Jadi Rana was an Indian Rajput ruler of Sanjan, Valsad in present-day Gujarat as per the Qissa-i Sanjan, an epic poem completed in 1599, which is an account of the flight of some of the Zoroastrians who were subject to religious persecution following the fall of the Sassanid Empire, and of their early years in India, where they found refuge. A 20th-century translation of the Qissa transliterates the name as Jádi Rana.
Jadi Rana in the Qissa-i Sanjan
According to the Qissa, Jadi Rana had a reputation for fairness that preceded him, which prompted some of the Zoroastrians who were fleeing religious persecution to seek asylum in his kingdom.
Jadi Rana asked them to explain their religious beliefs and customs, which they did. Satisfied with their explanation, he granted their request for asylum provided they adopt the local language (Gujarati); that their women adopt local dress (the Sari); and that they henceforth cease to bear arms. The refugees accepted the conditions and founded the settlement of Sanjan (cf: Sanjan in Greater Khorasan).
"Like sugar in milk"
One interesting, perhaps apocryphal Parsi legend relates the course of the initial meeting between Jadi Rana and the newly landed emigrants: When the Zoroastrians requested asylum, Jadi Rana motioned to a vessel of milk filled to the very brim to signify that his kingdom was already full and could not accept refugees. In response, one of the Zoroastrian priests added a pinch of sugar to the milk, thus indicating that they would not bring the vessel to overflowing and indeed make the lives of the citizens sweeter. Jadi Rana gave shelter to the emigrants and permitted them to practice their religion and traditions freely.
See also
- Qissa-i Sanjan, the 'Story of Sanjan'.
- Rajputs
- History of Gujarat
External links
- An article titled "The Sixteen Shloka", including an English language translation of the verses, was published in the Dastur Hoshang Memorial Volume (Bombay, 1918). [https://web.archive.org/web/20041105044913/http://www.fravahr.org/theology/THE_SIXTEEN_SHLOKA/THE_SIXTEEN_SHLOKA.php] The assertion that the verses were recited for Jadi Rana at the first meeting is not verifiable.