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conquest of Persia, fled to India with their priests, sacred fire, and the manuscripts of the Avesta, their holy scriptures. Their descendants, about 80,000 in number, still adhere to their ancient religion. They form one of the most esteemed, wealthy, and philanthropic communities on the west shores of India, notably in the city of Bombay. It is not of record that they had even the faintest idea that they were fleeing into the hospitable bosom of a people related by blood and language, or that the Hindus who gave them shelter knew that they were receiving their very own kin. As far as we know, the Aryan Hindus at any rate, throughout their history, are entirely unconscious of the important fact that, across the mountains to the north-west of their country, dwelt at all times a branch of their own stock – the other half of the so-called Indo-Iranians or Aryans.

And yet, the languages of the Hindu Veda and the Persian Avesta, the respective bibles of the two peoples, are mere dialects of the same speech. Students regularly enter upon the study of the Avestan language through the door of the Veda. Entire passages of the Avesta may be turned into good Vedic merely by applying certain regular sound changes. It is said sometimes that there is less difference between the Veda and the Avesta than be-