, with an air conditioned room for better preservation of the microfilms, has now been completely established at the library, all of last year we have been working with several institutions to try and start the perhaps more difficult task of on site material preservation. The manuscripts of the Meherjirana Library are on rare materials like Birch Bark. Gen. Sethna, Chairperson of Parzor worked very hard to persuade the seniormost experts of the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property, Lucknow to accompany him to Navsari and realize the extent of work required. The NRLP comes under the Govt. of India, Ministry of Culture. Gen. Sethna and I were required to make a series of presentations to very senior officials and finally to the Hon'ble Minister of Culture Mr. Jagmohan, before the Govt. agreed to work on a Private Trust property, as a special favour to the Parsi community. We have now convinced the Culture Ministry of the need to preserve Parsi culture and have also approached the Manuscript Mission of India and made them aware of the work required at the MRL.

Dr. Tej Singh and Dr. Kamal K. Jain of the NRLC, whom we first met in November 2003 traveled with us to Navsari in April 2004 and after examination were convinced of the need of preserving not only the manuscripts but also the heritage building in which the library is housed. They have prepared an in depth Report that has been presented to Parzor. Earlier, some amateur attempts at preservation had been made; unfortunately such attempts have actually caused more damage due to the cheap materials used in attempts at binding loose folios. However the NRLC Headquarters are in Lucknow in Central India and there were some types of manuscripts for which they felt they would need to work only in their Central Laboratory. It was at this point of time that we began exploring other options in addition to the NRLC.

 We approached the Iran Culture House Conservation Centre, a well-known institution that has been working in India under the Directorship of Khwaja Piri and has restored Persian manuscripts in libraries at Aligarh Muslim University and other places.  Khwaja Piri accompanied Gen. Sethna to Navsari and immediately realized the wealth that the Meherjirana Library contains. He has the added advantage of being able to read Persian and has created a special "herbal method" of preservation, which can tackle rare materials. He seemed confident of being able to take up for preservation, in Navsari itself those manuscripts and documents, which the NRLC could work on only in Lucknow. The Iran Centre and the NRLC will work for a professional fee. Due to the help and intervention from the Culture Ministry the NRLC fee will be comparatively modest. However the Iranians will have to be paid at market rates. The preservation process is extremely expensive. In India, because of Governmental support we are able to preserve rare books at a much more economical rate than preservation centres abroad.  Yet for us it is still a large sum of money and we need your help to complete the Meherjirana Project. Dastur Meherjirana, despite very frail health is always ready to help us in our work as is Dastur Kotwal.

 At this point of time, the exact position of the Parzor Meherjirana Project is as follows: Both Preventive Conservation and Curative Conservation have been planned at the Meherjirana Library. Preventive Conservation is a life long process for which the library staff will be trained by the NRLC organizing short duration workshops on site in Navsari. The Meherjirana Library staff will also be invited to Lucknow, to participate in workshops on Preventive Conservation, which are held twice a year for all Indian conservators and librarians.

 Curative Conservation, which will require chemicals and conservation materials, suitable equipment, photographic support and a team of experts will be conducted at Navsari by both the NRLC and Khwaja Piri's team working in conjunction. This will include removal of acidity, treatment against biological attack, mending, lamination of folios, rebinding of manuscripts and preservation of Emperor Akbar's Sanad and the oil paintings in the library.

 The Trustees who have now seen our work and dedication to the cause of preserving not only the library, but all Parsi Zoroastrian heritage have officially recorded that:

 "Padma Bhushan Lt. Gen. (Retd.) A. M. Sethna PVSM, AVSM of Parzor Foundation (is) to deal for us. On our behalf he can approach Government of India or any country abroad or any institutions or organizations for any documentation paper and to receive grants if allotted for the restoration or preservation of manuscripts, rare manuscripts, rare religious books, other precious deeds or items belonging to the First Dastoor Meherjirana Library, Navsari".

 Parzor is coordinating between the NRLC and the Iranian Cultural Centre so as to prepare both teams for a long stay in Navsari. Khwaja Piri has offered to update the Library Catalogue. Although our funds are limited we plan to start the work and depend on the Zoroastrian community world wide to support us financially.

 UNESCO is a catalyst and not a funding agency. The work of the entire UNESCO Parzor Project started with a seed grant of US$ 4500. UNESCO relies on the community and country concerned to act and build on the base that they create. The Govt. of India has helped us in all aspects of the preservation of Parsi Zoroastrian Heritage. However, both UNESCO and the Government of India always question why such an apparently rich community has not cared to preserve its own heritage. Perhaps our community does not recognize the value of its culture; this paper has given you one glimpse of one part of our tangible heritage Today you have heard, through Dolly Dastoor, who is very kindly reading this paper for me, about the work we have been doing at the MRL in Navsari. Would you like to come forward and help us preserve a part of world heritage, which we have the privilege of calling our own Zoroastrian culture?.

 I leave you with this question.

 Thank you. 

(Those who would like to donate towards the preservation of the MRL can make a contribution by cheque or bank draft made out  to "Parzor Foundation", and send it to Parzor Foundation, F-17, Lower GF, Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi -110016, India. Ph. 91-11-2513560 Fax. 91-11-51626248. Email. shernazcama@unescoparzor.com or shernazcama@hotmail.com. All donations made in Indian Rupees are exempt under Section 80G of the Indian Income Tax Act.

If you wish to donate in any other currency please make out the cheque to "UNESCO New Delhi" and post it to the Parzor Foundation at the above address. All donations will be sent official receipts and acknowledged.)