Dr. Sir Ervad Jivanji Jamshedji Modi (1854–1933), who also carried the title of Shams-ul-Ulama, was a prominent Zoroastrian Parsi-Indian priest, scholar and community leader in Bombay. One of "the most decorated priests in history", he wrote over 70 books, produced over 120 scholarly papers on Zoroastrian history, traveled and researched into Zoroastrian affairs extensively and was instrumental in organizing the Parsi community in India. During his lifetime he had been called "the greatest living authority on the ancient history and customs of the Parsis." He created a facsimile edition of the Middle Persian legal treatise, Mādayān ī Hazār Dādestān in 1901.
Books
- The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Parsees (1922)
- My Travels Outside Bombay (written in Gujarati (1926)
Honors and awards
- B.A. (Bombay University, 1876)
- Fellow of the University of Bombay (1887)
- Dip. Litteris et Artibus (Sweden, 1889)
- Shams-Ul-Ulama (Government of British India, 1893)
- Officier d'Academie (France, 1898)
- Officier de l'Instruction Publique (France, 1903)
- Ph.D. (Honoris Causa, Heidelberg, 1912)
- Honorary Correspondent of the Archaeological Department of the Government of India (1914)
- C.I.E. (1917); Campbell Medalist, B.B., Royal Asiatic Society (1918)
- Honorary Member of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (1923)
- Chevalier de Légion d'honneur (France, 1925)
- Officier de Croix de Merit (Hungary, 1925)
- British Knighthood (1930)
- LL.D. (Honoris Causa, Bombay University 1931)
References
- ^ Shams-Ul-Ulama Dr. Sir Ervad Jivanji Jamshedji Modi, Vohuman.org, retrieved 22 July 2009,
... the most decorated priest in history ... "the greatest living authority on the ancient history and customs of the Parsis" ...
- Zoroastrian Heroes: Jivanji Jamshedji Modi, Zoroastrian Association of Victoria, archived from the original on 12 September 2009, retrieved 22 July 2009,
... born on October 26th 1854 into a priestly family ... Secretary of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat for 37 years (1893 –1930) ... instrumental in having a Memorial Column a Sanjan Stambh erected at Sanjan, to commemorate the Sanjan landing of Zarthustis on Indian soil ...
- Kotwal, Firoze M.; Choksy, Jamsheed K.; Brunner, Christopher J.; Moazami, Mahnaz (2016). "Hataria, Manekji Limji". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Stausberg, Michael; Karanjia, Ramiyar P. (2013). "Modi, Jivanji Jamshedji". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
External links
- Collection of Works by Jivanji Jamshedji Modi - Online
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, at https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/search?s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-iranica-online&search-go=&s.q=Jivanji+Jamshedji+Modi
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- Parsi people from Mumbai
- Gujarati people
- Zoroastrian priests
- 1854 births
- 1933 deaths
- Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
- Indian Zoroastrians
- Writers from Mumbai
- 19th-century Indian educational theorists
- 19th-century Indian historians
- 20th-century Indian historians
- 20th-century Indian educational theorists
- Zoroastrian studies scholars
- Litteris et Artibus recipients
- Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
- Knights of the Legion of Honour
- Indian Knights Bachelor
- Indian religious biography stubs
- Indian writer stubs