Pious Citizens: Reforming Zoroastrianism in India and Iran

8. Kay Khosrow Shahrokh: Rational Religion and Citizenship in Iran

184 8 Kay Khosrow Shahrokh Rational Religion and Citizenship in Iran Which religion should I choose when there are so many true religions about? —Kay Khosrow Shahrokh (1874–1940) ay Khosrow Shahrokh in many ways defined his time, both as the product of new influences and as the agent of change himself. In addition to serving as the head of the Zoroastrian anjoman in Tehran and as Zoroastrian representative to the Majles for thirteen sessions, he was deeply engaged in religious issues. He saw himself as a religious reformer. He authored two treatises on Zoroastrianism that were used ubiquitously in Zoroastrian schools. Significantly, they were also read by a wider segment of the Iranian population as the first real introduction to Zoroastrianism by a well-known and respected national figure. Shahrokh believed strongly in the need for Zoroastrian religious reform and religion’s profound relationship to citizenship, nationalism, and Zoroastrian identity. He believed that rational religion was generative of modern citizens since it served as an ethical prompt to social responsibility and participation necessary for citizenship . Rational religion also de-emphasized ritual as the public performance of sectarian difference and instead emphasized religious universalism and equality between citizens in the public sphere. His articulation of modern Zoroastrianism became the reigning orthodoxy for the rest of the century. Shahrokh the Reformer By the time of Shahrokh’s birth in Kerman in 1874, the Society for the Amelioration of Conditions in Iran under the leadership of Hataria had already Kay Khosrow Shahrokh | 185 begun work on community organization, the establishment of new schools, and the upgrading of the dakhmeh. Shahrokh early on experienced the results of increased contact and direct involvement of the Parsi reformers in philanthropic projects under way in Kerman. For family reasons, Shahrokh moved to Tehran at age sixteen and remained there for four years. During this time he attended the American Protestant missionary school, where he learned English, became familiar with the New Testament, and sought answers to questions of religious truth and identity.1 His interest in religion that was shaped by the dual influences of Parsi reform projects in Kerman and American Protestantism in Tehran was only heightened by a subsequent year spent in Bombay, where he attended the famous Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy Parsi school.2 These three contexts of religious inquiry and reform were formative for his own religious journey and his understanding of “modern” religion’s new relationship to state and society. The Parsi society SACI in Bombay appointed Shahrokh as principal and teacher at a new Parsi-funded school back in Kerman and paid for his return journey there. Shahrokh remained in this position for the next eleven years, and was active in furthering new educational initiatives. He established new schools for boys and girls, served as secretary of the Kerman Anjoman and fought against shari’a-based discrimination. As recounted later in his memoirs, Shahrokh persisted in riding a horse to Governor Prince Farmanfarma’s residence to teach him English, despite the very real personal danger he incurred by transgressing this traditional shari’a-based Muslim prerogative.3 In fact, it was not until 1923, some forty-two years later, that Reza Shah issued a decree permitting Zoroastrians to ride horses.4 Shahrokh encountered similar Muslim prejudice and Zoroastrian fears when he insisted on defying traditional dress codes for Zoroastrians. Ever since his return from Bombay, he had refused to abide by minority sartorial restrictions. Shortly after his arrival in Kerman, he introduced school uniforms at the Amelioration boys’ school, in addition to a school anthem. Shahrokh deftly forestalled Muslim opposition to the sartorial codes by inviting Muslim dignitaries to the school, including Governor Farmanfarma, where they were duly impressed with the students.5 Although never stated explicitly, the officials’ favorable opinion of the students was consistent with the new, modern schools’ literacy rates, organization , and student discipline that compared favorably to maktab (traditional) education.6 Zoroastrian fears of retribution were not assuaged by this favorable 186 | Pious Citizens response by the governor, however. The Zoroastrian Yazd Anjoman tried to convince Shahrokh that such a sartorial travesty would indubitably lead to reprisals against the Zoroastrian community. Shahrokh refused to back down, however, and subsequently urged Zoroastrians to defy dress codes as well—something that they were reluctant to do.7 These instances of defiance attest to Shahrokh’s personal courage. But they are also indicative of larger forces afoot. Shahrokh had...