Between Boston and Bombay Cultural and Commercial Encounters of Yankees and Parsis, 1771–1865

A few years after the American declaration of independence, the first American ships set sail to India. The commercial links that American merchant mariners established with the Parsis of Bombay contributed significantly to the material and intellectual culture of the early Republic in ways that have not been explored until now. This book maps the circulation of goods, capital and ideas between Bombay Parsis and their contemporaries in the northeastern United States, uncovering a surprising range of cultural interaction. Just as goods and gifts from the Zoroastrians of India quickly became an integral part of popular culture along the eastern seaboard of the U.S., so their newly translated religious texts had a considerable impact on American thought. Using a wealth of previously unpublished primary sources, this work presents the narrative of American-Parsi encounters within the broader context of developing global trade and knowledge.

1. Arrivals: Parsis, Pilgrims and Puritans.- 2. "A Nice Morality" (1771–1798).- 3. A Shawl Handkerchief and a Cabinet of Curiosities (1799–1806).- 4. Merchant Princes, Missionaries and a Man-of-War (1807–1815).- 5. A Passage to and from India (1816–1835).- 6. Gods and Temples, Ice and the Whale (1836–1851).- 7. Consuls, Industrial Innovations and a Walking Stick (1852–1865).- 8. A Final Coda: Fragrant Memories?.

Jenny Rose teaches Zoroastrian Studies at Claremont Graduate University, California, USA, one of the few institutions worldwide to offer such a course. She has written two books on the religion—Zoroastrianism: An Introduction and Zoroastrianism: A Guide for the Perplexed—and lectures extensively across North America, Europe, and India.