Jadav Rana

The Hindu king of Sanjan (in modern day Gujarat, India) in the 8th century CE. He allowed Persian Zoroastrians, who were fleeing their homeland due to religious persecution, to settle in his kingdom. Today, this group is known as the Parsis, from the Persian word for a Persian person.

A legend about the arrival of Parsis is as follows: Jadav Rana and the Parsees did not speak a common language. When the Parsees arrived at Jadav Rana’s court, he showed them a bowl of milk filled to the very brim to signify that his kingdom was already full and could not accept refugees.

The Parsees considered this, then one of them added a spoonful of sugar to the glass, to demonstrate that they would blend in with the members of the kingdom and make their lives sweeter.

The king agreed to let the Parsis settle in Sanjan under the conditions that they adopt local dress and language, lay down their arms, marry within their own community and not proselytize.