MAGAS in India :
MAGAS in India : ( This is extract from the article published in Dr. Vijay Prakash Sharma edited book ” Contemporary Indian Society- In the beginning of 21 st century” , Anmol Publications Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 2015 ) The Zoroastrians form a very small religious minority in India, many of whom are Parses. After invading Arabs succeeded in taking Ctesiphon in 637, Islam largely superseded Zoroastrianism, and the power of the Magi faded. Many (but not all) of the mages fled the advent of Islam in Persia, or Iran, by emigrating to India, settling in western principalities which form the modern states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. As one can only be Zoroastrian by birth, the number of Parses and Zoroastrians in the world is shrinking, and the remaining population risks passing down genetic defects as with any small community. Suffice to say Parses are very rare, and Magi are even rarer. In India there is a community termed Maga, Bhojaka or Shakadvipi Brahmins. Their maj...