29 June,2025 08:21 AM IST | Mumbai | Debjani Paul
Irani chai and seekh kebabs at Persian Islami Restaurant, Mazgaon, have sustained workers over the last 80 years, says Mohamed Mozayan. Pic/Ashish Raje
Mohamed Mozayan was 10 years old when he last visited Iran, in 1978. "I still remember the fragrance from the rows and rows of trees laden with fruits in the orchard behind our home," the now 57-year-old tells us over a cup of Irani chai and a plate of seekh kebabs, specialties at his family restaurant, Persian Islami Restaurant in Mazgaon.
"I remember eating pomegranates and almonds straight off the trees. This was back when these fruits and nuts were still considered exotic in India. Now, you find them everywhere, but they don't taste the same - the pomegranates there would burst with juice, the almonds tasted so sweet. We came back to Mumbai carrying bags full to bursting with fruit," he chuckles.
Three generations after his grandfather first brought the family over to Mumbai from their home in Yazd province in Iran in search of a better life, their motherland had begun to flourish. They decided to pack up their lives here and move back to their ancestral home. Then, the Islamic Revolution of 1979 swept across Iran and their plans collapsed. "We'd returned from our trip to Iran, but my father had stayed back to set up everything for our move there. He was stuck there for five years, unable to leave," Mozayan recounts, his eyes taking on a faraway look.
For Mozayan, who was born here in Mazgaon, Mumbai is home. But amid Israel's attacks on Iran, he is once again haunted by the same anxiety of being cut off from family members. "My father visits Iran once a year, but we're not sure when he will be able to go back next. We also have relatives back there, and fortunately, there have not been many strikes near where they live," he says.
This worry about strife in Iran is common among other members of communities living in Mumbai that share Persian heritage too. This includes Iranian Shia Muslims like Mozayan, Parsis, and Iranian Zoroastrians.
"Broadly speaking, there are two types of Iranis: Zoroastrian Iranis and Muslim Iranis," says Sameera Khan, an academic who has been researching the different Muslim mohallas of Mumbai since the early 2000s. "The Parsis are a different community from the Zoroastrian Iranis, although they both follow the Zoroastrian faith."
Parsis arrived in India some 1300 years ago, first landing on the coast of Gujarat, and later many moved to Mumbai. "Zoroastrian Iranis came much later, in the mid-to-late 1800s," adds Khan, "While the first Irani Muslims came to Mumbai from Shiraz as traders, later came the Busharis, working-class Iranis, and then, only in the early 1900s, people came from Yezd. They settled down and opened small businesses like corner shops, which later became the iconic Irani cafés. These were typically run not by Parsis, but by Muslim Iranis. They often occupied corner spots, which were considered inauspicious by Marwari businessmen, or were simply cheaper. That's the folklore. As for ownership - both Zoroastrian and Muslim Iranis were involved, depending on the area."
Among the Zoroastrian Iranis who arrived here in the second wave in the late 1800s and early 1900s in search of a better life was Sanober Keshwaar's maternal grandfather. "He left home with eight naans, two blocks of paneer, and whatever little money his mother was able to give him. He walked all the way to Mumbai and worked in tea shops along the way. It took him two months to finish the journey," says the 67-year-old lawyer, who was born in Mumbai and now lives in Marine Lines.
"Zoroastrian Iranis started coming to India in the 1850s. They were peasants; hardworking, but seen as unsophisticated because they arrived later. By then, many Parsis had already become established as traders and businessmen," says Keshwaar. "Iranis would find coreligionists in Mumbai who would help them get jobs in bakeries and tea shops. Running shops and baking - that's what they knew. Even my grandfather couldn't read or write when he came, but he learnt to write in English and Gujarati before he died."
Keshwaar reminisces about her visit to her ancestral village when she was 11. You can hear the smile in her voice as she says, "I went there in 1971, and it still remains very, very vivid in my mind till date. We lived with our uncle and aunt in Tehran and then they took us to Isfahan, Shiraz, and Ramsar. We were taken to Persepolis, and to all the pilgrimage places; all the mausoleums of people who died fighting the Arab invasion. When the Zoroastrian Iranians go to Iran, they always visit Persepolis."
A few years ago, a researcher friend tracked down her ancestral village, Bagh-e Khandan, and ended up discovering a distant cousin of hers. Keshwaar recalls, "We got in touch, and he [the cousin] told me about how he visited my home in Mumbai when I was a child. Suddenly it clicked, and I remembered him as one of my grandfather's guests. My grandfather always kept two rooms vacant in his home to accommodate families migrating here from Iran for a better life. Those families would stay there till they were able to find a job and house. And then the next desperate family would come and stay."
Mumbai is more than 2400 km away, but the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel-US weighs heavily on the minds of those who still feel a spiritual and cultural connection to the West Asian country.
While some Iranians migrated to India by sea, this was the land route many took to Mumbai and Gujarat
Mozayan doesn't mince his words while labelling the strikes on Iran as "punishment for supporting Palestine" amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza. "They have flattened Gaza, and now they are coming for Iran because it stood up for Palestine. The war will set the country back by a decade, but Iran will rise again," he says.
"I'm amazed by Iran's courage in standing up to Israel and the US," says Keshwaar, "Israel's attack was unprovoked. The US bombed nuclear sites despite the risk of radiation. And let's not forget, this is the country that dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. There's no justification for attacking Iran's sovereign sites. Iran's retaliation was restrained. They didn't target civilians. And yet, the narrative has shifted away from Gaza. The genocide there has been forgotten in this Iran vs Israel-US diversion."
Among the Parsi community, which settled in India centuries ago, there is very little left in them that can be considered Iranian, says Dr Kurush F Dalal, archaeologist, historian and culinary anthropologist. And yet, as the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, Iran has a spiritual hold on the community and so the strikes feel "very personal", he says.
"It was, after all, our homeland at one point, even if it's not home any more," he says, "And, in the last 20-30 years, with increasing ease of access, many Parsis have visited Iran and made new connections there. We may not have any relatives there now, but we're still about our friends there. The people of Iran are very warm, friendly, and happy. The modern state of Iran has never started a war with anybody. All its nuclear reactors have been surveyed by the Atomic Energy Commission. Israel still refuses full access to its facilities. But Israel still gets to bomb nuclear reactors in Iran. There has been a considerable amount of anger and worry about this in the Parsi community in the last few decades."
With his ancestors having migrated to India 1300 years ago, there are no records of their life in Iran, says Dalal. He shares a tender memory of his only visit there when he was five. "My father was a Radio Officer with the Merchant Navy, and my mother, grandfather and I joined him when he set sail to Bandar Abbas. I have such vivid memories of how emotional my grandfather was. For him, it was like a pilgrimage to Hiraar [holy land; a mountain near Mecca], but much to our surprise, he was refused an entry visa. He was shattered."
Dalal has no memory of what he and his parents did when they entered Tehran. What he does remember is what his grandfather did next. "He disembarked from the ship, got on his knees and touched his forehead to the ground. It was a very emotional moment that's hard to explain to anyone who's not a refugee. He took out a glass bottle and filled it with water from the sea and took it back home," Dalal says, choking up. "For the diaspora, going back to the homeland is a big deal."
For many, though, that might not be an option for a while.
One of the most iconic Irani imports to Mumbai is the popular creamy Irani chai, known for its unique preparation method: brewing the tea concoction and boiling condensed milk separately, and then combining the two immediately before serving it. Priced affordably between R20 to R50, this tea has sustained Mumbai's working class for generations. "Irani restaurants are always concentrated in industrial and business areas, from mill land to Dadar to Churchgate or the docks - we cater to the working class, many of whom migrate from villages to Mumbai for work. It's basically immigrants from Iran feeding migrants in India," says Mohamed Mozayan, whose family has run the Persian Islami restaurant in Mazgaon for 80 years.
Another flavour that comes to the city directly from Iran is the Parsi community's Berry Pulao, which uses Zereshk berries, a common ingredient in Persian cuisine. Restaurants such as Britannia & Co in Fort still import them from Iran. We ask Dr Kurush F Dalal, archaeologist, historian and culinary anthropologist whether the ongoing conflict in Iran will affect supply in the city and he says, "The berries were originally brought down by visiting Iranis but today they are readily available in dry fruit stores at Crawford Market."
Over time, the Irani community has left its own imprint on the city, especially in areas such as Dongri, Mazgaon, and Ambivli, where they settled in sizeable numbers. The iconic azure Moghul Masjid on Imamwada Road is one of the city's most striking Iranian legacies. "Built by a trader from Shiraz in the 1860s, it was restored around 10 years ago, with help from the Iranian government. It's different from typical Indian mosques, which usually have a central dome," says reseacher Sameera Khan.
"It's just as spectacular inside," she adds, "There's a large, rectangular, central tank used for wazu, and a layout that resembles a haveli. There's a women's section accessible from a side lane."
Next to the mosque was an Irani hammam for men - a simple setup with blocks of stone, hot water, and massages. However, it is now defunct.
Nearby is the Amin Imambada - one of the oldest Iranian Shia religious institutions. Until the 1960s, it offered Persian language classes. Many older Iranis recall learning Persian there. The Imambada comes alive during Muharram. On Ashurah, the 10th day of Muharram, the Irani Shia Muslims of Mumbai still enact a Shhabi - something akin to a passion play that recounts significant moments of the Battle of Karbala - with live props and costumes, a horse, doves, and actors smeared with what looks like blood. Iranian-origin men chant in circles, walk barefoot, and lift children dressed for the occasion.
"The community also marks Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 21. They try to preserve their Persian heritage through language, food, and practice, even though most are now Indian citizens. Many have been in India for generations, and while they do go back to Iran to visit extended family, these connections to Iran have increasingly become more difficult since the revolution," Khan says.
