Parsees, the descendants of a colony of ancient Persians, who took refuge in Bombay, Surat, and the vicinity of those cities, when their own country was conquered by the Mahommedan Arabs. They are a gentle, quiet, and industrious people, beloved by the Hindus, and living in great harmony amongst themselves. The Parsees were for a long time but little known. The ancients seldom speak of them, and what they say seems to be dictated by prejudice. On this account, about the end of the seventeenth century, Dr Hyde, who thought the subject both curious and interesting, attempted a deeper investigation of a subject which till then had been but very little attended to. He applied to the works of Arabian and Persian authors, from which, and the relations of travellers, together with a variety of letters received from persons in India, he compiled his celebrated work on the religion of the Parsees. Other accounts have been given by different persons, as accident threw information in their way; but the most distinguished is that by M. Anquetil-Duperron, who undertook a voyage to discover and translate the works attributed to Zoroaster.