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Biodemography and Social Biology


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A demographic dilemma: The Parsis of Karachi


Elizabeth B. Gustafson
a a

Department of Sociology, University of California, Davis, California Version of record first published: 23 Aug 2010.

To cite this article: Elizabeth B. Gustafson (1969): A demographic dilemma: The Parsis of Karachi, Biodemography and Social Biology, 16:2, 115-127 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19485565.1969.9987808

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A Demographic Dilemma: The Parsis of Karachi

Elizabeth B. Gustafson
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Department of Sociology University of California Davis, California

"Parsi" is the secular name of the Zoroastrians, worshippers of Ahura Mazda a ad followers of the pre-Christian prophet Zoroaster. For many centuries leaders in the encient Persian Empire, Zoroastrians today constitute a small religious minority in Iran and the South Asian subcontinent. They .re believed to number about 150,000. Bombay is now the main center of Parsi Zoroastrian culture, having a Parsi population of abc ut 70,000, The next largest Parsi community, numbering about 4,500, is in Karachi, Pa dstan. This paper reports the major findir gs of a demographic survey of the Parsi community in Karachi conducted in the spring of 1965. The Parsi community is a closely-kr it, homogeneous group, socially self-sufficient and isolated from the surrounding Muslim majority. I t is a closed endogamous "community" which in many respects may be considered a caste. If a Parsi man does mirry out of his religious group, his wife remains a non-Parsi but his children are considered Parsis. If a Parsi woman marries out of her religious group, the children are not Parsis.

This small community is of sociological interest because it has a history of social self-sufficiency now threatened by the impact of modern ideas and social innovations. Ths rule of endogamy, which forbids any Parsi to marry outside the community, and the corollary rule forbidding conversion into the community are leading the group into a demographic impasse. The birth rate is low, because of a high marriage age for females and perhaps also because of endogamy and inbreeding. Although the death rate is also low, the rate of natural increase of the population is negligible. There is some emigration from the community largely because the young people are being exposed to Western ideas and customs which conflict with the traditional restrictions. I t is an open question, therefore, whether the community will be able to withstand these pressures from without and within.
CONDUCT OF THE SURVEY

The survey of the Parsi population of Karachi covered 4,198 persons, about 92% of the Parsi population according to an extrapolation of figures given in the decen-

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nial census of Pakistan of 1961.1 The Parsis live in clearly-defined neighborhoods in Karachi. Members who knew the community intimately helped with the survey, and the well-organized community charity organizations werp able to lead us to the poorest Parsis as well as to the rich. Thus, there is no reason to believe that any serious bias is caused by the 8% not included in the survey. The author spent a year in informal study of the Parsi community before the survey

Response to the questionnaire was good. Almost all Parsis read and speak English; certainly at least one person in every household can do so. Many Parsis volunteered much time on all stages of the study, and almost all members of the community responded willingly.
POPULATION BY AGE AND SEX

The year of birth of each individual was recorded, and age distribution by five-yeargroups2 is shown in Table 1. The population

TABLE 1
PARSI POPULATION OF KARACHI BY FIVE-YEAR AGE GROUPS AND SEX, 1965

MALE AGE

FEMALE

No. 122

% 52

No.

% 48

TOTAL

SEX RATIO

0-4
5-9

108

230

113

10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35^4 45-54 55-64

65+

Unknown

143 173 153 112 264 353 282 198 233 36 2069

53 53 51 47 45 51 48 45 49 54 49

128 152 146 126 316 334 304 237 242 31 2134

47 47 49 53 55 49 52 55 51 46 51

271 325 299 238 580 687 585 435 475 67 4193

112 114 105 89 84 106 93 84 96 116 97

Total*

* In five instances (all in the 0-4 age group) sex was not recorded.

was begun. Field work was conducted in stages between April 15 and July 15, 1965. Information was collected on a de jure basis by means of a household questionnaire designed with a separate section for each individual, including usual household members temporarily absent and temporary visitors. The form was filled out by the family, then collected, checked, and, if necessary, returned to the family by the enumerator.
1 The Karachi District Census Report for 1961 records a Parsi population of 5,018 in 1951 and 4,685 in 1961. At this rate of decrease, the population in 1965 would have been about 4,564. The present survey covered 4,198 persons, which is 92% of the population according to extrapolated census figures.

pyramid (Fig. 1) reveals at a glance that the Parsi population in Karachi is very unusual for an Asian population. A diagram of this sort for most Asian populations forms a broad-based pyramid with a very high percentage in the age group below fifteen. The pyramid in Figure 1 closely approximates
2 The quinquennial age groups were chosen because they are the ones regularly used in the Pakistan Census and other demographic studies in Pakistan. No attempt has been made to compensate for heaping and other deficiencies in the single-year age distribution which was calculated. The risk of such errors was felt to be relatively small for two reasons. First, the Parsi population is virtually 100% literate. Second, age was elicited in terms of date of birth. There may have been some heaping, especially among women, for the year of birth 1900, and possibly for the years 1910, 1920, and 1930. But there is no clear sign of misreport of birth date at these or other years.

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the standard model of a "constructive pyramid" and indicates an "old" population. In fact, the median age of Parsis is 37 years, while for Muslims in Karachi it is 22 years (Hashmi, 1965, p. 31) 3 . The fact that the lower two bars of the pyramid are relatively short indicates a low birth rate and a proportion of children insufficient to maintain the population in the long run. The average number of births and deaths in the community over the ten years from 1955 to 1965 can be calculated, although the

tion over this time span and comparing it to annual births and deaths produces an annual crude birth rate of 13.2 per thousand and a crude death rate of 9.5 per thousand. This means that the population is growing through natural increase at a rate of about 0.37% per year. However, analysis of Pakistan census figures of 1951 and 1961 (Central Statistical Office, 1961) indicates a decrease in the population of about 0.65% per year. The difference between the census figures and ours is probably explained by

85+ 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 6 5
4 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

MALE
(Both sexes = 100%)

FEMALE

FIG. 1.Percent distribution by five-y:ar age groups and sex, of Parsis in Karachi, 1965

figures for any one year are too small to provide dependable rates. For births, we counted the number of children born in eich of the years as indicated by survivors in ages 0-9 enumerated in 1965, plus those who had died in the ten years previous, to 1965. Information on the total number of deaths at all ages per year is available from the dependable community records on deaths and funeral ceremonies.4 Estimating the average annual popula3 Hashmi's data refer to 1959 and are treated here as referring to the Muslim population of Karachi, even though the sample was of the whole population, because Karachi is overwhelmingly Muslim.

emigration out of the community. According to census figures, about 10.2 persons per thousand, or 48 persons apparently leave the community every year. It was not possible to collect reliable data on migration patterns, nor do the census data permit application of "reverse survival" techniques to estimate net migration. The high rate of outmigration is the price the community pays
4 The Parsi dead are disposed of at a single site by exposure to the elements and birds of prey, and there is virtually no chance that a death and the attending funeral could pass unnoticed by the community clerk, who keeps careful records of these events. He also records deaths of members temporarily away from Karachi, whether or not the body is returned.

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for the high priority it puts on education, I t may be that Chandra Sekar's dire forefinancial gain, and general adoption of West- casts about the diminution of the Parsi ern customs. It is responsible to a large ex- community will yet prove correct, but the tent for the steady decrease in the Parsi decrease may start later and proceed more population. rapidly than he expected. The population It is common knowledge within the Parsi pyramids which Chandra Sekar constructed community and among demographers con- to illustrate his estimates of the Parsi popucerned with populations in the subcontinent lation at ten year intervals from 1951 to that the birth, death, and growth rates of 2001 are all quite rectangular, suggesting a the Parsi population are strikingly low. static demographic situation. On the other C. Chandra Sekar's important paper of hand, an extrapolation from the pyramid in 1948 indicated a similar situation among Figure 1 of this paper would show a topBombay Parsis in 1948. Although most of heavy population dropping rapidly in numChandra Sekar's discussion deals with data bers by the year 2001. covering the years 1901 to 1941, he also The masculinity ratios of the different age made some predictions about future de- groups of the Parsi population are also velopment in the demographic picture for shown in Table 1. It is interesting to note the Parsi community in Bombay. I t is in- that this pyramid does not reveal the high teresting to compare his predictions for the ratio of young males evident in the Muslim much larger community in Bombay with the population of Karachi, where many men imresults of our Karachi survey. migrate for jobs, leaving their wives and Chandra Sekar predicted that the Bom- children in the villages. Indeed, the ratio of bay community would increase slightly in Parsi males in the 20-24 and 25-34 cohorts size between 1941 and 1951 and begin to is unusually low, which may indicate that decrease within the next decade. He esti- the out-migration previously mentioned has mated that between 1951 and 1971 the been male-selective in these ages. There is population would decrease by about 4%. also the troubling fact that the masculinity This decrease of 0.4% per year seems to be ratios for age groups 0-4 and 5-9 and 10-14 slightly pessimistic, since the present study, are well above what one might intuitively dealing with approximately the same years, expect in such a relatively closed population. found a minimal growth of about 0.4% per Taken at face value the high masculinyear. However, we should note that these ity ratio indicates either a young female sedata are not dependable enough to quibble lective out-migration, which from our other over, and in any case their close approxima- knowledge of the community is highly untion is apparently fortuitous since Chandra likely, or it indicates higher female than Sekar's estimates of birth and death rates male mortality at the lower ages. The latter for the 1960's do not correspond to our explanation for abnormally high masculinity results. Using census figures from 1941, ratios is often employed for India and PakiChandra Sekar figured a birth rate of 19.4 stan and justified by the argument that, with per thousand per year for the Parsi com- the higher regard accorded males, female munity in Bombay and a death rate of 15.1, children are neglected (Rakunudin, 1967). and he predicted that both would remain No such negating of the importance of festationary. In Karachi in 1965, both were males seems a part of Parsi tradition, and considerably lower, the birth rate being 13.2 since overall mortality rates are very low, per thousand and the death rate 9.5 per excess female mortality seems an unlikely thousand, although they still bear approxi- explanation in this case. Age-heaping or femately the same relationship to each other. male-selective underenumeration might ex-

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plain the discrepancy, but neither se;ms lives with the boy's family for a few months highly probable in a literate, cooperative or a year, but before children are born they usually set up housekeeping on their own. group such as the Parsi community. The dependency ratio of the Parsi pc pu- Table 2 shows that 80% of young families lation is much lower than the dependency now live separately from other relatives. ratio of Karachi Muslims. Thanks to higher Some 70% of the middle-aged population life expectancy in their community, there live in nuclear-family units, but only 50% are almost five times as many people over 65 of the older population. Most striking is the per hundred workers (persons aged 15 to 64) difference between generations in joint among the Parsis as among Muslims (1.6.8 families. Of the two younger groups, only compared to 3.5). But there are more than 5% live in joint families, while almost 25% twice as many children aged 0-14 per woi ker of families with household heads over the in the Muslim population than there are age of 55 live in joint families. among Parsis (71.7 compared to 29.4). There is no doubt that this shift to
TABLE 2
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLD TYPES BY AGE GROUP OF HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD

NOCLEAR*

ExAGE OF HEAD

Young

Old

TENPIDf

JOINT}

OTHER

UNREL'D. INDIVID. TOGETHER

PERSON ALONE

UNKNOWN

TOTAL

Under 35 35-54. 55+ Unknown Total..

. ..

80 66 19 60 41

0 5 28 0 17

12 17

18 10 17

5 5 22 0 14

0 3 5 10 4

0 0 1 0 0

3 5 7 10 6

0 0 0 10 0

100 100 100 100 100

* "Young" nuclear families are those with children und' ;r 20 years of age. "Old" nuclear families have no children under this age. t Nuclear families with other relatives. There were no cases where an unrelated individual was part of a nuclear or extended family. t Nuclear and/or extended family living with another nuclear and/or extended family.

Overall, in the Parsi community there are about 46 dependents for every hundred workers, while in the general populatioi. of Karachi in 1961 the proportion is 75 per hundred workers. This fact probably contributes to the relative prosperity of the Parsis. The survey counted 4,198 persons in '?84 families, making an average of 4.3 persons per family. A "family" is denned as a group of persons living under the same roof and sharing the same kitchen. In the Parsi community in Karachi, the traditional joint and extended families are losing popularity to the smaller nuclear family, which provides more privacy and independence for the young couple. A newly-married couple often

nuclear families can often have a disruptive effect on the cohesiveness of the community. Nevertheless, the familial ties still seem close. In many cases related families live in separate flats in the same building, fathers and sons or sons-in-law may still work together, and there is constant inter-visitation and cooperation of many kinds. Among other interesting characteristics of the Parsi family is the fact that in almost a fourth of the families, a woman is considered the head of the household. In most cases it is an older woman whose husband has died. (The median age for male household heads is 46 years; for women it is 55.) In most other traditional groups, the eldest male would usually be the head of the house-

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hold. The fact that women are given this role is another sign of the status and respect which Parsis accord their women.
RESIDENCE AND MOBILITY

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Compared with the Muslim population, 90% of which have come to Karachi since Partition in 1947, the Parsis are an old established community in Karachi. About 28% of Parsi families indicated that their forebears have lived in Karachi for at least a century. Some 19% replied "unknown" to this question, and there is a high probability that a large proportion of this group are also

facility in the late nineteenth century, and modern commercial Karachi emerged in the ensuing decades. No wave of Parsi immigration is associated with the Partition of 1947. In fact, Parsi immigration dropped off radically just when Muslim immigration was rising to its peak, and only 5% of Parsi families settled in the period 1950 to 1965. There are no figures on Parsi emigration from Karachi to India at the time of Partition, but the general impression among Karachi Parsis is that emigration also was negligible. On the whole, the Parsis had political and economic reasons to stay where

TABLE 3
HOUSEHOLD MOBILITY BY AGE GROUP OF HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD

YEARS AT PRESENT ADDRESS AGE OF HEAD

5 and over

1-4

Less than 1

Unknown

TOTAI

All ages. Under 35 35-54

55+
Unknown

763 (76%) 18 (43%) 288 (73%) 454 (84%) (30%)

113 (12%) 12 (29%) 63 (16%) 37 (7%) (10%)

79 (8%) 9 (22%) 30 (8%) 39 (7%) (10%)

29 (3%) 2 (5%) 11 (3%) 11 (2%) 5 (50%)

984 (100%) 41 (100%) 392 (100%) 541 (100%) 10 (100%)

old families, since when the family had been in Karachi for generations, the respondent was less likely to know the exact data of original settlement. The fact that many Parsi families have lived in Karachi for many generations has perhaps helped them to become relatively well-established and prosperous. A wave of Parsi immigration to Karachi from India seems to have occurred during the first half of this century. Some 29% of the families indicated the period 1900 to 1929 as their settlement date in Karachi. Probably an important motive was the establishment of business enterprises (branches of Parsi firms in Bombay, in particular) in Karachi. The British began developing Karachi as a major military depot and port

they were during the Muslim-Hindu population movements. The data collected on mobility reveal that members of the Parsi community are less mobile than might be expected (see Table 3). In the query about change of residence within a year and within five years, the mobility revealed is extremely low. In fact, many Parsis have lived in the same house for twenty-five years or more. Even upward mobility has not typically been followed by parallel shifts in housing, as is common is Western society. The more recent moves of households heads under the age of 35 probably reflect the establishment of new homes after marriage. Once settled, these young families may also be expected to live in the same place for many years.

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EDUCATION

Parsis of Karachi

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19 for boys. Boys remain in school longer than girls. There were only 2 out of 175 Education is evidently important to the Parsis. It is clear from Table 4 that almost women over the age of twenty-four still in all school-age children in the Parsi com- school, while there were 16 out of 152 men. munity attend schools, a fact which sharply Analysis of the number of school years distinguishes them from the total school-age completed by adults over twenty-five years population of Karachi. It appears that beys of age also indicated that both men and tend to start slightly earlier, at age six, women have made educational gains over while many girls do not begin school until the last three generations. The biggest they are seven. change is in women's education. Out of thirI t used to be that a large number of cl il- ty women with no formal education, twentydren could be expected to drop out of school one are over 55 years of age and several of after they had completed their "Matric," the remaining nine women may be more corresponding to the tenth year of school. uneducable than uneducated. Three-fourths This resulted in a break in the percentage attending school at age fifteen or sixteen. of women with four or fewer years of schoolNow, however, more students go on to we rk ing are over 55 years old. Women made a for "Intermediate" and higher degrees. substantial gain of three years in the meTable 4 shows that the drop in percentage dian number of school years completed beattending school occurs at age 18 for girls, tween "grandmother's" generation and
TABLE 4 PARSIS IN SCHOOL BY SINGLE YEAR OF AGE FROM 4 THROUGH 3 0 MALE
AGE

FEMALE

In 2

Out 25 22 4 1 0

Total 27 29 . 27 29 30 28 28 43 33 30 39 38 29 28 34 24 21 27 19

In 0 2 18 33 27 23 28 38 24 29 30 23 28 28 19 20 3 6 3 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0

Out 27 19 6 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1

Total 27 21 24 33 27 23 29 40* 24 29 30 24 29 35 31 27 20 32 26 31 17 30 24 28 29 29 35

4... 5...
6.

. . 7.... . 8.... . 9.... . 10... . . 11... . . 12... . . 13... . . 14... . . IS... . . 16... . . 17... . . 18... . . 14 19... 20... . 13 .
21

7 23 28 30 28 28 43 32 30 39 37 24 27 31
13 9 6

0
0 0 1 0 0 1 5 1 3 10 8 14 10 19 15 27

7
12 7 13 26 23 29 15 30 23 27 29 29 35

22... 23... 24... 25... 26... 27... 28... 29... 30...

25
20 31 29 19 16 29 28

5
4 4 1 2 3 2

25
18 14 26 26

* One classed as "Unknown.1

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"mother's." The median for the 5 5 + age group is seven years; for the 35-54 age group, it is ten years. The median number of school years completed by men has also increased, by one year in each age group, rising from ten years for those over 55 years of age to twelve years for the 25-34 age cohort. The median for all men over age twenTABLE 5 Downloaded by [New York University] at 23:48 26 September 2012
PERCENTAGE EMPLOYED, AGED 15 YEARS AND OVER
Age Employed Unemployed Unknown

men have also been working for higher degrees. In higher education, the Parsi community is ahead of the Muslim population.
LABOR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS

All ages: M F 15-19:

75 25 13 7
59 47 91 42 97 36 94

23 73 87 92 40 50 9

2 2 0 1 1 3 0
1

M
F 20-24:

M F
25-34:

M F
35-44: M F 45-54: M

57
2 63 4 71 12 92 56 94 32 69

1 1 2 0 3 0 0 1 32 9

F.

28
84 8 43

55-64: M

F 65+:
M.

F Unknown: M. . F

5
36 22

ty-five is eleven years; for all women, ten years. The same trend toward more education, especially for women, is revealed in data on attainment of degrees. While virtually no woman over 55 had more than ten years of formal schooling, nearly a fifth of the women in the 25-34 cohort have degrees higher than the Bachelor of Arts. In recent years more
5 Some informants observed that this development caused some discomfort in the community because these young girls were now equipped to get well-paying jobs, and this disrupted their traditional position in the marriage market. Our data on marriage show that the median age at first marriage was considerably older for women in the 35-54 age group than for older women.

The labor force characteristics of the Parsi community are quite unlike those of most communities of the subcontinent. Tables 5 and 6 show the breakdown of employment and occupations. It is notable that very few Parsis under the age of twenty are in the labor force. In most subcontinental communities the tendency is to put children to work at least by the time they are in their teens. Even the male participation rate in the 20-24 cohort is relatively low, reflecting the fact that men stay in school longer. Our definition of "working" does not include "housewife." One-fourth of Parsi women between 15 and 64 years of age work in jobs away from home (full or part-time), as compared with some 5% of Muslim women in Karachi. Almost half the Parsi women between 20 and 24 years of age (usually unmarried) have jobs. The percentage drops off gradually until in the 45-54 cohort only one-fourth of the women work and in later years less than a tenth. Unfortunately, since no earlier statistics exist, it is impossible to ascertain from these figures whether more women are working now than used to, although the notion in the community is that this is the case. Other persons "not working" are students, young girls awaiting marriage, a few persons disabled or looking for jobs, and retired men. Most Parsis (76%) work for private employers. Our figures unfortunately do not reveal what proportion of employers are themselves Parsis, but casual observation suggests that the number is substantial. A large proportion of Parsis (18%) are self-employed, and among males aged 55 and over the figure rises to 27%. Some 5% work for "other employers" which includes primarily the government, and the com-

Vol. 16, No. 2

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123

munity as a whole, which hires priests and a number of clerical and service workers. One of the traditional occupational specialities of the Parsis has long been clerical work, and our survey shows that :he most popular occupations are still in this field (see Table 6). Administrative jobs, mainly ownership and management jobs, are common among the older men and reflect the business spirit for which the ccmmunity is known. It is also interesting to Downloaded by [New York University] at 23:48 26 September 2012

trators shown in Table 6. The clerical workers are often accountants and auditors; the administrators are officers of banks, insurance companies, and similar institutions. Another 15% are in the professions. The services attract a lesser number of persons (about 9%), but this is an important group nonetheless. I t includes a number of wealthy people who choose to give their time and energy to occupations useful to the community, and also a number of poor-

TABLE 6 PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF WORKING POPULATION BY TYPE OF OCCUPATION, SEX, ANH AGE GROUP

Age All ages: T

Professions

Administrative Cleric al 30 38 9 15 22 36 44 12 44 45 37 15 23 0

Sales

Trans. & Communications Skilled

Semiskilled & other 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1

Military

Misc

Unclassified

16
12 27 11

36
31 49 43 40 44 32 31 38 26 27 24 30 23

4
3 12

M F
15-34:

1
1 1 1 1 1 1 2 0 0

4 6 5 5 5
6 4 11 2 2 3

0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0

n
0 0

5
3 11 14 12

T F

8 14
35
14 13 25 20 8 43

7 24 3 4 2 5 5 4
10 15

0 0 0

35-54:

T M F 55+: T
M.

16 10

n 0 n
0

3
2
8

F Unknown: T M

0 0
0 0 0

3 6
0 0 0

0 0
0 0 0

n
0

9 3
20 31 0

5
0

43

14

n 0

note that a high percentage of women in the er people employed by the community in 55+ age cohort work in administrative such institutions as the Parsi Ladies Indusjobs; perhaps a number of these have taken trial Home where they sew and produce the positions of deceased husbands. Women handicrafts for the local market. The complay an important role in the professions, munity prides itself on its ability to care for the majority as teachers and many as doc- its own needy members, and this is one of tors. One-fourth of working women are em- the ways in which it does so. ployed in these fields, but only one-eightr of MARRIAGE AND FERTILITY men. Parsis are traditionally active in comTable 7 summarizes the marriage patmercial enterprises, and those in Karachi terns in the Parsi community. Detailed are no exception. About 35% work in com- analysis revealed that age 26 is the youngest merce and trade including, presumably, cohort at which there are more women many of the clerical workers and adminis~ married than unmarried; for men, this point

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is not reached until age 32. The youngest widow is 28 years old; the youngest widower, 52 years old. There are 268 widows in the community, 45 of whom are under 55 years of age; and 55 widowers, of whom only two are under 55 years old. The relative longevity of women partially explains the difference. Moreover, following the Hindu pattern, most widowed Parsi women would not marry again, while widowed men might well do so. Downloaded by [New York University] at 23:48 26 September 2012

females 20 and over were ever married, compared to 95.2% of Muslim females 20 and over. The median age at first marriage among the Karachi Parsis has fluctuated widely in the last forty years for both men and women. Fifteen females aged 55 and over at the time of the survey reported being married when less than fifteen years of age, while only two from age group 35-54 and one from the age groups under 35 were less than fif-

TABLE 7
CURRENT MARITAL STATUS BY SEX AND AGE GROUPS, 20 YEARS AND OVER*
SINGLE AGE MAXXIED WIDOWED DlVOKCED SEPAKATED UNKNOWN

No.

No.

No.

No. 11

No.

No. 17 6 11 1 1 0

%
0.6 0.4
0.7 0.1 0.2

TOTAL

All ages: T

M.

.. .. .. . .. .

916 29.8 517 35.1 399 24.9 471 57.9 271 72.3 200 45.7 290 157 133

1,791 58.2 885 60.0 906 56.6


334 102 232 924 468 456

324 10.5 55 3.7


269 4 0 4 43 2 41

16.8
0.5
0.0 0.9 3.4 0.3 6.4

0.4 0.2 8 0.5


1,

16 0.5 8 0.5
8 0.5 ? 0.2 1 0.2 1 0.2 8 4 4 0.6 0.6 0.6

3,075 1 474 1,601 813 375 438 1 274 635 639 921 428 493 67 36 31

20-34:

T. M
F.. 35-54:

41.1 27.2 53.0 72.5 73.7 71.4

0.1
0.0 0.2

n 1

0 0 0 4 0 3
0.4 0.5

F.

22.8 24.8 20.8

4 0.3 1 0.2 3 0.5

5
3 2 4 2 2 0

55+: T M
F. Unknown: T

121 13.1 64 15.0 57 11.6

508 55.2 304 71.0 204 41.4 25 37.3 11 30.6 14 45.2

276 30.0

53 12.4 223 45.2


1 0 1 1.5 0.0 3.2

07 2 0.5 4 0.8
6 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0

6 0.7 3 0.7 S 0.6 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.5 0.4
0.0

M
F

.. ..

34 50.7 25 69.4 9 29.0

7 10.4

7 22.6

* No one under the age of twenty had ever been married.

Divorce and separation, strongly disapproved of in the community, are likely to have been under-reported. Our figures show eight divorced women and three divorced men. The discrepancy may result from the fact that the divorced husbands are more likely to have moved away or to have married again. The percentage of married Parsis is unusually low. Among females 20 years and over, 56.6% were currently married compared to 73.5% for all Karachi Muslims (Hashmi, 1965, p. 44).6 About 74.4% of Parsi

teen years old when first married. The median age at first marriage for females 55 and over was 22 years; for females aged 35-54, it was 25 years, while for females under age 35 it was 22 years. The rise in median age at first marriage for the middle group may be explained by the new popularity of education for women which occurred in the thirties and forties. The figure of 22 years as the median age for
6 The Muslim figure refers to females aged 15 and over. The figure for 20 years and over would be even higher than 73.5%, thus sharpening the contrast.

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first marriage in the youngest group is mi ;leading, because some of the single women in this cohort will eventually marry, thus raising the median age for the whole group. The same explanation applies to the apparent drop in age at marriage for the youngeiit cohort of men. The data show 26 years us the median age at first marriage for men under 35 years of age, but informal observation suggests that when all the single men in this group have married who ever will the median age will not be much less than ;0 TABLE 8
COMPARATIVE FERTILITY RATIOS FOR PARSI AND MUSLIM WOMEN IN KARACHI (No. of children under 5 years per 1,000 women) Parsi (15-44) 250 456 468 Muslim* (15-49) 771 909 974

Marital Status All women Ever-married Now married

difference in age at first marriage has a substantial effect on fertility (Coale and Tye, 1961). There is a further unproved possibility that inbreeding among the Parsis may lead to lower fertility. Although some Parsi couples may practice family planning for spacing or for limitation of family size, there is every indication that the Parsis as a group do not have such a low fertility rate by choice, although at one time some of them wanted to control reproduction for financial and eugenic purposes (Chandra Sekar, 1948, p. 89). I t was not possible to collect information on symptoms of inbreeding or on family-planning practices. Respondents were sensitive on the subject of their low birth rate and also about the privately acknowledged existence of diabetes, conTABLE 9
MEAN NUMBER OF CHILDREN EVER BORN PER PARSI WOMAN NOW OR EVER MARRIED Age No.

* Data from Hashmi, 1965, p. 45. Note that Hashmi's 1951 figures are calculated on the basis of women up to 49 years of age. If he had only used women up to 44 years, as we did in calculating the ratio for Parsis, the Muslim fertility ratio would be even higher.

years, which is the median age for the olde:;t cohort of men. Table 8 compares some Parsi fertility ratios (broken down by marital status of women) with similar ratios for the Muslim population of Karachi. The radical difference between the groups may be caused by differences in marriage patterns. A larger number of Parsi women never marry, as v e have seen. However, the important point is that, because they are so highly motivated to become well-educated and prosperous, and because it is much harder for them to find husbands, Parsi women marry at a later age than their Muslim contemporaries. Even 22 years is an advanced age for marriage, demographically speaking, compared with 18.2 years, which is the average age at marriage for Muslim women in Karacii (Korson, 1965, 589). Because female fjcundity drops so rapidly, even a few years

20-24 25-34 35^4 45-54 55-64 65+ Unknown All ages

0.82 1.62 2.15 2.45 3.74 3.88 3.58 3.11

* Number of children ever born represents the sum of the means calculated for number now living and number who have died.

genital mental retardation, sterility, and poor health and proved hostile to direct questions on such matters in a pre-test of the questionnaire. The director of the Karachi Family Planning Clinics corroborated our impression that nowadays Parsi women are interested only in learning how to have more children. The completed fertility figures for Parsi women further indicate the low fertility of the community. Table 9 shows the mean number of children ever born to ever-married wo.mn_ of different age groups. We

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assume on the whole that the fertile years are over for women over 44 years of age and that these figures represent completed fertility. There is some slight indication of a downward trend in completed fertility when age groups 65 and over, 55-64, and 45-54 are compared, but it is dubious because of the problem of recall in such a retrospective question. In any case, Parsi completed fertility, even taking the highest of these figures, is only about 60% of the comparable figure for Muslims in Karachi.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The survey of the Parsi population of Karachi succeeded in verifying one accepted belief about the demographic character of the community. It is a small, endogamous population, dwindling in size because the relatively low death rate is matched by a birth rate astonishingly low for an Asian population. These patterns lead to a very low dependency ratio, which may contribute to the prosperity of the community, but coupled with considerable out-migration from the community they mean that this small community is shrinking in overall size. As far as family and occupation are concerned, the Parsis exhibit behavior familiar in Asia. The nuclear family is becoming more popular as the members of the community become more Westernized. Parsis remain loyal to their traditional occupational fields: auditing and accounting, banking, clerical work, and trade and transportation. In the field of education the Parsis have led the way for their compatriots. Virtually every Parsi over five years of age has had some formal education, and the trend is toward increasingly higher education for men and women alike. The mobility patterns of the Parsis are unique in Karachi. While most Muslims are new arrivals in the city and apparently move fairly often, 75% of Parsi families have been in Karachi since before Partition

and many have stayed in the same home for generations. The great anomaly presented by the Parsi community is the conflict between its precarious demographic position and its rules of endogamy and nonconversion. The death rate among Parsis is very low and bears witness to the advanced state of education, medical care, and community charity. At the same time, the percentage of Parsis married is low, age at marriage is relatively high, and the birth rate is very low. The out-migration rate is high because higher education and experience with Western customs attract many young people away from the community where occupational and marital opportunities are limited and personal freedom sometimes conflicts with community traditions. One could argue that the very realization of these facts by the community might set in motion forces sufficient to check the downward trend, for even a modest rise in the proportion of females marrying or a slight fall in the average age at marriage for females might be enough to restore demographic vitality to the community. A small decrease in emigration, which occurs primarily among men in the 20 to 30 year age group, might lead to the needed improvement in the marriage market. In 1948, C. Chandra Sekar believed it possible for the community to reverse its demographic fate, and he wrote in a reforming spirit of the birth-rate problem and the steps Parsis should take to overcome it. A popular version of the same story written by a prominent Parsi in the same year was widely publicized within the community in Bombay and Karachi (Desai, 1948). A paper by Maneck B. Pithawalla and Beheram Rustomji, published in 1945, carried the same message. But the community did not respond to these warnings, and in the meantime the number of persons leaving the community has increased.

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The dilemma is a difficult one. An improvement in the demographic situationa drop in the average age of marriage for women and an increase in the total number of women marryingwould probably require both men and women to sacrifice some rscent educational and occupational gains. Young people would have to resist the temptation to leave the community. But it is not reasonable to expect that this will happen unless the more restrictive community customs, particularly the endogamy and noiconversion rules, are relaxed to some exte:it to enhance the attractiveness of communi ;y life and broaden the marital possibilities open to females. This, in turn, might fundamentally change the character of community relations. Thus, the Karachi Parsi com-

munity finds itself in the classic dilemma of all exclusive, traditional societies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Sincere thanks are due Beheram Rustomji and many other Parsis in Karachi for their help during this survey; to the Population Council of New York for a small grant to cover some of the expenses of data collection; to the Central Statistical Office, Government of Pakistan, for punching and verifying the IBM cards without charge; to Hanna Papanek at Harvard University, William Seltzer at the Population Council, Lowell Gait, Principal Statistical Adviser from AID to the Government of Turkey, and S. S. Hashmi, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics for their enthusiastic encouragement and detailed criticism; to Professor Warren Robinson at Pennsylvania State University for his great generosity in helping to prepare the final paper for publication; and to many others for help and support at different stages of the work.

REFERENCES
CENTRAL STATISTICAL OFFICE, PAKISTAN. 1961.

Karachi district census report. Karachi. CHANDRA SEKAR, C. 1948. Some aspects of Parsi demography. Hum. Biol. 20:47-89.
COALE, A. J., and C. Y. TYE. 1961. The significance

13. Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Karachi.


KORSON, J. HENRY. 1965. Age and social status of

of age patterns of marriage in high fertility populations. Milbank Mem. Fund. Quart. 39:631646.
DESAI, SAPUR F. 1948. A community at the cross-

marriage: Karachi, 1961-1964. Pakistan Dev. Rev. 5:589.


PITHAWALLA, MANECK B., and BEHERAM RUSTOMJI.

1945. Population trends of Parsi settlements. J. Univ. Bombay 13 (4):30-45.


RAKUNUDIN, ABDUL RAZZAQUE. 1967. The sex ratio

road. New Book Company, Ltd., Bombay.


HASHMI, SULTAN S. 1965. The people of Karachi:

Demographic characteristics. Monograph No.

in Pakistan. In Warren C. Robinson (ed.), Studies in the demography of Pakistan. Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Karachi.

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