The history of the water reservoir of Mazra-e Kalantar
Kyoumars Samia Kalantari
In the old days, since the qanat water of Mazra was salty, the inhabitants had to get drinking water from rain water, meaning that they had to store the rain water and use it in the course of the year. Water reservoirs had to be built outside the village to enable rain water that would flow in the outskirts, be guided to the reservoir. These reservoirs were all without taps and with roofs half-open, like Ardeshir Khodamorad Reservoir, Bahram Khosrow Reservoir and Mazra-e Haji Reservoir, which were dug up from under ground.
After he returned from a trip to India, Bahram Khodadad decided to build a reservoir, in Mazra, that would have a roof and a tap so that the inhabitants could place their vessels under the tap, which was hygienic, instead of dipping them in the water and filling them. He had to first collect donations. Therefore, in his next trip to Bombay he visited all the Zoroastrians he knew there and requested their help in building a reservoir in Mazra. He succeeded to collect some money but it wasn't sufficient at all, until, one day, he dropped by the shop of Kaykhosrow Rashid Khosrow, and told Kaykhosrow about his intention. Kaykhosrow said: "Return the money you have collected to their owners. I will pay for building this reservoir, on condition that someone takes over the building work, and after it is built, I will pay for 3 days and nights of drinking water from Aliabad and the expenses for digging a canal that will have to bring the water from Aliabad
upto the reservoir. A stone inscription should be affixed to the entrance wall of the reservoir, in the name of my deceased brother, Goshtasb Rashid Khosrow."
Bahram Khodadad agreed to his conditions, and after receiving the money in Iran (through money draft), he started looking for the person who would take full charge of building the reservoir. Bahram Mandegar accepted this responsibility, and in 1312 (1933) the building was completed. A stone inscription was affixed on the reservoir entrance, which is existing upto date, with the following text:
"Donor, Kaykhosrow Rashid Khosrow Nasrabadi has built this water reservoir in Mazra-e Kalantar, at his own expense, in the name of his deceased brother, Goshtasb Rashid Khosrow, for the inhabitants to make use of it and pray for the donor, Kaykhosrow, and give tribute to the soul of his brother, Goshtasb Rashid.
May the souls of such great men rest in eternal peace and their good deeds enlighten the path for us to follow their cause.
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In memory of the teachers of Mazra-e Kalantar
As seniors of Mazra tell and as they have heard from their seniors, about 150 years ago, or even more, when the village school had yet not been built, parents would send their children next to home teachers to learn to read and write, arithmetic and especially Avesta recitation. There were quite a few of these teachers, the most popular among them was (ravanshad) Bahram Mandegar Mehri (Bahram Mond).
Until one day, building of the school started in the middle of the village, under supervision of Ardeshir Khosrow Behmardi, who was the then village headman, and this building still stands and is occupied by one of the village inhabitants.
When the school building was completed the children all started going to this school, and Bahram Mond became the first teacher of this school.
After Ustad (master) Bahram Mond, Ustad Bahram Khodadad Manuchehri, who had just returned to Mazra from Bombay, was appointed as teacher. He taught in the school for a few years. There still live some Mazraie seniors who were his pupils and they remember that he went back to Bombay after a few years. After him, a teacher from Sharifabad, by the name of Bahram Esfandiar Behmardi, accepted to replace him. After him, another teacher from Sharifabad came to teach in Mazra, by the name of Bahram Khodabandeh Shahmardani (it is interesting how all their first names are Bahram!)
A few senior teachers from Sharifabad, namely, Ustad Ardeshir Dabestani and Ustad Karimdad Salamati would visit Mazra from time to time to take exam from the pupils. Though the Sharifabad teachers were always accommodated by inhabitants like Ardeshir Abadan and Rostam Bahram, but they had to make frequent trips to sharifabad to tend to their families and agriculture. For this they would ride their bikes, or even walk the whole way, and therefore, such arrangements did not turn out to be practical in the long run. The people of Mazra started thinking of finding a teacher from their own village, and finally approached the late Ardeshir Namiri to accept this job, and he accepted.
It was about 1936 or 37 when (ravanshad) Jamshid Ustad Bahram Varjavandi, who was one of the benefactors of Mazra-e Kalantar, returned to Mazra from Bombay, and built a new school with his own money, and it was decided to make it into a boys school, and the existing school, which was now called ‘the old school’ was to be girls school. It seems that this arrangement went on for quite a while.
(Ravanshad) Ustad Ardeshir Namiri taught in Mazra for a long period, and the least that can be said of him is that he was highly proficient and a wise teacher. Many from Mazra have happy memories from his tenure. When he was teacher in Mazra a Scouts Organization was established in the country and Ustad Ardeshir immediately took a scout training. He then taught scouting to the children of Mazra.
For example, the children had learned to give a scout’s salute to any elder they met on the street and say “Be happy” or “live long”. In the month of May, when fields were full of flowers Ustad Ardeshir would line up the pupils and take them to the fields to pluck flowers and recite hymns. There was
a field called ‘Bagh Bijani’ with brooks decorated on both sides by bushes of roses. In May, the buds would all open and create a beautiful scenery. The pupils would each carry a stalk of rose and would return to the village in a queue, and wherever they saw someone busy farming they would loudly and together say “May God give you more strength” or “May god give you a long life”. Walking through the streets of the village was so pleasant and rejoicing; housewives were seen sweeping inside and outside their houses early morning and sprinkling water on the floor, the air was filled with sweet smelling essence burnt on fire, and the sound of prayer was heard from all houses. The atmosphere of the village
was truly spiritual.
As the pupils entered school Ustad Ardeshir had taught them to first wash their face and hands in the stream of water that flowed through the school courtyard and then stand in line for Avesta recitation. One of the pupils would recite Avesta with a loud voice, and the rest would repeat after him. Among the children were a few non-Zoroastrians, and some of them would voluntarily stand in the line and recite Avesta together with the Zoroastrian children. It is interesting to know that some of these children had learned Avesta by heart. There was a boy by the name of Hokmollah who knew Avesta so well that he would sometimes recite Avesta and the rest would repeat after him. After prayers, the
class would start with lessons of the day.
Ustad Ardeshir taught in Mazra-e Kalantar until 1946. At this time he migrated to Tehran and was employed in the Zoroastrian Anjuman, where he started serving the Zoroastrian community. A few years after the revolution, He migrated to USA with his family and lived there till he died. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
After Ustad Ardeshir left for Tehran, Mr Behmard Esfandiar Behmardi became teacher in the village. Ustad Behmard (may he live long), who taught in Mazra for a long time, was a very compassionate and caring teacher, and ran the school very well. When the qanats started drying one by one, and the people were forced to leave the village, the school pupils started decreasing till finally Ustad Behmard himself was forced to leave the village. Ustad Behmard would always regret that he didn’t continue teaching for another two years, because two years after he left the village all teachers from villages were employed by Ministry of Education and received official salary and benefits, but he was left out.
Anyhow, two years after Ustad Behmard left, for two consecutive years, the Eduction Military of those days was requested to send teachers, and after that the school closed down forever.
We deem it our duty to commemorate the memory of all the teachers of Mazra-e Kalantar, who are no longer among us, and pray to God for health and long life for Ustad Behmard.
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Ravanshad Mehraban Esfandiar Behmardi Kalantari
Mehraban Behmardi was born in 1921, in Mazra-e Kalantar village, from Esfandiar Behmardi and Khorshid Pulad. He went to school in the village, upto the 4th grade. At that time Mazra-e Kalantar school had only 4 grades. After that, if a child wanted to continue schooling he/she would have had to go to Ardakan or Yazd City. Mehraban stayed in Mazra and helped his father and mother in farming. After a few years his father died, and he, his brother, Behmard, and his mother continued with farming for another year. One day, Mehraban asked his mother to allow him to go to school in Sharifabad, Ardakan, and study up to the 6th grade. She agreed and thus he spent the next two years traveling between Mazra and Sharifabad, until he got his 6th grade certificate. In those years someone by the name of Khan Saheb would come from Yazd to take examination from the pupils. Mehraban, who was about 15 or 16 years old, asked Khan Saheb to assign him to Kucheh Buick, as teacher, because the school there didn’t have teacher. Khan Saheb immediately agreed. Thus, Mehraban left for Kucheh Buick, to teach the children from the 1st upto the 4th grade. He was 19 when he came to know a school girl in Kucheh Buick, by the name of Firoozeh. He fell in love with her and proposed to her. When they were married Mehraban had to resign from the teaching job because of its low salary, and leave Firoozeh in the village and go to Tehran, in search of a better paying job.
It was 1941 and Iran was in a very bad political and economic situation. Mehraban started with farming, in a village near Tehran Pars of today. In those days there were very few from Mazra living in Tehran, but they would somehow find each other and meet from time to time. In one of these get-togethers he met Ravanshad Beman Shoghli (when he was studying in Sharifabad he had made friendship with Beman) and they exchanged their experiences. Beman said that he was thinking of opening a shop in Kakh Circle, in Tehran and turning it into a grocery. I don’t know whether it was Beman or Mehraban who proposed that they become partners. It was agreed, and Mehraban left his farming work in Arbab Mehdi’s farm and asked Khosro Toos to replace him.
He and Beman jointly rented a room to live in and started their work in the shop. After two years he brought Firoozeh to Tehran. Meanwhile he found a vacant shop, for rent, in Fariman Ave. He spoke with Beman about it and they decided that Beman would keep the shop in Kakh and Mehraban takes the Fariman shop. Mehraban worked on his shop upto 1976. He was in constant touch with his Mazraie friends in Tehran who were increasing day by day, and kept abreast with news from Mazra. He was always concerned about Mazra’s situation and about the people living in it. How could he forget that Mazra had, until lately, 5 qanat sources of water, which dried up one after another and its people were forced to migrate. Some went to Yazd City, some to Tehran and some even to other villages. But, a few households still remained in the village and lived on the little water that came from one of the 5 qanats. It was at that time that Mehraban bought a piece of land, in a barren area, on the north of Blvd Keshavarz Ave., and with a loan from Bank Maskan and some help from friends, he built a 4 story building. After building it, he and his family moved to this building.
Now that he had a bigger house Mehraban decided to invite all his Mazraie friends for a meeting to discuss the problems of their village and find solutions. Many attended the first gathering and agreed to gather on alternate Friday afternoons in his house (on Fridays his front yard was full of bicycles and motor bikes). They came to the decision that all Mazraie households should pay a monthly membership fee and a few in the meeting were assigned to collect these fees on monthly basis and deliver to Mehraban, who was appointed as the treasurer. Some would even pay more than their share. Mehraban would spend the money in the village wherever felt needed. He would prepare annually, a balance sheet and would stick copies of it on the walls of Mazra.
The village fire temple needed repair and was destroyed. Some young boys from Mazra gathered a budget and started building the new fire temple. All the people of Mazra, from Iran and abroad, donated to the cause. The main fire temple was built and after that the kitchen, storeroom and the special room for religious ceremonies, and finally, the celebrations hall were built. Mehraban played a crucial role by referring to some of his friends and encouraging them to build sections of the complex in the name of their deceased parents. The work was proceeding but much more funds were needed. Mehraban was a man of action, committed towards his village and hated to see work half done.
He prepared a list of people he knew would care for his words and were in a better financial position, and wrote his name on the top of it. He committed himself to an amount and wrote it against his name. He then started encouraging these persons by saying: “Look, I’ve paid this amount, and you should pay this much.” He mentioned the amount like it was an order, and because everybody respected his words, they would agree. The list was completed and the budget was obtained. The fire temple, its annexes and the celebrations hall was built, and even the supplies and equipment were procured with the effort of all the inhabitants of Mazra-e Kalantar.
Ravanshad Mehraban was a true benefactor and had deep compassion for his birth place. His thoughts were all about Mazra-e Kalantar. He spent the last 2-3 years of his fruitful life in Mazra. He was not keeping well and would say jokingly that he’s told Azrael that he’s ready to go and has requested him to take him away while he’s still on his feet. Maybe, Azrael had truly listened to his request, and his end was as he had wished.
In his last years Mehraban would take walks in the fields around the village. There was a brook (is still there) that took water to Pir-e Kharman and to the fields nearby. Weeds and thorns had grown around the brook and blocked the waterway. He hired labor, at his own expense, to clear up the waterway. He would daily go to the site and supervise the work. On 28th April, 2003, when he had supervised the work and gave necessary instructions to the laborers, he started towards home. He was a few steps away from the site when he felt pain in his heart. He leaned onto the electricity post, slowly sat on the ground and then lied down completely. The worker, who was watching him from far, ran towards him. Mehraban asked to take him home. The man felt he couldn’t do it alone, so jumped on his bike and drove to the village to get help. People in the village came and helped him into a car and took him home. Very soon, an ambulance came and took him to hospital, in Maybod. He was alive for 2 hours in the hospital and then gave his life to his creator.
May his soul rest in eternal peace
May his memories be cherished, for many generations to come.
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Introduction
I remember well, it was the third day of the Panjeh Gahanbar ceremonies in Mazra-e Kalantar. I and some others were sitting under the archway in the middle of the village, famous as Ardeshir’s Archway, and were chatting together. Some kids were throwing water on each other to celebrate Tirgan, and at the same time get cool in the heat of summer. The late Kaykhosrow Jamshidi, who was among us, told us about a memory from his childhood: “I was a kid and was standing under this archway, when the late Khodabakhsh Mehr came out of his house, into the street and took a look towards those who were sitting under the archway, and said: “Do you know that the man who built this archway, in order to let you sit under it in the heat of summer, is right now working hard out there and preparing wasteland for cultivation? He is doing this to add some more land to his fields in order to increase his crop, sell it and spend the income on some new building for the welfare of the villagers.” I wondered at this culture; one person should work so hard just to bring comfort for others. I got interested in finding out more about the good deeds that this man left behind him for the people of Mazra-e Kalantar to benefit from, deeds of our ancestors for the welfare of our village and our community. We request your help to know more about such services rendered by various people in our village. We will print them in our site, in your name.
Aredshir Khodamorad Samia
The seniors of Mazra must have heard the name ‘Aredshir Khodamorad Samia’. This man never left the village where he was born. Many, in those days, traveled to India to work and send money for their families. But he stayed in Mazra and cultivated barren land, and was happy that Mazra was flourishing. The first thought that came to him was to build a fire temple for the village. He prepared the land attached to his house for this purpose and started to build the fire temple. After finishing this project, he felt the need to build an archway in the main street of the village, where there are no trees and no shade for passers-by to take rest and shade in the hot summer days. In those days Mazra had lots of irrigation water and he had a good amount of cultivated land. Therefore, he had enough resources for his charitable intentions.
Now, he had finished building the archway and started thinking of another project. Caravans of camels would pass by Mazra on their way from Ardakan to Yazd. He built a water reservoir next to the village, on this road, for the caravans to stop and take water. This reservoir was built, now what should he do?! One day, on his way to Pir-e Hrisht, he realized that in this never ending desert, if someone went out of water he would die from thirst. He searched for the qanat that took water to Ardakan and built an opening (a covered stairway) to the Qanat, so that pilgrims, who were on their way to the Pir, could stop by and drink from the cool water of the qanat, in the hot summer days, and also rest in the shade of the stairway. It seems, all his life his only thought was to do something or the other for the welfare of others. May his soul rest in peace.
Such a great man had sons who followed his way for serving people. One of them was Jamshid Ardeshir. Where his father had built the water reservoir there was a river bed close to it. In winter this river had water in it and the caravans that wanted to stop by the reservoir, had to go around and lengthen their route. On the other hand, the village inhabitants also had difficulties in passing through the river bed, in winter, to reach the other side. He built a bridge over the river, which still exists. Ardeshir’s other son, Kaykhosrow, served his fellow villagers in Mazra, in still another way. In those days farmers were very poor and sometimes due to famine or other reasons they didn’t have enough to feed their families. He would send wheat or barley from Hassanabad (a village close to Mazra, where he had his wheat fields), to his mother, Gol, who lived in Mazra, and she, who was better in the picture of the state of the inhabitants, would take sacks of wheat to the houses of the needy, without their knowing where it came from! After the death of Gol, his sister, Firoozeh, continued this mission for him. He also found another way of helping his people. Every year, on the last day of Panjeh, he would cut a sheep and would distribute the meat among all households in the village. This became a custom, which is followed by his children upto this day, and on the last day of Panjeh a sheep is cut in the house of their grandfather, Ardeshir, and distribute the meat among each and every household in the village.
May their memories and good deeds remain for generations to come.
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Now, he had finished building the archway and started thinking of another project. Caravans of camels would pass by Mazra on their way from Ardakan to Yazd. He built a water reservoir next to the village, on this road, for the caravans to stop and take water. This reservoir was built, now what should he do?! One day, on his way to Pir-e Hrisht, he realized that in this never ending desert, if someone went out of water he would die from thirst. He searched for the qanat that took water to Ardakan and built an opening (a covered stairway) to the Qanat, so that pilgrims, who were on their way to the Pir, could stop by and drink from the cool water of the qanat, in the hot summer days, and also rest in the shade of the stairway. It seems, all his life his only thought was to do something or the other for the welfare of others. May his soul rest in peace.
Such a great man had sons who followed his way for serving people. One of them was Jamshid Ardeshir. Where his father had built the water reservoir there was a river bed close to it. In winter this river had water in it and the caravans that wanted to stop by the reservoir, had to go around and lengthen their route. On the other hand, the village inhabitants also had difficulties in passing through the river bed, in winter, to reach the other side. He built a bridge over the river, which still exists. Ardeshir’s other son, Kaykhosrow, served his fellow villagers in Mazra, in still another way. In those days farmers were very poor and sometimes due to famine or other reasons they didn’t have enough to feed their families. He would send wheat or barley from Hassanabad (a village close to Mazra, where he had his wheat fields), to his mother, Gol, who lived in Mazra, and she, who was better in the picture of the state of the inhabitants, would take sacks of wheat to the houses of the needy, without their knowing where it came from! After the death of Gol, his sister, Firoozeh, continued this mission for him. He also found another way of helping his people. Every year, on the last day of Panjeh, he would cut a sheep and would distribute the meat among all households in the village. This became a custom, which is followed by his children upto this day, and on the last day of Panjeh a sheep is cut in the house of their grandfather, Ardeshir, and distribute the meat among each and every household in the village.
May their memories and good deeds remain for generations to come.
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The custodians of Pir-e Sabz
Introduction:
On a gloomy day in autumn, Banoo, wife of Sam Dadeshir Khademi, returned to her house in Mazra-e Kalantar, with a burden of grief and distress. All the village inhabitants were curious and came to meet her, because everyone knew that she had spent her whole life in Pir-e Sabz and would rarely visit Mazra. Banoo sat on the quilt which was her only belonging from Pir-e Sabz and listened to the greetings of the people. When they all left her daughter, Homa, stayed with her and looked after her. But, it didn’t take long before Banoo took her last breath, on the quilt that was her only remembrance from Pir-e Sabz.
After Banoo was driven out of Pir-e Sabz, she died on 24th of December, 1987, in Mazra. Eight generations of her ancestors and her husband’s had served this holy shrine, and finally Banoo gave her life for her faith. With her she took the memories of 600 years service to the shrine, without anyone knowing about her history. Unfortunately, Iranians, especially Zoroastrians, do not believe that knowing the past will lighten the way towards the future, because almost nothing is recorded anywhere for future generations to learn from (most of what we know about our ancestors and their hardships is through the travel accounts that foreigners have written from their experiences in Iran).
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After Banoo’s death I had a chat with a survivor of the custodians of Pir-e Sabz, by the name of Bahram Khosrow Khademi (I also had interviews with custodians of other holy places, such as Mrs Vahbiz in Pir-e Hrisht and Jamshid Virabi in Pir-e Banoo Pars, which were published in Amordad newspaper), with the intention of knowing more about their living condition and their experiences in the Pir. Our talk left for me many unanswered questions, which need more time and deeper study to find their answers. Herebelow is a gist of the lives of these true servers of the Zoroastrian community. I will be grateful to receive any information about the history of Pir-e Sabz (and also other holy places) to enable correct and complete it. I do not intend to mention, here, anything about those who closed their eyes upon the depth of the faith of the custodians who lived in the far away Pir to safeguard it and keep its oil lamp burning day and night, and were the cause of the extensive disorder and disorganization that followed. Instead, I will write about the lives of those who stayed day and night in that far away mountain, at a time when there was just a dirt road towards it and the only transport means were either mule or one’s own feet, and the only time of the year when the Pir was visited by pilgrims was the 5 days of pilgrimage in July.
In the 17th century, when Shah Ismail was crowned king in Tabriz, the official religion of Iran was announced as the Shiite branch of Islam. His advisers brought his attention to the fact that the majority of the people were Sunni and not Shiite, but the king said that God and the saints were on his side and whoever protests should be beheaded. It was from that day that the real miseries of Zoroastrians in Iran started. For example, when one of Ismail’s enemies by the name of Sheebak Khan Uzbek, (a Sunni) was killed he ordered that whoever wished to prove his faithfulness to the king should eat from the flesh of this man. The soldiers fell on the corpse and ate the flesh till the last piece. Let us imagine that when the Sunnis were treated in this manner what would be the fate of Zoroastrians, who were not even regarded as human beings!
It is not known why, in such dark days of terror, Mobed Marzban, who was a very learned and pious man, set forth towards Pir-e Sabz. Was it to save his own life, or his family’s, or his community? I do not know from when and for how long Mobed Marzban stayed in the Pir as custodian. His only child, by the name of Abadan, who was a strong young man, joined his father to help him in serving the Pir and keep its oil lamp burning. Abadan was a strong man and his job was mainly to gather firewood from the foot of the mountain and bring it up to the shrine, and store it for the use of pilgrims. He would sometimes also help other villagers who would come there to gather firewood. Such relationship formed friendship between him and the villagers, and sometimes, when it was cold, Abadan would invite them to his room to warm up with hot tea. Their friendship and cooperation strengthened with time, and Abadan would sometimes request them, if they were passing by Mazra-e Kalantar, to take some firewood for his family. In exchange, his family would give them bread, oil and other foodstuff to take for Abadan. Of course, needless to say that in bringing foodstuff for Abadan, his friends also gave him company in eating them. These few friends, who traveled to and from Mazra, when in Mazra would work for the farmers, against wage, and would sleep in a caravansary at the entrance of the village (its ruins are still seen from the village). After a few days they would go again towards the mountains to gather firewood, and would not fail to visit Abadan. This friendship became thicker and thicker. Sometimes, when Abadan wanted to visit his family and tend to his farming work in Mazra, he would request one of them to stay in the Pir, in his absence. Gradually, these few became resident in Mazra and built their houses there. They would still make trips to the mountains to bring firewood for Mazra inhabitants. Such relationships continued upto the time that Khosrow Khademi served the Pir. It is worthwhile mentioning that Abadan created very good relationship between these (Moslem) friends and the Zoroastrian community, which continued for centuries. Abadan continued serving the Pir and the pilgrims and often took his only son, Sandal, with him to the shrine (in those days Zoroastrians were not allowed education) to teach him all the work that a custodian should do. Abadan didn’t know that a sad destiny was awaiting his son.
When his father died, though he was the only child of his parents, young Sandal was sent to Pir-e Sabz by his mother, while she took care of the farming in Mazra-e Kalantar. Since Sandal was young and active, when he awoke early morning and did his daily chores in the shrine he would go around exploring the mountain. One day he found a way to reach the top of the mountain against which the Pir stood. He climbed up to the top and gazed at the panorama in front of him. He did this often and enjoyed watching the view from so high up. He had a companion in the Pir by the name of Hassan, (called Hassani by the people) who would sometimes join him in his mountain climbing expedition. These two became thick friends, and Hassani slowly started spending most of his days in the Pir, with Sandal. He also started forming strong faith in the Pir. At times Sandal would leave Hassani to look after the Pir, while he went to Mazra to visit his wife and son. This type of life went on for some years.
One day, when these two were climbing the mountain, Hassani found a cave and showed it to Sandal, who got the idea of using it as a hide-out for storing the pots and utensils belonging to the Pir, and bringing them down for use by the pilgrims during the annual 5-days pilgrimage time. In this way the kitchen ware remained safe from theft. From that day, each time they climbed the mountain they would take some of the utensils to the cave. One day, when they were sitting on the peak, staring at the landscape, Hassani said that he saw some people coming from far for pilgrimage. Sandal climbed down and when the distance shortened he could see that they were on horseback. They were coming up towards the Pir, and Hassani was still in the mountain, trying to keep away from them. He heard voices but could not understand the conversation. After about an hour some more men, on horseback, appeared at the foot of the mountain. The ones who had first come mounted their horses and left through the road that went to Bagh-e Golzar (a place full of orchards). When they were gone the other group approached Sandal and said something to him. Hassani saw Sandal pointing out with his hand but couldn’t understand the conversation. When the second group was going down towards the road, Hassani come next to Sandal and asked him what was it that they wanted. Sandal said, “the first group were thieves and the second group were policemen. As the thieves saw the policemen nearing they asked me to show them a way to escape, and I showed them the road towards Baghe Golzar. The policemen came and asked me where the thieves had gone. I said I didn’t know. Then, they asked me if there was a road going to a village close by, and I showed it to them. Hassani expressed his fear that the thieves might return and that he was going to take all the rest of the kitchen ware to the cave. When Hassani was returning from the cave he heard noises from far, echoing in the mountain. The sounds were more like shouts. The only words that he could hear were a voice shouting, “Didn’t I tell you not to tell the policemen which way we took to escape. I saw you from far pointing at the road which we had taken.” Sandal said “If I had shown them the way they would immediately come and arrest you. I was only showing them the way to a village.” From far Hassani could see them beating up Sandal and taking him away. After a few minutes Hassani heard the cries of Sandal. He could not see what was going on but he could smell firewood burning with the smell of flesh. An hour later they were gone. Hassani cautiously came out of his hiding place and started looking for Sandal. He went to the kitchen from where the smoke was seen. They had burned all the fire wood stored in the kitchen and he saw a piece of bark to which Sandal had been tied to and burned alive.
His father’s tragic death fell heavy on Ardeshir, but he couldn’t leave the Pir alone. This holy shrine was, for him, a treasure that was entrusted to him by his ancestors to safe keep for all Zoroastrians. Therefore, he felt it his duty to protect and maintain it for future generations.
There is a mountain on the right hand of the Pir, called “Kouh Sorkh” (red mountain), a small part of which had been smoothened. Ardeshir started to build a stone wall around it and brought some good soil into it, and made it into small plots in which he planted wheat, in the first year. This little farm gave a good crop. The next year, he prepared another piece and planted some more wheat in it with grape trees around it. Hassani, now grown old, helped him together with his son, Mohammad (they would call him Mand), and ate the crop together. These small plots on the mountain were used for agriculture right up to the custodianship of Banoo and Khosrow. Sam (Ardeshir’s grandson) also grew an orchard in the lower part of the mountain, which still exists. Unfortunately, Ardeshir suffered from asthma, which caused his death before he grew old. Those who are of age will remember that Banoo and Khosrow also suffered from asthma. It could have been inherited, or due to the cold nights in that part of the desert, when they had to go up to the Pir at midnights to check the oil lamps. After Ardeshir, his only son, Tork, went to live in the Pir. We do not know much about Tork’s life in the Pir. We only know that he was a very active, perseverant and brave man. He was not afraid of the animals that lived in the mountains, like tiger, leopard and mountain ram. He had taught his children that if they did no harm to the animals, they would not be harmed by them. Tork had three sons (everyone else who served the Pir had just one son) by the names of Ardeshir, Dadeshir and Rostam.
His three sons would help their father in the Pir, in turn. They had programmed their time in the Pir in such a way that two of them were always in the Pir together while the other stayed in Mazra to tend to farming. In one of the cold night, in fall, Ardeshir got ready to go to the Pir and lit his oil lamp. He didn’t wake up Dadeshir because the latter had to do the cleaning up in the Pir early morning. He started wearing his warm clothes, when he heard the sound of an animal scratching with his paw on the door. He woke up Dadeshir and together they stood behind the door to close the door if the animal tried to push it open. They slowly opened the door a wee bit and suddenly the bleeding paw of a leopard came in through the door. Dadeshir felt it and guessed that a thorn must have gone in the paw. Ardeshir brought the lamp close and saw where the thorn had pierced through. He pulled out the thorn and applied some oil on the bruise and rubbed the paw with his hand, then pushed it away from the door. After a while, Ardeshir peeped out to see if the leopard was gone, and yes, it was gone. He went up toward the Pir, in fear and anguish, returned to his room, locked the door and went to sleep. The next night he woke up, as usual, lit the lamp and was ready to open the door, when again he heard the same paw scratching on the door. He woke up his brother and they opened the door, just enough to peep outside, but there was no sign of the bleeding paw this time. They waited a few seconds and then opened the door. They held up the lamp to brighten the doorway. There was no trace of the leopard, but when they took a careful look they found a mountain ram fallen at their feet and its throat was throttled. They immediately guessed that the leopard had brought the ram and put it at the doorstep, as a reward! Dadeshir commented to his brother about the strange world they lived in, and how their ancestor was innocently burned alive by human beings, but the wild leopard thanked them for the little favor they had done to it. Who should we call wild; the leopard or human beings?
Ardeshir had a son by the name of Khosrow, and Dadeshir's son was Sam. Rostam had a daughter by the name of Banoo. Sam and Banoo(cousins) married together. Sam and Khosrow would look after the Pir in turn, to be able to also tend to their farming in Mazra. These two cousins served the Pir for many years, until one day Sam fell from a height near the shrine, was immediately transferred to hospital but due to a major artillery damage, died. Following Sam's death his wife, Banoo, took his place in the Pir. Banoo felt a deep commitment towards the Pir, which she got both from her father and her husband. From then onwards Banoo lead a difficult life, because she had to work in the Pir and at the same time bring up her children. Banoo and Khosrow, together, carried out their responsibilities in Pir-e Sabz and also Mazra. Very soon, the underground spring water, which was the main water supply of Mazra dried up (due to several wells being dug around
the towns). Many of the people living in Mazra, including Banoo's children, migrated to Yazd and Tehran. When her children left for Tehran, Banoo became a permanent resident of Pir-e Sabz, and together with Khosrow, looked after the Pir day and night, and whenever their children came to visit them they were taught to first pay respect to the shrine and then come to their room. But, life had some surprises in store, for them. Khosrow died, after an illness (he was long suffering from asthma) and his son, Bahram, replaced his father in the Pir, so that Banoo was not alone. Banoo and Bahram were together living in the Pir, when one day, a court order from the town of Ardakan was brought to them to vacate the Pir and go from there forever.
Banoo handed over all the copper pots and utensils she had hidden in the cave in the mountain, and whatever that belonged to the Pir, to the men who had brought the order, and took with her her only belonging: her quilt, got into a van and went to Mazra with Bahram, not knowing what was the cause of such action. Banoo could not bear separation from the holy shrine and in 3 days she died, while lying on her quilt. Bahram also started missing the Pir and very soon fell ill. After a few years of serious illness, he passed away in Mazra.
Thus, the book of eight generations of exemplary service to Pir-e Sabz was closed. May their good deeds brighten the path for future generations.